Chapter 419: Killing oneself with one’s own hands

Upon hearing this, Ma Chun and the other man’s eyes lit up—these words carried an air of dominance. The underlying implication was clear: the shopkeeper already had a solution.
“Shopkeeper, do you already have a solution?” Despite being confident in his judgment, Ma Chun still felt uneasy. He stared intently at Lin Dong, fearing he might say no at any moment.
After Lin Dong explained the situation, Ma Chun’s first thought was that this was a dead end. If they backed out later, Liang Gufeng could easily stir up trouble by spreading word and secretly fanning the flames. Not only would Lin’s Inn’s reputation be ruined, but with proper provocation, there was a high risk of being attacked by the people of the three western provinces.
But if they accepted this loss without recourse, they’d have nowhere to go and nothing to achieve. Closing down for over half a year was worse than giving up Lingnan City and trying to make a living in the capital or other provinces.
Lin Dong didn’t explain right away but asked patiently, “What do the people of the three western provinces lack the most right now?”
Ma Chun and the other man frowned. The wealthy weren’t worried about lacking Heilei Grass—ten or twenty silver coins per plant wasn’t much to them. Moreover, pharmacies in various cities had stock of Heilei Grass. Even if it was expensive, residents could still afford to buy a small amount. Those who traveled hundreds of miles to Lingnan City were undoubtedly villagers who couldn’t find Heilei Grass and relied on farming.
Having come to Lingnan City with their families, they must have rushed here to avoid the wet bug disease in the dead of winter. They surely couldn’t bring much food or clothing. Not to mention necessities, firewood in Lingnan City was also costly in winter.
Undoubtedly, what they lacked the most was silver.
The reason they hadn’t mentioned it was the large number of people involved. If they were to give silver, each family would need at least ten or twenty silver coins—otherwise, it would be ineffective. That meant spending hundreds of thousands of silver coins right now, with the number of people continuing to rise.
Additionally, giving cash too openly could attract bandits.
Ma Chun hesitated for a moment before saying, “Clothing, food, and firewood for winter.”
Lin Dong shook his head slowly and said calmly, “What they lack the most is actually Heilei Grass. If they had it, why would they bring their families to this unfamiliar, inconvenient, and expensive place in the dead of winter?”
The two men realized this, but then looked at Lin Dong in confusion again.
“You forgot—Boss Jiang’s batch of Heilei Grass will arrive in a few days,” Lin Dong said calmly.

“But these Black Fiery Herbs are meant for the various pharmacies,” the two still didn’t understand.
“Anyway, since they weren’t delivered on time, let’s seize 50,000 plants. We’ll cover the penalty—Boss Jiang surely won’t object, right?” Lin Dong asked with a smile.
“Sure not! We’ll pay the penalty—what reason would he have to object?” Ma Chun shook his head repeatedly. Even without Lin Ji Inn’s connections to the county government and the Military Assessment Institute, Jiang Jianxing was a businessman. If someone else was willing to pay the penalty for him, there was no reason for him to object.
“By then, we won’t give even half a plant to the commoners staying at the inn, and we can give them some money for travel back home. I believe they’ll set off right away,” Liu An said cheerfully. “That way, our inn can keep operating as usual.”
Lin Dong shook his head, rejecting the idea. “It’s useless. More and more people will flock to Lingnan City. Once one group leaves, the county government will surely send another group right away. With all these people coming and going, we won’t even have enough staff to arrange food and lodging for them. These 50,000 Black Fiery Herbs are meant to preserve Lin Ji Inn’s reputation. Only by donating them can we make up for the fact that I only donated 45,000 taels of silver to the county government.”
“Just donate them like that…” Ma Chun hesitated. “It might be better to seize all 250,000 Black Fiery Herbs that Boss Jiang has. With that amount, all the commoners in the three prefectures of Lingnan City won’t have to worry about the Wet Worm Disease. And even if 100,000 new people arrive in Lingnan City every day, it will still last for over half a month.”
Lin Dong still shook his head. “Firstly, even if Boss Jiang agrees, he’ll surely be very reluctant. Doing this would mean exploiting the situation. If we’re ten days or half a month late and short 50,000 plants, we can blame natural disasters or human errors. But if not a single plant is delivered due to such a serious breach of contract, he won’t be able to do business in Lingnan City’s Black Fiery Herb trade in the future—probably not even in Tianfeng County. More importantly, these herbs are for emergency use. The Wet Worm Disease has been spreading for over a month, and we need to deliver these herbs to the hardest-hit areas within two months. Those places are in the most urgent need of them. Seizing 50,000 plants is already stretching our resources; having more could even lead to deaths.”
Ma Chun hesitated, wanting to persuade him but not knowing how. He wasn’t really concerned about whether people would die after three months of the disease—he cared more about the inn’s business. But if he said that out loud, he feared Lin Dong might think he was too heartless and doubt his character.

