Chapter 52 Roast Duck

Chapter 52: Roast Duck

Jiang Luo left, taking the elevator downstairs. Instead of rushing off, he first found a staff member at Huating and borrowed a landline to call Huo Zongzhuo’s mobile.

When the call connected and Jiang Luo heard Huo Zongzhuo’s gentle “Jiang Luo?”, his heart finally softened and relaxed. Indeed, these days, whenever he was with Huo Zongzhuo, Jiang Luo felt utterly at ease. He suspected it was the proverbial effect of “proximity to vermilion turns one red; proximity to ink turns one black.” Facing leeches like Guo Ronghai, Jiang Luo couldn’t help but unconsciously reveal his darker side, but just hearing Huo Zongzhuo’s voice instantly eased his overthinking.

“Where are you?”

Jiang Luo held the receiver in one hand, the other tucked casually in his pocket.

Huo Zongzhuo: “Beijing.”

Jiang Luo was genuinely puzzled: “Do you have a lover there? Why are you back in Beijing again?”

“What do you mean—‘lover’?”

Huo Zongzhuo laughed warmly: “Originally, I hadn’t planned to come. But I remembered last time I was in Beijing, I didn’t bring you the roast duck from here—so I made a quick trip just to pack two roasted ducks to bring back for you.”

Jiang Luo chuckled: “You traveled all that way just for some duck?”

Huo Zongzhuo: “For the duck? Of course it’s for you.”

Then, switching to Suzhou dialect, he added playfully: “Where’s your conscience?”

Jiang Luo thought Huo Zongzhuo’s Wu dialect sounded especially sweet and soft—imbued with a distinctly southern charm.

Jiang Luo then said: “How about taking me to Suzhou sometime?”

Huo Zongzhuo: “After I bring back the duck and you’ve eaten it, I’ll make time.”

Jiang Luo: “Are you *that* busy in Haicheng? You actually have to ‘make time’?”

Huo Zongzhuo: “I’m about to get even busier. Pudong has set aside a plot of land for me—but I can’t secure loans from banks outside the city that I’m familiar with. I’ll need to obtain financing from Haicheng-based banks, meet numerous people, and also establish a new company here in Haicheng.”

Jiang Luo’s attention drifted slightly: “Isn’t that good? You’ll be spending more time in Haicheng—we can see each other and have meals every day.”

Huo Zongzhuo laughed: “If you think it’s good, then it’s good.”

Coincidentally, within a couple of days, Manager Yu from Wing On invited Jiang Luo to another meal at Huating.

Manager Yu naturally had his motives—the explosive sales of Vilanido were obvious to everyone, and Wing On wanted Jiang Luo to sign an exclusive contract for their department store.

During the dinner, Manager Yu also attempted a sly maneuver.

He’d been accepting under-the-table kickbacks from Jiang Luo while simultaneously collecting commissions on department store sales—and he intended to continue doing so. Not only that, but he also refused to grant Jiang Luo the standard department store rebates that would normally accompany an exclusive contract.

In essence, Manager Yu wanted Vilanido sold exclusively at Wing On—not elsewhere—while giving Jiang Luo *nothing* in return.

Sitting across the table, Jiang Luo immediately grasped Manager Yu’s intention—and found it quietly amusing.

He thought Manager Yu and Guo Ronghai were cut from the same cloth: both pests, each infesting their own department store.

The difference was that Guo Ronghai had never managed to cooperate with him, whereas Manager Yu had enjoyed a consistently pleasant working relationship with him.

Jiang Luo didn’t care how these pests bled their respective department stores dry—the stores weren’t his, so he felt no obligation to intervene.

Jiang Luo cared only about his own position and his future plans.

So Jiang Luo flatly refused Manager Yu.

Only then did Manager Yu mention possibly offering Jiang Luo the department store rebates—hoping they might sway Jiang Luo’s decision.

Jiang Luo said: “Manager Yu, we’ve always had a pleasant cooperation, so I’ll be frank. Vilanido *will* definitely enter the other two department stores. No need to hide it from you—both Sincere and Daxin have already approached me for talks.”

“Let me be perfectly clear.”

