Free Web NovelChapter 97: Chapter 96: Shenghai
The Demon Soul’s instincts stirred within him, causing Fu Juemin’s mouth to water. The sensation didn’t subside for a full two minutes.
"Truly the Eastern Magic City..."
Fu Juemin took a handkerchief from his suit pocket and gently wiped the corner of his mouth.
Now, as he looked at Shenghai before him, the "Magic" in the name "Eastern Magic City" had quietly become the "Demon" of "Demon Fiend" in his heart.
Of course, for him, this might have been a good thing.
Leading Xu Xinyi, he caught up to his father, Fu Guosheng, and the rest of their party. All along the way out of the pier, people constantly approached them.
"Sir, need a car? Where ya goin’? Shenghai? I know it like the back of my hand!"
"Gentlemen, do you have a place to stay for the night? Our Dadong Inn is just nearby, clean and tidy, with fair prices..."
"Rickshaw! Sir, Madam, take a rickshaw!" freёweɓnovel.com
The butler, Uncle Chen, led Wang Shuisheng and the other guards at the front, fending off all sorts of hawkers and touts.
Once they were out of the pier, they saw several horse-drawn carriages already waiting neatly at the pickup area.
Seeing the group emerge, a decently dressed, bespectacled middle-aged man’s eyes lit up. He immediately trotted over and greeted Fu Guosheng respectfully, "Master."
Then he greeted Fu Juemin, Lin Wanrong, and the others, one by one.
Fu Juemin was surprised and subconsciously glanced at Fu Guosheng. But Fu Guosheng just explained nonchalantly, "Years ago, I opened two tailor shops in Shenghai. Business was always lukewarm, so I never paid much attention to them.
"Who would have thought they’d now be the last of the Fu Family’s assets..."
Fu Guosheng seemed a bit dispirited. He waved his hand, beckoning everyone to get into the carriages.
Fu Juemin could see his father was in low spirits, but he didn’t say anything. He helped Xu Xinyi into one of the carriages.
He actually understood. For half his life, Fu Guosheng had been the wealthiest man in their city, powerful enough to command the wind and rain. Now, nearing fifty, his family fortune was gone. Having to bring his entire family to a top-tier metropolis like Shenghai, surrounded by streets full of the rich and powerful, would surely create a huge psychological gap. It all depended on how quickly he could adjust his mindset.
The carriage moved slowly along the street outside Sixteen Wharves Pier. Its wheels rumbled over a road paved with a mix of gravel and stone slabs.
Fu Juemin lifted the curtain on the carriage window and, along with a wide-eyed Xu Xinyi, took in the sight of this legendary city.
He saw streets full of rickshaw pullers speaking in thick Shenghai accents, sometimes even spouting a fluent phrase or two of a foreign language.
The clanging bells of distant trams and the harsh horns of automobiles intertwined, mixing with the sizzling sound from the oil pots of roadside food stalls. free𝑤ebnovel.com
A young woman in heavy makeup, with curled hair and a qipao, stood under a massive movie poster at a street corner. A thin cigarette was perched between her fingers. She brazenly exposed her pale thighs through the high slit of her qipao, making Xu Xinyi blush and cover Fu Juemin’s eyes with her hands.
As they went further, the scenery began to feel fractured, like a poorly made collage.
On one side of the street stood tall, magnificent Western-style office buildings, their cold, hard granite walls set with huge, reflective glass windows. On the other side were old, crowded lilong alleyways, with bamboo laundry poles sticking out like a jungle. It was as if a single street separated two different eras.
Fu Juemin also saw a City God Temple, with its upturned eaves and curling incense smoke, standing right next to a Western church with stained-glass windows and a pointed cross. A blond-haired, blue-eyed Westerner priest stood among a crowd of elderly people holding offerings of incense and candles, preaching from a Bible. Strangely, the scene didn’t feel out of place.
At a crowded intersection, a brand-new black sedan screeched to a halt right next to Fu Juemin’s carriage.
The car looked much more luxurious than the one he used to ride in back in the Luan River. Through the window, he could faintly see a beautiful, cold-faced woman wearing a pearl necklace sitting inside.
