Chapter 119 Swamped

Chapter 119: Swamped

Jiang Luo wasn't crazy; he was simply reborn, which gave him a more open-minded perspective on everything.

What if the man he liked didn't like him back?

No problem—he'd just slowly win him over, like boiling a frog.

It was his first time liking someone, his first time "boiling a frog," so he lacked experience. If things didn’t go well and he messed up, he could always resort to shameless persistence, just like others did.

Yes! He would leverage the fact that Huo Zongzhuo liked him and treated him so well.

Even if, worst-case scenario, it still didn’t work out and Huo Zongzhuo ended up meeting a woman he liked, getting married, and starting a family, Jiang Luo could always just keep his feelings to himself and stay by his side.

Who could stop him from liking Huo Zongzhuo anyway?

Besides, the future was unpredictable—no one could say for sure what would happen.

In any case, Jiang Luo was neither pessimistic nor stubborn.

He had already made up his mind: since he liked Huo Zongzhuo, he would naturally put in the effort and fight for it.

If he didn’t try, how would he know it wouldn’t work?

Who knows? Maybe he’d succeed in the end.

Yes! That’s exactly it!

Jiang Luo cheered himself on inwardly.

His determination and resolve were no less than when he had started his business after being reborn.

Jiang Luo even said to Wang Chuang with a confident expression, “When I succeed, I’ll give you a red envelope.”

Wang Chuang raised his hands in amazement and applauded, “This mindset—it’s so you. Impressive.”

The only problem was that Jiang Luo was simply too busy and had no time to properly carry out his "frog-boiling" plan—

Soon, he took Wang Chuang and a few colleagues from Shengfei Factory, obtained their "Border Pass" (the special permit required to enter the special economic zone), and flew to Shenzhen once again.

This time, Mo Wanzhen also arrived in Shenzhen with him.

It turned out that after acquiring the new factory, Jiang Luo had called Mo Wanzhen, who was in Guangzhou, to ask if she would be willing to come work at the factory in Shenzhen.

And so, with Jiang Luo, Wang Chuang, a few colleagues, Mo Wanzhen, and the assisting Third Brother Wang Junqing and Fourth Brother, the new factory in Shenzhen officially began recruiting employees and starting its initial operations…

When Zhao Guangyuan returned home, Su Lan went to greet him. Seeing that he had brought back the lunchbox exactly as he had taken it, she couldn’t help but feel saddened and asked, “Did Jiang Luo still refuse to accept it?”

“Did you not get to see him again?”

For some time now, ever since Zhao Guangyuan recovered and was discharged from the hospital, he had been going to the factory in Juxiang Town to bring Jiang Luo homemade food.

But except for the first time, the security guard had refused to accept any subsequent deliveries.

Zhao Guangyuan returned empty-handed every time.

Su Lan felt heartbroken seeing him make trip after trip, unable to deliver the food or see Jiang Luo. She also felt sorry for Zhao Guangyuan.

Zhao Guangyuan, however, remained optimistic and even comforted Su Lan: “It’s fine if he doesn’t accept it. He doesn’t need our food anyway.”

“It’s just that I regret what happened and want to make it up to him.”

“Forget it, it’s okay. I’ll try again next time.”

Zhao Guangyuan had extensive connections and was well-informed. He added to Su Lan, “I heard Jiang Luo has been frequently traveling to Shenzhen and Guangzhou lately. He might be planning to shift some of his business there.”

“That kid has big ambitions and a sharp business mind.”

“I’ll look into it later and see what exactly he’s doing in Shenzhen and Guangzhou.”

“If he’s really expanding there, I’ll call a few old friends and ask them to look out for Jiang Luo in Guangzhou and Shenzhen.”

Su Lan also tried to comfort Zhao Guangyuan: “That child is consistent—he says he won’t acknowledge us, and he really refuses to take anything from us.”

“Let’s take it slow.”

“At least he’s doing well, so we can rest a little easier.”

Su Lan and Zhao Guangyuan were both concerned about Jiang Luo. After all, their family had practically fallen apart, and they were deeply disappointed in Zhao Shuo. Upon reflection, Jiang Luo, who was out on his own, seemed the most reliable.

Su Lan and Zhao Guangyuan had agreed to slowly make amends with Jiang Luo and wait for him to come around.

If one month wasn’t enough, they’d try three or four months.

If one year wasn’t enough, they’d try three or four years.

They believed that someday, Jiang Luo’s heart would eventually warm up to them.

It was precisely this attitude, coupled with Zhao Guangyuan’s previous heart attack, that made Zhao Guangqian rein in his temper and stop being so domineering and opinionated about Jiang Luo.

Zhao Guangqian only emphasized one thing: Since Zhao Mingshi had run away and gone abroad, he was never to set foot in the Zhao family home again. Absolutely never!

Lately, Zhao Guangyuan and Su Lan had been busy with Zhao Shuo’s relationship and marriage plans.

Previously, Zhao Shuo’s girlfriend’s family had been opposed to their daughter marrying him because of Zhao Mingshi’s role in driving a girl to suicide.

But Zhao Shuo’s girlfriend stood firmly by his side, and her family had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

Not long ago, after discussing it with his family, Zhao Shuo brought generous gifts to his girlfriend’s home. Her parents, seeing Zhao Shuo’s impressive appearance and refined manners, softened their stance and accepted him.

Recently, Su Lan had been busy renovating their house in Gubei, planning for Zhao Shuo and his girlfriend to live there after marriage.

Zhao Shuo was also preparing to bring his girlfriend home to meet the family soon.

Su Lan discussed with Zhao Guangyuan, “Do you think preparing a red envelope is enough?”

“When Zhao Shuo visited, her elders gave him a watch.”

