Chapter 54: Yu Family Cloth Shop

Li Banfeng wanted money, a thousand yuan!

"Alright, alright…" Xiao Yeci quickly retrieved a thousand yuan in cash from the willow trunk and gave it to Li Banfeng, who counted it twice before stuffing it into his inner pocket.

"I’m warning you one last time, if you don’t want to die, stay away from the He Family Mansion!"

With those words, they parted ways. Xiao Yeci and her daughter didn’t head to the He Family Mansion, but instead walked towards the railway station.

Li Banfeng followed behind them, watching as they entered the ticket office.

They were buying tickets, and he was genuinely surprised they possessed a travel permit.

If they had a permit, all the better. They should leave as quickly as possible, the further the better, for their sake and his own.

Li Banfeng returned to Ligou and went back to the general store, but it was still closed. He turned and went to the cloth shop next door.

The flamboyantly dressed proprietress, Yu Nan, greeted him enthusiastically, "Are you looking to buy cloth? Come take a look over here. We have Muben Satin and Ku Satin, and over here are Ning Silk and Huaxian Chun. We also carry Huasha and Hangluo, and over here we have Hangfang and Huzhou Crepe. Which one catches your eye?"

Her shop specialized in silks and satins, but Li Banfeng had no interest in buying cloth, nor did he know how to tailor.

Yu Nan chattered for a while, but seeing that Li Banfeng remained unmoved, she changed tack and asked, "Perhaps you’re looking for ready-made clothes? We have a tailor here. If you don’t see anything you like among the ready-made items, we can make something for you."

Li Banfeng shook his head. "I’m not buying clothes either."

Yu Nan, chewing on her slender cigarette holder, paused for a moment, then smiled, "Maybe you’re looking for a silk handkerchief?"

"No."

"A quilt cover?"

"No."

"Bed curtains?"

"No."

Yu Nan took a drag of her cigarette, frowning. "Then what are you buying?"

"Cigarettes."

Li Banfeng sniffed the aroma of the tobacco and found it agreeable.

Yu Nan blinked her large, expressive eyes, confirming, "You’re coming to our cloth shop to buy cigarettes?"

"Don’t you have them here?" Yu Nan was currently smoking, and Li Banfeng found his reasoning perfectly sound.

Yu Nan’s face darkened slightly. "Are you deliberately teasing me?"

Li Banfeng didn’t quite understand the meaning of ‘teasing’. "Are you selling them or not?"

After a long silence, Yu Nan turned to her assistant and said, "Bring two packs of Great Fairy. They’re on the house for this customer."

Great Fairy was a well-known brand of women’s cigarettes in Prolo State.

The assistant brought two packs, which Li Banfeng pocketed.

"How much do I owe you?"

Yu Nan smiled. "Nothing, they’re a gift."

She was remarkably generous, but Li Banfeng never accepted gifts for free.

"Make me a suit then, and use some good material."

Yu Nan shook her head. "We don’t sell Western clothes here."

Her shop only sold traditional attire.

Li Banfeng looked at the ready-made garments hanging in the shop and pointed to one. "I want this… the long robe."

Yu Nan looked back and chuckled, "You want a changshan, a long gown?"

"Yes, that’s the one."

"Eighth Lao!" Yu Nan called to her assistant. "Bring the measuring tape. I’ll take this customer’s measurements properly."

Yu Nan personally took Li Banfeng’s measurements, asking as she worked, "May I ask your name, sir?"

"My surname is Li, and I’m seventh in my family." Li Banfeng gave his usual name, Li Qi, before returning the question, "And how should I address the proprietress?"

"My surname is Yu, and my given name is Nan. If you’d be so kind, Seventh Master, you can call me Shopkeeper."

This Shopkeeper Yu didn’t like being called ‘boss’s wife’, because she was the owner of this cloth shop, her own business.

"Shopkeeper Yu, I’m sorry for not recognizing you earlier," Li Banfeng said, adopting the local style of polite address.

