“They want me to come ask you for shares. They want me to come find you, say I should be the plant manager.
“If I become plant manager, then I’ll bring all of them in—my son can sit in an office as a department head, my daughter-in-law can work in finance as an accountant, and my wife can come manage the cafeteria.”
Jiang Luo was still drinking his tea, looking as though none of this concerned him. He only asked, “If they all come, who’s going to look after your little granddaughter?”
Zhang Ningfu said, “They said my in-laws can take care of her. We’ll give them some money every month.”
Jiang Luo followed that line of thought. “How much?”
This honest man answered just as straightforwardly. “Three hundred.”
Jiang Luo kept drinking his tea and continued, “Three hundred? Does your son even make three hundred a month? Just the childcare alone costs you three hundred?”
Zhang Ningfu sighed. “Taking care of a child is hard work. And there’s clothes to buy, toys to buy for the girl.”
Jiang Luo replied calmly, quietly, “You work overtime at the factory. Aren’t you tired?”
Zhang Ningfu didn’t answer. Same honest face, same silence.
Jiang Luo went on sipping his tea. “Did they buy you any clothes for the New Year?”
Zhang Ningfu: “……”
Only then did Jiang Luo set his cup down with a soft clack, look over, and curl his lips in cold mockery. “Zhang Ningfu, aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”
“A lifetime for your family, a lifetime for your wife and son—have they ever treated you like a person?”
“Even if you were a dog, at least over the New Year they’d go to the market and buy you a meaty bone, wouldn’t they?”
“I…”
Zhang Ningfu was burning with embarrassment, unable to come up with a single rebuttal. He just stood there, face pale.
Jiang Luo looked at him coldly. “Go back and tell that heartless, brainless wife and son of yours: this place isn’t a dump. I don’t take in trash.”
“Shares? You’ll get them faster in a dream.”
Then, turning on Zhang Ningfu himself: “Zhang Ningfu! Why don’t you go look at yourself in the mirror—look at how pathetic you are right now?”
“Are you a dog they’re raising?”
“They tell you to go east, you go east. They tell you to go west, you go west?”
“Are you even a person?”
“Do they treat you like one?”
“Do they see you as a husband, as a father?!”
“You love being a dog so much—why don’t you go lie down at the factory gate with those two beasts tied up out there?!”
“Do you have even a shred of human dignity, backbone, or sense left in you?”
“You’d rather be a dog than a man?!”
“Let them sit on your head and lord it over you?!”
Zhang Ningfu’s face had gone completely white. His eyes were red, tears held back in their sockets.
Jiang Luo had no interest in pitying him. He pointed at the door. “Get out. Get out of here.”
“What I need here is Master Tailor Zhang, Director Zhang—not a spineless waste of space, and definitely not a dog.”
“If you want to be a dog, go back to your wife and son.”
Zhang Ningfu didn’t argue a single word. Hunched over, he slowly turned around, holding back tears, and walked out.
Jiang Luo called after him one last time: “Zhang Ningfu—people live for themselves, not for others.”
—
On the train from Haicheng to Guangzhou, after settling her luggage and sitting by the window, Mo Wanzhen remembered something. She took out a black leather bag from her carry-on—not too big, not too small.
Jiang Luo had given her this bag earlier, telling her to open it only after she boarded the train.
She hadn’t known what was inside. Holding the bag now, she pulled open the zipper.
She’d only opened it a little when she looked inside—and froze in shock.
Money? Cash?!
She saw stacks upon stacks. She didn’t count carefully, but there had to be at least fifty or sixty thousand.
President Jiang had given her this much money?!
Afraid it wasn’t safe, afraid someone might see and target her, Mo Wanzhen hurriedly zipped the bag shut.
After closing it, she deliberately glanced around to see if anyone was watching.
When she saw no one paying attention, she steadied her racing heart, lowered her head again, and opened the outer zipper of the bag.
Sure enough, there was something else inside. She took it out and found a piece of paper with words written on it:
If you run into trouble, you can call me.
Have a safe journey.
Her eyes reddened instantly.
The train began to move, rumbling forward.
Goodbye, President Jiang.
Goodbye, Haicheng.
Mo Wanzhen left. She said she was going to Guangzhou to try her luck on her own. Jiang Luo didn’t try to stop her.
To this day, he still thinks of Mo Wanzhen as a younger sister, as Wang Chuang’s wife, as his friend. He had always hoped she and Wang Chuang might find their way back to each other, start a family again like in the previous life—have twins, live happily ever after.
But Jiang Luo knew even more clearly that everyone has their own road to walk.
Each person has their own fate and future. No one can stop it.
Just like him, in this life, he too had a road he wanted—and needed—to walk.
