Chapter 18 Big Spender

Chapter 18 The Big Shots

Entering the room and closing the door, Wang Chuang remarked curiously, "So we just closed the deal like that? It was almost too easy!"

He added, "Didn’t you say your trading company hasn’t been approved yet? Where did the company seal come from?"

"“Fake.”"

Jiang Luo walked into the bathroom to wash his hands.

"Fake?" Wang Chuang followed him to the bathroom door, leaning against the frame, confused. "How can we sign a contract with a fake seal?"

"Couldn’t it backfire?"

Jiang Luo washed his hands under the tap. "Who would know if you don’t say it’s fake?"

"And how do you know their company seals are real?"

"Real or fake doesn’t matter. Things aren’t that formal right now. The important thing is closing the deal."

"Once the deal is sealed and everyone makes the money they’re supposed to, who cares if it’s real or fake?"

Wang Chuang listened, processing it, then nodded, thinking it made sense.

Wang Chuang continued, "But how are we going to pay them later?"

"Didn’t you say we’d pay after they ship the goods?"

"We don’t have that much money on hand."

Jiang Luo finished washing his hands and dried them with a towel. "You’ll find out when the time comes."

Jiang Luo left the bathroom, and Wang Chuang immediately stripped off his clothes and rushed to the bathtub, eager to soak.

Jiang Luo lazily leaned back on the sofa, pulled a piece of crispy candy from his pocket, unwrapped the oil paper, and popped the candy into his mouth.

For the next two days, Jiang Luo and Wang Chuang had little to do.

They didn’t take the Crown car arranged by Boss Zhang or Boss Li. Instead, the two of them took Ma Bo’s car to the town’s factories, taking turns wandering around the toy factory and the lamp factory, occasionally joining the two bosses in their offices for tea and shooting the breeze.

While idly strolling around the factories, Wang Chuang grew puzzled again and asked Jiang Luo, "They’re handling their own production. We can’t really help. Why do we need to come to this town?"

"Couldn’t we just explore and have fun around here?"

Jiang Luo hummed. "Are you here to have fun?"

Wang Chuang spread his hands. "But we’re just as idle now. Isn’t this basically the same as having fun?"

Jiang Luo said, "If we place an order, sign a contract, and then disappear without showing up, would they feel secure enough to keep the factory machines running?"

"Besides the two thousand yuan, we haven’t paid a single cent."

Right. Wang Chuang began to catch on.

Jiang Luo explained, "Our presence here reassures them. Only when they’re reassured will they produce what we need."

"We can’t just not pay and not show up, right?"

Wang Chuang finally understood and nodded. "Makes sense."

But Jiang Luo’s intentions went far beyond that. He was planning for the long term—having closed two deals and frequently driving around the town, showing up inside and outside the factories, it wouldn’t be long before news spread throughout the town, at least around Boss Zhang’s toy factory and Boss Li’s lamp factory, that two businessmen from Haicheng had come to negotiate deals.

If not spreading like wildfire, at least the local factory owners would soon learn about the two of them.

Jiang Luo had other plans for the future. If the town’s bosses knew about him, it would smooth the way for his subsequent moves.

Sure enough, after Jiang Luo had visited the lamp factory, sat in the office, drank tea, chatted, and taken a quick look at the assembly line, he grew bored and started loitering with Wang Chuang at the factory gate, teasing a grubby guard dog. Just then, a car pulled up beside them, the window rolled down, and a man with a thick local accent greeted them in Mandarin, "Boss Li’s clients? From Haicheng?"

Jiang Luo and Wang Chuang both looked up.

Wang Chuang stayed silent, while Jiang Luo smiled and said, "Yes, from Haicheng."

"Are you a local boss? Do you run a factory too?"

The man replied, "Yeah, I make daily necessities."

He then added, "I heard you have a department store in Haicheng? Need daily goods? I’ve got plenty, make all kinds of stuff."

Jiang Luo casually responded, "Depends on what kind of daily goods you’re talking about."

"Common ones aren’t in short supply—Haicheng’s full of them."

"You’d need to have Hong Kong or Taiwan imports."

The man gestured, "Hop in, want me to show you around the factory?"

Jiang Luo said, "Sure, let’s take a look."

He then called Wang Chuang, and the two walked to the man’s car and got in.

While Jiang Luo was touring the factory, Ma Bo, feeling bored, drove his Jinbei Haishi around town and stopped at a tobacco and liquor store. He pulled two packs of Yuxi cigarettes from his pocket, slid them across the glass counter, and sold them for cash.

As the shop owner was fetching money from the drawer, a man dressed like a boss, wearing a plaid shirt and carrying a leather bag under his arm, approached, glanced at Ma Bo, and asked, "Aren’t you the one driving those two guys from Haicheng lately?"

Ma Bo turned his head and glanced at the man. "Yeah."

The man politely offered him a cigarette. "Just asking casually—what’s the deal with those two from Haicheng?"

"I heard they have a department store in Haicheng. Is that true or not?"

Ma Bo tucked the cigarette behind his ear. "No idea if it’s true or not, but they’re definitely loaded."

"As soon as they got here, they rented my car without even haggling."

"Staying at the Crown Hotel in the city, eating at the best restaurants, even covering my gas money. Really generous."

"Big shots, for sure."

And just like that, news quickly spread around the toy factory town that two big shots from Haicheng, who owned a department store, had arrived.

