Chapter 116: The Former Bossess

Soon, Lin’s Inn announced once again that its stewed turtle with maple leaves would cost 1.4 qian per serving. The prices of various magical beast meats and fine wines were all reduced by 10%. The prices at the largest inns and restaurants were plummeting, with Changlin Restaurant also throwing money at things to keep up. This news swept through Xilan City like a hurricane, even overshadowing the recent buzz about the new county magistrate, Zhou Zhengye, being beaten half to death after visiting the Liu family.

Everyone wanted to know which establishment would fall first. If the people of Xilan City were to decide who would laugh last, 99% would choose Lin’s Inn. After all, it was more accessible to ordinary people, and Manager Lin was known to be a kind-hearted man. But if they had to guess who would succeed in the end, 90% would probably reluctantly choose Maple Forest Restaurant.

To begin with, few would believe that the most famous restaurant in the Great Han Kingdom, wealthy and powerful as it was, could fail in a small county town, and at that, against just an inn.

The sun, shining warmly, began to move toward the west. Ma Chun, looking puzzled, hurried to the back yard and knocked on Lin Dong’s room door. “Manager, Xiao Shuang is back.”

Lin Dong frowned. It was only the fifth day of the month—there were still over ten days before Xiao Shuang returned home each month. “Why hasn’t she come in? Did she cause trouble?”

“No, it’s because…” Ma Chun’s expression grew even more strange. “Because the bossess is back too.”

Lin Dong coughed several times, unable to catch his breath. The bossess?

Speaking of the bossess, Lin’s Inn did once have one—Yang Qingting, the fourth daughter of the Yang family. Of course, since Yang Qingting had requested a divorce letter five years ago, Lin’s Inn had had no bossess since then.

“Is there someone else?” Lin Dong thought that although five years had passed and this Miss Yang might no longer see herself as a servant of the Yang family, she wouldn’t wait outside for an announcement before entering.

Ma Chun silently praised the manager’s wisdom and quickly explained, “Besides Xiao Shuang and the bossess, there’s also a young man named Yang Ling.”

“Yang Ling?”

Lin Dong looked astonished. The sixth young master of the Yang family?

Xiao Shuang was his daughter—there was no reason for her to go greet him. Yang Qingting had treated him harshly at times and given him favors at others; in Lin Dong’s eyes, this woman had nothing to do with him. But Yang Ling was different—he was the only person who had ever shown him kindness.

“Prepare tea!” After giving the order, Lin Dong strode toward the main hall.

Facing the lobby counter, Xiao Shuang forced a slight smile, answering Yang Qingting’s questions as they chatted. Next to them, a young man in white robes, wearing a silver sword at his waist, glanced around at the guests in the lobby.

“Sixth Young Master!”

From afar, Lin Dong called out.

Yang Ling’s body trembled slightly as he looked at Lin Dong walking toward him, his gaze becoming somewhat distant.

With his resolute face, deep gaze, and steady steps, Lin Dong exuded an extraordinary presence. Yang Ling felt deeply moved and opened his arms. “It’s been over a decade, right? I could hardly recognize you.”

“Almost ten years!” Lin Dong nodded and gestured for him to come in. “Sixth Young Master, please come inside.”

The warmth was there, but not intimacy—this sense of distance made Yang Ling feel a slight ache. He lowered his arms and nodded.

The page who had depended on him for survival and was the only one he cared about seemed to regard him as an outsider now, worn down by time.

“Dad!” Seeing Lin Dong, Lin Shuang rushed over as if he were a savior.

Lin Shuang actually had little memory of Yang Qingting, her nominal mother, as they had only spent about a year together. All this woman brought her was cold respect.

Lin Dong tousled Lin Shuang’s hair and said cheerfully, “Go play! Winter is coming soon. I’ll take you to buy new clothes later.”

“Mm-hmm!” Lin Shuang nodded quickly and ran off.

“Miss Yang, please come inside!” Lin Dong said politely to Yang Qingting.

With a beauty like a peony and a temperament as cold as autumn frost, Fourth Miss Yang hadn’t changed much after five years—only becoming more reserved.

Yang Qingting nodded, her red lips parting slightly as she said calmly, “I didn’t expect your Lin’s Inn to actually start making a profit.”

“Just good luck,” Lin Dong smiled.

“You’ve changed a lot,” Yang Qingting said, frowning.

“I almost starved. If I hadn’t changed, Miss Yang wouldn’t be seeing me now.”

Lin Dong turned and led Yang Ling to the back yard.