“Should I also buy a set of jewelry? I wonder if Bingbing will like it.”

Zhao Shuo’s girlfriend was named Bingbing, and she was a local of Haicheng.

Meanwhile, while Bai Ting and Wang Junwei were running a small shop selling pagers and mobile phones with booming business, Zhang Xiangping and Jiang Jianmin were also earning money by setting up a stall selling steamed buns and tea eggs.

Having earned some money, Jiang Jianmin became quite boastful, bragging to everyone at the factory every day.

He loved to show off, but he wasn’t particularly diligent about running the stall. As soon as he made a little money, he felt incredibly accomplished and superior to everyone else.

Moreover, after learning that Zhao Mingshi had gone abroad to study, Jiang Jianmin strutted around the factory even more proudly, telling everyone how his son was studying overseas and how he had made money from his stall, behaving as though he looked down on everyone.

As a result, his work performance suffered, and the supervisor criticized Jiang Jianmin several times, even docking his pay.

Jiang Jianmin was cocky and boastful: "My son has gone abroad; he's going to be American soon. When he brings me over, I'll be an American too, spending US dollars, and the US government will pay me money every day!"

Even Zhang Xiangping thought he had lost his mind, while others mocked Jiang Jianmin behind his back for daydreaming.

Zhang Xiangping confronted Jiang Jianmin privately: "Instead of drinking and bragging with people at the factory, can’t you come home and help me knead the dough and make the buns?"

Jiang Jianmin retorted, "Why do I have to? Can’t you do it yourself? Are your hands broken?"

The couple had a huge argument at home.

They didn’t just argue behind closed doors; they also got into fights with others—the elderly rural couple renting Bai Ting and Wang Chuang’s house had always parked their food cart downstairs.

Now that Zhang Xiangping and her family also had a stall, they too had a pretty big trike parked downstairs.

With both carts parked downstairs, they not only blocked others’ bicycles but also ended up blocking each other in.

Jiang Jianmin, never one to talk nicely, would loudly bang on the door of the east unit on the second floor whenever his cart was blocked, shouting accusations: "How did you park your cart?! You country folk have no class!"

The elderly couple would come out, and soon they'd get into it, with Zhang Xiangping joining in to argue alongside Jiang Jianmin.

After several disputes, on one particular day, another argument broke out. In a fit of anger, Jiang Jianmin grabbed a piece of raw black coal from the doorstep and hurled it at the old man’s head. The old man immediately fell to the ground, bleeding profusely.

All hell broke loose—an ambulance arrived, and the police showed up too.

The courtyard downstairs was filled with onlookers pointing and whispering.

In Shenzhen, Jiang Luo was swamped at the new factory: aside from recruiting workers, setting factory rules, training staff, and sourcing materials, he also had to take care of paperwork like business registration to get all the formalities sorted in Shenzhen.

He named the new factory "Shengfei" to distinguish it from the Haicheng factory.

At the factory, Mo Wanzhen, Wang Chuang, and others were also flat out.

Often, several of them were still working past 10 p.m., sometimes without having eaten.

Wang Junqing would then ask Lao Si to drive out, find a restaurant in the industrial park, and bring back takeout.

They would gather in Jiang Luo’s office, huddling together to eat while discussing the factory’s ongoing tasks and plans.

One day during a meal, Wang Chuang noted, "This place is really different—it’s full of big factories."

Lao Si added, "When I went to buy food, I drove around the neighborhood. All those factories and buildings were lit up."

Mo Wanzhen also commented, "I thought the wages for workers in Guangzhou were pretty high, but Shenzhen’s are even higher."

Another colleague jumped in, "There are so many young people here. As soon as they heard we were hiring, a bunch of people showed up at the factory gate. It really surprised me."

Everyone was talking and laughing while eating.

In the evening, back at the hotel, Jiang Luo finally found time to call Huo Zongzhuo.

As soon as the call connected, Jiang Luo, lying on the bed with his eyes closed, whined into the phone, "Don’t you miss me at all? You didn’t even call me once during the day."

Huo Zongzhuo’s voice on the other end was gentle: "I know you’re busy, and I've been swamped too."

Jiang Luo shot back, "Not so busy that you couldn’t make one call, right?"

Huo Zongzhuo replied, "Actually, I really was that busy. I thought about calling you, but I figured you’d be busy too and we wouldn’t have much time to talk, so I didn’t."

Jiang Luo sulked again, dissatisfied.

Huo Zongzhuo said gently to placate him: "Alright, I’ll definitely call you tomorrow."

Jiang Luo asked, "What have you been so busy with?"

Huo Zongzhuo explained, "A construction site started work these past couple of days, and today there was a foundation-laying ceremony." He then asked Jiang Luo, "How are things on your end? Have you hired enough people?"

Jiang Luo, propped up against the headboard with his eyes closed, said, "Recruiting was quick. The fabric's already arriving, and we’re working on samples."

Huo Zongzhuo sounded impressed: "That was fast."

Jiang Luo bragged, "Well, who do you think is running things?" He added honestly, "The machines were all set up, and the new hires just needed to learn how to operate them—they got the hang of it fast."

"Of course it’s fast. A garment factory isn’t like other industries; there’s no high technical barrier. Once you have the people, machines, and materials, things can get up and running quickly. It’s not like your construction sites."

The two talked a bit more.

Just before hanging up, Jiang Luo suddenly said, "Huo Zongzhuo, let me sing a song for you."

Huo Zongzhuo replied, "Isn't that tiring? You should get some rest early."

Jiang Luo began singing into the receiver:

"I just kinda like you,

Deeply in love with you,

Without reason, without cause.

I just kinda like you,

Deeply in love with you,

Ever since the day I met you..."