Chapter 323: The Situation in Lingnan City

After asking a few questions about Lord Liu’s progress and learning that he had reached the ninth level of the Lingdong Phase, Lin Dong returned to Lingnan County. He went to his room alone, activated his cultivation enhancements, but did not start practicing. Instead, he sat down at the desk and quickly organized his thoughts regarding the opening of the inn.

By evening, when his plans had taken shape, there was a knock at the door.
“Owner!”
“The door isn’t locked. Come in.”
The door creaked open, and Wang Liuzhi rushed in excitedly.
“Owner, you’ve finally come to Lingnan City.”
Lin Dong smiled and said, “From the way you speak, have you completed the tasks assigned to you?”
“Almost…”
Wang Liuzhi was about to explain in detail when Lin Dong waved him off, saying, “Wait until Ma Chun arrives. No need to waste time repeating it to him.”
“Okay!” Wang Liuzhi nodded, picked up the teapot on the desk, filled a cup for Lin Dong, and then poured one for himself with a smile.

Soon, there was another knock at the door, and Ma Chun’s voice came through.
After Lin Dong answered, Ma Chun entered.
“Owner, Sixth Brother!”
Nodding at both Lin Dong and Ma Chun, Ma Chun went over to the desk.
“Sit!”
After asking Ma Chun to sit down and waiting for Wang Liuzhi to serve him a cup of Hongyun Tea, Lin Dong said, “Go on.”
Wang Liuzhi nodded, organized his thoughts, and began, “Regarding the inns, both inns have been built. We’ve also found chefs and staff—all from the east side of the city. With your order, we can gather the staff in one day and open the inns the next.”
“How skilled are the chefs?” Lin Dong asked.
“Pretty good. The chefs and staff were hired at high prices and have been tested. It’s hard to tell their true abilities right away, but they’re quite efficient. As for the chefs, they’re slightly inferior to the ordinary chefs at our Qiufeng City Inn,” Wang Liuzhi explained.
Lin Dong nodded. For the chefs, relying on top chefs like Cheng Bao would suffice to maintain quality. As long as the ordinary chefs weren’t too far behind those at other large restaurants—and with the help of cultivation enhancements—they could easily make up for any shortcomings. Given their fast progression, over time, they could gradually close the gap with other large restaurants.

“Also, I’ve found out information about the officials involved in the inn’s opening,” Wang Liuzhi said, placing a ledger on the desk. “It contains details about their personalities, styles, and networks.”

Ma Chun didn’t hesitate to pick up the account, tuck it into his clothes, and said confidently, “Give me ten days, and I guarantee no one will treat Lin’s Inn as a money-making machine.” After leaving the guild, its official influence had been greatly reduced. Coupled with Ma Chun’s abilities in this area, Lin Dong skipped straight to asking, “How’s things with Lin’s Gymnasium?”
“It’s already being built according to the plans given by the owner. It should be ready in another half month,” Wang Liuzhi replied. “Boss, what’s this gymnasium for?”
“To attract customers!” Lin Dong said with a smile.
“Attract customers?” Not only was Wang Liuzhi confused, but Ma Chun was equally puzzled as well. Lin’s Inn’s main source of income came from the lobby. Compared to that, unless it were for the colorful beds in the lodging building, its daily income would likely be less than one-thousandth of what the lobby generated. Even with the colorful beds, the income was only four or five taels of silver per day, which was insignificant compared to the lobby’s hundreds of taels per day.
Building some so-called Lin’s Gymnasium to attract customers was like using a watermelon to attract sesame seeds!
Seeing their confused expressions, Lin Dong understood they couldn’t figure it out. Explaining whether Lin’s Gymnasium would meet expectations was still uncertain, so he simply said, “With so many guests staying at the inn, there are naturally many diners too.”
The two suddenly understood. With that explanation, they grasped it.
Lin Dong didn’t bother to check to what extent they misunderstood and continued, “Xiao Liu, I sent someone to find a piece of land over 500 mu in the east of the city last time. How’s that going?”
“We found some land, and there’s quite a bit of it,” Wang Liuzhi hesitated. “There are fields, mountains, grasslands, and forests all connected together. If we buy them all, it will exceed 500 mu, but the price is high.”
“How much?” Lin Dong asked.
“The most expensive are the fields, at least 20 taels of silver per mu,” Wang Liuzhi explained. “Next are the mountainous areas planted with tea, then the forests. The cheapest is a grassland two li away on the slope to the east of the city. I checked with the county office—it’s 5 taels of silver per mu.”
“How big is it?” Lin Dong became excited. 5 taels per mu was negligible compared to the nearly a thousand taels per mu in Lingnan City.
“About over 2,000 mu!” Wang Liuzhi mused.
“Buy it all!” Lin Dong didn’t hesitate. 2,000 mu was only 10,000 taels of silver, well within his budget. Moreover, it was only two li away from the city, which was also acceptable.

