Not Enough

Li Banfeng and Ma Wu took the train to Black Stone Slope.

In the past, Li Banfeng never felt bored when traveling by train. When he did get bored, he would go back to his Portable Abode to keep his Wife company.

I can't go back today, because I don't have the key with me.

Fortunately, Ma Wu was thoughtful and bought a stack of newspapers and magazines before getting on the bus. The two of them read them all the way, while Li Banfeng listened to his gloves panting the whole way.

Why are you panting like that? What did you do with your gloves? Why are you so tired?

Not only was Glove panting, Ma Wu was also panting, his face covered in layers of cold sweat.

"Fifth brother, what's wrong?"

Ma Wu wiped his sweat and said, "It seems like I'm about to get promoted."

Li Banfeng chuckled, "At the rate you're sleeping like this, you should have been promoted long ago. When you get to Black Stone Slope, just lie down for a couple of days."

"We can't lie down," Ma Wu shook his head. "We need to take over Lu Maoxian's business as soon as possible. He's a big shot in Black Stone Slope and has tons of deals under his belt."

"What's the rush? This business is a gift from the Lu Family; are you worried about someone else taking it away?"

Lu Maoxian against the clan, and according to the family rules, he should have been expelled from the clan and all his family property should have been taken back. In order to repay Li Qi and Ma Wu, Lu Chunying gave them all the businesses in Black Stone Slope.

Ma Wu shook his head and said, "You don't know, the Qingshou Association might really come to rob us. If a disciple of the Qingshou Association dies, they will take the property. What's more, Lu Maoxian an elder of the Qingshou Association."

It turns out the Qingshou Association to seize it.

Li Banfeng frowned slightly. "The last business deal wasn't even finished, and now there's a new one."

Ma Wu was taken aback. "What business are we talking about with them?"

Li Banfeng said, "They want to take over our projector business."

Ma Wu laughed, "What are they thinking?"

Li Banfeng didn't laugh.

The Qingshou Association is backed by a sage.

Lu Maoxian dead. Will the Sage intervene?

The Bastard Slope, the Sage Peak, the Sage Mansion.

The young man in White Clothes reported Lu Maoxian's death.

The panting in the room stopped abruptly, and the sage asked, "Do you know who did it?"

"Lu Maoxian sent someone to assassinate Lu Chunying in order to seize the position of family head. This matter is inextricably linked to Lu Chunying."

"Lu Chunying killed Lu Maoxian turned around and mobilized a large group of people to demand an explanation from Lu Maoxian. Do you think this is reasonable?"

"Perhaps Lu Chunying did this on purpose to cover up her true intentions."

"Both sides are locked in a life-or-death struggle, and the matter has already alerted Outer State, yet you're still talking about covering things up?"

The young man in White Clothes thought for a long time, unsure how to respond.

There is indeed a logical problem with this.

Snap!

Two slapping sounds came from inside the house, and a woman, clutching a peach, hurriedly walked out of the house.

The sage slowly said, "Someone took advantage of the chaos to do this."

"Who is it?"

"Who else could it be?"

Although his tone was calm, it was clear that the sage was angry.

He was referring to He Jiaqing.

The disciple in White Clothes said, "Master, He Jiaqing's sneak attack on Lu Maoxian earlier did not kill him."

He Jiaqing only castrated Lu Maoxian cried for a long time about it, but He Jiaqing did not actually kill him at the time.

The sage sneered and said, "At that time, He Jiaqing dared not kill Lu Maoxian because he was intimidated by the Green Water Beggar."

Taking advantage of the internal strife within the Lu Family, He Jiaqing struck again, catching Lu Maoxian guard and framing Lu Chunying for the crime.

He Jiaqing truly admires the spirit of getting things done.

After a moment's consideration, the White Clothes disciple asked the Sage, "Since he is a capable person, why not recruit him to serve under Master?"

The sage laughed and said, "This man is extremely ambitious. Even if we summon him, he will be difficult to tame. However, we can use him as bait to eliminate him."

Try to contact him and get him to come to Pro State.

When Li Banfeng arrived at Black Stone Slope, he first went back to his residence to find the key.

The key was under the bed, so Li Banfeng quickly returned to Portable Abode.

Once inside, the Wife wasn't angry. Li Banfeng had said he would be away for a few days before returning.

Portable Abode, one doesn't get angry.

Li Banfeng had just sat down on the bed when he suddenly saw Gloves coming up to him, panting. "Honey, now that we're home, I won't hold back anymore. The good stuff has to be brought out."

"What good stuff?"

"Master, look!" The glove spat out a box about a foot square, with an iron lock on it!

Li Banfeng simply couldn't understand how much capacity this glove actually had.

"You were panting the whole way because you were stuffed?"

"It's not that it's too full, it's just too heavy!" As she spoke, the glove picked up a hair clip from the table.

Hong Ying retorted angrily, "What are you doing? That's mine!"

"Borrow it for a bit, I'll have the boss buy you a box tomorrow!"

Hong Ying retorted angrily, "What do you mean, 'a box'? Are you going to pay for it?"

"I gave it to him, I brought the money back for the boss!" The gloved man took the hairpin, put it into the keyhole, stirred it a couple of times, and the lock opened.

The box was filled with gold bars, absolutely full of gold bars.

He tucked his thumb towards his chest, bowed, and said, "Master, this is a gift from me to you. Please take a look."

Li Banfeng picked up a gold bar. Although it wasn't very big, it was quite heavy, which explained why his gloves were so tired.

"Where did this gold bar come from?"

The glove stood up straight and said, "I took it from that old man's house, it was under his bed!"

Old man?

Lu Maoxian?

"How do you know there's gold under his bed, especially since the box hasn't been opened?"

