Chapter 219: Bonus

Weng Zhenke took the flyers and brochures handed to him by Qiao Tianhao. He didn’t read the flyers for long and put them down quickly. Most of their content was about the benefits of the Vital Ball, similar to what Lin Dong had said before, with additional information on how to obtain it—specifically, the precious Vital Beef Balls from Lin’s Inn.
Holders of Lin’s Inn’s VIP cards could get one free for every set of dishes costing over two taels with a bronze card, or over one tael with a silver card.
Weng Zhenke wasn’t too surprised by this. Ever since Lin’s Inn introduced VIP cards, they were everywhere in Qiufeng City, in various forms. He himself had six or seven such cards, so it wasn’t unusual. Moreover, with a production cost of 200 wen, a silver card could be given away for just one tael—aside from being amazed at the high profits from Lin’s Inn’s dishes, Weng Zhenke found it fair.
As for the brochure, Weng Zhenke read it carefully, word for word, twice over, still fully focused, even forgetting that over a dozen pairs of eyes were watching him. Among them was Qiao Tianhao’s pair, showing obvious impatience, with flashes of anger from time to time.
“This old man is taking too long.”
Lin Dong, on the other hand, remained calm. The brochure contained rules and techniques for using the Vital Ball. He knew half of the rules, but his understanding of the techniques was also limited. Yet that didn’t stop him from writing tens of thousands of words.
As long as it could deceive Weng Zhenke, it was fine. Besides, these fake techniques were meant by Lin Dong to enhance the Vital Ball’s influence, deliberately written to be challenged.
Finally, Weng Zhenke raised his head and looked at Lin Dong. “Shopkeeper Lin, how much silver are you willing to charge for these rules and techniques? And for a full set of Vital Balls, if the price is right, I could buy more than twenty sets.”
“More than twenty sets?” Lin Dong said, amused. “If we put that many in the training ground at once, it might interfere with the students’ practice.”
Weng Zhenke shook his head. “I want to buy some to give to friends.”
Lin Dong grinned. The dean in front of him had already become a free promoter for the Vital Ball.
Seeing Weng Zhenke about to speak again, Lin Dong said with a smile, “Dean Weng, I can give you twenty sets of Vital Balls, completely free.”
“Completely free?”

Weng Zhenke stared at Lin Dong in astonishment, hardly believing his words. The price kept rising, yet the shopkeeper Lin had avoided answering all along. Add to that the cost of bringing in Li Jiancheng—to be honest, if it weren’t for seeing these technique rules, he might have even pretended to have no interest in the Vital Ball, planning to find one on his own after luring people away. But unexpectedly, it was free.

“Yes, it will all be given to the academy and the dean for free,” Lin Dong said with a smile. “Of course, it’s not given for nothing. I hope Dean Weng can agree to a few conditions of mine.”

Weng Zhenke frowned slightly and said, “Please go ahead, Shopkeeper Lin.”

Lin Dong spoke slowly, “First, I hope Dean Weng will allow me to keep three assistants at the academy to distribute those brochures and teach students interested in the Vital Ball.”

It was good to have someone stay to teach students, and distributing brochures wouldn’t harm the academy either. Without hesitation, Weng Zhenke said, “Agreed.”

“Second…” Lin Dong smiled. “I hope Dean Weng can help establish a reward system. Whoever discovers errors in the techniques outlined in the booklet or uncovers techniques not mentioned in it will be rewarded one or two taels of silver after verification—only the first person to report it will get it.”

“This…” Weng Zhenke looked troubled. He wasn’t sure if all the techniques in the booklet were correct or complete. Ten or eight errors might not be a big deal, but if there were a hundred or eight hundred, it could cost more than buying Vital Balls.

Lin Dong continued, “Of course, we’ll cover the cost of that silver.”

Weng Zhenke breathed a sigh of relief. At this point, he even hoped there were many errors and flaws in the booklet’s techniques. One or two taels of silver could suffice for some financially struggling students to cover their expenses at the academy for a whole year.

Lin Dong said leisurely, “Third, I’d like to organize a competition at Junling Academy.”

“A competition?” Weng Zhenke looked puzzled.

“Yes!” Lin Dong explained. “It will be held in half a year. The top 100 will receive one or two taels of silver each, the next 99 will get two taels each, the next 98 will get three taels each, and so on. Additionally, the top ten will receive mysterious gifts.”

“So much?” Weng Zhenke was stunned. This deal was worth five or six thousand taels of silver, not including the mysterious gifts.

Lin Dong nodded gently. “As for the prizes, I can keep them at the academy for now.”

After much hesitation, Weng Zhenke slowly shook his head. “The prizes are too much.”

Lin Dong was taken aback but soon understood Weng Zhenke’s concerns. He asked, “Is Dean Weng worried that the students might become too enthusiastic and neglect their studies?”

