The Overlord of Puluo

Chapter 327: May I Ask the Lady’s Age

The place was called Plumleaf Paper Mill. It was a graceful name, and exactly the sort of name one would expect from a talented lady.

According to Greenswater City’s Autumn Garden Evening News, Shen Rongqing had bought a paper mill from the He Family two years ago.

The paper mill she bought then became the Plumleaf Paper Mill. At the time, the evening paper had only given the deal a tiny notice on page three.

Li Banfeng reached the entrance of Plumleaf Paper Mill, but he did not rush inside. He still was not sure whether the mill belonged to Shen Rongqing anymore.

So he approached a nearby news cart instead, bought two magazines, and chatted with the owner.

”Do you know who owns that mill?”

The news cart owner shook his head. ”I have been selling papers here for more than ten years, but I have not seen the owner of that place once in the past two.”

”Have you seen the owner before?”

”Of course!”

”The old owner’s surname was He. Are you sure you have seen him?”

”Who said anything about the surname He? The owner’s surname was Tu!”

”Tu?” Li Banfeng was confused. According to the newspaper, Shen Rongqing had bought this mill from the He family. It had even been printed in black and white.

Is this newsstand owner making things up? Li Banfeng thought.

”What was the original owner’s full name?”

”Tu Shumei. Around Blackstone Slope, Boss Tu was quite a figure. Anyone in the paper-making and printing business knew her name. Then, for some reason, the business could not keep going, so she transferred it to someone else. That sort of thing happens all the time in Blackstone Slope.”

Tu Shumei... Li Banfeng thought. Her surname is Tu as well.

Suddenly, Li Banfeng remembered something. Chubby Qin once mentioned that Tu Yinghong was from Blackstone Slope. Could this Tu Shumei have some connection to her?

”How old is Boss Tu?” Li Banfeng asked again.

The news cart owner thought for a moment. ”If I remember correctly, she was already close to sixty when she was still running the mill.”

No. She’s not Tu Yinghong, Li Banfeng thought. The age isn’t matching up. But perhaps she is connected to Tu Yinghong in some way?

”I would like to meet this Boss Tu. Do you know where she lives?”

The news cart owner shook his head and said, ”I don’t know. I heard she long left Blackstone Slope.”

”Does she still have relatives here?”

”None. Back when Boss Tu’s businesses were at its peak, a reporter came to interview her. Boss Tu said it herself. Her parents are dead. She has no children, and she has no brothers or sisters. She built that whole business on her own. She’s a proper heroine among women!”

In that case, she might not be related to Tu Yinghong, Li Banfeng thought. But is this news cart owner even reliable?

If he remembered an interview from several years ago, why does he not know about the article in the Autumn Garden Evening News? Is it because that little piece of news was too easy to miss?

Li Banfeng then asked, ”Do you have the Autumn Garden Evening News here?”

”I don’t sell that one. You must be from Greenwater City, right?” The news cart owner let out a soft, knowing chuckle. ”No one in Blackstone Slope reads the Autumn Garden Evening News. If you want proper news, I have the Greencity Daily.”

I can’t believe the Ling family’s newspaper still sells well enough in Blackstone Slope, Li Banfeng thought. Ling Miaowen and Ling Miaoying are both dead, but someone is still keeping the Ling family’s paper alive.

The news cart owner continued, ”Now, if you want improper news, I have heaps of that. And the most improper paper in all of Blackstone Slope has to be Night-Blooming Jasmine!”

Li Banfeng’s cheek twitched. Who said Night-Blooming Jasmine is improper?

”Give me one copy of Night-Blooming Jasmine.”

”Do you want the newspaper, the magazine, or the film?”

Li Banfeng paused. ”You sell films too?”

”Of course. Night-Blooming Jasmine puts out a new film every week. I have the latest one here, and plenty of old ones in stock too!”

They are selling these at the news cart too?

The news cart owner lifted his eyebrows. ”Want one? It’s twenty-eight yuan!”

Li Banfeng frowned and said, ”That’s not cheap. I might as well go to the cinema and watch the movie The Legendary Bloodspear Detective. Wouldn’t that give you more thrills?”

”How can that be the same?” The news cart owner responded. ”The Legendary Bloodspear Detective is shown in a cinema. Suppose you watch it and get all stirred up. What then? Are you going to do something right there in the theater? How disgraceful would that be? Apart from Ma Junyang of Greenwater City, I doubt there is another person alive who could manage something that shameless.

”Night-Blooming Jasmine is different. You set up the machine at home, play it quietly, and no one knows a single thing!”

”What if your wife finds out?”

”Then let her find out. Watch it together! I am telling you, my wife absolutely loves this stuff...”

Li Banfeng shook his head. ”I do not have a film projector.”

