Chapter 123 Forget It

Chapter 123 Let It Go

His emotions surged like a tumultuous tide, indescribable.

Jiang Luo averted his gaze from the first-floor lawn, turned, and silently looked at Huo Zongzhuo.

Huo Zongzhuo met Jiang Luo’s eyes. Seeing the young man’s blank expression, he was somewhat puzzled: "Don’t you like it?"

"How could I not like it?"

Jiang Luo sighed inwardly—it was precisely because he liked it too much.

But Jiang Luo truly didn’t know what expression to wear. He took a step forward, looked into Huo Zongzhuo’s eyes again, and said earnestly, "First the factory, then the car, and now a house. Do you really need to be this good to me?"

"Isn't it a bit too much?"

"I feel like you’re not even this good to yourself."

Huo Zongzhuo had assumed Jiang Luo’s blank look was due to shock.

He said gently, "There’s a factory in Shenzhen now, and we’ll be here often. We can’t keep staying in hotels or guesthouses."

"Silver Lake isn’t very close to your factory area, but with a car, it’s not far either."

"Having a house makes things convenient and more comfortable."

"When I come in the future, I’ll stay here with you too."

"I’ve arranged for A Qing, Lao Si, and Lao San to stay nearby."

"If you need anything, they’ll be easy to reach."

Jiang Luo sighed to himself again: "So you’ve just arranged everything for the best, huh?"

He repeated, "How can you be so good to me?"

Huo Zongzhuo smiled, a look that clearly conveyed "naturally."

Jiang Luo murmured a soft "thank you," stepped forward, and hugged Huo Zongzhuo.

Huo Zongzhuo tilted his head to look at him: "But you don’t seem very happy?"

He had been a bit like this when the factory was gifted to him last time.

"I’m not unhappy."

Jiang Luo rested his chin on the man’s shoulder and explained in a muffled voice, "I'm just... too surprised."

"You’re too good to me."

"Inside, I am happy."

On the drive back to the factory from the Silver Lake villa, Jiang Luo sat silently in the passenger seat, staring out the window, lost in thought.

Later, back at Shengfei Factory, Huo Zongzhuo had some business to attend to and was temporarily absent. Wang Chuang immediately slipped into the factory manager’s office, eager to chat with Jiang Luo some more.

But when he pushed the door open, he found Jiang Luo behind the desk, lounging in the boss’s chair with his legs propped on the table, lost in thought, a silent, faraway look on his face.

"Hey!"

Wang Chuang walked over, waved a hand in front of Jiang Luo’s eyes, and asked, puzzled, "What are you thinking about?"

Jiang Luo remained in the same position.

"Didn’t Lao Si say Mr. Huo took you to see a house?"

Wang Chuang perched on the edge of the desk. "What’s wrong with the house? Why that expression?"

"It's not good? No way."

Wang Chuang gossiped, "Mr. Huo picked it out; it’s got to be good."

Jiang Luo remained half-reclined with his legs crossed, expressionless.

Wang Chuang continued, "Honestly, I’m starting to suspect that Mr. Huo might have feelings for you too."

"How much did he even invest in the factory? Then he goes and buys you a car that cost over a million."

"It's shocking."

"Lao Si told me the house in Silver Lake is huge, a villa no less."

"Honestly, if Lao Si hadn’t mentioned the word 'villa,' I’d never even heard of it before."

"Is a villa like the Western-style house you have on Wukang Road…"

"Forget it."

Jiang Luo suddenly spoke.

"Huh?"

Wang Chuang asked, "Forget what?"

Jiang Luo visibly took a deep breath, turned his head on the chair back towards Wang Chuang, and said, "I mean, forget about boiling the frog."

"Ah?"

Wang Chuang was surprised. "Why give up now?"

"Don’t you like Mr. Huo?"

"You're not going to pursue him anymore?"

How *could* he pursue him?

Jiang Luo wasn’t asking Wang Chuang—he was asking himself.

Huo Zongzhuo was just too, too, too good to him.

A man this exceptional—regardless of whether he liked men or not—Jiang Luo had initially wanted to selfishly bind him to his side.

But now, just moments ago, Jiang Luo couldn't stop asking himself: Should I really do this? Should I really be so selfish?

