Chapter 38 Pleasure

Chapter 38: An Amicable Encounter

Jiang Luo arrived in Wencheng and, staying at the Crown Hotel again, was in no hurry to return to Haicheng.

That day, after touring a few factories, he followed Zhang Zhiqiang to a newly opened bathhouse in downtown Wencheng.

In the sauna, both Zhang Zhiqiang and Jiang Luo, large towels wrapped around their waists, sat with legs sprawled. As they chatted, the conversation naturally turned to Jiang Luo’s decision to stop doing business at the Haicheng small market.

Zhang Zhiqiang also knew You Junyu’s father, You Sen, as they moved in the same business circles. Aware of the incident, he couldn’t help but ask Jiang Luo, "Why did you stop doing business at the Haicheng small market?"

"You Sen’s son really has no business ethics—there’s no reason for him to undercut you right out of the gate. But even if you’re not selling at the small market, couldn’t you sell elsewhere?"

"With your ability, I’m sure you can sell wherever you go."

Jiang Luo didn’t mention his focus on building a brand and company, simply replying, "I don’t want to go elsewhere. I’m settled in Haicheng, so I’ll stay there for now."

Zhang Zhiqiang lowered his voice and revealed, "Since you stopped selling at the small market, You Sen’s son has taken over."

"He managed to negotiate with a few factories. Those factories no longer sell directly to the Haicheng small market, so people there can only get their goods from You Sen’s son. The prices aren't as low as when you were there, though—they’ve dropped quite a bit, so he’s not making much."

Jiang Luo didn’t care at all. "Fine by me. Let him sell."

His tone was lazy. "He sells his, I sell mine. Different paths, different ways."

As they talked, Jiang Luo also reminded Zhang Zhiqiang, "You know how shady some Wencheng factories can be." He was referring to the practice of selling substandard products.

"If you want to last long and earn more, don’t follow their example."

Zhang Zhiqiang replied, "I know. I know what I’m doing."

After the sauna, the two showered, changed clothes, and headed for a foot rub.

While getting their feet massaged, eating fruit, and chatting, as luck would have it, You Sen arrived. Along with him was his son, You Junyu. Both father and son were dressed in the bathhouse’s provided loungewear.

You Sen had come specifically for Jiang Luo.

Seeing Jiang Luo lying back while getting a foot massage, he greeted him and sat on the empty bed next to Jiang Luo. He started with some small talk: "Master Jiang, what a coincidence! You and Boss Zhang are both here."

Jiang Luo, not one to snub a friendly face, acted as if he didn’t see You Junyu. Leaning against the headboard, he ate his fruit and replied with a smile, "Wencheng might not have much going for it, but its bathhouses are never lacking. Otherwise, I’d have nowhere to get a foot massage when I come."

You Sen generously said, "Go ahead, enjoy. Today’s expenses are on me."

Zhang Zhiqiang chimed in from the side, "That’s Boss You for you—always generous."

After a few more casual exchanges, You Sen pulled his son, You Junyu, who had been standing nearby, closer and said to Jiang Luo, "Master Jiang, this is my son, Junyu."

His tone was gentle and polite. "Earlier, when Junyu went to the Haicheng small market and sold goods at low prices, he crossed a line. He didn’t understand the principle of respecting who was there first. I brought him here today specifically to apologize to you."

He then turned to his son and said, "Junyu," while giving him a meaningful look.

You Junyu was reluctant inwardly, but he didn’t show it. Smiling politely, he gave a slight bow and said, "I’m sorry, Master Jiang. I was ignorant and broke the rules."

Jiang Luo laughed, glanced at You Junyu, and then turned to You Sen. "What’s all this, Boss You? It’s perfectly normal for both of us to do business. Why bring your son to greet me? No need, really."

"No one ever said I’m the only one allowed to sell at the small market."

Since the other party was being polite, he responded in kind.

You Sen sighed. "He’s my only son, and I’ve spoiled him. He has no manners and does whatever he wants. I hope you’ll be understanding, Master Jiang."

