At the Lu residence, Lu Yuanhai was laughing so hard he could barely stop.
"Isn't it ridiculous?" he said. "Ling Miaoying promoted that film everywhere, made such a huge effort. In the end, the film reel got burned! I laughed about it for a whole hour!"
Lu Yuanshan didn't laugh. He was older, and he tended to look further ahead than Lu Yuanhai. After a mont, he turned to Qiu Zhiheng.
"Uncle Qiu, do you think this is an opportunity?"
Qiu Zhiheng glanced at him. "What! You want to make films too?"
Lu Yuanshan nodded slightly. "Ling Miaoying's idea is actually quite good. Shooting all ten films altogether… if we can do this…"
At this mont, Madam Duan Shaoxia spoke up. "Yuanshan, have you ever made a film before? If you're not confident about it, you shouldn't rush in recklessly."
Lu Yuanshan said, "That's exactly why I am discussing it with Uncle Qiu."
Qiu Zhiheng didn't answer right away. He needed ti to think it through.
Lu Yuanhai waved a hand. "I think it'll work. At the end of the day, filmmaking cos down to the actors. If they're famous, the film will be popular."
Duan Shaoxia shot Lu Yuanhai a glance. "Easy for you to say. Where are you going to find actors like that? The Ling Family can even hire a singing queen. I heard their actors were fild actually doing the deed. Do you have that kind of capability?"
Lu Yuanhai scoffed. "What kind of capability is that? Whether they are singing queens or top actresses, as long as you pay them enough, you can get them to do anything. Even if it ans going beyond acting, even if you make them do the deed from beginning to end…"
Lu Yuanshan frowned. "Stop talking nonsense and focus on the real issue. Ling Miaoying is preparing to reshoot the film. If we can finish ours before theirs, this fat piece of at will be ours!"
"Is it really fat piece of at?" Lu Yuanhai asked, thinking that a single film wouldn't make much money.
Lu Yuanshan let out a sigh. "Talking to you is exhausting. I am not just talking about this one film. I am talking about the entire industry. There's a lot of money to be made here.
However, this is our first ti stepping into it. If the business fails, losing money is a small matter. What I fear is damaging the Lu Family's reputation. If that happens, it will be hard to enter this industry again."
Qiu Zhiheng understood the stakes, but he wasn't confident either. "If we're not sure, then we should find soone who is and let them handle it."
Lu Yuanshan thought for a mont. "Soone confident… the only one I can think of is Ma Wu."
Lu Yuanhai nodded. "He's definitely suited for this. I heard he's made films before, but most cinemas wouldn't show them. They said they were indecent."
Duan Shaoxia spoke up from the side. "Stop thinking about pulling Junyang into this. I have heard that if things go wrong in this industry, you can lose everything. Junyang doesn't have the sa foundation as our family. How could he bear that kind of risk?"
Lu Yuanshan grew impatient. "How is that dragging him down? We would be helping him. We can cover part of the funding, and both families would benefit."
Qiu Zhiheng nodded. "We will provide half the funding and let Ma Wu raise the other half.
"If we lose money, our losses won't be too great, and it won't ruin the Lu Family's reputation.
"If we make money, we share the profits from this line of work. We won't treat him unfairly."
Lu Yuanshan picked up his coat. "I will go see Ma Wu right now."
***
Back at Freewind Wharf, Ma Wu brought up the matter of making films with Li Banfeng.
"Old Qi, do you think we should agree to this?"
"Of course we should. Why not? Haven't you made films before?"
Ma Wu hesitated. "The films I made… weren't exactly proper."
"I have seen them," Li Banfeng said. "They seed perfectly proper to ."
Ma Wu still looked worried. "The Ling Family has invested heavily in this project. If we release our film before theirs, Ling Miaoying will try to kill us."
"They have already been trying to kill us," said Li Banfeng lightly. He didn't bother with the ssy details, only giving a neat little summary of Ling Miaoying's usual tricks and abilities.
Right now, he was more concerned about sothing else. "How did we end up making enemies of the Ling Family in the first place?"
Ma Wu had been puzzled over that very question. He scratched his head, thought hard, and ca up with only one answer.
"For Lu Xiaolan? But is she really worth all this trouble?"
If Ling Miaoying had targeted them because he was chard by Lu Xiaolan's looks, Li Banfeng wouldn't believe a word of it. What kind of won hadn't Ling Miaoying seen before?
"It could be that we rose too quickly," Ma Wu said. "Maybe the Ling Family wanted to suppress us early."
"Are we even worth suppressing?" Li Banfeng shook his head. "You said it yourself, the Ling Family is one of the five great families of Puluo Province. Would a family like that really go all out against two nobodies who just started out?
"They deal in newspapers, records, and films. We've never touched any of that. How could we possibly attract their attention?"
"Well, there’s sothing else going on. There's soone else telling them to do this, and we need to find out who it is."
This wasn't the only thing that had been overlooked. There was also soone Li Banfeng had forgotten as well.
As dusk settles and the lights begin to glow, Li Banfeng went to the Wonderful Sound Gramophone Shop
The storefront was as small as ever, though that had its advantages.
Ever since Ling Miaoying's incident, the shop had been smashed more than a dozen tis. Fortunately, the damage never went beyond the front hall. The interior was far too complex for ordinary people to break into, and those capable of doing so had no interest in such petty vandalism.
Behind the battered counter, Ling Miaosheng was dozing as usual. When he saw soone co in, he lifted his head and gave a faint smile.
Although Li Banfeng's appearance had changed sowhat, he recognized Li Banfeng. As a high-level Spycraft Cultivator, he could still recognize an old custor.
