Chapter 13: Expanding Business

Bai Jingtai smiled bitterly. “Brother Lin, I’m sorry for letting you see Bai the Fat fail to teach his daughter properly.”
Since Bai Jingtai kept calling him “Brother Lin,” Lin Dong naturally had to follow suit. Shaking his head, he said with a smile, “Our friendship doesn’t need such formalities.”
“That’s true, that’s true…” Bai Jingtai nodded eagerly, his eyes squished into slits by the fat on his face as he laughed. “Come on, let’s have a drink. With your spirit array, Bai Qi will surely be able to enter the Gu Huan Sect. We must drink tonight.”
“Okay. There aren’t many seats downstairs, so let’s drink in Brother Bai’s room! I’ll go tell the kitchen to prepare food and drinks.”
Although Lin Dong also wanted to hurry back to train, he didn’t refuse. Bai Jingtai was a person worth befriending, and he understood the value of enhancing cultivation, so it was indeed worth building a relationship. After all, the inn would need a large amount of spirit stones in the future, and they could only rely on this brother.
After bringing the food and drinks upstairs, the two ate and chatted. Once they were slightly drunk, Lin Dong got up to take his leave.
Whether Bai Qi could enter the Gu Huan Sect was a huge matter for Bai Jingtai, so the favor Lin Dong owed him was considerable. Moreover, Lin Dong was his lifesaver, and the benefits brought by the spirit array would continue indefinitely. Naturally, Bai Jingtai wouldn’t be stingy. Seeing Lin Dong about to leave, he staggered and handed over the payment received this time—three silver bills worth ten thousand taels each.
Lin Dong immediately pushed the bills back without hesitation. The cultivation boost from the inn was of great importance, and if the news leaked, it could lead to immeasurable consequences. One reason he was willing to help Bai Jingtai was the scarcity and high price of spirit stones in the market. In the future, they would need a spirit stone merchant with connections to a major sect. But the bigger reason was his past friendship with Bai Jingtai.
For four or five years straight, Bai Jingtai had left his business behind every year to make the trip despite the hardships—such a bond was no small thing.
If Lin Dong really wanted to make money, a hundred spirit stones and a hundred taels of silver could activate the spirit array for forty days—a price that was simply laughable. He knew very well what it meant for Bai Qi to enter the Gu Huan Sect. Ten thousand taels of silver per month—whether to use it or not, could Bai Jingtai refuse?
When he went downstairs, the inn had already closed. In the lobby, Wang Liuze and the new apprentice were chatting. Most of the time, Wang Liuze boasted about how impressive he was in the two streets around, but with the apprentice’s occasional admiring glances, the two got along very well.
“Owner!”
Seeing Lin Dong come downstairs, the two stood up at once.

“Xiao Liu, arrange for someone to buy some tables and chairs tomorrow morning; add five more tables in the lobby.” Lin Dong didn’t want to waste time either. He sat down on the bench, took a sip of the tea the young servant had just poured, and gave orders: “Also, put a sign on the five tables at the back, stating that there’s a seating fee of one tael of silver per hour.”
“A seating fee?” Wang Liuze’s eyes widened, and the young servant was equally confused.
“It means that in addition to the food and drinks, an extra one tael of silver is charged per hour for sitting at these tables. If it’s less than an hour, it’s still counted as one hour,” Lin Dong explained.
“Boss, ordinary customers only spend a dozen or twenty wen for a meal. Even if there’s a whole table of people, it’s at most a few hundred wen. How could anyone pay one tael of silver just to sit for an hour?” Wang Liuze scratched his head. “Unless we don’t put up that sign. After the customers leave, I can go with my brothers and demand payment.”
“I’m not running a shady business. Just do as I say,” Lin Dong said firmly.
“Hmm!” Wang Liuze could only nod.
“Next, who will be in charge of collecting protection money from the small vendors tomorrow?”
“Slender Bamboo.”
“Okay. Tell Slender Bamboo that after collecting the protection money tomorrow, he should go to each shop owner and ask if they’d be willing to sell their shop and yard to me for two hundred taels per mu of land.”
“Buy land?” Wang Liuze was surprised. “Why does the boss want to buy land?”
“The business is doing well, and I plan to expand it. It’s not convenient to tear it down and rebuild, so I’ll buy some land. Once the new inn opens, we can close this one,” Lin Dong said with a smile.
“Oh!” Wang Liuze understood.
“Congratulations on your thriving business.”
The young servant quickly offered his congratulations, and Wang Liuze finally realized what was going on and joined in.
“After asking around and getting the figures, report them to me,” Lin Dong said.
Wang Liuze nodded. After thinking for a while, he hesitantly said, “For the shops, two hundred taels per mu seems reasonable. But two hundred taels per mu even for the yards? Isn’t that a bit high? Fifty taels per mu would be enough.”
“If the price isn’t high enough, no one will sell. Otherwise, when someone decides to sell their shop, who knows how long it will take.”
Wang Liuze knew exactly how much property Lin Ji Inn had. He didn’t believe Lin Dong could come up with such a large sum of silver. After hesitating for a moment, he said softly, “Boss, writing an IOU means you’ll always be held hostage if you don’t repay it. It’s not good to get sued at the county court. How about… I go with my brothers and try. Maybe it only costs a dozen or twenty taels per mu.”
Lin Dong couldn’t help but laugh silently and shook his head. “Don’t worry. I can get the silver.”

