Chapter 58: Paying for a Warm Welcome, No Matter Who You Are!
The next morning, Lin Beifan received a huge sum of 200,000 and went to the inn with a smile to receive the Darro country envoy.
“Prince Hamu, as well as all the esteemed guests who have come from afar, I will be your host for these few days. I will show you the prosperity of Wu’s capital, the local customs of Wu, and the magnificent landscapes!” Lin Beifan said warmly.
“It turns out to be the promising young Lin Beifan. Having you accompany us is wonderful!” Prince Hamu replied with a smile.
“Prince Hamu is too polite. It is my honor.” Lin Beifan smiled in return.
Both sides were very polite.
“It’s already early morning now, I’m sure everyone is probably hungry! Let me take everyone to have breakfast first, and after that, we can visit the streets together, how about that?” Lin Beifan suggested with a smile.
“That’s exactly what I had in mind!” Prince Hamu agreed with a smile.
Then, Lin Beifan led the group out.
Unexpectedly, they bumped into Princess Yunying on the way.
At this moment, she was wearing a green flower dress. When she ran, the skirt swayed lightly with the wind, making her look youthful and cute.
“Why are you here?” Lin Beifan asked in confusion.
“I heard you were receiving foreign guests, so I came to join you for a meal and a drink!” Yunying said with a cheeky grin.
Lin Beifan was a little confused!
Well, this princess really lived up to her reputation as a foodie. As soon as she heard there was food, she immediately ran over!
“I’m receiving guests, so I can’t take care of you!” Lin Beifan whispered.
“Don’t worry, I know what’s important and what’s not. You focus on your work, and I’ll just follow behind and eat!” Yunying said seriously.
“Who is this?” Prince Hamu asked.
Lin Beifan introduced Yunying’s identity.
Prince Hamu was very enthusiastic. “Let’s all go together! The more, the merrier!”
So everyone went out together.
Within a short time, Lin Beifan led the group to an open-air breakfast stall.
“Prince Hamu and all the esteemed guests!” Lin Beifan said with a smile. “This is Liang Ji Breakfast, which is well-known near and far in the capital. The breakfast here is authentic, with everything from fried dough sticks, steamed buns, soy milk, and shrimp dumplings, all of which are classic Wu breakfast foods!”
Yunying tugged at Lin Beifan and whispered, “You brought the guests here to eat this?”
“Of course!” Lin Beifan laughed and nodded.
Yunying was worried. “How can you let the guests eat this? These things are inexpensive and will make people laugh at them!”
“Little Princess, you don’t know anything!” Lin Beifan confidently said, “Think about it, they are all nobles from Darro Country, what delicacies haven’t they tasted? They must have already eaten until they’re sick of it! Coming to a foreign land, they definitely want to try something different! That’s why I brought them to eat Great Wu’s breakfast, isn’t it just what they wanted?”
The Little Princess tilted her head and said, “Hmm, what you said… seems to make some sense!”
“Of course it makes sense!” Lin Beifan walked over and smiled, “Everyone, please sit down! Order whatever you want, I’ve got it covered!”
Prince Hamu waved his hand, “Everyone, please sit down!”
Everyone ordered, and the dozen or so men basically ate up the entire breakfast shop. Lin Beifan smiled as he watched it all.
The breakfast here was of good quality and value, with large portions that could easily fill one up. It cost less than ten silver taels for a meal, and everything left over went into his pocket.
After eating, Lin Beifan asked, “Prince Hamu and friends, how was the breakfast here?”
“The taste is good, thank you for your hospitality!” the prince said politely.
“Where did you learn to flatter people like that?” The Little Princess teased.
“I have my ways!” Lin Beifan smirked.
After breakfast, everyone began their official tour of the streets. The Darro embassy officials looked around and found everything here to be very exotic.
At that moment, a noble embassy official took a liking to a beautiful vase, played with it in his hand and couldn’t bear to put it down, but he was very slow in paying, frequently looking towards Lin Beifan’s side.
“Mr. Lin, what do you think of this vase?” he asked.
“It’s nice, very beautiful!” Lin Beifan replied.
“But it costs 20 silver taels!” the official said.
“That’s a fair price!” Lin Beifan encouraged.
…
The hints kept coming.
Finally, Lin Beifan could not take it anymore, “Why don’t… let me pay for you?”
“What? How can I do that?” the noble embassy official was overjoyed.
“No need to be polite!” Lin Beifan extended his hand and, in the bewildered look of the other party, reached into his purse, took out a bag of silver, and then took out 30 taels of silver from it, handing it to the vendor selling the vase, “Keep the change!”
The shopkeeper thanked him profusely, “Thank you, Mr. Lin!”
“No need to thank me!” Lin Beifan smiled slightly and placed the bag of silver into the noble embassy official’s purse.
The noble embassy official’s face twitched, “I also want to thank Mr. Lin!”
“It’s just a small gesture, Sir Allo doesn’t need to be so polite!” Lin Beifan humbly said, “And all my friends, if you need to pay for something, just give me a shout! I don’t discriminate against anyone!”
Everyone’s mouths twitched, “Thank you, Mr. Lin!”
