“What do you mean, massaging her foot? And then what—while massaging you’d suddenly end up rolling around on the bed with some young girl?”
Wang Chuang’s face instantly flushed. “I did not!”
“I’d never do something like that!”
Jiang Luo pinched the back of his neck. “As long as I’m here, cut those messy thoughts out. I’ll keep an eye on you for your parents—and for your future wife.”
Wang Chuang shrank his neck. “If you’re watching me, then I’ll watch you too. Mutual supervision!”
Jiang Luo let out a short laugh. “Then I’ll thank you on behalf of my future wife.”
Author’s note:
The bit about Huo Zongzhuo trading daily necessities for a Soviet plane is taken from real life.
Once they stepped into the room and the door closed, Wang Chuang was still amazed. “So that’s it? Business is done just like that? Way too easy, right?”
He added, “Didn’t you say your trading company hasn’t even been approved yet? Where’d the official seal come from?”
“Fake.”
Jiang Luo walked into the bathroom to wash his hands.
“Fake?”
Wang Chuang followed him to the doorway, leaning on the frame, puzzled. “How can you sign a contract with a fake one?”
“Won’t they find out?”
Hands under the running water, Jiang Luo replied, “If you don’t say it’s fake, who’s gonna know?”
“And how do you know their company stamp is real?”
“Doesn’t matter if it’s real or fake—things aren’t that strict right now. As long as the deal gets done, that’s all that counts.”
“Once it’s done and everyone makes the money they’re supposed to make, who’s going to care whether your seal was real?”
Wang Chuang listened, thought it over, and nodded. Yeah, that actually made sense.
Then he asked, “But how are we going to pay them later?”
“You said we’d pay once they ship the goods, right?”
“We don’t have that kind of money at all.”
Jiang Luo finished washing and dried his hands with a towel. “You’ll see when the time comes.”
He stepped out. Meanwhile, Wang Chuang stripped off his clothes again and dove toward the bathtub, itching to soak.
Jiang Luo lazily slumped onto the sofa, dug out a piece of nut brittle from his pocket, unwrapped the oiled paper, and tossed it into his mouth.
For the next two days, Jiang Luo and Wang Chuang didn’t have much to do.
They didn’t ask Boss Zhang or Boss Li to arrange rides for them. They just took Ma Bo’s car themselves to the town’s factories, wandering back and forth between the toy factory and the lighting factory, occasionally stopping by the bosses’ offices to drink tea and chat.
While they were killing time in the factories, Wang Chuang grew confused again and asked, “They’re doing their production, and we can’t help with anything. Why’re we even hanging around here in town?”
“Just looking around, having a little fun.”
Jiang Luo snorted. “You came here to play?”
Wang Chuang spread his hands. “We’re doing nothing either way. Isn’t that basically playing?”
Jiang Luo said, “We placed the orders, signed the contracts—if we stop showing up, and they don’t see us around, you think they’ll feel secure enough to start up the machines?”
“We only paid that two thousand. We haven’t paid anything else.”
Right. Only then did Wang Chuang finally grasp the point.
Jiang Luo continued, “Us being here is what reassures them. Once they’re reassured, they’ll start producing what we want.”
“We can’t give them no money and not show up.”
This time Wang Chuang fully understood and nodded. “True.”
But Jiang Luo’s purpose went well beyond that. He was planning for the long term—after closing two deals and constantly driving around town, popping in and out of the factories, it wouldn’t take long before word spread in the area about two guys from Haicheng coming to do business.
Even if it didn’t spread far, at least among the local bosses—Boss Zhang with his toy factory and Boss Li with his lighting factory—people in this town would hear about them.
Jiang Luo had other plans for the future. If the town’s bosses already knew who he was, it would make everything that came next a whole lot easier.
Sure enough, once Jiang Luo arrived at the lighting factory—having already sat through the office chat, drunk the tea, and taken a quick look at the production line—he stepped back outside. Bored, he and Wang Chuang were hanging around the entrance, teasing a filthy guard dog, when a car pulled up beside them. The window rolled down, and a man inside greeted them in heavily accented Mandarin:
“You’re Boss Li’s clients, right? From Haicheng?”
Jiang Luo and Wang Chuang both looked up.
Wang Chuang didn’t speak, so Jiang Luo smiled. “Yeah, we’re from Haicheng.”
“You local bosses too? Run a factory?”
The man nodded. “Yeah, I’m in the daily-goods business.”
He immediately added, “Heard you’ve got a department store over in Haicheng? Need daily goods? I produce a lot—anything you want, I make.”
Jiang Luo answered casually, “Depends on what kind of daily goods.”
“The common stuff? We’re never short on that—Haicheng is full of it.”
“You need Hong Kong–Taiwan imports.”
The man gestured. “Hop in, I’ll show you around my factory.”
Jiang Luo said, “Sure, let’s take a look.”
He waved at Wang Chuang, and the two got in the man’s car.