“No matter how I collaborate with Sincere and Daxin, it was *you*, Manager Yu, who gave me my first opportunity here at Wing On. Regarding Wing On, what I owe you—you can rest assured—won’t be a single cent less.”

“But please understand, Manager Yu—I’m running a company and building a brand. Getting that brand out there is inevitable, sooner or later.”

“Selling exclusively in just one department store contradicts my entire philosophy of business and brand-building.”

“No point leaving money on the table, right?”

Manager Yu still tried to persuade him further—but Jiang Luo’s candor, coupled with his clear assurance that the under-the-table benefits wouldn’t be reduced, made Manager Yu reconsider. After all, the department store belonged to the boss—not him. Why bother so much?

Manager Yu raised his glass to toast Jiang Luo, and the two reached a smooth consensus.

Then Manager Yu asked, concerned: “Sincere and Daxin have approached you—but what about Pacific Department Store?”

Jiang Luo: “You know, we had a falling-out during our earlier collaboration selling dolls.”

Manager Yu burst out laughing: “Guo Ronghai is in trouble. The young master of their department store just took over in September and is keeping a very tight watch on operations. With Vilanido selling so well, I’ve got it—and soon Sincere and Daxin will too—but Pacific won’t. Their young master Li will surely hold Guo Ronghai accountable.”

Manager Yu then chatted idly about Pacific’s young master Li: “He’s truly a golden boy—comes from such an elite family. Heard he graduated from a top foreign university, Stanford, and he’s quite handsome too.”

“From what our boss told me, well-off families in Haicheng with marriageable daughters are already beginning to consider this young master Li.”

“The only pity is—he’s not a native of Haicheng.”

Jiang Luo listened to the first part without much reaction—but upon hearing “not a native of Haicheng,” he found it quietly amusing.

No matter one’s family background, prestigious alma mater, or wealth—in Haicheng, when it comes to marriage, being non-local automatically places one a step lower, subject to nitpicking and criticism from local uncles and aunts.

Just thinking about it made Jiang Luo want to laugh.

But then Manager Yu said something that wiped the smile right off Jiang Luo’s face.

Manager Yu said: “Young Manager Jiang—you *are* a native of Haicheng, a true Haicheng local.”

“How old are you? Would you like me to introduce someone to you?”

“I know quite a few young ladies in Haicheng—all with excellent backgrounds. Some are only children, too.”

Jiang Luo quickly replied: “No, no—I’m from the countryside, the *countryside*. Just a country bumpkin. Come on—let’s eat, eat!”

Another couple of days passed, and Huo Zongzhuo returned to Haicheng.

He came straight to the company to find Jiang Luo. They ate roast duck together alone in the office—the rich aroma seeping through the door crack, filling the outer office with the savory scent of roasted duck.

“Smells amazing.”

Several colleagues’ mouths began watering.

Inside the office, Huo Zongzhuo wrapped a pancake for Jiang Luo, placed a slice of roasted duck inside, added shredded scallions and cucumber, dipped it in sauce—and handed it over.

Jiang Luo leaned forward—not using his hands, but opening his mouth: “Ah—”

Huo Zongzhuo smiled as he fed the roast duck to Jiang Luo, saying, "You really are a kid."

Jiang Luo chewed and nodded approvingly, "Mmm!" he said. "It's delicious. Really good."

He added, "What kid? I'm not a kid anymore. Manager Yu from Wing On even tried to introduce me to a girlfriend."

Huo Zongzhuo's hand, which was holding a piece of roast duck skin, paused briefly.

He looked up, continued wrapping another piece of duck, and asked, "Did he introduce you to someone?"

"Forget it."

Jiang Luo shook his head repeatedly, "Who has time to date? I'm busy with work."

Huo Zongzhuo asked gently, "You've never been in a relationship before?"

Jiang Luo, not considering his previous life, naturally denied it, "No."

He did think of Ma Shuwei from his time at Oriental No. 1, but since he hadn't been with her in this life, it didn't count.

"What about you?"

Jiang Luo casually asked in return, "You're 29 and still single? Did you break up with someone?"

Huo Zongzhuo reached out, handing him another wrapped duck piece. Jiang Luo opened his mouth, and he fed it to him, replying, "I've never had time for a relationship."