"Are you here to buy a gramophone, or to take revenge?" he said. "If it's revenge, go ahead. There's not much left here to smash."
Li Banfeng glanced at the curtain behind Ling Miaosheng. "If I rember correctly, the good stuff is all inside, right?"
Ling Miaosheng gave a slight shake of his head. "I can't simply let you smash the things inside. That's equivalent to taking my life."
"I am here to buy a gramophone. You should at least let
see the things first."
Ling Miaosheng nodded and led him into the back room.
The shop assistants who used to clean the rooms were all gone. No one dared to work for Ling Miaosheng anymore.
Li Banfeng looked over several gramophones, then picked out a hand-cranked one and prepared to pay.
The sound quality was decent. Of course, it couldn't compare to his wifey, but it was made in the Amikan Kingdom, and its parts were compatible with hers.
Ling Miaosheng didn't take the money.
"Consider this gramophone a gift," he said. "An apology for what happened before. Don't worry. I have checked it very carefully. There isn't a single hook on it."
Li Banfeng turned the crank, and the gramophone began to play a soft, soothing violin piece.
"Can I ask you sothing?" Li Banfeng asked.
Ling Miaosheng seed to know what was coming. "If you are asking about my eldest brother and third brother, I don't know much. They planted hooks in my shop and gramophones, but I really didn't know much about it."
Li Banfeng didn't believe a word of it. "You are a Spycraft Cultivator, and a high-level one at that. And you are telling
you couldn't detect their hooks?"
Ling Miaosheng gave a bitter smile. "You are right. I am a Spycraft Cultivator. I am not boasting here, but my cultivation is higher than both my eldest and third brothers. However, cultivation is irrelevant when it cos to finding hooks. It's about how cunning a person is."
"With a shop this large and so many gramophones, a single hook is like a needle in a haystack. I can't even begin to imagine where they have hidden them.
"Even now, there are still many hooks in the shop, but I can't find them. I may never know where they have been planted.
"The only thing I do know is that they're working for a powerful figure. That person is currently in the Outer Provinces. I don't know what their goal is, or what they plan to do next."
Li Banfeng said nothing. Ling Miaosheng personally packed up the hand-cranked gramophone and handed it to him.
"You probably still don't believe , and that's fine. If you want to fight, we can go outside. Just don't damage my gramophones."
Li Banfeng tipped the brim of his hat, picked up the gramophone, and walked out.
Behind him, Ling Miaosheng removed his hat, held it to his chest, and gave a respectful bow as he watched Li Banfeng leave.
***
After returning to Freewind Wharf, Li Banfeng humd a tune of Night-Blooming Jasmine toward the gramophone. No sound of a hook snapping followed.
Ling Miaosheng was most likely telling the truth. At this point, there was nothing more Li Banfeng could learn from him. The answer was still with Ling Miaoying.
A powerful figure from the Outer Provinces. Who could it be?
***
"Jiaqing, that friend of yours went to my second brother's gramophone shop today and bought a gramophone."
"Just to buy a gramophone?" He Jiaqing said with a small, knowing smile. "I doubt he has that sort of idle ti. He probably went there to question your second brother."
"I think so too. He must have asked sothing. However, my second brother has already cleared most of the hooks, so what they talked about is still unclear. I was planning to ask him myself."
"You know your second brother's temperant. Asking him would be a waste of ti. My friend is digging deep to the root this ti. Your second brother doesn't know much to begin with. I am just worried that he will co after you next.
Ling Miaoying gave a slight nod. "It's best if he cos looking for . I suspect he has sothing to do with the fire. If he cos looking for , I will settle things with him once and for all."
He Jiaqing's tone was firm and resolute as he snapped, "No! You will focus on reshooting the film. There must not be a single mistake this ti. Replace the male lead. Find soone else."
"Zhou Changhong is the best actor. You know that."
"Exactly," He Jiaqing said. "Which is why there are other things I need him to do."
***
The next day, the newspapers reported that Ling Family Film had begun reshooting Bloodblade Detective.
Ma Wu frowned. "They are so fast. I haven't even put my cast together, and they have already started filming."
Li Banfeng had visited the set several tis and was fairly familiar with the main cast. As he read the paper, sothing caught his eye. "Why did they replace the male lead?"
Ma Wu took a closer look. "They replaced Zhou Changhong. He's a good actor. I could try to bring him over to our side. It's just that he has been with Ling Miaoying for seven or eight years, so I am not sure if he would be willing to change sides."
Ma Wu quickly sent soone to contact Zhou Changhong, but soon learned he had left Greenwater Bay the day before.
Where did he go?
That very night, Ma Wu received word from the border controller that Zhou Changhong had gone to the Outer Provinces.
"He's not filming here, so what is he doing in the Outer Provinces?" Ma Wu frowned. "Could it be that he has plans to start an acting career in the Outer Provinces?"
After following Ling Miaoying for seven or eight years, he chose to leave for the Outer Provinces just as he was rushing to reshoot the film.
The Outer Provinces… Li Banfeng thought and said to Ma Wu, "Keep a close eye on this man's movents. The mont there's any news, tell ."
Two days later, news arrived.
Ma Wu said, "Zhou Changhong is back, but he hasn't taken on any roles. I heard he's still getting for a travel permit and will be leaving again in the next couple of days."
Li Banfeng said, "Find out where he's going, and get
the sa kind of travel permit. I want to see whether he's just a ssenger, or the powerful figure from the Outer Provinces."
Author's Note:
P.S. Zhou Changhong is the best actor and this is no exaggeration.
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