THUMP THUMP THUMP!
"Confused Cultivator? Little Servant has never heard of this Taoist Sect."
"Perhaps it’s not called Confused Cultivator; maybe it’s some other Taoist Sect." As he spoke, Li Banfeng’s cheeks twisted.
The Phonograph sounded a bit nervous. "My lord, don’t be anxious. Let’s think this through carefully."
"I’m not anxious," Li Banfeng rubbed his cheeks. "It’s just that the order at the meeting is a bit chaotic."
That evening, Ma Wu had the Cook prepare some substantial dishes and invited Li Qi over for a few drinks.
"Old Qi, I’m feeling uneasy."
Li Qi asked, "Is it about the mine?"
Ma Wu shook his head. "Actually, there’s nothing serious at the mine. If the workers’ barracks collapse, we build new ones. If the train breaks down, we have people who can fix it. But problems in the business world are solved through business means. I’ve never broken this rule in all these years, yet today, I ended up hitting a buyer."
Li Banfeng laughed. "I heard about it. You really laid into him."
Ma Wu, rubbing his forehead, said, "I really don’t know what got into me!"
As they were speaking, Chuanzi pushed the door open. "The workers are stirring up trouble again."
Li Banfeng frowned. "What now? Haven’t their wages been fully compensated? They’ve been paid at the maximum rate; what else are they dissatisfied with?"
"They’re saying some slackers benefited unfairly and are now insisting on making an issue out of it."
Ma Wu gave a wry smile. "Either they think they’re getting too little, or that others are getting too much. There’s never a moment’s peace. I’ll go take a look."
Li Banfeng waved his hand. "No need to go. Let them cause a fuss."
Ma Wu was stunned. Li Banfeng turned to Chuanzi, "I’ve had the Cook prepare plenty of food and drink. Send it over to the workers. Let them eat if they want to, and continue to cause a fuss if they don’t. Chuanzi, don’t worry about this either. Set a table on your end as well, and tell the brothers to eat and drink to their heart’s content."
Chuanzi couldn’t just let it go and followed the cooks to deliver the food and drinks.
Soon, Chuanzi ran back. "With food and drinks, things have calmed down quite a bit, but many workers don’t want to sleep outdoors and are clamoring to leave."
Li Banfeng said, "For those wanting to sleep in an inn down the mountain, I’ll pay for the rooms. Those who find it too troublesome to walk back and forth can stay on the mountain. As for those who don’t want to work anymore, just let them go. Chuanzi, listen to me: go drink with the brothers. Don’t bother with anything else."
Ma Wu was momentarily taken aback. "Old Qi, how come you’re so laissez-faire this time?"
Li Banfeng took a sip of hot wine and shook his head. "I’m not being laissez-faire; I simply don’t understand what’s going on."
"What don’t you understand?" Ma Wu felt that things weren’t going smoothly, but he didn’t see what was unclear.
"It’s a mess, such a mess that I don’t even know where to start!" Li Banfeng had the Cook bring over more chopsticks, arranging them one after another in a line.
"We came to Loess Bridge to do business, and from the start, you wanted to engage in coal mining. Then this large mine was just waiting for us; that’s correct, isn’t it?"
Ma Wu nodded. "That was one of the few good things after arriving at Loess Bridge."
Li Qi said, "But with such a good opportunity, why wasn’t anyone else doing it? Why didn’t the Lu Family do it? Why didn’t the He Family do it?"
Ma Wu blinked. "Didn’t you ask about this before? I thought they were worried about the high costs, so they didn’t come to Loess Bridge to do business."
Li Banfeng nodded. "Right, I asked before. At that time, I wasn’t so confused. But after taking over the business, I started to get confused."
Ma Wu was still puzzled. "What exactly is confusing?"
"On the day we shipped out, there was trouble with the railway tracks; the train overturned, and the coal was stolen. We suspected the coal mine boss from North Bridge was responsible, so I stepped up security. Old Five, does increasing security like that sound like something I’d do?"
Ma Wu paused for a moment and quickly realized.
Li Banfeng continued, "But because the incident happened so suddenly, I really got flustered at the time. Since then, we’ve all been flustered. If a work shed caught fire, we’d immediately rush to put it out. If a train broke down, we’d immediately go to fix it. Even the Local Deity got confused. If a car was lost, he’d go look for it. After finding it, he wouldn’t care who stole it; he’d just come back and keep watch over the mine. You’ve been managing the business deals on your end, and when you couldn’t handle it anymore, you lashed out and hit someone, making things even more chaotic. If there’s a problem with the business, we go talk business. If there’s a problem with the railway, we go fix the railway. Whatever moves others make, we just react defensively, and the more we react, the more chaotic it gets."
"Yeah!" Ma Wu rubbed his forehead. "Why is it so chaotic?"
Li Banfeng put his chopsticks together, forming a line again. "Brother, the situation at the mines isn’t actually that urgent; you know this too. Even if the business with Greenwater City falls through, with our current strength, it wouldn’t be hard to find another buyer, right? Shouldn’t we take care of those causing trouble first, clean up the territory around Loess Bridge, and then think about business?"
Yeah!
Ma Wu suddenly came to his senses.
Ma Wu poured a drink for Li Banfeng. "Old Qi, my temperament is still not as good as yours. I’m in such a mess, but you’re not affected at all."
Li Banfeng was also in a mess, an even bigger one than Ma Wu.
But after getting confused, he could negotiate with himself. Once the negotiation was settled, he could basically come to an agreement.
Sometimes it was also difficult to agree. For example, in this meeting, Ban Feng Yi was somewhat aggressive, even resorting to violence and expressing all his long-standing dissatisfaction with Ban Feng Jia.
Ban Feng Jia believed it was good to voice dissatisfaction, but hitting people was wrong.
Then he rallied the other Ban Feng and subdued Ban Feng Yi’s faction on the spot.
"Old Five, I suspect we’ve been hit with a Technique."
"Which Taoist Sect’s Technique?"
"Is there such a thing as a Confused Cultivator? A Taoist Sect that specializes in causing chaos?"
Ma Wu thought carefully for a moment and shook his head. "I’ve never heard of such a Taoist Sect."
The Tang Sword reminded him, "Before the Greenwater Beggar took over Beggar Bay, I had never heard of Disease Cultivation because, at that time, no such Taoist Sect existed in the world."
"You mean, a New Taoist Sect?"
Li Banfeng looked at the Tang Sword in shock.
The Tang Sword replied, "Disease Cultivation only came into existence after Beggar Bay became Greenwater Bay."
Li Banfeng gathered the chopsticks and arranged them into another line. "This matter needs to be re-evaluated from the beginning."
Ma Wu said, "Re-evaluated how? Hasn’t it all been traced back to North Bridge already?"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "We have to trace it back to Deathgate Star."