They had already tasted the sweetness of selling knockoff goods. Having made up their minds, they left, heading for other provincial capital cities to move their merchandise there and keep making money.
—Time marches forward, and people move forward with it. Everyone makes different choices, and ends up walking a different road.
Pacific Department Store, the general manager’s office.
Guo Ronghai stood beside his own desk, head lowered, jittery and uneasy.
Behind the desk sat Li Fengrui, just twenty-three years old, a member of the Li family. He was quietly flipping through a booklet in his hands.
The booklet was none other than Vilanito’s latest lookbook.
After looking for a while, Li Fengrui spoke as he continued to read. “Vilanito first opened a counter at Yong’an.”
“I sent you to bring them in, and you told me they refused to enter Pacific.”
“And now they’ve opened two counters at Sincere and Daxin.”
Li Fengrui never lifted his eyes. His tone was calm, but it carried the effortless authority of someone in power. “Manager Guo, there must be something in this that you didn’t tell me, right?”
After a brief pause, he continued, “I’ve heard that Vilanito’s owner is very young. Last name Jiang.”
“You knew Boss Jiang before?”
“Were you on bad terms?”
Guo Ronghai felt his heart trembling.
At that moment, Jiang Luo’s words from that day suddenly echoed in his mind—
“Take care of yourself.”
“Or you can come beg me, like a dog. If I soften up, maybe I’ll point you toward a way out.”
Guo Ronghai thought bitterly: he didn’t need to act like a dog. In front of the Li family, he already was one—a watchdog that only dared to bark at outsiders.
…………………………………
Morning, the employee housing at the silk factory.
Zhang Xiangping, who worked alternating shifts, came out of the west unit carrying a chamber pot, just as Bai Ting stepped out of the east unit.
Bai Ting saw her too. She ignored her and went downstairs first.
Zhang Xiangping held the chamber pot and rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath, “Dressed like a little vixen.”
These days, Bai Ting wasn’t just well dressed—she wore makeup every day too.
Her clothes were either Vilanito dresses and coats that Wang Chuang brought back from the factory, or things Wang Junwei bought with her while shopping. There was no helping it—the family had money now.
The couple hated to spend the money their son earned and brought home; they saved it carefully for Wang Chuang’s future—buying a house, getting married, having children. At the very least, they didn’t have to worry about money anymore, so spending some of their own felt safe.
And because Bai Ting was good-looking and dressed nicely, she had recently found a new job outside.
She worked at a small shop on a street in Jing’an selling pagers. To put it plainly, it was sales—commission-based, with a base salary. No rotating shifts, better pay than at the silk factory, and much easier work. She didn’t even have to stand all day.
She had already been on the job for several days. She went in at nine in the morning and got off at five in the afternoon. Pagers sold well, and she was getting the hang of it—how to pitch them, how to explain them to customers.
Bai Ting felt the job was pretty good.
Her thinking had become more flexible too. She figured that if pagers sold well, she could open a small shop herself someday and sell pagers.
Being her own boss would definitely make more money than working for someone else.
Meanwhile, Wang Chuang had gone on another business trip to another province because of factory materials.
After being out in the world for a while, he’d gained experience and confidence. Compared to when he first started, he handled things with much more ease.
Wang Chuang had even upgraded his pager to a brick phone.
Jiang Luo had switched devices too, though his pager wasn’t one he bought himself—it was a gift from Huo Zongzhuo.
Huo Zongzhuo had been staying in Haicheng recently. He’d met with the heads of local banks and several senior figures in the banking system, signed documents, and completed the procedures for bank loans and land acquisition.
He’d also attended several land auctions organized by Pudong.
Besides the two plots Pudong had already agreed to give him, he successfully bid on two more.
After the auctions, he had two dinners with other bosses who had bid on land as well, networking and exchanging views on land development and Pudong’s future.
In short, he was extremely busy.
Huo Zongzhuo always remembered his promise to Jiang Luo. Several times, he wanted to carve out time to take Jiang Luo back to Suzhou, but either something urgent came up for him, or Jiang Luo was so busy he was nowhere to be found. In the end, neither of them made the trip, both staying in Haicheng and focusing on their own work.
As they stayed busy, one day at the Pudong Development Office, Huo Zongzhuo went there on business. By chance, just as he was about to leave, he ran into Zhao Guangyuan in the hallway, who had just returned from outside.
They stopped face to face, both a little surprised, smiling as they stepped forward to shake hands and exchange greetings.
“Oh, right,” Zhao Guangyuan suddenly remembered something. “I’ve been so busy lately. I knew you didn’t have time, so I didn’t invite you.”
“Do you have some free time these days? Come sit at my place.”
“Of course,” Huo Zongzhuo replied readily. “I’ll trouble you, then.”
They set a specific time before parting ways.
