Chapter 350: Resolved Through a Bet

“Young master, ‘Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix’.”
The waiter took out the dishes from the tray. A miniature, five-colored carved sculpture, less than twenty centimeters tall, was gently placed on the table along with the dishes.
“The eighteen birds are made from the meat of eighteen different spiritual beasts, steamed and prepared together. Among them…”
The waiter continued at length, explaining the medicinal properties of the spiritual beast meats, the effects of various spices, and the types of rare materials—no fewer than thirty kinds in total. Lin Dong picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of spiritual beast meat, chewed it a few times, and swallowed it. A hint of helplessness flashed in his eyes.
His cooking skills were barely good enough to make him a chef in a small tavern.
After eating almost half of the entire plate of “Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix,” the waiter brought the third dish, “Carp Leaping Over the Dragon Gate.” Lin Dong focused mainly on observing it, taking just a few bites casually before giving up, finding nothing special about it.
One by one, the thirty-six dishes were served. The speed of serving was slightly slower than that of other dishes in the restaurant, but still acceptable. An hour later, after serving the twenty-seventh dish and giving a detailed introduction, the waiter didn’t leave but instead appeared apologetic.
“Young master, my boss has to go out due to some matters. I’m afraid we won’t have enough time for the next nine dishes.”
“It’s okay. Please convey my message to Young Master Hua—Lin Dong, the owner of Lin’s Inn, wishes to meet him,” Lin Dong said with a smile. There wasn’t much difference between twenty-seven dishes and thirty-six. It was almost certain that Hua Wuyue had extraordinary skills in selecting dishes, but his cooking skills fell short.
“The owner of Lin’s Inn?” The waiter stared at Lin Dong in disbelief.
Was he gathering intelligence? Coming to cause trouble?
A newly established restaurant ordering a large number of premium dishes from another restaurant surely wasn’t just to try something new or help its competitors’ business—it must have some other purpose.
In the waiter’s view, the purposes could only be one of these two. But whether it was gathering intelligence or causing trouble, one shouldn’t reveal one’s identity. Peach Blossom Tower wasn’t like other restaurants; its owner was the eldest son of the Hua family. Even Fenglin Restaurant and Hongfu Restaurant wouldn’t dare reveal their identities unless they wanted to cooperate with Peach Blossom Tower.
Although Peach Blossom Tower and Lin’s Inn both belonged to the major restaurants in the east part of the city, Peach Blossom Tower was merely a place run by the eldest son of the Hua family for fun. Its policy was simple: as long as other restaurants didn’t cause trouble or suppress Peach Blossom Tower, it wouldn’t do the same to them.

The restaurant business in Lingnan City has been booming recently, but neither Fenglin Restaurant nor Hongfu Restaurant has sent anyone to approach Taohuawu Restaurant for cooperation. Moreover, the recipes for several signature dishes of these major restaurants are similar to those of Taohuawu Restaurant, yet their prices have not gone down—instead, they have increased slightly—to prevent these restaurants from slashing prices to the lowest possible level and thus competing with Taohuawu Restaurant for customers.

Lin’s Inn has gained a lot of fame recently. Although it is still slightly inferior to Fenglin Restaurant and Hongfu Restaurant, it is now second only to these two major establishments. It’s hard to believe that it has achieved this level in just over half a month. The clerk figured that Manager Lin must not be a reckless person; he must have sent someone ahead to investigate Taohuawu Restaurant’s background and stance before coming here, certainly not just to encounter obstacles for no reason.

Seeing the clerk’s hesitation, Lin Dong smiled and said, “I’ve met Young Master Hua a few times; we have some acquaintance.”

The clerk felt relieved. Whether Manager Lin really had a relationship with the owner or not, it was safer to report what he knew truthfully rather than trying to do something impossible.

Not long after the clerk left, the door to the private room creaked open. Hua Wuyue forced a smile as he walked in and bowed, saying, “I’m sorry for not greeting you properly upon your arrival, Manager Lin.”

“We’re old friends; there’s no need for such formalities, Young Master Hua,” Lin Dong said with a smile as he stood up. His smile was much more natural than Hua Wuyue’s.

Unable to bear the uncertainty about Lin Dong’s intentions, Hua Wuyue hesitated for a moment before bravely getting straight to the point. “I’m not sure why Manager Lin has come to see me.”

“It’s nothing serious. I just wanted to ask Young Master Hua for a favor,” Lin Dong said, gesturing for him to sit. “Please, sit down, Young Master Hua.”

“Manager Lin, please sit!” Hua Wuyue quickly replied politely. After Lin Dong also politely asked him to sit, he took a seat across from him.

Lin Dong smiled and said, “You must be familiar with Lin’s Gymnasium, right?”

“I’ve been there twice,” Hua Wuyue nodded, still not quite understanding Lin Dong’s point.

“Recently, Lin’s Gymnasium plans to introduce sports stars and betting events,” Lin Dong explained. “By sports stars, I mean identifying the most talented or distinctive individuals from our four major events, then promoting them continuously so that everyone in Lingnan City becomes familiar with them. This way, many people will surely like them or become interested in one of them. With their competitions and the chance to vote for the most popular person, people will naturally buy tickets to support them…”

Lin Dong patiently explained in detail his entire plan regarding Lin Ji Gymnasium. Hua Wu Yue’s initial anxiety gradually faded, replaced by surprise and admiration for the plan. After explaining in detail the concept of sports stars and betting matches, Lin Dong smiled at Hua Wu Yue and fell silent. He believed that since Hua Wu Yue had visited Lin Ji Gymnasium and understood its strengths and weaknesses, he would surely grasp the benefits of using sports stars and betting matches.

