Chapter 252: A Solution Is Found

Ten taels of silver—equivalent to five months’ salary for the servants and three months’ salary for the chefs.
Getting it was simple; all that was needed was a useful idea.
The temptation was truly extraordinary. After a brief burst of excitement, everyone feared being outdone and began to rack their brains. Even Qiao Tianhao, the top chef at Lin’s Inn, was struggling hard to think of something.
For Qiao Tianhao, ten taels of silver could not only be used to buy ten spirit stones for cultivation but also ensure that all the servants and chefs received rewards. Though he would be the first to get a reward, the amount would be the smallest—just ten wen.
He couldn’t afford to lose face like that.
Watching everyone’s troubled expressions, Lin Dong smiled calmly. Meanwhile, his mind was also working hard, hoping to find inspiration from their previous suggestions and come up with a way to ensure they could earn full experience points.
“Owner!” Suddenly, servant Yang Ben stood up, excitedly saying, “I have an idea.”
Everyone’s faces fell as they blamed themselves for being so stupid.
“Go on,” Lin Dong urged.
“We can contact the servants and owners of ordinary restaurants and inns, asking them to help bring customers to our inn,” Yang Ben explained. “Some merchants who are visiting Autumn Wind City for the first time or not often do so will surely struggle to find an inn if they arrive during the day. Restaurants and inns are much more common, and if they come across one, they’ll definitely go in for a meal first.”
After a pause, seeing all the servants and chefs looking at him disappointedly, Yang Ben said proudly, “At that time, they’ll definitely ask where they can stay. If we establish connections with the servants and owners of those restaurants and inns, we can ask them to recommend our Lin’s Inn to their customers and tell them all its advantages. Since it’s the truth, it won’t harm our inn’s reputation, nor is it considered misleading customers. As for the restaurant servants and owners, we can give them three to five wen per customer. I’m sure they’ll be willing to recommend our Lin’s Inn. In the end, we won’t lose much silver.”
“That’s a good idea!” Lin Dong slapped the counter. How could he not think of that?
Not only Lin Dong but also all the servants and chefs blamed themselves for not thinking of such a simple solution.
Yang Ben was overjoyed. He licked his lips and stared intently at Lin Dong.

Lin Dong pondered for a moment before saying, “For guests who are too far from the inn, even if the staff praises it highly, as long as they have some curiosity about our inn, they probably won’t travel such a long distance just to stay here. So, for the staff and owners of restaurants and eateries, we only need to contact all those in the north of the city—those in the south and east are close enough to the north. Ma Chun, start preparing this right away tomorrow morning; the sooner, the better.”

Ma Chun nodded, hesitated for a second, and asked, “Whether it’s the staff of restaurants or the owners of eateries, although they might be willing to make an effort for a few coins, they surely won’t hide it from their bosses or bring guests to our inn under false pretenses. What if they just observe the guests coming and going from our inn from outside and claim that guests they didn’t introduce are actually theirs?”

Lin Dong frowned slightly before saying, “Tell those staff and owners that ten coins are given for introducing a group of guests, with an additional ten coins for each group beyond three. If they falsely claim that regular guests are their referrals or if there’s duplication with other staff or owners, cooperation will be terminated once it’s discovered.”

“When should we settle the payment?” Ma Chun asked. “If it takes too long to settle, the staff might not remember the guests’ appearances.”

Lin Dong thought for a while before deciding, “Then settle it once every three days. Even if it’s just one or two guests, ten coins is worth the effort if they have time to make the trip.”

Ma Chun calculated carefully and nodded slowly after confirming there were no issues.

“By the way, we can also distribute flyers!” Lin Dong had an idea and explained, “Let the people in the north and nearby areas know about this. If merchants ask where there are inns nearby and we refer them to Lin’s Inn, they can also get ten coins based on the guests’ appearance.”

Qiao Tianhao immediately jumped up and exclaimed loudly, “The owner is truly wise…”

Lin Dong smiled casually and looked at Yang Ben, who wore an expectant expression, then instructed Ma Chun, “Yang Ben’s idea works. It’s definitely possible to bring in another ten groups of guests within ten days. Give him ten taels of silver. Also, Qiao Tianhao is quite good at flattering—give him ten coins.”

Everyone burst into laughter. Qiao Tianhao sat down dejectedly—another ten coins…

With a gulp, Yang Ben swallowed hard, stood on tiptoes, and stared intently at Ma Chun writing, afraid he might forget about it.

In the hall, whether it was the staff or the cooks, after laughing at Qiao Tianhao, everyone began to envy Yang Ben.

