Chapter 54: Yu Family Cloth Shop

Li Banfeng wanted money—one thousand yuan!

"Alright, alright..." Xiao Yeci quickly took out one thousand in cash from her wicker basket and handed it to Li Banfeng. Li Banfeng counted it twice before putting it into his inner pocket.

"I'm reminding you again: if you don't want to die, don't go to the He family's old house!"

With that, they parted ways. Xiao Yeci and her daughter didn't go to the He family's old house; instead, they headed towards the train station.

Li Banfeng followed them the entire way, watching them enter the ticket office.

They went to buy tickets. He hadn't expected them to have travel permits.

It's good they have travel permits. They should leave quickly, the farther the better. It would be good for them, and good for him too.

Li Banfeng returned to Ligou. He went to the general store again, but seeing the door was still closed, he turned and went to the fabric shop next door.

Yu Nan, the flamboyantly dressed owner of the fabric shop, greeted him. "Are you buying fabric? Come take a look. We have mo-ben satin, ku satin, also Ning silk, huaxianchun, huasha, Hangluo, and Hangfang, Huzhou crepe. Which one do you fancy?"

The shop mainly sold silk and satin, but Li Banfeng didn't want to buy fabric, nor did he know how to tailor.

Yu Nan spoke for a while, seeing that Li Banfeng remained unmoved. She then asked, "Are you looking for ready-made clothes? We have a tailor here; if you don't find anything you like among the ready-made garments, we can make one for you."

Li Banfeng shook his head. "I'm not buying clothes either."

Yu Nan bit on her slender cigarette holder. After a moment of silence, she smiled and asked, "Are you buying handkerchiefs?"

"No."

"Quilt covers?"

"No."

"Bed curtains?"

"No."

Yu Nan took a puff of her cigarette and frowned. "Then what are you buying?"

"Cigarettes."

Li Banfeng sniffed the scent of the smoke. He thought it wasn't bad.

Yu Nan blinked her large eyes rapidly. She confirmed again, "You're coming to our fabric shop to buy cigarettes?"

"Don't you have cigarettes?" Yu Nan was smoking, and Li Banfeng thought his idea was perfectly reasonable.

Yu Nan's face subtly hardened. "Are you trying to make fun of me?"

Li Banfeng didn't quite understand what she meant by "make fun of." "Are you selling or not?"

After a moment of silence, Yu Nan turned to her assistant and said, "Bring two packs of Great Immortaless cigarettes and give them to this guest."

Great Immortaless was a very famous brand of ladies' cigarettes in Pro Prefecture.

The assistant brought two packs, and Li Banfeng put them in his pocket.

"How much?"

Yu Nan smiled faintly. "They're free, a gift for you."

This person was quite straightforward. However, Li Banfeng never accepted things for free from others.

"Make me a Western suit," he said, "choose good material."

Yu Nan shook her head. "We don't sell foreign-style clothes here."

This shop only sold traditional clothing.

Li Banfeng looked at the ready-made clothes hanging in the shop. He pointed to one garment and said, "I want this... this very long piece of clothing."

Yu Nan looked back. She smiled and asked, "You want a long gown?"

"Yes, a long gown."

"Lao Ba!" Yu Nan called to her assistant. "Bring the measuring tape. I'll take this guest's measurements properly."

Yu Nan personally took Li Banfeng's measurements. As she measured, she asked, "May I ask the guest's name?"

"My surname is Li, and I'm the seventh child," Li Banfeng said, giving his name as Li Qi, as was his habit. He then asked in return, "And what should I call the shopkeeper?"

"My name is Yu Nan. Nan is my given name. Seventh Master, if you think highly of me, just call me 'Shopkeeper'."

Shopkeeper Yu didn't like being called 'proprietress' by others because she was the owner of the fabric shop; it was her own establishment.

"So it's Shopkeeper Yu, my apologies," Li Banfeng said, adopting the local accent and exchanging a few polite words with Yu Nan.

