Chapter 23 Director

Chapter 23: Director

But that night, after returning to the hotel from the seafood dinner and running into Wang Chuang, who had just come back as well, Jiang Luo couldn’t smile anymore—

Wang Chuang reeked of alcohol, mixed with the distinct, pungent smell of cheap perfume.

His face was flushed red, and whether it was from lingering excitement or something else, a tent was pitched prominently below his waist.

As Jiang Luo entered the room, he happened to bump into Wang Chuang, who was just heading to the bathroom.

Seeing Wang Chuang in this state, Jiang Luo understood instantly. His expression darkened immediately. He closed the door, stepped forward, and slapped Wang Chuang on the head: "You fucking had a wild time, didn’t you?"

"Did Boss Li and the others take you out drinking?"

Then he lifted his leg and kicked Wang Chuang: "Drinking, eating, fooling around with women—you think you’re something now, huh?!"

Wang Chuang took the slap and the kick without resisting, ducking his head and arguing, "I didn’t fool around with women! I didn’t!"

He explained, "I just had a meal and some drinks with them. Then they invited me for a foot massage. How was I supposed to know the place was so sketchy? The woman started touching me while massaging my feet. I felt something was off, so I came back right away."

Jiang Luo slapped Wang Chuang’s head again: "Like hell I believe you!"

Wang Chuang insisted, "Really, I didn’t! It’s true!"

"She touched me, and I was so scared I rushed back."

He muttered under his breath, "Why so fierce? I should’ve just stayed there instead of coming back."

"Stay your ass out!"

Jiang Luo kicked him again: "Gross, isn’t it?"

He added, "Don’t you have any sense?! They invite you, and you just go? If they told you to go to a graveyard, would you go there too?!"

Wang Chuang hunched over, legs clamped together, looking cowardly: "I didn’t do anything, really, I didn’t!"

Jiang Luo twisted his ear: "If your future wife finds out, just see how she deals with you!"

Wang Chuang gasped in pain: "Ah, ah, it hurts, it hurts! I get it, I get it! I won’t go again, I promise I won’t!"

Jiang Luo let go and looked at Wang Chuang, feeling annoyed just thinking about what he’d been up to. In his previous life, Wang Chuang hadn’t started doing business with Jiang Luo right away, and Jiang Luo hadn’t gone into business early either—he’d muddled around at Oriental No. 1 for a year or two.

Back then, Wang Chuang had graduated from technical school, gotten married early through a matchmaking arrangement, and taken a wife.

Wang Chuang’s wife in his previous life was truly a wonderful woman.

Jiang Luo had gotten along very well with her too. Later, when Jiang Luo fell ill and was hospitalized, it was Wang Chuang’s parents who cooked meals, and Wang Chuang’s wife delivered them to the hospital every day.

In this life, although Wang Chuang wasn’t married yet and hadn’t even met his previous life’s wife through matchmaking, in Jiang Luo’s mind, Wang Chuang’s wife was still Wang Chuang’s wife. Since she wasn’t around for now, Jiang Luo, as the one looking after Wang Chuang, had to keep him in check and make sure he didn’t do anything to betray his future wife.

Of course, when it came to matters between men and women, Jiang Luo really had no right to lecture anyone.

In his previous life, he’d been a playboy, with left and right embraces being a daily routine.

But that was then, and this is now.

In this life, Jiang Luo didn’t want to be promiscuous in relationships, and he certainly wouldn’t let Wang Chuang run wild either.

Thinking about how Wang Chuang would have a good wife in the future—a wife who was probably suffering hardships somewhere at that very moment—while Wang Chuang was here getting felt up during a foot massage, Jiang Luo grew angry and kicked him again, scolding, "I brought you out to do business, not to fool around!"

"You demand loyalty from your future wife, but you’re ready to lose your virginity to some random woman, is that it?!"

Wang Chuang looked confused: "What wife? I don’t have a wife!"

Jiang Luo kicked him again: "Still talking back!"

He pointed at him: "Let me warn you clearly once: business is business. Don’t give me any excuses about not being able to refuse."

