Martial Arts: Starting from a Seemingly Real System

Qiao Rui asked his apprentice Huang Jingxuan to invite Chen Nian and Lao Yu, while he himself stayed with Wen Shuyan and her husband to chat and reminisce about the past.

Chen Nian arrived quickly and got to work right away. While asking about the whole story, he asked Wen Shuyan to take everyone to the fermentation room to check it out.

"When did you discover the problem?" Chen Nian asked Wen Shuyan on the way.

"This batch of mash has been fermenting for more than a month. This morning, Peixuan opened the factory to take out the materials for distillation, and then found that the mash had gone bad." Wen Shuyan introduced as they walked.

He Peixuan led the way and came to a room that looked like a large warehouse. He opened the lock and everyone went in one after another.

This is where the wine ferments. The ground is covered with fermentation tanks. The yellow mud and rice husks used to seal the cellars have been peeled away, revealing the cooked mash inside, which emits a pungent strange smell.

The cellar was not sealed properly, the mash had become moldy, and the resulting wine was sour, rancid and bitter; everything was spoiled.

"It's all my fault. I was too careless!" He Peixuan said dejectedly. He was solely responsible for the winemaking and he was always meticulous in his work, but something went wrong this time.

"I signed the contract. When I saw such an unreasonable request of ten times compensation, I didn't refuse it because I was greedy for profit. I am also responsible." Wen Shuyan looked at her husband and said softly.

"Okay, okay, stop showing off your affection!"

Qiao Rui smiled and joked, which made Wen Shuyan roll her eyes. It was already this time, and this guy was still in the mood to make jokes.

"Well, this is not your fault!" Qiao Rui put away his smile and said seriously, "First they do a small order to win your trust, and then they cheat you out of the big order. This is a typical scam. You've been tricked."

At this point, Qiao Rui raised his eyebrows and said in a deep voice: "As for his purpose, it's probably coming for me!"

"Coming for you?" Wen Shuyan was surprised.

She believed what Qiao Rui said, that he had fallen into someone else's trap. She also had this feeling, but she couldn't say it herself, otherwise she would be suspected of shirking responsibility.

But if the liar was targeting Qiao Rui, she wouldn't think so deeply about it.

"If it was for Peixuan's brewing technology or this brewery, he wouldn't ask for ten times the compensation. What if he scared you off and you didn't dare to take the business? Wouldn't his efforts be in vain?" Qiao Rui sneered. Brewing technology and this brewery were not worth 240,000 taels of silver.

"Yes, there is this possibility." Chen Nian also nodded in agreement. With his professional sensitivity, he naturally saw at a glance that this was a setup, and it was not aimed at Wen Shuyan and her husband, because in his opinion, they were not worth the price. However, it was not easy to say this directly, as it was a bit hurtful.

"Since it is confirmed that this is a setup, then the spoilage of this batch of wine is not an accident. It must be someone who tampered with it." Chen Nian pondered.

"No way, the fermentation room was locked after it was closed, and I have been keeping the key personally all the time. Moreover, I have two guards watching it." He Peixuan hesitated. He still couldn't believe that someone had such a deep plan and laid out a plan several months in advance to lure them into a trap.

The guards were the ones that Chen Nian had found for them last time. To be honest, this kind of guards are good for guarding the house and preventing small thieves, but they are not good enough if they really encounter martial arts masters.

"Has the fermentation room ever been opened after being locked?" Chen Nian checked all the doors, windows, roof and beams, and found no signs of external intrusion.

"I basically come in once every two or three days to check the temperature, humidity and so on." He Peixuan said.

"That's right. If there was a problem when you sealed the pool, you should have been able to find the problem every time you came in, or smell a strange smell, right? Instead of opening the pool to take materials and then discovering that the wine had gone bad."

Chen Nian walked to a cellar and was hit by a strong sour smell. He frowned and quickly took a few steps back.

"Maybe someone has come in these few days." Chen Nian fanned the air with his hands. The smell was really pungent.

