Li Banfeng gently pushed open the door to Room Five, taking care not to make the projector feel too awkward while letting it know he had entered.
The projector remained thoroughly composed and greeted Li Banfeng, "Director Seven, not asleep yet?"
Li Banfeng smiled, sat on the sofa side by side with the projector, and quietly enjoyed the imagery projected from its lens.
On the left were words; on the right were moving pictures.
Li Banfeng had read this story in the newspaper before. Unlike Heishipo's conventional style, this narrative was subtle and understated.
The footage skipped frames every now and then, making it obvious that it had not been filmed from real life.
Li Banfeng asked, "Who is this young lady? Aren't you going to introduce her to me?"
"You mean this lady?" The image froze upon the female lead. The projector said, "She is a figment of my imagination."
Li Banfeng said nothing. After watching the entire story, he offered a critique: "It's shot very well, but you need to put a bit more thought into the editing."
With that, Li Banfeng prepared to head back to his room to sleep. Reaching the doorway, he heard the projector say behind him, "Director Seven, my loyalty to you is absolute and has never wavered. When we go to the battlefield, I will always be willing to fight for you until the very last moment."
Li Banfeng nodded. "Of that, I have never doubted."
As an expert in this field, Li Banfeng could draw a definite conclusion: that woman was not conjured from the projector's imagination. She was far too lifelike.
Not actually filmed, yet not imagined—just what kind of existence was this woman?
Li Banfeng sat in Room Six and pondered for a long time, when the projector's voice drifted into his ears again: "Don't be shy! This is an honesty born of art!"
"But isn't this... a bit too honest..."
"My heart holds only the purity of art!"
"Are you telling the truth?"
"Don't listen to his nonsense. He harbors ill intentions."
There was someone else!
More than one person had slipped into the companion dwelling!
There was yet another person whose voice was extremely faint, so much so that one couldn't tell if it was male or female.
Nor had this voice come from Room Five. Li Banfeng looked around Room Six, where he sat, sensing that the sound had not come from the direction of Room Five.
He stood up, pushed open the door to Room Seven, and listened for a good while. No sound.
He pushed open the door to Room Eight. Room Eight was empty and bare, with no furnishings yet. In this vacant room, there seemed to be a faint noise.
What kind of sound was it? Li Banfeng could not tell. It was off by just a hair; if only his technique of Perceiving Spiritual Voices improved just a bit more, he would be able to hear it clearly.
Li Banfeng focused all his attention on his ears until his temples throbbed with ache, but he heard nothing more from Room Eight.
Lately, thanks to his breakthrough, his technique of Perceiving Spiritual Voices had indeed improved—quite significantly, in fact—yet this intruder had suddenly gone silent.
Li Banfeng rubbed his temples and continued toward Room Nine, when he suddenly heard a woman's voice beside his ear.
"What does this madman want now instead of sleeping?"
Why was this voice so clear?
Li Banfeng whipped his head around and demanded, "Who are you calling a madman?!"
Red Lotus shuddered. "You heard me?"
Among this entire family, Red Lotus had arrived even earlier than the companion dwelling itself. Yet this was the first time Li Banfeng had ever heard her speak.
Red Lotus's voice was not as sweet as the wife's, but it carried a touch more intellect and reason, evoking an image of an ear-length bob, rimless spectacles, and a professional skirt suit.
Li Banfeng struck a match, lit a candle, and sat down beside Red Lotus. "I never expected your voice to sound so pleasant."
"How could it possibly compare to your darling wife's?" Red Lotus snorted coldly, not wishing to pay him any heed.
Noticing the faint halo over the lotus leaves, which meant Red Lotus was still refining pills, Li Banfeng asked, "The batch coming out this time shouldn't be Profound Accumulation Pills, right?"
"Are Profound Accumulation Pills beneath you? Do you have any idea how many cultivators above the clouds would risk their lives for a single one?"
"Well, I'm not above the clouds right now."
"You have to take the long view. I treat you with sincere goodwill; I simply won't let you get the short end of the stick."
Li Banfeng paused, then chuckled. "If you put it that way, I've wronged you. Leaving you here really is somewhat unfair to you. How about I move you back to Room Two?"
"No need. It's fine here. Being farther from that wicked woman brings me peace and quiet."
"Do you really find it peaceful?" Li Banfeng looked around. "Have you heard any sounds?"
