Chapter 72 Peace

Chapter 72 Calm

Zhang Ningfu blinked behind his glasses, not quite grasping it. "But you don't know anything about clothing either."

"Didn't you refuse to learn and didn't want to be a tailor?"

"Yes, yes."

His son remained silent, as did his daughter-in-law.

Zhang Ningfu's wife spoke up, "Old man, have you lost your mind? Going to the factory to be a worker? He should obviously be a leader, sitting in an office!"

"You manage such a big factory, and the workshop was originally yours. You call the shots. When our son goes, isn't it up to you where he goes? If you want him in the office, he'll be in the office. If you want to set his salary, you can!"

Zhang Ningfu was dumbfounded. He looked at his son and daughter-in-law, then at his wife, took off his reading glasses, and said, "Since when is it up to me?"

"That factory isn't mine."

"It belongs to our boss."

"It's Manager Jiang's!"

"I'm just a tailor, his employee. What can I decide?"

His son and daughter-in-law remained silent. Zhang Ningfu's wife pursed her lips in disbelief and said, "Isn't it because he bought our workshop from us back then?"

"With the workshop, he started this factory."

"Old man, don't be naive."

"Now that you're running the factory, you're in charge!"

"If you're in charge, isn't it up to you to put our son wherever you want?"

"How are you just an employee for him?"

"Are you stupid? Ask him for shares, become a shareholder, and be a boss yourself."

"Back then, he bought the workshop for ten or twenty thousand and kept you employed."

"If it weren't for you, could his brand have gotten off the ground? Could it sell so well in the mall? Could he open such a big factory?"

"Yeah, Dad."

His son finally spoke up, "You can't be so muddled. You should fight for what's rightfully yours."

"The workshop was originally yours, and it was sold cheaply. You stayed on, making the clothes and building his brand for him."

"With the factory being newly built, you should have shares."

"I'm your son. If you have shares in the factory, of course I can go and be a leader. Why wouldn't it work?"

"You... all of you."

Zhang Ningfu looked as if he had heard something out of a fairy tale, utterly shocked.

"Grandpa, play with me."

His daughter-in-law stood up, took the little girl's hand, and said, "Nannan, go to your room first. Your father, grandmother, and grandfather have something to discuss."

"I won't go in, I won't go in! I want Grandpa to stay with me!"

On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, at a coffee shop, Zhao Mingshi waited for Zhao Shuo, who had been giving him the cold shoulder for days.

Zhao Shuo sat down, tossed his mobile phone onto the table, and kept a stern face, clearly still upset.

Zhao Mingshi tried to win him over by going to the counter to get coffee. "Brother, here's your favorite latte. I asked them to add a bit more milk. Here's the sugar—want me to add it for you?"

He tore open a sugar packet and poured it into the coffee, acting like the perfect little brother.

No matter how upset Zhao Shuo was, seeing Zhao Mingshi like this, some of his anger faded.

He picked up the coffee and took a sip. Zhao Mingshi sat across from him, smiling. "How is it? I think this place's coffee is pretty good. I’ve been thinking you’d like it, so I chose it today just so you could try it."

Zhao Shuo’s expression softened a bit. He put the coffee down and asked, "Have you been to the Jiangs’ place?"

Zhao Mingshi paused, mulling it over. "Yeah."

He nodded ambiguously, though in truth, he hadn’t gone at all.

"Take these."

Zhao Shuo pulled out a stack of red envelopes from the inner pocket of his suit and handed them to Zhao Mingshi—all from relatives during the New Year.

"Thanks, bro."

Zhao Mingshi smiled as he accepted them.

He placed the red envelopes on the table and continued trying to win him over. "How’s everything at home lately? Is Mom sad? I’m not around, and Jiang Luo isn’t back either."

"Does Uncle blame me?"

"I didn’t want things to turn out this way."

"I didn’t know he’d get so angry with me at home."

"If I’d known earlier, I would’ve…"

Zhao Shuo frowned. "Don’t talk nonsense. No one blames you."

"Everything’s fine at home, don’t worry."

"Dad’s so busy—he’ll probably leave again after the New Year. By then, you’ll be back at school too. Come home on weekends when you have time. You’ll always have a home here."

