Chapter 165 - 162: Wealth Moves Hearts

Chapter 165: Chapter 162: Wealth Moves Hearts

After a busy day at the Lin Xian Village Restaurant, everyone happily carried their own Medicinal Cuisine, ready to go home.

Qi Shijie had also left, but partway home, he said he forgot something and told the others to go on ahead.

Returning to the kitchen, he took out the soup he had secretly brewed during dinner.

As the person specializing in brewing the Medicinal Cuisine, it was easy for him to do things behind the scenes, which was why outsiders had approached him.

For his first attempt, he didn’t dare to brew too much, making only three extra pots of the Medicinal Cuisine. Including his own take-home portion, he now had five pots altogether.

He took out the containers he had prepared, and after packing the three pots of Medicinal Cuisine, he sent a message to the person who had contacted him during the day.

’I’ll have to replace the ingredients tomorrow. Otherwise, if I do this too many times, someone will definitely find out.’

This was no problem for him. After all, everyone brought their own ingredients every day to brew the Medicinal Cuisine to take home in the evening.

Lin Feng and Huang Yi had considered that some employees might sell their personal portions of Medicinal Cuisine. They hadn’t planned on stopping this, viewing it as an employee benefit.

They just never imagined someone would be so bold. Not content with selling their own portion, they would actually dare to brew extra in secret.

Qi Shijie shut off the lights, then walked out of the Restaurant carrying a black bag.

He soon spotted two people waiting for him not far away. One of them flashed their phone’s screen twice as a signal.

He walked over, placed the black bag on the ground, then turned and immediately sent a message asking for the money.

When he saw 50,000 yuan transferred to his account, Qi Shijie took a deep breath. All his earlier fear vanished.

After a sleepless night of anxiety, a weary Qi Shijie arrived at the Restaurant. When he saw that no one was looking for him, he finally began to relax.

A chef he was on good terms with asked, "Shijie, don’t you have the Medicinal Cuisine? Why do you look so terrible today? Are you sick?"

"I’m not sick. I just had something to do last night and stayed up late."

"Aiyo, you rascal, you didn’t overdo it last night, did you? Is that why you’re so listless today?"

"Get lost! You’re the one who overdid it. I’ll be fine after a little rest."

"Alright then. I’ll help you prep the ingredients first. You get some rest."

Confident that no one had discovered anything, Qi Shijie finally relaxed, pondering whether he should make another deal today.

...

When Sun Lili woke up in the morning, she felt refreshed and clear-headed. She hadn’t slept so comfortably in a long time.

’This place is truly magical. I think I’ll go meet the doctor here today.’

She had been somewhat resistant at first, but yesterday’s experience, combined with a peaceful night’s sleep, had made her resistance disappear.

"Sun Lili, are you awake? We’re going to get breakfast in a bit."

"Coming!"

Lin Feng looked over yesterday’s records, saw no issues, and closed the panel.

Today, he needed to go over to South Mountain and use the Lin Xian Tea. The tea plants and fruit trees over there were basically ready.

’Looks like a lot of the Clearing Heat and Stopping Cough Pills sold last night. If the patients’ conditions aren’t too complicated, I might be able to complete the Medicine House mission.’

He hadn’t expected the Clearing Heat and Stopping Cough Pills to sell so quickly. They had just been shipped out yesterday and were only distributed to the various hospitals last night, but people were already using them.

’It seems this Qi Replenishing Soup recipe can’t be sold like the Clearing Heat and Stopping Cough Pills. It can only be used in Lin Xian Village.’

This stuff needed to be simmered, which was different from brewing the Medicinal Tea with the Clearing Heat and Stopping Cough Pills. It definitely couldn’t be mass-produced.

Lin Feng came out of his house, ruffled Mo Yu’s furry head, and walked toward the dining hall.

Just as he reached the entrance, he heard Zhao Shiyun say, "Lin Feng, your Medicinal Cuisine is amazing! My grandpa drank it for two days and already feels a bit better than before."

Zhou Jun happened to be arriving with Sun Lili. Hearing this, he instantly perked up.