Yu Nan, who was kneeling to measure Li Banfeng’s waist, looked up, her bright eyes sparkling, and smiled at him. "Seventh Master, where do you live? Once the clothes are ready, I can send them over."

"I just arrived in Ligou," Li Banfeng said evasively.

Shopkeeper Yu took the measuring tape and measured Li Banfeng’s leg. "A few days ago, I saw you buying quite a few things from Feng’s General Store."

Her implication was clear: you didn’t just arrive in Ligou, I’ve been keeping an eye on you for a while.

Li Banfeng didn’t deny it. "I’m here and there, I don’t have a fixed address."

"Then how am I supposed to deliver the clothes to you?"

"I’ll come and pick them up in three days. Please choose the fabric for me, and tell me the price."

Yu Nan chose a silk of medium-high quality, and after tapping away on her abacus, she asked, "Will you be paying with Huan Yuan or silver coins? We accept ‘half’ as well."

Li Banfeng didn’t know what ‘half’ meant, but he did have silver coins. He was eager to learn the exchange rate.

"How much in silver coins?"

"One silver dollar, including labor and materials."

"And in Huan Yuan?"

Yu Nan paused. "One silver dollar is worth five hundred Huan Yuan, surely you know that."

Five hundred yuan for a set of clothes, even in Yaowang Gulch, not to mention Yuezhou, was a bit of a luxury for Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng took out one silver dollar, plus two hundred Huan Yuan, and handed them to Yu Nan.

Yu Nan, expecting Li Banfeng to haggle, was surprised to see he had given her two hundred extra. "What’s the meaning of this?"

She thought Li Banfeng wanted to buy two sets for seven hundred.

That was unacceptable, the price reduction was too steep.

Li Banfeng said, "One silver dollar for the clothes, and two hundred Huan Yuan for Shopkeeper Yu to do me a favor. If you hear any news of Shopkeeper Feng in the next few days, please let me know."

Yu Nan smiled. "It’s a small matter, no need for money."

With that, Yu Nan returned the two hundred Huan Yuan to Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng waved his hand. "Just take it. I want to make friends with you."

As far as Li Banfeng was concerned, if he didn’t pay someone, he didn’t have the right to ask them to do anything for him.

Yu Nan appreciated Li Banfeng’s forthrightness and accepted the money, lowering her voice to say, "If you’re not satisfied with the clothes, we offer returns and exchanges. Also, there’s something I’m not sure if I should tell you."

"Please, Shopkeeper."

"A friend who came to Ligou with you earlier has been begging for food in Weiba Alley and might not last more than a few days."

A friend who came with him?

"Which friend?"

"That honest and sturdy one."

Little Fatty Qin?

Li Banfeng was taken aback.

Little Fatty Qin’s family wasn’t wealthy, but they weren’t so poor that he had to beg.

What’s more, he had obtained eleven Serpentine Pills. In Prolo State, as long as it didn’t involve something for special use, prices weren’t that high. Selling an elixir for ten thousand, eleven pills would be enough for Little Fatty to live lavishly for a while.

How could he have gone begging?

"Is there something else to this?" Li Banfeng sensed that the situation might be more complicated.

Yu Nan looked around, lowering her voice to say, "Seventh Master, it seems that your friend offended the Geng Family Pharmacy because of selling elixirs.

The pharmacy people threw him into the street and had people watching him, letting him starve to death. The Geng Family Pharmacy has dealings with the Jiangxiang Gang, and this is something they often do."

Hearing this, Li Banfeng pondered for a moment and asked, "Are the people watching him cultivators?"

Yu Nan nodded. "Yes, they’re cultivators, and I even have some past grievances with them."

"What sect, what cultivation level?"

"Not a high cultivation level, but a special sect." Yu Nan spat a puff of smoke onto the counter, and the smoke transformed into the character "Oil" before dissipating.

This woman could freely manipulate smoke. Li Banfeng asked softly, "Are you a Smoke Cultivator?"

