Li Banfeng said, "My surname is Ye, as in the night. I'm buying your cinema."
The owner of Sanfu Cinema actually possessed some worldly knowledge; he had once read an article about rare surnames in a magazine and knew that Ye truly existed as a family name.
"So it's Boss Ye. Do you really intend to screen Bloodgun Detective?"
Li Banfeng nodded. "I just happen to like this movie."
The owner gritted his teeth. "I like it too. It's a genuine, honest-to-goodness great movie! If I were just a few years younger, I'd stand right alongside you and fight those bastards to the bitter end..."
As he spoke, the cinema owner's voice choked up slightly.
He truly refused to accept this lying down.
Refusing to accept it was a good sign; it proved he still had some spine left.
"Boss Ye, I can sell you the cinema. How much are you offering?"
"Name your price first."
The cinema owner asked for only two hundred silver dollars.
The price was cheap—ridiculously cheap.
The main reason was that the owner was desperate to get rid of it, and the cinema was nothing more than an empty shell, having been thoroughly smashed to pieces.
Fortunately, this was Heishipo, where materials and equipment were easy to procure.
The task of fixing up the cinema was handed to Xiao Chuanzi. A simple refurbishment would do—as long as movies could be shown. Li Banfeng gave him three days to finish the job.
Nominally, the cinema owner was listed as Bai Qiusheng. He had lived in Heishipo before, so it would not arouse suspicion.
As soon as work began, word quickly spread.
In the southern part of Heishipo, inside an antique, sprawling courtyard manor, Tang Peigong, an elder of the Pure Observance Society in Heishipo, was reading in his study.
In Heishipo, manors like this were rare, and trains were forbidden on both the street in front and the one behind.
All his life, Tang Peigong had been deeply devoted to learning and enamored with antiquity. What he admired most were the ancient sages, and what obsessed him most were their timeless teachings.
He harbored an intense hatred for trains, machinery, motion pictures, newspapers, periodicals, and the like, believing such things ruined both peace and moral character.
Taking trains as an example, Tang Peigong had once remarked: "This thing breathes clouds and spews mist, its roar like startling thunder, no different in appearance from the demons recorded in ancient texts. When a man sits in a train carriage, it is as though he enters the belly of a demon. Merely to seek the convenience of conveyance, his spirit, soul, and vital essence are drained away by the fiend. To degenerate so willingly for a fleeting moment of comfort is truly laughable, truly tragic."
In Tang Peigong's view, the conveniences brought by machinery were the prime culprits fueling hedonism and moral decay.
Tang Peigong frequently instructed his disciples that the purpose of human existence was to temper and better oneself continuously under the guidance of the sages; any inclination toward pleasure and comfort was a corrosive blight upon mind and body.
He was equally strict with his household, demanding that they endure constant tempering and eschew all indulgence.
He required his primary wife and his twenty-six concubines to attend morning lectures every single day, studying the teachings of the sages alongside him so that thoughts of decadence could find no foothold to corrupt the family's integrity.
As an elder of the Pure Observance Society, he was one of the most respected figures in Heishipo. He had personally led the men who smashed the two cinemas, and hearing that one of them was about to reopen made him extremely displeased.
"Who was it that took over Sanfu Cinema?"
A student answered, "A writer named Bai Qiusheng. He lived in Heishipo for over a decade, scraping by on low-grade articles. Word is he made some money in Lüshui City and returned to Heishipo wishing to run a business."
Tang Peigong sighed. "Letting him earn a living is no great matter, but if he dares screen those corrupt, scandalous moving pictures again, I shall show no mercy!"
The student nodded. "This disciple shall go give him a proper warning at once."
Tang Peigong gave a nod, and the student immediately set off for Sanfu Cinema.
This student was named Ai Chixiang, Tang Peigong's most loyal disciple.
Bai Qiusheng was busy writing for the newspaper and was not at the cinema, so Ai Chixiang gave Xiao Chuanzi a stern dressing-down.
His speech was peppered with pedantic classical jargon that Xiao Chuanzi could barely understand anyway, and following Li Banfeng's instructions, Xiao Chuanzi simply nodded along and agreed to everything.
Several workers refurbishing the cinema spat on the ground in Ai Chixiang's direction.
Ai Chixiang snapped, "What is the meaning of this?"
One of the workers sneered, "Just spitting phlegm! You trying to catch it in your mouth, sir?"
Cursing under his breath, Ai Chixiang stormed off.
Xiao Chuanzi looked at the workers and marveled, "Not bad, brothers! You've got guts!"
