Chapter 357: A Competition in Eating

One chopstick after another, Yang Yankang seemed utterly captivated by the golden-scaled fish. He ate more than a dozen bites before finally stopping, still seemingly unsatisfied.
“Delicious food, Manager Lin. This fish is truly excellent, and your inn’s chefs are even more remarkable. In all my life, this is the first time I’ve tasted something so irresistible that I can’t put down my chopsticks,” Yang Yankang praised, ignoring whether such words suited his status as a high-ranking official.
“Lord Yang, your flattery sounds a bit off.”
Over by the side, Hong Wanfu couldn’t help but interject and cut off Yang Yankang’s words. He understood that if Lin Dong liked to be flattered, openly mocking Yang Yankang might upset him. Yet he had to stop Yang Yankang—otherwise, if Lin Dong truly enjoyed flattery, especially from a high-ranking official like Yang, he might easily be deceived by this old fox with decades of experience in politics. The consequences would be even worse.
Yang Yankang’s expression darkened as he said coldly, “Boss Hong, do you think this golden-scaled fish isn’t as good as I described?”
“That’s not it. I just think Lord Yang doesn’t seem to be praising Lin Ji Inn’s food and drinks,” Hong Wanfu replied with a sneer. “It sounds more like you’re boasting about your own integrity, claiming you’ve never eaten anything good.”
“Lord Hong, your words are even more inappropriate,” Yang Yankang said, staring straight at him. “It sounds as if you’re bowing and offering gifts to me, only to be upset when I refuse them.”
“Whereas, given the relationship between Boss Chen and Lord Yang,” Hong Wanfu said meaningfully, “in Lingnan City, there’s no need for other gambling house owners to offer gifts—Boss Chen alone is enough.”
“It seems Boss Hong doesn’t trust my fairness and strictness,” Yang Yankang said nonchalantly. “Actually, Boss Hong has misunderstood. The day before yesterday, I had people arrest Liu Fengliang, one of the managers at Hong Fu Gambling House, and Boss Hong’s seventh wife because they were having an affair. There’s solid evidence—both human and physical proof. If Boss Hong doesn’t believe it, he can go to the prison and ask the seventh wife; she’s already confessed.”

Hong Wanfu gritted his teeth, suppressing the urge to slam the table in anger, and said harshly, “Regarding this matter, I am grateful to Lord Yang for caring about my family affairs. It’s already enough that he sends people to keep an eye on all my wives every day—how could he think that Lord Yang is acting favoritistically? Speaking of which, we discussed not long ago the incident where Young Master Yang used his power to bully a vendor, leaving him seriously injured, yet only had to pay two taels of silver to settle it—there’s a chance this could be reported to the capital. Besides silencing the victim, I have another suggestion. I wonder if Lord Yang is willing to listen?”
“I came here today to visit Manager Lin, and with such delicious food before us, what’s the point of talking about baseless matters?” Yang Yankang said with a smile, shaking his head.
“But I heard that someone has obtained evidence,” Hong Wanfu pressed on.
“It’s all fabricated. Not to mention reporting it to the capital, even if it were reported to the imperial palace,” Yang Yankang said firmly, “I’m not worried. False accusations are just that—false accusations. The emperor is wise and just; he will surely see through it.”
“It seems Lord Yang has great faith in his son’s character?” Hong Wanfu asked with a smile.
“My son may not be very capable, but he’s not capable of such things,” Yang Yankang replied calmly. “Those who fabricate tales will eventually be exposed.”
“I’m afraid Lord Yang trusts his son a bit too much. As far as I know, although his son has only been with Lord Yang in Lingnan City for a few months, his reputation is extremely poor,” Hong Wanfu said with a smile. “Such incidents are probably just minor matters. Just from what I’ve heard, there are already six or seven such cases. It’s just that no evidence has been found yet, so it’s unclear whether they’re true or not.”
“Boss Hong is overthinking it. I’m actually quite confident in my son. Those fabricated charges are merely me dragging him down. As a local official, to be fair and honest, it’s inevitable to offend some unscrupulous merchants,” Yang Yankang said slowly, shaking his head.
“If that’s the case, perhaps I am indeed overthinking it. But nothing happens for no reason…”
Over by the side, Lin Dong watched the two of them back and forth—sometimes Yang Yankang took the initiative, pressing down on Hong Wanfu, sometimes Hong Wanfu counterattacked, pressing down on Yang Yankang, and then it would switch again… From start to finish, Lin Dong remained silent, as if he hadn’t seen or heard anything, busy studying the wine glass in his hands.
Not far away, Chen Yantian also remained silent. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help Yang Yankang, but he dared not. He believed that once he spoke up, Lin Dong would undoubtedly step in to suppress him.