"Earlier, I only knew he went to Haicheng. I had no idea he’d run into you there and sell goods so cheaply, disrupting your business."

"I’ve already scolded him—severely. I won’t let him go to the small market anymore."

"What a coincidence," Jiang Luo said with a smile. "Your son isn’t going, and I’m not going either."

He added lightheartedly, "As you know, it’s July now, and it’s sweltering."

"Carrying boxes around, drenched in sweat, and working for hours—it’s exhausting, both tiring and hot."

…

Jiang Luo and You Sen made small talk and danced around the topic for a while. Soon after, You Sen left with You Junyu.

Once they were farther away, You Junyu muttered, annoyed, "Dad, you’re always such a smooth talker, being polite to everyone. And you even brought me here to greet him."

"Who does he think he is?"

You Junyu rolled his eyes and muttered, "He really thinks he’s hot stuff."

You Sen had a gentle temperament and was like this with everyone, especially tolerant toward his family.

He placed a hand on You Junyu’s shoulder and patiently explained as they walked, spelling it out for his son. "Don’t underestimate this Jiang Luo."

"He’s young, yet he’s already traveling between Haicheng and Wencheng, doing business, buying low, selling high. Someone like him will definitely go places in the future."

"Either he comes from a very well-off family, with guidance and support, and isn’t afraid of losses because someone covers his losses. It’s best not to offend someone like that."

You Junyu rolled his eyes again and snorted. "Well-off? Give me a break. He’s a fraud, claiming he owns a department store."

You Sen replied, "He dares to say it in public and make people believe him. Could you do that? Can you?"

You Junyu snorted again. "My dad is a major player in Wencheng. We own factories. Why wouldn’t I dare?"

You Sen said, "Let me finish."

"Or, he’s just a nobody with no background at all."

"But if he has no background and still has the ability to come here alone to do business and sell goods, then he’s even more of a force to reckon with. Someone like that is even more someone you shouldn’t offend."

"Junyu," You Sen said with the patience of a saint, "no matter which category Master Jiang falls into, you need to remember this: in today’s world, those who go out, do business, and make big money are no ordinary folks."

"These people either have connections, ability, or luck. Whichever it is, you shouldn’t offend them."

"Life is about broadening your path, not narrowing it."

"If you offend the wrong person, sooner or later, you’ll stumble over them."

"Yeah, yeah, Dad, I heard you."

You Junyu was impatient, but he had let it sink in a little.

As the boss and head of the household, You Sen, You Junyu, as the only son cherished by his parents, still respected his father greatly.

He thought: He had offended Jiang Luo a while back, greeted him and apologized. If Jiang Luo still held a grudge, there was nothing he could do about it—whatever.

Jiang Luo was nowhere on You Junyu's mind. His focus was entirely on how to sell the innovative items from his factories across the country.

However, what You Junyu didn’t know was that the batches of goods coming out of Wencheng actually had problems—

In a kindergarten classroom in Jing’an, after naptime, a female teacher was putting a little girl’s hair in pigtails. After finishing, she was about to clip a pretty hairpin into the girl’s hair when, as she opened the clip, one side of it snapped.

The teacher looked at the broken hairpin in her hand, sighed, and said to another teacher nearby who was also putting a little girl’s hair in pigtails, "Another broken one. This week alone, I’ve had four or five hairpins break in my hands."

"Me too, I’ve broken several as well."

Another teacher added, "We should mention it to the parents when they come to pick up the children this afternoon."

"The quality is really poor. They must be from a small market."

The first teacher replied, "If they were branded and bought at a department store, the quality definitely wouldn’t be this bad."

"Who knows where these market goods come from?"

"I heard they come from Wencheng."

"Really? I saw on the news that Wencheng has fake leather products. How come even hairpins are so poorly made?"

"Who knows? Not necessarily from there. It could be from somewhere else. Regardless of where they come from, the quality is just not good."

...

At the entrance of a small market, a stall that once sold fabric no longer did so. Instead, it now sold foldable umbrellas, portable water bottles, false eyelashes, and other items—whatever was selling well. The stall was filled with all sorts of miscellaneous items.

