Chapter 97: The First Guest

In the dim room, a faint glow flickered around Lin Dong’s body. If one stared closely, they could barely make out his tightly furrowed brows.
Vibrant spiritual energy flowed continuously through his meridians. After a full cycle, it suddenly surged toward his dantian before flowing out again. This repeated process saw more and more spiritual energy hitting his dantian, causing it to expand increasingly. A breakthrough was just a matter of time.
Ding: Congratulations! Your inn’s experience points have reached full capacity. You’ve received an upgrade task: “Help the first guest of tomorrow fulfill their wish.”
The rapidly moving spiritual energy in his meridians suddenly stopped and quickly returned to his dantian.
Lin Dong abruptly opened his eyes. The inn’s upgrade was a step ahead as expected.
Opening the door, he saw the outside in dimness—a quiet sky with sparse stars appearing and disappearing. Judging by the time, it was just nightfall.
Glancing at the upgrade task again, Lin Dong understood and walked over to the lobby.
Most of the staff had gone back to the backyard to rest. The lobby was empty, with only Zhang Ye cleaning up a table of dishes and utensils.
Running an inn, there were few customers in the middle of the night, but occasionally, guests would come to stay. So, usually, a staff member would be assigned to keep watch, and Lin’s Inn was no exception. Lin Dong asked, “Zhang Ye, is it your turn to keep watch tonight?”
“Boss, why are you here?” Zhang Ye turned around, surprised. Remembering Lin Dong’s earlier question, he added, “Yes, it’s my turn.”
Lin Dong explained, “I have something to attend to. I’ll keep watch tonight.”
Zhang Ye nodded without asking further. “Boss, after I finish cleaning up, shall I bring you a new bedsheet and blanket?”
“No need,” Lin Dong said. He glanced around the lobby again. On the counter, an oil lamp flickered. Next to it was a straw mat covered with a blanket. He pointed at the mat and said, “A place to sit and practice is enough. You can take the blanket back for sleeping.”
Zhang Ye said nothing more and worked faster. After finishing tidying up, he slung the blanket over his shoulder and went to the backyard.
Although he hadn’t reached the fourth level of the Lingdong Phase before his experience points reached full capacity, he was close. Sitting on the straw mat, Lin Dong closed his eyes, dismissed distractions from his mind, and used his will to control his spiritual energy to strike his dantian once more.
The oil lamp swayed, its pale yellow light casting a gentle glow over half of the lobby. The soft light made Lin Dong’s tightly furrowed brows appear even more solemn.
Bang bang bang…
“Hey, open the door quickly!”
Rapid knocking sounded, not only making the oil lamp on the counter flicker but also interrupting Lin Dong’s practice just as he was about to achieve a breakthrough.

He quickly adjusted his internal energy and calculated the time—it was already dawn the next day. Feeling pleased, Lin Dong rose swiftly and pulled back the door latch. “I’m coming!” Removing two panels from the door, he let his spiritual energy flow from his dantian straight to his eyes. Looking outside, he faintly saw a young man dressed as a servant standing at the door, with a carriage parked not far away on the street. Lin Dong quickly gestured to invite them in, saying, “Please, guests, come in!” The servant ignored him and rushed to the carriage, saying respectfully, “Sir, the door is open.” “Mm!” A middle-aged man in his forties, somewhat overweight, lifted the carriage curtain and got out with the servant’s help. “Sir, please come in!” Lin Dong greeted him with a smile. The middle-aged man nodded and stepped into the hall first, followed closely by the servant. Seeing the size and cleanliness of the hall, the servant was surprised and said, “This inn is quite good! When we came, my lady was worried that sir wouldn’t be comfortable staying in an inn in such a small town, but it seems no worse than the inns in Lingnan City!” To upgrade the inn, one needed to find out what the customer was worried about, so Lin Dong stepped forward to build rapport, saying, “Of course! Among all the inns in Xilan City, my Lin’s Inn is the largest, best, and most affordable. What’s your name, sir? Do you need lodging or food?” “The inn is fine, but the staff is lacking,” the servant said with a smirk. “Coming to an inn in the middle of the night, of course I need both lodging and food. Also, my sir’s surname is Huang, and mine is too.” Lin Dong didn’t mind and nodded, saying, “Please sit down first. What would Sir Huang like to eat? I’ll prepare it right away.” “Just some simple dishes will do. The tea must be good—my sir can’t stand poor tea.” After helping Sir Huang sit down, the servant waved at Lin Dong. Sir Huang, who had remained silent until then, suddenly waved his hand and said, “Hongyun tea will suffice.” “Alright, I’ll go prepare it right away. Just a moment.” Lin Dong nodded. With guests arriving, the staff and cooks were all sleeping. It would be rude to wake them up in the deep autumn night, so the owner had to handle it himself. He first brewed a pot of Hongyun tea, then rushed to the kitchen, lit the stove belonging to Jiang Kui, and started washing vegetables and cutting meat. After finishing, the oil in the large pot was already hot. As a small basket of green vegetables was added, thick, pungent smoke billowed up. After rushing around, he prepared a plate of green vegetables, a plate of braised pork, and a bowl of egg soup. He then added two bowls of steaming, freshly cooked white rice and placed everything on a tray. Eagerly, Lin Dong rushed to the hall. Setting the tray on the table, he said with a smile, “Please enjoy your meal. Feel free to ask if you need anything more.”