As Huo Zongzhuo drove off, he thought briefly about what he should bring when visiting Zhao Guangyuan’s home.
If it was too expensive, Zhao Guangyuan—being a government official—wouldn’t be able to accept it comfortably.
So he decided to bring small gifts for Zhao Guangyuan’s wife and two sons instead.
Huo Zongzhuo knew that, as a gesture of sincerity, Zhao Guangyuan would surely host him together with his wife and sons.
He guessed Zhao Guangyuan’s sons were probably not much older than Jiang Luo.
Thinking of Jiang Luo, Huo Zongzhuo smiled.
Recently, Jiang Luo had even opened Vilanito counters in malls in Jinling.
Three counters and one factory in Haicheng, plus another counter in Jinling—Jiang Luo was now a bona fide big boss.
On Jiang Luo’s side, everything was moving steadily.
The factory was running efficiently, ensuring enough supply for the four counters in Haicheng and Jinling.
He also made time to go to Wencheng twice more, adjusting some non-branded inventory—cutting items that sold poorly and replacing them with designs he believed the market would like.
Meanwhile, Zhang Zhiqiang’s factory was also undergoing changes.
After making money, Zhang Zhiqiang took out additional bank loans and recently began replacing production line equipment.
When Jiang Luo came to Wencheng and finished his main business, Zhang Zhiqiang took him to see the new machines on the factory floor.
Jiang Luo thought it was great, and he also reminded Zhang Zhiqiang that if he could build a brand, he should. Making a little less money at first didn’t matter—he needed to think long term.
The two ate alone together and chatted casually.
Zhang Zhiqiang said, “To be honest with you, I’ve had some thoughts lately. I kind of want to do something else.”
Hmm?
Jiang Luo kept eating and looked at him.
Zhang Zhiqiang said, “You remember You Sen, right?”
“The guy whose son ran off to Haicheng to compete with you.”
“Yes,” Jiang Luo said calmly. “I remember. What about him?”
“I don’t know what news he got,” Zhang Zhiqiang said. “But he went down to Shenzhen and Guangzhou.”
“I heard he got his hands on a plot of land somewhere in Shenzhen and plans to build a factory. No idea what he’s actually producing. Supposedly he borrowed a lot of money—bank loans, and loans from familiar bosses back home.”
Eating as he talked, Zhang Zhiqiang continued, “His son is also out there now, doing who knows what kind of business. I’ve heard he’s made quite a bit.”
“At home, it’s just You Junyu’s grandmother staying behind with his younger sister, who’s still in school.”
“All their uncles, cousins—everyone followed them out.”
Jiang Luo curled his lips slightly but made no comment. He only said, “Shenzhen really is a good place.”
Then he asked, “You said you want to do something else—what do you want to do?”
Zhang Zhiqiang sighed. “I just think making toys doesn’t earn much.”
“Remember how we each bought a workshop in Yueqing back then?”
“Things are really good in Yueqing now.”
“Take that Boss Dong whose workshop you bought—his business is huge now. He’s started exporting overseas and earning dollars.”
Jiang Luo smiled. “So after all that, you’re regretting buying the Yueqing workshop and not going into transformers instead.”
“Boss Zhang,” he said slowly, “if you think something makes money and you want to do it, it’s best to do it now—sooner rather than later.”
“If you keep thinking about it but never act, then one day when you see others get rich, you’ll regret it again, just like now, saying ‘if only I’d known.’”
Zhang Zhiqiang thought about it and nodded. “You’re right. Talking doesn’t help—you have to act.”
“In a few days, I’ll buy a ticket and fly to Guangzhou and Shenzhen to take a look.”
“I want to see for myself what’s over there that made You Sen go all that way.”
“If there’s something that can be done and make money, I’ll do it too.”
“The money can’t all go to You Sen alone.”
Then he added, “Boss Jiang, want to go together? Keep each other company, look around Guangzhou and Shenzhen?”
Jiang Luo replied unhurriedly, “I went to Chung Ying Street—that’s Shenzhen, isn’t it? You forgot?”
Zhang Zhiqiang suddenly remembered. “Right, right. Almost forgot. You’ve already been.”
“What’s it like over there, in your opinion?”
Jiang Luo didn’t elaborate. “Didn’t visit many places. Just that Chung Ying Street was packed with people.”
Then he reminded him, “Didn’t you know? Back in 1980, Shenzhen was designated a Special Economic Zone.”
“If it’s already an economic special zone, how bad could its future development be?”
“Right, right!” Zhang Zhiqiang reacted immediately. “I’ll make time and go check it out as soon as possible.”
Jiang Luo didn’t care about Shenzhen or Guangzhou, or You Sen and You Junyu.
Other people had their businesses. He had his own road.
Not long after, Jiang Luo returned to Haicheng.
As soon as he got back to the company, a colleague told him that Pacific Department Store had come looking for him again.