In Lüshui City, the evening lamps were just coming alight.
In the three-plus months since arriving in Puluo Province, this was Li Banfeng's first time visiting an actual city.
Ma the Fifth had said that cities in Puluo Province might not compare to those in the Outer States, but Lüshui City's nights had light all the same.
Li Banfeng saw that light. Lighting the lamps was a grand ritual enacted every day in Lüshui City.
Because electricity could not be transmitted over long distances, gas lamps took center stage at night.
Constables carrying torches and step-stools lit the streetlamps flanking the roads one by one.
Shops dispatched clerks to light their signboard lightboxes one by one.
The gas lamps were bright, no dimmer than certain electric lights.
What surprised Li Banfeng even more was that the gas lamps could flicker and flash.
Valves powered by steam were installed along the gas outlet pipes; relying on heat generated by the gas lamps themselves, the valves opened and closed in rhythm, controlling the gas flow.
Fully open, gas surged, and the lightboxes blazed brilliantly.
Half open, gas subsided, and the lightboxes dimmed down.
Some valves were even fitted with special powdered compounds that caused the lightboxes to continuously shift colors.
Ma the Fifth was right: Lüshui City was a city, a true metropolis.
Perhaps its buildings were not as tall as those in Yuezhou, nor its streets as wide, but it was a genuine city. Li Banfeng could smell that singular scent found only in cities.
The tallest building was called Heping Mansion, a Lu family enterprise holding a department store, restaurants, and reputedly a cinema.
The building on the prime plot was called the Paramount, also a Lu family property, where wine flowed without end, dancing never ceased, and high-slit qipaos were beyond counting.
Ma the Fifth said the place with the greatest future was called Xiaoyaowu, home to kings of dance, queens of song, and over a hundred rising stars being polished for the spotlight.
Xiaoyaowu had once been Ma the Fifth's estate. Li Banfeng had promised him that he would visit someday, but now was not the time.
Right now, Li Banfeng only wanted to find Miaosheng Gramophone Shop. Ma the Fifth often hired them to press records; the quality of their gramophones was well assured.
After several twists and turns, Li Banfeng found the shop. Its storefront was modest. Pushing the door open and stepping inside, he found a shop floor of barely five or six square meters, furnished with a counter a little over a meter long. Two hand-cranked gramophones sat atop it.
Had he come to the wrong place?
Li Banfeng stepped back to the door and looked up.
No mistake—Miaosheng Gramophone Shop.
Behind the counter sat a man wearing a black top hat and a black tailcoat over a white shirt and black bowtie. Clean-shaven beneath his lower lip, he sported a handlebar mustache on his upper lip.
The man had seemed to be dozing at first, but Li Banfeng stepping back outside to check the sign had startled him awake.
The mustachioed man rose and smiled at Li Banfeng. "Greetings, sir, and welcome. I am Ling Miaosheng of the Miaosheng Gramophone Shop. Might I ask which of our gramophones has caught your eye?"
Li Banfeng looked at the two flimsy hand-cranked gramophones on the counter and shook his head. "Certainly not either of these two."
Ling Miaosheng paused, staring in mild astonishment. "Sir, neither of these models satisfies you?"
"Indeed." Li Banfeng saw nothing special about them.
Ling Miaosheng's expression turned solemn. "Then it seems what you seek is no ordinary piece. Pray tell, what kind of gramophone are you looking for?"
What kind?
What kind could a tiny shop like this even offer?
"Show me the best gramophone you have," Li Banfeng said.
"Very well, sir." Ling Miaosheng stepped out from behind the counter and gave a wave of his hand. A curtain suddenly peeled back from the wall.
The fabric was the exact same color as the wall.
Not only identical in color, but fitted so seamlessly that not the slightest seam could be seen.
Behind the curtain was a wooden door.
*Creak—*
Ling Miaosheng pushed the wooden door open and gestured inside with one hand. "Sir, please, after you."
Li Banfeng followed Ling Miaosheng through the doorway. Behind it lay a corridor, and because the light was exceedingly dim, even with Li Banfeng's eyesight he could not see the end.
This shop was not small at all.
Its layout was merely somewhat unusual.
Ling Miaosheng led Li Banfeng to a door, pushed it open gently, walked inside, and motioned for Li Banfeng to keep his movements light.
Why so cautious?
Was someone sleeping here?
Ling Miaosheng moved to the center of the room and quietly lit a candle.
This room was rather large as well; by the candlelight, Li Banfeng could only barely make out the four surrounding walls.
In the center of the room, an object roughly the size of a bedside nightstand was draped in a cover cloth.
This must be the shop's most expensive gramophone, right?
Li Banfeng felt a spark of anticipation.
Ling Miaosheng first grabbed a handful of golden-yellow granules and placed them beneath the cloth.
A surge of excitement stirred in Li Banfeng's chest.
Was that fuel? Could it be a steam gramophone too?
As Ling Miaosheng slowly drew back the cloth, the answer revealed itself.
The body was stark white, the head bright red, and the two machine eyes gleamed bright.
The "fuel" Ling Miaosheng had scattered was actually corn.
