Border Soldiers: My granaries are full of grain and meat, and I guard this region.

"Brother Qi!"

Upon seeing Qi Feng, Zhong Lingxian's eyes crinkled into a smile as she looked at him.

Qi Feng was somewhat surprised, not expecting Zhong Lingxian to appear here.

"Miss Zhong."

Qi Feng replied casually, and Zhong Shao stepped forward and smiled:

"My younger sister came here on behalf of the Zhong family to deliver money, and also to visit me."

Qi Feng nodded, his expression calm.

Zhong Lingxian seemed a little unhappy and pouted slightly.

Zhong Shao smiled calmly as he watched this scene, and after welcoming Qi Feng to his seat, he got straight to the point.

"Brother Qi, Magistrate Zhao has already caught the thieves who set fire to Ye Family Restaurant last night. They are several restaurant owners in the city."

"Oh?"

Qi Feng paused, somewhat surprised.

"After they were arrested, they all confessed to what had happened. It was Wang Huanzhi of Laixianglou who was behind it."

"Wang Huanzhi?"

Qi Feng narrowed his eyes slightly.

"That's right. Because Qi Wine released the Spring Brew, many restaurants in the city have had to close down. That's why they came up with this plan to get rid of you completely."

Zhong Shao took a sip of tea and continued:

"However... Wang Huanzhi and Wang Dun were not captured."

"Moreover, judging from their testimonies, it seems that Wang Huanzhi has someone behind him. The reason why Wang Huanzhi gathered them to get rid of you was also because he was instructed by that person."

Upon hearing this, Qi Feng's heart tightened, and he subconsciously uttered a name.

"Huang Dingyuan?"

Zhong Shao nodded.

"That's right, I also think it's more likely to be Huang Dingyuan. Brother Qi, you only have a conflict with Huang Dingyuan right now, so he's the only one who could have instigated Wang Huanzhi to attack you."

Seeing Qi Feng remain silent, Zhong Shao sighed, seemingly feeling indebted to Qi Feng.

"This matter is also related to our Chung family. We should have sent more people to be on guard. If we had taken precautions earlier, things wouldn't have developed to this point."

Qi Feng shook his head.

"There's no way to guard against thieves for a thousand days. We've been busy dealing with the Rong tribe these past few days, and we have indeed been a bit negligent. We'll just have to be more careful in the future."

Zhong Shao was silent for a moment before speaking:

"How about this, Brother Qi, weren't you planning to expand your restaurant? Since Wang Huanzhi and his son Wang Dun have run away, and they were the masterminds behind the burning of the Ye family's restaurant, I'll make the decision. Lai Xiang Lou will be yours. Firstly, it's revenge, and secondly, it's compensation."

"As for the others, it's unrealistic to expect them to hand over the restaurant willingly, but there are ways to get something out of them."

Qi Feng sighed upon hearing this.

Zhong Shao thought Qi Feng was dissatisfied, but then he heard Qi Feng say:

"With a formidable enemy at hand, Huang Dingyuan still resorted to such despicable acts; it is truly hateful!"

"If the people of Longxi Prefecture are united, what do we have to fear from the Rong? Even the soldiers of thirty counties can kill twelve Rong cavalrymen without taking any damage. Now, the Sui Dynasty clearly has more troops than the Rong, but they are stuck at Zhenxi Pass. I'm afraid there are many like Huang Dingyuan."

Hearing Qi Feng's reflections, Zhong Shao was taken aback. He hadn't expected Qi Feng to be thinking about these things, and immediately fell silent.

The two remained silent for a long time, until Qi Feng finally stood up.

"Young Master Zhong, I have important matters to attend to. It was inappropriate for the county soldiers to help me rebuild the Ye Family Restaurant. I also need to train them to be wary of a second attack by the Great Rong. Farewell."

After saying that, Qi Feng turned and left.

Watching Qi Feng's departing figure, Zhong Shao looked down at the tea on the table and sighed deeply.

"Big brother, what's wrong? Has Brother Qi left?"

Zhong Lingxian came out from a side room and looked at Zhong Shao with a puzzled expression.

Zhong Shao sighed and said:

"Oh, it's nothing, it's just that Qi Feng really surprised me."

Zhong Lingxian pursed her lips and didn't press the matter further.

When Qi Feng returned to Ye Family Restaurant, he told the three women that Zhong Shao had entrusted Laixiang Restaurant to him.

After Qi Feng finished recounting the events at Laixiang Pavilion, the three women were somewhat surprised: "So, it was Wang Huanzhi and his group who set the fire?"

Qi Feng nodded.

"How despicable! Have they been caught yet? They're clearly trying to rob and kill us!"

"The others were captured, but Wang Huanzhi and his son Wang Dun seemed to have planned this all along and had already escaped. Laixianglou was also deserted. That's why Zhong Shao decided to compensate us with Laixianglou."

Upon hearing this, both Yu Yourong and Ye Ling Shuang frowned and couldn't help but clench their fists.

Ye Zhiwan was so angry that she stomped her feet twice on the spot.

"Alright, let's put this matter aside for now. They will be punished accordingly. As for Wang Huanzhi, I roughly understand who's behind him. Let's focus on getting our business back on track. Every day the restaurant closes means a significant loss of money. Right now, the restaurant is in a period of rapid expansion, and we need money everywhere."

"Since we have Laixianglou as a ready-made establishment, there's no need to rush the reconstruction of Ye Family Restaurant. Zhiwan, I'll need to trouble you to go to Laixianglou. Zhong Shao has already sent someone there to wait for you. You just need to go and hand over the accounts."

Ye Zhiwan nodded and immediately headed towards Laixianglou.

Qi Feng then looked at Yu Yourong and Ye Lingshuang.

"Ling Shuang, You Rong, I'm leaving the Qi Jiu business to you two. You take the rest of the people and move Qi Jiu to Lai Xiang Lou. We'll operate there temporarily until Ye Family Restaurant is rebuilt. Then we'll have three restaurants in Fuxing County."

Ye Ling Shuang and Yu You Rong nodded in agreement and turned to get busy.

Watching the two figures leave, Qi Feng was thinking about something else.

"Given the size of Fuxing County, it's basically saturated with three restaurants. Even if we open a fourth, it won't generate much positive revenue. It's better to stick with these three."

"The first one is Laixianglou, the second one is the rebuilt Ye Family Restaurant, and the third one is a shop opposite Ye Family Restaurant. After things settle down, we will open the restaurant in another place."

However, he still needs to train his soldiers well. Neither the previous thirty county soldiers nor the newly arrived Qi Xiaoliu and his men have yet formed an elite force.

Despite their defeat of 12 cavalrymen last time, they are no match for the true mighty Rong army.

Qi Feng wanted to train these 50 men into top-notch soldiers so that when he was promoted and had more soldiers under his command, these 50 men could be sent out to lead the training of other soldiers.

Therefore, these 50 people are very important. Qi Feng must train them in a short period of time because Da Rong will not give them any more time.

After the three women finished their business at the restaurant, Qi Feng returned to the training ground and began to personally train the group of people.

Qi Xiaoliu and his group of newcomers were incorporated into this team. Every morning they would run and line up for training, and in the afternoon they would practice archery. The days went by in an orderly manner.