Li Banfeng said, "My surname is Ye, the Ye of nighttime. I’ve bought your cinema."
The owner of Sanfu Cinema did have some insight. He had read about rare surnames in a magazine, and indeed, there was the surname Ye.
"So you are Boss Ye. Are you really planning to show ’Blood Gun Detective’?"
Li Banfeng nodded. "I just like this movie."
Grinding his teeth, the boss said, "I like this movie too. It’s a good, proper film. If I were a few years younger, I’d join you to fight against those bastards..."
As he spoke, the cinema owner got somewhat choked up.
"Boss Ye, I can sell the cinema to you. How much do you plan to offer?"
"You name the price first."
The cinema owner asked for two hundred silver coins.
This price was cheap, unbelievably cheap. This was primarily because the owner was eager to sell, and also because the cinema was left with nothing but a shell, almost completely wrecked.
Luckily, this was Black Stone Slope, where it was easy to acquire things.
Xiao Chuanzi was tasked with fixing up the cinema. A simple makeover would suffice, as long as it was fit for showing movies. Li Banfeng’s requirement was to complete the job in three days.
The cinema owner, registered under the name Bai Qiusheng, had spent time in Black Stone Slope, making him less likely to arouse suspicion.
Word of the renovation spread quickly. Soon, in a quaint, antique-looking estate in the southern part of Black Stone Slope, Tang Peigong, the Black Stone Slope elder of the Strict Law Society, was reading in his study.
In Black Stone Slope, such estates were rare; moreover, the two streets in front and behind did not accommodate trains.
Tang Peigong, a lifelong devotee of scholarship and antiquity, held the ancient Sages in the highest esteem and was utterly engrossed in the profound studies of the Sages. He loathed trains, machinery, cinema, newspapers, and the like, believing that these things not only disturbed the peace but also corrupted morals.
Take trains, for example; Tang Peigong once commented, "This contraption devours clouds and spews fog, its noise as loud as thunder, no different in appearance from the Demons depicted in ancient texts. Those who are in the carriages are in the belly of the Demon, seeking only the convenience of travel. Their spirit and essence are absorbed by the Demon; willing to degrade themselves for a moment of comfort is both ludicrous and pitiful."
Tang Peigong believed that the conveniences machines brought to human beings were the primary culprits fostering hedonism and moral decay. He often instructed his disciples that the purpose of life was to continuously sharpen one’s character under the guidance of the Sages’ teachings and that any desire for pleasure and comfort was an assault on and corrosion of the body and spirit.
He was also strict with his family members, demanding they persist in self-discipline and shun pleasure-seeking. He required his principal wife and twenty-six concubines to attend morning classes daily, studying the wisdom of the Sages with him, to ensure that no room was left for decadent thoughts to take root and tarnish the family’s reputation.
As an elder of the Strict Law Society, he was one of the most revered individuals in Black Stone Slope. He had led the destruction of the two cinemas, and now, news that one of them might reopen greatly displeased him. "Who has taken over Sanfu Cinema?" he demanded.
A disciple replied, "A writer named Bai Qiusheng. He spent over a decade in Black Stone Slope, earning his keep by writing unremarkable articles. It’s said he recently made some money in Greenwater City and has returned to Black Stone Slope, looking to start a business."
Tang Peigong sighed, "Giving him a means to earn a living is all right, but if he dares to screen those indecent films again, I’ll never forgive him!"
The disciple nodded and said, "I will go and warn him immediately."
Tang Peigong nodded, and the disciple immediately set off for Sanfu Cinema.
This disciple, named Ai Chixiang, was Tang Peigong’s most loyal disciple.
Bai Qiusheng, busy with his newspaper, wasn’t at the cinema, so Ai Chixiang gave Xiao Chuanzi a stern lecture. Spouting archaic and incomprehensible rhetoric, Xiao Chuanzi didn’t really understand, but he agreed to everything as Li Banfeng had instructed.
The workers renovating the cinema spat in Ai Chixiang’s direction.
Ai Chixiang demanded, "What do you mean by that?"
A worker laughed, "Spitting phlegm. Are you catching it too?"
Ai Chixiang cursed and left.
Xiao Chuanzi looked at the workers and admired, "Respect, brothers, you’ve got guts!"
A worker spat out furiously, "Those bastard sons, they all do disgusting things! What’s wrong with watching a movie? Who are they to disgust others? They say we’re indecent for watching movies, but isn’t their teacher taking twenty-six concubines indecent?"
Many workers chimed in, cursing along.
Li Banfeng, sitting on the second floor of the cinema, could hear everything clearly with his Silk-pulling Earrings.
Xiao Chuanzi gathered the workers together and whispered, "There’s another job that needs to be done at night, triple the pay. Are you willing to take it?"
...
Bai Qiusheng and Yu Wenqi, with a group of writers, took half a day to finish the first edition of the newspaper. It was typeset and printed that very afternoon, totaling three thousand copies.
Li Banfeng frowned, "You’re printing only this many?"
Bai Qiusheng smiled, "In Black Stone Slope, for a new newspaper hitting the market for the first time, this number isn’t small. Paper and ink cost money; printing too many wouldn’t be sensible."
"How much are you planning to sell it for?"
Ma Wu said, "The price is set at sixty cents. For a new newspaper, it’s about making a splash first."
"That’s the retail price for newsstands, right? What’s our wholesale price to them?"
Li Banfeng didn’t understand the operating mechanisms of newspapers, especially not those in Black Stone Slope.
Ma Wu explained, "Newspapers don’t have a set wholesale price. We deliver them to newsstands to sell. The revenue from sold copies is split between us. Unsold newspapers are returned, and we sell them to the paper mill as waste, then buy new paper."