As if sensing his gaze, the woman turned her head and glanced at him. The moment their eyes met, Fu Juemin suddenly realized—he, too, had become a part of this city’s fractured landscape....
...
The carriage turned a corner, and the street became cleaner and smoother. Bearded Indian and Mocha Patrol Police with red-wrapped turbans began to appear on the streets. They had entered the Public Concession.
After traveling a bit further, the party’s carriages finally stopped in front of a garden villa.
"We’re here!"
The middle-aged man who met them at the station called out, then carefully helped Fu Guosheng out of the carriage.
Fu Juemin and the others got out one after another. Someone else would handle the luggage. He followed Fu Guosheng straight into the garden.
Before them was a typical Western-style townhouse with a garden, red tiles, and white walls. Though not large, the environment was quite elegant. Of course, compared to the Fu Family’s former mansion in the Luan River, it was a far cry.
"It’s all thanks to Miss Su’s help that we were able to buy this place..."
Fu Guosheng said to Fu Juemin as they walked, "Come with me to the Su Family’s home tomorrow morning. We need to properly thank them for their help."
No sooner had he finished speaking than he shook his head and corrected himself. "Forget it. I’ll go by myself. You take care of your own affairs."
Fu Juemin entered the house and saw there was another garden in the back and a rooftop terrace. ’At least I have a place to practice now,’ he thought.
He went upstairs, picked a room, and came back down. He watched the household bustling with activity—some moving things, some cleaning, and others preparing dinner.
Fu Juemin called over the butler, Uncle Chen, and asked him to send two sharp-witted servants to run an errand to a nearby pharmacy for him.
His Blood Refining practice had been neglected for a long time. Seeing that the rate at which his Attribute Points were accumulating on his character panel was getting slower and slower, Fu Juemin didn’t want to delay a moment longer.
Of the more than twenty million silver coins he got from Song Lin, he had given half to Fu Guosheng. He was now wondering how to spend the other half.
That evening, the family had a simple dinner to celebrate their move.
Fu Juemin sat in the living room for half an hour. When Cao Tian didn’t return, he went straight upstairs.
He had just taken the Supplements he’d had someone buy from the pharmacy earlier and was about to practice to test their effects when there was a knock on his door.
The door opened, and Xu Xinyi slipped inside. Without a word, she pressed her feverish body against his and sealed his mouth with her lips...
The night passed in silence.
The next day, Fu Juemin woke up early, feeling refreshed. After breakfast, he was about to talk to his father, Fu Guosheng, about hiring another chef specifically to handle his medicinal cuisine.
But when he asked, he learned that Fu Guosheng had already left. He was told his father had gone to visit the Su Family and, while he was at it, check on the shops and factories in Shenghai.
’Looks like Dad’s ambition isn’t dead yet... Right, he’s only in his forties. This is the age to work hard for your wife and kids.’
Fu Juemin was just feeling pleased with his father’s quick change in attitude when he saw Cao Tian, who had been out all night, walk in briskly.
"You followed him that far?"
Seeing Cao Tian, a glint flashed in Fu Juemin’s eyes, and he stood up to greet him.
"I lost him."
Cao Tian hung his head and said in a muffled voice, "I couldn’t find my way back, I had no money on me, and I got into a fight with some local robbers..."
Fu Juemin almost laughed out loud. It seemed Cao Tian had spent the night filming his own "Adventures in Shenghai."
He shook his head and asked directly, "Where did you lose him?"
"A newspaper office."
Cao Tian said, pulling a slip of paper from his pocket and handing it to Fu Juemin. "I wrote it down."
Fu Juemin took the slip of paper and glanced at it, his expression suddenly turning strange.
"What a coincidence."
The name of the newspaper office written on the paper was the very publisher of the copy of *Folklore and Strange Tales* he had read on the Haiyan.
Fu Juemin put away the note. After a moment of thought, he looked at Cao Tian and gave a simple command: "Go change your clothes, clean yourself up, and then come out with me."
"Yes."
Without another word, Cao Tian accepted the order and hurried off.