Red Lotus's leaves trembled for a moment, and she said to Li Banfeng, "I have indeed heard sounds. I've heard sounds in every single room."
Li Banfeng was astonished. "In every room?"
Red Lotus said resentfully, "Every time you open a room, I get moved. I've lived in every room, so naturally I've heard them in every room."
Li Banfeng asked first, "Just how many people are there in the companion dwelling? I mean, people I don't know."
Red Lotus pondered for a moment. "As far as I know, at least one in every room."
"What kind of people are they?"
"I can't tell. Their voices are far too indistinct; I can't even tell male from female."
Li Banfeng said, "Just now in Room Five, I heard a woman's voice."
"I've lived in Room Five too and heard voices, but I truly couldn't distinguish male or female. Perhaps that wicked woman's technique of Perceiving Spiritual Voices is special, allowing you to hear more accurately than I can."
Li Banfeng asked again, "Do you know what they were saying?"
Red Lotus replied, "That's even harder to discern. In this household, presumably only your wife can hear clearly."
Li Banfeng said, "Can't the old master hear clearly himself?"
"Who knows? Maybe he's too lazy to listen."
As the two were speaking, a bout of laughter drifted to their ears.
"Hehehe..."
An indistinct laughter, neither clearly male nor female.
Red Lotus's leaves trembled; she also tried to trace the sound's origin, but failed completely.
Li Banfeng asked, "Are you truly willing to live in Room Nine?"
"Just don't make me move again in the future."
"Alright then. From now on, I'll call you Flower Nine."
Red Lotus froze for a moment, then said, "I have a name. I don't need a new one. Red Lotus suits me just fine..."
Li Banfeng returned to Room Six to sleep.
Around noon the next day, Li Banfeng went to the main room, spent some affectionate moments with the gramophone, and asked, "Darling wife, did you hear anything unusual last night?"
Whirrr—
The wife giggled. "Darling husband, I did hear some stirrings, but they are of no consequence. Husband need not worry; just leave these matters to your humble servant."
With those words from his wife, Li Banfeng was reassured. His wife knew where those sounds came from and knew there were other occupants in the companion dwelling. She wasn't at liberty to say so right now, but she knew how to handle it.
Li Banfeng exited the companion dwelling just in time for the workers' noon break.
Yelaixiang was an evening newspaper. The afternoon workload was heavy and the noon break was short, so the workers generally did not nap. After finishing their meals, they smoked a cigarette, read the newspapers, and attended to their respective tasks.
The supervisor brought over the roster. An extra print run was ordered today with a heavy workload, so workers on shift were called over to sign their names for a month-end bonus.
Li Banfeng glanced at the roster and furrowed his brows.
In Heishipo, there were indeed quite a few people who could read, but not many who could write.
They weren't entirely unable to write, but their handwriting was terribly crude—crooked, missing strokes, full of minor flaws.
There was a newcomer, a young fellow named Xiao Fu, who truly couldn't write; he didn't even recognize his own name and could only do odd jobs like folding and delivering newspapers.
Having eaten lunch, he imitated the veteran workers, picked up a newspaper, and began studying it earnestly.
Yet he was illiterate and could only look at the pictures. Those few illustrations in the paper didn't take long to look through—he finished them in two or three glances while others were still reading the front-page news.
"Master Song, what does this section you're reading mean?"
Master Song held the newspaper, lowered his voice, and explained a passage to Xiao Fu.
After listening, Xiao Fu's veins bulged. "There's actually such a thing in here?! Would an eldest miss do something like that? Is this real or fake?"
Master Song waved his hand. "Who can say for sure? Real or fake, figure it out yourself."
"Figure it out? How am I supposed to figure it out?!" Agitated, Xiao Fu stood up. He wanted to go ask someone else, took two steps, and sat right back down.
His pants were too thin.
"Master Song, tell me, which three characters make up that eldest miss's name?"
Master Song laughed, "You rascal, you haven't even learned your own name, what do you care about hers?"
"I just want to know where else she appears further down..."