“Master Lin, what a great plan!” Hua Wu Yue couldn’t help but praise, clasping his hands. “With these two plans, I believe it won’t take a year or two before Lin Ji Gymnasium is always full of guests.”

Lin Dong smiled without saying anything. One reason he explained everything in detail was to strengthen the relationship between them, but more importantly, he wanted Hua Wu Yue to truly understand the harm that betting matches organized by other gambling houses could bring to Lin Ji Gymnasium. Only when Hua Wu Yue fully understood this would he realize the cost involved in helping him. If other families got involved or decided to back out, fearing it would damage their reputation, that was certainly not what Lin Dong wanted to see.

Hua Wu Yue had an idea. Since the talk about helping came up alongside plans for Lin Ji Gymnasium’s future, it was obvious that help was needed for those plans.

After some consideration, Hua Wu Yue’s mind became clear, and he couldn’t help but ask, “Does Master Lin mean he wants me to step in and suppress the betting matches on Lin Ji Gymnasium’s four major events organized by those gambling houses?”

“That’s right!” Lin Dong nodded.

“With Master Lin’s strength, just a slight demonstration…” Hua Wu Yue stopped mid-sentence and looked up at Lin Dong. “Does Master Lin not want to reveal his strength?”

Lin Dong gave Hua Wu Yue a thumbs up.

Without hesitation, Hua Wu Yue said, “Okay. I’ll return to the Hua family later and send someone to inform those gambling houses.”

“It’s not that simple,” Lin Dong shook his head.

Hua Wu Yue frowned slightly, wanting to argue that with the power of the Hua family, no force outside the family would dare to oppose them in Lingnan City. But after thinking about why those gambling houses were offering betting matches on Lin Ji Gymnasium, he swallowed his words again.

With such huge profits at stake, although those gambling houses wouldn’t dare to confront the Hua family alone, most of them had some backing. If they used their connections and joined forces, it was possible they might bring in one or two other families as well.

By then, it would likely be difficult to make those involved families back down without taking serious action.

After pondering for a moment, Hua Wuyue suddenly gritted his teeth and resolutely said, “Shopkeeper Lin, leave this matter to me. No matter what formidable figures the various gambling houses can bring to bear, our Hua family will not back down.”

Lin Dong inwardly praised him. This young master Hua had managed to maintain his status as the top young man in Lingnan City and as the heir to the Hua family despite numerous controversies. Though he was a bit frivolous in everyday life, he was indeed thorough when it came to serious matters.

“Young master Hua, next is the issue of compensation.”

“Compensation?” Hua Wuyue’s spirits sank. Initially, he had thought compensation was merely a favor.

With the Hua family’s strength, as long as they were determined enough, they wouldn’t fail in suppressing the gambling houses. After all, the various gambling houses could at most enlist one or two families to help. Even if they brought in all the families in Lingnan City and the Hua family resolved to fight to the death, those families would never risk their strength for a little silver and face loss just to confront the Hua family.

In Hua Wuyue’s view, if Lin Dong didn’t mention anything about compensation, it would mean the Hua family’s cost would be minimal—perhaps just sending a few guards to attack a few gambling houses—or at most engaging in a few fierce battles with a few families, resulting in some casualties. The benefit, however, would be gaining a young genius at the ninth level of the Mental Realm, who was definitely under thirty years old, as a favor.

If this favor was mediocre, it wouldn’t make much difference. But if it was good, it would be like acquiring an amulet for the Hua family. Should the Hua family face a crisis someday, this favor would be of unparalleled value.

Although Hua Wuyue had only met Lin Dong three times, he could sense that this shopkeeper Lin was definitely not the kind of person who ignored favors.

Calculating it, this deal was definitely worthwhile—even considered a high-profit, low-risk investment.

Yet, Lin Dong brought up compensation.

With compensation, the value of the favor would be greatly reduced.

“Exactly!” Lin Dong nodded, took out a fiery red wooden box from the mobile counter, pushed it in front of Hua Wuyue, and said, “Young master Hua, take a look and see if it suits you.”

Hua Wuyue’s gaze lingered on the red wooden box for a moment before he quickly opened the lid.

“Wanhong fruits?”

Inside the box, atop a few leaves of the Wanhong tree, six Wanhong fruits shone with dazzling brilliance.

“Since you recognize them, I suppose there’s no need for me to introduce the properties of Wanhong fruits, right?” Lin Dong smiled. “I wonder if you think this compensation is sufficient?”

“More than enough!”

Hua Wuyue nodded firmly. Six Wanhong Fruits, precious materials for cultivating level-seven support skills, along with a wooden box made from Wanhong Tree branches to store them, would surely become a family treasure for the Hua family. Compared to gaining a favor from Lin Dong alone, it was hard for Hua Wuyue to determine which was more valuable. After all, that favor might not be worth much, while the Wanhong Fruits were tangible assets he could keep.
“As long as Young Master Hua is satisfied, that’s enough. The rest is a matter of keeping it secret,” Lin Dong said. “Young Master Hua will likely need to store these Wanhong Fruits for three to five years.”
Hua Wuyue was momentarily stunned before nodding. “Rest assured, Manager Lin. I’ll help Lin’s Gymnasium simply because I enjoy its matches. Additionally, I’ll remind the two guards who know Manager Lin’s strength once more.”
“Then I owe you one, Young Master Hua!”
Lin Dong breathed a sigh of relief. The matter of the betting match was almost settled.