"That's not right. Even if someone came in and destroyed the seal in the past few days, the fermentation has basically been completed at this time. It is impossible for all the wine to deteriorate, and it will not deteriorate so badly." He Peixuan shook his head, still puzzled.

"Use medicine!" Chen Nian guessed, "There are all kinds of things in this world. The methods used by martial arts masters to use poison are unpredictable. Maybe there is some medicine that can make the wine go bad quickly and make it look like it was not sealed tightly."

"Then...how did this person get in?" He Peixuan hesitated, and what Chen Nian said seemed to make sense.

"Rule out the impossibility first. Since no one pried the door or window open, he must have used a key to open the door. As for how he got the key..." Chen Nian paused, glanced at He Peixuan and his wife, and finally looked at Qiao Rui.

Qiao Rui's heart moved. He Peixuan said that he never leaves his keys without a moment's notice, so how about sleeping?

It shouldn't be difficult for a martial arts master who is good at using poison to steal a key from an ordinary person, right?

Thinking of this, Qiao Rui said to Wen Shuyan: "Can I go to your bedroom to take a look?"

"Bedroom?" Wen Shuyan was stunned at first, but then she realized that if she wanted to get the key, the best opportunity would be when she and her husband were resting.

Everyone came to the bedroom of Wen Shuyan and her husband. Qiao Rui went to the roof to check, and Chen Nian checked the bedroom inside and out.

"Found it!" Soon, Chen Nian shouted softly, Qiao Rui hurriedly jumped off the roof, and Wen Shuyan and his wife also came to Chen Nian's side.

On the window frame of the wall near the bed, there was a finger-sized round hole cut out by a sharp knife in the oil paper pasted on it to block wind and water.

"Blowing out smoke from a bamboo tube?" Wen Shuyan's face looked very ugly. Anyone who knew that they had been drugged before would not feel good.

Chen Nian nodded. Although the knockout drugs and the love smoke were despicable, they were very effective methods used by the underworld.

"That's a lack of martial ethics!" Qiao Rui sneered. It would be fine if the other party used commercial means, but if he used those cunning underworld tricks, don't blame me for being rude.

"What do you mean by unethical?"

A light laugh was heard, and it was Old Yu from the Industry Department who arrived, followed by Lu Jia and Huang Jingxuan.

Previously, Chen Nian was afraid that Huang Jingxuan would not be able to find Lao Yu, so he asked Lu Jia to accompany him while he rushed to the winery first.

When Lu Jia brought Huang Jingxuan to find Lao Yu, Lao Yu didn't know how to ride a horse, so the three of them took a long time to arrive.

The facts of the case were clear. Wen Shuyan invited everyone to the living room for tea. Qiao Rui briefly explained the whole story to Lao Yu and the others. Finally, he asked Lao Yu, "Uncle Yu, help me estimate how much the four inns, the brewery, and the house in Banyue Lane under my name are worth if they are sold?"

"Qiao Rui, you are..." Wen Shuyan was shocked. Has it really come to this? His so-called solution is to sell off the family property?

Qiao Rui waved his hand, smiled gently at Wen Shuyan, and looked at Lao Yu again.

"About two hundred and thirty or two hundred and forty thousand. If I sell it slowly, the price will be higher, but if I need the money urgently, it may be this price, or even lower."

Old Yu has been in the Industry Department for a long time, and he came to the conclusion after a little thought.

"Sure enough!" Qiao Rui nodded. That person was really coming for him. He even calculated all his property clearly. He set up this trap just to make him lose everything.

I just don't know if the other party is a business rival or a gangster enemy? Is the other party plotting to take my property, or is he trying to cut off my future as a martial artist?

You have to know that without financial support, there will be no various secret medicines and rare treasures, and practicing martial arts will inevitably become extremely difficult, and it will be difficult to improve quickly.

Thinking of this, Qiao Rui frowned and said coldly, "What if I go to a bank to pledge my money for a loan? How much money can I get?"