Chapter 349: Opening a Shop

Sima Qiudao knew very little about the true purpose of coming to Lingao. He had come here entirely at his master’s behest. Although his master’s words had been vague, even somewhat evasive, the Lingao short-hairs had gained some notoriety in the jianghu in recent years.

The various sects of the Central Plains martial arts world had had little contact with the short-hairs in the past, but in recent years, they had all more or less heard of their deeds and seen some Australian goods. Take his own Qingcheng sect, for example. Every year, when the disciples from all over came to celebrate the birthdays of their masters and senior uncles, there would be Australian goods among the gifts. Sima Qiudao had seen the kerosene lamp in his master’s room and had also seen a certain junior sister secretly hiding a powder box and small mirror given by her lover in her room. As for matches, although they were sold at a high price in Sichuan due to the long distance, they were a very convenient item for people in the jianghu who often traveled at night and slept outdoors, so almost everyone had them.

But this was still an indirect impression. For them, the most direct feeling of the short-hairs’ power was the Qiwēi Escort Agency, which had suddenly expanded in the Two Guangs and Jiangnan areas in the past five years.

This escort agency was originally unknown, and its martial arts lineage was extremely minor. Its scale was small, and its escort routes were short. Now, the Qiwēi Escort Agency was a behemoth in the Two Guangs. Their relationship with the short-hairs was an open secret in the Two Guangs.

Now, in the major towns of the northern and southern capitals, Jiangnan, and along the Grand Canal, branch offices of various industries under the Qiwēi name had begun to appear. Sima Qiudao and the others had enjoyed many of Qiwēi’s services along the way—especially the long-distance travel joint transport service provided by Qiwēi. As long as you bought a through ticket, Qiwēi would arrange everything from transportation, food and lodging, luggage handling, to passing through customs and checkpoints. The employer didn’t need to worry about anything. Even if the employer felt lonely and empty on the road and wanted to find a girl or a pretty boy for amusement, as long as they asked, it would be arranged. As for escorting along the way, this was originally the strong point of an escort agency, so it was not a problem.

This service system was deeply loved by high officials and nobles. Originally, if they wanted to reduce the hardship of their journey, they could only bring more servants, which also increased the cost. Even with such a large entourage, things might not go as planned. Qiwēi provided similar services at a lower price. Naturally, it quickly captured the market in this area—especially after the court abolished the postal stations a few years ago, the market in this area became even larger.

After Sima Qiudao traveled by water from Sichuan to Hankou, his entire journey south to Guangzhou was provided by Qiwēi. If it weren’t for the “Seventh Master’s” Notes on Pacifying the short-hairs specifically reminding them not to touch any of Qiwēi’s industries after arriving in Guangzhou, he would have even had Qiwēi arrange for his boat ticket to Lingao.

Sima Qiudao naturally knew that this trip was most likely at the behest of the court—otherwise, these major sects, which usually had a superficial harmony but were secretly at odds, would not have joined forces to send their core members to take such a great risk. Even the Huashan sect, which had an unclear relationship with some of the major bandit leaders, had unhesitatingly sent Huang Zhen this time. The short-hairs really had a lot of face!

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The sky was already bright. The two square tables Sima Qiudao had slept on were now serving as a dining table. Nan Wan’er, who was in charge of cooking, brought out the porridge and dishes one by one: a pot of thick brown rice porridge and a pot of Lingao rice noodles with dried shrimp, plus a few sliced salted eggs.

This breakfast was quite sumptuous by the standards of this era. After all, martial artists had a great demand for calories. Not only did they need to eat their fill, but they also needed to consume a considerable amount of protein, which was why there was the saying “the poor study literature, the rich practice martial arts.”

“It’s porridge, rice noodles, and salted eggs every day. Can’t you change the menu? You’ve been cooking for more than ten years, how come you haven’t made any progress!” The speaker was a young woman in a peach-pink dress. She had bright eyes, pearly teeth, and picturesque features. In her early twenties, she had a well-developed figure, with a full bust and a slender waist, her curves tantalizing. Her hands were on her hips, not like a lady, but she was dazzlingly beautiful. The heroic spirit she exuded, however, made men look at her with awe. This was evident from the fact that she occupied one end of the square table by herself, and no one was willing to sit with her.

She was now losing her temper with Nan Wan’er as if scolding a maid. Although Nan Wan’er was much older than her, she could only stand with her hands down, not daring to argue. She and this Zhou Zhongjun were fellow disciples of the Hengshan sect of the same generation, but their status was vastly different. Zhou Zhongjun came from a local powerful family with money and influence, while Nan Wan’er was an abandoned infant her master had picked up from the foot of the mountain.

Even their masters’ status within the sect was vastly different. Nan Wan’er’s master was not an important figure in the Hengshan sect. His martial arts were ordinary, and he rarely went down the mountain to travel or handle affairs. He only managed some miscellaneous matters within the sect. When Zhou Zhongjun was practicing martial arts with her master, Nan Wan’er was helping in the kitchen. Naturally, her skills were not very good.

Seeing that her junior sister had finished her tantrum, Nan Wan’er said cautiously, “There’s not much good food here, only brown rice and rice noodles. It’s not easy to buy meat either—the market is full of dried fish and shrimp. I was afraid everyone wouldn’t be used to it, so I didn’t dare to buy much.”