Yu Nan was half-squatting, measuring Li Banfeng's waist. She looked up, her bright eyes sparkling, and smiled at him. "Seventh Master, where do you live? Once the clothes are ready, I'll have them sent to you."

"I just arrived in Ligou," Li Banfeng replied vaguely.

Shopkeeper Yu took the measuring tape and measured Li Banfeng's legs. "A few days ago, I saw you buying quite a few things at Fengji General Store."

The implication of her words was that he hadn't just arrived in Ligou; she had noticed him a while ago.

Li Banfeng didn't deny it. "I'm just passing through, with no fixed abode."

"Then how can I deliver the clothes to you?"

"I'll come to pick them up in three days," Li Banfeng said. "You can choose the fabric for me. First, calculate the price."

Yu Nan selected a medium-to-high quality silk for Li Banfeng. After a moment of calculating with an abacus, she asked, "Will you be paying with Huanguo banknotes or silver dollars? We also accept half-dollars."

Li Banfeng didn't know what "half-dollars" meant, but he did have silver dollars. He was curious about the exchange rate for silver dollars.

"How much if I pay with silver dollars?"

"Including labor and materials, one silver dollar."

"And Huanguo banknotes?"

Yu Nan paused, surprised. "One silver dollar is worth five hundred Huanguo banknotes, I don't need to tell you that, do I?"

Five hundred yuan for a set of clothes—not to mention in Yaowang Ditch, even in Yuezhou, it was a bit extravagant for Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng took out one silver dollar, plus two hundred Huanguo banknotes, and handed them to Yu Nan.

Yu Nan was expecting Li Banfeng to haggle, but she found he had given her an extra two hundred. "What do you mean by this?"

She thought Li Banfeng wanted to buy two items for seven hundred.

This couldn't be sold; the price was too low.

Li Banfeng said, "One silver dollar for the clothes, and the two hundred Huanguo banknotes are for Shopkeeper Yu to do something for me. If there's any news about Shopkeeper Feng in the next few days, please let me know."

Yu Nan smiled. "That's a small matter, no money needed."

After speaking, Yu Nan returned the two hundred Huanguo banknotes to Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng waved his hand. "Just take it. I want to be friends with you."

To Li Banfeng, if he didn't pay, he didn't have the right to ask someone to do something.

Yu Nan appreciated Li Banfeng's straightforwardness. She took the money, then lowered her voice to Li Banfeng. "If you're not satisfied with the clothes, we offer refunds or exchanges. Also, there's something else I don't know if I should tell you."

"Please tell me, Shopkeeper."

"A friend who came to Ligou with you earlier is begging for food in Tail Alley. I'm afraid he won't last much longer."

A friend who came with me?

"Which friend?"

"The stout, robust one."

Qin Xiaopang?

Li Banfeng was startled.

Qin Xiaopang's family wasn't wealthy, but they weren't so poor that he had to beg.

What's more, he had received eleven Snake Spot Pills. In Pro Prefecture, as long as it wasn't something with a special use, prices weren't expensive. One pill sold for ten thousand, so eleven pills meant one hundred ten thousand—enough for Xiaopang to live comfortably for a while.

How could he possibly be begging?

"Is there a reason behind this?" Li Banfeng felt the situation might be complicated.

Yu Nan glanced around, then lowered her voice. "Seventh Master, it seems your friend offended Geng Family Pharmacy because of selling pills. The pharmacy people threw him into the street and found people to guard him, intending to starve him to death. Geng Family Pharmacy has connections with the Jiangxiang Gang. This is something they often do."

Li Banfeng heard this, thought for a moment, and asked, "Are the people guarding him cultivators?"

Yu Nan nodded. "Yes, they are cultivators, and I once had some disputes with them."

"Which sect, what cultivation level?"