A worker spat through clenched teeth, "Those motherless bastards never do a single decent thing! What's so wrong with watching a movie? Who the hell are they to come and sicken people? Claiming our movie-watching corrupts public morals—his own master married twenty-six concubines, and that isn't corrupting morals?"
Many of the other workers joined in the cursing.
Sitting on the cinema's second floor, Li Banfeng heard every word clearly through the Thread-Hook Earring.
The cinema owner had spine.
And such people in Heishipo seemed to be anything but rare.
This was likely a defining trait of Heishipo.
Lu Maoxian's businesses were all in Heishipo, yet he chose not to live here himself, which very well might be related to this local temperament.
Xiao Chuanzi gathered the workers together and lowered his voice. "I've got another job, night shift. Triple pay. Anyone interested?"
***
Bai Qiusheng and Yuwen Qi led a group of writers, spending half a day assembling the first issue of the newspaper. By that afternoon, it was typeset and printed, producing a total run of three thousand copies.
Li Banfeng frowned. "That's all you're printing?"
Bai Qiusheng chuckled. "In Heishipo, for a new paper hitting the market for the first time, this is already quite a lot. Paper and ink cost money, and printing too much would backfire."
"What do you plan to sell it for?"
Ma the Fifth said, "Six mao per copy. It's a new paper; we want to drum up buzz first."
"That's the retail price at the newsstands, right? What's the wholesale price we sell to the stands for?"
Li Banfeng was unfamiliar with newspaper business practices, especially those of Heishipo.
Ma the Fifth explained, "Newspapers don't have a wholesale purchase price. We deliver them to the various stands to sell, split the proceeds from the copies sold fifty-fifty, and take back the unsold copies. Then we sell the returns as scrap paper to the mill and buy fresh paper. Put simply, out of three thousand copies, if we sell two thousand, we break even and make a tiny profit. If we only sell a thousand, we take a loss."
Li Banfeng shook his head. "We can't sell it like that. Print five thousand copies, and sell each one for two mao."
"Sell for two mao?" Ma the Fifth shook his head repeatedly. "We can't do that. Even if every single copy sells, we won't even recover our production costs!"
"You really are a shrewd merchant," Li Banfeng laughed. "Did you honestly expect to make a living off this?"
Ma the Fifth slapped his own forehead. As a businessman, he was so accustomed to pinching pennies and counting margins that he had completely forgotten their actual purpose.
"We'll do it your way. Two mao."
Using the hand-cranked press to run off two thousand more copies required hiring additional hands to fold the papers. Working straight through until dusk, the first issue of Night Fragrance was finally distributed.
Prestigious writers' works at a bargain price—the newspaper readers knew good material when they saw it. That very evening, newsstands everywhere were completely sold out.
The next day, the newsstands demanded extra print runs. Ma the Fifth printed another five thousand, while Li Banfeng urged the writers to rush out the second issue. A single printing press was no longer enough.
Ma the Fifth summoned Chuanzi to purchase two more presses. With three machines running side by side, the second issue of Night Fragrance sold twenty-five thousand copies.
Newsstands large and small clamored for even more.
Ma the Fifth went out to buy more machines and hire more hands, setting the workshop ablaze with frantic activity.
The third issue of the newspaper came out, alongside the first issue of the magazine.
The front-page headline of this newspaper issue was not copied from other major publications; it was written personally by Bai Qiusheng and Yuwen Qi.
Bloodgun Detective III Premieres Tonight at Sanfu Cinema; Promotional 40% Discount for All Guests.
In the magazine, nearly half of the articles were a series of reviews praising Bloodgun Detective.
With the newspapers and magazines packaged and ready, Ma the Fifth was just about to arrange deliveries when trouble showed up at their doorstep.
Li Banfeng assumed it was the Pure Observance Society. If they had come at a time like this, dealing with them would indeed be rather tricky.
Yuwen Qi gave a quiet reminder: "Seventh Master, whatever you do, don't forget the Pure Observance Society's three methods: strike with a club, seize by the pigtail, and slap on a label. You must tread very carefully."
Yet when Bai Qiusheng went outside to look, it was not the Pure Observance Society at all. Instead, it was a gang of men in their twenties and thirties, kicking and scattering the bundled newspapers and magazines all over the ground, while shoving, kicking, and beating the workers folding papers.
The laborers of Heishipo were no cowards. They surged forward to brawl with the thugs, but Bai Qiusheng rushed up to pull them apart.