Lin Dong smiled and said, “Let’s close our shop, and then let Fenglin Restaurant close as well.”
“Does the owner have a plan?” Ma Chun immediately perked up. In Lingnan City, only Fenglin Restaurant could compete with Lin’s Inn. If both closed at the same time, it would only mean a loss in income. Right now, aside from the spirit stones needed daily to enhance the training of the guards, Lin’s Inn had no shortage of money.
Lin Dong raised his eyebrows slightly. “Fifty thousand Black Fiery Grass plants—we can deliver them near Fenglin Restaurant!”
Liu An was pleased, while Ma Chun gave a thumbs-up, his sneer making him look extremely cunning.
“The owner’s trick is really vicious. Thousands of people suffering from wet worm disease come in and out near Fenglin Restaurant every day—no one would dare set foot there.”
“Is it that vicious?” Lin Dong said casually. “I thought this would bring a lot of fame to Fenglin Restaurant! Just spread some flyers everywhere, saying that anyone with wet worm disease or registered residence near Fenglin Restaurant can get Black Fiery Grass for free, with a daily limit… Over time, who wouldn’t know Fenglin Restaurant’s name?”
“That’s true…” Ma Chun nodded repeatedly, smiling brightly.
Meanwhile, Liu An suddenly frowned again. “Well… since we have Black Fiery Grass, if the county magistrate really decides to target us, he might take it back under the pretext of an outbreak of wet worm disease and the need for it.”
“We can find an excuse saying our Black Fiery Grass was also brought in little by little from Tianfeng County,” Lin Dong said nonchalantly. “If they want it, they can send people to the inn to wait for it to be delivered. Then, we just need to spend some money to bribe the officials who come to collect it. You guys figure out the details.”
The two nodded. The excuse was a bit far-fetched and might offend Yang Yankang. But since Yang Yankang was targeting Lin’s Inn everywhere, he couldn’t afford to offend him either.
“Then shall we arrange it now?” Ma Chun asked.
“Why rush? I haven’t finished explaining yet!” Lin Dong said calmly. “Next is the issue of manpower. Ma Chun, you take care of that.”
“Manpower?” Ma Chun wasn’t quite sure.
“Eagle beasts and birds!” Lin Dong sighed helplessly. Those two hadn’t used their brains at all once they knew there was a solution.
Ma Chun grinned awkwardly.
With a large number of people from the three western prefectures flooding into Lingnan City, there weren’t many from other counties. A few sent by each branch using eagle beasts and birds would be more than enough.
“Although there’s no problem with manpower, even if we can get them here, we can’t open the shop yet!” Liu An urged.

“It’s just that we can’t open for business for a short time,” Lin Dong said nonchalantly. “Did I forget to mention that I’ve already arranged for Hua Wuyue to head to Tianfeng Commandery to collect Black Fiery Grass? She’ll be back in a month. By then, it will be the perfect time to introduce the Spirit Stone Heater, so we’ll just have to delay or cancel the launch of the perfume. As for Maple Forest Restaurant… we’ve already acquired all the Black Fiery Grass available. The owners of the three major pharmacies will surely take a month or two to return, and the travel time there and back is longer than using eagle beasts. Thus, we’ll have control over the Wet Worm Disease in Lingnan City. At that time, we can keep delivering Black Fiery Grass near Maple Forest Restaurant for as long as possible—its effect won’t be any worse than that of the perfume.”

Ma Chun and the others exchanged glances. In this situation, Lin’s Inn would be able to reopen earlier, while Maple Forest Restaurant would have to wait patiently for the Wet Worm Disease to end. It seemed like Liang Gufeng was shooting himself in the foot.

“There are solutions to all three problems: reputation, manpower, and location. Check if there are any mistakes, and I’ll go to Qiufeng City,” Lin Dong instructed.

“Why is the owner going to Qiufeng City?” Ma Chun asked in surprise.

“I can’t control Yang Yankang’s desire for promotion and wealth, but if he messes with me, don’t blame me if I make him pay for it,” Lin Dong said calmly. “To be honest, I admire his ability to come up with such a multi-pronged plan using the Wet Worm Disease.”

“It might have been Liang Gufeng who came up with it,” Ma Chun mused.

“Liang Gufeng doesn’t know anything about the imperial court—what would he have to base his plan on?” Lin Dong shook his head.

“So… how does the owner plan to deal with Yang Yankang?” Ma Chun asked eagerly. If a commoner could defeat an official, it would be a classic story that could go viral throughout the Great Han Kingdom. As the manager of Lin’s Inn, he would enjoy great prestige everywhere, and he wouldn’t need to be overly cautious around officials in the future—he could stand tall and treat them on equal terms.

“Go get to work! Oh, and find someone to build a tall wall in the backyard. If I’m not mistaken, the number of people assigned to our Lin’s Inn will be several times more than elsewhere. The enclosed area doesn’t need to be very large—three to five meters away from the corridor is enough. The wall must be tall to avoid interfering with my cultivation.”

Lin Dong waved his hand dismissively, clearly signaling not to ask questions he shouldn’t know. Originally, there was nothing to hide from Ma Chun, but Liu An’s presence made it necessary to be careful. Although Liu An was now the second-in-command at Lin’s Inn, his loyalty hadn’t yet been tested, so some things still required caution.

Ma Chundun was somewhat disappointed but didn’t dare to press further. He simply invited Liu An to head straight to the front yard. After the two left, Lin Dong didn’t rush to Qiufeng City either. He returned to his room to rest his dantian for a while. When it was almost time, he went out again, heading straight to the kitchen. Chatting with Yun Lan while eating, he finished breakfast before using the transport portal to reach Lin’s Inn in Qiufeng City.