Chapter 113 Factory

Chapter 113 The Factory

The moment he stepped inside, Jiang Luo wondered if Huo Zongzhuo had found him a factory to help him understand the situation in Shenzhen.

He didn't show much surprise. He was more familiar with Huo Zongzhuo’s thoughtfulness and care than anyone else; given how capable the man was, it was only natural for him to have prepared everything in advance. Jiang Luo's main thought was simply, *What kind of factory is this? A garment factory?*

The two cars pulled up one after another in front of a large workshop.

Jiang Luo and Huo Zongzhuo got out, followed by Wang Junqing and the others.

Huo Zongzhuo, once again, only took Jiang Luo with him, turning to Wang Junqing and saying, “You all can look around on your own.”

“Alright.”

Jiang Luo was looking around—at the workshop, the perimeter walls—and couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

He followed Huo Zongzhuo, and it wasn’t until they were about to enter the workshop that it dawned on him: the factory and its surroundings were too quiet. They were already inside, yet they hadn’t seen a single person.

Walking beside Huo Zongzhuo, Jiang Luo asked, puzzled, “Is the factory closed today?”

Do factories ever completely shut down for a day off? For efficiency, aren't they usually running at least day and night shifts?

“Let’s go inside and see.”

Huo Zongzhuo didn’t elaborate.

Once inside, Jiang Luo looked up and was stunned.

The workshop they had entered was, in fact, a sewing workshop.

The factory complex was enormous, with high ceilings and hanging lights. The entire workshop was divided into sections, neatly arranged with various industrial sewing equipment, including straight stitch machines and overlock machines.

This…?

Jiang Luo turned to look at Huo Zongzhuo beside him. *So, this was a garment factory after all?*

Indeed, there was no one in the factory. At least, in the section they had entered, there wasn't a single soul apart from their group. Only neatly arranged machines, sunlight streaming through the glass windows, and clean, bright green flooring.

Jiang Luo walked further in, examining the machines. He noticed they were all new, imported, and identical to the German equipment used at Shengfei and Hongming.

As he went deeper, it was the same—no exceptions.

Jiang Luo stopped in the middle of the empty yet bright and clean workshop, turned to Huo Zongzhuo, and asked, bewildered, “This is a new factory. It hasn’t started operations yet, has it?”

“No, it hasn’t.”

Jiang Luo looked around again, then back at Huo Zongzhuo. “Why did you bring me here?”

Huo Zongzhuo didn’t answer but instead asked, “What do you think of it?”

Jiang Luo glanced around once more and nodded. “It’s really impressive.”

“The factory complex is huge, all the equipment is imported, and they even did special flooring.”

“There are lights above every workstation too.”

Jiang Luo’s own factories, both Shengfei and Hongming, had been renovated to a similar scale and configuration.

But this place was clearly superior, as the workshops appeared brand new, with walls and ceilings gleaming pristine white.

Huo Zongzhuo then asked, “Do you see anything that’s not good, or that needs changing?”

Jiang Luo countered, “With everything like this, what could possibly be wrong?”

Huo Zongzhuo’s next question was: “Do you like it?”

*Like it?*

Following the question, Jiang Luo nodded. “Yes, of course I like it.”

What garment manufacturer wouldn’t like a factory like this?

Huo Zongzhuo, with his usual calm expression and tone, said, “It’s yours now.”

Huh?

Jiang Luo heard him clearly. It was precisely because he heard him clearly that he wondered if he had misheard.

*Yours?*

“Mine?”

Jiang Luo pointed at himself and immediately said, “Don’t tell me you built a factory in Shenzhen and are now giving it to me.”

Huo Zongzhuo nodded calmly. “That’s right.”

Jiang Luo: "..."

Huh?

????????????

Jiang Luo immediately widened his eyes, staring at Huo Zongzhuo with a look of utter bewilderment and disbelief.

Huo Zongzhuo remained calm and composed. “Since you like it and think it’s well done, accept it and manage it well.”

Huo Zongzhuo was well aware that gifting a factory was an exaggerated gesture, one that could easily raise suspicions and reveal his underlying intentions. So, as he had planned, he added, “The factory is yours to manage. Once it starts making a profit, cut me in for 20% of the profits.”

Jiang Luo heard him but seemed unable to process it. He continued staring at Huo Zongzhuo, motionless. After a moment, he raised an eyebrow and said, “Huo Zongzhuo, are you alright? Is everything okay?”

“This is a factory! A real factory!”

“And you’re giving it to me?!”

Jiang Luo wore an expression of “are you kidding me?”—a mix of speechlessness and stunned disbelief, his face completely blank.

He looked around again—at the walls, the ceiling, the flooring—then turned back to Huo Zongzhuo, eyes wide, repeating, “This is a factory! A real factory! A garment factory! Brand new!”

“You’re giving this to me?”

“You’re giving this to me!?”

“Yes.”

Huo Zongzhuo was absolutely certain, perfectly clear, and completely insistent. He also knew that giving such a gift was unusual, and Jiang Luo would definitely have an unexpected reaction.

Jiang Luo was indeed very taken aback.

He took a few steps forward, spread his uninjured arm, and spun around, gesturing around him with an incredulous smile. Astonished, he asked Huo Zongzhuo, "Are you crazy? Or am I dreaming?"

"Huo Zongzhuo, this is a factory, a clothing factory!"

"You're giving this to me?!"

"Yes."

Huo Zongzhuo stood his ground.

Jiang Luo: !

!!

!!!

Jiang Luo stepped back in front of Huo Zongzhuo, looking at the man in disbelief. "Did you buy the land for this factory or what?"

"When did you start building it?"

