Chapter 422: Smoke Rising from the Seven Orifices

Lost in his reveries for a long time, Liang Gufeng finally came back to his senses, his smile becoming more natural. Yet after just a moment, he sensed something was amiss, though he couldn’t immediately figure out what it was. The staff were moving between the tables, toasting and chatting in a lively atmosphere—there seemed nothing wrong at all to Liang Gufeng’s eyes. Perhaps he was just too excited.

Liang Gufeng rubbed his head, opened the ledger, flipped through a few pages, and suddenly looked up toward the door. The door remained unchanged—the threshold was still there, the door frame was still there. The only thing that stood out was the several staff members standing at the door to greet guests. There were actually four of them!

Normally, Fenglin Restaurant would assign two staff members to the door to welcome guests, direct them to tables, and then return. Given the restaurant’s usual business volume, two staff members were sufficient; at most, one or two more would be added during peak times. Today, Liang Gufeng had assigned five staff members to the door at once. Since the restaurant’s business had grown increasingly busy, this number kept rising—by noon, it had reached eight.

To ensure tasks like serving food and cleaning weren’t neglected, Liang Gufeng had also ordered that those who worked hard enough would be rewarded with 100 coins each. He remembered that not long ago, the eight staff members responsible for greeting guests hardly had any downtime. At most, only three of them would stay behind, and even that number would soon decrease. Having four of them stay behind at once was clearly unusual.

Of course, though it was unusual, it wasn’t a major issue. Although it was still peak hour with the highest number of guests, it was normal to experience brief gaps in service. After all, it was common for customers meeting acquaintances outside to chat for a while. There were easily a dozen possible explanations.

Liang Gufeng flipped through the ledger. When his eyes started to ache, he raised his head again with a smile, instinctively glancing toward the door. Five of them!

“What’s going on?”

Liang Gufeng was quite surprised. He had thought it was just a temporary gap, but not only had it lasted for quite some time, but another staff member had even stayed behind. Standing up from his chair, he strode toward the door.

“Owner!”

The staff members quickly called out to him.

Liang Gufeng peeked outside and was stunned. Even the three staff members assigned to guide carriages to the back yard were all there, standing outside without missing a single one.

“Why are there so few customers?” Liang Gufeng couldn’t help but wonder.
“Maybe they went to watch the crowd!”
One of the staff members moved slightly toward the door and pointed in that direction.
Liang Gufeng followed his gaze and was shocked to see a large crowd gathered at the end of the street.
“What’s going on there?” Liang Gufeng asked.
“I heard from customers who came in that the people from Lin’s Inn are giving out Black Fiery Grass there,” the staff member explained.
“Giving out Black Fiery Grass?” Liang Gufeng was stunned.
“Yes, and it’s free,” the staff member said with envy in his eyes. He believed that the workers from Lin’s Inn who were responsible for distributing the grass must be very proud right now.
“Stand properly! Those who don’t stand properly can get lost—don’t even think about getting a single bit of Black Fiery Grass.”
Just thinking about saying such things made the staff member feel extremely domineering. His status must be no less than that of the officials in the county government office.
Different positions lead to different thoughts. Liang Gufeng had no time to wonder whether distributing Black Fiery Grass was impressive. He raised his voice several notches: “Are you saying Lin’s Inn is giving out Black Fiery Grass there?”
The staff member was startled by Liang Gufeng’s tone and stayed silent.
“Go and see what’s going on!” Liang Gufeng ordered.
The staff members nodded quickly and were about to act when Liang Gufeng spoke again, “I’ll go myself. You stay here and take care of the customers.”
With that, Liang Gufeng rushed toward the end of the street. He refused to believe that Lin’s Inn was giving out Black Fiery Grass for free at the end of the street just to target Maple Forest Tavern.
He strode quickly to the end of the street and pushed his way into the crowd, causing a small stir and some complaints. But Liang Gufeng ignored them, his mind fixed on Black Fiery Grass. His teeth clicked together as if he were chewing on something crunchy.
After sweating profusely to get into the crowd, Liang Gufeng was out of breath, as if he had run several kilometers in the heat of summer, leaving the onlookers around him astonished.
Sweating so much in the cold—what an intense curiosity! He really didn’t care about his safety when it came to joining the crowd.
“Um, sir, is Lin’s Inn giving out Black Fiery Grass for free?” Liang Gufeng grabbed a man in his thirties beside him, panting heavily.
The man shook off Liang Gufeng’s grip, turned his face away slightly.
Liang Gufeng then grabbed a woman behind him and asked, “Madam, is Lin’s Inn giving out Black Fiery Grass for free?”

