Chapter 407: Lucky Wood Shed

Ding: Congratulations on completing the upgrade task “Helping the inn’s most urgent guest fulfill their wish.” The inn now has the Lucky Wood Shed system.
The clear system notification made Lin Dong jump up from bed. It had been two months and three days since he set off from Jiang Jianxing toward Guan You Mountain—more than a month longer than he had expected.
During this extra time, Lin Dong had felt extremely anxious. The planned counterattack against Fenglin Restaurant had been postponed again and again. By now, he had to change his original plan, shortening the intervals between deploying all his trump cards. Even the “great invention” among small gadgets—the bicycle—had to be postponed until next year.
After all, it was already early winter. On the streets, everyone was wearing cotton-padded jackets and moving cautiously. Under such conditions, the bicycle couldn’t possibly achieve the desired impact.
But those were secondary concerns. More importantly, unfinished upgrade tasks meant the inn couldn’t gain any more experience points.
Experience points were Lin Dong’s lifeline. Missing even one day’s worth could make him irritable.
Fortunately, the task was finally completed.
Lin Dong eagerly opened the inn system.
Lin’s Inn: Level 8, 0%
Daily Revenue: 1,451 taels
Spirit Stones: 5,321/12,800
Defense: 5,321/12,800
Rooms: 76/90
Dining Tables: 0/45
Staff: 46
Cooks: 21
Stables: 0/30
Kitchens: 6/8
Branches: 111
Gardens: 10/20
Breeding Pens: 2/20
Cellars: 0/10
Lucky Wood Shed: 0/5
Level 8 meant the cultivation bonus for rooms could reach up to eight times, with significant improvements in other attributes as well. For Lin Dong, aside from the cultivation bonus, the other benefit of upgrading was the increased capacity of the gardens and breeding pens. Originally, the multiplication bonus for kitchen skills was even more significant to him than that of gardens and breeding pens. Unfortunately, the cost in spirit stones was too high. Lin Dong had only set the kitchen skill bonus at three times maximum; he had never gone higher.
Lucky Wood Shed?
When his gaze fell on the last attribute, Lin Dong shuddered. He then remembered that an additional attribute had been added after upgrading.
Muttering “Lucky Wood Shed” in his mind, the attribute appeared the next moment.

Lucky Wood Shed: 0/5. It allows adjustment of the multiplier by which luck is increased from ordinary wood inside the shed. Food cooked using the wood from this shed can grant the user the same multiplier of luck upon consumption. (It can only be increased once per day, with effects lasting one day.)

Lin Dong was stunned. How could this attribute seem so invincible?

It was actually an attribute that could increase luck. If that were true, having 180 times more luck—just going outside for a walk—would it mean gold ingots falling on his head nonstop? If he went into the mountains, wouldn’t caves and precious materials pop up everywhere?

Action spoke louder than words. Lin Dong immediately went outside to an empty room, opened the inn system, and set up the Lucky Wood Shed in that room. Then, after checking the inn map, he felt much more at ease.

Inside the room designated as the Lucky Wood Shed, there were five squares, each about one square meter in size. This clearly meant that the “5” in the Lucky Wood Shed attribute referred to five surfaces, not five pieces of wood.

Next, Lin Dong rushed to the kitchen in the backyard. He gathered all the dry wood piled on the stove and put it into the mobile counter.

Returning to the Lucky Wood Shed, he immediately divided the dry wood into five piles and placed them in the five squares.

After checking the Lucky Wood Shed again, Lin Dong adjusted the settings. The highest multiplier he could achieve was 8 times, matching the inn’s attribute. Though it wasn’t possible to increase luck by 180 times at once, what disappointed him even more was that it required quite a lot of spirit stones.

To double luck per square meter needed 10 spirit stones. Doubling it again required 20, and tripling it required 40… Just like cultivation bonuses, each additional doubling of the multiplier doubled the amount of spirit stones required.

For an 8-fold increase in luck, 1,280 spirit stones were needed.

At this rate, if he wanted 180 times more luck, even all the spirit stones in the entire Han Kingdom might not be enough for just one day’s use.

Fortunately, although 180 times was unlikely, 10–20 times was still feasible, and the effects would likely be good enough.

Gritting his teeth, Lin Dong set the five squares to 4x, 5x, 6x, 7x, and 8x respectively.

A countdown instantly appeared behind the five squares.

It would take a whole day.

There was no other choice. If he wanted to test the attributes of the Lucky Wood Shed and understand all the details, he could only wait patiently.

Closing the door, Lin Dong headed to the main hall.

It was evening, close to closing time. At the counter, Ma Chun was reviewing the account books. Since starting his cultivation, his increasingly sharp ears detected some unusual noise, prompting him to turn and look toward the door.

“Owner, why have you come?”