"The Medicinal Cuisine is really good for the elderly?"

Hu Zhiming said, "Of course it is! The boss himself admitted it. Even I’ve felt some changes in my body these past two days."

Zhou Jun’s mind started racing. If it was really good for the elderly, then if he could get his grandparents to eat the Medicinal Cuisine, their health would surely improve even more.

The problem now was that his grandfather’s status was too special; there was simply no place for him to stay if he came over.

He thought of the sanatorium being built at the foot of the mountain. It seemed he would have to make a trip over there today to ask about the situation.

Lin Feng said, "While it’s beneficial, don’t drink too much of it. You should have less than three bowls a day. Over-nourishing can also cause problems for your body."

This was something he had only discovered yesterday, and he had already informed the Restaurant.

Fortunately, a single portion of the Medicinal Cuisine was about three bowls, so even if one person ate it all, there wouldn’t be any problems.

Plus, with the purchase limits at the Restaurant, it was impossible for one person to buy two portions.

Lin Feng didn’t know that someone had secretly sold five portions the previous night, and that a certain fellow, trying to curry favor, had given three of those portions to the buyer’s father to eat.

If the old man only ate one portion a day, there would be no issue. Unfortunately, when some people get their hands on something good, how could they possibly stick to just one serving?

"We know, we know. Two bowls is usually enough to feel full, three at the most."

"Besides, even if we wanted to drink more, there isn’t that much available!"

Although they could ask the chefs to help them brew it, they felt too embarrassed to ask for too much. They usually just had two clay pots’ worth made, which was just enough for their families.

Lin Feng said, "Once the new Restaurant down below is built, that problem should be solved."

He had already adjusted the list of village residents, removing some non-essential people so they no longer took up villager slots.

For places like the Restaurant, Medicine House, Livestock Shed, Orchard, and Medicinal Herb Garden, some of the facilities’ functions required villager status.

At first, Lin Feng thought this status was useless, but now he understood that it was very important.

Without villager status, one couldn’t enjoy some of the benefits from many of the buildings in the village.

After breakfast, Zhou Jun brought Sun Lili over to the Land God Temple and found Professor Quan.

"Hello, Professor Quan. This is Sun Lili. How should she cooperate with your treatment?"

Quan Liangyan observed Sun Lili for a moment and said, "Have her come with me to the medical room. We need to perform a detailed diagnosis before we can determine the course of treatment."

He had already reviewed the files sent over from the Imperial Hospital. He felt that Sun Lili’s condition would be very simple to treat.

A psychological disorder formed from acquired trauma was not the same as a congenital neurological problem.

They had already treated several cases like this. They would directly stimulate the patient to trigger an episode, and then that magical fragrance would be able to soothe the patient.

After a few sessions, the patient would no longer have an episode when stimulated again.

This treatment method was simple and crude, yet extremely effective. During an episode, the patient’s chaotic neural pathways would be treated.

They had discovered this treatment method by chance when a patient suddenly had an episode during a conversation and they used the fragrance to calm them down.

If they waited for the fragrance to work Passively, the effect was very slow and would take a long time.

Additionally, they also discovered that people with chronic psychological disorders couldn’t be treated this way.

This was because such patients’ mental and neural systems were in a state of chaos, and even soothing them with the fragrance couldn’t restore them to normal.

To put it simply, it was like a program with a single error. As long as you corrected that one error, the program would no longer have problems.

But if the entire program was full of bad code, then it couldn’t be fixed.

Sun Lili followed him into the medical room. When it came to the questions she was asked, she was more familiar with them than any doctor.

"Professor Quan, can my condition be treated?"

"Treatment is absolutely no problem. Would you like to start today, or...?"

Hearing that she could be treated, Sun Lili smiled and said, "Let’s start today, then. The sooner I’m cured, the sooner everyone else can stop worrying."

"Alright. Let’s go out and tell your companion first."

Learning that Sun Lili could be treated, Zhou Jun didn’t leave. Instead, he went to the adjacent Land God Temple.

There, he saw a Daoist priest trying to persuade an old man, "That’s too much incense. Three sticks at most."

