Chapter 147 Reunion

Chapter 147 Reunion

Jiang Luo truly hadn't expected to run into Zhao Mingshi again, someone he had long forgotten and hadn't heard from for years—

It was a small, government-hosted internal meeting that had specifically invited companies related to technology, such as computers and chips.

During the meeting, relevant departments emphatically encouraged companies of all sizes to develop tech capabilities. The official presiding over the meeting mentioned that they had specially invited a Chinese executive and engineer from Microsoft in the United States. Zhao Mingshi took the stage to sparse applause from the audience and began discussing the current tech and software development landscape in the U.S.

Jiang Luo, sitting in the audience, had been mindlessly scrolling through his phone's contact list out of boredom. As the applause started, he lifted his gaze and saw Zhao Mingshi.

Naturally, Jiang Luo was surprised.

Upon closer look, Zhao Mingshi had matured considerably, both in appearance and demeanor. Dressed in a well-tailored suit, he looked dignified, poised, and confident.

He also wore glasses, giving off a scholarly air.

His speech was logical, his words clear and unhurried, clearly no stranger to big stages.

Jiang Luo almost immediately recalled the wealthy heir running an international school who had mentioned the "genius" who sold software to Microsoft and Wall Street.

Looking at Zhao Mingshi on stage, Jiang Luo had a rough idea.

But he felt nothing about it and didn't dwell on it further.

He had long cut ties with the entire Zhao family and Zhang Xiangping, let alone Zhao Mingshi.

To him, Zhao Mingshi might as well not exist.

So when the meeting ended, Jiang Luo left right away since he had nothing else to do.

As he walked away, Zhao Mingshi, who was chatting with some government officials and other business leaders, turned and glanced at Jiang Luo's departing figure.

Keen observers were everywhere, especially in business circles. Someone immediately said to Zhao Mingshi, "That's Master Jiang, quite prominent in Haicheng."

Zhao Mingshi smiled. "I know. I met him a few times when I was a student."

"Really?"

The people around them expressed surprise.

Zhao Mingshi said graciously, "I'm also from Haicheng. I was first admitted to Fudan University before going abroad."

Oh!

Everyone laughed. "So you're from Haicheng too."

As Jiang Luo's dark red Rolls-Royce pulled away, Zhao Mingshi happened to walk out of the building.

Zhao Mingshi remained impassive, his eyes following the car for a moment without showing any emotion.

He was no longer the person he had been as a student.

Back then, he would have felt jealousy and resentment. Now, he no longer harbored such thoughts or emotions.

Pressing his car key, a BMW parked by the road beeped as it unlocked. Zhao Mingshi got in and drove off in another direction—he had returned to China with his own plans.

In the hallway of the hotel room floor, Zhao Shuo walked alongside Su Lan, who looked hesitant.

Su Lan, her mind racing, reminded Zhao Shuo, "Don’t mention this to Bingbing for now."

"As you know, the circumstances around your marriage…"

Before Su Lan could finish, Zhao Shuo cut in, "I know. I won’t mention it to her."

When they reached a certain room, Zhao Shuo was about to knock but noticed the door was slightly open. He pushed it open and gestured for Su Lan to enter first.

Su Lan stepped inside, composing herself to avoid showing too much emotion.

To her surprise, as soon as she entered the suite’s living room, she saw the now mature Zhao Mingshi quickly approaching her. He immediately knelt on the floor and blurted out, "Mom!"

Su Lan’s heart raced. Looking down at Zhao Mingshi’s eyes welling up with tears, her own eyes reddened instantly. She said angrily, "You finally decided to show up?!"

"Mom!"

Zhao Mingshi shuffled forward on his knees, clutching Su Lan’s legs, and sobbing, "I’m sorry it took me so long to return, Mom. It’s my fault—I was immature and reckless back then."

Su Lan's tears started falling, and beside her, Zhao Shuo’s eyes also turned red.

A few days later, Jiang Luo had already put Zhao Mingshi out of his mind. He was overwhelmed with work—constantly having to pretend to be angry, scolding this person and that, accompanying Huo Zongzhuo, and going out with friends to blow off steam. How could he spare any energy for someone like Zhao Mingshi, whom he didn’t even care about?

But whether by coincidence or design, Zhao Mingshi soon reappeared in Jiang Luo’s field of vision.

It was a perfect autumn day with little wind—perfect for golf.

Jiang Luo had invited Zheng Bin and a few other rich kids to play.

It wasn’t just for fun; one of them had an uncle who had recently been promoted to a leadership position in the post office, overseeing telecommunications in Haicheng. Jiang Luo wanted to get the inside scoop about the separation of postal and telecom services, preparing early to lay the groundwork for future ventures.

While they were playing, a golf cart pulled up nearby. A young man inside waved toward Jiang Luo’s group and called out, "Fancy meeting you here!"

Jiang Luo turned and saw the young master from the international school family, the one who had previously mentioned introducing him to someone special.

The young master immediately got out of the cart upon seeing Jiang Luo and said, "I was just talking about you with Jake!"

He then brought the man beside him, "Jake," over and introduced them: "Master Jiang, this is Jake, the one I told you about."

"Jake, this is Master Jiang. He’s very well-known in Haicheng and has major business ventures."

As it turned out, Jake was none other than Zhao Mingshi.

Zhao Mingshi acted as if it were his first time meeting Jiang Luo. Smiling warmly, he extended his hand and said, "Hello, Master Jiang. I’m Jake, currently working at Microsoft as one of its executives."

Jiang Luo couldn’t help but laugh inwardly.

A few years ago, Jiang Luo would have ignored him or even rolled his eyes, thinking how pretentious he was.