He hesitated. Deeply.

Jiang Luo maintained his half-reclined posture with his legs on the table, looked at Wang Chuang, and sighed, "He’s not like me. Why should I force him? Why insist on making him uncomfortable?"

That left Wang Chuang speechless again.

Jiang Luo continued, "He isn't. If I force him, would he ever truly be happy?"

"Is what I want necessarily what he wants?"

Wang Chuang blinked, "Why would you think that? You—"

Jiang Luo looked up at the ceiling, his face blank, "I've been thinking, for a straight man, what is it that he truly wants?"

"Old Wang, if it were you, you wouldn't accept feelings from a guy friend and be with him, right? You'd just wait until the right age or meet the right woman you like, get married, have kids, and start a family, right?"

Wang Chuang fell silent and didn't say anything.

"And what about Huo Zongzhuo?"

Jiang Luo let out another sigh, "He'd be the same, wouldn't he? Right?"

"Meet a girl he likes, pursue her, date her, propose, marry her, start a family, have a kid or two, and then—"

Jiang Luo couldn't finish, and Wang Chuang remained silent. The office fell completely still.

After a while, Jiang Luo spoke again, "So I kept asking myself, should I really forcibly take all that away from him just because of my selfishness?"

"He clearly doesn't like me, not in the way I like him—"

"Forget it, Old Wang."

Jiang Luo looked at Wang Chuang again, "I think it's better to call it off."

"Huo Zongzhuo has been so good to me."

"I can't do that to him."

"I don't want to make things awkward for him or end up with things turning unpleasant between us."

"Then what about you?"

Wang Chuang, being a good friend, was ultimately concerned about this after all that.

Jiang Luo shrugged, with a casual 'what can you do' expression, "Just like this."

"Be friends, be a good son."

"When he meets a girl he likes in the future, I'll help him come up with ideas, help him figure out how to pursue her."

"When he gets married, I'll be his groomsman, take the drinks for him."

"If he has kids, I—"

Jiang Luo couldn't go on again, pausing and closing his eyes, visibly upset.

Wang Chuang was also frustrated, "Weren't things fine before? We had it all planned out, the 'frog boiling' plan. Why are you—"

"It's fine."

Jiang Luo waved his hand, putting on a careless front, "Let it be. No more 'cooking.'"

"Huo Zongzhuo has been so good to me."

"I can't betray him."

Wang Chuang straightened up, frowning, "You like him, you want him to feel the same way. How is that betraying him?"

"You're not going to harm him."

"How is it not harming him?"

Jiang Luo, still expressionless, looked at Wang Chuang, "What if it were you I liked?"

"If it were you, how would you handle my feelings?"

"If it were you, would you feel awkward? Would you be uncomfortable with this kind of affection?"

"How would you face me? How would you interact with me?"

"Could we still be friends?"

"If your parents and family found out, would they judge me?"

"With me being like this—am I hindering you from dating, getting married, and living a normal life?"

"Forget it."

Jiang Luo said again, his voice firm.

Forget it. He couldn't harm Huo Zongzhuo.

Huo Zongzhuo had been so good to him.

He couldn't repay this man's kindness with such an act.

It would weigh on his conscience.

He was also afraid he might regret it later—regret harming Huo Zongzhuo, regret depriving Huo Zongzhuo of the ability to live the normal, happy life every man should have.

Let it be.

Forget it.

In Jinling, Xue Zhizhong, who was on a business trip, pulled open the car door and got into the sedan, holding a cell phone to his ear, snapping at whoever was on the line, "I don't give a damn if you have a solution or not, or where he is!"

"I'm paying good money for this! You'd better get it done!"

"Not in Haicheng? If he's not in Haicheng, can't you stake out until he returns to Haicheng?"

"He has such a big factory in Juxiang Town—you think he'd just abandon it and not return to Haicheng!?"

"Isn't he close with that guy, what's his name, Zheng Bin? The Jiang family's brother-in-law, his wife's brother from Shanxi?"

"Get your asses out there and stake them out!"

"So what if they have protection?"

"Don't those people need to eat or take a piss?"

"Can they have eyes on him 24/7!?"

"Go stake the place out! All of you, go stake it out! Send more people!"

