Chapter 38 — The Ingredient Problem

Lin Fan continued to stare at the lone, frostbitten chicken wing resting on the bottom shelf of the larder. The cold air wafting out of the stone chamber was nothing compared to the chill spreading through his soul. Outside in the dining hall, dozens of hungry cultivators were still clutching their bamboo tokens, eagerly awaiting their bowls of braised beast meat. Inside the kitchen, there was not a single scrap of red meat left to cook.

Lin Fan slowly turned to Crimson, rubbing his forehead. "Crimson, my friend, my reliable head of security... didn't you bring back an entire wild iron-hide bull three days ago? Where did a three-ton mountain of beast meat go?"

Crimson adjusted his dark sleeves, his expression as calm and unbothered as a frozen pond. "Master, a single large wild bull yields approximately twelve hundred pounds of usable muscle tissue after skinning and butchering. Under your high-fire wok technique, the water content evaporates rapidly. When combined with the ravenous appetites of two hundred cultivators who haven't eaten a decent meal in centuries, twelve hundred pounds is merely a light snack."

"A snack?" Lin Fan squeaked, his voice pitching high before he coughed to restore his composure. "It was a giant wild beast! Can't you just leap into the deep mountains, find another high-grade beast, and bring it back before the dinner shift?"

Crimson shook his head smoothly. "That approach is operationally unsustainable, Master. High-grade wild beasts do not spawn like mushrooms after rain. If I hunt down the remaining wild beasts within a fifty-mile radius, the local mountain ecosystem will suffer a catastrophic predator collapse. Furthermore, spending four hours tracking wild animals in the wilderness distracts me from my primary duty of securing the front porch against unruly sword cultivators."

Sect Master Lu stepped forward, wiping his flour-dusted hands on his apron and offering a deep, thoughtful nod. "Lord Crimson speaks the truth, Shopkeeper. Relying on a single expert to hunt wild game for a commercial kitchen is like using a divine imperial sword to chop firewood. It lacks strategic foresight. What we are experiencing is a fundamental supply chain failure."

Lin Fan stared at Lu in surprise. "Did you just say 'supply chain failure'?"

"I heard you mention the term during yesterday's staff meeting, Shopkeeper," Lu said proudly, puffing out his flour-covered chest. "And the logic is sound! A grand establishment cannot survive on sporadic wild hunts alone."

Scartail, who was leaning against a heavy wooden chopping block while cleaning a cleaver, spat onto the floorboards. "If you ask me, Chief, you're looking in the wrong direction. Why are we relying solely on dangerous mountain beasts? Down in Qingshui Town and the surrounding valleys, there are hundreds of mortal farmers, river fishermen, and local hunters. They grow spirit-soil radishes, catch fresh river carp, and hunt wild boars every single day."

Lin Fan’s eyes lit up like two golden spirit stones. He slapped his hands together with a loud crack.

"Outsourcing!" Lin Fan shouted, a brilliant smile spreading across his face. "Why on earth was I trying to run a self-sufficient hunter-gatherer tribe when I can establish a localized vendor procurement network? Scartail, you are a genius!"

Scartail blinked, scratching his ear in confusion. "I don't know what 'procurement' means, Chief, but if it means I don't have to watch Crimson drag bloody monster corpses through the back door every morning, I'm all for it."

Without wasting another second, Lin Fan grabbed a large wooden board, a thick brush, and a bucket of dark black ink. Within ten minutes, he had written out a massive notice in clear, bold characters. He marched out to the front porch of Lin's Inn and slammed the board right onto the wooden post beside the main entrance.

The notice read:

INVENTORY PROCUREMENT NOTICE: LIN'S INN IS BUYING!

Lin's Inn is now purchasing fresh daily ingredients directly from local producers!

• Vegetables: Spirit-soil cabbages, plump garlic, sweet mountain radishes, ginger, and scallions.

• Meat & Poultry: Fresh farm pork, plump chickens, duck eggs, and wild boars.

