Yu Family Cloth Shop

Li Banfeng wanted his money—one thousand yuan! "Right, of course..." Xiao Yeci hurriedly took out one thousand in cash from her wicker trunk and handed it to Li Banfeng. Li Banfeng counted it twice and tucked it into his inner pocket. With that, the two parted ways. Xiao Yeci and her daughter headed to the He family ancestral residence, while Li Banfeng made his way to the Yu Family Cloth Shop. Dressed to the nines, the cloth shop's proprietor, Yu Nan, stepped forward to greet him. "Looking to buy fabric, sir? Come have a look over here. This is pattern satin, warehouse satin, and over here we have Ningbo silk and variegated spring silk. We also have patterned gauze, Hangzhou gauze, Hangzhou spun silk, and Huzhou crepe. Which one takes your fancy?" The shop specialized in silks and satins, but Li Banfeng had no desire to buy cloth; he didn't know how to tailor anyway. Yu Nan went on for quite a while, and seeing that Li Banfeng showed no interest in any of it, she changed tack. "Are you looking to buy ready-made clothes, then? We have tailors here. If none of the finished garments catch your eye, we can make one for you." Li Banfeng shook his head. "I'm not buying clothes either." Yu Nan held her slender cigarette holder between her teeth. After a brief silence, she smiled. "Are you looking for silk handkerchiefs?" "No." "Quilt covers?" "No." "Bed hangings?" "No." Yu Nan took a drag of smoke and knitted her brows. "Then what are you buying?" "I want to buy cigarettes." Li Banfeng took a whiff of the smoke and found the aroma quite pleasant. Yu Nan blinked her large, luminous eyes, confirming once more, "You came to our cloth shop to buy cigarettes?" "Don't you have cigarettes right there?" Seeing Yu Nan smoking, Li Banfeng felt his reasoning was perfectly sound. Yu Nan's face darkened slightly. "Are you teasing me on purpose?" Li Banfeng didn't quite understand what she meant by teasing. "Are you selling or not?" After a long pause, Yu Nan turned to her shop assistant. "Bring out two packs of Grand Fairy and give them to this guest." Grand Fairy was a famous brand of women's cigarettes in Puluo Province. The assistant brought over two packs, and Li Banfeng slipped them into his pocket. "How much?" Yu Nan gave an amused smile. "No charge. Consider it a gift." She was quite generous, but Li Banfeng never took things from others for free. "Tailor me a suit, then. Pick some decent fabric." Yu Nan shook her head. "We don't sell Western clothing here." This shop only sold traditional garments. Li Banfeng looked at the ready-made clothes hanging in the shop and pointed to one. "I want that... long garment." Yu Nan looked over her shoulder and smiled. "You want a changshan?" "Yes, a changshan." "Old Ba!" Yu Nan called to her assistant. "Bring the tape measure. I'll take this guest's measurements properly." Yu Nan stepped up to measure Li Banfeng herself. As she took his measurements, she asked, "May I ask how I should address you, sir?" "My surname is Li, and I'm the seventh child." Habitually giving the name Li Qi, Li Banfeng asked in return, "And how should I address you, Proprietress?" "This humble woman's surname is Yu, given name Nan. Seventh Master, if you think well of me, just call me Shopkeeper." Shopkeeper Yu disliked being called "proprietress," for she was the master of this cloth shop; the establishment was entirely her own. "So you are Shopkeeper Yu. My respects, my respects." Li Banfeng mirrored the local tone and exchanged a couple of polite pleasantries with her. Half-crouching to measure Li Banfeng's waist, Yu Nan looked up with bright, flickering eyes and smiled at him. "Seventh Master, where are you staying? Once the clothes are finished, I'll have them delivered to you." "I just arrived in Ligou," Li Banfeng replied perfunctorily. Taking the tape measure to his legs, Shopkeeper Yu remarked, "A few days ago, I saw you buying quite a few things at Feng's Grocery Store." The implication was clear: *You didn't just arrive in Ligou; I noticed you long ago.* Li Banfeng didn't deny it. "I come and go in a hurry; I don't have a fixed residence." "Then how should I get the clothes to you?" "I'll come pick them up in three days. You choose the fabric for me, and calculate the price first." Yu Nan selected an upper-medium grade satin for Li Banfeng, flicked the abacus beads for a moment, and asked, "Will you be paying with Huan Country notes or silver dollars? We take bankai silver dollars too." Li Banfeng had no idea what a bankai was, but he did possess silver dollars, and he was curious about their exchange rate. "How much in silver dollars?" "Materials and labor included, one silver dollar." "And in Huan Country notes?" Yu Nan was taken aback. "One silver dollar exchanges for five hundred Huan Country notes. Surely I don't need to tell you that?" Five hundred yuan for a single outfit—not just here in Yaowanggou, but even back in Yuezhou, that was a bit extravagant for Li Banfeng. Li Banfeng took out one silver dollar plus two hundred Huan Country notes and handed them to Yu Nan. Yu Nan had been waiting for Li Banfeng to haggle, only to find he had given an extra two hundred. "What is the meaning of this, sir?" She thought Li Banfeng wanted to buy two garments for seven hundred. That was out of the question; such a counteroffer would be cutting far too deep. Li Banfeng said, "One silver dollar is for the clothes. The two hundred Huan Country notes are to trouble Shopkeeper Yu with a matter: if you hear any news of Shopkeeper Feng over the next few days, please let me know." Yu Nan smiled. "That's a trifling matter, no money needed." With that, Yu Nan handed the two hundred Huan Country notes back to Li Banfeng. Li Banfeng waved his hand. "Just keep it. I'd like to make friends with you." To Li Banfeng's mind, if you didn't pay someone, you had no right to ask them to do anything for you. Yu Nan appreciated Li Banfeng's straightforwardness. Pocketing the money, she lowered her voice and said to him, "If you aren't satisfied with the garment, full returns and exchanges guaranteed. Aside from that, there is something I'm not sure if I should tell you." "Please speak, Shopkeeper." "A friend who came to Ligou with you before has been begging in Tail Alley. I'm afraid he won't last more than a few days." *A friend who came with me?