Chapter 146: Everything Is Ready

After sending Li Yunfeng back to the Cheng family’s residence, Lin Dong rushed back to the inn by carriage through the night. It was deep into the night, and knocking on doors at such an hour seemed inappropriate. Tying the carriage by the entrance, Lin Dong didn’t bother to worry about it being stolen by thieves in the middle of the night. He went alone to the backyard and leaped inside.
“Who’s there?”
A deep, thunderous growl suddenly rang out, startling Lin Dong. Scanning the area quickly, he saw under the moonlight a tall man and another person of average build standing by the stone table.
With spiritual energy flowing into his eyes, Lin Dong took a closer look and exclaimed in surprise, “Jiang Kui? When did you arrive?”
“Boss?” Jiang Kui called out in a low voice.
“It’s me!” Lin Dong smiled as he stepped forward. Upon closer inspection, he realized the other person must be Wang Liuze.
Hearing Lin Dong’s voice, Jiang Kui said, “I arrived when it got dark.”
Lin Dong nodded. With Jiang Kui here, everything was ready for the opening—only two days remained to test the effectiveness of their promotional efforts.
Glancing at the stone table, he saw a board similar to a chessboard, with pieces scattered across it, clearly in the midst of a battle. Lin Dong chuckled and said, “Why are you two so into it tonight? Playing chess in the middle of the night?”
Jiang Kui scratched his head, smiling awkwardly. Seeing this, Wang Liuze stepped in to speak for him, “Jiang Kui wanted to ask the boss something. I saw he was getting anxious waiting alone, so I came to keep him company.”
“Ask me something?” Lin Dong pondered for a moment before realizing that what Jiang Kui wanted to ask was undoubtedly about his promise that he could return to Xilan City at any time from Qiufeng City.
Jiang Kui nodded but still hesitated to speak. On his way here, he had thought long and hard. The more he thought about it, the more he believed Lin Dong was just teasing him. How could one be in Qiufeng City one moment and suddenly in Xilan City the next? He had heard many strange stories—like people who, after becoming peak martial artists, could even walk through the air, or animals the size of a fist that could knock down mountains… But these were just things people told each other, laughed at, and then forgot about.
There were no such miraculous things in the world.
Lin Dong smiled and said, “Xiao Liu, take him to the storage room.”
Wang Liuze stiffened, looking at Lin Dong in confusion.

Lin Dong nodded solemnly. He had already thought this through long ago. Jiang Kui was no ordinary person. Among the chefs at Lin’s Inn, only Jiang Kui’s cooking skills, combined with the enhancements from the inn’s system, gave them an advantage in Autumn Wind City. If they hid the matter of the teleportation gate from Jiang Kui, Lin’s Inn would have no competitive edge in terms of cooking.

Fortunately, Jiang Kui was an honest person. His kind heart and strong sense of justice, proven even at Maple Forest Restaurant in Xilan City, meant that although it didn’t guarantee his loyalty to the inn or Lin Dong, it certainly reduced the chances of him being tempted into betrayal.

When it came to hiring people, one had to take risks.

“Alright! Jiang Kui, Sixth Brother will show you what it means to move through the air and across the ground without any sensation.” Wang Liuze stood on tiptoes and patted Jiang Kui’s shoulder, clearly excited. Back when he first saw the teleportation array, he had been stunned for quite some time before recovering. Jiang Kui, being uninformed as he was, would surely be shocked.

Jiang Kui was confused. Noticing Wang Liuze’s unfriendly gaze, he instinctively turned to look at Lin Dong.

Lin Dong sat down on a stone bench and waved his hand, saying, “Go!”

“Mm!” Lin Dong’s words gave Jiang Kui a sense of security. Though still puzzled, he nodded firmly.

After the two left, Lin Dong didn’t idle away either. He sat in seiza position, determined to practice as many days as possible.

The two’s speed far exceeded Lin Dong’s expectations. It wasn’t until over thirty days later that he heard hurried footsteps approaching.

When they got closer, Lin Dong asked with a smile, “Well? Do you believe it now?”

