Martial Arts: Starting from a Seemingly Real System

Qiao Rui recruited Tian Jing to run the inn for him. On the one hand, it could relieve Tian Jing's difficult life situation, and on the other hand, with the help of Tian Jing's management skills, he could see if he could revive the inn.

After seeing Tian Jing agreed, Qiao Rui told Tian Jingyun the address of the inn and made an appointment to go to the inn in the afternoon to discuss the details. Then he pretended to ask casually: "By the way, where is your husband? What is he doing?"

When Tian Jing heard Qiao Rui ask about Bi Yuntao, her face became slightly gloomy, and she said softly, "He is feeling a little unwell and has been recuperating at home."

Tian Jing didn't seem to want to talk about it any more, so Qiao Rui didn't ask any more questions. He smiled and said, "If you have any difficulties, just tell me. I won't refuse to help if I can!"

"Okay, okay!" Tian Jing nodded and chuckled.

Qiao Rui waved his hand and asked, "You can go and help me. The monthly salary is set at twelve taels of silver. What do you think?"

"Ah!" Tian Jing exclaimed softly, "This... isn't this a bit too high?" You know, no matter which restaurant or inn she worked in before, she could only get four or five taels of silver a month at most. But with Qiao Rui, the salary was more than doubled.

"Not high, not high!" Qiao Rui said with a smile, "The monthly salary for servants and handymen in my inn is three to six taels of silver, the chef is ten taels, and the shopkeeper is fifteen taels. Although you cannot be the shopkeeper after you come, you are doing the work of the shopkeeper, so twelve taels is not too much."

"This..." Tian Jing hesitated for a moment and said, "Thank you, Brother Qiao!"

"Why are you being so polite? Your ability is worth this money!" Qiao Rui said with a smile, then he took out a five-liang silver ingot from his pocket and put it on the table, pushing it to Tian Jing and said, "Take this money first. It can be used for emergency at home."

"No, no! Brother Qiao, you have already helped me a lot!" Tian Jing quickly declined.

"Just take it if I tell you to. Just consider it a deposit!" Qiao Rui stood up and walked out with a smile. He paid for the tea at the counter and turned back to Tian Jing and said, "From now on, you are mine... Buddy, remember to go to work in the afternoon!" After that, he strode out.

"Brother Qiao..." Tian Jing sighed. He had obviously discovered her predicament, so he spared no effort to help her. Did he know about her? Yes, he said that he had observed all the inns and restaurants in the city before. Could it be that he saw what happened to her at the Lotus Restaurant last night, and then followed her all the way to protect her, and knew her address, so he ran into her nearby today. He said it was an accidental encounter, but in fact he came to help her on purpose!

Thinking of this, Tian Jing was moved, yet a little embarrassed. She looked at Qiao Rui's long back as he walked away, not knowing what to do for a moment!

It was just past noon and the sun was shining brightly. Qiao Rui was meditating in his room at the inn when a waiter knocked on the door and reported that a girl named Tian was looking for him. Qiao Rui said "I see" and slowly ended his meditation, went downstairs to the lobby.

A waiter was inviting Tian Jing to have tea. Maybe it was because the weather was too hot, Tian Jing's fair and tender face was flushed, with traces of sweat on her forehead. Her hair was sticking to her ears, making her look particularly gentle and graceful.

"Brother Qiao!" Tian Jing stood up and shouted when she saw Qiao Rui coming down.

"Sit down, sit down!" Qiao Rui raised his hand to signal her not to get up to greet him, and he quickly walked to the table and sat down. "It's too hot, drink some tea first to relieve your fatigue. There's no rush for the inn's business!"

"It's okay, I'm not tired!" Tian Jing said with a smile, "Brother Qiao, you forgot that I also know martial arts!"

Looking at this woman who looked weak and quiet on the outside but was actually strong and intelligent in her heart, Qiao Rui couldn't help but smile and said, "Okay, let's talk while drinking tea!" Then he waved to the shopkeeper, "Old Huang, come and sit down, and chat with us!"

When Lao Huang came over, Qiao Rui introduced them to each other, and then Lao Huang introduced Tian Jing to the various situations of Yunlai Inn, while he drank tea leisurely on the side.

