Chapter 119: Chaotic Logic

Before long, Lou Wentang returned to the backyard. Behind him, Lou Jingsong and Lou Wanzhang walked in with slightly bent backs, each carrying a large gift box and forcing on smug smiles.
“Sit!” Lin Dong gestured toward the seat vacated by Lin Shuang for Lou Wentang.
“Mm!”
Lou Wentang pulled up his sleeves and sat down firmly. Today was finally the day he could breathe a sigh of relief.
He had worked at Lou’s Tavern for over a decade, working diligently. As a deputy manager, he endured more hardship than ordinary employees, bringing in many major clients for the tavern, yet his salary was only three taels of silver.
That was one thing, but Lou Wentang considered himself part of the Lou family. No matter how hard or tiring it was, he did it for the family. Yet they never treated him as one of their own—they could scold him whenever they wanted or kick him out at will.
Reflecting on it later, Lou Wentang realized that after his adoptive father passed away, Lou Jingsong had seized the share that should have gone to him. He hadn’t cared before, but how could Lou Jingsong not care? Having stolen his nephew’s inheritance, who would trust such a person to work for them?
After all these years of hard work, he was simply thrown out of the tavern effortlessly. Lou Wentang wasn’t a saint either—he was also filled with resentment.
Now, at last, he could get his revenge. Watching Lou Jingsong and his son nodding and smiling obsequiously, Lou Wentang felt as relieved as if he had eaten ice on a scorching day.
“Shopkeeper Lin, sorry to disturb you. I didn’t expect you to have guests. Is Miss Lin here too?” With no other choice, Lou Jingsong lost all sense of propriety. He placed the gift box under the stone table, his face twisted into a sycophantic grin.
Lou Wanzhang, obviously more reserved, nodded and smiled politely before setting down his gift box, staying silent behind Lou Jingsong.
Although Lin Shuang didn’t understand the whole situation, she knew Thyme belonged to Lou’s Tavern. Seeing that Lin Dong didn’t speak, she felt pleased. Her little face lit up with joy, though she tried to appear serious, which looked rather strange.
“Does Master Lou have something on his mind?”
Her voice was clear and sweet, yet carried a hint of an adult’s tone. Lou Jingsong was shocked—had they already offended the young lady of the Lin family before even getting to business?
Without hesitation, Lou Jingsong’s sycophantic expression deepened. “Miss Lin, I have something to discuss with Shopkeeper Lin. Don’t worry, it won’t take long. I brought some small trinkets today. How about you pick out something you like?”
Immediately, he pulled Lou Wanzhang forward and shouted, “Hurry up and apologize to Shopkeeper Lin!”

Lou Wanzhang quickly bowed and said repeatedly, “Shopkeeper Lin, it was my fault for being blind and adding water to the wine and even insulting you. It’s all my mistake. If you want to punish me, I deserve it.”
“Shopkeeper Lin, this scoundrel was influenced by Kuang Tianwei. Please be magnanimous. If there’s anything you’re not satisfied with, just tell me, and I’ll punish him severely,” Lou Jingsong hurriedly added.
Lin Dong pretended not to hear them, as if unaware of their voices, his eyes fixed only on the soy milk in his bowl.
“Talk to me if you have anything to say!” Lin Shuang said proudly, “My father has already assigned me to handle this matter.”
“Talk to you?” The Lou Jingsong father and son were stunned and looked at Lin Dong in confusion.
Lou Wentang was also anxious. How could such an important matter be left to little Shuang? He wanted to ask, but seeing Lin Dong’s calm expression, he held back.
Lin Dong remained silent, took a sip of soy milk, picked up an omelet, and savored it slowly.
Cough, cough…
Lin Shuang coughed lightly a few times. Once their attention turned to her, a harmless smile appeared on her delicate face. “My father said that today, whatever decision I make is his decision, and it won’t change.”
Lou Wanzhang was still confused. What kind of decision could a little girl make?
Lou Jingsong, however, was overjoyed. If even a little girl couldn’t handle it, then his life was wasted.
“Miss Lin, here’s what happened,” Lou Jingsong spent over ten minutes explaining how they had added water to the wine and how they had paid the county magistrate to cause trouble at the inn last time. With an apologetic expression, he said, “It’s all our fault. Please forgive us, Miss Lin.”
“Oh, it’s okay,” Lin Shuang waved her hand generously. “Anyway, we haven’t suffered any losses, so it’s not a big deal.”
Lou Jingsong was thrilled. Little girls were indeed easy to deal with. If it were Shopkeeper Lin, he would surely demand a hefty sum of money or skin off their backs before giving up.
Seizing the opportunity, Lou Jingsong then explained the price war between Lin’s Winery and Lou’s Winery over the past few months. With a worried expression, he said, “In business, competing by losing money isn’t good for either side. I’m here to discuss with Shopkeeper Lin whether we can gradually raise the prices again.”
“Is it just that?” Lin Shuang propped her chin and stared at Lou Jingsong with her watery eyes. As he nodded repeatedly, she decided, “I’ll check the accounts when I have time. If we’re really losing money, I’ll definitely ask Uncle Lou to raise the prices.”
That works!

