Martial Arts: Starting from a Seemingly Real System

Bi Yuntao was immersed in his own speculations. He became angrier and angrier as he spoke, and started hitting with his crutch.

Tian Jing didn't expect Bi Yuntao to swing his stick at her. She was surprised and stunned for a moment. Then she reacted, leaned back with the bowl and chopsticks in her hands and dodged.

There was a series of ping-pong sounds, and it turned out that Bi Yuntao missed hitting Tian Jing, and he swept away the two bowls of vegetables and salted radishes on the table, and they fell to the ground.

Tian Jing saw Bi Yuntao making such a fuss, and felt wronged. Her beautiful eyes turned red and she was about to cry. She looked at her husband and said sadly, "We are running out of money at home. If you keep making trouble, we will both starve to death." After that, she poured her rice back into the pot to warm it up, and cleaned up the broken plate and leftovers on the ground. She wiped her eyes, feeling a little exhausted, and said softly, "Drink the broth while it's hot. It won't be fresh when it gets cold... I'll go make you some medicine for tomorrow!"

Bi Yuntao looked at Tian Jing's calm yet thin back with a somewhat sullen look on his face. Suddenly, he picked up the bowl of meat soup and started eating it in big gulps. After a while, he finished it all. Then he put the bowl heavily on the table, snorted coldly, and went back to his room to sleep with a little reluctance.

Tian Jing set up a small stove next to the stove, placed the clay pot with soaked herbs on it, and fanned it gently with a cattail leaf fan, tears silently falling from her eyes. The small green and red flames reflected on her pretty face, which was as tearful as a pear blossom, making her feel so sad.

Qiao Rui sighed in his heart as he watched from the roof. After thinking for a moment, he made up his mind, covered the roof with tiles, quietly got off the roof, and returned to the Lotus Inn. He would wait until tomorrow to discuss everything.

Qiao Rui practiced meditation until midnight. When he was about to rest, he heard a slight noise from the roof tiles, as if someone was sneaking quickly. Startled, he quietly walked to the door of the room, gently opened the door and looked out, but only heard a belated and subtle sound of the door closing. He didn't have time to see any figure, but Qiao Rui was sure that someone must have come over from the roof and entered a room on this floor.

After watching for a while, there was still no movement, so Qiao Rui returned to the bed and decided not to rest. He crossed his legs and practiced the Emei Nine Yang Gong. Since he obtained this internal skill, Qiao Rui has been practicing diligently and hard. After just a few months, he had surpassed the awkward stage of just getting a glimpse of the door, and had a sense of slight success. The six exercise diagrams were running more and more smoothly, and overnight, he was in a trance.

The next morning, Qiao Rui got up early and went downstairs to eat, then went to the counter to register to extend his room for a few days. He had originally planned to check out today and go back to his own inn, but he found something unusual last night, so he decided to stay for a few more days to see what happened. Anyway, he didn't mind the room fee.

After eating and drinking, Qiao Rui felt refreshed and walked leisurely towards the south of the city. From afar, he saw Bi Yuntao lazily leaning against the wall in front of Tian Jing's house to bask in the sun. He shook his head and laughed, turned a corner and strolled around in circles. At the end of the si hour, he saw Tian Jing coming out of a small restaurant at a remote intersection in the south of the city, dragging his tired figure, with a look of helplessness and loss on his face.

Qiao Rui pretended to be surprised and called out, "Hey, Tian Jing?"

Tian Jing heard a familiar voice calling her. She turned around in confusion and saw a young man with a slender figure, handsome features, thick eyebrows, big eyes and a straight nose. She was stunned for a moment before she recognized Qiao Rui and smiled, "Brother Qiao!"

Qiao Rui walked up to Tian Jing and said, "Long time no see, Tian Jing. I didn't expect to meet you here."

Tian Jing also smiled and said, "What a coincidence, Brother Qiao, what are you doing here?"