Chen Yantian was afraid that if Lin Dong provoked him, he might lose control and retaliate violently. If that happened and led Lin Dong to side with Hong Wanfu, causing the Hua family to send people to disrupt the Tianlai Gambling House repeatedly with no way to make amends later, it would undoubtedly become the greatest regret of his life.

Over twenty days ago, when Chen’s family severely suppressed Lin Dong, it was already considered by Chen Yantian the most regrettable thing he had done in his life. He didn’t want anything more regrettable to happen—especially since such a thing would also come from Lin Dong.

Last time, it was still understandable since he didn’t know about the Hua family backing Lin Dong, but this time, it was unforgivable.

After Hong Wanfu gave up holding back and stopped treating Yang Yankang as someone untouchable, the two became evenly matched, with neither able to gain the upper hand. Eventually, the confrontation between Yang Yankang and Hong Wanfu gradually subsided. Undoubtedly, after such a long time of tension, the person trying to mediate showed no signs of taking sides, which bored both of them. Continuing the back-and-forth would only be a waste of time.

By now, the servants had come five times, and the number of dishes on the table had risen to over a dozen.

Due to his cultivation, Lin Dong usually acted as a hands-off boss, leaving all trivial matters to Ma Chun. Yet he had an excellent grasp of everything related to the inn’s food, drinks, servants, and information about competitors.

He could talk at length about each of these dishes, from their origins to the exact proportions of various ingredients and seasonings.

With these dishes, there was no need to worry about awkward silences—there was enough time to wait for the other fourteen dishes to be served.

Once those fourteen dishes arrived, they could keep talking for most of an hour. If other topics were brought up in between, it wouldn’t be a problem to extend it to one or two hours. If Hong Wanfu and Yang Yankang started fighting again, it would take just two or three hours.

As for the reconciliation fee, Lin Dong wasn’t in a hurry. It was Yang Yankang, Chen Yantian, and Hong Wanfu who were anxious. The longer they delayed, the more time they had to find a way to get both benefits—saving some cultivation time while achieving their goals.

Soon, the focus shifted from Yang Yankang and Hong Wanfu to Lin Dong, who became the center of attention, while the former two served as background figures. As for Chen Yantian, he remained silent, eating nothing, drinking nothing, saying nothing, with his eyes fixed ahead—like a human statue, except for his occasionally twitching eyelids.

Twenty-four dishes were served one after another, with Lin Dong explaining them and Yang Yankang and Hong Wanfu responding. Inside Lin’s Inn, aside from a few servants staying by the private room, everyone else had gone back to rest. Outside, the starry sky stretched endlessly—it was already late at night.

After discussing the twenty-four dishes, Lin Dong shifted the conversation to matters in the official world with Yang Yankang. As the talk seemed endless, Yang Yankang and the others grew restless. After chatting for a while, taking advantage of Lin Dong looking for a new topic, Yang Yankang quickly interjected, “Shopkeeper Lin, it’s getting late. If we don’t leave now, we might not be able to attend court tomorrow.”
“Oh, I forgot that the magistrate also has to go to court,” Lin Dong said, slapping his forehead and standing up with a smile. “In that case, I shouldn’t keep you any longer. Please come by whenever you have time, magistrate.”
“Sure, definitely!” Yang Yankang stood up and casually added, “By the way, Shopkeeper Lin, I almost forgot a small matter.”
“A small matter? What is it?” Lin Dong asked, puzzled.
“It’s about Boss Chen’s Tiannai Gambling House. I hope you can speak to the Hua family and let this matter be dropped,” Yang Yankang said, glancing at Chen Yantian.
Chen Yantian took out two exquisite brocade boxes from his storage ring and placed them in front of Lin Dong.
“What’s this?” Lin Dong asked, confused.
“It’s part of the profits Tiannai Gambling House earned from gambling competitions over the past half month—only about two million taels of silver. I hope you won’t think it’s too little,” Chen Yantian explained hastily.
“Huh?” Lin Dong looked surprised. “Boss Chen, weren’t we supposed to avoid discussing business during meals?”
Chen Yantian’s expression darkened. Gritting his teeth, he bowed and said, “Last time, it was my fault. I hope you can forgive my blindness.”
“Do you even deserve it?” Lin Dong sneered, staring at Chen Yantian. The fact that Chen offered two million taels at once, without even mentioning suppressing Hongfu Gambling House, only strengthened Lin Dong’s resolve to crush Chen completely. Lin Dong believed Chen must have planned to offer one million taels per box initially. Wasting a few hours to double Chen’s psychological price was worth it.
“Lin Dong!”
Flames ignited in Chen Yantian’s eyes. His fists were clenched tightly, as if he couldn’t resist punching Lin Dong to pieces at the slightest provocation.
Lin Dong casually picked up one of the brocade boxes, tapped it on the table, and threw it at Chen Yantian’s face.
Bang!
The box hit Chen Yantian’s cheek and rolled to the ground, its lid only slightly loosened.
Without Yang Yankang needing to remind him, Chen Yantian slumped like a deflated balloon, completely defeated.

