Chapter 473: Returning with a Full Load

“A top-notch chef?”
Ma Chun couldn’t help but scrutinize Li Xun several times. Setting aside those eyes that gave people chills when seen at night, this man looked nothing like a chef. How could one believe he was a top-notch chef? At least, being so thin and dressed in such rags, it was doubtful he even ate meat regularly, let alone worked with it daily.
“Don’t believe it?” Lin Dong asked with a smile.
“How could Ma Chun not believe what the owner says?”
Ma Chun reconsidered Li Xun. The owner wouldn’t joke like this—undoubtedly, this man was indeed a top-notch chef. Remembering his own doubts, Ma Chun immediately bowed to Li Xun. “I’m Ma Chun, the manager of Lin’s Inn. My words earlier were offensive; please forgive me, brother.”
Li Xun stared straight ahead, not even blinking, let alone paying attention to Ma Chun’s words.
Ma Chun frowned and stood up, about to apologize further, when Lin Dong smiled and raised his hand to stop him. “Don’t worry. He’s not angry; he’s just used to ignoring people. One reason I called you here is because of Li Xun.”
“He…” Ma Chun hesitated. Judging by his attitude, he didn’t seem arrogant. If he was indifferent to others, it was probably just his personality. Having such a person in the inn, despite being a top-notch chef, could easily ruin the kitchen’s atmosphere. Though the downside was far less severe compared to having a top chef, it still couldn’t be ignored.
Lin Dong had intended to gather everyone to explain Li Xun’s situation, but since Ma Chun had asked, he decided to explain everything in detail. Learning that Li Xun was indifferent because he had worked as a servant since childhood, Ma Chun felt relieved. Even though Li Xun seemed like a troublemaker, Ma Chun still felt some sympathy for his plight.
“As for Li Xun, after closing time, take him and arrange a place for him to stay. From now on, try to talk to him. Take him to try eating, drinking, gambling, and whatever else—see if you can make him more cheerful.” Lin Dong didn’t like people who only came in and never left. Li Xun’s contribution to the inn was immeasurable, and given his loyalty, the only thing Lin Dong could do was find ways to make him a bit happier, at least to teach him to enjoy life a little. Otherwise, living would be too meaningless.
“Don’t worry, owner. I’ll talk to Li Xun from time to time. If I’m free, I’ll take him to eat, drink, gamble…” Ma Chun chuckled. He already had a strong interest in these things, so following orders would only make him happier.

“Just give it a try. Don’t use Li Xun as a shield to satisfy your own desires, even at the cost of losing business at the inn. We need to find something that interests Li Xun and start from there.” Seeing Ma Chun’s lecherous expression, Lin Dong couldn’t help but tap him lightly.
“Understood!” Ma Chun nodded eagerly.
“Another thing—on Tianfeng Street, I found a type of spirit material called Snow Red Grass, suitable for the seventh stage of cultivation. Its effects are quite good, but it needs to be fully processed within three days.” Although Ma Chun was under thirty, Lin Dong knew well about his self-control. After tapping him, he changed the subject: “I’ve already started planting it at the inn. Assign someone to harvest it. After harvesting, give me the seeds, and count the Snow Red Grass. Then distribute them at a rate of one plant per five people. I’ll ask Old Master Ding and Senior Feng to help process them.”
Ma Chun nodded happily. Having more spirit materials for cultivation would undoubtedly boost the inn’s overall strength. Even he now had the power of the second level of the Mental State phase, thanks to spending most of his time managing the business. Though not as strong as those guards who reached the fourth or fifth level of the Mental State phase, Ma Chun believed that if he returned to Southwest County, he could become one of the few top experts—even if not invincible. Back when he was just a scoundrel, such people were like unattainable giants to him.
“Also, send someone to Tianfeng Street early tomorrow morning. Try to buy someLegendary Bird.” Before Ma Chun could ask, Lin Dong explained, “Legendary Bird is a low-level spirit bird. It’s about the size of a horse foal, but it can carry a person and fly much faster than a thousand-mile horse. More importantly, once tamed, it becomes very obedient and gentle. Buy as many as possible and bring them back to train at each branch. Remember, keep it a secret—the more hidden, the better.”
“Boss, with this trip of yours, even saying you’ll return with a full load seems insufficient!” Ma Chun was amazed. As the manager of Lin’s Inn, he knew very well the uses of theLegendary Bird Lin Dong had mentioned.
With theLegendary Bird, Lin’s Inn would no longer face the problem of being too far away for many wealthy families and tycoons. Combined with Lin’s Gym, Lin’s Amusement Park, and the Tianpeng Birds, its geographical disadvantages would be completely eliminated. In fact, it could even take down all the local tycoons in the Great Han Country.