Upon further inquiry, people learned that Boss Zhang’s toy factory assembly lines had been running day and night lately, and Boss Li, who was close with Boss Zhang, had also secured an order. Soon, factory owners in the town caught wind of it like sharks smelling blood, each coming forward to greet Jiang Luo, inviting him to tour their factories, all very enthusiastic and proactive.

Wang Chuang remarked, "This business thing is really something else. It’s so exciting—people are even calling me Boss Wang and offering me cigarettes."

Wang Chuang was feeling a bit carried away.

Jiang Luo, however, remained grounded. This was only the beginning.

Not having joined their Wenzhou merchants' dinner table and not seeing those two dishes named “Smooth Sailing” and “Expressing Gratitude,” one wouldn’t truly be considered in their good graces.

A few days later, the two thousand dolls from Boss Zhang’s factory were rushed out overnight, packed, and loaded onto the cargo truck.

Boss Zhang personally drove with Jiang Luo and Wang Chuang, taking both the people and the goods to the railway station—transporting the goods by rail was cost-effective and fast, especially since various expressways had yet to be constructed.

On the way, Boss Zhang couldn’t help but remind Jiang Luo to pay on time, to which Jiang Luo responded calmly, “Don’t worry.”

Upon arriving at the railway station and completing the shipping procedures, they handed over the goods to the station, which issued a cargo delivery note.

Boss Zhang didn’t care about this cargo delivery note, so Jiang Luo took it.

As soon as Jiang Luo got the delivery note, he immediately called Hai Cheng from the railway station. After the call, he handed the delivery note to Wang Chuang, instructing him to take the nearest train back to Hai Cheng immediately to find a man named Manager Guo at Pacific Department Store.

Wang Chuang followed Jiang Luo’s instructions and left right away with the delivery note.

Having personally handed over the goods to the railway station, Boss Zhang turned around and approached Jiang Luo, smiling gently, “Young Master Jiang, the goods have been shipped. Can we settle the account now?”

Jiang Luo: “They haven’t been dispatched yet. Once they’re dispatched, I’ll pay.”

Boss Zhang was taken aback: “But, but… it’s not that strict, is it? I’ve already delivered the goods.”

“The dispatch is the railway station’s responsibility.”

“I’ve given you the goods, shouldn’t…”

Jiang Luo reached out and put his arm around Boss Zhang’s shoulder, “Don’t rush. I’ll definitely settle the payment.”

“With me here, what do you have to fear?”

Boss Zhang frowned, "I've sent the goods. As agreed, once I ship them, you pay."

Jiang Luo replied, "Right, but 'ship' means they actually have to be sent out."

"They're just at the station—haven't even been loaded onto the train yet."

Boss Zhang grew annoyed and a bit worried. "No need to split hairs over the wording."

Jiang Luo gave Boss Zhang's shoulder a reassuring pat. "Don’t worry, you’ll definitely get your money."

Boss Zhang was displeased but didn’t show it, not wanting to offend Jiang Luo before getting paid.

Feeling backed into a corner, he had no choice but to press the station about shipping the goods, asking when they could be sent out.

The station replied, "We'll have them scheduled for tomorrow afternoon."

Boss Zhang thought it over and agreed. Tomorrow afternoon it is, then.

He said to Jiang Luo, "The payment will definitely come through tomorrow afternoon, right?"

As they walked out of the station together, Jiang Luo replied, "Of course. Once they're shipped out, you'll get your money."

It was then that Boss Zhang noticed only Jiang Luo was there. He froze, a bad feeling creeping up on him. "Wait, where is everyone else? Where’s Boss Wang?"

Jiang Luo said casually, "He had other business and took off early."

Boss Zhang widened his eyes. "He went back to Haicheng?!"

Not exactly.

How did another one get away?

Jiang Luo naturally denied it, throwing an arm around Boss Zhang's shoulder as they walked out of the train station together: "No, of course he didn’t go back to Haicheng. He’s still around Wencheng."

"He had other business to take care of, so I told him to go take care of it first."

Boss Zhang was actually a bit skeptical, worried that with one already gone, Jiang Luo might try to do the same next.

Boss Zhang was afraid of letting Jiang Luo out of his sight, so he switched to slinging his arm around Jiang Luo’s shoulder instead, steering him toward the car. At the same time, he thought quickly and suggested: "Master Jiang, how about I treat you to a bathhouse? We can take a soak, stay the night there, and come back to the station together tomorrow to check on the shipment."

Jiang Luo knew perfectly well that Boss Zhang was worried he might run off and was keeping a close eye on him.

He didn’t refuse and agreed generously: "Sure, I’ve never been to a bathhouse in Wencheng before."

Boss Zhang felt somewhat uneasy, but seeing how Jiang Luo didn't put up any resistance and remained calm and composed, he thought to himself: Fine, I’ll wait one more night. Once the shipment is sent out from the train station tomorrow, I doubt Jiang Luo will have any excuses left to avoid paying.

If Jiang Luo still refuses to pay by then...

Just as Boss Zhang was having some dark thoughts, Jiang Luo, who had taken the passenger seat, said casually: "Boss Zhang, why are you driving a Volkswagen? BMWs and Mercedes are available in the country now, but I still think my MercedesBenz W140 is a real looker."

Boss Zhang quickly pulled himself together, thinking to himself that not everyone these days knew what a MercedesBenz W140 was.

He felt a little more reassured.

He figured that if Jiang Luo could afford a MercedesBenz W140, he probably wouldn’t try to skip out on 20,000 yuan.

Little did he know that not only had Wang Chuang already run off, Jiang Luo didn’t even have 2,000 yuan to his name at that moment.

Author's Note:

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