While Jiang Luo was being shown around the factory, on the other side of town Ma Bo was bored out of his mind. He drove his Jinbei van around aimlessly until he stopped at a tobacco-and-liquor shop. He tossed two packs of Yuxi cigarettes onto the glass counter to sell them for cash.
As the shop owner was pulling money out of the drawer, another man walked over—dressed like a boss, plaid shirt, leather briefcase tucked under his arm. He glanced at Ma Bo and asked:
“You’re the one driving for those two guys from Haicheng, right?”
Ma Bo turned and gave him a look. “Yeah.”
The man politely offered him a cigarette. “Let me ask—just casually—what’s their deal?”
“I heard they own a department store in Haicheng. Is that real?”
Ma Bo tucked the cigarette behind his ear. “No idea if it’s real or fake, but they’ve definitely got money.”
“First day they got here, they rented my van and didn’t even try to bargain.”
“They’re staying at the Crown downtown, eating at the best restaurants, and they even cover my gas. Really generous.”
“Big spenders—absolute big spenders.”
And just like that, word spread quickly around the factory town: two rich big shots from Haicheng, owners of a department store, had arrived.
After asking around a bit more—learning that Boss Zhang’s toy factory had been running the production line nonstop for two nights, and that Boss Li had already secured a deal with them—the factory owners swarmed like sharks smelling meat. One after another went looking for Jiang Luo, greeting him warmly, enthusiastically offering factory tours.
Even Wang Chuang was excited. “Doing business really is something else. This feels amazing—people are calling me Boss Wang now. They’re even handing me cigarettes!”
He was practically floating.
Jiang Luo wasn’t. This is nothing.
Until you sit at the Wenzhou bosses’ dinner table and see the two ceremonial banners—Smooth Sailing and A Token of Respect—you haven’t truly earned your spot in their circle.
A few days later, Boss Zhang’s factory finished the two thousand dolls, packed them up, and loaded them onto a truck.
Boss Zhang personally drove Jiang Luo and Wang Chuang—people and cargo together—to the train station. Shipping by rail was cheap and fast; after all, highways hadn’t been built yet.
On the way, Boss Zhang couldn’t help reminding Jiang Luo to remember the payment. Jiang Luo remained calm. “Don’t worry.”
When they reached the station and completed the freight process, the station issued a cargo transport slip.
Boss Zhang didn’t think much of it, but Jiang Luo took it.
As soon as he had the slip, Jiang Luo went straight to the public phone at the station and called Haicheng. After the call, he handed the slip to Wang Chuang and told him to catch the next train back to Haicheng—immediately—to find a man named Manager Guo at Pacific Department Store.
Wang Chuang followed instructions and left right away.
Now with the goods handed over to the station, Boss Zhang turned back to Jiang Luo with a smile. “Young Master Jiang, the goods are delivered. We can settle payment now, right?”
Jiang Luo said, “But they haven’t been shipped out yet. Once they depart, I’ll pay.”
Boss Zhang froze. “This… that’s not how rigid this is supposed to be, is it? I’ve already handed over the goods.”
“Whether they ship out is the train station’s business.”
“I’ve delivered them, so shouldn’t you…”
Jiang Luo slung an arm around his shoulder. “Don’t rush. I’ll definitely settle up.”
“I’m standing right here. What’re you afraid of?”
Boss Zhang frowned. “I’ve handed over the goods. We agreed—when I ship, you pay.”
Jiang Luo: “Exactly. Ship. As in, actually depart.”
“These just arrived at the station. They haven’t even been loaded.”
Boss Zhang grew uneasy and annoyed. “No need to get so literal.”
Experienced, Jiang Luo patted his shoulder. “Relax. You’ll get your money.”
Boss Zhang wasn’t pleased, but he didn’t show it—he couldn’t afford to offend Jiang Luo before getting paid.
He had no choice but to ask the station when the shipment would go out.
The station replied, “We’ve scheduled it for tomorrow afternoon.”
Boss Zhang considered it. Fine. Tomorrow afternoon, then.
He asked Jiang Luo, “Tomorrow afternoon—payment for sure, right?”
As they walked out of the station, Jiang Luo said, “Of course. Once it leaves, I’ll pay.”
Only then did Boss Zhang notice that Jiang Luo was alone. He stiffened, suddenly uneasy. “Why are you alone? Where’s Boss Wang?”
Jiang Luo answered lazily, “He had something else to take care of. Left early.”
Boss Zhang’s eyes widened. “He went back to Haicheng?!”
No way. One of them shouldn’t have slipped away.
Naturally, Jiang Luo wouldn’t admit it. He put an arm around Boss Zhang’s shoulder, guiding him out of the station. “No, he didn’t go back. He’s still here in Wencheng.”
“He just had something to do, so I let him handle it first.”
Boss Zhang didn’t buy it—he was terrified one had escaped and the other might run next.
Not wanting Jiang Luo out of his sight, he threw his own arm around Jiang Luo’s shoulder and walked him toward the car, thinking quickly before suggesting:
“Young Master Jiang, how about I treat you to a bathhouse soak?”