Culinary God in Wilderness

Chapter 435: Chapter 269: Want to Do This Together?

"Ahhh, I’m so stuffed, so stuffed. That was so satisfying~"

Leaving the Sichuan restaurant, the three of them were loaded down with seven or eight bags. A few heavy tubs of red bean soup stood out the most.

It was Erica’s first time trying iced red bean soup, and it had been a long time for Lin Chen and Andre. After a quick conference, the three of them bought out the restaurant owner’s entire stock, planning to take it back to the hotel to savor that night.

The leftovers could be heated up in a microwave for another meal. Wasn’t that way better than the hotel buffet?

After wandering the streets of Cologne, they had completely lost all hope for the city.

In a city with such run-down infrastructure, how good could the hotel food possibly be?

Thankfully, they only had to stay here for one night. Tomorrow, they would head to Panama City. The drive was just a little over an hour, which was very convenient.

"Let’s go. We can talk in my room."

There were some things they couldn’t discuss in public at the restaurant, but they could certainly talk about them behind the closed door of a hotel room.

As soon as they were inside, Lin Chen put down the bags and got straight to the point. "Andre, you know how I was originally planning to go to the United States to buy a manor and invest? Well, Erica told me some things about the U.S., and she doesn’t recommend it. So now I’m planning to find a suitable place in Canada."

"Then I thought about Mia’s situation and figured you might have more firsthand experience with this stuff. I wanted to get your opinion."

"Simply put, he’s asking about things like property tax, medical bills, and the Alice line," Erica chimed in.

The "Alice line" was a local term for what gamers would call an "execute threshold." Netizens from Great Xia had a pun for it that sounded similar and meant "get-hit-and-die line."

He had already done a quick search on the topic after his shower. Most of the information came from Chinese bloggers; very few Western bloggers seemed to talk about these issues.

’Rather than trust the nonsense from Chinese immigrants, it’s better to hear a local’s opinion to get the real story,’ he thought.

After all, those immigrants were still Chinese. They grew up in a different environment, which gave them different mindsets and habits. Even after immigrating, they could often find ways around the loopholes in the American system and live very comfortably.

If worst came to worst, they could always run back to China. They could even go back for medical treatment if they got sick. These were all escape routes—options that locals didn’t have.

Andre was a little surprised by the sudden topic.

He thought for a moment, seemingly considering where to begin.

"I don’t know much about property tax, to be honest. You know I built my house myself, so I don’t pay much. But medical bills... those are truly astronomical. They’re far, far higher than you can possibly imagine. It’s like the parasites at the hospital are just casually writing a check for whatever they want, with the goal of ruining your life."

"Honestly, if you hadn’t lent me the money to pay off those medical bills, my house probably would have been repossessed during the competition because I couldn’t afford the property tax."

They ended up talking with Andre and Erica in the room for over three hours, from noon until sunset. By the end, Lin Chen had a much clearer understanding of just how brutal the American system could be.

It wasn’t just him, a foreigner, who was in the dark. Even Andre and Erica, both locals, discovered many discrepancies in what they each knew due to their different social standings and life circumstances.

Fortunately, the conclusion was clear. After their discussion and some online research, Andre, like Erica, advised him to stay in Canada to buy property and start his business.

Not only were the property taxes lower there, but the conditions in all respects were more lenient and humane than in the United States. Most importantly, you wouldn’t get slapped with an outrageously high, joke-of-a-medical-bill.

’Although Canada’s healthcare system is basically garbage in my opinion,’ Lin Chen thought, ’it’s still better than the outright robbery of the American one.’

"Counting the money Andre paid you back, you have about four million US dollars now," Erica said. "Are you planning to buy a pre-existing manor, or buy a plot of land and build your own house?"

Lin Chen was a little conflicted by Erica’s question.

"Honestly, I haven’t decided yet. If I buy one that’s already built, I can move in right away and see the condition of the manor firsthand. But if I build it myself, I can create a house in a completely different style according to my own needs. They both have their pros and cons."

"Oh, right. Andre, do you want to work with me on this?"

"Huh?"

"I’m planning to create an all-inclusive agri-tourism business, ideally one where guests can have a sort of Wild Survival experience. So eventually, I’ll definitely need to buy land that includes a mountain."

"I definitely won’t be able to handle it all by myself. I’ll have to hire people sooner or later. Instead of recruiting online, wouldn’t it be more prestigious to just bring in the runner-up?"

Speaking of which, Lin Chen turned his gaze to Erica. "How about it, Ms. Third Place? Interested in investing?"