“I’ve long heard that Lingao has all kinds of delicious food, and many Australian snacks that are unheard of in the world. How come we’ve only been eating this rice noodle with stinky fish sauce for all these days? It’s not like you’re spending your own poor money. What are you being so stingy for? Don’t tell me that if the cook doesn’t steal, the five grains won’t grow?” Zhou Zhongjun was relentless.

Nan Wan’er just swallowed her anger and explained in a low voice, “With seven or eight of us living here, the daily expenses are not small…”

She had come with the team this time. The superiors naturally did not value her martial arts skills, but rather wanted someone to do the cleaning and cooking and manage the daily expenses. To put it bluntly, she was just a housekeeper for the team.

After arriving in Nanbao, Nan Wan’er was responsible for buying groceries, cooking, and managing the daily household expenses. The food and drink for these seven or eight people was also a considerable expense.

It wasn’t that they lacked money. The leader, Huang Zhen, had brought a lot of gold and silver with him. The problem was that gold and silver could not be circulated locally. Before the Seventh Master could exchange it for them, they could only rely on a sum of circulation coupons that Huang Zhen had exchanged in Guangzhou to get by. This money naturally had to be used sparingly.

Maintaining the food, drink, and daily necessities for so many people was a thankless task in itself. It wasn’t the first or second time she had been gossiped about and made sarcastic remarks behind her back. Zhou Zhongjun’s public outburst seemed unreasonable and刁蛮, but in fact, many people secretly nodded in agreement.

Seeing that the atmosphere in the room was not right, Nan Wan’er blinked her eyes, and a layer of mist had already formed. In a moment, tears were welling up in her eyes.

She was already charming, and now, with her submissive and aggrieved expression, she looked pitiful, which made the men present feel a sense of pity.

Seeing this, Huang Zhen quickly stepped in to smooth things over. “It was because we didn’t have enough public funds before, so we had to be frugal. Now the first sum of money has arrived. Everyone has worked hard these days. Let’s make do with breakfast for now. In the evening, let Miss Nan make us a good meal to feast our five viscera!” As he spoke, he called out to Nan Wan’er, “I have money here. You can take it later and buy some meat from the market.”

With these words, the originally awkward atmosphere in the room relaxed. To be honest, everyone was tired of eating brown rice, grilled dried fish, and water spinach stir-fried with shrimp paste every day. Hearing that they could have a feast in the evening, everyone’s face lit up with a smile.

Sima Qiudao ate his rice noodles on his own, but he didn’t agree in his heart—they were out on a mission, and before anything was done, they were already arguing over a meal. This Zhou Zhongjun was too unaware of the bigger picture. He didn’t know why they had brought her along.

In his opinion, both Zhou Zhongjun and Nan Wan’er were too conspicuous. Not only were they too beautiful, but their behavior and style were also clearly that of people from the jianghu. Since the short-hairs had already subdued the Qiwēi Escort Agency, they naturally had no shortage of various martial arts scoundrels who had sold themselves out. Once they were noticed, the short-hairs would be on their guard.

After breakfast, just as everyone was about to get up, Huang Zhen said, “Everyone, please stay for a moment. I have something to say.”

Nan Wan’er went on to clear the bowls and chopsticks on her own, clearly not thinking that what Huang Zhen had to say had anything to do with her.

“Miss Nan, please sit down first. The bowls and chopsticks can be cleared later,” Huang Zhen said in a deep voice.

“We are all fellow martial artists, so I will speak plainly and not stand on ceremony! This time, we have been ordered to infiltrate Lingao. Although we don’t know what we are going to do yet, this place is different from the Great Ming. We have no local support here, and the Great Ming has no say here. Therefore, we must be careful in everything and not show any weakness.” He glanced at the people present. “Everyone also understands in their hearts that most of us have a certain look about us. Once we stand in a crowd and open our mouths, it’s easy for people to see through us. And the short-hairs’ patrols are very strict. Everyone should not go out unless it’s absolutely necessary—if you really have to go out for something important, you must inform me and Sima beforehand.”

Most of the people present were experienced in the jianghu and knew that Huang Zhen was not exaggerating. They all listened to him with bated breath.

“We are a group of people who are not related to each other. It’s too conspicuous for us to live together like this. So, we are going to open a shop…”

“Open a shop?!” Zhou Zhongjun asked curiously.

“Yes, open a shop,” Huang Zhen nodded. “We will use the shop as a cover to give everyone an identity. This will make it much easier for us to operate in Lingao. Besides…”

Besides, the gold and silver he was carrying as activity funds—although the gold and silver could be openly exchanged for circulation coupons at Delong’s Nanbao branch, if there was no proper declaration of purpose, they would immediately be targeted by the short-hairs—the Notes on Pacifying the short-hairs had said that all shops and banks in Lingao had the obligation to report suspicious money transfers.

“What kind of shop?” a middle-aged man asked. “Speaking of business, every sect has its own shops, but those are all managed by the shopkeepers and clerks below. We don’t know anything about it.”

“Open a medical shop!”

“A medical shop?” The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, then slapped his thigh. “Shopkeeper Huang, you’re really something! A medical shop is a great idea!”

A so-called medical shop was similar to a private clinic. The doctors who opened such shops were not famous. Most of them had a special skill: either massage, acupuncture, or bone-setting. They would open a shop and wait for business, and also sell some semi-illicit, semi-dubious self-made medicines.