Chapter 540: Attracting Customers Outside the City

As the autumn wind brought decay and early winter set in, the fifteen top restaurants finally launched their third collaboration. Outside Yanxun Restaurant, customers flocked in endlessly, filling Yang Cheng’an with joy and delight. He bowed repeatedly, maintaining perfect posture and his warm, friendly smile.

The third collaboration among these fifteen top restaurants chose Yanxun Restaurant as its first stop for promotion. With antiques, paintings, and rare treasures, Yanxun Restaurant resembled a treasure vault. The King of Yicheng’s collectibles, the Grand Minister’s precious items, and the Qin Honghou family’s heirlooms—every painting hung on the walls and vase placed in the corners was invaluable, each with a fascinating history.

From the first to the third floor, Yanxun Restaurant, already luxuriously decorated, became even more priceless with these antiques and artworks. Even the most unassuming item was worth tens of thousands of taels, with some rare treasures exceeding a hundred thousand taels.

These items were borrowed jointly by the fifteen top restaurants to create a sensation. Not everyone might appreciate antiques or rare treasures, but with proper promotion, it could make the city’s wealthy consider it beneath them to overlook them.

On the first day of the campaign, Yanxun Restaurant’s business met exactly what the owners of the other top restaurants had expected. Its popularity ranked second only to the few days after Linji Inn introduced the Spirit Stone Fan four or five months earlier in over a hundred years. Calling Yanxun Restaurant’s business booming was an understatement. During lunch hours, queues formed, just like when Linji Inn launched the Spirit Stone Fan and VIP cards.

To borrow these rare treasures, the top restaurants invested heavily in silver and favors—this was just for one restaurant; the other fourteen spent equally much. Though this situation seemed to greatly affect Linji Inn, Lin Dong saw it as a good thing. With these top restaurants working together, his only concern was that they might wear Linji Inn down gradually.

Although Linji Inn’s cooking skills would improve over time, it would still take five to six years to gain a decisive advantage over these top restaurants. If things dragged on slowly, nothing would be accomplished. Even if they tried to build a customer base gradually, the strength of those top restaurants meant they could use subtle tactics to keep Linji Inn busy dealing with them.

Forced by this pressure, the top restaurants resorted to drastic measures and spent a fortune. Although the challenge was significant, Lin’s Inn wasn’t without ways to cope. As long as they could handle it, if those top restaurants wanted to come up with even more drastic tactics, it would take at least a month or two of discussion and preparation—just enough time for Lin’s Inn to cultivate regular customers. The more intense the tactics, the more time they had.

Regarding these recent pressures from the top restaurants, Lin Dong had no intention of retreating like he had before. The previous two times he retreated because, firstly, the threats weren’t severe enough, so Lin’s Inn wouldn’t suffer much regardless, and secondly, it was to lure those restaurants into underestimating them, prompting them to use costly tactics.

Now that his goal had been achieved, retreating further would mean by the time those fifteen top restaurants had finished their “glorious” campaign, Lin’s Inn would likely have very few customers left.

Of course, Lin Dong also didn’t plan to counterattack right away. If he attacked too early, the top restaurants wouldn’t suffer too much, and the losses could still be absorbed. More importantly, it wasn’t the right time—winter had just begun.

At the city gate in the north, with the cold wind blowing, Lin Dong and Ma Chun, along with a few employees, sat against the city wall, drawing strange looks from passersby.

Lin Dong paid no attention to these stares. At that moment, he had just swallowed a cultivation aid obtained from Tianfeng Street and was working hard to refine it.

Ma Chun and the other employees kept watching the main road, but after half an hour, there was no sign of movement from them—they seemed content to just watch the scenery.

Inside the city gate, General Wang Chengyi and the city guards in the north were also uneasy. Naturally, it was because of Lin Dong and the others sitting there in the northwest wind.

Wang Chengyi and the guards didn’t know Lin Dong, but they had all seen Ma Chun, the chief manager of Lin’s Inn!

When Lin Dong and the others first arrived, Wang Chengyi was still in his room drinking tea. After the guards brought him tea, they learned that the owner of Lin’s Inn was there as well, leaving them completely stunned. When someone was sent to inform Wang Chengyi, even he was taken aback. After all, the owner of Lin’s Inn was just a businessman. As a general with a fourth-rank official title and connected to wealthy elites in the capital, Wang Chengyi was respected by them, but in case of conflict, those elites would still yield to him. After all, Wang Chengyi wasn’t alone—he also had influential connections of his own.