Li Banfeng stared at Xiao Fu for a long time, only to hear Chuanzi beside him say, "When I first came to Heishipo, I only looked at pictures too. I thought the pictures here were especially pretty. Later, they told me the words were far better than the pictures. I didn't believe it at first, but once they explained a passage to me, I found the words really were better—words had everything in them! I kept pestering people to read newspapers to me. Out of respect for you and Master Five, people would read a couple of sentences at first, but after a while they got annoyed, and some things were awkward to read aloud anyway. So I took a dictionary to teach myself. If I couldn't understand, I'd ask around; if someone didn't want to explain, I'd hand them a cigarette. Over time, I could read a whole newspaper."
Li Banfeng stared at Chuanzi. "Just to read a newspaper, you taught yourself to read?"
Chuanzi scratched his head. "If you mean reading, I can manage. If you mean writing, I'm really no good—I always get strokes wrong, and it looks terrible."
Yuwen Qi chuckled. "When I was young, my handwriting was ugly too. It was all self-taught, so there were always irregularities. Later, I met Old Bai. He came from Moxiangdian; his strokes and characters were genuinely beautiful. Refusing to be outdone, I bought copybooks on the street, learning calligraphy and composition simultaneously. I knocked about with Old Bai, and eventually became a man of letters myself."
So Yuwen Qi and Bai Qiusheng came from different backgrounds—he had originated as a worker.
Li Banfeng reviewed the sign-in sheet again. Nearly all the workers present were in this condition.
They learned to read solely to read newspapers?
Li Banfeng walked among the workers on lunch break. It matched the peddler's description closely: about half of the workers were literate.
During the lunch break, it was very easy to tell who was literate and who wasn't. The literate workers held newspapers, critiquing and discussing them with one another, while the illiterate could only listen on the sidelines for entertainment, not daring to chime in or even cough. When afternoon work began, the literate chose their tasks first, and what remained was left to the illiterate. There was no point in complaining; illiterate workers couldn't even read the work orders. Among these workers, a group would gradually emerge, forcing themselves to learn to read.
Was this why the literacy rate in Heishipo was so high?
No, that wasn't right.
Factories in other places were like this too, where literate workers had the advantage, yet workers there weren't seen taking the initiative to learn.
Why was Heishipo so unique?
While Li Banfeng was still pondering, Xiao Fu ran back dripping with sweat. In his hand was a dictionary bought from a fellow worker—very old, mended and patched in many spots. Yet he treasured it dearly, carefully slipping it into his jacket. While folding papers, he would steal glances at it from time to time, comparing it against the characters on the page.
As long as he could learn to read, every story in this newspaper was a reward for him.
This reward was cheap: a shudder of the body after reading, and interest waned.
Yet it didn't matter. Tomorrow there would be a new reward, and each day's reward was different.
The more newspapers they read, the more rewards they gained. Their social circles shifted, their shared discussions taught them more characters, and their status continuously rose. If they gritted their teeth further and mastered writing and prose, they would have the chance to work in the buildings of the back courtyard.
This was a virtuous cycle!
The crux of this cycle lay in these newspapers, in Heishipo's newspapers with their distinctive style and exceptional content.
Were there no such books and periodicals in Lüshui City?
There were. In the corners of bookstores, one could find similar reading material, but you had to know how to look, and you needed enough experience to gauge the contents from the title and synopsis. An illiterate person lacked the ability to judge; he didn't even have the courage to step into a bookstore.
And what about Heishipo?
Li Banfeng walked out of the newspaper office and looked down the street. There were more than a dozen newsstands along a single street.
Getting a newspaper was simply too easy.
The roar of the printing presses interrupted Li Banfeng's thoughts and reminded him of another matter.
Not only was buying newspapers easy, printing them here was even easier.
Heishipo had paper mills in abundance and printing plants in plenty; paper and ink were extremely cheap.
With low base costs, newspapers were cheap, allowing more investment in content.
This was yet another virtuous cycle.
Heishipo's cultural atmosphere had formed precisely like this.
Two virtuous cycles were invigorating people to learn of their own accord.
Li Banfeng had thought himself well-acquainted with Heishipo, only now realizing that there was masterful wisdom laying out this scheme, which he had never noticed.
Who had laid out this scheme?
...
Inside an abandoned factory, Tang Shijiang retrieved an iron lunchbox from beneath a lathe and asked, "Are you hungry? Have something to eat first."
The coachman set down his rickshaw shafts. "Senior Brother, how could I have an appetite right now? I have a favor to ask of you!"
Tang Shijiang smacked his lips. "Could you stop calling me Senior Brother? Being your senior brother is downright embarrassing."
Chapter 458