Weng Zhenke nodded helplessly. After all, martial and academic studies were the main focus for the students.
Lin Dong smiled, feeling a bit of admiration for Dean Weng. Those who didn’t put the students first would never think of this; they’d be completely distracted by the bonuses.
After thinking for a moment, Lin Dong suddenly said with a smile, “Dean Weng, Junling Academy has nearly ten thousand students. Even if ten tables are set up in the training ground, only twenty students can practice at a time. Maybe this is actually a good thing.”
“A good thing?” Weng Zhenke was puzzled.
Lin Dong replied meaningfully, “The rackets and vitality balls are in the academy’s hands. Dean Weng can also set rules—only those academies that rank high enough can get a certain number of hours to use them. What else could be better than that?”
“That’s true!” Weng Zhenke slapped his thigh. This way, it could even encourage competition among the academies.
“But…” After thinking further, Weng Zhenke hurriedly asked, “Shopkeeper Lin, can the students make their own vitality balls?”
“Only Lin’s Inn can make them. There’s no other place in the Great Han Kingdom that can.” Lin Dong had already asked Yun Lan about the possibility of imitation. Confidently, he said, “Even the most experienced senior alchemists couldn’t create a pill as elastic as a vitality ball, let alone one with the same effects that works for everyone of all ages.”
Weng Zhenke looked pleased but hesitated before deciding, “What if the academies go to Lin’s Inn to buy them?”
Lin Dong thought for a moment and said, “Dean Weng can assign someone to handle these vitality ball tables. It’s just the salary of one person—shouldn’t that be fine?”
“Definitely fine!” Weng Zhenke shook his head repeatedly. He realized he was too excited today and hadn’t thought of such a simple solution. Just the salary of one person could boost competition among the students—it was very cost-effective.
“Of course…” Lin Dong smiled, “If some students buy the tables and play secretly, I hope Dean Weng won’t be too strict.”
“That won’t do. If we don’t impose strict punishments…” Weng Zhenke was at a loss for words. If punishments were lenient, what would Shopkeeper Lin gain? He just wanted wealthy students to like these vitality balls, so that their families would spend heavily at Lin’s Inn to exchange money for them.

“Actually, if it’s in one’s spare time, playing Vital Ball has only advantages,” Lin Dong reminded. “Balancing work and rest—after all, playing Vital Ball can also improve physical fitness. I believe most academies don’t have the habit of studying late into the night or practicing swordsmanship at dawn. In my opinion, it’s enough to confiscate the Vital Ball once. Those who can afford Vital Balls are usually wealthy students; collecting a few more from them won’t cause them any loss. Using them as rewards for top-performing academies means little to the wealthy students, but for those from poor families, selling the Vital Balls at a lower price can still be a significant sum, giving them more motivation.”

Weng Zhenke smiled bitterly. “In that case, the VIP cards of Lin’s Inn will surely become more and more valuable.”

Lin Dong was overjoyed. Weng Zhenke’s attitude clearly indicated agreement.

Sure enough, Weng Zhenke asked, “Shopkeeper Lin, are there any other conditions?”

“None for now,” Lin Dong replied shamelessly. “I might think of adding more later!”

Weng Zhenke was speechless. This Shopkeeper Lin was no easy opponent! Having invested such a large sum of money and even having Li Jiancheng act as a guarantor, he surely wouldn’t stop until he recovered several times that amount from the wealthy parents of the students.

With the agreement reached, things became much simpler. Five thousand taels of silver were handed over, a written contract was made, and three assistants were left behind. When they arrived, Li Jiancheng’s influence wasn’t strong enough for Weng Zhenke to come out to greet them, but when they left, Lin Dong’s influence was considerable, and Weng Zhenke saw them off all the way outside the academy before turning back.

There were three academies in Autumn Wind City. After achieving great success in leaving the academy, Lin Dong and the others set off again, heading to Mijiang Academy outside the city’s south.

Compared to Weng Zhenke, Liu Qingtong, the president of Mijiang Academy, was much more enthusiastic. Upon hearing that Li Jiancheng had come, he rushed forward to greet them shortly after they entered the academy.

He personally served tea and water and offered polite compliments. When Lin Dong took out the Vital Ball table and explained his purpose, before the assistants could demonstrate, Liu Qingtong agreed right away, saying that something introduced by Lord Li surely wasn’t ordinary.

The rest was even simpler. Learning that Lin Dong wasn’t there to take advantage but to give out bonuses, Liu Qingtong agreed even more readily.

Compared to Junling Academy, the visit to Mijiang Academy was much easier. The only difference was that Lin Dong didn’t hand over the bonuses to Liu Qingtong first. This wasn’t because Liu Qingtong didn’t trust him, but because Lin Dong no longer trusted him. Five thousand taels of silver wasn’t a small amount at all.

Even hundreds of meters away from the academy, when Lin Dong focused his spiritual energy on his eyes, he could still faintly see Liu Qingtong waving his arms.

The last one was Hongtu Academy in the north of the city. By the time they reached halfway, it was already completely dark, so they had no choice but to camp in the wild for a day before heading to Hongtu Academy at dawn. Compared to Weng Zhenke and Liu Qingtong, the dean Zhang Huailiang took a middle ground, giving Li Jiancheng ample respect while also showing considerable interest in the Vital Ball. After paying five thousand taels of silver and writing a receipt, Lin Dong whipped his horse back to Qiufeng City. Thus, the promotion of the Vital Ball was fully completed; now, it remained to be seen if the results would meet expectations.