The man in the gloves said modestly, "If I encountered gold and couldn't even smell it, I wouldn't dare to freeload here with the boss."

Li Banfeng laughed and said, "You've worked so hard all this way just to move this box of gold?"

The index finger of the glove trembled as he nodded. "As the saying goes, wealth should not be flaunted. I cannot easily take it out in public, lest it bring trouble upon the head of the household."

Li Banfeng laughed and said, "Alright! This box of gold is yours!"

Her fingers paused for a moment, then said, "Honey, you're saying it all belongs to me?"

Li Banfeng nodded. "They're all yours."

"This won't do, it's a gift from me to you."

"Why not? This is my reward for you."

Gloves still felt bad. "I'll keep half, honey. I have to leave you half, no matter what."

Li Banfeng laughed and said, "Half of it was earned through your own abilities, and the other half was a gift from me, so this box of gold is still entirely yours."

The record player chimed in, "Hey, husband, what good is all this gold to him? He has nowhere to spend it!"

Li Banfeng laughed and said, "My Wife, that's what you don't understand. You should have what you like, but you don't necessarily have to use it."

As long as I have it and hold it in my hand, I feel comfortable!

Upon hearing these words, the glove raised its middle finger and kept looking at Li Banfeng.

Some things are not something everyone can understand.

But Li Banfeng was able to understand the nature of the gloves.

Li Banfeng closed the lid of the box and solemnly handed the box of gold to the gloves.

The glove swallowed the box, its thumb and little finger stood on the ground, its index and ring fingers dangling down, straightening its body and looking intently at Li Banfeng.

He felt that Li Banfeng was particularly tall today, and he had to stand up straight to look up at him.

"My lord, I..."

"Don't point your middle finger at me!" Li Banfeng swung Feather Duster and slapped his gloves on the ground.

The glove quickly changed its head to the index finger and ran off alone to the Fifth Chamber to happily count the gold.

After Ma Wu checked the accounts, he took over a coal mine from Lu Maoxian. Things went very smoothly, and the Qingshou Association didn't cause any trouble.

With his promotion imminent, Ma Wu dared not overwork himself. He handed over the remaining business to his subordinates and went back to the inn to rest.

With everything calm at Black Stone Slope, Li Banfeng took the opportunity to investigate the origins and history of Shumei Paper Mill.

The news in the newspaper is true; the paper mill was indeed sold to the He Family by Tu Shumei. But why did it end up in Shen Rongqing's hands?

Searching newspapers is a very arduous task, requiring the integration of seemingly unrelated information. By examining the timeline of the news articles, Li Banfeng finally found a clue.

Not long after acquiring the paper mill, He Haiqin fell ill.

The struggle between the He and Lu families was extremely fierce at the time, with the focus of the dispute being Green Water City.

The He Family's businesses were too large. After He Haiqin fell ill, many businesses were neglected and ended up losing money instead of making a profit.

At the time, under He Haiqin's instruction, the He Family sold off a large number of assets, including the Shumei Paper Mill.

The paper mill was sold to Shen Rongqing.

What about other industries?

Qian Xiangjun, Duan Shuqun, Luo Suxuan...

Familiar names have reappeared in various news articles.

When you connect the dots regarding He Haiqin's illness, the sequence of events becomes clear.

He Jiaqing used Wan Jinxian to bring down He Haiqin, which not only changed the situation in Pro State, but also made a fortune for himself.

Having schemed against the He Family first, and then against the Lu Family, and roughly calculating these assets, He Jiaqing is probably already the number one figure in Pro State in terms of wealth alone.

But why doesn't he go back to Pro State?

Why not make things clear so you can come back and rightfully take charge?

Because this leader is a fake.

The lifeline of the economy is in the hands of the Outer State, while the lifeline of cultivation is in the hands of the Inner State. If He Jiaqing were to return now, he would be no different from He Haiqin and Lu Dongliang, only to be manipulated by others.

What will he do next?

Li Banfeng began to talk to himself:

Sooner or later, he will make a move against me.

If I were to fight him head-on now, I really couldn't beat him.

He would use the A Farewell of Ten Thousand Miles to prove that he had at least reached the Ninth Layer.

In terms of cultivation level and wealth, I can't beat him.

The Red Lotus is in my hands has clearly disrupted his plans.

His plan is still unclear.

Should we continue the investigation?

There are clues everywhere, but it's difficult to trace the origin of each one. He Jiaqing's scheme is too grand.

"We can't rush things; there are more important things to do right now."

Having tasted success once, Li Banfeng recalled the appearance of Feng's General Store and prepared to head straight for Medicine King Gully.

After thinking for more than ten minutes, Li Banfeng was indeed very clear about every detail.

He gave his instructions to his Wife, packed his magical treasures, and left the room.

After he went outside, he found himself still at the Tuberose Newspaper Office, still in his own room.

What's going on?

It's not working anymore?

Was it that I didn't think it through just now?

Li Banfeng returned to Portable Abode and thought about it carefully again.

Not only did he think about it, but he also muttered a few lines: "Medicine King Gully, Inner Gully..."

After reading it aloud, Li Banfeng was about to leave when he suddenly heard an aged voice. "You can't go!"

"Why can't we go?"

"Too far!"

"Is Medicine King Gully considered far?"

"There are only two rails, what more do you want?"

Li Banfeng quickly asked, "How can I bring the key in?"

Portable Abode did not respond.

It seems he doesn't want to talk about this.

"It's not enough." Li Banfeng touched his gloves.

The glove exclaimed in surprise, "What's not enough? You mean gold?"

Li Banfeng laughed and said, "I meant two rails aren't enough."

P. S.: Some things are better left unsaid.