Chapter 59: Setting Sail

Inside the Mei Family Tavern, there is still a courtyard.

It is generally used by Mei Zhou when he cannot make it home in time to rest in the Rear Courtyard with the kitchen staff.

According to what Mei Zhou says,

once he recovers, he will definitely stay in the Rear Courtyard permanently and get the Mei Family Tavern up and running.

Cheng Feng does have a suggestion: to also set up a wine cellar in the Rear Courtyard, so that when he produces large quantities of wine in the future, he can store it there.

It is still the old rule: set up a wine cellar.

Keeping it underground is foolproof.

Cheng Feng does not yet have anyone he trusts too much.

Matters like producing wine can only be done by himself.

But Ordinary wine also costs silver.

The thirty taels at the bottom of the box really cannot be touched.

He can only take out the previous wine to sell first.

Six catties of Spring Dawn, eight catties of Summer Sorrow,

this is the wine Cheng Feng intends to bring out.

As for the remaining two types, let them stay at the bottom of the box.

Just in case.

For the six catties of Spring Dawn, Cheng Feng still sold three taels worth at Hujiajiuguan.

He then used two of those three taels to buy forty catties of Ordinary wine.

Two large jars, four small jars.

Continue the distillation.

This time, follow the records step by step.

The steaming time, the number of times, the quantity of ingredients, the heat, and so on, are all done according to the Spring Dawn wine.

But looking at the remaining weight of the Autumn Grief and Winter Sleep,

Cheng Feng always feels something is strange.

So he topped up the remaining 8 catties of Summer Sorrow, 5 catties of Autumn Grief, and 3 catties of Winter Sleep to ten catties each.

He packed them in large wine jars.

Just like that, the remaining Ordinary wine plus the 6 catties of Spring Dawn left over, totaled 32 catties of wine.

Two large jars; if calculated at one tael per two catties, 32 catties of Spring Dawn could sell for 16 taels of silver.

This money really comes in fast.

But this requires the tavern to slowly digest it.

Cheng Feng's craftsmanship is becoming more and more proficient now.

And the Mei Family Tavern has shed its previous sense of desolation.

It was renovated once again by Shopkeeper Mei.

It is certainly not as new as a newly opened shop, but people are in high spirits when they encounter happy events; ever since Shopkeeper Mei let go of his inner burden,

he seems to have become younger.

With the shop newly opened, Cheng Feng specifically went to Wang Tieshan to request a piece of calligraphy.

On the day of the grand opening, Cheng Feng wore his Inner Sect Disciple attire to show his support.

The iron-like strokes and silver-hook style outlined a faintly extraordinary blade aura.

It made people understand that Shopkeeper Mei also had a backer.

Those who knew some news, like Hall Master Zhu of the Green Bamboo Gang, naturally came steadily to report the good news.

He even tasted the new Spring Dawn wine.

The mellow taste made these old drunkards' eyes light up.

This had even more flavor than the premium wines of some taverns.

And the price was indeed half that of those premium wines, with a taste even a notch better.

With word spreading everywhere, the twenty-five catties of Spring Dawn arranged for that day were sold out.

The selling price was one tael of silver per catty, and loose wine was also sold.

New shop opening, a discount promotion, after all.

After these three opening days pass, the price will be 1.5 taels.

The wine revenue for the day recouped 19 taels.

There was also some given to those old customers, half-sold and half-gifted; like Hall Master Zhu, naturally he was given some face, and when he came to the shop, he was served wine to drink.

It will be charged in the future.

Previously, Cheng Feng had no money in his hands and felt embarrassed to ask his future father-in-law for wine.

Now at the Mei Family Tavern, there is naturally Ordinary grain wine, so there is no need to run to Hujiajiuguan to buy it again.

Cheng Feng insists on keeping accounts for the wine.

Every item is clear and distinct.

Once finished, it can be considered an account to the Martial Arts Hall.

In the first three days of opening, Cheng Feng's net profit from wine alone was 74 taels.

A three-three-four split.

This month, Shopkeeper Mei and Cheng Feng get 22.2 taels, and the Martial Arts Hall receives a net of 55.6 taels.

Cheng Feng clicked his tongue; is it this profitable?

And this is just the beginning; the accounts are settled once a month.

Assuming problems arise later, it won't cause too great a loss.

For now, Cheng Feng can only think of this much.

In case something happens,

the Martial Arts Hall likely wouldn't want to give up such a large piece of the cake.

Having been busy and hardworking these past few days, Cheng Feng's Fortune Point growth has slowed down a bit.

It is already late February, and for Basic Blade Technique (Entry Level 63/100), Fortune Points are still used as soon as they are earned, with none left over.

This month, Cheng Feng didn't add many Fortune Points, but he did add a wallet.