Ma Chun quickly got up and went to meet Lin Dong. Seeing his rosy complexion, her heart rate quickened slightly as she guessed something already.
Lin Dong stopped and asked, “How’s business at the inn?”
“It’s the same as always,” Ma Chun replied helplessly. “It’s slightly better than before Hongfu Restaurant closed down. It’s winter now, so I think business will gradually decline.”
Lin Dong nodded. After asking Ma Chun to return to the front yard, he said, “We can launch ‘Pipeline Flower Fragrance’ now.”
“Really?” Ma Chun was overjoyed—her guess had indeed been correct.
Compared to Lin Dong, Ma Chun was just as eager to counterattack Fenglin Restaurant. For this reason, she would ask Lin Dong almost every few days, only to be told it wasn’t possible yet.
“Is there any problem with promotion?” Lin Dong asked.
“No major issues. It shouldn’t rain these days,” Ma Chun replied without hesitation.
“Alright, then go arrange it! Launch it early tomorrow morning. Prepare the Spirit Stone heaters and additional fragrances too. If nothing goes wrong, do it once a month,” Lin Dong said firmly. “Whether we can bring Fenglin Restaurant to its knees depends on this. No mistakes allowed.”
“Don’t worry, boss. Leave it to me,” Ma Chun said confidently, slapping his chest. He had been researching and refining the promotion of these three key strategies for months—there would be no problems.
“That’s good. Go!” Lin Dong waved him off.
Ma Chun nodded and rushed back to the lobby, his rosy face showing that good news was on the way.
And indeed, it was good news. Lin’s Inn was launching a counterattack. Though the staff didn’t know what exactly they were relying on, past experiences had made them firmly believe that Fenglin Restaurant’s glory days were coming to an end.
The end of Fenglin Restaurant’s glory meant the inn’s prosperity. The staff had no doubt that once they got busy, the boss’s rewards would be as good as their wages.
That night, Lin’s Inn was brightly lit, with busy figures everywhere.
Early the next morning, after checking on the progress of the Good Luck Firewood Shed, Lin Dong strode through the lobby and onto the street.
Even earlier than Lin Dong were three caravans parked outside the inn, along with a dozen pedestrians who set out early in the morning.
Each caravan consisted of ten horse-drawn carriages, each accompanied by two guards assigned for protection.
Unlike previous promotions, this time the carriages weren’t loaded with complicated items. There was only one large wine jar, about 1.2 meters tall and around 1 meter in diameter.

Compared to ordinary wine jars, the large wine jar on the carriage was slightly different. A small hole was made at the bottom, connected by a leather tube about two centimeters in diameter. On the red paper stuck to the jar, instead of the word “wine” written in large letters, there were fifteen golden characters in an elegant script: “Want some? Bring your bottles and jars to Lin’s Inn to fill them up!”
“Could it be that Lin’s Inn has introduced a new fine wine? But what does the red paper mean?”
“It must be wine. The meaning of the red paper is probably to prevent people from not getting enough, so they can bring bottles and jars to take some home and drink slowly. Tsk tsk… If they’re advertising it like this, it must be quite good!”
“Has Lin’s Inn ever advertised ordinary things? In my opinion, the wine in that jar is definitely more than just tasty; maybe it even has other effects, like helping one sleep well or boosting energy…”
“I wonder how much it will cost per pound. Last time, to exchange for three Spirit Stone Fans, my wife forced me to abstain from drinking for a year. If it’s not cheap, I doubt I’ll be able to get even a little this year.”
“That’s not certain. Since Lin’s Inn is advertising it and there are tubes attached, they surely intend for everyone to try it. A little bit should be available. Who knows, maybe drinking it can even make one look more handsome! By then, your wife will surely do anything to get you a pound or two to try.”
“Say that again… Am I not handsome enough?”
The cold of early winter and the empty streets couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the dozen or so passersby.
With past experiences in mind, they had no doubts that what was in that large wine jar had an incredibly attractive appeal.
Signature dishes, Spirit Stone Fans, sports stars… Lin’s Inn’s advertisements had never featured anything ordinary.
At the front of the three caravans, Sanjiaoyan, Liu Hao, and Zhang Ye, the three leaders of Lin’s Inn’s guard team, signaled when they felt it was time. “Set off!”
The caravan led by Sanjiaoyan moved steadily like a mountain, while those led by Liu Hao and Zhang Ye slowly headed left and right. Undoubtedly, Lin’s Inn’s strategy was to start from the north of the city and advance eastward in three routes: left, center, and right.
The onlookers didn’t disperse; instead, they wisely chose to follow the caravan led by Sanjiaoyan.
Lin Dong also decided to stay.

In the backyard of Lin’s Inn, more than a dozen eagle-beast birds, urged on by the guards on their backs, flapped their wings and took off. Once they reached a height of over 200 meters above Lin’s Inn, the guards gave a command, and the eagle-beast birds scattered, spreading out evenly into a dozen groups starting from the city wall in the east.