Qingyun County is located on the eastern border of Xuan Kingdom. It is just a small county with a population of nearly 60,000 to 70,000.
Although the county town is small, it is not barren. There are many business firms from various countries and some literary and cultural practitioners who have traveled far and wide, so it can be considered a relatively wealthy town.
In the morning, on Qingyun Street.
A desolate figure stumbled out of a small alley while holding on to the wall. When the people passing by saw him, they all started to avoid him.
"Eh... this person is so dirty."
"Stinky beggar, get away, don't delay my business..."
"Why is it you again? I already gave you alms last time, and you're still here today? Do you really think I'm running a charity here..."
"This young man has hands and feet, but he can't do anything well and has to become a beggar. Alas... the world is getting worse!"
"..."
Su Pingan was speechless.
Holding on to his weak body, he stumbled out of the ruined temple. He thought he would be able to find someone who stutters to survive after he came out, but he never expected that the people here were so unkind. He asked several people in succession, and finally...
He didn't even get anything to eat, but people mistakenly thought that he was lazy and was pretending to be a beggar just to work.
"Geez, is it so difficult to be a 'beggar' these days?!"
Su Ping'an couldn't help but secretly curse.
In the end, he really had no strength left and was so hungry that he had no choice but to find a place and lie down against the wall. He just hoped that some kind-hearted person passing by would give him some money or something after seeing his miserable appearance.
of.
It happened that next to where he lay down was a restaurant called Qingfeng Restaurant.
The restaurant has two floors. Although you can't see the inside clearly, judging from the decoration on the outside, it should be considered a big restaurant. However, it is strange that it is almost noon and there are no people coming in or out in front of the restaurant.
Business doesn't seem to be doing well.
Not long after he lay down, a middle-aged man in his forties, with a big belly and dressed like a wealthy businessman, suddenly walked out angrily from the restaurant.
After the man went out, he was still a little angry. He turned back to the restaurant with an ugly face and said gloomily: "Niece Liu, considering that your father and I still had some friendship before he was alive, I will give you another three hundred taels for this restaurant.
This is my final bottom line, I hope you will think about it again..."
"Uncle Wu..."
Before the wealthy businessman could finish his words, a pale yellow figure followed from the restaurant and interrupted the wealthy businessman's words.
The figure's voice was clear and melodious, like an oriole. After hearing this, Su Ping'an became curious and followed the sound and looked over.
The pale yellow figure seen at the door of the restaurant was actually just a young girl of seventeen or eighteen years old.
The girl was tall and wearing a long goose-yellow dress. She was bright and elegant. Although she did not wear makeup, her fair skin and delicate facial features were like innate jade, beautiful and refined; especially the lines between her eyebrows.
That touch of tenacity was very similar to some of the 'strong women' in the workplace that Su Pingan had seen in his previous life, and it was unique.
After the woman came out, she continued: "Uncle Wu, I have said before that this restaurant was the hard work of my father during his lifetime. Although my father is no longer here and the restaurant business is not as good as before, I have not
I plan to betray you. Please forgive me, Uncle Wu..."
"Hmph, don't regret it!"
There was a cold flash in the merchant man's eyes, he flicked his sleeves for the last time, and left angrily with his attendants.
After the merchant man left, the maid next to Miss Liu's family suddenly said worriedly: "Miss, is it really okay for us to reject Boss Wu so decisively? I heard that Boss Wu is not a good person. It is said that his subordinates raised
A bunch of thugs who used to intimidate competitors and bully others...I'm afraid..."
Miss Liu turned around to comfort the maid, but said in a firm tone: "Don't be afraid, I'm here. If he really dares to use any despicable means, then Miss, I have been practicing Qin Dao in the Wen Palace of Daming Prefecture for the past two years.
It’s not in vain. Anyway, I will not let my father’s hard work be ruined in my hands..."
"But the business of the restaurant has not improved for two or three months. The literary cultivators who used to cooperate with the restaurant have also been snatched away by other restaurants. Our restaurant has no literary cultivators and no new stories to spread, so it is impossible to retain them.
Guest, if this continues, sooner or later the restaurant will have to..."
The word 'bankruptcy' was somewhat taboo, so the maid did not say it out loud.
