Long Time No See

"The southern breeze brings cool relief, The nightingale sings soft and sweet, Beneath the moon, the blossoms dream, Only the night fragrance breathes its perfume..." Lüshui City, Xiaoyaowu. Song Queen Jiang Mengting was performing in the circular ballroom. The circular ballroom was not a grand dance hall. The one at Xiaoyaowu could hold thirty people at most and was a venue for private gatherings. Today, there were only two people in the audience: Li the Seventh and Ma the Fifth. Ma the Fifth lowered his voice and asked, "Old Seven, do you think she's pretty?" Li Banfeng glanced at the gramophone behind Jiang Mengting and nodded. "Pretty." "Be honest. Do you feel there's anything different about her?" Li Banfeng was reasonably familiar with Jiang Mengting. Ever since Xiaoyaowu reopened, Jiang Mengting had left the Paramount and returned under Ma the Fifth's wing. "She's very loyal to you." Ma the Fifth nodded. "She is indeed loyal to me, but the two of us aren't involved the way you think." Li Banfeng was taken aback. "Don't tell me you two are biological brother and sister?" Ma the Fifth shook his head repeatedly. Once the song ended, he had Jiang Mengting leave the circular ballroom first. With only the two of them left in the room, Ma the Fifth said to Li Banfeng, "Jiang Mengting isn't like Xiao Xiufei and the others. Much of Xiao Xiufei's success was fought for between the bedsheets, whereas Jiang Mengting's success today was entirely built by my promotion. If I told you she's never slept with a man, would you believe me?" That was hard to believe. Having spent a year and a half in Puluo Province, Li Banfeng knew exactly what kind of stuff these singing queens and screen queens were made of. What made Jiang Mengting so special? Ma the Fifth said, "Because I placed a heavy wager on her. I signed a covenant deed with her—no matter how hard life got, she wasn't allowed to sell her body without my instruction. "She's different from the other song queens. Plenty of wealthy men crave her and pine after her, yet none can touch her. Even when she had her own star diva box at the Paramount, no one could touch her. "Only this way could her value skyrocket. Whenever anyone mentions song queens, Jiang Mengting always ranks first. With the status she has today, I can earn even more money." Li Banfeng smiled. "You truly are a shrewd businessman." Ma the Fifth shook his head. "It doesn't just come down to business; it also depends on her own skill. Every year, five or six rising stars are cultivated under me. Over three to five years, that makes twenty or thirty of them. "Yet one who stays untouched like her—there can only be one such woman in three to five years. Only then does she seem precious, like a solitary rose amidst a sea of blossoms. Only then does that rose have true value. "And she can live up to that value—whether in looks, grace, or heart, she lives up to every bit of it. "She's a good woman, and I want to find a good home for her. Old Seven, would you be willing to take her? "I know you can't marry a songstress as your main wife, but even taking her as a concubine would do, or keeping her by your side without any title at all." Li Banfeng frowned. "Why should I take her? Why don't you take her yourself?" Ma the Fifth shook his head. "I can't. I can never treat a woman with wholehearted devotion. Between her and me, there is only business. "Right now, our business is on the verge of collapsing. I won't be able to look after her in the future, so I want to find her a safe haven. "In the future, when we brothers live a leisurely life together, seeing her by your side, I will feel less indebted to her." Li Banfeng frowned. "Why is our business on the verge of collapsing? Just because of that matter with the Garrison Commissioner?" Ma the Fifth let out a sigh. "Earlier, they wanted to take over the publishing and newspaper business in Black Rock Slope. I didn't agree, and you certainly wouldn't have let me agree either. "Now the Garrison Commissioner has raised freight charges by fifty percent. The shipping costs for all our businesses outside Lüshuiwan have gone up by fifty percent. If this continues, every single business of ours outside will be completely finished." Li Banfeng took a sip of liquor. "A fifty-percent increase in freight—is it really that fatal?" Ma the Fifth took a fountain