"It's hard to explain in a few words!" Qiao Rui looked at the sky, pointed at the small restaurant that Tian Jing had just come out of and said, "It's almost noon, why don't we go there to have some food and wine and chat slowly!"

"I won't eat the food and wine. I have to go home and cook for Yun Tao later!" Tian Jing refused with a smile. She reached out to push her messy bangs behind her ears and pointed to a teahouse not far away and said, "Why don't we go have a cup of tea!"

"Alright!"

The two went to the teahouse and chose a quiet place to sit down. Qiao Rui ordered a pot of fragrant tea and a few plates of snacks. He sent Dr. Tea away and then introduced his recent situation. He first said that he and Liu Xinyue had been looking for Jiang Xueyun, but they got separated from Liu Xinyue because of the investigation of the Red Apricot. Then he said that he had finally opened an inn, but encountered the fierce dragon crossing the river in the Lotus Inn, and was almost squeezed out of living space. So he looked around to see if he could think of any way to break the deadlock. Finally, he asked Tian Jing why she was here.

Tian Jing smelled the faint fragrance of tea and listened to Qiao Rui's narration quietly. She couldn't help but praise Brother Qiao for being so kind. After such a long time, he was still looking for Sister Xueyun. Then she answered Qiao Rui's question, "My family lives near the south of the city, so I'm looking around this area to find something to do!"

"I just saw you coming out of a restaurant. Are you going to apply for a job? I remember that you used to run a restaurant. I guess you have already negotiated the job, right?" Qiao Rui said.

"It's not that easy!" Tian Jing shook her head and said with a wry smile, "It's harder for women to work than men these days. What's more, the small restaurants and inns here are all squeezed out by the Lotus Restaurant. They are all doing badly and can't even lay off employees, let alone hire more people. I don't even want to be a shopkeeper, I just want to work as a handyman, but I think that's too much..."

"That's true!" Qiao Rui nodded. He picked up the teacup, blew on it, took a sip of tea, and said, "Why don't you come work for me?"

"Hmm?" Tian Jing was stunned for a moment, and asked in confusion: "Didn't you say that your inn is also struggling? Why are you still hiring people?" After asking, Tian Jing suddenly understood, and was touched at the moment. She thanked him softly: "Thank you for your kindness and care, Brother Qiao. You are also in a difficult situation now, so I won't cause you any trouble!"

"Why do you cause me trouble?" Qiao Rui saw Tian Jing's refusal. He knew that she was gentle on the outside but strong on the inside and had her own opinions. He couldn't force her. After thinking for a while, he said, "It's like this. Old Huang, the shopkeeper of my inn, is a mature and steady person. He is good at running a business smoothly. Now he is at a loss as to what to do. But you are different. People here don't believe in your ability, but I do. Come to my inn to help me come up with ideas and discuss business opportunities. Maybe we can break this crisis together."

After hearing what Qiao Rui said, Tian Jing felt that there was some truth to it. As long as she could help him turn the situation around, it wouldn't matter whether she troubled anyone or not. She understood that although Qiao Rui wanted to take care of her, it was indeed a good win-win solution.

Tian Jing seemed to be tempted. Seeing this, Qiao Rui quickly said, "Besides, I also have a brewery. Even if the inn can't be maintained, you can go to the brewery to help me. It won't leave you with nothing to do!"

When Tian Jing heard that Qiao Rui had a winery, her eyes lit up and she asked, "What is the quality of the wine produced by the winery?"

"I'm not too sure at the moment, but it should be pretty good, probably a fine wine!" Qiao Rui felt ashamed. He had never been to the winery since it was built, and he didn't even know where it was. It was really not decent for him to be such a hands-off boss. Next time he met Wen Shuyan and her husband, he would ask them to take him for a visit.

"In this case, it won't be difficult to break the impasse!" Tian Jing smiled happily, like a blooming gardenia, fresh, elegant, gentle and charming.

"You mean, you are willing to help me?" Qiao Ruixi said.

"Yes! I will definitely build a good inn for you!" Tian Jing nodded. Although her voice was as soft as ever, it was full of confidence.