Martial Arts: Starting from a Seemingly Real System

Yunlai Inn opened for business, and Qiao Rui and Liu Xinyue stayed in the inn for three consecutive days. Although Captain Chen said that no one would cause trouble, if there really were some blind people who came to blackmail and collect protection fees or something, they could easily deal with it here. They would try not to trouble others if possible!

After staying in the inn for a few days, Qiao Rui was unable to help much, so he asked Lao Huang to ask someone to find a great painter at a high price. The painter painted Jiang Xueyun's appearance according to Qiao Rui's description, and then made several revisions and added colors. Then he used text to add some notable features such as height, weight, skin color, etc. on the side of the portrait. Only then did it barely meet Qiao Rui's final requirements and was made into an ancient missing person notice. He then copied and made dozens of copies before he finished the job.

After paying the painter and sending him off, Qiao Rui said hello to Liu Xinyue, then went straight to Changyun Coach and Horse Company with the missing person notice and found Manager Chen. Qiao Rui didn't beat around the bush and asked Manager Chen straight away if he could pay to post a missing person mission within the Qingtian Guard and have the Qingtian Guard's worldwide network help him find Jiang Xueyun.

Shopkeeper Chen refused with a serious face, "Don't even think about it. We should not treat important tools lightly. How can we use public tools for personal purposes? The power of the Sky Guards is so great. If the rules are broken, there will be danger of bringing disaster to the world!"

Shopkeeper Chen spoke righteously about a lot of great principles of family, country and the world. Seeing Qiao Rui's disappointed and dejected look, he said with a slightly relieved expression: "But I can ask every member who comes to hand over the task to me to pay attention to this matter in my own name. You can leave a picture scroll!"

"Ah? Thank you! Thank you, Mr. Chen!" Qiao Rui hurriedly left the scroll and thanked Shopkeeper Chen. He thought that because of the yellow horse and the placement of Xiaobao, Qiao Rui thought that Chen was easy to talk to, but he didn't expect to hit a wall again this time. He thought there was no hope this time, but unexpectedly there was a ray of hope. This fat old man who is principled and humane, old-fashioned and cute, really makes people love and hate him.

After saying goodbye to Changyun Carriage and Horse Company, Qiao Rui went to the county government office to find the head constable Chen Nian. Chen Nian was on duty at the time, and when he saw Qiao Rui coming in a hurry, he led him into the duty room and asked, "Brother, is there something you need?"

Qiao Rui smiled bitterly and said, "I do need help from Brother Chen!"

"What's the matter, brother? Just tell me!" Chen Nian said straightforwardly.

"It's like this," Qiao Rui took out a scroll and spread it out for Chen Nian to see, saying, "This is a portrait of my wife. We have been separated for many days and have not been found yet, so I made a lot of missing person notices. I wonder if Brother Chen can help me distribute them and post them in major restaurants, teahouses, inns, carriages and horse shops in the city and other places where people gather? If I do it myself, I'm afraid my words will not count and people will ignore me."

Chen Nian took the scroll and looked at it carefully, then said with a smile: "My sister-in-law is really beautiful and elegant, and Miss Liu Xinyue is also beautiful and sweet. My brother is so lucky!" After making a joke, he took all the scrolls from Qiao Rui's hand and put them on the table, saying: "This is not difficult, I will let the brothers do it right away!"

"Wait," Qiao Rui grabbed Chen Nian, who was about to ask someone to do something, and took out two silver ingots of fifty taels and handed them to him.

Seeing the glittering silver ingot, Chen Nian's eyes lit up, but he immediately retracted his gaze and stared at Qiao Rui, saying with shame and anger: "What do you mean by this? Do you look down on me, Chen?"

He even stopped calling me brother, which showed that he was really angry. Qiao Rui said helplessly: "Brother Chen, listen to me, you are the head of the police, and others will definitely give you face, but they may not be willing and sincere. You can use this money to give them some subsidies, which will be more effective. Then tell them to post it in a conspicuous place in each store, so that the store owners and servants will take more care of it, and they will not resist!"