“Finally, there’s the matter of opening a shop on Tianfeng Street,” Lin Dong continued. “The disciples of the Tianjian Sect in Tianfeng Street say that the street is filled with major sects. Among these three or four hundred major sects, one or two encounter various problems every year, leaving them without enough deterrence to prevent the shops from being raided by forces from the capital city. As a result, they have to temporarily move their shops elsewhere. Send a few people to Tianfeng Street to keep an eye out and find out which shop is having issues, then report back promptly.”
Ma Chun nodded. “I’ll arrange it later.”
Since everything that needed to be discussed had been covered, Lin Dong asked, “How’s the inn these days?”
“The business is pretty good. However, the day before yesterday, news came from Lingnan Commandery saying that the Hua family is demanding Huwa Wuyue from the inn.” Ma Chun said helplessly, “Although things were temporarily calmed down by claiming that Huwa Wuyue and the innkeeper went out on business, if this continues, conflicts are likely to arise.”
This had always been a headache for Lin Dong when he was in Lingnan Commandery. But ever since he resolved the issue of Huwa Qian’s shrinking dantian, he felt relieved.
Huwa Qian had natural talent, and with Lin Dong providing him with high-grade spiritual materials for cultivation, by the time Lin Dong left Lingnan City, his strength had already reached the first level of the Mind Phase. Now, with hard work in cultivation, he should have the strength of the third level of the Mind Phase.
The third level of the Mind Phase was slightly weaker than Huwa Wuyue’s strength at the fourth level initially. But the key point was that Huwa Qian was only a dozen years younger, and overall, he had only been cultivating for about a year.
To progress rapidly from the first level of the Heart Movement Phase to the third level of the Mind Phase in just about a year, Lin Dong believed that as long as Huwa Qian acted stubbornly and forced the Hua family to choose between him and Huwa Wuyue, no matter how displeased the Hua family was with Huwa Qian’s attitude, they would ultimately choose him. Otherwise, not only would they lose a peerless genius, but there was also a risk that this rejected genius might hold grudges. For a family, that would be a disaster.
To resolve things peacefully, all that was needed was for Huwa Wuyue to voluntarily step down and let Huwa Qian show off his talent at the right time. In total, Lin Dong could come up with more than a dozen solutions. All of this was because his cheap disciple, Huwa Qian, was a member of the Hua family.

“You just need to tell Hua Wuqian about this and see what he does. Remember to tell Niu Hong and Liang Ru not to come up with any ideas, especially Liang Ru.” When Ma Chun asked, Lin Dong thought of testing his cheap apprentice. After all, even a cheap apprentice was still an apprentice, and from time to time, the master needed to show his presence in front of them. Otherwise, wasting all those high-grade cultivation materials would be a huge loss—after all, those materials were grown using tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of spirit stones.

Ma Chun nodded, thought for a moment, and continued, “Also, the owner of Wanxian Tower, Lou Wanxian, came to the inn the day before yesterday.”

“What did she want?” Lin Dong was surprised.

“She said she wanted to cooperate with our inn. Wanxian Tower would list several of their signature dishes at cost price in our inn. Whenever someone in our inn orders them, Wanxian Tower would immediately have their chefs prepare them and have staff deliver them. In addition, they’d pay me 30,000 taels of silver per month,” Ma Chun explained.

“What do we get from Wanxian Tower?” Lin Dong asked.

Ma Chun explained, “Besides Wanxian Tower being able to accumulate points on their VIP cards for meals and drinks, and purchasing our spirit stone fans and other items at cost price for their clients, our inn’s two signature dishes also need to be listed at cost price in Wanxian Tower. If anyone there orders those two dishes, Lin’s Inn must deliver them first.”

“It does seem reasonable. The problem is…” Lin Dong frowned slightly. When he first arrived in the capital, he had already heard of Wanxian Tower’s reputation. Nobles and officials who dared to ignore the rule that officials couldn’t enter brothels and went straight to Wanxian Tower must have had quite powerful backers.

“I know what the owner is worried about. He’s already refused,” Ma Chun said helplessly.

Lin Dong nodded and asked, “What was Lou Wanxian’s attitude?”

“Very calm and polite!” Ma Chun said with a wry smile.

Lin Dong also smiled wryly. For Lin’s Inn to enter the capital, its first opponent could hardly be a brothel.

The nobles and elites had such confidence in the backing of Wanxian Tower that they dared to openly ignore even the laws of the Great Han Kingdom. Although there was also Emperor Qianwei behind Lin’s Inn, to be honest, Lin Dong still didn’t want to provoke Wanxian Tower. Even if Emperor Qianwei intervened, given the backing Wanxian Tower had, which allowed it to ignore laws, it might appear to back down on the surface, but behind the scenes, it was possible they would still create obstacles for Lin’s Inn. Wanxian Tower was quite powerful, and if a conflict arose, it would significantly impact Lin’s Inn’s plans to establish itself in the capital. More importantly, there wasn’t much conflict of interest between Wanxian Tower and Lin’s Inn.

One was a brothel mainly focused on prostitution, while the other was an inn offering lodging and meals. Although there were some conflicts, there were also benefits in attracting customers from each other. There was no need to fight.

Unfortunately, the terms of cooperation offered by Wanxian Tower were unacceptable to Lin Dong. VIP cards, spirit stone fans, and two signature dishes were Lin’s Inn’s main advantages in attracting customers. If these were given to Wanxian Tower, it would surely have a significant impact on Lin’s Inn’s business. In the short term, purely in terms of benefits, Wanxian Tower’s signature dishes and 30,000 taels of silver per month did seem reasonable. But in the long run, Lin’s Inn still needed VIP cards for things like spirit stone heaters and many other offerings. Wanxian Tower’s signature dishes were insignificant, and 30,000 taels of silver was even negligible.

Moreover, cooperating with Wanxian Tower would affect its reputation. After all, a brothel wasn’t something one could casually mention.