Chapter 559: Sowing Discord

Lin Dong paid no attention to the owners of the fifteen top restaurants—neither friendly nor cold. Regardless of whether those people were focusing on him or not, after giving a brief bow as an introduction, he went alone and sat down at the empty seat at the head of the table.

On the way there, Lin Dong had already decided to make the owners of these top restaurants suffer a setback. If he were too cold, even pushing back aggressively and infuriating them, it would only hasten their decision to unite for the fourth time. If he showed weakness, it would make them arrogant and convinced that they could take down Lin’s Inn without using their newly devised plan, causing them to abandon it.

What Lin Dong hoped most was for cooperation from the fifteen top restaurants—no petty squabbles, but rather waiting until Lin’s Inn had stabilized for a while before launching a major attack. This way, Lin’s Inn would have time to grow gradually while dealing a devastating blow to all fifteen top restaurants at once.

Of course, this was what Lin Dong hoped for. Whether the restaurants would cooperate depended on him guiding them as best he could, as he had no real say. The decision lay with the restaurant industry giants present.

Lin Dong had his plans, and so did these industry giants. Their attitudes were also pretentious. To become wealthy, one must be adaptable and cunning—always hiding knives behind smiles. There was a reason they acted like lords in Lin’s Inn’s territory, in front of its owner.

Firstly, the owners of the fifteen top restaurants indeed looked down on Lin Dong, the manager of Lin’s Inn, which was why they could act so arrogantly. Secondly, and more importantly, they had already agreed among themselves to intimidate and scare this Lin Dong into rushing to cooperate with their restaurants, rather than having the restaurants expend huge efforts to strike at Lin’s Inn.

To achieve this, an arrogant attitude was undoubtedly crucial—a common tactic used to gain the upper hand in negotiations.

“Manager, this is Boss Ling, the owner of Fenglin Restaurant! This is Boss Yang, the owner of Yanshen Restaurant, and this is Boss Liu, the owner of Haoye Restaurant…” Ma Chun introduced them to Lin Dong one by one.

Lin Dong nodded to each of them, but those whose names were called continued chatting with the others nearby, occasionally laughing as if discussing something delightful. Looking around the table, not a single person gave Lin Dong, the manager of Lin’s Inn and host of this banquet, a proper glance.

Lin Dong remained calm, while Ma Chun, though upset, suppressed his displeasure and introduced each person to Lin Dong one by one. Before long, all the people in the group had been introduced. Ma Chun poured a glass of wine for Lin Dong, deliberately ignoring the empty glasses of the fifteen top restaurant owners.

“Manager Ma, what do you think of what just happened?” Liu Dahua, the owner of Qianye Restaurant, pretended not to notice Ma Chun’s actions and smiled at him.

“What happened?” Ma Chun asked, puzzled.

“Well…” Liu Dahua deliberately glanced at Lin Dong, then pretended to have some difficulty expressing himself.

The owners of the top restaurants casually watched, their gazes shifting between Lin Dong and Ma Chun. How could they not see Ma Chun’s attitude? Although he pretended not to notice and acted as if he didn’t intend to drink, being ignored by a manager naturally made him angry. But their anger wasn’t as strong as Liu Dahua’s.

Liu Dahua was the most irritable among the owners of the top restaurants. While others could hold back, he couldn’t. Of course, this wasn’t because he really had a question for Ma Chun earlier—it was a deliberate move to create trouble for him.

The owners of the top restaurants could see Liu Dahua’s intentions. After all, Lin Dong wasn’t as incompetent as they thought; it wasn’t hard to tell that Liu Dahua was deliberately sowing discord.

In response, Lin Dong naturally had to play along. He turned and gave Ma Chun a deep look before pretending nothing had happened and downed the wine in his glass in one gulp.

Though his attitude was subtle, the owners of the top restaurants had perceptive hearts. Their ability to read situations might not be as good as Ma Chun’s, nor even that of their own famous employees, but it wasn’t difficult to detect Lin Dong’s attitude.

One by one, they became interested, their eyes filled with meaningful smiles. They naturally hoped this would continue, and some even began to consider how much they could offer to recruit Ma Chun to their own restaurants once Ma Chun was driven out of Linji Inn by Lin Dong, or once Lin Dong grew suspicious of him, became cold, and lost trust, causing Ma Chun to lose heart and consider leaving.

Linji Inn had become increasingly famous. Ordinary people might think Lin Dong, the inn’s owner, deserved the most credit, but they believed that without Manager Ma, Lin Dong would be like a headless fly—no matter how lucky he was, he wouldn’t be able to manage and coordinate Linji Inn.

With this manager, the strength of one’s own restaurant would surely increase significantly—this was the consensus among all top restaurant owners except Ling Weifeng. As for Ling Weifeng, he was well aware that one of the main reasons Lin Ji Inn had become what it is today was Lin Dong’s ability to provide numerous impressive resources, and the manager Lin’s own capabilities were also key factors.