”I have one right here.” The news cart owner perked up at once. ”Made by Night-Blooming Jasmine too. Proper Qi Chuan brand. The real thing.”

Qi Chuan brand? Li Banfeng muttered inwardly. Who came up with this name? Little Chuan? Why is my name in it too?

The news cart owner took out the film projector and asked for eight hundred.

Li Banfeng offered six hundred, but the news cart owner would not budge. ”This thing sells itself. Eight hundred is already cheap. Plenty of families are scrimping and saving just to buy one for their homes, and plenty of newspaper reporters are fighting to get their hands on one too.

”I’ll give you the newspapers, the magazines, and that roll of film for free. I’ll even throw in a projection cloth. However, the machine itself is eight hundred, and not one yuan less.”

The news cart owner refused to lower the price, but Li Banfeng was not angry.

He bought the film projector, picked up the machine, carried the stand, tucked the newspapers and magazines under his arm, and made his way back to the paper mill.

The gatekeeper came over and gave him a careful look. ”Who are you here to see?”

”Your boss.”

”What business do you have with the boss?”

”I am a reporter.”

Li Banfeng was dressed well enough, and with the film projector in his hands, he did look the part. The gatekeeper hesitated for a moment, then said, ”Please wait here. I will go ask our steward.”

Before long, the steward came over too. He greeted Li Banfeng with a polite smile. ”May I ask which newspaper you are with?”

This was not the time to mention Night-Blooming Jasmine. He needed the name of a proper publication.

”I’m a reporter with Blackstone Miscellany. I’m preparing a special feature on the paper-making business.”

The steward became even more courteous. The publication Blackstone Miscellany held quite a high status in the Blackstone Slope.

”Our boss isn’t at the factory today. Could we arrange another time?”

”That won’t do,” Li Banfeng said. ”I am rushing to get this piece out.”

The steward did not force him. After a few polite words from both sides, Li Banfeng picked up the projector and left.

Shen Rongqing had many businesses under her name, and she hid them well. Her people were well trained too, so finding anything useful from the outside would not be easy. He would have to see if he could dig up someone on the inside.

Bai Qiusheng and Yuwen Qi had both come from Blackstone Slope. For this matter, he had to start with the two of them.

Li Banfeng went straight back to the newspaper office. Bai Qiusheng looked up in surprise. ”Master Qi, you are here!”

Li Banfeng lifted the projector and smiled. ”Where’s Little Chuan? I am here to celebrate his grand achievement. Hurry up and set out the liquor.”

Not only did Little Chuan deserve a celebration, he deserved a fat reward too. Li Banfeng planned to give him a sum of money and hand him twenty percent of the projector business.

Bai Qiusheng looked troubled. ”Master Qi, Little Chuan is ill. He hasn’t been able to get out of bed for two days.”

”Ill?” Li Banfeng’s head buzzed, and his first thought was of a Disease Cultivator.

He went straight to Little Chuan’s room. Little Chuan lay flat on the bed, his face drained of color. When he saw Li Banfeng, he tried to speak, but no words came out.

”Has Little Chuan met anyone unusual lately?”

The question stumped Bai Qiusheng. Little Chuan had been busy handling the projector business lately, and he had met many people. How was Bai Qiusheng supposed to know where to begin?

”Master Qi, why don’t we go through it slowly...”

”We will go through it on the way. Get Little Chuan to Greenwater City first.”

”Master Qi, the physician said Little Chuan is too weak. We can’t move him carelessly.”

That made things difficult. If Little Chuan had really run into a Disease Cultivator, Li Banfeng could not think of anyone who could help except Cedric.

Just as anxiety began to gnaw at him, the Liquor Gourd whispered by his ear, ”Little bro, find somewhere private. We need to talk.”

Li Banfeng went back to his room.

The Liquor Gourd said, ”Little bro, this young fellow’s symptoms are different from Ma Wu’s. Ma Wu was really ill, but this young fellow looks more like he has worn himself out.”

”If he was only worn out, why hasn’t he recovered after two days of rest?”

”I followed the Medicine King for many years,” the Liquor Gourd said. ”I won’t mistake basic pathology. Why don’t we ask Big Sis and see what she thinks?”

Li Banfeng went back to the Pocket Dwelling, and the Liquor Gourd explained Little Chuan’s symptoms to the Gramophone.

Huff!

”Judging by the symptoms, it does sound like overwork,” the Gramophone said. ”But if he has been lying in bed for so long and still hasn’t improved, how is his usual constitution?”

”Very good.”

Back when Little Chuan drove the road roller, his body had already been strong. After becoming an Artificer Cultivator, he became even sturdier. Logically speaking, a simple exhaustion should not have been enough to knock a young man like him flat.

