Chapter 149: One Leaf Obscures the View

In the evening, after learning from the staff about the details of Lin’s Inn’s first day, Jiang Youcai’s admiration for Third Young Master Ling Zhengyang reached its peak. The ability to devise an imaginative marketing strategy, resolve a farce with unparalleled wit, and quietly build a relationship with Li Jiancheng—all showed that this Lin owner truly deserved Third Young Master’s attention. Moreover, Third Young Master, from afar, could recognize Lin’s excellence just by a single piece of information, demonstrating judgment beyond compare.

As for how to suppress Lin’s Inn before it gained prominence, Jiang Youcai thought they should speed up price cuts. Unfortunately, Third Young Master had already sent a letter ordering everything to proceed as planned. Though reluctant to miss such a great opportunity, Jiang Youcai had no choice—who would dare disobey Third Young Master’s orders?

In comparison, that night, Wang Shuangxi, the owner of Ke Lai Jiu Lou, and Ying Chun Hua, the madam of Ying Feng Lou, slept far more soundly than Jiang Youcai. Although Lin’s Inn’s sudden success surprised them, and the fact that Li Jiancheng would support it shocked them even more, it only meant Lin’s Inn had gained popularity on par with large restaurants. While worth monitoring, it wasn’t yet a threat requiring action. The current boom was merely a gimmick and would inevitably fade in ten days or half a month.

In Wang Shuangxi’s eyes, his braised carp was comparable to Lin’s Inn’s signature dish, and his chef’s skills surpassed those of Lin’s Inn. Though tastes vary, Lin’s Inn’s emergence would affect his restaurant to some extent, but not to the point of serious harm. The priority was to cut costs to counter Lin’s Inn’s price cuts.

For Ying Chun Hua, Ying Feng Lou’s star performer, Yi Yi, was far beyond comparison to some table with a mysterious arrangement at Lin’s Inn. The damned information board at Feng Lin Jiu Lou was Yi Yi’s greatest rival. After all, it was hard to distinguish between beauty and wealth. Moreover, Feng Lin Jiu Lou’s information board could truly benefit wealthy clients, while Yi Yi, aside from her melodious voice, seemed much more elusive.

Yet, things are unpredictable. More than half a month later, the situation reversed, and Wang Shuangxi and Ying Chun Hua began to worry more than Jiang Youcai. Lin’s Inn’s popularity showed no sign of fading, and instead of cooling down as expected, the number of wealthy clients on the second floor continued to rise rapidly.

Under the relentless pressure from Maple Forest Restaurant, the number of regular customers at Lin’s Inn not only remained stable but even increased. It’s hard to believe—restaurant owners who hadn’t paid attention to Lin’s Inn would probably refuse to accept this. The two believed that as Maple Forest Restaurant’s pressure intensified, the number of regular customers at major restaurants in Autumn Wind City would drop to extremely low levels, including Lin’s Inn as well. But given Lin’s Inn’s current momentum, if it could survive this crisis orchestrated by Maple Forest Restaurant, they doubted whether its growth rate would be sufficient to attract back the regular customers who had left for Maple Forest Restaurant in the short term. Wang Shuangxi preferred a down-to-earth approach. In his view, Maple Forest Restaurant’s signage and Lin’s Inn’s gimmick tables were merely superficial attractions. What really mattered for a restaurant was its cooking skills, prices, and service. Relying solely on gimmicks, even Maple Forest Restaurant couldn’t last long. Ying Chunhua, on the other hand, held the opposite view. She believed that cooking skills and prices were secondary; what mattered most was having enough attractions to draw customers in. It was only then that the two realized they had been shortsighted and underestimated Lin’s Inn’s other advantages. With long-term concerns still unresolved and new problems arising, they made a decision after weighing the pros and cons. Maple Forest Restaurant’s pressure was like boiling a frog in warm water—brutal yet prolonged. If Lin’s Inn managed to thrive in the northern part of the city, nearly one-third of the customers would have to switch to Lin’s Inn. Over time, it would become even harder to withstand Maple Forest Restaurant’s pressure. The next day, Ke Lai Restaurant and Ying Feng Tower posted notices. Ke Lai Restaurant increased the daily limit for its braised carp from three to six pieces, with owner Wang Shuangxi personally cooking dishes using rare magical ingredients worth two taels or more. Ying Feng Tower’s notice announced that in addition to playing music, Yi Yi would take some time off to serve drinks in the room with the highest bidding. Many older regular customers rushed to Ke Lai Restaurant. Not only had the daily limit for braised carp doubled, but many hadn’t tasted Wang Shuangxi’s cooking in years. How could they miss such a chance to relive his culinary skills? At Ying Feng Tower, only customers in private rooms could order songs, and ordinary regulars rarely reserved rooms unless they were willing to spend more. But this didn’t stop some younger regulars from flocking to Ying Feng Tower. The reason was easy to guess—going from the wooden tables to the private rooms required passing through the lobby. Although they couldn’t enjoy Yi Yi’s service, getting to see her stunning beauty was worth it.

In just two or three days, the growth rate of customers on the second floor of Lin’s Inn slowed down, and then decreased slightly every day. Lin Dong was helpless about this. Although Lin’s Inn combined the advantages of Ke Lai Restaurant and Ying Feng Tower, once those two announcements were made, Ke Lai Restaurant and Ying Feng Tower would have an absolute advantage. Unless Lin’s Inn had other strengths, it could only suffer losses. The only potential advantages Lin’s Inn still had were its cooking skills, information boards, and drinks. When cooking in the inn, the chefs’ skills improved rapidly, but no matter how fast they improved, neither Jiang Kui nor any other chef could match Wang Shuangxi or the other chefs at Ke Lai Restaurant in the short term. As for the information boards, although Zhang Daqian was already buying houses, a true information network could only be established once Lin’s Inn had branches in every county of Qiufeng Prefecture. Only then could information flow quickly across all counties. Otherwise, even with carrier pigeons and the time spent sorting messages, it would still be no faster than normal transmission methods. The remaining factor was drinks, and Lin Dong was waiting for this advantage to emerge. Calculating the time, the first batch of thyme should be ready by now. With the enhancement from the Wine King formula, although its quality was still inferior to some aged wines of over a decade in Qiufeng City, its advantage lay in large quantities and low cost. Apart from Fenglin Restaurant, which had the largest wine estate in Han Country as its backing, any restaurant in Qiufeng Prefecture would be at a disadvantage when facing thyme enhanced by the Wine King formula. With this advantage of thyme, perhaps only one out of ten wealthy families would have high-quality wine, but hosting a banquet couldn’t be done alone. If the advantage of thyme was significant, many people would surely recommend Lin’s Inn. Combined with its other advantages, it could withstand the combined attacks of Ke Lai Restaurant and Ying Feng Tower—maybe even counterattack. Lin Dong refused to believe it. Besides emphasizing the value of rarity, Wang Shuangxi had no other reason for limiting himself to cooking three braised carp per day and stopping cooking altogether. Staying in the kitchen all day long surely wouldn’t last long. The same was true for Ying Feng Tower—singing and playing while suddenly having to spend nearly half of their rest time accompanying guests to drink. Not to mention Yi Yi’s dissatisfaction, even their voices and stamina would be exhausted. After waiting two days and seeing that Lin’s Inn did nothing to stop the wealthy families from leaving, Wang Shuangxi and Ying Chunhua finally felt relieved.

Lin’s Inn has run out of options. With no income from the second and third floors and losses on the first floor, seeing no possibility of improvement, Lin’s Inn can only close down to minimize its losses.