Come to think of it, Chen Nian pondered for a moment, looked at the silver ingot in Qiao Rui's hand, and said, "It won't take that much, right?"

Qiao Rui put the silver ingot in his hand into Chen Nian's hand and said with a smile: "Brother Chen, you treat me as a brother and sincerely want to help me, but I feel bad for making your brothers run errands and mess around the city. With the extra money, you can take them out for drinks and tea. It's my little token of my appreciation!"

"this…"

"It's settled, Brother Chen, please don't be so fussy. I have something else to do, so I'll take my leave first!" Qiao Rui was afraid that Chen Nian would postpone it again, so he said goodbye and left in a hurry.

At Yunlai Inn, Liu Xinyue was not at home. Wen Shuyan was talking to a young man. When she saw Qiao Rui coming in, Wen Shuyan pulled the man over to greet him.

Qiao Rui smiled and said, "Peixuan, have you recovered?" It turned out that the man was Wen Shuyan's husband He Peixuan.

The man was of medium height, thin, handsome and gentle. He bowed to Qiao Rui and said, "Thank you for your care, Peixuan is very grateful!"

"I told you not to call me boss, that's too polite!" Qiao Rui waved his hand and found a stool to sit down.

He Peixuan smiled and said nothing.

"Whatever you want!" Qiao Rui had met He Peixuan several times in the past few days and knew that he was a bit stubborn and serious. He was too lazy to dwell on this issue and asked, "I told Shuyan before that I would open a winery. What do you think?"

"We've calculated that a winery of average size, with all the manpower, site and equipment, would cost at least four hundred taels of silver. Judging from the current sales of the inn's liquor, the liquor in stock at home will need to be sold for two years. By then, adding in my and Shuyan's wages, it should be enough!" He Peixuan and Wen Shuyan sat down opposite Qiao Rui and said slowly.

"Two years? Isn't that a bit long?" Qiao Rui said.

"It's already good enough that we can build a winery in two years. Although our inn has a good location and a large flow of people, the sales of alcohol are not as good as those of a restaurant. Most of our guests stay here to rest, and they only eat snacks and small dishes. Who dares to eat and drink a lot when they are away from home?" Wen Shuyan explained.

"How about this, I lend you money, you set up the winery first, and then pay me back when you make money!" Qiao Rui pondered.

"No, I heard from Xin Yue that you have already borrowed money from the bank to open this inn. Besides, you have helped us a lot, how can we let you spend more money!"

"It's okay. There's no need to rush to pay back the money. If you pay it back in a hurry, the interest will be higher." Qiao Rui said nonchalantly. Generally, people expect to get high interest on borrowed money. If you pay it back in advance, you will have to pay a penalty.

"Is that so..." Wen Shuyan and He Peixuan looked at each other, and He Peixuan nodded and said, "Okay, then, you invest 400 taels of silver, and I'll take care of the rest, and we'll each take 50% of the profits!"

"No, no, according to Captain Chen, the quality of your wine is extraordinary. Wouldn't it be too much of an advantage for me if I split it 50-50? How about 40-60, 40 for me and 60 for you." Qiao Rui said.

"It's 50-50." Wen Shuyan glanced at He Peixuan and saw her husband smiling and nodding. She felt warm in her heart, knowing that her husband understood that she didn't want to take advantage of Qiao Rui.

"Although the government has liberalized winemaking licenses, it's hard to find winemaking talent among the people, and it's even harder to find high-level skills. I always feel like I've gotten a great bargain." Qiao Rui smiled and said, "Let's split it 50-50. I'll give you 500 taels of silver. Although the scale doesn't need to be that large at first, the venue can be larger to facilitate future expansion!"

"Okay!" Wen Shuyan stopped arguing and agreed.

Qiao Rui went back to get the silver and gave it to He Peixuan, asking him to take full charge of the winery's affairs.

Everything was back on track at the inn, and Qiao Rui had nothing to do, so he stayed in the inn for another night. Then he and Liu Xinyue moved back to the house in Banyue Lane.