With a tired sigh, Yun Lei replaced the last book back in its spot.
He was done. He was finally done. He had read through every single book in the library in the last couple of days.
Although he quite liked reading books, doing the same thing over and over was starting to get grating.
He liked books with interesting and fun stories, not books about alchemy or human anatomy or other random boring stuff. The more he had read, the more of a chore it had become.
But finally, he was done. He just wanted to relax and have some fun. Do something interesting while he was at it. This train of thought had only brought him to the realisation that he had a problem. A rather big one, at that.
Money.
He didn't have any money.
Well, if he wanted money that badly, he could just ask his wife or get some from the Yun family but that money wouldn't be his. Asking money from someone else wasn't exactly good for his pride.
Even then, asking his wife to give him money so he could go out and have fun didn't exactly sound like a good idea to him.
Thus, he had decided. He would make money. Since he had already gathered a lot of knowledge, it was now time to put it all to good use.
And what was the first thing you needed to do when thinking of making money? Market research. Yun Lei certainly thought so, anyway. Thus, he was standing in a busy street, wearing the plainest set of clothes he had.
The maids had done an excellent job at making him inconspicuous, just like he had asked. Right now, he could very well pass for a slightly handsome commoner.
Behind and to the right of him stood Situ Yue, who looked equally plain. To the left was an old man.
He didn't look like much, but the old man was one of the scholars of the Yun Family. There was little he didn't know about the happenings in Ether Cloud. He was present there because of a special request from Yun Meili herself.
Yun Lei had a problem with asking for money directly from the Yun Family but he had no problems with using their resources to make some.
"Young Master, this is the heart of the commercial district of Ether Cloud. If a large sum exchanges hands, there's a 90% chance it's happening here." The old man diligently informed.
"Thank you for the information, Senior Mo." Yun Lei didn't know much about the man but that was what his wife referred to him as so he chose to do the same.
Even at a single glance, the hustle and bustle of this street was apparent. There was a long line of shops that provided different services and the line of customers was equally as long. Mostly commoners but a well dressed noble appeared now and then, surrounded with an entourage of servants and guards.
Yun Lei had never been there before so he couldn't help but be amazed. People buying anything from simple trinkets to expensive-looking swords, all could be found there. The noise was a bit jarring to him but it was bearable.
The trio walked around the streets, secretly followed by several experts. These were the people left in charge of keeping Yun Lei safe. Of course, he had already discovered their presence long ago.
After a bit of time, Yun Lei had already determined the most profitable businesses on the street.
The first was the Apothecary, endorsed by the Alchemists Guild. That shop was seldom empty.
The second was a big restaurant named 'Flower Garden Pavilion'. He saw many rich looking people go there but the number of commoners was nothing to scoff at, either.
The third was an Armoury. This one was profitable not because of quantity but because of quality. This shop was targeted mostly at cultivators and they generally tended to spend a lot more money than any mortal would.
Yun Lei abruptly stopped walking when he reached a certain store, startling both Situ Yue and Senior Mo. It was well kept but mostly ordinary looking. The thing that had caught Yun Lei's eyes was a large sign above the store with the word 'Ren' on it.
He looked inside and saw several store employees talking to customers. There weren't many of these but the ones that were there looked rather well off.
"This store belongs to the Ren Family?" Yun Lei asked Senior Mo.
"Yes, Young Master." Came the reply.
"What do they sell?"
"Apparels, Young Master. It is said that no other shop can best the quality of the Ren Family's shop when it comes to the workmanship and even the fabrics used."
"I see." Yun Lei said with a smile on his face. A shiver ran down Situ Yue's spine when she saw it.
If I'm going to make money, might as well have some fun with it, Yun Lei had a devious thought.
Most large families had their own specialities and they often avoided stepping on each others' toes. This was also the reason that most businesses run by a major family didn't have any competition and even if they did, it was minor ones that they could easily overlook.
They essentially had a monopoly on the market and the people could do nothing about it.
Well, if I'm going to be stepping on toes, might as well start from the Ren Family. Yun Lei thought, still smiling.
"Senior Mo, how difficult would it be to find out where the Ren Family gets their fabric?"
"Not very difficult at all."
"And how difficult would it be to find workers who are better than the ones in the employment of the Ren Family?"
"Not very difficult at all."
Yun Lei's smile became even wider. Situ Yue subconsciously took a step away from him and even Senior Mo had to forcefully stabilise his heart.
There was no smoke without fire. Senior Mo had thought that the rumours about the Young Masters were a little exaggerated but he learned first hand that it wasn't.
"And what would happen if the son-in-law of the Yun Family went to those fabric sellers and offered to buy their products at a higher cost than the Ren Family?"
"They would agree in a heartbeat." Senior Mo said in the same nonchalant way as before but his heart was pounding.