The gramophone stretched out its head, pecked up the corn, and cleared its throat: *Cluck, cluck, cluck.*
Ling Miaosheng instructed, "Sing a rendition of 'Autumn Waters Yearning.'"
The gramophone craned its neck and began to sing:
*Bawk, bawk, bawk—*
*Gazing through tears into autumn waters,*
*Yet nowhere is my beloved's lovely silhouette seen.*
*The night watch fades, the water clock runs dry,*
*Only the distant calls of a lone wild goose or two...*
...
Li Banfeng looked at Ling Miaosheng and asked, "Is this... a singing rooster?"
Ling Miaosheng nodded. "This is our shop's finest gramophone. It can sing over thirty tunes. As long as its master tends to it patiently, it can learn many more."
Li Banfeng did not know why a rooster with a fiery red comb and snow-white feathers could sing, but this bird was clearly not what he wanted.
"Boss Ling, I want something a bit more normal—a gramophone made in Amikan, for instance. Do you have any?"
Ling Miaosheng nodded. "We do, sir. This way, please."
Li Banfeng followed Ling Miaosheng into another room. This one was far more spacious, filled with a dozen-odd gramophones, all products of Amikan.
Ling Miaosheng explained, "Gramophones made in Amikan are not as durable as those from Cheman, nor as exquisite as those from Ingrid, but the things they build carry a unique charm. It's hard to put into words, but their creations always feel remarkably bold and uninhibited."
As he spoke, Ling Miaosheng lifted a drape to reveal the first gramophone.
"This is a clockwork model. Wind it once per song. The tone is clear and crisp, the cabinet light and compact—hardly takes up any space."
Ling Miaosheng played a song on it. Li Banfeng shook his head slightly.
The tone of this gramophone was worlds apart from his wife's, and the unit was far too small; its parts likely wouldn't fit.
Ling Miaosheng unveiled another gramophone. This one was enormous, nearly two meters long and wide. The turntable atop the cabinet bore a slight resemblance to his wife's, and a massive lever was attached to the casing.
Ling Miaosheng pumped the lever, and a whooshing sound roared from deep within the machine.
It was actually a lever bellows.
Driven by the rush of air, a windmill inside the cabinet began to turn.
Ling Miaosheng explained, "The windmill is fitted with a governor, so no matter how strong the airflow, it spins at a steady speed. You can pump the bellows while listening to music, though the downside is the added noise. Alternatively, you can pump the bellows to wind the spring mechanism and listen afterward. The spring can store up to two hours of tension."
Having charged the spring, Ling Miaosheng wiped away his sweat and flipped the switch. The gramophone began to sing.
To tell the truth, the tone of this bellows-powered gramophone was somewhat close to his wife's.
When the song ended, Ling Miaosheng showed a third model.
This one was also peculiar: it ran on electricity.
In Puluo Province, electrical energy could not be transmitted across distances, but it was not impossible to store.
Ling Miaosheng retrieved a battery roughly the size of a tea caddy, installed it into the rear compartment, and flicked the switch. The turntable began to spin.
"An electric gramophone. Rotates steadily, very convenient to use, but charging it is troublesome. During the day, you must set it out in the sun to soak up rays."
Only now did Li Banfeng notice photovoltaic panels on the surface of the gramophone.
Ling Miaosheng smiled. "On a sunny day, a full day's charge gives you eight hours of listening. On overcast days, it's hard to say."
If there was electricity, could he charge his phone?
What would he charge it for? What use was a phone? Just to leave a hook for Scrying Cultivators to trace?
The layout and structure of this gramophone were far too different from his wife's; Li Banfeng had little interest.
When the fourth drape was lifted, a sewing machine was revealed beneath.
Ling Miaosheng threaded the needle, placed a hand on the balance wheel, and pressed the foot treadle. *Clack-clack-clack—* The sewing machine sprang to life, stitching a garment on the bedplate while breaking into "Roses Everywhere in Bloom":
*"Roses, roses, blooming everywhere; youth, youth, lingering everywhere; spring breezes that cannot be kept away..."*
Once the cuff was stitched, the sewing machine halted, and the music stopped with it.
Ling Miaosheng looked back and said, "The wonder of this model lies in how it eases the fatigue of sewing. Naturally, if you prefer not to listen while you work, you can also store power in the spring and enjoy the beauty of the music once your labor is done."
Peculiar though this gramophone was, its components were actually very similar to his wife's.
Ling Miaosheng unveiled the fifth gramophone, which was also the largest of all. "This is also a wind-driven model, though different from the bellows type. It's powered by an external windmill. That means mounting a twenty-eight-centimeter rotor outside your window. When the windmill spins, you can listen to music. If you don't wish to listen right away, you can store the power in the spring. Fully wound, it plays for up to twenty-two hours. As long as the wind outside doesn't cease, the music in your home will never end..."
In one breath, Ling Miaosheng introduced over a dozen models. Li Banfeng found something appealing in each of them, yet none fully satisfied him.
Ling Miaosheng studied Li Banfeng, fell silent for a moment, and suddenly asked, "Sir, could it be you are looking to buy a steam gramophone?"
Li Banfeng was taken aback. "How did you know?"
Ling Miaosheng smiled softly. "I heard the hiss of venting steam—inside your heart."
Chapter 111