"Their cultivation isn't high, but their sect is special." Yu Nan exhaled a puff of smoke towards the counter. The smoke shifted, forming the character "油" (you, oil), then immediately dispersed.

This woman could freely control smoke. Li Banfeng quietly asked, "Are you a smoke cultivator?"

Yu Nan smiled faintly, but did not answer.

Li Banfeng asked again, "Are you proactively talking to me today so that I can help you get revenge?"

Yu Nan laughed. "I didn't say anything of the sort. But if Seventh Master wants to save your friend, my humble shop is willing to lend a hand."

Li Banfeng frowned. "This is a collaboration, isn't it? Why are you looking for me?"

Yu Nan said, "Because Boss Qin is Seventh Master's friend, and Seventh Master is a capable person."

Li Banfeng didn't deny the friendship. "How do you know I'm capable?"

Yu Nan exhaled a puff of smoke. "Anyone who can return alive from Mount Kuwu truly has abilities."

This woman seemed to have had her eye on him for a while.

Li Banfeng thought for a long time.

Xiaopang was in trouble.

Should he help him?

Li Banfeng didn't owe Xiaopang anything. Even if he had owed him before, he had already repaid it afterwards.

But he was about to starve to death.

When Li Banfeng was starving, Xiaopang had treated him to two bowls of plain noodles.

...

Tail Alley was a rather secluded alley in Ligou. Both sides of the alley were lined with old houses, and the residents were all poor families.

During the day, people were busy with work, and few pedestrians passed through the alley. By evening, as pedestrians gradually increased, Qin Xiaopang, who was kneeling on the ground, barely alive, opened his eyes.

Dusk was his last hope for survival.

A passerby saw his ragged clothes and numerous injuries, felt genuinely sorry for him, and tossed him half a pancake.

Xiaopang reached out to pick it up.

Beside him, a man in a riding jacket and a felt hat stepped on the pancake.

"Did I tell you to eat it?" The man in the riding jacket looked down at Qin Xiaopang and spat on his face.

Xiaopang didn't say a word. He withdrew his hand.

A passerby, unable to stand the sight, stepped forward and asked, "My good man, why are you bothering a beggar?"

The man in the riding jacket looked up. His left eyebrow dipped, his right eyebrow arched, and his mouth twisted into a typical ruffian's smirk. "What the hell does it have to do with you?"

The passerby was about to argue further when a woman nearby pulled him aside. "Don't interfere. This is Geng Family Pharmacy asserting their power. Let's go quickly."

Hearing it was Geng Family Pharmacy, the passerby said no more and hurried away.

The man in the riding jacket crushed the pancake on the ground, and then kicked it far away.

Xiaopang lowered his head and closed his eyes.

He was a food cultivator; if he didn't eat for a day, he could starve to death.

Yesterday, he had half a bowl of stale, cold rice and managed to survive.

So far today, he hadn't eaten anything. He was afraid he wouldn't last.

Perhaps it was better if he couldn't last. Starving to death would be a release.

...

Inside the Portable Dwelling, Li Banfeng was waiting for the copper lotus.

A person who had experienced hunger would not forget those who had given them food.

Perhaps some might forget, but Li Banfeng would not.

Li Banfeng glanced at the gramophone. "My dear, I've given you food before. You can't forget me!"

*Sigh...*

The gramophone sobbed twice and sang tearfully, "Oh, my husband, to marry a man is to find clothes and food. This little slave has diligently served her husband. To give this little slave a bite to eat, does my husband still feel reluctant? Not to mention, the previous meals weren't even fresh."

Her words made Li Banfeng feel ashamed.

He needed to think of a way to buy something fresh for his dear wife.

But before buying groceries, he had to gather all his equipment.

The blood-drinking dagger had been consumed by the lotus; it should at least be able to refine a Rust Pill.

Although Li Banfeng already had one Rust Pill, having an extra one always made him feel more secure.

It's strange. Why is the lotus refining pills so slowly today?