Upon hearing this, Miss Liu's beautiful eyebrows immediately wrinkled, and then she turned back to look at her own 'Qingfeng Restaurant', her eyes filled with sadness for a moment.
At the side, Su Ping'an witnessed the whole incident. Based on the few words of conversation between the master and the servant, he quickly completed the entire incident in his mind.
It's nothing more than a story about a wealthy lady whose family was in ruins, her business was suppressed and she couldn't continue, and she was forced by her enemies to sell her property...
However, he also heard an opportunity from the conversation between the master and the servant.
"It seems that as long as new stories appear in their restaurant, the business of this restaurant will improve?!"
Su Pingan's mind was racing.
In my memory, it is not uncommon for Wen Xiu to publish stories in restaurants, but it is actually a common practice.
Literary practitioners all need to use their works to gain the masses, thereby generating a large amount of literary spirit to feed themselves back, so they all need a platform to publish their works.
Literary practitioners of Qin Dao generally linger in music halls, brothels, and singing studios;
Those who cultivate chess and literature naturally play chess in chess halls and major academies.
As for the literary arts of calligraphy and painting, because they have a wider audience, creation is easier than the other two, so they can publish their works wherever there are many people, whether in academies, taverns or teahouses... wherever there are many people.
Some famous writers will even focus on publishing stories in a restaurant. The writers will bring traffic to the restaurant. The more famous the restaurant is, the more people it attracts, the more literary atmosphere will be generated. In this way
can achieve each other's success.
It can be said to be a win-win situation.
"Why does this sound a bit like a 'signing website'..."
However, Su Ping'an quickly threw away these messy thoughts. His biggest goal now should be to survive first.
As for writing stories…
For this world, if he wants to be called second, no one should dare to be called first.
So, this should be an opportunity for yourself!
Thinking of this, Su Ping'an no longer hesitated. He forced himself to stand up, holding on to the wall, and then staggered to the pair of master and servant girls.
"I……"
Su Pingan cupped her hands and was about to speak when the Liu family lady came back to her senses. She turned around and glanced at Su Pingan lightly, and then ordered the maid next to her: "Ling'er, wait a minute.
Go down and see if there is any food left in the kitchen and give him some..."
After saying that, Miss Liu's daughter returned to the restaurant with her skirt in hand, and during this period, she didn't give Su Ping'an a chance to say a few more words.
"..."
Seeing this scene, Su Ping'an froze in place for a long time. He didn't come back to his senses until the maid named "Ling'er" came back and stuffed a few steamed buns into his arms.
"Am I being looked down upon?!"
Su Ping'an was a little shocked.
But he lowered his head and looked at himself again. With his shabby appearance as a beggar, others were probably being polite if they didn't chase him away. Even if he had just come up and said that he could write a book, I'm afraid the pair of ladies and maids wouldn't believe it.
.
"Forget it, no matter how good the product is, it still needs packaging, let alone people. Let's fill our stomachs first..."
Su Ping'an was really hungry. He grabbed the steamed bun and wolfed it down, but the dry and hard steamed bun almost sent him away.
After finally eating two steamed buns, Su Pingan finally regained some strength.
He looked up at the sky. It was still early, so he decided to find a place to tidy up before coming back to introduce himself.
…
In the afternoon, it's dusk.
The night market on Qingyun Street is about to start.
On the street, Su Pingan, who wandered around outside the city, finally wandered back before the sun completely set.
After he left the city, he first found a small river to wash away the filth and smell on his body. Then he saw clothes hanging outside the courtyard at a nearby farmhouse, so he felt guilty and took a coat to put on.
.
At this time, he was wearing a green shirt, and his hair was tied back casually. Although the clothes were not fit and he looked a little swaying, he was already many times better than the 'beggar' he looked like before.
In addition, he has a good body, delicate facial features, handsome eyebrows, and a good appearance. Apart from being a little thin, he really can't find any other flaws.
"Everything is ready, all that's left is the east wind. Whether we can have food, clothing, and a place to stay tonight depends on how we perform next!"
Su Ping'an took a deep breath, and then walked towards Qingfeng Restaurant with a confident look on his face.
Unexpectedly, as soon as we arrived at the door of the restaurant, we encountered someone making trouble.
"Everyone, spread out. What are you going to eat? Get out of here!"