• Seafood: Live river carp, freshwater turtles, and wild prawns.

• Spices & Grain: Coarse sea salt, golden wheat flour, fragrant sesame oil, and dried chilies.

• Payment: Instant cash payment upon delivery! Fair market rates paid in heavy copper coins or low-grade spirit stones!

When the notice was first posted, the local mortals of Qingshui Town looked at it with deep suspicion. For centuries, mortal farmers and humble hunters had viewed cultivators with absolute terror. In the cultivation world, high and mighty immortals usually took whatever they wanted from mortals without paying a single copper coin, treating ordinary people like mere ants underfoot.

The idea of a powerful cultivator shopkeeper—one who kept a terrifying, red-eyed demon lord as security—paying actual money for ordinary farm cabbages sounded like an elaborate trap.

At seven o'clock the next morning, an old mortal farmer named Old Man Zhang stood timidly at the edge of the inn's front courtyard. He was pushing a wooden handcart loaded with three sacks of fresh, crisp white radishes and a dozen heads of green cabbage he had harvested at dawn. His hands were shaking so hard his wooden cart rattled against the cobblestones.

This tale has been pilfered from NovelPhoenix. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Xiao Yu, wearing his neat head server tunic, spotted the old man and immediately walked over with a warm, welcoming smile. "Good morning, Elder! Have you brought produce for the inn?"

Old Man Zhang flinched, clutching his straw hat to his chest. "A-A-Ah, young master! I... I brought these cabbages... But if the honored immortals do not like them, please do not strike my grandson! We will leave at once!"

Before Xiao Yu could explain, Lin Fan stepped out onto the porch, carrying a brass weighing scale and a leather pouch filled with shiny coins.

"Welcome, Uncle Zhang!" Lin Fan called out cheerfully, stepping down the wooden stairs. "Let's take a look at what you've got!"

Lin Fan walked over to the cart, picked up a head of cabbage, and snapped off a crisp green leaf. He popped it into his mouth, chewed thoughtfully, and let out a satisfied hum. The cabbage was sweet, juicy, and bursting with natural, earthy flavor from the mineral-rich soil of the valley.

"Fantastic quality," Lin Fan said with a wide smile. He placed the sacks onto the brass scale, checked the weight, and pulled out a heavy purse. "Three sacks of radishes and twelve heads of cabbage... that comes to forty-five heavy copper coins. But since your quality is top-notch, let me round it up to sixty coppers!"

Lin Fan dropped a thick, jingling handful of bright copper coins directly into Old Man Zhang's calloused palm.

Old Man Zhang stared down at the pile of sparkling money in his hand. He rubbed his eyes, pinched his own arm to make sure he wasn't dreaming, and then looked up at Lin Fan with wide, tear-filled eyes. Sixty copper coins was more than his family earned in two weeks at the local town market!

"T-Thank you, Shopkeeper Lin!" Old Man Zhang bowed so low his forehead almost touched his cart. "I have two more acres of cabbages in my valley! I will harvest them all for you tomorrow!"

"Bring them all, Uncle Zhang!" Lin Fan laughed. "As long as it's fresh, Lin's Inn will buy every single leaf!"

By noon, news of Old Man Zhang’s sudden windfall had swept through the surrounding rural villages like a lightning strike.

The realization hit the local mortal population like a thunderclap: Lin's Inn was actually paying fair, top-dollar cash for ordinary farm produce!

By the next morning, the street outside Lin's Inn had completely transformed into a vibrant, bustling agricultural marketplace.

A line of over fifty local farmers, fishermen, and mountain gatherers stretched down the stone avenue. Uncle Li, a local river fisherman, arrived carrying two large wooden tubs splashing with live, fat river carp. Auntie Zhou brought three baskets of freshly laid duck eggs. A group of rough mountain hunters from the lower ridge carried two large wild boars suspended from sturdy wooden poles.

