Chapter 52: The Mei Family Tavern

As a Martial Artist in the Skin Refining Realm,

discovering the tailing of an ordinary person is quite easy.

Cheng Feng, who had just come out of the Hujiajiuguan,

had this self-awareness in his heart.

In the eyes of Cheng Feng, a Skin Refining Martial Artist,

the one tailing him was eight or nine times out of ten from the Hujiajiuguan.

Cheng Feng had not thought about inquiring into the background of the Hujiajiuguan.

He had neither the time nor the intention.

According to what Master Wang Tieshan said,

in Qingxi City,

those with some background were the three great families and the backbone and upper echelons of the four great gangs.

The great families had their own tacit understanding among themselves.

The four great gangs would also not easily provoke a war between them.

As long as Cheng Feng himself did not bully others by relying on his status,

then Wang Tieshan would be enough to protect his Closed-door Disciple.

This was just like what Principal Wang said in his previous life:

"The people around me are not as rich as I am."

There was no such thing as jealousy or lack thereof.

After becoming Wang Tieshan's Closed-door Disciple,

Cheng Feng had unknowingly stepped onto the stage of Qingxi County.

He was no longer that nobody from before.

Cheng Feng still held doubts about his status as a Closed-door Disciple.

After all, Wang Tieshan had not explicitly told him about this status.

Currently, he was only the Tenth Disciple of the Inner Sect.

Except for Li Mo, who wanted to invest in him and was the first to show goodwill,

Cheng Feng had not seen anyone else.

Even Ninth Senior Brother Zhang Zhuo had only connected with him because of their previous fate.

He had not looked at him differently because of his status.

Cheng Feng, however, did not know that Wang Tieshan truly both loved and hated his disciple.

What he loved was the disciple's talent and aptitude.

What he hated was naturally also that talent and aptitude.

Having spent some time together, Wang Tieshan

had a considerable understanding of the Closed-door Disciple he had chosen.

Born in humble circumstances, yet relying on his own talent to come from behind,

he was no longer indistinguishable from the crowd.

But the talent that was difficult first and easy later was truly hard to speak of.

Fortunately, Cheng Feng was relatively low-key and was neither arrogant nor overbearing.

Wang Tieshan just let Cheng Feng be.

Cheng Feng would naturally not announce his own secrets.

But he could not stop those envious, jealous, and hateful latecomers from wild guessing.

Disciples without talent hated themselves for not having Cheng Feng's talent.

Disciples without status envied the status Cheng Feng currently possessed.

Not a single person doubted Cheng Feng's cultivation.

Martial Arts Hall Master Wang's experience combined with his sharp eyes

had never misjudged anyone in over twenty years.

Cheng Feng also had bitterness he could not speak of.

If he could, Cheng Feng would be willing to lower his fame

in exchange for a stable life.

His current life was all built up with silver.

Regarding the little tail following behind him,

Cheng Feng did not care.

He would just shake them off.

His next target was still a tavern.

It just wasn't the Hujiajiuguan, that was all.

He had sold to the Hujiajiuguan only because the ordinary wine was bought there, it was close to his home, and he might run into them again in the future.

It was just two catties of good wine.

It wouldn't lead to any trouble.

Tie Family Tavern

Wang Family Tavern

Mu Family Tavern

Zheyuan Inn

Fulin Inn

Lingyun Inn

Cheng Feng went from one tavern and inn to another.

Some praised Cheng Feng's wine endlessly.

Others turned up their noses at Cheng Feng's Chunxiao.

Cheng Feng watched with indifference as his own wine received mixed reviews.

He felt this was equivalent to market research from his past life.

There was no need for him to get angry or have any other emotions.

Everyone's palate and taste are different.

An individual's financial status is naturally different as well.

The deeper one goes into Great Zhou,

the more one can understand the plight of the common people at the bottom.

Cheng Feng did not have a so-called saintly heart.

In a situation where he could barely protect himself,

it was already quite good that Cheng Feng did not kick someone when they were down.

He visited shops related to wine one after another.

Basically, not a single shop dared to reach out and cooperate with Cheng Feng.

Cheng Feng had a final cooperation target in mind.

That was the Martial Arts Hall.

According to the common people in the market, the response to the wine he brewed was actually quite good.

Who wouldn't like wine that tastes good and is also cheap?

It was just that Cheng Feng still had lingering fears.

Currently, not a single shop with any strength dared to cooperate with Cheng Feng.

Until Cheng Feng arrived at the Mei Family Tavern.

The front of the door was somewhat dilapidated and messy.

There were very few customers.

According to others, this was a tavern with a decades-old reputation.

But because of the owner's poor management in recent years, it had led to recent deficits.

It was even facing the risk of bankruptcy.

Cheng Feng looked at the somewhat dilapidated Mei Family Tavern in front of him.