"Whether you have dirty thoughts or not, you know it best!"

"Fooling around outside—aren’t you afraid of catching something?!"

"I didn’t! I told you, I didn’t! I came back!"

Wang Chuang was exasperated: "Enough already, how many times have you kicked me?"

Jiang Luo glared: "Say it! Will you go fooling around again?"

"No, no, no!"

Wang Chuang quickly begged for mercy.

Jiang Luo was disgusted: "Go take a shower. What’s that smell? It’s disgusting!"

Wang Chuang felt wronged: "I was just about to go shower!"

Jiang Luo made to kick him again, but Wang Chuang quickly dodged past him and slipped into the bathroom.

Outside the door, Huo Zongzhuo, who had overheard the entire exchange, smiled quietly to himself.

When he heard no more noise from inside, he raised his hand and knocked.

Jiang Luo opened the door and, seeing it was Huo Zongzhuo, looked surprised.

Huo Zongzhuo handed over the item in his hand: "Your pager. You left it in my car."

"Oh, I almost forgot."

Jiang Luo reached out and took it: "Thanks for bringing it over specially."

Huo Zongzhuo didn’t enter nor hurry to leave. Standing where he was, he crossed his arms and smiled: "So principled, huh? Business is business—no foot massages."

Jiang Luo had no intention of inviting Huo Zongzhuo in either; there was no reason to, since they’d just finished eating and talking.

He pulled the door, and before closing it, he teased the man one last time: "I suppose Huo Zongzhuo must get foot massages often, right?"

Huo Zongzhuo: "I never get foot massages."

Afraid Jiang Luo wouldn’t believe him, he emphasized: "Really."

"Then Huo Zongzhuo is quite principled too."

Jiang Luo neither believed nor disbelieved him. With a raised eyebrow, he said "Bye" and closed the door.

As soon as the door shut, Wang Chuang poked his head out from the bathroom: "Who was that? Did you order food?"

"Food your head."

Jiang Luo pushed his head back: "Go take your shower. Make sure you wash thoroughly."

Jiang Luo returned to the room, ate a piece of crispy candy, and then unpacked and fiddled with his pager.

As soon as he turned it on and set it up, the pager started beeping. Jiang Luo pressed the buttons and saw a Chinese prompt showing a string of numbers from a missed call.

Jiang Luo used the landline by the bed to dial the number. After two rings, someone answered, and Huo Zongzhuo's voice came through: "Figured it out?"

Jiang Luo said, "Knew it was you."

"I know how to use it now."

Huo Zongzhuo said, "If you need to reach me, use this number from now on."

"And I'll call you using this number too."

Jiang Luo had the feeling Huo Zongzhuo was teaching him step by step. He savored the idea, smiled, and said, "Thinking about it carefully, I really don’t have any reason to contact you."

Huo Zongzhuo’s voice was gentle: "If you don't have a reason, I can find one."

"What is it?"

Jiang Luo leaned back against the headboard, receiver to his ear, and just like that, he was chatting with Huo Zongzhuo.

Huo Zongzhuo said, "For example, let’s talk about whether you’ve gotten a foot massage."

Jiang Luo found it amusing.

Huo Zongzhuo added, "Or, for instance, whether you’d like to come work with me."

Jiang Luo smirked: "Still haven't given up?"

Huo Zongzhuo said, "Can’t give up. I’ve never met a sharper guy than you."

Jiang Luo chatted back: "You have that good an impression of me?"

Huo Zongzhuo admitted: "I really am impressed by you."

Meanwhile, Jiang Luo was using his pager and the hotel landline to have a conversation with Huo Zongzhuo, who was on his Motorola.

On the other side, in Haicheng, Zhu Yu, who was referred to as Brother Yu, and his crew, after several days of asking around, finally found the apartment building at the Second Silk Factory.

But no matter how long they waited or where they staked out, they couldn’t find Jiang Luo.

Zhu Yu, growing impatient, decided to go and knock on the door directly.

When they arrived, Jiang Jianmin wasn’t home—only Zhang Xiangping was there.

