Chapter 92 Heart-stopping

Chapter 92: A Jolt to the Heart

After visiting several restaurants and banquet halls in the county town that day, before dark, Lao Si drove Jiang Luo and Huo Zongzhuo back to Haicheng.

Huo Zongzhuo reeked of smoke and alcohol from socializing. Leaning back against the seat, he didn't seem tired at all. Instead, he used his mobile phone to handle several urgent work matters, remaining calm and composed throughout—the demeanor Jiang Luo was most familiar with.

While Huo Zongzhuo was on the phone, Jiang Luo sat beside him, sucking a lollipop, silently staring out the window. He wondered how Huo Zongzhuo had managed it and what he was actually doing.

He also thought about how he'd found the situation tough to handle, yet Huo Zongzhuo had met with several people in one afternoon like it was nothing, making it a day trip. Had it already been mostly resolved?

Jiang Luo felt that Huo Zongzhuo was truly something else—there was still a significant gap between him and his "Huo-dad."

When Huo Zongzhuo hung up the mobile phone, Jiang Luo turned to look at him: "Don't tell me you've already fixed everything?"

Huo Zongzhuo: "Just about. It just needs a bit more time."

?

What did that mean?

Huo Zongzhuo didn't elaborate: "We’ll come back in a few days. You’ll know by then."

Jiang Luo was genuinely puzzled: "Is it really that easy?"

"Just meeting a few people? Having a few meals? Giving each of them a suitcase of cash?"

What exactly was going on?

Huo Zongzhuo smirked and said, "Want to apprentice under me? If you do, I’ll teach you everything."

Jiang Luo, with the lollipop in his mouth and one cheek bulging, snorted: "Why apprentice? I already call you Dad."

He snorted again: "I’m not learning. I hate studying the most."

"Suit yourself."

Huo Zongzhuo felt that whatever Jiang Luo did was fine.

It didn’t matter if he didn’t want to learn—Huo Zongzhuo would always have his back.

Back in Haicheng, Jiang Luo was once again confined to his home on Wukang Road, forced to stay put for several days. Aside from hospital visits, he wasn’t allowed to go anywhere else, so he could heal up properly.

Jiang Luo could only eat and drink, read newspapers, sing, and watch TV at home. He also received a call from Zheng Bin, who asked, "Where’ve you been working lately? I couldn’t find you anywhere. Couldn’t reach your phone."

Sitting on the first-floor sofa, Jiang Luo replied in a casual, laid-back tone: "Car accident. Almost died."

"Ah!?"

Zheng Bin was shocked and said, "You just opened a garment factory with an investment of 10 million, and that already attracted a hit?"

Jiang Luo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, thinking to himself, *Was the real reason for the car accident so obvious? How could both Zhang Ningfu and Zheng Bin hit the nail on the head?*

"Yeah, yeah, a hit," Jiang Luo continued in his nonchalant tone. "I’m recovering from my injuries lately, so I can’t go out. I’ll catch up with you once I’m better."

Zheng Bin chatted on: "Was it the mob in Haicheng who came after you?"

Jiang Luo snorted: "What mob? There’s no such thing as the mob here—at most, just some small-time thugs. Is Shanxi still stuck in the past? Still talking about the mob."

Zheng Bin replied matter-of-factly: "Of course it’s liberated, but the mob definitely still exists."

"Let me tell you, when I was young…"

Zheng Bin chatted with Jiang Luo over the phone for over an hour. At one point, Jiang Luo’s mobile phone ran out of battery, so he switched to the landline to continue the call.

After hanging up, Huo Zongzhuo, who had been reading a newspaper on the other end of the coffee table while wearing glasses, remarked calmly, "If you’re bored and want someone to keep you company, you can invite him over to the house to hang out."

Jiang Luo let out an "ah," slumping into the sofa and swinging his feet—bored, truly bored.

Jiang Luo began singing in Cantonese: "In your company, though the road is long, I’m not tired, walking with you, one stretch after another…"

A few days later, Lao Si drove Huo Zongzhuo and Jiang Luo to Haimen.

On the way, Jiang Luo chatted and laughed with Huo Zongzhuo. Lao Si, who was more bubbly and talkative than Wang Junqing, also joined in the conversation, shooting the breeze while driving.

However, when they arrived at the entrance of the state-owned garment factory in Haimen and witnessed what was happening, the smile slid off Jiang Luo’s face—

He saw the metal gate of the garment factory closed. A man in a suit, likely under forty, was banging on the gate and shouting loudly.

Two men dressed as workers emerged from the factory with stern expressions, holding wooden sticks. The man in the suit argued loudly with them, and the two workers responded with gestures clearly meant to shoo him away.

As the man in the suit continued shouting, his face turned red with anger, and he seemed about to jump out of his skin.

What’s happening?

From a distance, Jiang Luo couldn’t make out what the man and the workers were saying, but it was clear the workers were trying to drive the man in the suit away.

Jiang Luo turned his head to watch, then shifted his gaze to Huo Zongzhuo beside him.

Huo Zongzhuo was also looking out the window and said calmly, "That man is Chen Xianlong."

"What’s wrong with him?" Jiang Luo asked, puzzled. "Didn’t he buy shares in this factory?"

Why was he arguing and shouting with the workers at the factory gate?

Huo Zongzhuo said a few words, and Jiang Luo fell silent immediately.

Huo Zongzhuo said, "He spent money and bought shares, but does that mean others have to acknowledge it?"

"The factory can refuse to recognize it."

"What can he do if he refuses to accept it?"

"Let him try to sue."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Luo’s heart skipped a beat. The scenes from a few days ago, when Huo Zongzhuo had taken him to Haimen and dined with various people in different restaurants, flooded his mind—

Private rooms, banquets, four men, one woman, briefcases, some speaking seriously with Huo Zongzhuo, others laughing and drinking, raised glasses, varied expressions, and the shrewdness they displayed.