pen from his shirt and said to Li Banfeng, "This pen was produced in Black Rock Slope. The cost is six dollars, and it sells for twelve dollars in Black Rock Slope. "Yaowanggou has no factories capable of producing pens, so a pen sells for twenty-eight dollars there. You can't blame the merchants for being greedy, because the freight for a single pen is fifteen dollars. "Shipping one pen from Black Rock Slope to Yaowanggou costs twenty-one dollars before profit. The merchant still has to make a living, so tacking on a seven-dollar profit brings it to twenty-eight dollars." Li Banfeng really hadn't looked into this before. He knew freight in Puluo Province was expensive, but he had never imagined it was this absurd. "How much does a pen even weigh? How could the shipping cost fifteen dollars? If you were transporting grain, how high would the freight be for a single jin?" Ma the Fifth let out a long sigh. "Old Seven, you truly don't know the hardships of business. The Garrison Commissioner doesn't set freight rates by weight; he sets them by price, based on the different market rates of goods in each region. He is openly plundering our money. "Now that he's raised our freight charges by fifty percent, the shipping fee for this pen has shot up to twenty-two dollars and fifty cents. Add the six-dollar production cost, and shipping this pen to Yaowanggou costs more than its market price of twenty-eight dollars. How can we keep doing business like this?" The businesses outside truly could not survive. Should they simply abandon all their outside businesses and focus entirely on their operations in Lüshui City? How many storms of blood had Li the Seventh and Ma the Fifth weathered to build up the foundation they had today? They were considered notable figures in Puluo Province, men who could hold their heads high. If they abandoned all their external business, they would be reduced to ordinary merchants in Lüshui City, and all their past efforts would go down the drain. This matter was extremely thorny, but Ma the Fifth couldn't think of a solution. "I wanted to seek out the Garrison Commissioner to ease tensions, but their attitude is unyielding. It's definitely not just over the publishing business. "It's tied to what happened with the He family before. He Yuxiu offended the Garrison Commissioner, and we backed her up to the hilt. The Garrison Commissioner added that debt to our tab too." Li Banfeng lit a cigarette and asked, "How is the He family doing?" "The Garrison Commissioner doubled the He family's freight rates. Their business is ruined—completely ruined. Who knows how many of their outside factories have gone under. "If not for He Yuxiu still retaining some prestige, the He family would have fallen apart by now. Her whereabouts are currently unknown. If she ever falls into the Garrison Commissioner's hands, the He family will cease to exist among Puluo Province's prominent clans." "Can we do business outside under the Lu family's name?" On this point, Li Banfeng was confident Lu Chunying would cooperate. In fact, Ma the Fifth had already been doing so, but he didn't know how long it could last. "The Garrison Commissioner wants to seize the Paramount, and Lu Chunying refused. If this standoff drags on, I expect the Lu family's freight rates will go up as well." "Which means the Lu family can barely fend for themselves." Ma the Fifth nodded. "Out of the Four Great Families, the only one riding high right now is the Chu family. The Garrison Commissioner lowered their freight rates by thirty percent. Next, they'll drive down prices and squeeze out all our business. The Chu family is about to become Puluo Province's number one prominent clan." Li Banfeng held a cigarette between his teeth, silently turning over the threads of the entire situation. Seeing Li Banfeng remain silent, Ma the Fifth offered an idea that was far from ideal: "Old Seven, what if we talk with Lu Chunying and sell the Paramount to the Garrison Commissioner? "First smooth things over between the Lu family and the Garrison Commissioner, which would also ease tensions between us and him. Then, with a few rounds of greasing palms, maybe this storm will blow over." "Smooth things over? And keep smoothing them over until when?" Li Banfeng shook his head. "If we give him the Paramount today and agree to it, what happens tomorrow when he wants