* "Which friend?" "That honest, stout fellow." *Qin Xiaopang?* Li Banfeng was stunned. Qin Xiaopang's family wasn't wealthy, but he was hardly poor enough to beg for food. What was more, he had obtained eleven snake-spot pills. In Puluo Province, as long as something didn't involve special uses, prices were not exorbitant. Selling a pill for ten thousand, eleven pills meant one hundred and ten thousand—more than enough for Xiaopang to live in style for a while. How could he possibly have ended up begging? "Is there some underlying reason behind this?" Li Banfeng felt things might be complicated. Yu Nan glanced around and lowered her voice even further. "Seventh Master, it seems that friend of yours offended the Geng Family Medicine Shop over selling pills. "The people from the medicine shop threw him onto the street and posted guards to watch him, intending to starve him to death. The Geng Family Medicine Shop deals with the Jiangxiang Gang; this is something they do often." Hearing this, Li Banfeng pondered for a moment before asking, "Are the people guarding him cultivators?" Yu Nan nodded. "A cultivator, yes. He even had some friction with me in the past." "What pathway, and what level of cultivation?" "His cultivation isn't high, but his pathway is peculiar." Yu Nan blew a puff of smoke toward the counter. The smoke shifted, forming the character "Oil" before dispersing. Seeing that this woman could manipulate smoke at will, Li Banfeng asked in a low voice, "You are a Smoke Cultivator?" Yu Nan offered an amused smile, keeping silent. Li Banfeng asked further, "Did you take the initiative to speak with me today because you want me to help you take revenge?" Yu Nan smiled. "I didn't say anything of the sort. But if Seventh Master wishes to save your friend, this humble shop is willing to lend a hand." Li Banfeng frowned. "This counts as a partnership, then? Why seek me out?" Yu Nan replied, "Because Boss Qin is Seventh Master's friend, and Seventh Master is a capable man." Li Banfeng didn't deny the friendship. "How do you know I'm capable?" Yu Nan exhaled a plume of smoke. "Anyone who can return alive from Bitter Mist Mountain has real skill." *Looks like this woman set her eyes on me a long time ago.* Li Banfeng pondered for a long while. Xiaopang had fallen on hard times. Should he help him? Li Banfeng didn't owe Xiaopang anything; even if he had owed him before, he had settled it afterward. Yet the man was on the verge of starving to death. Back when Li Banfeng had been starving, Xiaopang had treated him to two bowls of plain broth noodles. ... Tail Alley was a rather secluded lane in Ligou, flanked on both sides by old compounds inhabited by destitute folk. During the day, people were busy with chores and few pedestrians passed through. Toward evening, foot traffic gradually increased, and Qin Xiaopang, kneeling on the ground on his last breath, opened his eyes. Dusk was his last hope of survival. A passerby, seeing his tattered clothes and the bruises and cuts covering his body, felt genuine pity and tossed half a flatbread to him. Xiaopang reached out to pick it up. Beside him, a man wearing a magua jacket and a felt hat stomped his foot down onto the flatbread. "Did I give you permission to eat?" Looking down at Qin Xiaopang, the man in the magua spat in his face. Xiaopang said nothing and drew his hand back. A passerby couldn't bear the sight and stepped forward to ask, "Good brother, why make things hard for a beggar?" The man in the magua looked up, his left eyebrow dropping while his right eyebrow arched high. With a crooked sneer, he flashed a textbook thug's smirk. "What the fuck is it to you?" The passerby wanted to argue, but a woman beside him pulled him aside. "Don't meddle in other people's business. That's the Geng Family Medicine Shop throwing its weight around. Move along, quickly." Hearing the name of the Geng Family Medicine Shop, the passerby said no more and hurried away. The man in the magua ground the flatbread into mush beneath his boot and kicked it far away. Xiaopang lowered his head and closed his eyes. He was a Food Cultivator; going without food for even a single day could starve him to death. Yesterday, he had managed to endure by eating half a bowl of cold, sour rice. Today, from morning until now, he hadn't had a single bite. He feared he wouldn't last much longer. Perhaps it was for the best if he couldn't hold on. Once he starved to death, he would finally be free. ... Inside the Portable Abode, Li Banfeng was waiting for the bronze lotus. A person who had known starvation would never forget the one who gave him food. Perhaps others might forget, but Li Banfeng would not. Li Banfeng glanced at the gramophone. "My lady, I've fed you before, so you mustn't forget me!" *Chik, chik—* The gramophone sobbed twice, singing in a tearful cadence: "Oh, my husband! Marrying a husband means clothes to wear and food to eat. Your humble servant serves you faithfully and diligently—could my husband truly begrudge your servant a single bite of food? Not to mention that none of those meals earlier were fresh..." Her words actually made Li Banfeng feel a bit ashamed. He had to think of a way to buy something fresh for his lady. But before shopping for groceries, he needed to make sure he was fully equipped. The blood-drinking dagger had been swallowed by the lotus, which should at least produce a rust pill. Even though Li Banfeng already had one rust pill, carrying an extra one always gave him peace of mind. Strange... why was the lotus taking so long to refine the pill today? PS: The bankai silver dollar, also known as the Number Two silver dollar, is generally worth half of a Number One silver dollar (the standard silver dollar). Dear readers, do you still remember the Oil Cultivator?