Inside the workshop, Yuwen Qi lowered his voice to Li Banfeng. "Those are men from the Green Fire Gang. They're very nasty to deal with."
"How nasty?"
Doing business in Puluo Province inevitably ran into two hurdles: the prominent clans and the local gangs. Whichever side one relied upon, dividends and protection money had to be paid.
Yuwen Qi said, "The Green Fire Gang demands ruthless sums and acts with brutal venom. Burning shops, murdering people—they'll do anything. Seventh Master, do we play hardball with them, or take the soft approach?"
Li Banfeng smiled. "Their timing couldn't be better. These people will be of great use. Let's play soft first."
Yuwen Qi was baffled. What possible use could a bunch of thugs have?
The small-time leader of these gang disciples was named Zeng Wenbing. Ranked second among his brothers, he styled himself Second Master Zeng.
Bai Qiusheng recognized him and bowed obsequiously. "Second Master, when did you arrive? You didn't give us any advance word! Please, come inside..."
Zeng Wenbing slapped Bai Qiusheng across the face. "Who're you trying to act chummy with? Do I know you? Doing business on our turf without even offering your respects—do you know the rules or not?"
Bai Qiusheng dared not talk back. Having taken the blow, he still forced a smile onto his face. "Second Master, our business just opened. I hadn't had the time to notify you yet..."
"Cut the crap. Hand over twenty thousand dollars right now. Consider it your entry fee; the monthly cut will be calculated separately at the end of the month."
"Second Master, ours is a tiny operation, and we haven't earned a single copper yet. Asking for twenty thousand right off the bat..."
"Still looking for a beating, are you? Let me tell you, I'm standing right here having a smoke. If this cigarette burns down and the cash isn't in my hands, I'll burn this place to the ground!"
Bai Qiusheng hurried back inside the workshop and said to Li Banfeng, "He wants twenty thousand."
Li Banfeng said, "Give it to him. Remember that slap just now, and remember what they did to our workers. In a couple of days, we'll collect it all back with interest."
Bai Qiusheng handed over the money, and Zeng Wenbing left with his men.
Ma the Fifth instructed the workers to tidy up the papers and magazines and send them off to the newsstands.
The following evening, having arranged everything, Li Banfeng sat on the roof of the cinema behind the signboard, quietly waiting.
A large crowd gathered before the cinema doors. The promotional reach of Night Fragrance was immense, and Bloodgun Detective possessed powerful appeal.
There was another crucial factor: the people of Heishipo had guts.
As long as the cinema dared to screen it, they dared to watch!
With half an hour left before showtime, the lobby was already packed to the brim.
Tang Peigong, the Pure Observance Society's elder in Heishipo, arrived with his entourage.
He was flanked by over a hundred disciples. Ai Chixiang walked at the very front, roughly shoving people aside and shouting arrogant orders all the way:
"Rotten wood cannot be carved, and a wall of manure cannot be plastered! Do you people even know how to write the word 'shame'? The very virtue of being born human has been utterly degraded by you!"
Yuwen Qi murmured, "Seventh Master, they've started striking with a club."
The group advanced straight to the entrance, where Tang Peigong cried out in a booming voice, "Ma Junyang, an abandoned and shameless degenerate! The disgraceful deeds of his lifetime are too numerous to recount...!"
Tang Peigong began enumerating Ma Junyang's offenses in detail.
Yuwen Qi whispered, "Seventh Master, now they've started seizing by the pigtail."
Having finished listing the transgressions, Tang Peigong declared with fierce severity, "The art of moving pictures is no orthodox theater to begin with! It is an outlandish Western trickery designed to beguile through sights and sounds, a wellspring of utter degradation! Shameless reprobates produce such shameful moving pictures, yet you people remain blind to the truth and deaf to reason, willingly drinking in their venom! It grieves and wounds my very soul! This cinema has already suffered my reprimand for screening this disgraceful film, yet it refuses to repent. Today, it must be thoroughly razed to the ground to serve as a warning to all!"
Yuwen Qi remarked, "Seventh Master, that's the Pure Observance Society's greatest specialty: slapping on a label. Striking with a club, seizing by the pigtail, slapping on a label—once those three great methods are used, no matter how spotless a reputation is, they can drag it through the mud and make it reek."
Xiao Chuanzi gritted his teeth beside them. "Today, we'll see who ends up stinking!"
Tang Peigong gave the order, and the crowd of disciples prepared to smash the cinema.
Li Banfeng commanded, "Strike with a club!"