His previous attitude showed he hadn’t lost his sanity; he just wanted to test things out. Once Manager Lin grew fearful, there would be no need to spend much effort—just hire some thugs to secretly capture him and force him to compromise. What Chen Yantian didn’t expect was that Manager Lin’s toughness could rival that of bandits, remaining unaffected and even resorting to even greater provocation.

What Chen Yantian didn’t expect even more was that if he really threw a punch, Lin Dong would endure it to hide his strength, only to ensure he could use only his left hand to hold chopsticks for the rest of his life.

“Manager Lin, what are you doing? Why turn down Boss Chen’s kindness?” Yang Yankang smiled, picked up the brocade box, placed it next to another, and tried to defuse the situation.

“If that’s the case, then I won’t be polite.”

Lin Dong smiled, took the two brocade boxes, and stuffed them into the inner pocket of his sleeve. After putting in the two boxes, his entire right arm became significantly thicker.

Seeing Lin Dong accept the boxes, Yang Yankang breathed a sigh of relief. The crisis at Tianlai Gambling House was resolved. Next was Hongfu Gambling House.

Yang Yankang subtly glanced at the calm Hong Wanfu, frowning slightly, unsure why he could remain so composed. Unable to figure it out, he decided to put it aside for now and said, “Manager Lin, I have some personal matters to discuss with you. Would you mind giving me a moment?”

“Of course,” Lin Dong said with a smile, looking at Hong Wanfu. “Lord Magistrate and I will step outside for a while. Will Boss Hong wait a moment?”

“Lord Magistrate, could you wait for me a moment?”

Though his words were polite, Hong Wanfu’s actions weren’t. Without waiting for Yang Yankang’s approval, he took out a brocade box from his storage spirit ring and placed it on the table.

Glancing at Yang Yankang and Chen Yantian, Hong Wanfu smiled, opened his right palm, and took out another brocade box.

The two boxes were clearly much larger than those brought by Chen Yantian.

“Manager Lin, just like Boss Chen, this contains a portion of the profits from the gambling matches—only four million taels. I hope you won’t mind,” Hong Wanfu said with a bow.

“Not at all!” Lin Dong rudely grabbed one box in each hand.

Chen Yantian and Yang Yankang exchanged a look, both seeing helplessness in each other’s eyes.

The profits from gambling houses were indeed the highest among all industries. Tianlai Gambling House had now surpassed Hongfu Gambling House to become the top gambling house in Lingnan City. But Tianlai Gambling House’s foundation was far weaker than Hongfu’s. When it came to money, they definitely couldn’t compete.

