Chapter 582: Jointly Building a Grand Restaurant

“Boss Ling, does this loss mean that Fenglin Restaurant has to bear half of it under any circumstances?” Dong Weilang asked.
“Of course not!” Ling Weifeng laughed. “If it’s Linji Inn that loses, each of us will share our own losses equally.”
Everyone fell silent, frowning as they weighed the pros and cons.
Ling Weifeng wasn’t in a hurry. He believed they would agree to his plan. With half the risk reduced, it meant they could at least retain half of their assets. As long as they didn’t go bankrupt, given the determination of the owners of these top restaurants, they surely wouldn’t miss this opportunity.
“Boss Ling, do you have any other demands?” asked Zhang Qinglin, the owner of Qinghui Restaurant.
“No!” Ling Weifeng replied firmly.
Everyone felt relieved. They had feared that Ling Weifeng might demand more benefits after taking on more risks. Fenglin Restaurant was already stronger than them, and if it got the biggest share from Linji Inn, the gap between them would widen significantly. It would be like driving away wolves only to raise a tiger in the backyard.
Fenglin Restaurant’s foundation was far beyond what Linji Inn could match. Moreover, with all these top restaurants already suffering heavy losses, even if they united, they might not be able to shake Fenglin Restaurant.
On the other hand, since Fenglin Restaurant wasn’t demanding more benefits, it meant it would receive the same share as these top restaurants from Linji Inn. Such benefits would be far less helpful to Fenglin Restaurant compared to those restaurants. In other words, the top restaurants could actually use this to narrow the gap with Fenglin Restaurant.
As for the benefits other branches of Fenglin Restaurant might gain, the owners of these top restaurants didn’t care. Those benefits wouldn’t threaten their own interests and could at most provide slight advantages to Fenglin Restaurant’s competitiveness in the capital.
In the capital, competition among top restaurants mainly revolved around top chefs. Dishes were always a restaurant’s greatest asset. While money could help to some extent, it wasn’t enough to bring a restaurant to the top tier.
For a top restaurant to acquire a top chef relied on luck—specifically, whether a genius in cooking would emerge among its apprentices.

If silver were used to recruit top chefs, perhaps one or two could be hired, but the associated risks would also be high. After all, no one can guarantee that such a top chef will remain loyal to their restaurant; few apprentices trained from a young age have such concerns.
“Boss Ling, when will we be able to calculate the losses?” Liu Dahua asked.
“We can calculate them whenever we want,” Ling Weifeng replied nonchalantly.
The others felt relieved, meaning they could leave at any time. Although leaving would still result in significant losses—though not total ruin, it wouldn’t be easy to emerge unscathed.
“Boss Ling, does Fenglin Restaurant bear any other responsibilities?” Yang Cheng’an, the owner of Yanxun Restaurant, suddenly asked.
“Yes! Although Fenglin Restaurant takes on half of the risk, it is extremely wealthy—its assets are dozens or even hundreds of times ours. In comparison, it’s we who find it harder to bear such a large risk.”
“That’s right. Fenglin Restaurant has a reason to fight tooth and nail with Linji Inn, but we don’t. In other words, we really don’t need to risk half of our wealth in a fight against them.”
“Boss Zhang is right. With our financial resources, we could become leaders in any industry in any region. Boss Ling must know that having an absolute advantage in terms of money means the chance of losing in any business is practically negligible. Why risk fighting to the death with Linji Inn?”
With Yang Cheng’an’s lead, everyone else chimed in in agreement. Their goal, undoubtedly, was to force Ling Weifeng to offer more in exchange for their continued cooperation.
Compared to Linji Inn, their alliance was currently at a disadvantage. But in negotiations with Fenglin Restaurant, they held absolute initiative.
At present, it was Fenglin Restaurant that was the most anxious.
“Is that so? Then let it be as if I never said anything!” Ling Weifeng suddenly stood up, bowed to Dong Weilang, and said, “There are still some miscellaneous matters to handle at the restaurant. I’ll take my leave first. You guys, continue the conversation.”
All of them were seasoned players; none spoke up to stop him. They were convinced they held the initiative, and no matter how Ling Weifeng tried to play hard to get, it wouldn’t work. They just needed to maintain their control.
With Ling Weifeng gone, everyone felt relieved, their worried expressions easing somewhat. After all, there was now a new opportunity—one that could prevent them from sinking deeper and at least allow them to retain half of their wealth.