Xiaoyaowu? Do we hand that over too?" Ma the Fifth knew this was no lasting solution either. "But what other good option do we have?" Li Banfeng first asked, "If we split up our business and divide it among a dozen different people to run separately, the Garrison Commissioner wouldn't be able to target us. Isn't that how it works?" Ma the Fifth nodded. "In principle, yes, but where would we find that many trustworthy people? That's not something that can be pulled off overnight." Someone had already pulled it off. Aside from Li Banfeng, no one had ever targeted that person's operations. He had truly pulled it off. "Old Five, go find Shen Rongqing. Arrange a meeting with her and talk about business." Ma the Fifth waved his hands. "Old Seven, don't think I can get anything done between the bedsheets. Miss Shen won't even see me these days." Li Banfeng said, "Tell her that I want to see her. Tell her I want to catch up on old times." Ma the Fifth was taken aback. "You know Shen Rongqing?" "No." Ma the Fifth froze. "If you don't know her, how can you catch up on old times?" Li Banfeng said, "Just tell her that. She'll understand." ... At the Ling Family Shadow Play Company, Shen Rongqing didn't understand at all. "You're saying Li the Seventh wants to catch up on old times with me? I don't know him in the slightest." Ma the Fifth smiled. "Those were his exact words. I'm just delivering the message." Shen Rongqing found it utterly baffling. Once Ma the Fifth left, she relayed the matter to He Jiaqing. ... He Jiaqing had just stepped out of a vegetable market. Walking into an alleyway, taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, he balanced the tray of an electronic scale on top of his head. After a shudder, He Jiaqing felt thoroughly invigorated and clearheaded. Just as he was about to return the tray, he felt the button on his chest vibrate. "Jiaqing, Ma the Fifth came looking for me today. He said Li the Seventh wants to meet and catch up on old times. I don't know Li the Seventh at all. Should I see him or not?" He Jiaqing fell silent for a moment before saying, "See him." "What should I say when I meet him?" "Just say: 'Long time no see.'" "'Long time no see'? But I've never even met him..." Shen Rongqing was completely lost. She couldn't comprehend what either of these two meant. Just as He Jiaqing was about to explain, a burly woman who sold fish rushed into the alley and yelled at the top of her lungs, "What are you doing with my scale tray?! Are you fucking crazy from poverty, stealing even that?!" ... In a private room at the Quanjian Teahouse, Shen Rongqing looked at Li the Seventh sitting across from her, took a deep breath, and said, "Long time no see." Saying this felt awkward, but since it was He Jiaqing's instruction, Shen Rongqing had no idea how Li the Seventh would react. Li the Seventh's reaction was entirely natural. "Yes, long time no see. How have you been lately?" Shen Rongqing had no idea what was going on or what Li the Seventh meant by that. She could only manage a reply: "Quite well." Li the Seventh followed up, "I've run into a bit of trouble and need your help with something." ... He Jiaqing walked out of a foot massage parlor carrying a footbath bucket in his hand. Putting the footbath bucket over his head, He Jiaqing gripped the button tightly. "Sister, did you meet with him?" "I did. The Garrison Commissioner has throttled their business using freight rates. He wants to borrow our channels to keep their operations moving." He Jiaqing pondered for a moment and said, "That works. Let their businesses produce and sell locally, and we'll handle the reselling. We won't lose out, and we can make a profit on the price difference." Shen Rongqing was stunned. "Jiaqing, you're going to agree to this? "This is absurd. I don't know how he found out about us, but if we do this, it's equivalent to laying all the Brotherhood Alliance's cards on the table." "Some of our cards he figured out long ago," He Jiaqing chuckled from inside the footbath bucket. "Help him with this. Arrange another meeting with him, and tell him that I hope he stays well, but the He family isn't doing too well right now, and I hope the He family stays well too." PS: "Stay well" was what Li Banfeng and He Jiaqing said to each other upon parting, and it was also the last words they had spoken to each other face-to-face.