But now, after years in business, Jiang Luo had become quite adept at putting on a facade.

Seeing Zhao Mingshi’s act, he played his part, extending his hand with a casual, faint smile. "Good to meet you."

The others, who also knew the young master who brought Jake, were all from the same well-to-do circle, and naturally suggested, "Join us!"

So they played together.

It happened to be Jiang Luo’s turn. He took his shot, and the ball flew far. Everyone applauded and praised his shot. Zhao Mingshi joined in the applause, smiling as he watched the ball sail through the air.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jiang Luo noticed and smirked to himself.

When it was Zhao Mingshi's turn to swing, Jiang Luo stood chatting with Zheng Bin: "Weren't you supposed to go back to Shanxi? Why haven't you left?"

"Go back to Shanxi? What for?"

Zheng Bin complained: "My dad wants to set me up on some blind date. No way I'm going back."

"I'm living it up in Haicheng. Why the fuck would I get married?"

"I told my dad, if you don’t get married, neither will I. He was so pissed he started cursing me out over the phone."

Jiang Luo laughed: "Fuck you. Whether you get married or not is none of my goddamn business."

As they were joking around, Zhao Mingshi took a swing, drawing applause from those around him: "Nice shot!"

Zheng Bin joined in the applause, but Jiang Luo didn’t. What's his problem, playing games with Zhao Mingshi here?

Later, Jiang Luo moved farther away, shoved his hands in his pockets, phone in hand, talking to Huo Zongzhuo.

A group of rich kids chatted, discussing the software Zhao Mingshi had sold to Wall Street. Zhao Mingshi engaged with them, but his gaze lingered on Jiang Luo in the distance.

Pausing mid-sentence, Zhao Mingshi casually brought up Jiang Luo, smiling: "Are you all close with Jiang?"

"Of course we are."

Everyone chimed in: "He’s the alpha."

Zhao Mingshi kept smiling.

Later, back in the lounge, changing clothes and showering, eventually only Zhao Mingshi and Jiang Luo were left in the locker room.

Jiang Luo grabbed a towel and walked straight past Zhao Mingshi without even glancing at him, heading toward the shower stalls inside. Zhao Mingshi, organizing clothes in his locker, didn’t turn around and said flatly: "I heard you haven’t been back home all these years."

"Really, there’s no need for that."

"The Zhao parents are good people. You’re their biological son—they’d only…"

Jiang Luo ignored him outright and walked toward the showers.

Zhao Mingshi turned to look at him: "Nobody knows about us, right?"

"You’re so popular in these circles. I’m sure everyone would love to hear some juicy details about you."

He added: "I’ve always been curious. All these years, I’ve never understood—you’re the biological son of the Zhao family, and they’re so well-off. Why didn’t you go back?"

"I’ve been wondering…"

*Thud.* Zhao Mingshi was slammed against the locker room cabinets by Jiang Luo’s arm.

Jiang Luo showed no emotion; Zhao Mingshi remained calm.

Their eyes locked like two predators sizing each other up, neither avoiding the other’s gaze.

Jiang Luo said calmly, without any threat in his tone: "Since you’re a smart person, don’t do anything stupid."

Zhao Mingshi stared back calmly: "When I was in the U.S., I met someone from Taiwan. This person was a relative of the famous Lee family of Taiwan."

"I heard from him that one of the Lee family’s sons was crippled by Huo Zongzhuo."

"What, are you planning to have President Huo cripple me too?"

Zhao Mingshi smiled: "That kind of tactic won’t work on me."

"I’m government-recruited tech talent specifically recruited by the Haicheng government."

"They want me to give up my green card and return to serve the country."

"If anything happens to me, the government won’t let it slide."

Zhao Mingshi spoke fearlessly: "Besides, it’s not the '90s anymore. Money and power don't let you get away with everything anymore."

"None of you—whether it’s you or any of these rich kids—can do as you please."

"I’m also curious,"

Jiang Luo didn’t even flinch at this, leaning in slightly, staring into Zhao Mingshi’s eyes, "you were killing it in the U.S., even got a green card. Why come back?"

"You didn’t return because of me, did you?"

Zhao Mingshi smiled: "Of course I came back. I came back to reclaim what’s rightfully mine."

"What’s supposedly yours?"

Jiang Luo also smirked, "That place with shared shitters in the silk factory?" "It’s long been demolished."

"Or your small-minded, good-for-nothing, shitty biological parents?"

"Go try to find them—you’ll probably find them in some shitty alleyway in Haicheng."

Zhao Mingshi’s expression finally cooled: "Yes, my background isn't as privileged as yours."

"But so what?"

Zhao Mingshi met Jiang Luo’s gaze defiantly, "At least for eighteen years, the love your biological parents gave me was real."

Jiang Luo followed up with a remark that cut Zhao Mingshi off at the knees.

Jiang Luo said: "Yeah, love. Since you care so much about that love, why didn’t you hold onto An Qiao’s love back then? Why did you hide? Even ran overseas?"

Zhao Mingshi’s face turned completely iced over.

Jiang Luo laughed, an easy, mocking laugh that seemed pure evil in Zhao Mingshi’s eyes.

Jiang Luo added: "Rather than worrying about me, you should think about the look on An Qiao's face when she finds out you’re back."

"All these years, she’s been dreaming about the day you'd come back, just so she can…"

Jiang Luo leaned in, spitting out each word, "get back together with you and personally peel your hide off."

As he spoke, Jiang Luo raised his hand and landed a solid slap on Zhao Mingshi, "Get the fuck out, asshole, and stay the hell away from me."