Jiang Kui nodded eagerly, his eyes gleaming with excitement. Half an hour ago, he would never have believed that anyone could fly through the air and move across the ground, but now he did.

After trying it five or six times—sometimes in Xilan City, sometimes in Autumn Wind City—Jiang Kui pinched his arms and banged his head against the stone walls until he truly understood. The owner hadn’t lied to deceive him.

Lin Dong smiled calmly. “It’s good that you believe it. As for this teleportation array, it’s extremely important and must not be revealed outside. I’m sure Sixth Brother has told you that.”

Jiang Kui became serious, lowered his voice, and said, “Sixth Brother has already told me that if this teleportation array gets out, it will bring disaster to both the inn and the owner. The fact that the owner shared such a confidential matter with Jiang Kui shows his greatest trust in him. Jiang Kui swears that if even a single word escapes his lips, he will never see Wen Ying again in this lifetime.”

Lin Dong couldn’t help but laugh. Such a vow was truly unique.

“Since you believe it, go back and sleep! Rest and recharge, so that on the day we open, you can test your skills against all the top chefs in Autumn Wind City. One day, I’ll take you to the capital city and show Jiang Yi what it means to surpass one’s teacher.”

“Mm!” Jiang Kui clenched his fists and nodded firmly.

“Xiao Liu, stay behind. I have something to ask you,” Lin Dong gestured toward the stone bench across the table.

Wang Liuzhi nodded and sat down across from Lin Dong.

After Jiang Kui left, Lin Dong asked, “How’s the preparation for the guard team going?”

Wang Liuzhi gave a bitter smile. “Don’t even mention it. These days, there are hardly any real loyal thugs. Out of three or four hundred thugs in Xilan City, we’ve only found six, and their loyalty is still under test. It’s uncertain how many of these six would be willing to risk their lives for the inn.”

Lin Dong frowned slightly—this wasn’t good news at all.

Whether it was the guard team or opening branches, with nearly 300,000 taels of silver as a foundation, plus the fact that the inn system was only at level four and required few spirit stones for cultivation, money wasn’t a problem in the short term. What was lacking were trustworthy people.

According to Lin Dong’s plan, it was impossible for Jinji Inn to openly recruit guards and train branch managers. Personnel could only be slowly selected from thugs and beggars. Old Master Zhang only had young beggars and frail, sick old beggars—useful for building an information network, but neither suitable as guards nor branch managers. The young beggars still needed time to be trained. In the short term, the only option was to choose from thugs.

After all, thugs were usually aggressive by nature. If they were loyal enough, they could make good guards. As for branch managers, they could serve as temporary replacements.

But the problem was that it had taken so long to find just six candidates, and not all of them might qualify. If distributed among guards and branch managers, at this pace, it would take three to five years just to gather enough managers for ten branches, let alone a full guard team.

“We need to speed things up!”

“Speed things up?” Wang Liuzhi looked hesitant. “This is a very important matter. If we’re not careful in selecting, I’m afraid problems will arise.”

“I’m not talking about selecting people; I’m talking about speeding up the subjugation of the troublemakers in other places,” Lin Dong said slowly. “After the propaganda is done, don’t bring those people back yet. First, clean up Qiufeng City, and then you all go separately to the other nine counties under Qiufeng Prefecture. Once they’re all taken, start selecting people for unified testing. As for the officials, I’ll talk to Li Jiancheng when he comes to the inn to offer congratulations the day after tomorrow and ask him to greet the county magistrates. For those counties where Li Jiancheng isn’t effective, use money to solve it.”
“What about the experts? If we really want to take all nine counties at once, we’ll need at least nine experts involved. What about Gu Huanzong…”
Lin Dong pondered for a moment before deciding, “As long as we offer three times the cultivation bonus in exchange, Master Xiao should refuse.”
Wang Liuzhi immediately felt eager and grinned. Fights and brawls were, in his eyes, the most impressive and worthwhile things to do. From Qiufeng City to the other nine counties, he could show off his prowess for a while.