And now, Chen Xianlong was at the factory gate, furious and hopping mad.

Suddenly, it all clicked. Jiang Luo understood everything!

Those people—the four men and one woman—were either factory leaders or officials in Haicheng responsible for the privatization of state-owned factories, or even department heads of considerable standing in the county!

Huo Zongzhuo had met with them, showered them with money, and likely promised even more benefits, all to ensure the state-owned garment factory reneged on Chen Xianlong’s investment. Using the simplest and most brutal method, he had directly kicked Chen Xianlong out of the factory!

Jiang Luo stammered, "You..."

He was incredulous, his eyes wide as he looked at Huo Zongzhuo.

Not only because he never imagined such a ruthless and brutal method, but also because he was shocked that such a method could actually work.

Huo Zongzhuo calmly turned his gaze from the window and looked at Jiang Luo before speaking: "I bribed everyone related to the garment factory's transition to private ownership—those who could be bought with money, I paid; those who needed connections, I used my network."

"At the same time, I bought back the shares the factory sold to Chen Xianlong at three times the price he paid."

"I also promised the factory that I would give up a portion of future dividends, and even the profits."

"To put it bluntly..."

Huo Zongzhuo said unhurriedly: "I squeezed Chen Xianlong out."

"Chen Xianlong can call the police, he can sue, he can do whatever he wants."

"But as for the factory, everyone reneged on his shares. Even if he holds them legally, he is completely cut off from the factory."

"No one recognizes his status."

"They won’t even let him through the factory gate."

Jiang Luo’s heart raced.

Not because he was shocked by Chen Xianlong’s plight, but because he was astonished that such underhanded tactics existed in the world.

Reneged?

Just like that?

No one acknowledges it?

The written contract becomes useless?

Even if it’s legal?

Jiang Luo was stunned that things like this could happen in the world.

This is just...

Before Jiang Luo could fully process it, the car pulled away from the factory.

Soon, the car stopped on a dirt road with few signs of human habitation, and the engine was turned off.

Lao Si got out of the car, walked a few steps away, and went to the roadside to relieve himself.

Jiang Luo looked around and asked Huo Zongzhuo: "Where are we now?"

What are we doing here again?

Huo Zongzhuo sat calmly, glanced at his watch, and said: "Just wait. You’ll see."

"As we agreed, I do, you observe."

Jiang Luo didn’t ask further. He looked at Huo Zongzhuo and said: "No wonder you brought me here a few days ago, met those people, and handed them money."

He added: "Can it really be denied just by not acknowledging it?"

"Black and white, with a contract, an official seal—it’s not some kids' game..."

Huo Zongzhuo also looked at Jiang Luo and said calmly: "If there’s a will, there’s a way."

Jiang Luo: "Then couldn’t someone who offers a higher price than you use the same method to push you out?"

Huo Zongzhuo: "This is Northern Jiangsu, a county under Tongcheng."

"A run-down little county in Northern Jiangsu—aside from that Singaporean Chen Xianlong, who came for whatever reason to invest in a factory, and aside from me, us, who else would come here?"

"A higher price? Who would offer it?"

Huo Zongzhuo was certain of his victory.

Jiang Luo was truly shocked and confused: "And *this* actually works?"

Huo Zongzhuo said steadily: "Rules are rigid, but people find ways. Solutions are thought up by people."

"What you see as a dead end, in my view, you can get through by breaking down the wall."

Lao Si finished relieving himself but didn’t get back in the car. He stood outside, stretching his legs and looking around.

Soon, Lao Si returned to the car, bent down, and spoke through the driver’s side window: "Boss Huo, he’s here."

Huo Zongzhuo said to Jiang Luo: "Watch."

Jiang Luo wondered what he was supposed to be watching. Just as he was about to look outside, a deafening "boom" sounded, shaking the ground.

Jiang Luo was startled, nearly jumped out of his skin.

Looking through the front windshield, he saw a large dump truck stopped at an intersection not far away, tire marks skidding behind it. Not far from the truck’s front, a black car was overturned, wheels facing the sky, pressed against the ground.

The scene was eerily familiar. Jiang Luo’s eyes widened silently, his heartbeat quickening from the shock and the dawning realization in his mind—thump, thump, faster and faster—was that…

Was the one who got hit Chen Xianlong?

Looking again, he saw Lao Si run over to the car, pull open the door, crouch down, and drag someone out—who else could it be but Chen Xianlong.

Once he had him out, Lao Si grabbed Chen Xianlong by the hair, said something quietly, then slapped him twice across the face.

Jiang Luo turned to look at Huo Zongzhuo, beyond shocked—he was almost breathless. He had lived two lives, known many people, experienced many things, but he had never witnessed anything like this, nor such methods used against someone.

Huo Zongzhuo was also watching the scene outside.

"Scared?"

Huo Zongzhuo also turned to look at Jiang Luo.

Jiang Luo suppressed his racing heart and incredulous expression, holding his breath as he said, word by word: "You told me to watch, but I didn’t expect it to be like this."

Huo Zongzhuo withdrew his gaze and continued looking outside, his expression impassive and calm, saying: "I’ll dare whatever he dares."

"If he wants your life, then whether he makes it back to Singapore unharmed is up to me."

"Jiang Luo."

Huo Zongzhuo turned again to look at the young man, his tone level, concern in his eyes.

He taught him: "In the business world, avoid making enemies if you can. But once you have an enemy, if they threaten your life, don’t hold back."

"Your mercy, softness, backing down, or hesitation—they are all weapons you hand your enemy."

"Sooner or later, that knife will be used to stab and kill you."