Martial Arts: Starting from a Seemingly Real System

Three months later, Qiao Rui returned to Longxing City again. He rode his horse straight home and pushed open the locked door. There were leaves scattered on the ground that were blown in from nowhere. He walked through the patio and saw spider webs in the corners under the eaves, swaying in the wind. He walked into the lobby. There was a light layer of dust everywhere. Qiao Rui found a rag to wipe the table, put the luggage bag on it, looked around, and felt that it was a little different from before. It seemed less... angry?

Qiao Rui boiled water to take a bath, washed off the dust on his body, then changed into clean clothes and went out. Before leaving, he turned around and looked at this expensive house, which was cold and lonely. In a trance, Liu Xinyue's voice, which was sometimes sharp and sometimes tender, seemed to come to his ears again...

"Well, it's a little quiet. Should I find a housekeeper or a maid?" Qiao Rui thought.

Qiao Rui couldn't find Liu Xinyue along the way, and he didn't know the exact location of Liu Xinyue's hometown. After staying in Xunyang City for several days to inquire and search but still had no news, he had to hope that she had gone to Huashan Sect. He then returned to Longxing City, planning to rest before heading north to Huashan.

At Yunlai Inn on Zhoujiang Road in the west of Longxing City, several beggars were lazily lying against the wall on the eaves on both sides of the inn doorway, their hair was tangled together, their clothes were tattered and colorless, and they smelled terrible. There were no guests resting in the inn, and two waiters were bored and dozing off at the table. The wine shop was empty, and no one knew where Wen Shuyan was busy. The shopkeeper Lao Huang was frowning and flipping through the account book at the counter, mumbling something.

This was the scene Qiao Rui saw when he stood at the door of the inn. He frowned, coughed lightly and walked in. Old Huang looked up. He seemed to have aged a few years after not seeing him for a few months. He looked haggard and full of wrinkles. When he saw Qiao Rui, his face was mixed with joy and sadness. He hurried out to greet him and said excitedly, "Boss, you are finally back!"

"What happened? Where is Wen Shuyan?" Qiao Rui asked.

"The winery has been prepared. Miss Wen saw that there was no business here, so she went to help the winery!" Shopkeeper Huang explained. Before Qiao Rui could ask anything else, he began to speak hastily, "Since you left, several Lotus Inns and Lotus Restaurants have opened in the city. At first, everyone was fine, but with more inns and restaurants, our business naturally declined. Then someone came to buy our inn for five thousand taels of silver. I naturally refused. The man had no choice but to leave with a harsh word. Sure enough, later on, ruffians came to make trouble every now and then, scaring the guests to check out and leave. Later, your friend Captain Chen came a few times, and the situation got better!"

"I didn't expect that group of guys would come up with another plan after their first one failed. They found a few beggars to squat at our door. They didn't cause any trouble, but just lay there and stank. I tried to chase them away several times but they wouldn't leave. Even if they left, they would come back again if I wasn't paying attention. They were as annoying as flies and bedbugs. When Captain Chen found out, he came and took those beggars away. But I heard that Captain Chen was scolded by the county magistrate for this matter, and then the beggars were released. We haven't had any customers coming here since then." After saying this, Old Huang let out a long breath, as if he wanted to spit out the gloom in his heart.

The more Qiao Rui listened, the angrier he became. He sneered and said, "I'd like to see which god has taken a fancy to my shabby temple!" He patted Lao Huang on the shoulder and comforted him, "Don't worry, just look after the store. I'll go out for a walk." He didn't plan to look for Lao Yu from the Industry Department or the head of the police, Chen Nian. Since the other party was able to deal with the county lord, they must have some means. It would be bad to trouble his friends to do something against their will. It would be better for him to find out the situation himself first.

For several days, Qiao Rui wandered around the city and took a tour of several prosperous places in the city. As expected, there were many Lotus Inns and Lotus Restaurants, all of which were bustling with customers, while some other inns and restaurants nearby were deserted. Only a few magnificent high-rise buildings were not affected.

On this day, Qiao Rui saw that it was getting late and it was time for dinner, so he walked into the Lotus Inn, which was not far from his own inn. The inn was decorated with carved beams and painted buildings, and a waiter came up to ask if he wanted to stay or have a night. Qiao Rui said he wanted to stay, and asked for a room upstairs. He paid two taels of silver, and the waiter happily took the key and took Qiao Rui upstairs to open the door. Qiao Rui carefully looked at the layout of the rooms inside the inn, and felt that there was nothing strange about it, which was similar to his own home, so he went downstairs and found a corner to sit down, and asked the waiter to serve some of his specialty wine and food.

Soon the food and wine came up, and Qiao Rui tasted them carefully. The few side dishes didn't have any special features, and the wine was not as good as the blue and white wine from Wen Shuyan's house. If it were a normal competition, this store would not have any advantages, and the location was not as good as his own. No wonder they had to resort to some dirty tricks. I just don't know who the boss behind the scenes is, and he can even deal with the county lord. It seems that he has considerable power.

Qiao Rui was drinking, thinking about how to deal with the affairs of the inn. The beggars on his side must be driven away, so he would just stay there and break the legs of anyone who dared to come. Then he would arrange for the waiters to solicit customers on the main road at the intersection and offer some price reductions and discounts... Just as he was lost in thought, he suddenly heard some noise over there. Qiao Rui looked back and saw a woman running down the stairs from the second floor with a "dong dong dong" sound. She ran all the way to the door of the inn and stopped, turning around and glaring at the inn.

The woman's hair was a little messy, and she was breathing heavily. Although she was wearing a plain linen dress, it could not hide her slim figure. At this moment, her pretty face was rosy, her eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and her almond eyes were wide open. She glared at the man in brocade clothes who was following her leisurely, and her expression was very angry.

The man who came down from behind was dressed elegantly, holding a folding fan in his hand, and his steps were unsteady. He said with a frivolous smile, "Miss Tian, ​​why are you running? Can't you talk to your brother upstairs if you have something to say?"

The woman said coldly: "Mr. Lu, please respect yourself!"

When Qiao Rui saw the two people, he thought what a coincidence, they were all acquaintances. This Lu Yanjun was really a dog that could not change its bad habits. He could not forget to tease women wherever he went. And this woman was none other than Tian Jing, who had lived under the same roof with Qiao Rui in the past.

Seeing this, Qiao Rui was about to step forward, but after thinking about it, he sat back down. Tian Jing looked weak and delicate, but she was also a smart person. He should wait and see how she handled it. He should not rush to stand up for her, otherwise if the extremely stingy and suspicious man in her family got to the ears, he would be jealous and take his anger out on Tian Jing.

Qiao Rui decided to wait and see what would happen, but was also ready to lend a hand at any time. Lu Yanjun smiled and said to Tian Jing, "Miss Tian, ​​don't talk nonsense. I just invited you to have a drink. I didn't do anything to you. Why don't you respect yourself?"

Tian Jing glared at Lu Yanjun, not wanting to argue with him on this topic. Knowing that the more a man pestered about this topic, the more trouble he would have, she ignored Lu Yanjun and turned to the shopkeeper behind the counter and said, "Shopkeeper Gou, we have already agreed that I will help tidy up the rooms and clean the inn for 100 coins a day, and I will be paid every ten days. Now it's the eleventh day, why don't you pay me in full!"