He scanned the faces of everyone present and then said, “If no one else has any suggestions, let’s discuss the second exam question.”
“Owner!” Li Mo, one of the staff, suddenly stood up anxiously. “I’ve come up with an idea. We can send staff to the city gate to attract customers.”
“Attract customers?” Lin Dong was slightly surprised.
Li Mo nodded firmly. “I’ve done this in other inns before. When business was slow, we would send staff to the city gate in the evening to approach people on horseback or carrying packages entering the city and ask if they needed lodging. That way, we could at least get some guests.”
Lin Dong hesitated for a moment and then shook his head slowly under Li Mo’s disappointed gaze. “Actively approaching people to attract them is completely different from offering suggestions after being approached by customers. If we send people to the city gate to ask everyone they meet, whether they’re regulars or strangers, it will inevitably annoy people. Even if they end up staying at our inn, it might create resentment toward Lin’s Inn.”
Li Mo nodded and sat down disappointed, quickly thinking of other possible solutions.
“It’s a good idea, but it’s not very suitable for an inn,” Lin Dong said, waving his hand. “Give Li Mo two taels of silver.”
Li Mo was stunned for a moment before breaking into a smile—his monthly salary was in hand.
“As for attracting customers, if anyone else has ideas, they can also bring them up to Ma Chun.” With one problem solved, Lin Dong was in high spirits and said with a smile, “The second exam question: How can we ensure that there are at least ten dining tables on the second floor of the inn without incurring losses, while also keeping a steady stream of customers?”
Everyone looked troubled. This question was much harder than the previous ones. It was precisely during the time when Fenglin Restaurant was trying hard to suppress them. Unless they targeted ordinary customers for the dining tables, it was simply impossible.
Lowering prices would bring in a steady stream of customers, but the business on the second floor was already losing money. Lowering prices further would only increase the losses.
Raising prices would prevent losses, but where would they find customers?…
For a while, the hall fell silent, with everyone’s brows furrowed in confusion.
After waiting for half an hour, someone finally stood up and suggested reducing the portion sizes of dishes and drinks, but that would only result in losses. Right after that, someone proposed inviting singers or storytellers to perform on the second floor, but that didn’t fit the inn’s style at all and was also unhelpful.
After discussing for over an hour, the outside was already dotted with stars. Inside, although everyone was excited, they no longer had any viable suggestions. The best they could come up with was to offer some strange but inexpensive small gifts.

“Boss!” Just as Lin Dong was also feeling troubled, Ma Chun suddenly spoke up, “I have an idea. I’m not sure if it will work!”
Lin Dong urged, “Go on, tell me.”
Ma Chun put down his writing brush and asked, “What do you think? How about we give away Vitality Beef Balls?”
“Vitality Beef Balls?” Lin Dong frowned slightly.
“Yes!” Ma Chun nodded. “If we reduce the price of dishes and drinks to 40% or 50%, and for orders over one or two taels, we’ll give each table a plate of Vitality Beef Balls worth two taels of silver. This way, we can ensure a steady stream of customers for these ten tables without incurring losses. The problem is that this might affect business from other restaurants. More importantly, since dishes and drinks are already priced at 40% or 50%, giving away Vitality Beef Balls worth two taels of silver might make customers think that Lin’s Inn makes too much profit…”
A glint appeared in Lin Dong’s eyes, and soon he couldn’t help but slam his hand on the counter.
“That’s a good idea!”
Ma Chun was stunned and said with a wry smile, “Boss, this might be overkill.”
Lin Dong shook his head. Vitality Beef Balls had extraordinary effects, and no one would doubt that precious ingredients were added to them. Such ingredients couldn’t possibly be cheap.
All he needed was a way to justify raising the prices of dishes and drinks while still giving away expensive Vitality Beef Balls for free. Then everything would be fine.
Waving his hand to stop Ma Chun from speaking further, Lin Dong furrowed his brows and began tapping slowly on the counter.
As the tapping sound echoed, the atmosphere grew tense. All the staff and chefs stared at Lin Dong intently.
Suddenly, Lin Dong raised his eyebrows and declared firmly, “Post a notice tomorrow. The inn has recently received a batch of precious ingredients for making Vitality Beef Balls from a familiar sect. Since these ingredients will lose their effectiveness soon, they must be used as soon as possible. Starting tomorrow, the prices of dishes and drinks will rise to 40% for copper cards and 50% for silver cards. For orders over one or two taels of silver, each table will receive a plate of Vitality Beef Balls, which can be accumulated over time. Also, make sure to state that the inn guarantees the Vitality Beef Balls made from these ingredients are genuine and retain their effects. If anything is found amiss, we’ll compensate ten times the value.”
“The boss is wise!”
Ma Chun slapped his thigh and couldn’t help but praise him. In this way, the low cost of Vitality Beef Balls could be completely covered up. Even a sudden price increase like this wouldn’t deter wealthy customers.

After all, Lin’s Inn had no choice but to do this—everything was done to sell these Vital Beef Balls as quickly as possible. Moreover, for banquets costing more than one or two silver coins, they were actually cheaper compared to before the price increase.
“This idea is absolutely brilliant.”
“The owner is wise…”
In the lobby, the staff all echoed in agreement. Seeing this, Qiao Tianhao wished he could pull out his black iron sword and chop everyone in half. It was one thing if no one responded to his praise of wisdom, but it was outrageous that it sparked widespread laughter. Ma Chun’s flattery also received unanimous agreement—how could anyone act like this?