I saw a group of more than a dozen villains, all of them fierce-looking, big-waisted, and holding sticks in their hands. They immediately surrounded the entrance of Qingfeng Restaurant and no one was allowed in or out.
There were originally some people around who wanted to enter the restaurant to eat, but when they saw such a posture, they immediately dispersed in fright, and no longer dared to come forward.
"What are you doing..."
Soon, people in the restaurant heard the noise outside and rushed out.
Miss Liu and her maid whom I had met at noon rushed out, followed by a gray-haired shopkeeper and a waiter.
After going out, Miss Liu's face changed immediately when she saw the situation outside. Then she mustered up the courage to step forward and shouted at everyone outside: "Who are you, and why are you making trouble in front of my restaurant?"
Hearing the sound, a villain in his thirties with a beard walked out from a group of villains. The villain's body was strong and strong, like an iron tower, and his aura was stronger than those around him.
The younger guys in that circle were even more aggressive, and they were obviously tough guys.
The evil man glanced frivolously at Miss Liu's body, then sneered and said: "Liu Qingxi, Miss Liu, I heard that you have been out before, so you may not know about me, so I would like to introduce myself first. I'm sorry.
Third, the boss of the Dahe Gang in the county usually does some business of transporting vegetables and fruits. When your father, Mr. Liu, was alive, he once loaned me a batch of one thousand taels of vegetables for three months.
Then I paid the bill, but now three months have passed and Mr. Liu is no longer here.
Well, this is the debt note signed at that time, Miss Liu, do you recognize it or not?!"
While talking, Chen San took out a note from his arms and waved it in front of everyone. The note had black and white writing on it and was signed with red clay handprints. It looked decent.
"One thousand taels?!"
Seeing this scene, Liu Qingxi's expression changed again on the spot, and her beautiful eyebrows were squeezed together, almost forming a knot.
As far as she knew, his father had never owed anyone anything, let alone paid for goods on credit. In the restaurant business, most of the vegetables were bought fresh that day, so he couldn't buy so much in one day.
When no one was paying attention, she turned around and asked the old shopkeeper behind her a few words in a low voice. However, the old shopkeeper didn't seem to know that such a thing had happened in the restaurant, so he shook his head firmly.
After Liu Qingxi made various judgments, he already had the answer in his mind.
Now she turned back to look at Chen San and said loudly: "Since you said you want to collect the debt, you can. But I need to personally check the receipt and compare it with the fingerprints left by my father in the past. If I am sure that the receipt is authentic,
, then our Liu family will never default on their debts."
Seeing Miss Liu's hand reaching out to check the documents, Chen San hesitated.
In fact, he knew very well whether the document was true or false, because the fingerprints on the document were his, and he had only received an order from the boss behind the scenes in the afternoon, asking him to deal with a restaurant with all his strength.
The so-called debt is just a pretext.
But now it would be difficult for him to handle it if the documents were revealed to be false in public.
Seeing that he couldn't do anything, Chen San's face darkened, and he simply took the note back, intending to use force directly, and threatened: "Miss Liu, I advise you not to read this note. In a word, if you now
Just pay the money obediently, if not... then don't blame me for smashing your sign!"
"Why, you want to collect money, but I can't even check the documents?!"
"Do it!"
With a loud shout, Chen San stopped pretending, and with a wave of his hand, a group of boys around him rushed forward, ready to smash the restaurant directly.
When Miss Liu saw this, a trace of anger flashed in her eyes, "Let's see who dares!"
After saying that, Liu Qingxi waved her jade hand, and a green light flashed in front of her, and a black seven-stringed guqin embroidered with golden patterns appeared in front of her.
Her slender green-white jade fingers quickly plucked the strings, and with a 'buzz' sound, a stream of blue smoke puffed out from the guqin. Then the smoke turned into a tsunami, and the overwhelming force bombarded everyone.
boom!
A loud noise!
The villains who had just charged forward were instantly shocked and fell back.
Seeing this scene, the expression of the leading villain Chen San couldn't help but change, "Kindao Bunxiu?!"
Outside the crowd, Su Ping'an, who was crowding in the crowd to watch the excitement, couldn't help but widen his eyes when he saw this scene, and said in surprise: "This is the power of literary spirit?!"