This young man in front of him was truly vicious. Not only did he want to steal the Ren Family's business, but he also wanted to use the Yun Family's name to thoroughly suppress them and leave them no path of survival.
Who would side with the Ren Family over the Yun Family? Not anyone with brains, anyway.
Senior Mo silently vowed to always remain on the good side of the Young Master in his heart.
"Hmm, I see." Yun Lei's stomach growled loudly. "Since we're here, might as well kill two birds with one stone."
He walked towards the Flower Garden Pavilion with the two people in tow. They were greeted by a guard at the entrance whose nose constantly pointed towards the sky. The guard extended his hand, causing the spear held in it to block their path.
"2 Silver for entry, each." He coldly informed.
Flower Garden Pavilion was an establishment that was mostly for the nobles. That was one of the reasons they couldn't just allow anyone in. So they made commoners pay an entrance fee to keep the troublemakers out.
This also had the effect of making them well behaved. Most commoners would already be intimidated by the 2nd stage Energy Sensing Realm guard at the front door.
Since Yun Lei carried no money, Senior Mo stepped up and paid for their entry.
The pavilion had three floors. The bottom floor was for the commoners, the second floor was for minor nobles and the third floor was for the VIPs.
Yun Lei sat down on the table in the corner but Situ Yue and Senior Mo remained standing before the Young Master told them to just sit down. Senior Mo sat down without much thought but Situ Yue couldn't stop fidgeting.
As someone who had been a servant since her birth, she couldn't fathom sitting on the same table as her master.
They had to wait for a good 20 minutes before a waiter came and rudely plopped a menu on the table.
Yun Lei was getting rather annoyed at this point. His annoyance made the fidgeting Situ Yue go completely stiff. The waiter who still had a rather arrogant look on his face suddenly felt that something was wrong. He started heavily sweating and his hands and feet were shaking.
Even Yun Shu, a cultivator In the 5th stage of Body Tempering Realm couldn't withstand Ren Lei's strange but menacing aura. The waiter was only a mortal.
However, Yun Lei had come to do some market research, not cause a scene. He quickly suppressed his annoyance and ordered a few dishes and the best wine the restaurant had to offer.
Situ Yue seemed to have lost all her appetite so she didn't order anything but Senior Mo followed his example and ordered a few dishes.
The waiter got away in a hurry as the trio were left waiting at the table. And what a long wait it was. They had to wait nearly an hour before the food arrived.
Situ Yue was quaking from head to feet. She knew she had done nothing wrong but she had the urge to get on her knees and beg for forgiveness. Even Senior Mo looked severely uncomfortable.
That annoyed smile on the Young Master's face was the last thing they wanted to see. Senior Mo was even more convinced about not wanting to get on his bad side.
When the food arrived, it was cold. The more Yun Lei ate, the more disappointed he was left. The food was bland and uninteresting, the chicken soup smelled weird and the wine was watered down and nasty tasting.
"How much did you pay for all this, Senior Mo?"
"120 silver, young master."
120 silver was enough money for a commoner family to live a decent life for a month.
"120 silver for this trash?" Yun Lei shook his head. "It seems the son-in-law of the Yun Family must open up a restaurant too. How annoying."
Those softly spoken words seemed thunderous to Senior Mo. The Young Master had plans to take down the business of not one but two major families. If he heard someone else speak such a thing, he would have laughed at them. But coming from the mouth of the young man in front of him, he believed it was possible.
As for Yun Lei, he didn't even care which family that restaurant belonged to. Not only had he been given terrible service, he had also been fed horrible food. Even he could make better food and he had never even stepped foot in a kitchen before.
If they wanted to compete with him fairly, so be it. They would have a nice little battle for supremacy. However, if they tried anything devious, they would face the wrath of his wife and her family.
Yun Lei got up from his seat and walked towards the exit, half-eaten food still on the table. Just as he was about to leave, a young lady was entering, surrounded by several guards.
The door wasn't wide enough to fit both parties, leaving the already annoyed Young Master to be even more annoyed as he had to wait for them to enter before leaving himself. Once they got in, the trio swiftly made their exit.
Not swiftly enough that the young lady missed the annoyance on Yun Lei's face. Seeing that the trio didn't even seem interested in taking a glance at her, she was left a little confused.
In a normal scenario, those people would have definitely stopped and tried to suck up to her. After all, the young lady was the most beloved daughter of the Zhang Family Patriarch and the owner of the Flower Garden Pavilion.
She casually turned her head back to see that the trio had completely disregarded her existence. The young man walked at the lead, looking around the street while the other two walked behind him.
Not even a second glance? She thought in her heart. After all, her beauty would turn heads wherever she went. People used every possible excuse just to be in her presence a bit longer so such treatment was a new experience for her.