Chapter 264: Don’t Try to Escape

Three days later, early in the morning, Ling Zhengyang sat at the counter.
This action surprised Wang De, his attendant who knew Ling Zhengyang’s personality well, leaving him uneasy throughout the morning, fearing he might do something wrong and anger Ling Zhengyang.
In Wang De’s memory, no matter which Fenglin Restaurant Ling Zhengyang visited, he had never sat at the counter. According to him, only the owner could sit there, as it symbolized the owner’s authority.
The owner’s authority was unshakable; only an owner with absolute authority could earn the trust of the staff and chefs.
But today, Ling Zhengyang was sitting at the counter.
Such an anomaly meant that if anything went wrong, it was possible the third young master, who usually showed tolerance unless there was betrayal against the restaurant, might impose severe punishment on him.
The sun rose slowly, like a promising young man, its vigor and brilliance growing stronger as it climbed higher.
Suddenly, the sound of hurried horse hooves approached from afar. At the counter, Ling Zhengyang stiffened slightly.
A moment later, Jiang Youcai, who had been waiting outside, rushed in, followed by a staff member out of breath and drenched in sweat.
Ling Zhengyang couldn’t help standing up and asked, “Has Lin’s Inn posted any announcements?”
“Yes, it has,” the staff member replied, gasping for air.
“What does the announcement say?” Ling Zhengyang pressed.
The staff member licked his chapped lips, trying to suppress the burning sensation in his throat, and explained, “It’s still a discount—three days of discounts, with prices the same as before.”
Ling Zhengyang suddenly smiled bitterly.
“Third young master, what does Lin Dong mean by this?” Jiang Youcai was confused. If the prices remained the same, why set a three-day limit? This might make many regular customers think Lin’s Inn would raise prices the next day, causing them to avoid coming back.
“Lin Dong is using this announcement to keep us waiting. Day after day, he wants us to keep waiting,” Ling Zhengyang said softly. “If I’m not mistaken, Lin’s Inn probably already informed those regular customers that things will remain the same today.”

“At their prices for food and drinks, with so many wealthy customers coming in, each table incurs a loss of at least ten to twenty taels of silver. In a day, they simply can’t operate without three to five thousand taels of silver. Since he’s willing to lose that much money every day, might as well let him lose it all,” Jiang Youcai said angrily. “According to the guild’s news, Lin’s Inn will be sealed shut. The guild also says that all the major restaurants will recall their chefs, and Lin’s Inn simply can’t produce spirit materials or spirit beasts of the third or fourth rank. In just two or three months, the wealthy families in Autumn Wind City have been hosting banquets at our Maple Forest Restaurant for years—there’s no way Lin’s Inn can completely replace them in such a short time. In any case, Lin’s Inn will only suffer losses.”

“Lin Dong probably expects us to think this way!” Ling Zhengyang shook his head slowly. These three outcomes seemed almost certain. Before Lin’s Inn introduced the signature dishes from those major restaurants, he had thought the same way too. But now, he didn’t dare to think that anymore…

These certain outcomes were useless for Lin’s Inn and useless for Lin Dong as well. By fabricating guild news, perhaps Lin Dong had already made connections with some high-ranking officials through Li Jiancheng to suppress the situation. As for the chefs from those major restaurants, maybe Lin Dong already had a way to get them to betray their original restaurants and work solely for Lin’s Inn. All those wealthy customers were regulars at Maple Forest Restaurant—who knows what other unexpected tricks Lin Dong might have to keep them there.

It seemed these possibilities were too unlikely to believe, but after witnessing Lin Dong’s ability to surprise people through fabricated guild news and the introduction of those signature dishes, Ling Zhengyang believed Lin Dong wasn’t crazy—he must have solutions, only ones he himself couldn’t imagine.

“Third Young Master, since we’re not going to let Lin’s Inn continue like this, what should we do?” Jiang Youcai asked.

“Go rest for a few hours first, then go back to Lin’s Inn to gather more information,” Ling Zhengyang waved at his still-out-of-breath assistant. After he left, Ling Zhengyang mused, “We can’t keep following Lin Dong’s pace. Stop acquiring spirit materials and spirit beasts of the third or fourth rank and raise our prices instead.”

“All our spirit materials and spirit beasts of the third or fourth rank come from Lingnan Commandery. If we buy them in Autumn Wind City and deliberately raise the prices, it means we’ll have to spend much more silver,” Jiang Youcai said anxiously. “Moreover, since Lin Dong has connections with the sects, he should be able to obtain spirit materials and spirit beasts through them.”

“What’s the situation with spirit beasts and materials of the first and second ranks now?” Ling Zhengyang asked.