"Be waiting for him the moment he returns to Haicheng!"

"Once you've got him cornered, as soon as there's an opportunity, drug him unconscious and haul him away!"

"Goddamn it, I want to see how long it takes you morons to get him to me!"

"Don't even talk to me about money!"

"Once you have him, I'll pay whatever it takes!"

"Why the hell haven't you gotten him for me yet!"

"I want him! Him!!!"

After hanging up, Xue Zhizhong angrily tossed his cell phone onto the passenger seat, muttering curses under his breath.

He gritted his teeth and thought: Damn it, he's just the son of a Director. He refused to believe he couldn't handle this!

Even if God himself showed up, he'd still deliver the man to Huo Zongzhuo's bed!

Huo Zongzhuo wasn't around at noon, so Wang Chuang made a point to bring his lunch into the office to eat with Jiang Luo.

Across the tea table, Jiang Luo held his lunch, eating while examining the pattern designs for several sample garments laid out on the table.

Wang Chuang ate while occasionally glancing over, feeling deeply worried.

"What are you looking at?"

Jiang Luo noticed Wang Chuang staring and lifted his eyes to glance back. "Do I have potato on my face?" Wang Chuang loved potatoes.

Wang Chuang continued eating: "Hey, are you really giving up?"

"Yeah."

Jiang Luo kept eating and reviewing the drafts.

Wang Chuang: "Aren't you upset about it?"

Having feelings but being unable to act on them, just liking from afar—in Wang Chuang's view, that had to be painful.

"Even if I'm upset, so what?"

Jiang Luo remained calm and asked: "Should I make a scene? Cry about it?"

Wang Chuang sighed: "That's not how you felt before."

"You used to be so philosophical about it."

"And you even said that love that's forced is still love."

Jiang Luo replied calmly: "Yeah, it's love. So what?"

"Love doesn't pay the bills."

"My perspective has changed."

"People change, opinions change—it's perfectly normal."

Wang Chuang: "But you, obviously, liked him so mu..."

Two knocks sounded on the door before it pushed open.

Jiang Luo looked over, immediately straightened up, and said with a perfectly normal expression: "You're back? I thought you were eating out."

Huo Zongzhuo walked in: "Didn't eat. Chatted with someone, had a couple cups of tea and that was it."

Jiang Luo walked out: "I'll get your lunch."

As he passed by, he purposely bumped his shoulder against Huo Zongzhuo.

Huo Zongzhuo chuckled: "Be careful, don't trip."

Wang Chuang watched and sighed to himself.

Others might not know Jiang Luo, but he did.

Even though Jiang Luo acted completely normal on the outside, inside he must be hurting like hell.

Wang Chuang sighed again inwardly, picked up his lunch, and walked out while eating, motioning to Huo Zongzhuo: "Director Huo, have a seat, please."

As Wang Chuang stepped out of the office, he ran into Jiang Luo returning with two lunch boxes.

Wang Chuang looked at Jiang Luo and whispered: "Want to grab some drinks tonight?"

Jiang Luo hurried past with a puzzled expression: "Drinks? Don't you have anything better to do?"

That night, at a food stall not far from the industrial area, Jiang Luo tilted his head back and finished a bottle of beer. He slammed the empty bottle onto the table and then slumped over, collapsing like a sack of potatoes onto Wang Chuang, who was sitting beside him. His expression like a dead fish clearly read: Heartbroken, I don't want to live anymore.

A few tables behind them, Fourth Brother and Third Brother Wang Junqing sat together, also eating and drinking.

Fourth Brother glanced over and remarked: "Hey, what's up with our Manager Jiang?"

Third Brother also looked over, thought for a moment, and said: "With so many factories to oversee, maybe the work pressure is getting to him."

That night, Jiang Luo didn't return to the Silver Lake villa but went instead to the hotel where Wang Chuang was staying.

In the room, Wang Chuang, flushed from drinking, sat on a chair by the bed, watching.

On the bed, Jiang Luo lay hugging a pillow, singing:

"I knew heartbreak was always inevitable

Why did you fall so deeply in love?

Because love is always hard to let go of

Why care about that little bit of warmth?"

He sang with such heart-wrenching, soul-crushing emotion.

Wang Chuang: "..."