So, after seeing Mo Wanzhen off, after chewing out Zhang Ningfu, and as the festive atmosphere of the Spring Festival gradually faded, Jiang Luo’s own path finally settled into its proper rhythm.
He transferred the first payment to the German company into a cross-border account at Bank of China. Within two days, the German side notified them that the equipment had begun loading into containers and would be shipped by sea to the port closest to Haicheng.
The factory was running smoothly. Machines were operating, workers were on the job, preparing stock for four counters. Several workshops were being renovated, and a new cafeteria was under construction.
At the same time, a stretch of vacant land behind the factory had been negotiated and secured, with plans to build additional workshops. Workers were gradually moving in, the land had been fenced off, and surveying and planning were underway.
In Germany, company executives and equipment engineers boarded a plane bound for China.
At the town government, documents and contracts for equity participation—and other factory-related matters—were being formally drafted.
At Hongqiao Airport, Jiang Luo and Xiao Lu went to pick up the German executives and engineers who had just landed.
At the exit, Jiang Luo shook hands with them and greeted them. “Nice to meet you.”
Xiao Lu didn’t understand English. He simply carried Jiang Luo’s briefcase and followed behind.
Everything moved forward step by step, orderly and on track.
—
At Fudan, the new semester began. Everyone returned to campus. Zhao Mingshi stopped going to student council meetings and ignored the senior girls. The moment he saw his roommate Fang Haichen, he said, “That thing you and those senior guys are working on—can you bring me in?”
Fang Haichen froze. After thinking it over, he hesitated. “It’s not that I don’t want to bring you in. It’s just… we’re almost finished with it.”
In other words, it wasn’t appropriate to add someone new to share in something already completed.
Zhao Mingshi said, “I see.”
Then he suggested, “Haichen, could you bring me in and call those seniors together? We could do something else.”
Fang Haichen asked, “Do what? What do you have in mind?”
Zhao Mingshi motioned for him to come closer.
Fang Haichen leaned in, ear near Zhao Mingshi’s mouth, and Zhao Mingshi whispered to him.
—
On the Zhao family’s side, once the Spring Festival ended, they called Jiang Luo many times.
Some calls he answered, some he didn’t. Whether he picked up or not, the moment he heard it was Zhao Shuo or Zhao Guangyuan, he hung up immediately—without a single extra word.
Zhao Guangqian had already left early to handle his own business elsewhere. When he called back and heard that Zhao Guangyuan still hadn’t brought Jiang Luo home, he immediately booked another flight and flew back to Haicheng.
As soon as he landed, Zhao Guangqian took charge. He brought Zhao Guangyuan and Su Lan with him, called Zhao Shuo as well, and the four of them got into one car and drove to Jiang Luo’s company.
“Who are you looking for?”
All four were well dressed—men in suits, women in tailored outfits—clearly not ordinary people. The staff assumed they were clients and didn’t dare be negligent, immediately standing up to greet them.
But Accountant Xue, sharp-eyed, noticed that their features bore some resemblance to Jiang Luo’s and guessed they were likely family or relatives.
“President Jiang? He’s not here. He’s gone to the factory.”
As soon as the colleague said that, Zhao Shuo and the others turned around and left.
After they were gone, a few coworkers chatted. “President Jiang’s business is really getting huge now. The factory got ten million for expansion, and people are constantly coming to the company too.”
“Yeah, and we’re about to move offices as well.”
Accountant Xue thought for a moment, stood up, went into the inner office, and used the phone on Jiang Luo’s desk to call him, hoping to warn him in advance—tell him that four relatives had just come looking for him.
Unfortunately, Jiang Luo didn’t answer. He was probably busy.
Zhao Shuo drove, taking Zhao Guangyuan and the others toward the factory in Juxiang Town.
As they neared the factory, the road grew rough. The car jolted badly, dust billowing up and even blowing inside. Zhao Shuo quickly rolled up the window.
Looking again, aside from their car, there were several slow-moving cargo trucks and large dump trucks on the road—clearly the reason for all the dust.
Zhao Guangqian, in the front passenger seat, looked out the window at the vehicles and asked, “What’s going on? Why so many big trucks?”
“Probably construction somewhere,” Zhao Guangyuan replied casually from the back seat.
Zhao Shuo, however, knew full well that those trucks were almost certainly heading for Jiang Luo’s factory.
Sure enough, when they arrived, they saw two dump trucks parked across the vacant lot outside the factory.
They drove toward the factory gate. Just as they got close, two dogs suddenly rushed out, barking furiously. Two men also came out of the security booth.
One of them saw the sedan, walked over, and raised his hand, signaling them to stop.
Zhao Shuo hit the brakes, slowed the car, and rolled down the window.
The man bent down, sized him up, and asked, “Who are you looking for?”