At that moment, a middle-aged man stood in front of the stall, holding a black foldable umbrella and pointing to the broken part as he said to the female vendor, "Look, I just bought this two weeks ago. My daughter used it for shade, and after only a few days, it broke."

The vendor examined it and saw that one of the folding wires had indeed snapped.

Since she'd already sold it, she didn’t want to take responsibility for something that broke two weeks later. She said, "Well, you should be more careful with it. An umbrella—opening and closing it, closing and opening it—if you’re not careful, of course it’s going to break."

The middle-aged man retorted, "Hey, that’s not fair. Are you saying it’s my fault and not the umbrella’s?"

"I paid for this, and it cost me good money. An umbrella shouldn’t break after just a few uses, right?"

...

At the market, two middle-aged women bumped into each other. One of them showed the other a leather bag she was holding and said, "This bag cost fifteen. I bought it at the small market a while ago. They were selling like hotcakes—I had to try multiple times before I could get one."

"But you know what? After using it for half a month at home, the zipper broke, and the leather on this corner is starting to peel off."

The other woman said, "If you buy from the small market, you can't expect good quality. You should go to department stores like Pacific or Wing On to buy branded items. The quality there is much better."

The woman holding the bag replied, "But department stores cost more. There’s no way I could get a bag like this for fifteen there."

"You pay for what you get."

"That’s true."

...

By the time Jiang Luo returned from Wencheng, Wang Chuang had already established a good relationship with Manager Yu of Wing On Department Store. They had countless meals together.

Manager Yu had also allowed Wang Chuang to replace the sales staff at the counters with their own hires. The salaries would be paid by their company, not through Wing On Department Store.

"We’ve already hired three people, all girls."

In the building where their company was located, there was a bulletin board downstairs where companies would post job openings. Job seekers often stopped by to check for opportunities.

After Wang Chuang secured Manager Yu’s agreement, Old Man Xue (Accountant Xue) posted a job notice on the board that very day, advertising sales positions at the department store.

People started coming up to inquire the same day, mostly young women.

Accountant Xue did an initial screening, and Wang Chuang also reviewed the candidates. Together, they picked six young women who were presentable with good communication skills. They sent them to Wing On Department Store for a trial period to see if they could adapt to the job. If they fit, they would be kept on; if not, they would be paid for the days worked and replaced.

When Wang Chuang filled Jiang Luo in on this, Jiang Luo had just gotten off the slow train and taken a taxi to the company, entering their shared office.

Jiang Luo turned and glanced at Wang Chuang. "Not bad. You managed to get Manager Yu on board that quickly?"

Wang Chuang chuckled. "I learned from Zhang Zhiqiang and those other Wencheng bosses. I copied how they drank with you and flattered you, and did the same with Manager Yu—toasting him and sucking up to him."

"We had several meals together."

"Remember that edible bird’s nest you bought for my parents last time? I went and bought a box of the same and gave it to Manager Yu."

"Manager Yu had dinner and drinks with me, accepted the gift, and called me the next day to agree to let us replace the counter staff with our own people."

Jiang Luo was generous with praise. "Well done."

"Keep it up. Play it smart."

He added, "You’re looking more and more like a businessman."

"Of course," Wang Chuang said, pleased with himself.

Jiang Luo initially thought Wang Chuang had finished hiring and didn’t plan to worry about such small matters.

However, after sitting in the office for a while and discussing with Wang Chuang about getting a large tea table like the Wencheng bosses had, Accountant Xue knocked on the door. He opened it and said, "Boss Wang, Boss Jiang, someone is here looking for Boss Wang. She says she was referred by a relative for a job at Wing On."

"Oh, right."

Wang Chuang stood up from behind his desk, then sat back down, trying to sound experienced as he said to Accountant Xue, "Lao Xue, interview the girl first and see if she’s suitable. If she is, then bring her in."

Accountant Xue acknowledged this and glanced at Jiang Luo for his opinion.

Jiang Luo didn’t pay it much mind and simply said, "Mm." Only then did Accountant Xue close the door and leave.