After Ma Chun brought the tea and they expressed their thanks, Yang Ling took a sip and said slowly, “You won’t blame me for going to Autumn Water Academy first to bring Xiao Shuang along, right?”

Lin Dong shook his head slowly. “If it were someone else, I’d think they wanted to use Xiao Shuang to threaten me. The Sixth Young Master just wants to see Xiao Shuang and save the time needed to go to Autumn Water Academy to pick her up before heading to Autumn Wind City.”

Yang Ling smiled bitterly. “I remember that title, ‘Sixth Young Master,’ was only used when you were six and first came to the Yang family to be my page.”

Lin Dong also smiled bitterly. He could repay Yang Ling’s kindness to his predecessor. But the bond between the predecessor and Yang Ling, as well as their familial ties to Tianhao and Lin Shuang, were different—those were long-ago matters. Just as the predecessor’s admiration for Yang Qingting was nothing but a memory, what could Lin Dong have to relate to it?

“Let’s talk about Tianhao!” Yang Qingting said indifferently. “Cao Wei went back with a broken leg. Don’t you expect us to go back to the Yang family with broken legs too?”

Lin Dong looked at Yang Ling. Though he didn’t know the reason, he remembered that Yang Ling had been driven out of the Yang family. In the predecessor’s memory, Yang Ling should have held deep hatred toward the Yang family and his father, Yang Huailiang. Lin Dong couldn’t understand how Yang Ling could suddenly become an advocate for the Yang family.

Seeing Lin Dong’s puzzled expression, Yang Ling forced a smile and said, “Back then, I left you to seek apprenticeship in a sect. Along the way, I met a powerful warrior living in the mountains. Seeing my potential, he took me as his disciple. Three years ago, my master passed away. I traveled alone for a while, grew tired, and remembered my past days, so I returned to the Yang family. Fortunately, my father had already forgiven me for my past mistakes and didn’t punish me, so I stayed.”

Lin Dong remained silent. That was nonsense.

The Yang family might not know how deep Yang Ling’s hatred for them had been back then, but he remembered it clearly. With such intense hatred, Lin Dong even believed that if Yang Huailiang stood in front of Yang Ling with his hands tied, Yang Ling would without hesitation slash off his head with a sword.

Knocking sounds came at the door. Lin Dong got up to open it and saw Ma Chun standing outside.

“Boss, Fenglin Restaurant has reduced the price of turtle stewed with maple leaves to one or two silver coins per serving. Even the expensive dishes are now half price.”

Fenglin Restaurant?

Yang Ling and the others were surprised, clearly unaware that Fenglin Restaurant had already started expanding into the county town.

Lin Dong replied without hesitation, “Reduce the price again on the ninth day afternoon. Turtle stewed with maple leaves will cost nine silver coins per serving. The expensive dishes will be reduced by 45%.”

“Hmm!”

Ma Chun nodded and left immediately.

“The ninth day?” Yang Qingting said unhappily. “Lin Dong, don’t you plan to return to the Yang family with us?”

“You must have been to the Gu Huan Sect. Tianhao went traveling with his master. Why would I go to the Yang family? Do you really expect the Yang family to take me as a son-in-law?” Lin Dong sat down on the wooden chair lazily. “I’m not interested in marrying into the Yang family.”

Yang Qingting’s expression froze. Ever since Cao Wei sent her back to the Yang family, she had a vague sense that after five years apart, Lin Dong might no longer be the same person who couldn’t even speak in front of her. But she never expected his attitude toward her to change to such an extent.

The statement about having no interest in marrying into the Yang family—if spoken by anyone else, no matter how outstanding—the would mean nothing to Yang Qingting. But coming from Lin Dong… it made her feel uneasy.

She took out a yellowed piece of paper and a stack of silver coins from her storage ring and placed them on the table. Yang Qingting said, “This is a divorce letter and 200,000 taels of silver. Judging from the size of this inn, you must have made quite a bit of money over the years. But competing with Maple Forest Restaurant is like throwing eggs at a rock. If you’re willing, the Yang family can help you open the largest inn in Autumn Wind City.”

“Whether it’s like throwing eggs at a rock or not, only time will tell. No matter how wealthy Maple Forest Restaurant is, they can’t possibly spend millions of taels just to crush a small county town. As for the rest… we’ll discuss it later! I’ll go arrange the guest rooms for you first.”

Lin Dong didn’t give any reply. If it had been just Yang Qingting, he would have refused without hesitation. But since Yang Ling, who had once treated him like a brother, was also here, although he still wouldn’t agree to marry into the Yang family, he had to figure out why Yang Ling had returned.