The two nodded. Lord Huang took the chopsticks handed to him by the servant, picked up a piece of green vegetable, chewed it carefully for a while, then tried the braised pork and egg soup as well. He couldn’t help but nod in praise at Lin Dong, saying, “Young man, your skills are quite good!”
The servant, clearly favored, also picked up the chopsticks and tasted them, murmuring, “The taste is indeed good—better even than our restaurant’s head chef.”
Lin Dong smiled calmly. His cooking skills were already excellent, and with the stove belonging to Jiang Kui offering triple the flavor and aroma enhancement, it was hard not to make delicious food.
Lord Huang had an idea. He put down his bowl and chopsticks and waved at Lin Dong, saying, “It’s late at night. Come and sit with us.”
Lin Dong had been thinking the same thing, so he didn’t refuse and sat down at the table.
“With such great skills, why are you just a servant?” Lord Huang asked.
Lin Dong shook his head. “The servants and chefs have already gone to bed. It’s too cold to wake them up. I’m just helping out occasionally.”
“Oh?” Lord Huang seemed slightly disappointed. “Are you the owner of this Lin’s Inn?”
The servant looked at Lin Dong in surprise. This inn seemed quite large! There should be servants—how could the owner be doing the night shift himself?
Lin Dong nodded.
Lord Huang sighed. “I was just about to ask if you’d be interested in working for me. Since you’re already an owner, why would you work for someone else?”
“Not necessarily,” the servant muttered. “It’s just an inn. If the owner has to do the night shift himself, how much silver can he earn in a day? It’s not as well paid as our restaurant’s head chef.”
A glint appeared in Lord Huang’s eyes as he looked up at Lin Dong. “I plan to open a restaurant in Xilan City. I was wondering if Manager Lin would be interested in becoming my head chef. If you’re willing, I’ll pay you double what you earn here.”
“Huh?” Lin Dong’s mouth dropped open in shock. Poaching employees—even stealing someone’s boss?
Wait, opening a restaurant would mean competing with inns for business!
Lin Dong asked carefully, “Lord Huang, are you planning to open a restaurant in Xilan City?”
Lord Huang nodded. “Yes! As I get older, I often think of my hometown. Things aren’t going well with the restaurants in Lingnan City, so I’ve decided to sell them along with my other businesses and move back to Xilan City with my family.”
Lin Dong was speechless, feeling uneasy. If Lord Huang’s top priority now was opening a restaurant, things might get interesting.
To complete the upgrade task, he would have to help Lord Huang open a restaurant.

Seeing that Lin Dong didn’t speak, the servant thought he didn’t believe the chef’s salary could be that high, so he interjected, “Don’t think our Changlin Restaurant can’t thrive in Lingnan City—it’s because there are too many large restaurants there. If we open one here in Xilan City, it will be easy to become the biggest restaurant. As long as your cooking skills are on par with these dishes, I guarantee your salary will be twice what you earn running an inn. If you do well, it could even be three or four times more.”
Lin Dong shook his head. “Is Lord Huang coming to Xilan City just to open a restaurant?”
Lord Huang took a sip of his Hongyun tea and nodded. “I’m here first to see which location is suitable for building a restaurant, then buy the land. Since I still have some assets in Lingnan City, there’s no rush. Manager Lin can take his time to consider it.”
“You’re not in a rush, but the inn upgrade can’t wait,” Lin Dong pressed. “How big does Lord Huang plan to make the restaurant?”
“Coming to Xilan City, it will naturally be the largest and most profitable restaurant here,” Lord Huang said confidently.
Lin Dong felt his head spinning—this was way too much to ask.
Not to mention facing a strong competitor, buying land, and building a restaurant—even if done quickly, it would still take three to five months.
Without any experience points for three to five months in the inn system, just thinking about it was terrifying.