Chapter 161 - 159: Regretting Not Buying

Chapter 161: Chapter 159: Regretting Not Buying

However, no one rushed to snatch up the matsutake mushrooms. The main reason was that they would be useless even if they got their hands on them.

They had to have the Lin Xian Village Restaurant prepare the Medicinal Cuisine for them to enjoy its effects.

After witnessing so many strange events in Lin Xian Village, these people understood that many of the village’s treasures were only effective when prepared within its borders.

Even if they bought the matsutake, it would be useless if the Lin Xian Village Restaurant refused to cook it for them!

So, the first thing these people did was call their contacts to ask how they could purchase the Medicinal Cuisine from Lin Xian Village.

Wan Qianqian had just called Wu Jiaxing and his mother over as well. A Medicinal Cuisine with so many benefits was something both of them had to try.

Huang Yi walked up to Lin Feng and asked, "Boss, a lot of people are calling to ask how we’re going to sell the Medicinal Cuisine."

"Is the Medicinal Cuisine difficult to make?"

"It’s not too bad. As long as someone watches the heat, we can prepare pre-mixed seasoning packets.

If we switch to a larger pot, we could make dozens of servings at a time.

If that method isn’t enough, we could buy some specialized soup-stewing equipment. They have that kind of thing over in Guangdong."

"You guys decide how many servings to sell each day. As for the price, what do you think would be appropriate?"

Huang Yi thought for a moment and said, "Things like wagyu beef, black truffles, caviar, and foie gras sell for several thousand yuan.

Our Medicinal Cuisine not only tastes amazing but also has powerful effects. The price definitely can’t be low. How about 6,666 yuan a serving?"

Lin Feng hadn’t expected him to suggest such a high price. Compared to this, his Jade Grapes were practically a giveaway.

"That’s too high. Let’s make it 3,666 a serving."

Huang Yi felt like his boss was running a charity. Such a low price didn’t match the value of the Medicinal Cuisine at all.

’He even thought his own opening price was too low. If this Medicinal Cuisine were his, he’d charge at least 18,888 a serving and wouldn’t sell it for a penny less.’

Once the price was set, Hu Zhiming sent the information to those who had inquired. As for how many servings they could sell per day, they would have to run some tests to find out.

The kitchen was already swamped, and now they had to dedicate staff just to simmering the soup. They were running short on both space and people in the back of the house.

Soon, the Medicinal Cuisine was ready. Everyone received a bowl, and its enticing aroma filled the entire restaurant, even wafting outside.

Some tourists staying in Lin Xian Village were passing by the restaurant and were immediately drawn in by the fragrance.

When they learned the restaurant staff was having a meal together, they felt it would be rude to enter and simply asked from outside what dish smelled so good.

Upon hearing it was a newly developed Medicinal Cuisine that would soon be on the menu, the tourists grew quite expectant.

The people from Wuyuan County who heard the price of the Medicinal Cuisine didn’t think it was expensive. The low price of the Jade Grapes simply meant they had gotten a great deal.

Once this batch of Jade Grapes cleared their debts, money would be the bare minimum requirement to even be considered for future purchases.

Everyone left the restaurant feeling content. Even Lin Dongyue was now a firm believer in the Medicinal Cuisine’s effects.

The main reason was that it tasted too good. It was a deliciousness that defied description; one sip just made you want another.

’Thankfully, this Medicinal Cuisine belongs to my son, and the restaurant does too. I won’t have to worry about a shortage of it in the future.’

When he got back to their home in the county seat, the first thing he did was take the thermos out and pour a bowl of the Medicinal Cuisine for his wife.

"Wow! It smells amazing! This must be the Medicinal Cuisine Xiaofeng was talking about!"

"That’s right. Honey, try it, quick. The flavor is incredible, even better than the dishes at the restaurant, and it has a lot of health benefits."

Liu Chunyan finished the entire bowl in just a few gulps, her eyes then drifting to the thermos.

"Don’t even think about it. This is for your daughter. Xiaofeng said this Medicinal Cuisine is good for Xiaoxi."

Hearing that it would benefit her daughter, Liu Chunyan reined in her own appetite. She put the thermos away to save for when her daughter came home.

’Besides, according to my son, he’ll bring some home for me every day, so I can just wait until tomorrow to have more.’