Lou Jingsong perked up and quickly said, “There’s no need to check the accounts. A pound of wine only sells for three or four wen—just the raw materials cost that much, not to mention labor costs.”
“That’s not necessarily true,” Lin Shuang’s little head bobbed like a rattle. “I think I heard my father say that when Lin’s Winery first started, the cost per pound was only two wen, including both raw materials and labor…”
Lou Jingsong was shocked. It was indeed possible that the cost of inferior wine was only two wen. Was the cost for the initial production the same?
Before Lou Jingsong could figure it out, Lin Shuang began counting with her slender fingers: “If it sells for four wen per pound, that means a profit of two wen per pound. Ten pounds would yield twenty wen, a hundred pounds two hundred wen, and a thousand pounds—way more!”
“Two taels of silver!” Lou Wanzhang blurted out foolishly.
“That’s right, two taels of silver. If we could sell ten thousand pounds a day, we’d make twenty taels of silver!” Lin Shuang exclaimed happily. “The cheaper it is, the more people will buy it. If the price drops to three wen per pound, we might even sell hundreds of thousands of pounds a day.”
Lou Jingsong felt like vomiting. How could one calculate like this?
Not to mention whether Lin’s Winery could produce hundreds of thousands of pounds in a month, even by this logic, everyone in Xilan County would have to be drunkards who drank wine like food just to sell that much.
“Miss Lin, that’s not how accounts are calculated,” Lou Jingsong said helplessly, having to explain his reasoning in detail once again. By the end, he was completely parched from all the talking.
“Oh…” Lin Shuang looked confused, half-understanding. “If there aren’t enough people to drink, sell it to people from other counties. If there’s not enough wine, just build more wineries.”
Lou Jingsong had no tears left to cry. He endured his thirst and slowly explained that there were also wineries in other counties, the obstacles to entering that market, and the troubles and risks involved in building new wineries.
“It’s so complicated…” Lin Shuang tapped her head, frowning in deep thought for a long time before suddenly saying cheerfully, “Grandpa Lou, why don’t you go talk to the other wineries and ask them to sell their wine to us? Anyway, they’re losing money selling it for four wen per pound. If we sell it, we can make a profit of two wen per pound!”
Lou Jingsong was utterly bewildered. What kind of logic was this?
Clearly satisfied with his reaction, Lin Shuang clapped her hands and looked at him expectantly, saying happily, “Grandpa Lou, shall we agree on this? I still need to go play with my dragon kite later!”

Lou Jingsong glanced at Lin Dong, who was bent over eating intently, feeling somewhat hesitant. Allowing a naive girl to make decisions—what was Manager Lin’s real intention? Did the Lin Family Inn’s business have been so good lately that they no longer cared about the profits from the winery? What deep meaning could a girl possibly have? Lou Jingsong thought it was more likely that the girl just liked to play around, and Manager Lin doted on her so much that he let her act up as long as the demands weren’t excessive. Helplessly, Lou Jingsong looked at the soy milk in Lin Dong’s bowl, swallowed hard, suppressed his urge to sit down on a stool, and patiently explained once again the confusion in this logic. Lin Shuang scratched her head and said, “It’s so troublesome! How about you guys also brew ‘Opening Success’? That way, everyone can sell it for four coins each and make a profit. By the way, the brewing formula can’t be shared, right? Well, you could buy our ‘Opening Success’ and then resell it—no loss at all.” Lou Jingsong almost wanted to pound his chest in frustration.