Chapter Thirty-One: You Should Not Have Crossed Me

Chen Jun smiled. "Heh, this steamed bun is no ordinary one—it's especially soft and fluffy." As he spoke, he squeezed the bun, then split it open so Wang Shuangxi could see the fibrous texture, demonstrating just how tender it was.

Wang Shuangxi stared in surprise, then said, "If it's that soft, isn't it going to taste sour?"

"Try it for yourself," Chen Jun urged.

Wang Shuangxi didn't really want to, but remembering Chen Jun's claim that this could revive the restaurant's business, he decided to give it a try. To his astonishment, not only was it not sour, it was delicious. He stared at Chen Jun in disbelief. "How did you do it?"

Chen Jun chuckled. "Now do you believe these buns can bring business back to the restaurant?"

"I believe it, I believe it! Quickly, tell me—how can it be so soft and not sour?" Wang Shuangxi, excited, grabbed Chen Jun's hand.

It was the first time Chen Jun and Wang Shuangxi had been so close. Unable to resist, Chen Jun revealed his method and even demonstrated it in person.

Soon after, the Festive Restaurant launched their line of soft, fluffy buns.

The Wang family had run their restaurant for many years and had a keen sense for business. To let everyone know how good these buns were, they didn't attract customers with low prices—in fact, they sold them for a bit more. Instead, they paid people to spread the word about how delicious the buns were.

These people, before singing the buns' praises, all tried one themselves and were genuinely impressed by the flavor. Their enthusiastic and honest recommendations soon earned everyone's trust.

At first, Ten Mile Fragrance Inn didn't take the Festive Restaurant's steamed buns seriously. They even mocked them for selling buns in such a grand restaurant, wondering if they were on the verge of collapse.

But as the reputation of the Festive Restaurant's buns spread throughout Chujia Town and sales soared, the restaurant's business was revitalized. Meanwhile, Ten Mile Fragrance Inn's business declined day by day. Only then did they realize the astonishing power of those simple buns.

Li Duofu, the owner of Ten Mile Fragrance Inn, immediately sent someone to buy the buns. After tasting their extraordinary softness and lack of sourness, he was deeply shocked. He ordered his chefs to study them and find a way to replicate the recipe.

At the same time, he had people investigate who at the Festive Restaurant had created these buns, hoping to poach them. When he learned that the technique was in Chen Jun's hands, he gave up on the idea. Chen Jun’s family was well-off, and yet he remained at the Festive Restaurant as a worker—anyone with sense could see it was because of Wang Shuangxi.

Li Duofu also discovered that after humiliating Chu Yun at his inn, the Festive Restaurant launched the new buns the very next day. Considering Chen Jun’s close friendship with Chu Yun, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Could it be that after I humiliated Chu Yun, he used the Festive Restaurant to get back at me?"

Moreover, when he heard that Chu Yun had miraculously healed Master Luo's wound and brought marked relief to Master Jiang’s chest pains, and that both gentlemen had, in gratitude, bought him a former clinic to open his own, he became even more convinced by the story that Chu Yun had dreamed of an immortal.

He muttered, "The immortal Chu Yun dreamed of must have taught him much more than just medicine."

As he spoke, greed flickered in his eyes, and a murderous glint appeared on his face.

"Chu Yun, don’t blame me—you brought this on yourself! Good Fortune Casino and Red Blossom House won’t dare move against you because of your ties to Chen Ping, Master Jiang, and Master Luo, but I’m not afraid!"

Li Duofu decided to seek out people from the Good Fortune Casino and Red Blossom House to join forces against Chu Yun. He believed that, while they might be wary, they still resented Chu Yun and would be eager to help at his invitation.

...

Lately, Boss Wu had been loitering around Chujia Town’s streets. At first, he noticed someone renovating the old clinic but thought little of it, assuming someone had bought the property as a residence.

But when he realized most of the renovations kept the original layout and that the place was to remain a clinic, he grew anxious.

He grabbed one of the workers. "Who’s planning to open a clinic in Chujia Town?"

He had gone to great lengths to monopolize the town’s medicinal market, bribing the Witch Doctor Sect and the authorities to force all the clinics out of business until only his pharmacy remained. Now, someone was reopening a clinic—encroaching on his business—and he would not tolerate it.

His stance was clear: you could practice medicine in Chujia Town, but if you wanted a clinic, that was out of the question—unless you bought your herbs from his pharmacy. Clinics competed for medicinal supplies, making it impossible for him to buy low and reap huge profits.

The worker, unimpressed by Boss Wu’s tone, retorted, "Why should I tell you?"

Boss Wu, irritated, fished out a coin. "Will you tell me now?"

The worker’s eyes lit up at the sight of money. "Boss, it's Chu Yun who's opening the clinic."

Boss Wu was stunned—he hadn’t expected it to be Chu Yun.

Although Chu Yun had become a physician, few believed his story of gaining medical skills from an immortal in a dream, and no one had sought him out for treatment. Chu Yun himself hadn’t taken the initiative to treat others, either.

Coming to his senses, Boss Wu sneered, "That little rascal—where did he get the money to buy a house and reopen the clinic?"

The worker shrugged. "Boss, give me another coin and I'll tell you."

Boss Wu shot him a glare but handed over another coin. "Speak."

The worker grinned and explained how Master Jiang Lin and Master Luo Feng had provided the funds for Chu Yun to buy the property, and had even helped with the renovation.

Boss Wu listened, his face full of disbelief.

He hadn't expected Jiang Lin and Luo Feng to give Chu Yun not only so much silver, but also a house for his clinic.

Could it be that Chu Yun truly had remarkable medical skills? If so, did that mean the sore on his hand was as serious as Chu Yun had warned—possibly life-threatening?

Boss Wu glanced at the sore on his hand, now larger than before, and anxiety gnawed at him.