Wife hadn’t been wrong; some of the machines had been improved by Shi Gongxing, and the craftsmanship method of these machines was far superior to most of the factory’s current equipment.

Li Banfeng roughly asked about the uses of these machines and began to ponder the next step of his plan.

Wife picked up Teacher Song’s handouts and continued studying knowledge about Dark Matter and Dark Energy.

After studying for a whole day, flames rose inside the phonograph’s chassis, and a puff of Steam suddenly spurted out from the mouth of the horn.

Li Banfeng froze: "Wife, what’s wrong?"

"Nothing." Wife replied testily.

The knowledge about Dark Matter was indeed interesting, Wife liked it very much, but the scent on the handouts made her unable to suppress her anger.

Li Banfeng asked in surprise: "My beloved wife, what are you angry about?"

Wife shot back: "Who wrote this stuff?"

Li Banfeng straightened his expression and answered: "He’s my teaching master from the Outside Provinces."

"Teaching master?" In the phonograph’s mind, the image of a white‑haired old man emerged.

She sniffed the handouts again; this clearly wasn’t the smell of an old man.

The phonograph got mad, picked up a record, put it on the tray, and started playing a tune.

"So hypocritical, so hypocritical, why live your life so hypocritical..."

This tune was meant to mock Li Banfeng, but unexpectedly, Li Banfeng was particularly fond of it.

He took a feather duster and, matching his wife’s song, broke into a cheerful dance.

Wife gnashed her teeth and said, "You crazy Han, you’ll be the death of me!"

Whoosh!

A cloud of Steam blasted over; Li Banfeng’s cheeks flushed red. He went out the door and continued his investigation of the factory.

The phonograph went on reading the handouts, and when she got to the math section, she couldn’t help but sigh: "The arithmetic in the Outside Provinces is way too hard."

Portable Residence thought for a moment, then muttered, "Liu Fang, no, not Liu Fang, Bafang, seems like it’s Bafang..."

The phonograph asked: "Old Man, what about Bafang?"

"There’s someone in Bafang, an Arithmetic Cultivator, not a low level."

Hearing this, the phonograph’s body rose into the air and drifted toward Bafang.

Hong Ying put down the Rouge and said: "Xiaowan, wait a bit, I’ll go with you. I feel that place is somewhat dangerous."

The two of them went to Bafang together, and the phonograph asked: "Friend, I have an arithmetic problem I’d like to consult you about."

After they waited a long time, there was finally a response in the empty Bafang; they heard the voice of a middle‑aged man: "What problem? Can you let me have a look?"

The phonograph picked a problem from the handouts, wrote it on a sheet of paper, and set it on the floor.

The white paper flew up from the ground and floated in the room for a moment; the person in the room seemed to be reading the problem.

Two minutes later, the person in the room responded: "I can solve this one. After I finish, what’s in it for me?"

The phonograph said: "What kind of benefit do you want?"

The room fell quiet for a moment, then said: "I’ll also give you a problem to solve. If you can’t solve it, I’ll pick one of you two and kill that one. How does that sound to you?"

Hong Ying drew her Sword from her waist and pointed it at the room: "Come out here and try!"

A wave of murderous intent surged through the room.

Hong Ying’s hair whipped around; her whole body erupted with powerful presence, blasting the murderous intent clean away.

A sigh came from the room: "If you can’t play, then forget it. I’m not planning to help you solve the problem either."

The phonograph agreed: "I’ll take this wager. You solve the problem first, and after you’re done, you pose yours. If we can’t answer it, we’ll let you handle it as you said."

...

Feng Daiku had dug up some information: "The factories in this territory were not built at the same time; some earlier, some later, separated by several decades.

The completion dates of each factory can no longer be verified. The earliest factory should be the one at the Inner State entrance, built over a hundred years ago. Exactly how many years over a hundred, that really can’t be found out."

Over a hundred years ago.

According to the information Light Bulb had collected, the Ruirong Textile Factory was completed at the beginning of the last century, which also comes out to over a hundred years.

Most of the factories in the Soda Kiln had a layout basically identical to that of the Ruirong Textile Factory. Was there some connection here?

Seeing Li Banfeng deep in thought and silent, Feng Daiku felt a bit guilty: "Young Master Li, this is my fault for not handling things properly. If I get any more news in the future, I’ll inform you immediately."

Li Banfeng waved his hands repeatedly: "This is already enough. I’ve contacted my Servants to get the first factory up and running as soon as possible."

Feng Daiku was very happy, but she also knew the difficulties here: "Between building the plant and buying the machines, I’m afraid it’ll take quite a bit of time, right?"

Li Banfeng unfolded the map: "We’ll start by finding an old factory building and fixing it up a bit. This area definitely won’t do; it’s too close to the Inner State entrance. We need to pick somewhere farther away.

There are quite a few good machines around here. I’ve marked them all; we still have to find a way to move those machines out."

Feng Daiku’s face lit with surprise: "These machines can still be used?"

"They can. Once repaired they’re all good machines. Having ready‑made equipment is much faster than buying new."

Li Banfeng picked an old factory building in town. Don’t be fooled by Feng Daiku’s frail appearance; she was actually very strong. A dozen or so pieces of equipment weighing several tons each were all moved over by her. This was the first time Li Banfeng had ever seen a Local Deity so impatient for a factory to open.

After they finished moving the equipment, the two of them sat together at a roadside stall drinking soda. Feng Daiku kept glancing at the factory, hoping it would be able to open tomorrow.

Li Banfeng reminded her: "Even if the factory does open, making the Soda Kiln prosper isn’t something that can be done overnight, let alone turning it into a city on the level of Black Stone Slope."

Feng Daiku nodded: "I know it’s not easy, but Pants Belt Pit was built up by me bit by bit. I think this place definitely won’t be any worse than Black Stone Slope in the future."

The stall owner selling soda came over and said to the two of them: "I just heard you mention Black Stone Slope. You probably don’t know this, but back in the day we were more prosperous than Black Stone Slope. Do you know why our place is called the Soda Kiln?"