Scartail stood at the receiving station on the side porch, wearing an oversized pair of reading glasses he had borrowed from Lin Fan, inspecting every delivery with extreme scrutiny.

"Hold on there, friend," Scartail said gruffly, poking a wooden stick into a basket of wild mushrooms brought by a young gatherer. "These three on the left are slightly bruised. I'll take the rest at full price, but chop off two coppers for the damaged ones."

The young gatherer nodded frantically, overjoyed to receive thirty-eight copper coins on the spot.

"And you, fisherman!" Scartail pointed a thick finger at Uncle Li's tubs. "Are these carp kept in fresh river water? If a single fish dies before Master Lu puts it in the steamer, I'm deducting fish feed costs from your bill!"

"They are as lively as dragons, Enforcer Scartail!" Uncle Li declared proudly, splashing the water to show off the swimming fish. "I caught them from the cool mountain stream just two hours ago!"

Meanwhile, news of Lin's Inn's massive daily consumption reached merchant caravans passing through the region. Traveling merchant guilds, who previously bypassed Qingshui Town because it was too small and poor, suddenly redirected their trade wagons directly toward the inn. Large wooden carts loaded with high-grade wheat flour, rare southern spices, jars of aged soy sauce, and sea salt began arriving at the back door every single afternoon.

Lin's Inn had officially become the single largest economic engine in the entire district.

Farmers around Qingshui Town began clearing unused land to plant double their usual crop yields. Hunters formed organized teams to patrol the lower forests for wild game, knowing they had a guaranteed buyer waiting every evening. Local merchants opened small supply shops nearby just to sell wooden crates and woven baskets to the inn's suppliers.

In the kitchen, the atmosphere was lighter and brighter than it had ever been.

Lin Fan stood before his roaring wok, tossing a batch of fresh, farm-grown sweet radishes and juicy wild pork belly into the searing iron pan. The sweet, fragrant aroma of farm-fresh ingredients combined with sizzling ginger filled the air, smelling distinctly cleaner and more appetizing than heavy, overly dense wild beast meat.

Sect Master Lu stood beside him, expertly shaping soft, perfectly risen dough made from fresh local wheat flour. "Shopkeeper, the texture of this fresh mortal flour is extraordinary! Because it was milled just yesterday, the steam retention inside the dough is fifty percent higher! Our buns are twice as fluffy!"

Lin Fan picked up a small tasting spoon, dipped it into a simmering pot of fresh river carp soup, and took a sip. The broth was rich, milky white, and bursting with clean, natural sweetness.

"Freshness really is the ultimate secret ingredient," Lin Fan muttered happily, setting the spoon down. "We don't need Crimson hunting mythical monsters every day. Simple, fresh, high-quality local produce makes better comfort food anyway."

Just as Lin Fan wiped his hands on his apron, a familiar, warm golden light flickered in the air before his eyes.

Ting!

The System interface materialized, displaying bright, golden characters that glowed with unusual warmth:

[System Alert: Commercial Infrastructure Upgrade!]

[Stable Hospitality Supply Network Established.]

[Local Economic Integration: Qingshui District Anchor Business Recognized.]

[Hospitality Points Bonus: +1,500 Points Awarded!]

[System Evaluation: You have successfully transitioned from a standalone shop into an integrated economic pillar of the region. True hospitality nourishes both the guest and the community.]

Lin Fan smiled softly, dismissing the glowing prompt with a casual wave of his hand.

He walked over to the kitchen window and looked out at the busy side yard. Scartail was laughing gruffly while handing a sack of shiny copper coins to an elderly herb gatherer, Xiao Mei was helping an old farmer carry empty wooden baskets back to his cart, and a long line of eager customers was sitting comfortably in the dining hall, smelling the fresh soup wafting from the kitchen.

Lin Fan leaned against the wooden frame, feeling a deep, satisfying warmth settle in his chest.

His inn was no longer just a small teahouse tucked away in a quiet corner of the cultivation world. It was alive. It had roots, it had a pulse, and it was growing into something truly magnificent.