Mo Lingxue eyed him suspiciously. "A little indulgence of the palate, and you can't stop thinking about it?"
Yan Li said, "Senior Sister, how am I supposed to explain this to you? Anyway, you'll understand once you get a chance to try it. The food those monks came up with is simply incredible. And the atmosphere—the way those monks serve the dishes. In short, the food is good, and so is the atmosphere."
Mo Lingxue said, "If it's really as good as you say, wouldn't that be another source of wealth?"
Yan Li said, "That was what I thought at the time, and I asked Niu Youdao the same thing. But after hearing him out, he made sense. Wine can be brewed in one place, stored, and then sold elsewhere. But prepared food can't be preserved for long. Opening restaurants everywhere would involve too many people, making it impossible to keep the recipes secret or maintain an exclusive business for long. It isn't realistic as a major source of wealth. He also went on about how hard life was for ordinary people, how promoting it would easily fuel a wind of extravagance—anyway, he had a whole heap of reasons."
Mo Lingxue said, "Fine if it can't be promoted widely. But since it's something good, surely we can promote it within Purple Gold Cave?"
She could not bring herself to lower her dignity and go freeloading at Thatched Cottage Estate. She was not Yan Li, nor could she, like him, run over to Thatched Cottage Estate whenever she had nothing better to do.
Yan Li said, "You don't need to tell me that—I had the idea long ago, but he refused. Since it can't serve as a source of wealth, there's no profit to speak of. For the sake of some