"Are these machines all brand new?"

"How much did it cost in total?"

"Are you crazy!???"

Huo Zongzhuo gave a slight smile and looked back at Jiang Luo. "Didn't you say you liked it?"

Jiang Luo's face again showed a look of "are you kidding me" shock.

"I like it? So what if I like it? Is it that important? Is it such a big deal?"

"Or does it have to be fulfilled?"

"Liking something doesn't mean anything!"

"I like it, so you go and get me a factory?"

Once again: "Huo Zongzhuo, are you insane!?"

Huo Zongzhuo then raised his hand, put it on Jiang Luo's shoulder, and said solemnly, "I bought the land for the factory after the Lunar New Year."

"After buying the land, I immediately took care of the paperwork and started construction. The factory building is brand new, and the machines are all new too."

"How much it cost, that's not for you to worry about. For me, it's just money—I'll make it back."

"You just need to know that from now on, this place, this factory, the building, the machines, everything, is yours."

"It's given to you. You manage it. After it starts making a profit, cut me in for twenty percent."

"Huo Zongzhuo!"

Jiang Luo still wore an incredulous expression, shaking his head in amazement. "No one starts a factory like you do."

"And no one gives gifts the way you do!"

By now, Jiang Luo had wrapped his head around the situation. Precisely because of this, he felt shocked, found it unbelievable, thought it was like something out of a fairy tale.

In this world, could such a thing really happen?

Like, *this*!?

"Huo Zongzhuo, what on earth were you thinking?"

Jiang Luo simply couldn't understand.

"Are you really crazy?!"

"Even if money means nothing to you, and even if we have a good relationship, it shouldn't be like this, should it!?"

Huo Zongzhuo wasn't worried about anything else, only that his own somewhat ulterior motives might be dug up by Jiang Luo.

He replied calmly, "I said, cut me in for twenty percent of the profits. It's not a free gift."

Was this just a matter of profit sharing?

Jiang Luo was no fool. For one person to go to such lengths for another... If Jiang Luo didn't have his knowledge from his previous life and didn't know beforehand that there had never been any rumors about Huo Zongzhuo being homosexual, he would truly suspect what this man's real feelings towards him were.

For a moment, the thought really did flash through Jiang Luo's mind: *Was Huo Zongzhuo doing this because he liked him?*

But this thought was quickly replaced by others—Jiang Luo's heart pounded, beating fast and strange, with an indescribable feeling lingering in his heart.

What was it?

Jiang Luo stared intently at Huo Zongzhuo with an inexpressible expression, trying to calm his racing heart. His emotions had never been so complex, not in this life nor the last.

What was it?

What exactly was it?

Huo Zongzhuo met Jiang Luo's gaze firmly. "I'm giving it to you. Take it."

"Run the factory properly. Hire people, run it properly."

"I expect to see profits."

"Give me twenty percent every year."

Huo Zongzhuo...

Jiang Luo gazed for a long time at the face before him.

Familiar, handsome, profound.

In a moment of sudden clarity, Jiang Luo felt that something in his heart had suddenly changed.

Or rather, something had finally surfaced, and he had keenly detected it.

What was it?

Later, when he was taken to tour the other workshops, Jiang Luo's consciousness seemed split in two. One part followed Huo Zongzhuo's lead, inspecting the factory, while the other part remained fixed on Huo Zongzhuo himself, his eyes and thoughts completely consumed by the man's appearance.

Jiang Luo's heart was also full, so full it felt like something was about to spill over.

What it was, he still hadn’t quite figured out yet.

He looked at Huo Zongzhuo, at the man’s sharp, well-defined profile, at his lips parting and closing as he spoke. Jiang Luo’s awareness waxed and waned, feeling unreal at times, as though he were floating in the air, his soul detached from his body.

In a fleeting moment of clarity, his mind and body reunited, and Jiang Luo felt an aching tightness in his chest, pins and needles in his palms. Everything about him felt off, as though he had become a completely different person.

What had changed?

What was wrong with him?

Later, after leaving the workshop and walking through the factory grounds together, Jiang Luo heard Huo Zongzhuo say something.

But try as he might, Jiang Luo couldn’t focus enough to make out the words.

He turned to look at the man, his heart hammering wildly. His gaze locked onto Huo Zongzhuo’s eyelashes, the tip of his nose, his lips—staring for no reason, feeling completely out of sorts.

By the time Jiang Luo fully snapped out of it, he found himself back in the car, seated in the passenger seat. They had already left the factory area.

Huo Zongzhuo was saying to him, “You don’t look happy. You like it, but getting the factory this way is completely different from what you planned, and you don’t really want it, is that right?”

Jiang Luo turned to look at Huo Zongzhuo.

Huo Zongzhuo, still driving, remained calm and steady as ever. “If you don’t want it, that’s fine too.”

“The factory can be rented out to someone else, or turned over to the local government to manage and attract businesses to operate it.”

“I want it. I never said I didn’t.”

Jiang Luo spoke up.

His soul had returned, and his tone was back to normal. “I’m just... really surprised.”

“You could’ve given me anything, but a factory? You really threw me for a loop.”

“It’s just too astonishing.”

Huo Zongzhuo had felt a little put out earlier, thinking Jiang Luo might not want the factory.

But now, hearing this, he felt relieved and smiled. “As long as you want it.”

“You’ll be even busier from now on, with all those trips to Shenzhen.”

“Thank you, Dad. I’ll make sure the factory runs well.”

“I’ll make sure you get a healthy return on your investment.”

Jiang Luo’s tone was his usual one, but his mind was racing—what exactly was that strange, overwhelming feeling inside him, so full it was about to spill over?