The old man said, "I want to burn more incense for the Earth God. Is that not allowed?"

"Look at the Incense Burner. If you insist on being stubborn, the Earth God might not bless you."

"Ah! Then I’ll use less. Is half okay?"

"Three sticks at most. The rule for burning incense at the Land God Temple was set by the boss. We can’t change it."

Hearing that it was Lin Feng’s rule, the old man finally gave in. "Then I’ll just leave the incense here for others to use."

"That’s no problem. All the incense here was brought by people like you. And you, the one in the back! Your incense is too long. That won’t do. Come over and exchange it."

Zhou Jun looked at the person in question. Their incense stick was at least a meter long and as thick as a finger.

These tourists knew the Earth God was efficacious, so they generally wouldn’t argue or cause trouble when advised.

Because they knew that if they actually caused a scene, worshipping the Earth God would be useless.

Meanwhile, inside the Restaurant, Qi Shijie was somewhat absent-minded, his mind preoccupied.

"Xiaoxi, if you’re tired, you can go rest first. You need to get proper rest at night from now on."

The chef beside him put down the seasoning packet in his hand, feeling that something was very off with him today.

"Sorry, sorry. I zoned out for a moment."

"You haven’t been approached by someone too, have you? Let me tell you, that money isn’t worth earning."

"Ah! You were approached too?"

"We’re the only two who brew the Medicinal Cuisine, and its effects are so good. What do you think?

If you’re really short on money, you can sell the Medicinal Cuisine we’re allowed to take home every day. The boss and Master Huang don’t mind that."

Everyone knew the Medicinal Cuisine was good stuff, but some people couldn’t bear to eat it themselves, so they sold it for cash instead.

Wan Qianqian and Huang Yi knew about this and had told Lin Feng. As long as it didn’t exceed two pots, it was fine.

Also, any employee in the village who wanted Medicinal Cuisine could buy their own ingredients and pay a ten-yuan processing fee to the chef who brewed it.

When night fell, inside the Lin Xian Village Restaurant, Qi Shijie was surprised to find someone else had the same idea as him.

The two happened to run into each other. After an awkward glance, they decided to cooperate.

With an extra person, the operation became much more convenient. One person stood watch outside while the other worked in the back kitchen.

This time, to speed things up, Qi Shijie didn’t follow the proper procedure. He had already experimented during the day; this brewing method only resulted in a poorer taste, but the effects were still there.

Even with the inferior taste, it was still incomparable to the matsutake and bamboo fungus chicken soup you could get outside.

"Brother Qi, is it ready yet?"

"Almost. No one’s coming, right?"

"Don’t worry, no one’s here. I’ll text you if someone comes."

Over half an hour later, the two of them walked out of the Restaurant carrying bags filled with the Medicinal Cuisine.

Partway there, Qi Shijie handed his bag to a prearranged contact, while the other chef took his bag directly to make the trade.

Looking at the money that was transferred to them, their initial fear instantly turned into excitement.

"Brother Qi, if we work together and use our own ingredients, they won’t find out."

"Okay. From now on, we’ll leave together. That way, we can divert suspicion."

"Brother Qi is so smart. I have sales channels, so if you have extra Medicinal Cuisine, Brother Qi, you can give it to me to sell."

"No need. I can move my share on my own."

The two exchanged a knowing smile, then left Lin Xian Village.

The next morning, the two came in early to clean up any traces from the previous day and restock the ingredients they had used.

With someone to coordinate with, Qi Shijie grew even bolder. While making the Medicinal Cuisine in the morning, he began secretly moving portions out.

He added two extra clay pots’ worth while brewing, and after it was done and packaged, he had the other chef take it out.

Because many village employees came to request portions, and with the back kitchen being so busy, they didn’t attract anyone’s attention.

The two discovered that this method of cooperation didn’t arouse suspicion, and their courage began to grow.

By the end of their shift, they had managed to send out eight pots of Medicinal Cuisine. Including what they took for themselves, they moved twelve pots in total that day.

They weren’t planning on coming back that night. From now on, they planned to use this method to smuggle the Medicinal Cuisine out.