"Thanks, bro."

Zhao Mingshi acted obedient once more.

The two brothers chatted casually about family matters for a while. Then Zhao Shuo remembered something and said, "After the New Year, when you go back to school, have a straight talk with that girl. If you’re breaking up, just break up. Don’t let it get messy."

"If you really like her and want to keep dating, that’s fine too, but no more hotel visits, understand?"

Zhao Mingshi nodded obediently. "I know, I’ll do as you say, bro."

Zhao Shuo was finally won over, and his expression returned to normal.

Zhao Mingshi then tentatively asked, "Brother, has Jiang Luo… come home? Have Mom, Dad, and Uncle seen him?"

"Have the relatives all seen him too?"

"No."

"No clue where he is, he didn't come back."

As he spoke, Zhao Shuo looked at Zhao Mingshi, as if considering something.

"Bro?"

Zhao Mingshi took a sip of coffee and looked up: "What is it?"

Zhao Shuo picked up his coffee, took a sip, put the cup back, sat up straight, placed his hands on his thighs, and leaned forward slightly, clearly having something on his mind.

Zhao Mingshi guessed it had to do with Jiang Luo.

Sure enough, Zhao Shuo began: "Actually, seeing someone and all that is pretty normal. You're young, it's normal to get carried away."

"When I went to find you that day, I was angry, and honestly, some of it was my own issues."

"I thought you were messing around."

"Compared to you, Jiang Luo is much more serious."

"Not just much more, but way more serious."

What did that mean?

Zhao Mingshi was turning this over in his head but kept up his obedient act: "I know I was wrong, I won't dare do it again."

"What about Jiang Luo?"

"Isn't he doing business? And driving such a nice car."

Testing the waters: "Uncle didn't buy the car for him, did he?"

Zhao Shuo: "Not my dad."

"There's something, if I say it, not just you, but my dad, Mom and Dad, would be absolutely shocked. You'd be completely overshadowed."

Zhao Shuo leaned forward again, looking at Zhao Mingshi seriously: "I heard that before the New Year, Jiang Luo got a local township to guarantee him, and he secured a ten-million-yuan loan from the Haicheng headquarters of Bank of China. After the New Year, he's going to use that ten million yuan to buy imported equipment and build a factory."

Zhao Mingshi: !!!

Ten million yuan!?

Zhao Shuo: "Ming Ming, so now you know why I was so furious when I found you up to that nonsense at the hotel?"

"Think about it, what were you doing, and what was Jiang Luo doing?"

"Impossible!"

Zhao Mingshi blurted out: "He couldn't even get into college, he's just a loser!"

"Ming Ming!"

Zhao Shuo: "It's not fake, I checked long ago."

"This is spreading all through Haicheng's business circles, it's all over, it started before the New Year."

"Mom and Dad are in the system and too busy, so they haven't heard."

"When I found out, I was shocked too."

"I made sure to ask someone, it's absolutely true, Jiang Luo got the loan."

"Ten million."

"Not a single word is wrong."

"There's no way he got that loan himself, that much money."

Zhao Mingshi immediately said: "Did Mom and Dad ask someone to put in a word for him at the bank?"

"Or Uncle? Your dad?"

Zhao Shuo: "Not Mom and Dad, not my dad, they had no idea about this."

Zhao Shuo: "That's why I was so angry with you on New Year's Eve."

Lowering his voice: "While you were hooking up with some girl in a hotel room, Jiang Luo had already secured the loan, and the factory is about to start construction."

"I'm not trying to compare you to him, he's in business, you're in school, there's no comparison."

"But what is he doing? And what are you doing?"

"Others might not compare you two, but what about you?"

"How will Mom and Dad see you then?"

"Will they like Jiang Luo more and more? Pay you less and less attention?"

Zhao Shuo: "Ming Ming, I'm genuinely worried about you."

"You're not their biological son, and Jiang Luo is so much better than you, what will you do in the future?"

"If Mom and Dad's hearts end up entirely with Jiang Luo, what about you? Can you accept that?"

"How will you stand your ground at home?"