The Gramophone asked, ”Does he have cultivation?”

”He’s a level-one Artificer Cultivator.”

”Has he made anything impressive lately?”

”He made a film projector.” Li Banfeng showed the projector in his hand to the Gramophone.

The Film Projector beside them let out a cold snort. ”Crude materials. A complete eyesore.”

Obviously, compared to the Film Projector, the one that Little Chuan made would be crude.

”But it’s cheap,” Li Banfeng said. ”Ordinary people can afford it. All they need to do is hang up a projection cloth at home, and they can watch films.”

”How are sales?” the Gramophone asked. She rarely showed any interest in business.

”It’s selling very well.”

”That explains it,” the Gramophone said. ”Husband, when an Artificer Cultivator makes something useful and earns a good reputation, he gains cultivation at an astonishing rate. The more people use it, and the better its reputation becomes, the faster his cultivation grows.

”Judging by that boy’s condition, he is almost certainly about to reach level two. He might even leap straight to the third. An ordinary body cannot endure that kind of advancement.”

Forget an ordinary person. Even Li Banfeng would struggle to survive a leap straight from level one to level three.

”Wifey, do you have a way to help him?”

”Heyaaaa~ Husband dear, if this was another cultivation path, this kind of leap would have been fatal. However, Artificer Cultivators and Agrarian Cultivators are an exception. There is still a chance to ease him through it. I will write a prescription, and you can fetch the herbs.”

Li Banfeng’s eyes lit up at once. ”Wifey, you even know how to do this?”

The Gramophone laughed. ”Heyaaaa! Husband dear, did you not pick up a treasure when you married me?”

”A treasure indeed! A wonderful treasure!” Li Banfeng pressed his face against the Gramophone and rubbed hard against the cabinet door for quite some time.

The Gramophone laughed until she could hardly breathe. ”Husband, you mustn’t. You have a beard. It’s tickling me to death.”

She wrote out a prescription with her needle, and Li Banfeng sent someone to gather the herbs. Once the herbs were brought back, he moved the Crimson Lotus over and had her refine them into a single pill.

”Feed him this pill,” the Gramophone said. ”Let him rest quietly for the next few days. When the Peddler comes, buy him a bowl of Soul-Returning Soup, and he should make it through.”

Li Banfeng hurriedly fed the pill to Little Chuan.

After taking the pill, Little Chuan improved at once. Once Li Banfeng had given the necessary instructions and made sure everything was settled, he called Bai Qiusheng over and asked him about Shen Rongqing.

Bai Qiusheng reacted almost exactly as Ma Wu had. ”Shen Rongqing is a peerless talented lady. Every scholar and writer on Blackstone Slope knows her name.”

”Two years ago, she bought a paper mill on Blackstone Slope. Did you know about that?”

”No.” Bai Qiusheng shook his head again and again. ”A talented lady like Shen Rongqing wouldn’t be doing business, would she?”

”What’s wrong with doing business?” Li Banfeng asked. ”Is it shameful?”

Bai Qiusheng gave an awkward little laugh. ”With talent like hers, she can make a living anywhere. There’s no need for her to wear herself out over business.”

Li Banfeng asked, ”Do you know someone named Tu Shumei?”

”I do. She’s a remarkable woman, and an Artificer Cultivator too. In the paper-making and printing trade, she’s a real heavyweight.

”Little Chuan once bought a hand-cranked printing press, and that was made by Tu Shumei. Most of the small newspapers on Blackstone Slope depend on those little presses to get by.”

An Artificer Cultivator? Tu Yinghong is also an Artificer Cultivator! But the ages are not matching up!

”How old is Tu Shumei?”

Bai Qiusheng thought for a moment. ”If I remember right, she should be sixty this year.”

If she is sixty years old this year... Li Banfeng muttered inwardly. Let’s say if she reached level one at age twenty and continued cultivating in accordance with the proper order of the path, she should be at level five.

However, since she is a major figure in paper-making and printing, it means she has some real talent. It’s not impossible for her to have reached level six, or even come close to level seven.

She made the hand-cranked printing press, which earned a fine reputation and was used by a lot of people. If she managed to take a leap, she would go from level five to level seven. Perhaps she might even reach level eight.

In that case, she would be of the same cultivation level as Tu Yinghong.

Li Banfeng returned to the Pocket Dwelling and asked the Gramophone, ”Can Artificer Cultivators alter their faces?”

Before the Gramophone could answer, Hongying spoke from the side. ”Darling Qi, they sure can. Next time, catch me a living Artificer Cultivator, and I will show you what I looked like back then.”

Author’s Note:

PS: If Ling Miaoying found out that Tu Yinghong was already sixty, how would he react?