“Boss, why do we need such a large piece of wasteland?” Ma Chun wondered. “Over 2,000 mu of land—enough to build dozens of Lin’s Factory buildings.”
“I plan to build a…” Lin Dong thought for a moment before smiling and saying, “A three-in-one park!”
“A three-in-one park?” Wang Liuzhi and Ma Chun exchanged glances. Just like the gymnasium, this so-called three-in-one park was unheard of.
“That’s right!” Lin Dong nodded firmly. The name was something he had come up with on the spot—park, zoo, amusement park… a three-in-one park.
“Boss, what’s this three-in-one park for?” Wang Liuzhi couldn’t help but ask.
“Just like the gymnasium, it’s meant to attract customers,” Lin Dong said with a smile. “Mainly, we’ll plant some flowers, trees, raise some small animals and magical beasts, and build things that can keep children entertained.”
The two were still confused and couldn’t understand Lin Dong’s intention.
“It’s hard to explain right now. You’ll understand once it’s built,” Lin Dong said, ending the discussion. A three-in-one park was a huge project that couldn’t be completed in a short time, so there was no need to worry about it at the moment.
The two nodded helplessly. Wang Liuzhi thought for a while before continuing, “Then there are the troublemakers in Lingnan City. They’ve all been subdued. We spent 3,000 taels of silver to bribe the local officials, and there are basically no more problems.”
“Has the Tianfeng Pepper arrived?” Lin Dong asked Ma Chun.
Ma Chun nodded. “It’s already here.”
Lin Dong was overjoyed. This meant that Cheng Bao could become a powerful asset for Lin’s Inn as it expanded into Lingnan City.
“Finally, the boss asked me to investigate the large restaurants in Lingnan City,” Wang Liuzhi explained. “After the chamber of commerce was established, there are still over a hundred large restaurants in Lingnan City that earn more than 3,000 taels per month. Among these, 20 earn over 10,000 taels per month, and four of them are in our eastern part of the city.”
After a pause, Wang Liuzhi continued, “Among these 20 restaurants with monthly profits over 10,000 taels, the largest are Hongfu Restaurant and Fenglin Restaurant. It’s said that both of these restaurants earn over 100,000 taels per month. Additionally, both are located in the city center, and they’ve been in fierce competition for years. Relatively speaking, Hongfu Restaurant has the upper hand. Of course, that was three months ago. Since the chamber of commerce was established, Fenglin Restaurant, thanks to its lower costs for magical beasts and materials, seems to be turning the tide.”
Lin Dong remained silent for a while, thinking carefully before looking at Ma Chun and asking, “What do you think we should do for promotion?”

“Just like when the inn opened in Autumn Wind City,” Ma Chun replied without hesitation, his right fist clenched. “Let our flyers be in everyone’s hands in Lingnan City, on the walls in every corner. Although it’s only early spring now, summer will arrive soon. There are already quite a few Spirit Stone Fans circulating in Lingnan City, and the same goes for the VIP cards and Vital Beef Balls. Once introduced, they can also stir up excitement throughout the city. Add to that the Turtle Stewed with Maple Leaves, Cheng Bao’s recipes, and chefs no less skilled than those in any major restaurant—within a short time, we can capture seventy to eighty percent of the business in the east part of the city. If Hongfu Restaurant and Fenglin Restaurant don’t make any major moves, despite our disadvantage in location, with these advantages, we can become the third restaurant to earn over a hundred thousand taels of silver per month in less than half a year.”

“As for accommodation,” Ma Chun hesitated. “If we don’t count Linji Gymnasium, in my opinion, given Linji Inn’s advantages in accommodation, to ensure a certain number of guests, we’ll have to buy up nearby inns. Of course, before that, we can drive down their prices to the lowest level. In three to five months, I believe they won’t be able to hold on.”

“I plan to rely on Linji Gymnasium for accommodation,” Lin Dong said slowly. “As for the lobby… my idea is similar to yours. But using the old methods for promotion feels a bit outdated. Moreover, Lingnan City is six to seven times larger than Autumn Wind City. To distribute flyers and posters throughout the city would take at least half a month. That’s too slow—it gives Hongfu Restaurant and Fenglin Restaurant too much time to come up with countermeasures.”

“We can divide into four groups and set off from the four gates at the same time,” Ma Chun said without hesitation.

“The large VIP cards and Spirit Stone Fans are sufficient, but what about the manpower?” Lin Dong laughed. “There’s no shortage of people to distribute flyers, but don’t forget—each large Spirit Stone Fan requires two warriors above the Mental Focus stage to fully exert its power. The disciples of the Gu Huan Sect are currently all in Southwest City and Autumn Wind City.”

Ma Chun was speechless. He had forgotten this when planning the promotion strategy. Otherwise, he could have sent the disciples of the Gu Huan Sect to Lingnan City in advance. If he sent them now, it would take at least a month.

“More importantly, I think this promotion method is a bit outdated,” Lin Dong said calmly. “It needs to be improved.”

“Improved?” Ma Chun was confused.

“Xiao Liu, send someone tomorrow to secure all the antique shops that can print flyers, and have them print non-stop for twelve hours a day. Also…” Lin Dong turned to Ma Chun and decided, “You go to the county government office tomorrow and see if we can secure the four main training grounds for printing.”
“That… the cost will likely be quite substantial,” Ma Chun said worriedly.
“If you don’t spend what’s needed, you won’t be able to achieve your goals. We still have to spend the money,” Lin Dong interrupted Ma Chun, who hesitated to speak further, and said, “Do as I say!”
Ma Chun nodded helplessly.
With the general direction set, although the subsequent steps were complicated, things would go much smoother—deciding on the content of the flyers, the timing for promotion, potential emergencies… It wasn’t until early the next morning that the entire promotion plan was finalized.