Zhao Mingshi felt like he'd been hit over the head, disbelieving, unconvinced, and even more resentful.

He kept thinking: Jiang Luo is just a loser who couldn't even get into college!

He muttered: "Just a loser!"

How could he!?

How is this possible!!!?

Is he even worthy?

That's a full ten million yuan!

Ten million!

Zhao Mingshi: "Someone's backing him, right? Not Mom and Dad, not your dad, then who else?"

"Did he connect with someone important?"

Zhao Shuo thought of Huo Zongzhuo, but he kept quiet: "Whoever he met or who helped him, Ming Ming, you really need to wake up, don't remain in the dark."

"You're my brother; we have eighteen or nineteen years of history together. I don’t want my biological brother to come back and have everyone like him while gradually losing affection for you."

"You’ve already seen my dad’s attitude—he even had you move out of your old room."

"If they find out how successful Jiang Luo is..."

Zhao Mingshi couldn’t take in a single word. He thought: How is this possible!? How is this possible!!!

A petty troublemaker getting a loan of ten million and opening a factory?

How is this possible!!!

How could something so absurd happen in this world?!

Zhao Mingshi thought back to when he called the Tax Bureau to report Jiang Luo’s company. He didn’t know what consequences or impact that report had on Jiang Luo, but right now, his mind was filled with one thought:

No, he can’t let Jiang Luo make a comeback, he can’t let Jiang Luo succeed.

Absolutely not! Under no circumstances!

If Jiang Luo makes a comeback and succeeds, returns to the Zhao family, both Mom and Dad will love him.

Then what about me?

What about me!?

Zhao Mingshi was truly panicking. He stood up, walked over to Zhao Shuo, and clutched his arm: "Brother, you have to help me, please help me, okay?"

"I don’t want to be outshone by Jiang Luo."

"If he outshines me, I won't have a place in this family."

"Not only will Uncle kick me out, but Mom and Dad will even silently let Jiang Luo drive me away."

"I don’t want to leave. I love you all, I don’t want to go."

At the same time, a chill of rationality rose in Zhao Mingshi’s heart:

Make a comeback and succeed?

No!

Don’t even think about it!

I’m only stronger than you, never weaker.

If you really succeed, I’ll only be even more successful than you!

Yes! Even more successful!

In Suzhou these past few days, Huo Zongzhuo showed Jiang Luo around Pingjiang Road and the nearby areas. They visited several traditional gardens like the Humble Administrator’s Garden and Lingering Garden, went to Shantang Street and Hanshan Temple, ate osmanthus cake, pan-fried buns, and drunken crab, and even dined at Deyuelou.

This afternoon after lunch, they didn’t go out. Huo Zongzhuo spread rice paper and a paperweight on the dining table, prepared the ink, picked up a brush, and began brushing "Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng."

Outside under the corridor, his mother sat on a small rattan chair knitting, while Jiang Luo sat on a small stool beside her, holding the little white cat on his lap and petting it.

Whenever Huo Zongzhuo looked up from his writing, he could see his mother and Jiang Luo at the doorway.

It was truly a peaceful, warm, and happy afternoon.

In a county seat in Northern Jiangsu, Mo Wanzhen, afraid her family might find out, didn’t even take her luggage. She just hid her wallet and quietly slipped out of the house, walking quickly toward the street.

Once on the street, she hailed a pedicab and headed to the bus station.

At the station, she approached the ticket window. As she opened her wallet, she said to the ticket agent inside, "I'd like a ticket to Haicheng for the earliest departure."

In Haicheng, the bedroom door was closed. Zhang Ningfu stood by the bed packing his things, bending over to stuff his clothes and belongings into his bag without saying a word.

Zhang Ningfu’s wife stood on the other side of the bed, rattling off a constant stream of words in her rural Haicheng-accented dialect like a machine gun:

"You’ve gotten dull from making clothes, from being a tailor! So stubborn!"

"It was our workshop back then that later became the factory, that made so much money!"

"What’s wrong with asking for shares? Why shouldn’t you ask?"

"If you ask me, now that the factory has expanded, you should be the factory manager!"

...

After the holiday, what lay in store for Jiang Luo?

A new year brings new "battles" to wage.