As for Ling Weifeng, he left Dong’s Mansion as soon as he came out. After receiving the message from Dong’s Mansion’s servants, the others showed no signs of impatience. Everyone understood that Fenglin Restaurant had to make concessions to them. They also knew that Ling Weifeng was aware of this as well; such actions were merely meant to show his stance—that he wasn’t willing to give too much away. Negotiations involving large sums of money often took time to resolve, and it would be strange if everything were settled in just one day, unless Fenglin Restaurant was desperate enough to consider hanging itself. At present, Fenglin Restaurant hadn’t reached that extreme level of desperation. Of course, it wasn’t far from there. The longer things dragged on, the stronger Lin’s Inn would become. As everyone guessed, three days later, Ling Weifeng sent someone to invite them to Ling’s Mansion for a discussion. Now in the role of host, Ling Weifeng sat at the head of the hall. After exchanging a few polite words, he got straight to the point and asked about their demands. Their demands were varied, but their ultimate goal was the same: to make Fenglin Restaurant bear more risks without gaining greater benefits in return. This time, Ling Weifeng didn’t insist. After everyone presented their demands and some of those demands were reduced, he agreed to all of them. Roughly calculated, Fenglin Restaurant would end up bearing 60% of the risks. To everyone’s surprise, after agreeing to the terms, Ling Weifeng didn’t delve into the details of cooperation. Instead, he said, “Gentlemen, these past few days, I’ve thought carefully and realized that simply resisting isn’t a solution. We should take the initiative instead.” “Take the initiative?” The others were intrigued. They hadn’t been idle these past few days, constantly trying to figure out how to deal with Lin’s Inn, but to no avail. Ling Weifeng was known for his cunning and ruthlessness, so it wasn’t impossible that he had a way to counter Lin’s Inn. “Boss Ling, I wonder if you have any ideas on how we can take the initiative?” Liu Changman, the boss of Xingrong Restaurant and the most impatient among them, asked eagerly.

“Within three to five months, the appeal that Emperor Qianwei brings to Lin’s Inn is something that cannot be countered in any way. All we can do, and indeed must do, is resist. These three to five months will also be the toughest for us,” explained Ling Weifeng. “Once we get through this period, the high dividends from our share distribution, along with the growing appeal of accumulating more shares, will be enough to counter Emperor Qianwei’s influence. But I feel that’s not enough. After all, who can guarantee that Lin’s Inn won’t come up with some new trick to disrupt the balance once again?”
Everyone nodded in agreement; they already had a deep-seated fear of Lin’s Inn’s luck.
“So, we need to plan ahead. I, though unworthy, have come up with an idea,” Ling Weifeng continued. “I propose that we establish a new restaurant.”
“Establish a new restaurant?” Everyone was puzzled.
“Yes, the largest restaurant in the history of the Great Han Nation!” Ling Weifeng declared firmly.
There was an uproar among them, and they quickly understood Ling Weifeng’s intention.
Uniting everyone’s efforts to create one restaurant—true collaboration among the strongest.
“It sounds good, indeed exciting. But the problem is, if we build a new restaurant, just having a large scale isn’t enough; the top chefs from each restaurant also need to join. Wouldn’t that cause the existing top restaurants to collapse?” Wang Yuhuan, the owner of Gui Lai Restaurant, hesitated. “Moreover, such a large restaurant might easily attract suppression from the imperial court.”
“The top chefs from those restaurants will only be there temporarily. In other words, this new restaurant is meant solely to counter Lin’s Inn, and it will end as soon as Lin’s Inn is defeated. Given the current situation, the imperial court won’t pay much attention to a large restaurant. Even after a new emperor ascends the throne, he’ll be busy consolidating his power for several years, so there’s plenty of time.”
Everyone thought it over silently before nodding in agreement.
“Another issue is who will be in charge of this new restaurant,” Peng Kun, the owner of Qiu Wu Restaurant, stared intently at Ling Weifeng.
“It’s simple. Just like before, those who want to withdraw can do so, and our Feng Lin Restaurant will cover half of the costs,” Ling Weifeng said calmly. “As for making a decision, it must be approved by everyone.”
Everyone sighed in relief, though slightly disappointed. The first statement reinforced their option to back out, while the second ruled out the possibility of them seizing the rights of other top restaurants or being taken over by them.

If the newly established restaurant truly succeeds in defeating Lin’s Inn by combining the strengths of various establishments, it will become extremely sought-after. Although it’s only been a few years, the profits involved are absolutely astonishing. By then, if decisions aren’t made only with unanimous agreement but follow a majority rule, they can easily unite with other top restaurants to drive out a small number of them. After doing this several times, those remaining top restaurants will reap huge benefits. With Maple Forest Restaurant bearing 60% of the risks, everyone naturally hopes to take another chance to become part of the elite group that benefits. Unfortunately, this was rejected by Ling Weifeng. Of course, this rejection is reasonable—since Maple Forest Restaurant is taking such a huge risk, it certainly won’t allow other restaurants to grow stronger; continuing the discussion is pointless. Once the overall direction is set, the details follow. The owners of the top restaurants have already secured satisfactory benefits, so they won’t fuss over trivial gains. Thus, although there are many more details, they are also finalized quickly.