He thought to himself, this was the last known tavern.

Cheng Feng had already walked through all the potential customers in the South District.

Of the ten catties of Chunxiao, he sold two catties to Hujiajiuguan and got one tael of silver.

There were still two catties used for tasting in various shops, but he hadn't found a suitable one.

Either they disliked the high price of Chunxiao,

or they bragged that Chunxiao wasn't worth the price of one tael, trying to drive the price down.

Cheng Feng didn't care about the merchants' price-cutting tactics.

Business is business.

Even if the methods were a bit more disgusting,

Cheng Feng accepted that his skills were inferior to others.

Results never lie.

Of course, those that didn't meet his standards were also put on Cheng Feng's blacklist.

You can use price-cutting tactics,

but I can choose not to sell to you.

This is just a matter of mutual choice.

Working hard to cultivate to the Skin Refining Realm

is not just for show.

Cheng Feng considered himself to have had a stroke of good luck.

A person with clumsy hands was actually able to make a finished product according to the knowledge in a short video.

He even divided it into four grades.

The financial prospects were simply limitless.

Of course, Cheng Feng wouldn't get carried away either.

What he most hoped to promote and improve at present was still his own strength.

The lack of silver could only be remedied by his own skills or knowledge.

Cheng Feng had heard Zhang Zhuo talk about the situation of various forces.

That was completely different from the information and horizons Cheng Feng had previously come into contact with.

The mentality and horizons of a commoner from before were also slowly changing.

Communicating with the upper-class figures of the county,

there was no harm in that.

The one benefiting is myself, okay!

Cheng Feng is not a person who fawns over the powerful.

But he also wouldn't act so holier-than-thou that he refuses to make friends.

A single meal treated by Zhang Zhuo and Li Mo costs over twenty taels, not counting the not-for-sale Yunchun Brew.

Cheng Feng asks himself if he can play on their level for the time being.

The theory of equality is even more nonsense.

If it weren't for the fact that he has Wang Tieshan backing him,

would they even communicate with him?

Stop joking.

What are they after?

What they are after is Wang Tieshan, and the fact that he himself might become successful in the future.

It is merely a potential investment.

Twenty-some taels is still very important to his current situation.

But to those young masters of wealthy families, it is just the cost of a meal.

Not worth mentioning.

Cheng Feng asking them to find a path to study medicine

was also because he saw there was hope.

If it were some villagers or neighbors,

he estimates that even waiting two years might not yield any news.

It is just mutual benefit.

Inside the Mei Family Tavern.

The proprietor is an old man, with graying hair, a face full of wrinkles, and he is skin and bones.

Only his eyes glint with a trace of shrewdness.

Watching Cheng Feng enter the shop,

he asks dryly: "Customer, here to drink?"

Cheng Feng is speechless.

No wonder it's declining!

If you come to a tavern and don't come to drink, what else would you be doing?

Cheng Feng nods: "Bring a bowl of your signature wine, and bring a side dish."

Having just obtained one tael of silver, Cheng Feng prepares to test this decades-old establishment a little.

He has been walking all day.

His mouth is dry from talking to those Shopkeepers.

It is just right to take a rest.

The proprietor nimbly calls for the waiter to get to work.

The waiter has a petite figure, wears gray clothes, and wears a small cap.

But Cheng Feng's eye, tempered by several women,

had long since seen that this waiter is a girl.

Her delicate and pretty face is stained with some dust, which affects her appearance,

making it hard for Cheng Feng to see clearly.

Otherwise, she would really be a good-looking woman.

Cheng Feng came here for a simple stopover.

Drinking the Ordinary wine,

and eating the Ordinary side dish,

he sighs.

It seems he really can't pick up any bargains.

Doing business is really a bit wishful thinking.

In his past life, Cheng Feng had slight contact with all walks of life.

Sales patter, to put it bluntly, is just introducing things.

Speak of the good, don't speak of the bad.

Cheng Feng talked for a long time with the previous tavern Shopkeepers.

They are all shrewd, and all wanted to go straight for the wine recipe.

No one wanted to trade directly.

After finishing this wine that tastes similar to fruit wine,

Cheng Feng weighs the remaining Chunxiao on his person.

He takes this small wine jar and fills it for himself.

After drinking this bowl, it is time to go home.

Yet he didn't expect that even though he was sitting in the corner,

the scent of the wine wafted onto the passing Shopkeeper.

Looking at this young man who came to drink alone,

the Shopkeeper steps forward and bows: "Little brother, where did you buy this wine?"

Looking at the old Shopkeeper who had taken the initiative to step forward and inquire,

Cheng Feng's heart, which had already given up, became active once again.

He raised his hand and said, "You flatter me, old man; if you are willing, I can share a portion with you."