When Lin Feng came down for breakfast in the morning, he saw Huang Yi waiting for him. It turned out he had calculated how many servings they could sell per day.

"Boss, two hundred servings a day is our absolute limit. The ingredients are easy enough to prepare, but the problem is the kitchen space and the cooking time.

Of course, if we were to completely disregard the flavor, we could use high heat and pressure cookers to speed things up."

"Forget it. Just prepare it the normal way. Using shortcuts might negate the effects."

In reality, one serving of the Medicinal Cuisine was enough for three people, meaning two hundred servings could feed six hundred.

"Should I add the Medicinal Cuisine to the menu, then?"

"Go ahead. Have the ingredients we ordered arrived?"

"Yes, they were delivered this morning. I hear the price of matsutake has risen quite a bit."

Huang Yi knew full well that their actions were the cause of the price hike.

However, the price would soon come back down. Lin Xian Village couldn’t possibly consume that many matsutake mushrooms on its own.

When Huang Yi returned to the restaurant, he was instantly surrounded by the staff.

"Master Huang, can we cook our own Medicinal Cuisine every day? We’ll pay for the ingredients ourselves, of course."

"After your shifts, you can cook a maximum of two pots in the kitchen. But you have to clean up all the equipment you use yourselves."

"That’s great! Let’s get a count in a little bit to see how many servings we need to cook after work each day."

With a Medicinal Cuisine this good, of course they wanted their families to have it every day. They’d just cook a smaller amount if money was tight, and more when they could afford it.

Of course, once they received this month’s salary, everyone would surely have enough money to buy the ingredients.

The moment the news spread that the Lin Xian Village Medicinal Cuisine had been added to the menu, limited to two hundred servings a day, people began to make their moves.

Lin Xian Village operated on a reservation-only system, so to purchase the Medicinal Cuisine, one first had to secure a dining reservation.

Reservations for the Lin Xian Restaurant were already booked out a month in advance, mostly by tourists who had also scheduled visits to the village.

「The next morning」

A group of people gathered outside the main gate of Lin Xian Village, asking every person they saw if they had a reservation at the restaurant.

Whenever they found a tourist with a reservation, they would try to negotiate, asking them to act as a proxy buyer for the new Matsutake and Bamboo Fungus Chicken Soup.

This caused the newly-listed Medicinal Cuisine to become an instant sensation, leaving everyone wondering why so many people were desperate to get a single type of soup.

Curious tourists, whether they had reservations or not, went to find staff members to ask about it.

Soon, everyone learned that this was a new Medicinal Cuisine introduced by Lin Xian Village, priced at 3,666 yuan.

After learning the price, many tourists were dumbfounded. A soup that would cost a few hundred yuan elsewhere was selling for ten times that in Lin Xian Village, and people were still fighting over it.

The fact that people were hiring proxy buyers for such an expensive soup left them speechless.

The restaurant had just opened for the day when a flood of tourists poured in. They found the soup was indeed on the menu, and the price was exactly 3,666 yuan.

What was even more outrageous was that the soup was limited: only one hundred servings were available for lunch, with the remaining hundred sold at dinner. Furthermore, each table was restricted to a single order.

"Hey man, did you see that? It’s 3,666 a serving. You still want it?"

"Buy it! Buy it! Place the order now! I just transferred you the money. I’ll give you another thousand once you bring it out."

"Alright, I’m buying it."

Although he couldn’t quite understand it, he could earn a thousand yuan just by tapping his finger. That would cover all of his expenses for the day.

Among the diners were three rather special guests: Chu Xiuhong with her son, and Uncle Li, a long-term resident of Lin Xian Village.

Uncle Li had heard last night that the Medicinal Cuisine would be on the menu today, so he had been waiting outside since early in the morning. Fortunately, regulars like him didn’t need to make reservations.

After they came in, neither party even looked at a menu; they simply asked the server to bring them the Medicinal Cuisine.

While the other tourists were still hesitating, all one hundred servings of the Medicinal Cuisine had already been sold out.

Seeing the item marked as "Sold Out" on the menu, everyone stopped agonizing over it and began ordering their other dishes.

However, when two servings of the Medicinal Cuisine were brought out and their lids were lifted, all the diners in the hall lost their composure.

"What is that? It smells so good!"

"Ah! So that’s the Medicinal Cuisine? I can’t believe I hesitated! I’m such an idiot!"

