Chapter 153 -

Chapter 153: Chapter

After a long walk through the snow, Yimei, Qinqin, and Liu Feng finally arrived at the old inn.

The building sat right at the corner of a busy street junction. It was a big, broad two-story house made of dark wood. Active tea houses and busy food stalls surrounded it on both sides.

Even though it was closed down and covered in small drifts of snow, the inn was very large. The front sign hung crookedly from a rusted chain, and icicles dripped from the roof edges, but the building itself was completely solid.

Qinqin looked up at the broken windows with wide eyes. "Oh my... Young Madame, look at the roof! Look at the walls! Madame Liu gave you a completely ruined house!"

Yimei stood on the snow-covered street, looking at the big house with a calm smile.

"She did not give me a ruined house, Qinqin. She gave me a gold mine," Yimei said softly, walking up the icy front steps. "Look around us. There are busy shops and restaurants all along this street. Madame Liu is too foolish to see the truth. She only sees broken wood. I see hundreds of paying customers."

Liu Feng stepped up beside Yimei and looked around the street with sharp eyes. "The Young Madame is right," Liu Feng said in his calm, quiet voice. "This street gets a lot of travelers from the border road. If the food is good, people will naturally come in to buy."

Yimei nodded, seeing the good point in both Qinqin’s caution and Liu Feng’s words. "Qinqin is right that it looks like a mess right now, but Liu Feng is right about the location. We just need to fix the outside so people know we are open."

Yimei reached into her sleeve and pulled out the large iron key Madame Liu had given her.

She put the key into the heavy rusted lock on the front doors. With a sharp click, the lock opened. She pushed the big wooden doors wide, stepping into the dark interior.

Before they took another step, Qinqin reached into her small bag, pulled out a candle, and lit it with a fire-striker. The bright yellow light filled the dusty hallway.

Yimei and Liu Feng both turned around and looked at her in surprise.

Qinqin laughed awkwardly, holding the candle up. "I... I thought it would probably be very dark inside the inn since all the windows are closed, so I brought a candle just in case!"

Liu Feng looked at the small maid and gave a rare, slight nod. "That was very smart of you, Qinqin. Good thinking."

Qinqin smiled proudly, her cheeks turning slightly red.

With the light leading the way, they walked together into the main hall of the inn.

Inside, the floor was covered with broken tables and empty clay jars. Thick grey dust covered the long front counter, and a wide wooden staircase led up to the second floor where the guest rooms were.

"Look at all this dirt," Qinqin said softly, holding the candle high. "It will take weeks to sweep and clean all this!"

"It will take three days," Yimei corrected her calmly, running a finger along the dusty counter. "Because Second Uncle Chengang, Madame Liu, and Ruizhe will be doing all the heavy cleaning from sunrise to sunset."

"Will Second Uncle really listen to you?" Qinqin asked nervously.

Yimei let out a small laugh. "He lost his pride the moment he sold his own daughter for silver, Qinqin. He owes sixty taels. If he refuses to work, I will hand him over to the village leader for kidnapping. He knows that. He will sweep until his hands are tired."

Suddenly, a loud, heavy bang came from the back kitchen!

THUMP!

Qinqin jumped backward, shrieking. "A ghost! Young Madame, there is a ghost in the kitchen!"

Yimei did not panic. She gently took the candle from Qinqin, while Liu Feng quickly stepped in front of her, putting his hand on the handle of his sword.

Yimei pushed the kitchen door open without making a sound.

Inside, a fat thief in dirty clothes was trying to stuff old copper pots and iron spoons into a heavy cloth sack.

When the candle light hit his face, the thief froze, dropping a heavy iron spoon onto the floor with a loud CLANG!

"Who are you?!" the thief shouted, trying to look mean and scary. "Get out! I am guarding this place!"

"You are guarding it by stealing my pots?" Yimei asked softly. "I am the new owner."

The thief laughed loudly, grabbing a thick wooden rolling pin from the table. "New owner? A young girl? Ha! This place has been closed for months! Everything inside belongs to whoever finds it first!"

Yimei did not back down. She looked at him with cool, sharp eyes.

"You have five seconds to put those pots down and leave," Yimei said clearly. "If you take one step toward me, the guard behind me will cut your hand off."

The thief looked past her shoulder. Liu Feng stood cold and silent, slowly drawing his sharp sword half an inch out of its black sheath.

The thief’s face turned completely white. He dropped the wooden pin, threw the sack to the floor, and ran out the back door as fast as his legs could carry him, slipping on the snow as he fled.

Qinqin let out a big sigh of relief. "Young Madame! That was scary!"

"Foolish people are never scary, Qinqin," Yimei smiled faintly, walking over to check the big brick stoves. "Look at these stoves. They are very strong. They just need a good scrub. We can bake warm bread and cook fresh meat soup here every morning."

Yimei walked through the rest of the building, writing quick notes on a small piece of paper.

"The wood is thick and the stone floor is strong," Yimei said. "Tomorrow, Second Uncle will clear the snow from the steps and fix the doors. Madame Liu will wash every floorboard. Ruizhe will carry out the broken tables and chop wood for the fire."

"And what will we do?" Qinqin asked.

"We will count the silver," Yimei replied smoothly with a confident smile. "This inn will be open for business very soon."