Seeing several big, tall men at her door, Zhang Xiangping was wondering who they were looking for and if they had the wrong address.

Hearing Zhu Yu and the others gruffly say they were looking for Jiang Luo, Zhang Xiangping’s heart sank, immediately realizing Jiang Luo had gotten into trouble outside.

Of course, Zhang Xiangping denied Jiang Luo was home, insisting there was no such person in their household and that Jiang Luo wasn’t their son.

She immediately turned around and called Su Lan, saying Jiang Luo had caused trouble outside and people had come looking for him. She insisted Su Lan and her family take responsibility since Jiang Luo was their son, not hers.

When Su Lan and Zhao Guangyuan arrived in Zhao Shuo’s car, they encountered Zhu Yu and his gang waiting outside. Seeing these people were indeed looking for Jiang Luo, they naturally asked what Jiang Luo had done to offend them.

Zhao Shuo, with a cigarette between his lips and his hands in his trouser pockets, said to Zhu Yu, "If you say my brother caused trouble, you should first explain what he did."

Zhu Yu, noticing Zhao Shuo and his family had an air of refinement and even had a car (clearly well-off), started having second thoughts.

Zhu Yu wasn’t stupid, but he wasn’t particularly clever either. He told Zhao Shuo that their boss was the big boss of Oriental No. 1 and that Jiang Luo had offended their big boss.

"Oriental No. 1, is it? Fine."

Zhao Guangyuan didn't panic at all: "I know your boss, Xue Zhizhong. I’ll have someone ask him what exactly my son did to offend him."

Zhu Yu’s heart skipped a beat: Damn, what kind of background does Jiang Luo have?

It wasn't long before Xue Zhizhong received a call from the deputy director of the district public security bureau, relaying a message from a director of a certain planning bureau, asking how Jiang Luo had offended him.

Xue Zhizhong: ??

That good-for-nothing Jiang Luo has a dad who’s a director?

Xue Zhizhong put on an ingratiating smile: "Misunderstanding, it’s all a misunderstanding. Xiao Jiang didn’t offend me, no, not at all, of course not."

"I just noticed Xiao Jiang hasn’t been to our disco lately and was just asking about him."

The deputy director, who was on good terms with Xue Zhizhong, gave him a warning: "Director Zhao has already been transferred to the Pudong Development Office. He’s being groomed for a key position in their bureau. Don’t go offending the wrong people."

"No, no, I wouldn't, of course not."

Xue Zhizhong hung up the phone and silently wiped the cold sweat from his brow.

How could he have known Jiang Luo had a director for a father? He’d almost sent the director’s son to "accompany" someone.

Xue Zhizhong had plenty of blame to assign, but he couldn’t pin it on Huo Zongzhuo, nor could he blame himself. He thought: Damn it, it’s all that idiot Lu Fuhua’s fault! Next time I see him, I’ll slap that fool a few more times!

Idiot!

So fucking stupid!

Can’t do anything right! And still causes me trouble!

Back at the Zhao family, Zhao Shuo, Su Lan, and Zhao Guangyuan had been constantly worried about Jiang Luo, who had gone to Zhejiang Province.

Zhao Shuo hadn’t mentioned earlier that he’d run into Jiang Luo at Huating and had water splashed in his face. But as Jiang Luo remained out of touch, Zhao Shuo, afraid his parents would worry, decided not to hide it any longer. He truthfully told them he’d seen Jiang Luo at Huating one night and mentioned that Jiang Luo had called them hypocrites.

Hearing this, Su Lan felt even more regretful and heartbroken: "We should have brought him back sooner."

"If we had, none of this would have happened."

"Now Jiang Luo must hate us to death."

Zhao Guangyuan didn’t say much, not wanting to upset Su Lan further, and could only sigh silently to himself.

Zhao Shuo also sighed, feeling some regret. He thought that night at Huating, no matter how Jiang Luo had acted, he should have chased after him and brought him home.

After all, Jiang Luo was his own younger brother.

Author's Note:

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