"Waiter, is there any Medicinal Cuisine left? I’m willing to pay more!"

"This aroma is too enticing! How can it smell this good? I really want to try it!"

"Mom, I want to eat that! It smells so yummy!"

"..."

Amidst the rising clamor from the tourists, Uncle Li eagerly took a sip of the soup, completely ignoring the waiter’s warning that it was scalding hot.

"HSSS... This flavor is incredible. Worth it! It’s absolutely worth it!"

He said no more, focusing on drinking the soup and eating the meat, savoring every last drop of the delicious Medicinal Cuisine.

As a wealthy old man, he was no stranger to gourmet food, but the flavor of this Medicinal Cuisine was something he couldn’t possibly comprehend. ’How did they make this?’

At Chu Xiuhong’s table not far away, the Medicinal Cuisine was still a bit hot. Watching her son circle the bowl, blowing on it and fidgeting, she couldn’t help but laugh.

"Mom, can I eat it now?"

"Mom, it’s probably not hot anymore. How about I try it?"

"Come over here. I’ll feed you."

She picked up the spoon and, resisting the temptation of the incredible aroma, began feeding the soup to her son, one small spoonful at a time.

"Hey man, I’m refunding your money. I’m not selling the soup."

"What! Dude, you can’t go back on your word! I already sent you the money. Look, I’ll add another thousand."

"It’s not about the money. It was just too tempting... I couldn’t resist. I already started drinking it."

At that moment, many of the proxy buyers were sending similar messages. ’It’s just 3,666 yuan. One meal isn’t going to bankrupt me.’

Of course, the people waiting outside for their purchases began to raise their offers. The bosses who had sent them were still waiting, after all.

The price was eventually raised to ten thousand yuan, and finally, someone managed to resist the temptation and agreed to bring the soup out.

News of what was happening inside the restaurant quickly spread. Many people couldn’t understand why a 3,666-yuan soup was being fought over.

Some tourists who heard the news rushed to the restaurant to inquire, only to learn that the soup was sold out for lunch and wouldn’t be available again until dinner.

As they smelled the aroma wafting from the restaurant, some of those who hadn’t understood before suddenly began to see why it was so expensive.

They could smell it clearly even from outside, so one could only imagine how fragrant the soup truly was.

Propelled by this group of tourists, the news spread like wildfire. This kind of sensational story about an exorbitantly priced restaurant dish easily attracted the attention of netizens.

However, when people discovered the restaurant in question was the one in Lin Xian Village, the reaction wasn’t a one-sided barrage of criticism. This was mainly because Lin Xian Village had been a trending topic on social media several times before.

Netizens already had some familiarity with the place, and many associated its products with mysterious phenomena.

Furthermore, despite limiting the number of visitors, Lin Xian Village didn’t charge an entrance fee. It also didn’t charge money or sell incense for paying respects to the Earth God. For this, netizens greatly admired the village.

It was a tourist destination that could clearly make a fortune on ticket sales, yet the owner was apparently not a greedy, unscrupulous businessman.

Of the wealthy patrons waiting outside, only a small fraction managed to obtain the Medicinal Cuisine. After trying it, their desire for it only grew stronger.

Unfortunately, their moods soured upon learning that the Medicinal Cuisine had a daily sales limit and that getting it was basically a mad scramble.

On the other hand, the few who could obtain the Medicinal Cuisine through special channels were in very high spirits.

Lin Feng received several calls from people who had just heard the news and were inquiring about the Medicinal Cuisine.

Zhou Jun video-called him. "Lin Feng, what’s this I hear about a Medicinal Cuisine? People are saying it has great health benefits."

"Yes, it strengthens the body, replenishes vitality, regulates the immune system, and fights fatigue. It’s definitely good for you."

"What! It really does all that? In that case, I’m heading to Lin Xian Village right now. Save a room for me. I want to stay there for a while."

Zhou Jun couldn’t contain his excitement after hearing the benefits Lin Feng listed. He knew that if it came from Lin Feng, it was absolutely true.

"Oh, by the way, I almost forgot. The review process for your medicine is almost complete. Those pills will be approved for sale very soon."

"That’s really great news."

In fact, his Clearing Heat and Stopping Cough Pills had already been used by a number of people with special status, which was why the approval process had been fast-tracked.