Jiang Luo nodded but then asked, "But you’ve been with women before, right?"

Cough.

Huo Zongzhuo nearly choked on air.

Jiang Luo looked at him. Huo Zongzhuo looked back. Jiang Luo, chewing the duck, blinked, his eyes widening slightly as if to say, *No way, not even that?*

*A virgin?*

Jiang Luo laughed mischievously, "Are you really that hopeless?"

So the rumors from his past life weren’t entirely baseless?

Huo Zongzhuo calmly replied, "So what if I haven’t? It’s nothing to make a fuss about."

Jiang Luo, with a curious, gossipy look, asked, "Don’t you have any needs?"

Huo Zongzhuo lifted his gaze to him, seeing genuine curiosity, picked up an unsliced duck leg, and popped it into Jiang Luo’s mouth, "Not everything needs to be known."

Jiang Luo, mouth full of duck leg, muffled a laugh.

Thinking about how Huo Zongzhuo had been alone in his past life too, probably still a virgin in his thirties, Jiang Luo laughed even more heartily.

Until Huo Zongzhuo, seeing him laugh, said, "Those needs are reserved for someone I like."

Jiang Luo heard this, gradually stopped laughing, and focused on eating the duck leg.

He nodded in agreement, "You’re right."

His past self had been just fooling around.

"Only sleep with someone you like."

Jiang Luo stated it bluntly.

Huo Zongzhuo sighed, "Chinese culture values subtlety."

All this talk about sleeping, "No need to be so explicit."

Jiang Luo didn’t care about subtlety or explicitness, asking, "So you take care of it yourself? Often?"

Huo Zongzhuo felt like tearing off a corner of the table to shut him up.

"Just eat your duck!"

Huo Zongzhuo glared at him.

Jiang Luo chewed and laughed, wearing a cheeky grin.

Yet he was pale and handsome, his laughter bright and radiant, making him especially handsome.

Huo Zongzhuo watched, gritting his teeth, torn between wanting to spank him and wanting to hold him close and cherish him.

By the end of November, Vilanido had set up counters in both Sincere and Daxin.

Around the same time, at the Second Silk Factory, workers began deciding whether to stay or leave.

Jiang Jianmin and Zhang Xiangping went to the office first. Later the same day, Wang Junwei and Bai Ting also went to the factory director’s office.

The difference was, Jiang Jianmin and Zhang Xiangping chose to stay, signing employment contracts to continue working at the reformed silk factory.

Wang Junwei and Bai Ting, however, signed the papers, took their severance pay, and chose to leave the factory together.

Meanwhile, You Junyu, who had made money selling various knockoff products, along with two friends he’d struck out with, decided to leave the small market business behind and depart Haicheng together.

Having gotten a taste of the profits of selling imitation goods, they planned to move to another major provincial city to sell their products there and continue making money.

—Time moved forward, and people moved with it, each making different choices and heading in different directions.

At Pacific Department Store, in the general manager’s office.

Guo Ronghai stood beside his own desk, head bowed nervously and guiltily.

Behind the desk, Li Fengrui, the 23-year-old of the Li family, sat quietly, flipping through a booklet.

The booklet was none other than the latest catalog of new styles from Vilanido.

After a moment, Li Fengrui spoke without looking up, his voice calm but carrying the authority of someone in power, "Vilanido first opened a counter at Wing On."

"I told you to secure them as tenants, but you said they refused to come to Pacific Department Store."

"And now they’ve opened two counters at both Sincere and Daxin."

Li Fengrui continued, still not raising his eyes, "Manager Guo, there must be something you haven’t told me about this, right?"

After a pause, he added, "I heard the owner of Vilanido is quite young, surname Jiang."

"Did you know Boss Jiang before?"

"Bad blood between you?"

Guo Ronghai’s heart trembled.

He suddenly remembered Jiang Luo’s words that day—"You’d better pray for luck" or "Come beg me, like a dog, and if I soften, I might show you a way out."

Guo Ronghai thought to himself, he didn’t need to act like a dog—in front of the Li family, he was a dog, a guard dog that only barked at outsiders.