After more than half an hour, Tian Jing finally had a general understanding of the situation of Yunlai Inn. Qiao Rui then took her around the Yunlai Inn, looking it over inside and out.

"Is there any good way to break the impasse?" Qiao Rui asked Tian Jing after reading it.

"I do have some ideas, but let's go to the winery first!" Tian Jing answered as she walked. She had already asked Manager Chen about the location of the winery.

The winery is located in a remote alley in the northwest of the city, seven or eight streets away from the Yunlai Inn. It took Qiao Rui and Tian Jing half an hour to walk there. Smelling the faint aroma of wine nearby, Qiao Rui walked to a courtyard and knocked on the door. A waiter came out to inquire and then went in to report. Not long after, Wen Shuyan came over in person to welcome them in.

Walking into the yard, the ground was covered with red sorghum, as well as a small amount of corn, soybeans and other ingredients. Several guys were crushing and screening the raw materials. Wen Shuyan gave a brief introduction, saying that this was to facilitate steaming and make full use of the starch.

The selected materials are carried by the waiters to the rooms on both sides, where water and various raw materials are added in proportion and then mixed with koji, and then steamed.

There are more than ten rooms on each side of the yard. The waiters are busy coming in and out. It seems chaotic and hurried, but it is actually orderly. Passing through the main house, there is a huge yard behind. He Peixuan is sweating profusely and directing the waiters to spread the half-cooked grains on the ground after they are out of the pot. They use the method of winnowing and drying the residue to cool the raw materials to a suitable temperature for initial fermentation. There will be a series of procedures such as further fermentation and distillation in the later stage.

When He Peixuan saw Qiao Rui and the others, he called a waiter over to explain some details, then came over to Qiao Rui. He wiped the sweat off his face with the towel on his shoulders and said with a smile, "You're finally here. Let's go to the main room and talk!"

There was a small side room inside the main house, with only a set of wooden tables and chairs, and the table was full of miscellaneous manuscripts. He Peixuan went in first, put away the manuscripts on the table, and said with a smile: "It's a bit messy!"

Wen Shuyan brought a few stools and complained to her husband with a smile, "Because you write and throw things around randomly, I have cleaned up for you several times!" After that, she went to serve tea to everyone.

After everyone was seated, Qiao Rui introduced Tian Jing to the couple, and then they chatted about the past. Qiao Rui briefly talked about some interesting things that happened during his travels in the past few months, and Wen Shuyan also talked about the process and current situation of opening the winery.

Seeing that everyone had finished chatting, Tian Jing interrupted and said, "Sister Shuyan, does the winery have any good blended wine now?"

"No!" Wen Shuyan shook her head. "There are several kinds of raw liquor. Peixuan has blended them several times, but he is not satisfied with any of them. He is still improving the formula!"

"Isn't the wine brewed all at once? Are all the wines blended with alcohol fake?" Qiao Rui asked curiously. Hadn't he always heard that wines blended with alcohol were not good?

He Peixuan smiled and said: "Winemaking is not just about brewing. It is also about mixing raw wines of different styles, tastes, qualities and functions in different proportions, so that the color, aroma, taste and style of the wine can reach a certain degree of coordination and balance. This is called blending. It is said that the flavor is enhanced in distillation, the fragrance is enhanced in fermentation, the style is in seasoning, and the shape is in blending. Blending is the finishing touch, and seasoning is the finishing touch. These are the essence of making good wine!"

He Peixuan's profound and mysterious winemaking theory stunned Qiao Rui. Wen Shuyan teased him, "Qiao Rui, you have a good drinking capacity, but you are not a person who really understands wine. You are not as good as sister Tian Jing!"

Tian Jing chuckled lightly, "I used to work in a restaurant and had a lot of contact with wine merchants. Now I know a little bit. Brother Qiao loves to drink. As long as he can taste the quality of the wine, he doesn't need to understand the production process!"

"That's right, that's right!" Qiao Rui smiled. Tian Jing was really considerate. Just because I like eating beef, do I have to know how to raise and slaughter cows and make beef?