He had already briefly discussed the relevant ideas with Erica back at the bamboo house, so there was no need to repeat the details.

"You want to create an integrated experience combining farming, foraging, survival skills, cooking, and fishing, right? In that case, you’d also need to provide lodging. It sounds really interesting. It should attract tourists who haven’t experienced that sort of thing before."

Coincidentally, these were all areas they excelled in. They had already built up a certain level of fame, so a little promotion would surely pique the curiosity of many tourists.

"I can invest, but first, you have to find a suitable location. You’ll also need to give me a solid business plan. Friendship is friendship, but business is business."

"Of course."

Seeing that even Erica, the wealthy heiress, was on board, Andre—who knew nothing about business—simply nodded in agreement.

"I don’t care about the other stuff. I trust Lin. Without him, my wife might have died, and I would have been on the streets with my daughters. If he needs me, then I’ll come work for you guys."

"It’s not about working for us, it’s a partnership. You can bring Mia and the kids over, too. Mia could help out at the farmhouse or restaurant and earn a salary. Plus, you wouldn’t have to worry about rent, right?"

"That sounds amazing, Lin! You’re like an angel sent from heaven to save my family!"

"Optimism is a good thing," Erica said, "but I have to repeat, I won’t invest until you produce a solid business plan and find a suitable location. Otherwise, it’s just throwing money away."

Although Erica desperately wanted Lin Chen to succeed, she had inherited her mother’s genes—a powerhouse in the business world. She had an uncommon acuity in these matters and knew that behind any plan with the potential for huge profits lurked even greater risks.

One wrong move and not only would all the money go down the drain, but they could also end up saddled with massive debt.

"Don’t worry, I’ll go online right now to look for suitable locations and consult a few agents."

"Then I’ll leave you two to it. I don’t understand this stuff anyway. When the time comes, just tell me what to do."

Andre perceptively got up and left. He wanted to share the good news with his wife and have a long, overdue chat on the phone.

CLICK.

The door closed softly, and the room immediately fell silent.

Seeing Lin Chen already searching online, Erica didn’t disturb him. She just sat there quietly, staring at his firm, chiseled profile, making no effort to conceal her gaze.

Although Lin Chen was focusing most of his energy on his search, how could a chef with such sharp senses not notice her direct, unwavering stare?

’I was so busy thinking about the land that I completely forgot it would just be me and Erica in the room after Andre left,’ he realized.

Now that the situation was what it was, he couldn’t very well ask her to leave. He had no choice but to bite the bullet and keep searching, trying to focus all of his attention on the screen.

He remembered Erica mentioning that there were many farms scattered across the islands in the Vancouver area. Plus, since White Whale was also near Vancouver, he decided to focus his search there first.

He wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t looked, but a single search revealed a vast number of farms around Vancouver, growing all sorts of things.

More importantly, the terrain around Vancouver was remarkably complex. When he zoomed in on the map, dense networks of river branches, like wrinkles, covered every inch of land. The sight was a little daunting.

He had never seen such a dense network of tributaries on a map before. Even for an estuary, this seemed extreme.

But a map was just a map; he’d have to see it in person to make a real judgment. For now, his main goal was to determine if there were any suitable locations around Vancouver and if this business could actually make money.

Judging by the large number of farms established in the area, the local government was definitely promoting—or at least supporting—the development of agriculture and animal husbandry. Otherwise, so many farms wouldn’t have clustered together.

The commercial atmosphere was there, but that also meant the competition would be more intense.

Vancouver, in particular, was a major hub for the Chinese community and a paradise for the wealthy. It was likely that more than half of these farms were run by Chinese owners.

Thinking from that perspective, it was possible someone had already started an all-inclusive agri-tourism business like the one he was planning.

If he really set up shop here, he was confident he could make it work, banking on the fame and traffic from the show.

But the main audience for Wild Survival was Westerners; it didn’t have much influence back in China. Even as a two-time champion, he wasn’t considered a celebrity there, so he couldn’t expect much traffic from his home country.

With that in mind, his goal was actually quite simple: use the initial promotion and the bit of fame he had to get the business off the ground. The first priority was to stabilize income. After that, he could build a reputation and slowly expand.

To stabilize his income, he would have to rely on his old trade: cooking.

"I’ve got it! I have a great idea!"

While searching various social media platforms for information on farms near Vancouver, he was also constantly clicking on videos from overseas Chinese bloggers on platforms like Douyin and Xiaohongshu, hoping for a spark of inspiration.

And as he watched, he actually found some useful ideas.