Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo'

On the Eighteenth of the Last Month, the snow was especially heavy.

In the conference hall on the sixteenth floor of Peace Mansion, Lu Dongjun and Chu Er finalized the deal regarding Hundred Joy Gate.

For eight hundred thousand Ocean Dollars, Hundred Joy Gate was transferred from the Lu Family to Chu Er.

The Land Deed, property deed, and various business Contract Books for Hundred Joy Gate were all transferred to Chu Er. The notary issued the documents, and reporters were present for coverage.

Eight hundred thousand Ocean Dollars—Chu Er's entire savings were poured into it.

Aside from the mansion she lived in, all her other residences and farmlands were sold off completely.

She retained the businesses she personally managed but recalled all shares from her investments in others' ventures.

Even then, she incurred over two hundred thousand Ocean Dollars in external debt to finally acquire Hundred Joy Gate.

Did no one from the Chu Family care about her doing this? Indeed, nobody cared.

Chu Er's status was unlike that of other wealthy young ladies. Five years ago, while collaborating with the Lu Family to develop New Land, the Chu Family Head—her father—was fatally injured. Currently, the Chu Family is jointly managed by her eldest brother and two paternal aunts.

After receiving her share of the inheritance, Chu Er independently managed her own properties. Over the past five years, she paid a certain amount of Hua Hong to the Chu Family each year. As for how Chu Er specifically ran her affairs, others had no right to interfere.

Having acquired Hundred Joy Gate, Chu Er was very excited; she was still walking around the place late into the night.

Hundred Joy Gate wasn't very tall nor particularly large, with only three levels, but it was a landmark of Greenwater City, an even more dazzling landmark than Peace Mansion.

The people of Greenwater City might not envy the suits and leather shoes inside Peace Mansion, but they definitely longed for the glamour and glitz of Hundred Joy Gate.

The First Layer was a restaurant, with six banquet halls and more than a hundred private rooms.

The Second Layer was the dance hall, the essence of Hundred Joy Gate. It featured a large dance floor, five round halls, and sixteen Famous Performer's Chambers.

The large dance floor, needless to say, featured bands performing and the Singing Empress singing. Jazz music was predominant, but elegant classical music and popular modern music were also common. Hundred Joy Gate's large dance floor could accommodate a thousand people, and each year's Queen was selected from here.

The round halls were slightly smaller than the large dance floor, each able to accommodate around a hundred and ten people, suitable for gatherings, commonly termed 'parties' in the Outside Provinces.

The Famous Performer's Chambers were special. Each chamber could accommodate around a dozen people, with the performers singing exclusively for VIP guests within.

Imagine, in a private chamber, the popular Singing Empress singing solely for one person—what kind of experience would that be?

If things went smoothly, perhaps there might be other offerings.

The Famous Performer's Chambers were exclusive to the Singing Empress. For instance, Singing Empress Xia Yijun's chamber was called Yijun Studio, and it would keep its name as long as Xia Yijun was with Hundred Joy Gate.

If Xia Yijun was dismissed by Hundred Joy Gate, or if she herself jumped ship, only then would the chamber be taken over by someone else.

Of course, not every Singing Empress could occupy a Famous Performer's Chamber at Hundred Joy Gate. There were Singing Empresses every year, but there was only one Hundred Joy Gate.

Years ago, the Singing Empress Jiang Mengting had her own exclusive chamber at Hundred Joy Gate, called Mengting Residence. Later, Chu Er made a high bid and poached her from Hundred Joy Gate.

Subsequently, by unknown means, Ma Wu managed to poach Jiang Mengting from Chu Er.

Now, none of this mattered anymore.

Now the whole of Hundred Joy Gate belonged to Chu Er!

Chu Er ascended to the Third Layer of Hundred Joy Gate, which had a total of seventy-six suites. She opened one with the best view, looking over the constant stream of pedestrians and carriages on the street.

For a while, Chu Er had the illusion that the entire Greenwater City belonged to her.

As of now, the city's most dazzling landmark did indeed belong to her.

Yang Yanzheng suggested from the side, "Miss, why don't we open for business today?"

Due to a series of scandals involving Lu Dongjun, Hundred Joy Gate had been closed for several days.

Today's newspaper reports had just gone out, and many people were already inquiring about bookings for meals and rooms.

Hundred Joy Gate never lacked for business.

But Chu Er didn't want to open today.

"We can't rush this. The grand opening has to be auspicious. We need to select an auspicious day, hold a song recital, and send invitations to all the major families—invite everyone of note!"

Yang Yanzheng frowned but did not dare to speak.

Chu Er has spent her entire fortune, and now she wants to organize a song recital. It would be more proper to open immediately to recoup costs. Couldn't the song recital wait until after the New Year?

Since his Miss had ordered it, Yang Yanzheng could only proceed with the arrangements. Before he could leave, he heard Chu Er specifically instruct, "Send an invitation to Ma Wu, make sure he comes. I want to see if he's itching for it. When the time comes, we can discuss the price again. If he could make Hundred Joy Gate even more impressive, I am willing to give Xiaoyao Lodge back to him!"

...

Ma Wu was reading the newspaper in Blue Poplar Village. When he saw Chu Er had bought Hundred Joy Gate, the newspaper nearly dropped to the ground.

This won't do!

This crazy old woman really stirred up a hornet's nest. After stumbling and fumbling in the business world for so many years, how could Chu Er make such a mistake?

She wanted Hundred Joy Gate too much.

Actually, Ma Wu could understand. If he were in Chu Er's shoes, he might have also disregarded everything to acquire Hundred Joy Gate—it's simply too tempting for a businessman.

Ma Wu was calculating the possible future developments when he quickly noticed a story on the fourth page.

A down-and-out young master's entanglement with a lovestruck young lady.

Ma Wu hadn't paid attention to this story before, but today he did.

The story's placement had changed. This wasn't a short story; it had already been serialized for several issues. Usually, it wasn't prominently placed, but today it took the headline on the fourth page.