Ma Chun had indeed made significant contributions to Lin Ji Inn—managing the staff, serving and training regular customers, ensuring the inn’s smooth operation… but the real leader was Lin Dong. Having Ma Chun might improve the business of top restaurants to some extent, but it wouldn’t provide much help in competing with them.

Although everyone recognized Ma Chun’s importance, there were still significant differences. The most obvious difference was that if Ma Chun wanted to switch to Fenglin Restaurant, Ling Weifeng would offer 10,000 taels of silver per month. In contrast, the owners of top restaurants were willing to pay a sky-high price of 50,000 taels.

Originally, no one had set their sights on Ma Chun. After all, the apparent leader of Lin Ji Inn was Ma Chun himself. Just based on that, they felt inferior—reaching that position required Lin Dong to have absolute trust in Ma Chun.

Liu Dahua had only tried to avenge himself by creating some obstacles for Ma Chun, but Lin Dong’s attitude suddenly made everyone realize that this manager wasn’t entirely trusting Ma Chun either; it was merely because he lacked the ability to do so otherwise.

In the private room, everyone was restless. Ma Chun almost laughed himself sick. Fortunately, he was a skilled actor, far better than anyone else at pretending and changing expressions at will.

Immediately, Ma Chun’s eyes showed a hint of panic as he looked at Lin Dong, hesitating to speak: “Boss…”

“That’s enough. Pretending any longer would be excessive,” Lin Dong said with a smile, shaking his head. “Serve the drinks for the owners. Guests are welcome—don’t neglect them.”

Ma Chun nodded quickly, picked up the wine pot, and began serving one by one.

Everyone felt slightly disappointed but understood after thinking about it. After all, this manager Lin was a man of wide experience—having managed to build relationships even with the King of Clean Streams. He surely wasn’t lacking in wisdom or judgment. He must realize now wasn’t the time to doubt Ma Chun; otherwise, it would only serve as fodder for ridicule and give the owners of top restaurants an opportunity to poach him.

It was fine if there were lingering doubts—later, they could stir up more conflict, ensuring Lin Dong’s distrust of Ma Chun grew even greater.

For a moment, the privacy in the private room was restored to some extent. After Ma Chun finished pouring the drinks in turn, Lin Dong raised his cup, stood up, and said, “All of you are my seniors. It’s an honor for Lin’s Inn to have you here today. I toast to all of you.” These words acted like a catalyst, instantly filling the once quiet room with chatter again. The owners of the top restaurants remained seated motionless, grouping together to talk, as if they hadn’t seen Lin Dong stand up to toast or heard his words, focusing instead on their own conversations. The only reaction was that they raised their right hands slightly toward Lin Dong before drinking their drinks in one gulp. Without this reaction, one could have blamed Lin Dong’s soft voice for being unheard; but with it, the attitude of the restaurant owners became clear. I’m simply showing disdain for you, Manager Lin. It’s true that hosts should be polite to guests, and guests should be even more polite—but it depends on the person. Manager Lin doesn’t deserve such courtesy from the owners of top restaurants. Lin Dong’s strategy was to remain indifferent—pressuring down on the arrogant owners when they became overconfident and cooling them down when they were too enthusiastic. Now that their arrogance had soared, he naturally wouldn’t be polite anymore. He gave Ma Chun a glance, and after Ma Chun filled his cup, he picked up his chopsticks, took a beef ball from the plate in front of him, and began chewing it slowly. “Mm, not bad, though a bit extravagant,” Lin Dong said casually. “I understand. I’ll be more careful next time,” Ma Chun nodded. Lin Dong nodded in return. These words immediately caused dissatisfaction among the others. “Manager Lin, Lin’s Inn’s way of treating guests is truly extraordinary,” Liu Dahua was the first to express his displeasure, his face showing a clear sneer. “Uninvited guests? Are those guests?” Ma Chun still seemed upset about what had happened earlier. Before Lin Dong could speak, he rushed to show his loyalty. This attitude made everyone eager to bring Ma Chun to their own restaurants. His willingness to show loyalty clearly indicated that even Ma Chun was starting to harbor resentment toward Lin Dong, and that Lin Dong also had his own grievances. This was good news, showing that there was potential in this situation.

In an instant, everyone’s anger subsided. Even Liu Dahua wasn’t angered by Ma Chun’s further provocation; instead, he smiled generously. Not only did he stop setting obstacles for Ma Chun, but his smile also carried a hint of apology. This hint of apology was meant for Ma Chun as well as for Lin Dong. If Ma Chun saw it, he would think Liu Dahua was a magnanimous person and surely develop a good impression of him, which would undoubtedly help in bringing Ma Chun back to their restaurant in the future. If Lin Dong saw it, he would undoubtedly grow even more suspicious. Why treat the legitimate owner with sarcasm while being friendly to a manager? There must be some ulterior motive. Liu Dahua felt that this expression of his served a dual purpose.