Chapter 4: Shopping with Beautiful Sisters (1)

It was nearly 4:00 PM by the time Lu Kuan settled things and came out of the hotel. The group of Yancheng merchants who had been beaten by Li Yapeng the previous night were still in the lobby; it seemed this scandal involving the bearded director’s crew could not be suppressed.

Power is a man’s aphrodisiac, and money is a man’s tonic. With a massive sum of ten thousand yuan in his hand, Lu Kuan’s gait became much steadier.

Thinking of Meng Fanyao, Zhang Jizhong, and the others who were still using delaying tactics, if he really waited for Li Yapeng to get injured while filming, he would make sure they handed over that three-hundred-thousand-yuan gift for entering the capital with both hands.

Water Margin City was a complex of Song-style buildings constructed by the Central Television station for filming the large-scale television series "Water Margin." The surrounding facilities were quite complete, with residential quarters and commercial streets having everything one could need.

Lu Kuan found a nearby mobile phone store, intending to solve his communication problem first; you can never understand the fear of a future time-traveler who lacks a mobile phone.

"Hello, sir. Are you here to buy a phone or handle some business?"

A sales clerk with dimples when she smiled walked over. Most people in this area were film and television industry workers, so she was not surprised by Lu Kuan’s strange attire.

The commercial atmosphere in the Yangtze River Delta region was intense, and Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou was the most economically developed area in Jiangsu Province. Consequently, the sales clerks at the mobile phone store were very service-oriented, far better than the cold faces found in state-run department stores.

"Oh, what kind of phones do you have? Introduce them to me."

"Certainly. Please look over here; this is the Nokia 8250, the hottest seller this year."

Looking at the "Blue Charm Leads the Fashion" slogan, Lu Kuan felt more and more integrated into this era. The 8250 was the sales champion in the mid-range mobile phone market that year.

The dimpled sales clerk had seen countless people; she could roughly infer someone's spending power based on their clothing and temperament.

Although the young man before her was wearing a Daoist robe that had been washed until it was nearly white, the grand air in his gestures was obvious.

Especially that pair of phoenix eyes, which looked quite noble; she had seen this kind of bearing in many big bosses.

After introducing the best-seller, the clerk continued to show other products.

"This Siemens 6688 is the first domestic model with an MP3 function, and this Motorola A6288 is a product used by the famous real estate boss, Mr. Wang."

Lu Kuan glanced at Wang Shi of Vanke, who was endorsing Motorola, and had no interest in listening further.

Mobile phones these days were all much the same; occasionally, some small features and functions didn't make much difference to someone from the future accustomed to smartphones.

"I'll take the 8250."

At the very least, it could still be used to crack a walnut or for self-defense. Having offended Meng Fanyao just after coming down from the mountain, he had to guard against being jumped.

"I'll also get a SIM card; the one with a 30-yuan monthly fee will do."

He didn't even know who he could call now; the only number he could remember was that of his senior fellow apprentice studying in Beiping.

In the little Daoist’s memory, he and this orphan, who had been raised by their Master together since childhood, were as close as brothers. Later, the senior apprentice was adopted by a nearby family early on and got into a school in Beiping.

It was precisely thanks to the frequent assistance from this kind and honest senior apprentice that the young Lu Kuan did not starve to death alone in the Daoist temple after his Master passed away.

In the 1970s and 80s of the last century, there were many orphans like this on Maoshan.

Many of them were descendants of the orphans of Daoist priests left behind during the period of the Anti-Japanese base in southern Jiangsu.

Because their ancestral property was destroyed, these descendants struggled to survive during natural disasters, wandering around in rural temples.

In 1937, the Maoshan Daoist priests went down the mountain to resist the Japanese and deliver intelligence to the New Fourth Army, and even gave up the thousand-year-old Ganyuan Temple to General Chen Yi to use as a headquarters; these were all stories from that period.

The sky was overcast. Lu Kuan spent 3,000 yuan on a mobile phone and prepared to continue looking for a place to shop; at the very least, he needed to buy two sets of clothes.

He had to keep this Daoist robe; he would need to bring it out at a critical moment.

"Beep beep!"

It was that Istana van from the crew driving over. Lu Kuan felt something was increasingly wrong as the vehicle approached and hurriedly leaped onto the steps nearby, nearly getting hit.

"I'm sorry, Lu Kuan, I'm a bit rusty."

The driver's side window rolled down, revealing Jiang Qinqin’s face, which radiated a sense of peace and prosperity, looking slightly embarrassed.

Zhou Xun, in the passenger seat, leaned over and laughed: "Where are you going? We'll give you a ride."

Seeing her turn off the engine and pull the handbrake, Lu Kuan felt relieved enough to walk down from the steps.

"I was planning to buy two outfits. Now that's settled, someone is paying the bill."

Seeing the little Daoist pointing at the hem of his robe stained by the splash from her braking, Jiang Qinqin said apologetically: "Get in the car. It just so happens that Xun-ge'er and I are going shopping."

Lu Kuan calmly pulled open the driver's side door; he wouldn't dare sit in a car driven by a woman, especially one who was clearly a novice.

"Get out. Let me serve the two of you today."

"You can drive?"

Both actresses were somewhat incredulous; this Maoshan Daoist had learned quite a variety of skills, hadn't he?

There was no need for the little Daoist to waste his breath explaining. Soon, both women were stunned by Lu Kuan’s proficient driving skills. The key was, how was he so familiar with the roads?

In his past life, he often came to Wuxi on business trips to negotiate cooperation at Fan Bingbing’s studio in the National Digital Film Industry Park; she was also an actress who often required public relations services.

Lu Kuan drove out of the gate of Water Margin City and made a U-turn toward the city center.

Returning to the Wuxi of this era, the better department stores would be the Grand Oriental Department Store on Zhongshan Road—though it was still called the Commercial Building at this time—along with the New World Department Store and the Grand Ocean Department Store.

"You two are heading toward Zhongshan Road, right?" Lu Kuan asked with a smile, his cloth shoes tapping lightly on the pedals as he wove through the traffic with ease.

"How did you know?" Jiang Qinqin was prone to motion sickness and had swapped seats with Zhou Xun to sit in the passenger seat. She stared at the little Daoist with her clear, watery eyes, feeling that the mystical aura about him was becoming even more intense.

Lu Kuan tilted his head and glanced at the "number one tragic heroine" of the current era: "Forgot I'm a Daoist? My Dharma eyes can see through the heavens."

"Pfft." Zhou Xun, in the back seat, couldn't resist mocking him: "Then why don't you tell our fortunes later? If you're right, we sisters will treat you to a meal."

"No need. It's on me today. I just earned ten thousand yuan from your Zhang Dao, spent 3,000 on a phone, and I still have plenty left."

Jiang Qinqin and Zhou Xun exchanged a surprised look. The former blurted out: "It’s not easy for you to earn money; why don't you spend it more sparingly?"

She was born into an ordinary family; her father was a railway policeman and her mother was a housewife. She had fought her way up herself and was not an actress who didn't know the hardships of life.

Zhou Xun also agreed: "That's right. It’s not easy to find a crew that hires you as a consultant; how hard will it be to find another play with a Daoist background next time?"

Lu Kuan laughed: "It doesn't necessarily have to be a religious consultant. Which crew doesn't burn incense or visit temples when they start filming? In recent years, the scale of the domestic film and television industry has been growing larger and larger, and there are many Xiangjiang crews coming over to film. I see plenty of places where I can be of use!"

(End of chapter)