After the door shut, Jiang Luo asked Wang Chuang, "What relative referred someone for a job?"

"It’s my mom," Wang Chuang explained. "A good friend of my mom’s—an aunt I know—has a distant niece who’s unemployed and asked if she could come work here."

A distant niece of Bai Ting’s friend?

For some reason, it rang a bell for Jiang Luo.

Could it be...?

Jiang Luo was taken aback.

Soon, Accountant Xue knocked on the door, saying he thought the girl seemed like a good fit, and led her into the office.

Jiang Luo glanced behind Accountant Xue and was inwardly amused—if this wasn't Wang Chuang’s wife from his previous life, who was it?

Wang Chuang was speechless. His shock wasn’t for any other reason but because the girl was fair and pretty—tall, with long hair and big eyes.

Wang Chuang stared unconsciously; he was totally staring.

Jiang Luo found it amusing—what a loser.

The girl, on the other hand, seemed both shy and cautious. She glanced at Jiang Luo, then at Wang Chuang, but didn't seem nervous. Her large eyes revealed sincerity and a hint of first-day jitters.

She nodded and spoke up first, "Hello, bosses."

Then, pretty confidently, she introduced herself, "My name is Mo Wanzhen, I’m 20 years old. My family sent me over here to see if there’s any suitable work."

Jiang Luo, loving every second of this, immediately shifted his gaze from Mo Wanzhen’s face to Wang Chuang. "You handle it."

"Ah? M-me?"

Wang Chuang started stammering. When the pretty girl looked at him, his face instantly turned red.

"You... you..."

Wang Chuang fumbled for words, finally managing to say with a flushed face, "We’re mainly hiring people to sell goods at the counter in the department store. Do you think... you, you’re up for it?"

Mo Wanzhen was both puzzled by how young the company’s bosses were—and that there were two of them—and confused as to why the chubbier one was stammering.

She nodded and said "Mm-hmm," held on to the strap of the shoulder bag she was carrying, and replied clearly, sounding sure of herself, "I think I can."

"I’ve sold gold jewelry for a boss in my hometown before."

"Oh, so you’ve got experience."

Wang Chuang’s face turned completely red. He shot Jiang Luo a pleading look, "You, you, aren’t you going to ask anything?"

Jiang Luo leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and stayed out of it. "You ask. You’re the one hiring, and your mom sent her over."

Inwardly, he laughed: Fool, blushing like that—in his previous life, Wang Chuang said it was love at first sight with his wife, which was why he married early. Jiang Luo hadn’t believed it then, but now, seeing Wang Chuang’s face red as a tomato, he finally did.

So easily flustered.

Jiang Luo was thoroughly amused.

Wang Chuang, his face still bright red, looked at Mo Wanzhen. "Th-th-then, go outside and fill out some paperwork."

"Wh-wh-when can you start?"

Mo Wanzhen looked at him. "Today is fine."

Wang Chuang: "Th-then, tomorrow. Come to the Wing On Department Store before 9 a.m. tomorrow. I’ll take you to the counter."

"Okay."

Mo Wanzhen nodded, glanced at Wang Chuang and Jiang Luo again, then turned and left to fill out the employee registration form as instructed.

Accountant Xue hung back for a moment. After Mo Wanzhen left, he walked toward the door and ribbed Wang Chuang, "She’s here for a job, not a date. Why are you blushing?"

Shut up!

Wang Chuang glared.

Jiang Luo finally couldn’t help laughing.

"What are you laughing at!?"

Wang Chuang glared at Jiang Luo too.

Jiang Luo laughed, feeling pretty good: It’s great. Starting over, not only is everything going according to plan, but now Wang Chuang’s wife, Mo Wanzhen, has also joined them.

Pretty good.

The next day, Wang Chuang went to the Wing On Department Store first thing to take Mo Wanzhen to the counter. Meanwhile, Jiang Luo took a cab from the Hilton to the car rental place where they had previously rented a truck.

