Chapter 30: Trouble Comes Knocking

Lou Wanzhang’s slightly askew mouth stretched into a shriveled trumpet-like smile as he grinned at Lin Dong, then glared at Lou Wentang and waved his right hand impatiently. “Go, go—go organize things at the counter.”

Lou Wentang’s gaze froze for a moment before he nodded and offered Lin Dong an apologetic smile before heading to the counter. “You must be Young Master Lin, right? A 70% discount is no problem. I’m the manager here. Do you run a restaurant or are you purchasing for some family?” Lou Wanzhang had a decent appearance, but his crooked smile looked extremely ugly.

“I run an inn!” Lin Dong replied calmly.

“Then you must be running a large inn in Lingnan Commandery. I never expected such a capable young man like you at such a young age.” Lou Wanzhang clicked his tongue. Seeing Lin Dong’s unchanged expression, he immediately realized it was because he had been too cold earlier, making Lin Dong uncomfortable. He then patted his chest and said, “If you need it regularly, we can deliver it to your door, and we’ll even give you seven large wine jars with a capacity of a thousand jin each.”

Lin Dong was slightly surprised—delivery plus large wine jars? This young master was indeed a spendthrift! If he could get Lou Wentang to agree to a 70% discount through negotiation, he would already be satisfied. Unexpectedly, this young master offered two perks right from the start.

He had no idea that the Lou family had strict discipline. Although Lou Wanzhang was the eldest son, he was tightly controlled. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have resorted to reading pornographic books instead of enjoying himself in brothels. If Lou Wanzhang wanted more freedom, he had to prove he could be independent.

Being able to bring in a major client for the winery was certainly a significant achievement.

If it were a regular customer, even if they were a major client, Young Master Lou would still ignore them—it had nothing to do with him.

Seeing Lin Dong remain silent, Lou Wanzhang grew anxious. He quickly thought of a plan and said with a widening smile, “If you’re still not satisfied, let me make a decision—Thirty Years Agedthyme will also be sold to you at a 70% discount.”

“Brother…” Inside the counter, Lou Wentang grew anxious. The wine jars and shipping costs were already high. With a lower price for Thirty Years Agedthyme, there would be no profit left.

“What’s the problem?” Lou Wanzhang glanced at him sideways. “Young Master Lin is a major client of our wine shop, and this is his first time here. Of course, we should give him a discount.”

Lin Dong shook his head silently, tired of listening to Lou Wanzhang’s wastefulness. He walked straight to the counter, flipped his wrist, and slowly laid out golden ingots one by one. Counting them carefully, there were no less than ten taels.

“Thirty Years Agedthyme will still be at the original price. Just two hundred jin capacity is enough for the wine jars. As for delivery… since the inn is in Xilan City, it shouldn’t cost much in labor, right?”

Lou Wentang was stunned. It was the first time he had encountered a customer voluntarily giving up the convenience of delivery.
“This is a deposit. The rest can be settled daily or monthly after exceeding the deposit amount.”
“Huh?” Lou Wentang was still a bit dazed.
“Give me an invoice! For a 30-year contract, I can deliver everything for free. For the rest, I’ll deliver 200 jin of each type at first—too much won’t fit in my inn,” Lin Dong explained. The reason he gave up this advantage lay with Lou Wanzhang.
He wasn’t confident about this young master. It was good to save money, after all, a considerable amount of thyme was needed every month. But who knew if this kid might dilute the wine to make more profit?
If that happened, it was better to spend a bit more to ensure quality.
Lou Wentang finally snapped out of it. He took out pen and ink and said cheerfully, “I wonder where Young Master Lin’s inn is?”
“It’s on Shi Bei Street, Lin’s Inn.”
“Hmm, I’ll deliver it this afternoon.” Lou Wentang felt a bit relieved. Shi Bei Street wasn’t too far from Shi Li Street, so the shipping cost wouldn’t be high. If it were indeed the Lingnan Commandery as Lou Wanzhang guessed, just the shipping and labor costs would amount to several taels of silver.
Later, Lou Wanzhang grew impatient and stepped forward quickly. “Young Master Lin, shall I write the invoice for you?”
“No need,” Lin Dong said calmly, looking at Lou Wentang. “I hope the wine delivered to your inn is always of top quality.”
“Don’t worry, Young Master Lin. I’ll issue the invoice, and I’m the one in charge. I guarantee it will be the finest thyme,” Lou Wentang said seriously, holding the invoice in front of Lin Dong. “Our Lou’s Winery has a history of over a hundred years. If we ever resorted to substandard products or adulteration, we would have closed long ago.”
“Alright, then I’ll head back to the inn.” Taking the invoice, Lin Dong smiled and didn’t even glance at Lou Wanzhang, whose face was red with anger, before walking out of the inn.
“Needing so much wine for an inn—you’re not going to lose money, are you?” Lou Wanzhang muttered resentfully as he watched Lin Dong’s retreating figure. His gaze toward Lou Wentang was filled with even more hatred. He had rarely gotten a chance to show himself in front of that old man, and now that kid had taken it all away.
In the distance, the workers were also filled with regret.
After leaving Lou’s Winery, Lin Dong visited an antique shop, bought about a hundred spirit stones, before returning to the inn.
Less than fifty weeks later, after returning to his room to cultivate, Lou’s Winery sent someone to deliver the wine. Leading the group was Lou Wentang, along with three other workers.

The inn didn’t have a cellar, so all the wine jars and vats were placed in the kitchen. The existing liquor was moved out to make space, and Lou Wentang led his men to get to work. Lin Dong also called Thin Bamboo Pole over and instructed him about the wine prices.

His goal in selling wine was to attract customers and gain more experience points, so the prices wouldn’t be set too high. The prices for the seven different age groups were double the cost price.

The one-year-old thyme, enhanced by the Wine King formula, had a color, aroma, and taste comparable to that of three-year-old thyme. Selling it at such a low price meant customers would flock there in large numbers.

With that, it would be hard not to fill the main hall. Although it was a bit of a trick, Lin Dong believed it should be considered a promotional tactic rather than cheating.

He opened the inn’s system, retrieved the Wine King formula, and set all seven wine jars with a capacity of 200 jin to double the color, aroma, and taste enhancements before returning to his room to practice.

Knock, knock, knock…

Having only been in charge for a day, Lin Dong heard urgent knocking at the door. When he opened it, it was Thin Bamboo Pole.

“Boss, someone’s trying to eat for free! The whole main hall has been destroyed, and Sixth Brother and the others were injured while trying to argue with them.”

“Go take a look!” Lin Dong’s heart sank. Wang Liuze had returned from Autumn Wind City the previous night. If even he and his gang of hooligans couldn’t handle this, it likely meant they had encountered a trained fighter.

The two rushed to the main hall and saw utter chaos. A few staff members were taking care of Wang Liuze and the others who were groaning in pain. Of the fifteen tables, only two remained intact.

At one table sat three burly men, carelessly devouring the food and drinks on the table. At another table sat a thin old man, gulping down thyme drink after drink.

If that old man was involved as well, it probably meant they weren’t just trained fighters—there must be a martial artist as well.

It seemed trouble was brewing!

Lin Dong was sure the trouble stemmed from the Wine King formula. To his surprise, it came so quickly. In just one day, not many people outside Jin’s Inn knew about their high-quality wine.