This made Cheng Feng look forward to things even more.

During this period, he also made two trips to the Tooth Agency to see if there was anything eye-catching he could buy.

He also had the Tooth Agency look to see if there were any larger residences.

He had to get a large, two-courtyard compound like the Mei family's, no matter what.

The Mei family's large two-courtyard compound was a start full of hardship, with bitterness in the middle, but finally achieving a positive result.

Cheng Feng, however, relies on technology that is many steps ahead.

Overtaking on a curve is promising.

Seeing that he has money now, naturally there is no need to hide or cover things up.

Looking at people, looking at houses.

The person should be beautiful and tall, with a curvy figure, a gentle and graceful temperament, and a virtuous, maidenly type.

The house should be a large two-courtyard compound.

It would be best if there were another courtyard next door for sale, so he could buy it and open it up once he has money.

Then it would become a four-courtyard compound.

That would be the truly delightful time.

Cheng Feng's utopia

has just taken a small, big step forward.

Who would say that silver is bad?

Cheng Feng's coming and going in a hurry

did not attract the gazes of those around him.

At that time, the revived Mei Family Tavern and the new wine

made the surrounding forces somewhat jealous.

But Wang Tieshan's personally inscribed plaque is still there,

which makes the surrounding forces afraid to act rashly.

In a gloomy, dark room, a middle-aged man wearing a bright green ring on his finger said in a low voice: "No rush, someone is definitely more anxious than me; let's test that old fellow Wang Tieshan first."

In the Rear Courtyard of Hujiajiuguan, a gorgeously dressed woman sat in the main seat and looked at the Shopkeeper: "You mean to say the Mei family's wine is not their own recipe, but a recipe they bought or wine made in cooperation with someone else? And you have seen that young man?"

Shopkeeper Hu nodded to confirm.

"I didn't expect this Spring Dawn to actually be brewed by a mere child," she said, drinking the Spring Dawn and savoring it slowly.

She turned her head to the Shopkeeper: "Can this wine be imitated?"

The Shopkeeper lowered his head and said: "I have asked the master brewer; it won't be possible for a while, but if we blend some wine, it could indeed make our wine reach a higher level."

The shopkeeper who had interacted with Cheng Feng in the South City District, tasted the wine, and wanted Cheng Feng's recipe was beating his chest and stamping his feet in regret.

But Cheng Feng had already put them on a blacklist.

Want to buy wine now?

Buy it at Mei Family Tavern!

Cheng Feng adheres to the principle of keeping a low profile.

At the end of the month, he invited Wang Tieshan to Mei Family Tavern for a couple of drinks.

Wang Tieshan naturally wanted to check Cheng Feng's progress in the Martial Dao, and Cheng Feng looked at the Basic Blade Technique (Entry Level 72/100) on his Panmian.

He felt it should be enough to satisfy the old master Wang Tieshan.

He took a wooden blade and sparred two rounds at the Martial Arts Hall.

Wang Tieshan asked curiously: "Have you sparred with others? This momentum is fuller than when sparring, isn't it?"

Cheng Feng admired his teacher's insight and naturally told him about the incident with Hall Master Zhu that night.

Wang Tieshan narrowed his eyes: "There's such a thing?"

The old master smelled something wrong in it.

It had been quiet for several years.

Just as he was preparing to sneak away, trouble came.

This means someone was watching even when things were idle!

He didn't tell his disciple Cheng Feng, but turned to another Inner Sect Disciple, his third disciple Qian Feng, to go and investigate what was going on.

The third disciple still had some connections in the South City District from before.

It was just a matter of asking.

After drinking and eating meat with his teacher, Cheng Feng took out the account book to show his two partners.

For one month's sales, after deducting costs, the net profit was 180 taels.

Wang Tieshan was stunned looking at the 72 taels of silver on the books that belonged to the Martial Arts Hall's net profit.

72 taels could buy a very good residence in the city.

A house like Cheng Feng's only costs 38 taels, plus the woman, totaling 50 taels.

This one month alone brought in 54 taels.

Cheng Feng felt like he was going crazy.

He was even starting to panic.

Is it really this easy to make money???

As time goes on, it will depend on whether the teacher can withstand the pressure.

There is nothing much to see with Shopkeeper Mei.

When his family was wealthy in his childhood, he had come into contact with even more money than this.

Wang Tieshan was purely looking at the fact that Cheng Feng's monthly dividend was this much.

Cheng Feng explained, "In the first month, many people bought the wine out of curiosity; it might not be this much later on, so it is best to split the accounts fairly for now."

It is not that Wang Tieshan has never seen money; his own Martial Arts Hall is worth over ten thousand taels of silver.

But once this kid Cheng Feng's move came out,

how long has it even been?

It has already been 54 taels in one month.

What a lucky kid!