Chen Yantian believed that in Hong Wanfu’s storage ring on his index finger, there were definitely more than a dozen such boxes. The reason was that his own storage ring also contained over a dozen such boxes. Even though he had more silver bills than Hong Wanfu, Chen Yantian didn’t want to be such a fool. Tiandai Gambling House wasn’t Hongfu Gambling House; even if the Hua family had backed Hongfu Gambling House, Tiandai Gambling House still had a high chance of crushing it. Yet Hongfu Gambling House had reasons to hold on at all costs—this was now almost its only chance to turn the situation around. For Hongfu Gambling House, destroying Tiandai Gambling House might not be worth draining more than twenty years of accumulated wealth, but spending half of it—tens of millions of taels of silver—was definitely worthwhile. The money in gambling houses didn’t fall from the sky. While their profits were high, so were their risks, the highest among all industries. Spending tens of millions of taels just to ensure safety—let alone if they couldn’t afford it—even if they could, Chen Yantian would never do it. He would rather develop in another county, finding a large gambling house that wasn’t too closely tied to the county governor and who was acquainted with Yang Yankang. Though it wasn’t as convenient as Lingnan City, it was still better than giving away three to five years’ worth of profits at once. Moreover, this could only be achieved if there were no major competitors in Lingnan City. This meant that if Lin Dong truly prioritized money, Tiandai Gambling House would surely collapse. Chen Yantian regretted offending Lin Dong last time even more, feeling as though his intestines were being twisted together painfully. If he had known Lin Dong had such backing and such a tough personality, he would never have tried to crush Lin Dong in order to monopolize all the profits from the gambling games. But who could have predicted such things? Whether it was a newcomer merchant who tried to build strong ties with a powerful family or a profit-driven merchant who would go to extremes to settle scores with all gambling houses. “Shopkeeper Lin, I wonder if you have time. I have some personal matters I’d like to discuss with you,” Hong Wanfu took the opportunity to strike first, as Yang Yankang and the others had expected. “The county governor has personal matters to discuss with me, and Boss Hong also has personal matters. I think…” Lin Dong suddenly smiled and said, “How about we just discuss it here?” The three of them’s mouths twitched—this was an outright attempt to let the two sides fight each other while reaping the benefits. Shopkeeper Lin was quite ruthless.

Hong Wanfu gritted his teeth. Four million taels of silver—although twice the amount he had initially expected to pay—was still much less than the bottom line he had set at the start. As long as it achieved his goal, since Manager Lin wanted it, it was better to satisfy him.
“Alright, Manager Lin…” Hong Wanfu took out another brocade box from his storage ring, glanced at Yang Yankang and Chen Yantian, then placed it on the table. “I’ll pay for Boss Chen’s share.”
Yang Yankang and the others had no choice but to stare intently at Lin Dong, filled with anxiety. Chen Yantian was drenched in sweat, fearing Lin Dong would agree right away.
“Well…” Amidst the three people holding their breath and tense gazes, Lin Dong smiled helplessly. “Could Boss Hong give me some time to think?”
Sigh…
Yang Yankang and the others let out a sigh of relief, as if exhausted.
Hong Wanfu’s heart tightened. Without hesitation, he took out another brocade box and placed it on the table.
Lin Dong shook his head smilingly and pushed both boxes back.
“Boss Hong, please take these two boxes back for now. As for the other two, along with the two given by Boss Chen, I haven’t decided whom to return them to yet. It’s getting late. How about I keep the other four boxes for now and give you two an answer tomorrow? What do you think?” Lin Dong said slowly.
“Manager Lin…”
Another brocade box appeared in Hong Wanfu’s right hand, but Lin Dong shook his head and refused it outright.
Glancing back and forth between Yang Yankang and Chen Yantian, whose expressions were a mix of joy and worry, Lin Dong finally fixed his gaze on Yang Yankang and said, “Sir, what do you think of my proposal?”
Yang Yankang thought for a moment. Just as Chen Yantian was about to speak, he resolutely said, “Follow Manager Lin’s decision.”
“What about you, Boss Hong?” Lin Dong placed the two boxes given by Hong Wanfu on the table. It seemed like he was resting his hands after holding them for too long, but given the abilities of Hong Wanfu and the others, they could clearly sense the threat behind it.
“Follow Manager Lin’s decision!” Hong Wanfu’s eyes were bloodshot. He struggled internally, wanting to settle things with the silver notes right away but afraid of angering Lin Dong.
Lin Dong picked up the two boxes Hong Wanfu had just given, shoved them back at him, and gestured politely, “In that case, Sir and Boss Hong, please!”
The three didn’t understand what Lin Dong really meant but had no choice but to force smiles. Amidst Lin Dong’s enthusiastic pleasantries, they went downstairs to the main hall. After the door opened, they were sent back to the carriage waiting outside.

Watching the two carriages disappear into the night in different directions, the smile on Lin Dong’s face became much more natural than before. While Yang Yankang and the others waited for him to make a decision, Lin Dong finally came up with a way to have his cake and eat it too.