The woman was furious. Seeing Liang Gufeng out of breath and dressed elegantly, and with some self-awareness, she realized he wasn’t trying to take advantage of her. It took her a great deal of effort to suppress her anger, but she ignored Liang Gufeng anyway.
Liang Gufeng, helpless, turned to a girl in her early twenties on the left.
The girl had clearly noticed his earlier actions. Before he could speak, she handed him a flyer: “Take a look yourself!”
Liang Gufeng quickly thanked her, took the flyer, and scanned it swiftly—almost spitting out blood.
Having dealt with accounts for years, he had developed a keen eye for details. So, despite the many things written on the flyer, he could grasp the gist at a glance and remember the key points.
The flyer was divided into two main parts. The first part explained the address and time for receiving the Black Fiery Grass, along with precautions. The second part described the process for obtaining it and the various punishments for causing disruptions.
What made Liang Gufeng nearly vomit blood was that the only location specified for distribution was here, with a daily limit of 1,500 plants. Only those infected with the Wet Worm Disease could receive them after passing inspections and registration.
This meant almost all the people in the city infected with Black Fiery Grass would gather here. With 1,500 plants per day, even if everything went smoothly from morning to afternoon, delaying things until evening was easy—whether through inspections, registration, or the actual distribution.
With everyone infected by the Wet Worm Disease here, who would dare to go to the Maple Forest Restaurant, seventy or eighty meters away, for a feast?
Although the disease could be treated, for the wealthy and ultra-wealthy, their lives were more important than anything. Who knew if there might be untreatable cases? Moreover, with tens of thousands or even more people gathered here from morning to night, who could guarantee there weren’t bandits among them?
In short, as long as Black Fiery Grass was distributed here every day, the Maple Forest Restaurant would suffer poor business.
Liang Gufeng glanced at the distribution time and felt furious—just over half an hour had passed, and the restaurant’s business was already severely affected. Once word spread, not only would no wealthy or ultra-wealthy clients come, but no one would even approach this street.
“Shopkeeper Liang…”
A voice called out. Liang Gufeng turned in that direction and instantly flew into a rage. Next to the wooden shed, Ma Chun was waving at him. And standing right beside him was Lin Dong.
Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in…

It took more than a dozen attempts before Liang Gufeng managed to suppress his urge to charge forward with raised fists and strode over instead.
“Manager Liang, long time no see! You still look so energetic—really admirable!” Ma Chun greeted him with a bow and a smile.
“Manager Lin, isn’t this what you’re doing wrong?” Liang Gufeng ignored Ma Chun and stared intently at Lin Dong.
Lin Dong stroked his chin, seemingly unaware of Liang Gufeng’s words, and leisurely watched the long queue that stretched for over a dozen sections.
“Everyone, come listen! Manager Liang from Fenglin Restaurant says it’s not right to give out Black Fiery Grass. He claims we’re all lowly people who disrupt their business, and that we deserve to die!” Ma Chun shouted loudly.
Instantly, countless gazes turned toward him, especially those in the queue, who glared angrily at Liang Gufeng. Curses and insults swept in within moments.
“No, no, that’s not what I meant! It’s a slander!” Liang Gufeng had never faced such public condemnation before and was terrified, frantically waving his hands to explain.
After the turmoil finally subsided, Liang Gufeng, like a deflated balloon, turned to Lin Dong and said, “Manager Lin, by doing this, you’ve offended not just Fenglin Restaurant but also all the shops on this street. None of them will be able to do business anymore.”
Lin Dong still kept his eyes fixed ahead, calmly observing the slowly moving queue.
Beside him, Ma Chun said nonchalantly, “We’ve already talked to the other shops. When they heard it was for the benefit of the people in the three western prefectures, they readily agreed to rent shops in nearby streets to reopen. Losses from lost business or high rental costs—well, they all suffer the same way. Since they do business with local residents anyway, they’re not afraid of losing too much. Even if we have to cover double the losses, it’s only three to five thousand taels a day, thirty to fifty thousand taels in ten days, three to five hundred thousand taels in a hundred days…”
Counting on his fingers, Ma Chun declared proudly, “It’s all for the people of the three western prefectures to get rid of the wetworm disease sooner. Our Lin’s Inn isn’t short of such money. By the way, Manager Liang, are you moving Fenglin Restaurant?”
“Manager Ma, do you dare offer Fenglin Restaurant double that amount as compensation?” Liang Gufeng finally stopped ignoring Ma Chun, filled with rage and hatred. To relocate a restaurant, one would need a restaurant of equal size; otherwise, it would have to be rebuilt.
Throughout Lingnan City, only the former Hongfu Restaurant could compare, but it had long been demolished and divided up among several wealthy families.

Moreover, although a restaurant sells food and drinks, its location and decoration are also crucial. If Lin Ji Inn really had to relocate and suffer double the losses, it would be more than the amount needed to compensate all the shops on the street.
Ma Chun said innocently, “Why should Fenglin Restaurant compensate?”
Liang Gufeng’s anger boiled over; he took deep breaths, in and out…
“Wait, you all wait. Lin Dong, Ma Chun, you won’t be able to act recklessly for long.”
Liang Gufeng rushed out of the crowd and headed straight for the county government office.