“Since the various restaurants have joined forces, they’ve been working together to drive down prices. Now they’re down to about three times the original price,” Jiang Youcai replied.
“How much first- and second-tier spiritual beast materials are in stock?”
“We already have sixty to seventy thousand taels of silver worth of inventory.”
“Pricing should remain the same for now. I believe those who have spiritual beast materials won’t be able to tolerate such a sudden drop in price, so most of them will hold onto their materials for a while,” Ling Zhengyang said calmly. “As for the sects, logically speaking, no matter what, they wouldn’t send their disciples specifically to collect materials and hunt spiritual beasts just for a mundane merchant.”
Jiang Youcai slapped his forehead. “I’m such an idiot! Lin’s Inn can get materials that are almost at their expiration date from the sects as long as it has a good relationship with the outer sect administrators. To get the sects to send many disciples to help collect materials and hunt spiritual beasts, one would need to have a very close relationship with the elders. Our Fenglin Restaurant only has such relationships with a few sects—Lin Dong certainly doesn’t have that kind of influence.”
Ling Zhengyang smiled faintly. “That’s exactly what Lin Dong wants. The more impossible it seems, the more likely he is to succeed.”
Jiang Youcai was speechless for a long time before grumbling, “Then if our Fenglin Restaurant buys first- and third-tier spiritual beast materials and raises the price, wouldn’t that suit his plans?”
“It’s just to deceive others,” Ling Zhengyang said nonchalantly. “Give me detailed information on all the major restaurants by evening.”
“Detailed information on all the major restaurants?” Jiang Youcai hesitated.
“The information you gave me before wasn’t detailed enough,” Ling Zhengyang said intently. “I want the most detailed info—including the ages, personalities, backgrounds, businesses, families of the owners of each restaurant… If there’s time, even details about the personalities of their maids and servants would be good.”
Jiang Youcai was shocked. “Third Young Master, are you planning to…”
“To compete with Lin’s Inn and the other restaurants financially. Even if we can delay things until the merchant guild takes action, they can do the same. By then, not only will Fenglin Restaurant’s number of regular customers not increase much, but some of its elite customers will also be taken away by Lin’s Inn. Even if Lin’s Inn fails to completely destroy Fenglin Restaurant, we’ll still suffer a crushing defeat.” Ling Zhengyang clenched his right fist and said firmly, “The only weakness to defeating Lin’s Inn is the various restaurants. Lin’s Inn’s strength lies in the fact that all the strength of those restaurants is concentrated within it.”

Jiang Youcai looked troubled and said, “But they’ve already reached an agreement. I’m sure there are huge penalties for breaking it. Not to mention getting all those restaurants to cancel their contracts—just one or two would cost a fortune.”
“Everything comes with a trade-off. If we can bring one restaurant to our side, we become stronger, while Lin Ji Inn weakens.”
“But the cost is too high,” Jiang Youcai retorted. “Moreover, the money will likely flow into Lin Ji Inn, giving them even more resources.”
“The bigger the resources, the more unexpected things they can do,” Ling Zhengyang said calmly. “If Lin Dong can spend hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to hire a dozen or twenty chefs, why can’t I give them hundreds of thousands of taels to get a few restaurants to ally with Fenglin Restaurant? After all, strength is what matters most. No matter how much money they have, if we’re only worth half as much as Lin Ji Inn, what’s the use?”
Jiang Youcai gritted his teeth and nodded slowly.
In a corner on the second floor of Lin Ji Inn, Lin Dong couldn’t help but laugh after learning that Fenglin Restaurant was buying spirit beast materials of the first and second tiers at full price, and those of the higher tiers at even higher prices.
Ma Chun scratched his head, puzzled. “Why does the owner seem so happy? This doesn’t seem like good news. Judging from the current business on the third floor, with the disciples of the Gu Huan Sect and the Wan Family, it won’t be long before we run out of spirit beast materials of the third and fourth tiers…”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s just a decoy,” Lin Dong said nonchalantly, lifting his index and middle fingers and moving them a few times. “Now that I’ve got Fenglin Restaurant in my grasp, it won’t be easy for them to get free without coming up with something drastic.”
“A decoy?” Ma Chun was completely confused.
“That’s right! I believe it won’t be long before Fenglin Restaurant stops purchasing them,” Lin Dong said with a smile. “Actually, we should even thank Fenglin Restaurant. With the prices of first and second-tier spirit beast materials dropping, the pressure on other restaurants will surely ease a lot.”
“I’m worried they’ll all hold onto their stock and wait to see what happens,” Ma Chun said, shaking his head. “After all, as long as we keep fighting, prices might still rise. Although spirit beast meat doesn’t last long when stored, as long as it’s exposed to the sun for six or seven days, it should be fine. Spirit beast materials can be stored for even longer.”
“Won’t prices gradually drop?” Lin Dong suddenly laughed. “If Fenglin Restaurant is buying at full price, why should other restaurants not do the same? You need to understand that it’s us who’re in control of Fenglin Restaurant now.”

Ma Chun slapped his head and said awkwardly, “When with the shop owner, there’s no need to think too much—my head almost turns into wood. If Fenglin Restaurant doesn’t have any stock, we can even raise prices to pressure them instead.”
“You just haven’t thought it through yet. Once you do, you’ll realize we’ve already gained the upper hand by fabricating news about the guild. All that’s left is to keep hitting them hard until they can only defend desperately,” Lin Dong said with a smile. “For those hitting, all they need to worry about is how strong their punches are. For those being hit, they have to desperately figure out where the attacks will come from, how much force it will take to block them, and how to counterattack… Just like with Fenglin Restaurant a few months ago—wherever they attacked, we had to defend there.”
Ma Chun looked deep in thought, a glint in his eyes. “No matter what tricks Ling Zhengyang comes up with, as long as we thoroughly understand the strength of our own punches, no matter how many tricks he has, we can keep hitting him until he has no chance to use them, right?”
Lin Dong rubbed his chin. This explanation seemed a bit more thorough than what he had understood.