In the yard behind the agency, the owner led Jiang Luo under a plastic shed, lifted the soft cloth covering a car, and revealed the black body of a Mercedes W140, with the iconic three-pointed star emblem on the front—a "Tiger-Head Benz."

"Thanks, Boss."

Jiang Luo was satisfied. He walked halfway around the car, examining it.

In this life, he finally had a car to drive.

The license plate was 26988, which included the lucky number "269" that Wang Chuang often mentioned, as well as "88," a number favored by Chinese business owners for its association with good fortune.

The car rental boss, a cigarette in his mouth, folded the cover cloth and said, "Drive a Tiger-Head Benz, and all your wishes will come true."

Jiang Luo walked to the driver’s side and pulled the door open. "Here’s hoping."

—

When Huo Zongzhuo was rolling his suitcase out of the airport, this was the scene he saw: a young man in a white shirt and black slacks, leaning casually against a black car with his hands in his pockets.

The wind ruffled the young man’s short, layered hair, covering his eyes, but it couldn’t hide his easy confidence.

Huo Zongzhuo walked over, a smile on his face.

Jiang Luo also smiled. As Huo Zongzhuo approached, he straightened up from the car and said casually, "Welcome back to Haicheng, Boss Huo, as busy as ever, I see."

Huo Zongzhuo chuckled, stepped closer, and extended his hand. Jiang Luo did the same, and the two naturally slapped hands like old friends. At the same time, Huo Zongzhuo let go of his luggage and said, "Bring it in," stepping forward and, following the high-five, grasped Jiang Luo’s hand, pulling him into a quick, firm hug.

As they hugged, Huo Zongzhuo added, "Looks like business is going well. You even have a car now."

"Rented."

As they separated, Huo Zongzhuo picked up his suitcase and walked to the trunk. While loading his luggage, he asked, "Not bought?"

"It’s like hundreds of thousands—too expensive. Can’t afford that now."

Jiang Luo opened the car door. "The money has better uses. Not for buying cars."

Huo Zongzhuo closed the trunk. "I thought you bought it."

They both got in.

Once inside, Jiang Luo started the car and asked Huo Zongzhuo, "Sell all the planes?"

Huo Zongzhuo: "Yep, pretty much all done."

"There are still a few batches of household goods that will be shipped out gradually."

Jiang Luo: "You made quite a bit again this time, huh?"

Huo Zongzhuo didn’t answer but asked instead: "You like that Mercedes-Benz W140? Want me to buy it for you?"

Jiang Luo chuckled: "For me? You’re really generous, offering to buy someone a car just like that."

Teasing: "Seems like you really made a lot this time."

Huo Zongzhuo: "I made quite a bit. I wish you'd come work with me, but you won’t agree."

Jiang Luo laughed lightly: "You're still on about that? How many times have you said it already? Still not giving up?"

The two chatted and laughed along the way, just like they usually did over the phone, showing their closeness.

Knowing Jiang Luo was no longer selling goods at the small market, Huo Zongzhuo asked him what he was doing now—their last call was the previous night, and he hadn't had the chance to ask then.

Jiang Luo: "I do have a trading company, right? I brought Wang Chuang back to the company."

"We’ve got a few products in the counters at Wing On Department Store now. I plan to build a real brand, and once we have the funds, we’ll start our own factory."

Huo Zongzhuo was a bit surprised. These days, selling goods was definitely more profitable than building brands. Even the big factory owners in Wencheng didn’t have the awareness to build their own brands, yet Jiang Luo actually knew about creating his own?

Huo Zongzhuo felt Jiang Luo had chosen the right path and nodded: "That you're thinking about building a brand means your business mindset is already ahead of its time."

"That’s good. Just take it step by step, steady and solid."

Jiang Luo, driving, glanced back at Huo Zongzhuo: "Going to give me more advice?"

Huo Zongzhuo laughed: "You’re still so young. I worry you might take a wrong turn, so I can’t help but want to remind you every now and then."

Jiang Luo: "Do you enjoy playing mom and dad to people?"

Huo Zongzhuo chuckled jokingly: "Not sure I could've had a son as clever as you."