Tang Peigong had just reached the cinema entrance, and his disciples had raised their clubs to strike, when an elderly woman in her seventies suddenly collapsed onto the ground, screaming hoarsely, "What are you doing? Why are you beating an old lady?"
The old crone's face was covered in blood. Tang Peigong froze, and the disciples were equally stunned.
Who had slipped up and injured an old woman?
The crone wailed and cursed, "Were you not born of human parents? Do you have no mothers and fathers? To beat an old lady within an inch of her life—aren't you afraid of heavenly retribution? Aren't you afraid of lightning strikes? Aren't you afraid your ancestors will manifest from beyond and drag you pack of mongrels down to hell?!"
Tang Peigong turned livid from the tirade, and Ai Chixiang barked furiously, "Shameless vixen—"
"Vixen your mother! Who are you calling a vixen? At my age, you open your mouth to curse me and raise your hand to beat me! Were you even raised by human beings? What sort of bastard breed spawned the lot of you!"
Ai Chixiang's mouth hung open, unable to utter a single coherent reply. Before a seasoned street-scolding crone, his tongue was utterly tied.
Humiliated and enraged, Ai Chixiang snapped. Grabbing the old woman by her hair, he snarled through clenched teeth, "Who do you think you're cursing?"
Li Banfeng commanded, "Seize by the pigtail!"
A crew of photographers burst from the crowd, capturing the exact image of Ai Chixiang violently grabbing her hair.
With blood dripping down her face, the crone bared her teeth, clamping one hand onto Ai Chixiang's wrist while clawing and tussling with the other.
Li Banfeng had even had movie cameras hauled out. Such a vivid scene simply had to be used in Bloodgun Detective IV.
Seeing flashbulbs and cameras clicking all around, Tang Peigong shouted in fury, "Chixiang, stop! Do not fall into these scoundrels' trap!"
Ai Chixiang tried to pull his hand back, only to find his wrist caught in an iron grip by the street-scolding crone.
A street-scolding crone was remarkably good at provoking fury, but one should never lay a hand on her.
This was not out of respect for elders, but because most people simply could not beat a street-scolding crone in a fight.
Not only was Ai Chixiang's hand immobilized, but an eerie force surged from his wrist joint and spread throughout his entire body. He was completely under the crone's control. To accommodate the filming, she even forced him into savage grimaces, making him raise fists and throw slaps in all manner of postures.
With this precious footage captured, the second stage, "seizing by the pigtail," was complete.
To their surprise, this spectacle ignited the fury of the crowd.
"You dare lay hands on an old lady? You pack of filthy mongrels!"
"Pure Observance Society? Pure, my ass! You're all shameless bastards!"
"What's wrong with watching a movie? Beat these sons of bitches!"
This was Heishipo, not Jianrengang.
The furious citizens of Heishipo surged forward, shoving and jostling Tang Peigong and his disciples.
Seeing that the situation had turned sour, Tang Peigong ordered his disciples to shield him and make a hasty retreat.
Several disciples possessed cultivation, and they charged to the front to force an opening through the crowd.
Trying to run?
It wouldn't be that easy!
Li Banfeng gave the command: "Slap on a label!"
Xiao Genzi stood on the cinema roof, gazing coldly down at the crowd below.
A long ladle hovered horizontally in midair. With Xiao Chuanzi and his helpers lending a hand, ten buckets were hung neatly from the handle.
Gauging the precise moment, Xiao Genzi concentrated his will and swung the long ladle, sending the ten buckets plummeting from the sky.
Tang Peigong was sharp; sensing foreign objects above, he snapped his head up to look.
Splosh!
A bucket came down, right on target, slamming upside down over Tang Peigong's head like an enormous cap.
Gold Cultivator Tier Two Skill: Ten-Li Fragrance!
This bucketful truly was fragrant for ten li.
Without Xiao Genzi's specially formulated antidote, it couldn't be washed off for six months.
Tang Peigong yanked the bucket off. His face gleamed golden; his beard and hair were entirely yellow.
He wanted to vomit, but couldn't even spit it all out—there was simply too much in his mouth.
He looked around for Ai Chixiang, only to find Ai Chixiang still standing frozen in place, a bucket perched squarely atop his head.
Li Banfeng looked down coldly at Tang Peigong. "What's the fun in just smearing someone's reputation?"
Xiao Chuanzi gritted his teeth. "Today, we're going to make him stink—make him stink from inside out!"
Xiao Genzi gripped his long ladle and roared, "Bring more buckets!"
Chapter 267