With a wealthy man like Bai Jingtai around, why would Lin Dong worry about money? As friends, it was only right to help his daughter train without demanding too much. It was also reasonable to borrow some money in times of need.
“Alright, I’ll go inform Slim Bamboo right away.”
Seeing Lin Dong’s firm tone, Wang Liuzhi could only nod.
After Wang Liuzhi left, Lin Dong turned to the new apprentice: “I still don’t know your name.”
“Master, my name is Liu Xiu,” the apprentice replied quickly.
“That name suits you. How old are you?” Lin Dong nodded. The apprentice had already washed up, and his face was indeed delicate and gentle.
“Thank you for the compliment, Master. I’m fourteen years old.”
“Fourteen?”
Comparing their heights, Liu Xiu was only slightly taller than Tianhao. He hadn’t expected him to be three years older. Lin Dong glanced at Liu Xiu in surprise. His face was fair and clean, and his skin could compete with that of a girl. Though thin-limbed, he didn’t seem like someone from a poor family suffering from malnutrition.
Seeing Lin Dong’s surprise, Liu Xiu’s expression darkened, and he was speechless for a moment.
Patting Liu Xiu’s shoulder, Lin Dong said with a smile, “Don’t worry. I remember a recipe for growing taller. I’ll write it down for you later. Give it to the chef and ask him to prepare meals for you according to the recipe. Just say it’s my instruction.”
“Really?” Liu Xiu said happily.
“Of course. As long as you keep exercising, you might not catch up with your peers, but you won’t be far behind either.” Lin Dong nodded with a smile.
“Thank you, Master!” Liu Xiu stood up, bowed deeply to Lin Dong, and said excitedly, “Liu Xiu swears that no matter what difficulties Master faces in the future, Liu Xiu will do his best.”
Lin Dong found this statement a bit strange but didn’t pay much attention. Smiling, he gestured for Liu Xiu to sit down before asking, “Who else is in your family?”
Liu Xiu calmed down and replied, suppressing his excitement, “My father and some siblings.”
Some? Lin Dong frowned. It seemed they were from a wealthy family! He had wanted to talk to Liu Xiu to see if he could keep this excellent apprentice at the inn forever. But now it seemed the difficulty was almost zero.
After all, a monthly salary of ten or twenty taels of silver might be unattainable for ordinary people, but it was nothing for the sons and daughters of wealthy families. Unless… Liu Xiu himself liked being an apprentice. The possibility was low, but not impossible.
“Since your family is in the capital, why did you come to a remote place like Xilan City?”

Liu Xiu hesitated for a moment before explaining, “My father values martial skills and tests our brothers’ abilities every year. Once we reach sixteen, he assigns us responsibilities based on our strength. I’m not very talented; at fourteen, my skill level is still at the first stage of the Lingdong phase… My master told me to leave the capital and head west to find someone noble who could help me, but then my money was stolen…”
“A noble? That sounds strange.”
Lin Dong didn’t finish his sentence, but Liu Xiu understood what he meant. He scratched his head and waved his hands awkwardly, trying to explain, “My master isn’t a charlatan; his divination skills are unmatched. He said that even if I met the best alchemist, it could only improve my strength, not my fate. Only a noble can change my fate.”
From his tone, it was clear Liu Xiu respected his master greatly, so Lin Dong didn’t know what else to say. Feeling slightly disappointed, he realized that Liu Xiu wasn’t just from a wealthy family—he must belong to a prominent clan. From what Liu Xiu said, it was evident the boy was focused solely on improving his strength and would likely not want to work as a servant.
It seems there’s no hope!
After hesitating, Lin Dong decided not to tell Liu Xiu about the “Spirit Array,” which could double the speed of spiritual energy circulation during cultivation. The inn’s other functions were fine—spreading word of them would only attract those with ulterior motives. With its defense system that could kick intruders and its defensive stats, the inn wasn’t too worried. But if word got out about the cultivation enhancement feature, it would surely attract top-tier experts. Given the inn’s level, its defensive stats wouldn’t even withstand a single punch from them.
Although Lin Dong liked Liu Xiu, he still wasn’t willing to take the risk of revealing the “Spirit Array.”
“Work here for now. I’ll have someone check if there are any merchants heading to the capital and take you along.”
“Thank you, owner.”
“Go to bed early!”