In front of the owner of Lin’s Inn, he was forced to be stunned. This owner, Lin, who could be considered among the wealthiest in the capital given the scale of Lin’s Inn, not only had plenty of money but also had connections with Prince Qingliu. Once Prince Qingliu showed up, all the high-ranking officials and nobles had no choice but to bow their heads. Wang Chengyi, who was used to grandeur, naturally assumed Lin Dong must be equally extravagant. Seeing that Lin Dong refused their offers of tea and water and treated them politely, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. If he offended Owner Lin through improper treatment and Prince Qingliu complained about it, although a fourth-rank official was a high position, in the capital even a prefect would have to address him respectfully as “sir.” But in front of Prince Qingliu, such a person could lose his head with just a few words. To be safe, Wang Chengyi had to be extremely cautious. Since no one accepted their offers and they said they were going out of the city to recruit customers, he had no choice but to stand at the city gate in the cold wind with the city guards. “A convoy is coming!” Suddenly, one of the workers shouted. The spiritual energy rushing through Lin Dong’s meridians quickly retreated to his dantian. When he opened his eyes, he saw a long line of flat-bottomed carriages carrying large wooden boxes slowly approaching on the road. At first glance, the long queue consisted of over a hundred carriages. The wooden boxes behind each carriage were piled high, and Lin Dong roughly estimated that the total cargo volume was no less than a thousand cubic meters. If they wanted to store it, they would need to rent the largest possible yard, otherwise, it wouldn’t fit. If they could close this deal, it would definitely be a great start for business. Lin Dong and Ma Chun stood up together to greet the carriages, with the workers following closely behind. “Stop! Who are you?” The guards of the convoy immediately shouted when they saw people approaching. “I’m the manager of Lin’s Inn, and this is our owner. Please forgive our rudeness,” Ma Chun said with a smile. “Rest assured, the city gate is right ahead. We have no ill intentions; we just wanted to ask if you need accommodation.” “No need!” The guard captain, in his early forties, waved his hand immediately upon hearing this. Along the way, they had rented private yards and had never stayed in an inn before.

“Look at you, all tired from the journey. You must have come a long way, right? Having made it to the capital safely, you definitely need to rest well.” Ma Chun certainly wouldn’t give up just because of the guard captain’s words. He immediately said with a smile, “Our Lin’s Inn is the largest inn in the capital. I can guarantee that our accommodation is second to none, not only in the capital but also throughout the Han Empire. Our staff are all very friendly, and our chefs can compete with the best restaurants in the capital. You can verify this by asking anyone once you enter the city.”

“Besides that, our Lin’s Inn also has many warehouses, which can fully ensure the safety of your goods. All you need to do is assign one or two guards to watch over them. You guys have worked hard on this journey and deserve some reward.”

The guard captain hesitated for a moment. Whether considering himself or the entire guard team, every word Ma Chun said struck at their weaknesses. They had come from a remote county town, enduring hardships along the way. They set out in early spring and took over half a year to reach the capital. Now that their mission was complete, it was indeed time to relax. Moreover, if it was really as good as he claimed, the owner would likely not object. They were all martial artists, and even they found it hard to resist staying in a good place, let alone the owner who was used to a comfortable life.

“Wait a moment, I’ll go ask.”

The guard captain didn’t hesitate too long and immediately went back to one of the carriages in the middle of the convoy.

Soon, a thin middle-aged man dressed in fine clothes followed the guard captain over.

“Are you the owners of this inn?” The middle-aged man glanced at everyone, his gaze stopping on Lin Dong, who was dressed the best.

“I’m Ma Chun, the manager of Lin’s Inn,” Ma Chun said. From the man’s attitude and clothing, he immediately deduced that he was the owner of these goods. He smiled and said, “We…”

“I didn’t ask you to speak,” the middle-aged man replied. He was one of the wealthiest men in the county town. Although he knew that the capital was under the emperor’s rule and that even a random passerby might have connections, he still didn’t take an inn seriously. He immediately became dissatisfied with Lin Dong.

A manager was clearly not on par with his status. Even if it were the owner, unless it was someone important, they wouldn’t have the right to speak to him in that manner.

Running an inn meant dealing with difficult customers frequently. Even Lin Dong, who wasn’t very involved in management, often encountered such situations, so he didn’t pay much attention. He immediately said, “I’m Lin Dong, the owner of Lin’s Inn. May I ask how you’d like to be addressed?”

“My surname is Yang. Tell me why I should stay at your inn!” the middle-aged man said coldly.

“Our Lin’s Inn is the largest inn in the capital…” Lin Dong wasn’t as eloquent as Ma Chun, but that didn’t stop him from repeating Ma Chun’s previous introduction. After Lin Dong finished speaking, the middle-aged man didn’t ask about the price either; he simply nodded and waved, saying, “Brother Liu, tell the convoy to keep moving forward.” The head of the guard team was overjoyed and immediately ordered his guards to tell the drivers to proceed. “You go ahead and lead the way!” The middle-aged man waved at Lin Dong. Though he wasn’t entirely satisfied with Lin Dong’s decision to send an administrator to handle the matter, Lin Dong’s introduction had indeed piqued his interest. As the head of the guard team had expected, he preferred to find a place with better lodging conditions to rest. He had had enough of sleeping outdoors and staying in people’s homes along the way. “Please!” Lin Dong had originally intended to send a clerk to lead the way, but given the customer’s request, he had no choice but to comply. The middle-aged man adjusted his silk robe, saw that the city gate was not far away, felt the weight of his money bag at his waist, and didn’t return to the carriage. Instead, he followed Lin Dong and the others at a brisk pace toward the city gate.