Yu Nan smiled without answering.

Li Banfeng then asked, "Did you take the initiative to talk to me today because you want me to help you take revenge?"

Yu Nan laughed. "I didn’t say anything, but if Seventh Master wants to save your friend, my shop is willing to lend a hand."

Li Banfeng frowned. "Does this count as a partnership? Why are you looking for me?"

Yu Nan said, "Because Boss Qin is Seventh Master’s friend, and Seventh Master is a capable person."

Li Banfeng didn’t deny the ‘friend’ part. "How do you know I’m capable?"

Yu Nan exhaled a puff of smoke. "Anyone who can come back alive from Bitter Mist Mountain has real skills."

This woman had apparently been watching him for a long time.

Li Banfeng pondered for a long time.

Little Fatty was in trouble.

Should he help him?

Li Banfeng didn’t owe Little Fatty anything. Even if he had owed him before, he had paid him back afterwards.

But he was about to starve to death.

When Li Banfeng was starving, Little Fatty had treated him to two bowls of plain noodle soup.

Weiba Alley was a relatively remote alley in Ligou, with old houses on both sides, inhabited by impoverished families.

During the day, people were busy with their work, and few pedestrians passed through the alley. As evening approached, the number of pedestrians gradually increased, and Qin Xiaopang, kneeling on the ground, barely alive, opened his eyes.

Dusk was his last hope for survival.

A passerby, seeing him in tattered clothes and covered in injuries, felt sorry for him and threw him half a cake.

Little Fatty reached out to pick it up.

Beside him, a man wearing a mandarin jacket and a felt hat stepped on the cake.

"Did I tell you to eat it?" The man in the mandarin jacket looked down at Qin Xiaopang and spat at his face.

Little Fatty didn’t say anything and withdrew his hand.

A passerby couldn’t stand it and stepped forward to ask, "Good sir, why are you making things difficult for a beggar?"

The man in the mandarin jacket raised his head, his left eyebrow drooping and his right eyebrow raised, his mouth twisted, revealing a standard ruffian’s smile. "What the hell is it to you?"

The passerby wanted to argue, but a woman next to him pulled him aside. "Don’t interfere. The Geng Family Pharmacy is trying to establish its authority. Let’s go."

Hearing that it was the Geng Family Pharmacy, the passerby didn’t say anything more and quickly walked away.

The man in the mandarin jacket crushed the cake on the ground and kicked it far away.

Little Fatty lowered his head and closed his eyes.

He was a dietary cultivator, and if he didn’t eat for a day, he could starve to death.

Yesterday, he ate half a bowl of cold, stale rice and survived.

Today, he hadn’t eaten anything, and he was afraid he wouldn’t make it.

It would be good if he didn’t make it. If he starved to death, he would be free.

Inside the Mobile Home, Li Banfeng was waiting for the bronze lotus.

People who had been hungry wouldn’t forget those who gave them food.

Maybe some people would forget, but Li Banfeng wouldn’t.

Li Banfeng glanced at the phonograph. "Wife, I gave you food to eat, you can’t forget me!"

Chirr chirr~

The phonograph sobbed twice, singing with a cry in its voice, "Oh, my husband, marrying a man means having clothes and food. Your little slave serves you diligently, would you begrudge your little slave a bite to eat? Not to mention that those dishes before weren’t fresh."

Her words made Li Banfeng feel ashamed.

He had to find a way to buy something fresh for his wife.

But before buying groceries, he had to bring his equipment.

The blood-drinking short knife had been eaten by the lotus, and at least a Rust Pill could be refined.

Although Li Banfeng already had a Rust Pill, having an extra one always made him feel more secure.

Strange, why was the lotus so slow at refining elixirs today?

PS: ‘Half’ silver yuan, also known as No. 2 silver yuan, is generally worth half of a No. 1 silver yuan (silver coin).

Dear readers, do you still remember the Oil Cultivator?

End of Chapter