Yang Ming, holding the portrait, set out briskly in his carriage, heading toward the county town.
He needed to be quick so he could return and pick up his wife from his grandmother’s home.
The carriage soon arrived at the Xuntian Escort Agency; it had been nearly a month since his last visit, and he had no idea how things were going or if there was any news of Xiaotian.
Everyone in the courtyard was practicing their punches, sparring with each other. When they saw Yang Ming enter, they all stopped and uniformly greeted him, "Store Manager."
Being addressed like that made Yang Ming somewhat uncomfortable, but he had no choice and nodded in response, "Is Head Escort Master Wang around?"
"Store Manager, Head Escort Master Wang is in the front hall."
Yang Ming waved his hand and said, "All right, you all continue with your practice."
The brothers in the yard resumed their training as Yang Ming left the courtyard and walked straight into the front hall, where he saw Wang Kui.
"Head Escort Master Wang, how have things been lately? Anything new at the Escort Agency?"
"Store Manager, you’re here!" Wang Kui, not having seen Yang Ming for a while, was quite excited and eagerly reported, "Nothing much has happened at the Escort Agency recently; the number of escorts we’re running is increasing, and everything is going smoother."
"I’ve noticed that there are more brothers in the courtyard." This surprised Yang Ming, as it seemed like the numbers had increased substantially in just a month. It appeared that the Escort Agency was being well-managed under Wang Kui.
Wang Kui spoke with a hint of embarrassment, "Store Manager, I haven’t been in contact with you for the past month, and without your permission, I used all the silver earned to recruit more people."
"You did the right thing. If there’s surplus silver after distributing it to the brothers, use it all to expand our power, preferably extending to other counties."
A shock crossed Wang Kui’s mind; he might have chosen rightly in Yang Ming, who had such foresight. With this approach, it would be only a matter of time before their Escort Agency became celebrated across the land, "Alright, I’ll follow your instructions, Store Manager."
"Just call me by my name." It had been clarified before, but Wang Kui still hadn’t managed to change his way of addressing him.
"No, let’s keep it this way. You call me Head Escort Master Wang, and I’ll call you Store Manager. It’s more fitting."
Unable to persist, Yang Ming agreed, "Fine then. Any news on Xiaotian lately?"
"No leads yet." Wang Kui found it difficult to say.
"That’s okay, people aren’t that easy to find; we’ll have to take it slow. My visit today is for something important."
"What is it? Just tell me, Store Manager."
"I’ve brought a portrait of my sister. We need to find a Painter and have him replicate it several times, so the escorts can carry the portraits to various places while on duty."
Wang Kui’s hand trembled slightly. Yang Qiu’s portrait? He feigned composure and said, "Yes, indeed. Having a portrait will make searching for someone much easier."
After the conversation, they both stood up and went to find a renowned Painter in the county. They asked the Painter to create a hundred copies, and Yang Ming carefully stored away the one from Li Fugui.
The Painter finished a few portraits on the spot, handing them to Wang Kui for immediate use, with the rest to be collected once the Painter finished them.
"If there’s any issue, you can have the brothers come find me in Yang Family Village."
"Yes, of course," agreed Wang Kui.
After chatting about some trifling matters related to the Escort Agency, the two parted ways.
Wang Kui, clutching the portraits, felt a surge of emotion. He secretly kept one for himself, believing it to be the current likeness of Yang Qiu. Silently, he murmured in his heart, "Xiaoqiu, you’ve grown up, you’ve become beautiful."
Yang Ming had no idea about Wang Kui’s actions. After leaving, he visited the Academy to discuss academic matters with his teacher. Then he hurried home because he had to pick up his wife.