About to Become Famous

"Great Wei Judicial Commissioner?"

"What kind of official is that? Does it even rank ninth?"

"He actually became an official? Someone with servile status can become an official?"

"Butcher Zhang, you worked for the authorities before. Do you know what kind of official that is?"

"I don't know either!"

After everyone in the restaurant had read it over and their discussion had produced no answers, they all turned toward Lin Ke, who sat calmly drinking tea.

Feeling their eyes on him, Lin Ke could only explain, "I'm not a Judicial Commissioner. I'm an advisor to the Judicial Commissioner. It's an honorary title, like when you do a good deed and, instead of giving you any actual reward, they call you Chaoyang Street's Number One Good Samaritan."

Shopkeeper Tong sat beside Lin Ke and asked, "How much silver did they give you?"

He stared intently at Lin Ke.

"Not a single coin." Lin Ke shook his head. "Li Hanlin said he couldn't secure a cash reward for me. He would only spread the story of how I solved the case throughout the Imperial Capital."

"Outrageous!" Shopkeeper Tong gave an offhand snort. "This is utterly chilling. True heartbreak isn't about shouting and making a scene. Right now, I'm shaking with rage, drenched in cold sweat on this sweltering day, my hands and feet icy!

"Can this court ever get anything right? How exactly must our Lin Ke live before they're satisfied? My tears are flowing despite myself. When will our Lin Ke finally be able to stand tall?"

Lin Ke: ?

"You're a transmigrator too?" Lin Ke looked utterly bewildered. "Odd changes, even stays?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Shopkeeper Tong looked confused, then grew indignant again. "No! Honors or no honors, official or no official, none of that matters. Even if we have to stake your future on it, we're getting that reward money!"

Shopkeeper Tong radiated righteous conviction.

Young Master Lin rolled his eyes toward the heavens.

That was nicely balanced. It even rhymed.

"Young Lin, did Lord Li really say he would publicize your deeds throughout the Imperial Capital?" asked Chen An'an, the old man from the Hanging Mountain Tea Shop who had been sitting quietly nearby.

Lin Ke smiled and nodded. "It's some small consolation."

"Young Master Lin, do you still have that Deduction Tree Diagram you wrote up a couple of days ago? I would like it. I can pay!"

Lin Ke paused, but he had always had a favorable impression of the old man. After thinking for a moment, he said, "The case is over, so there's not much point keeping it. I think it's in my master's Painting Studio. If you want it, Uncle Chen, I'll go get it."

With that, he started to rise.

But someone immediately pressed down on his shoulders.

"No!"

Wang Lin stood behind Lin Ke, holding his shoulders down to stop him. She continued, "He's my disciple. Of course that thing can only stay with me!"

Shopkeeper Tong belatedly caught on too. "Lin Ke is also an employee of my Tongfu Grand Restaurant! That tree diagram can only hang at my place!"

Only after hearing Shopkeeper Tong's words did realization dawn on Lin Ke.

I'm about to become famous!

And his becoming famous meant Chaoyang Street would become famous too!

That, in turn, meant this street would no longer be as quiet and deserted as before.

Whether his exploits were true or false, plenty of people would come drawn by his reputation.

More people also meant better business for these shopkeepers, who all considered themselves unrecognized talents.

Still, although every one of these owners possessed extraordinary skills, their businesses had somehow made no headway at all. That really was strange.

Either they were all hopeless at business, or they were doing it deliberately.

Lin Ke suspected the latter.

"No! It has to hang outside our Song-Listening Entertainment House. Otherwise, how will people know this is Chaoyang Street?" The matchmaker's voice was shrill, like a hen protecting her chicks.

Then the Tongfu Grand Restaurant erupted into an argument, just as it had on the night Jingang left.

As before, Lin Ke, Bai Zhantang, Butcher Zhang, and Bingbing stayed in a corner, watching everyone argue.

The three grown men squatted, while Bingbing stood.

Every so often, Lin Ke offered a little commentary.

"That was a brilliant line from Shopkeeper Tong. Look, the matchmaker doesn't even know how to answer!"

"Hey, hey, hey, look! They're about to throw hands!"

"Yes, yes, tear his clothes open! Look at all that flab."

"You're certainly enjoying yourself, Brother Lin." Butcher Zhang squatted beside Lin Ke, smiling as he watched him hold forth on the battle.

Bai Zhantang hunched his neck and dared not speak. He was afraid Shopkeeper Tong would settle accounts with him later.

Meanwhile, Bingbing quietly observed the battle unfolding before them.

"Lin Ke, get over here!"

Wang Lin called out.

Hearing Wang Lin's shout, Lin Ke's expression changed, and he prepared to slip away.

"Where do you think you're going? Get your ass back here! Come on, you tell us! Explain it! If your answer isn't good enough, I'll castrate you tonight."

Wang Lin was so furious she had even stopped calling herself "this humble maiden."

Lin Ke steeled himself and walked over.

He was also considering how to handle this. If he mishandled it, one shop might flourish while the others saw little improvement.

He had been here for almost twenty days, and he could tell that none of these shops actually did much business.

If it wasn't because these people wanted to live in seclusion, then they really were all hopeless at business.

With an opportunity like this suddenly appearing, everyone would try every possible means to fight for it. He understood that perfectly.

Wasn't this just like accepting endorsement deals in his old life?

Every company wanted his endorsement, but choosing one would offend all the others.

Wait...

Endorsements?

Right, endorsements!

At that thought, Lin Ke's eyes lit up. He loosely curled his hand into a fist, brought the opening between his thumb and forefinger to his mouth, and coughed. "Ahem, ahem!"

Everyone immediately fell silent.

He looked around and said, "Everyone, don't rush. It's not as though there's no solution. Why don't we divide up the time and let each shop hang it for a few days?"

"No!" Wang Lin stepped forward and declared imperiously, "You're my disciple. It belongs at my place."

Lin Ke's head throbbed. Saddled with such an overbearing master, he had no idea how he had survived these past twenty days.

Then the battle grew even fiercer.

He was squeezed back into the corner again.

Bai Zhantang held his shoulder. "Don't go joining the fray. They'll argue for a while, then sit down and talk things through, just like that night. Here, have some water first."

As he spoke, Bai Zhantang handed him a cup. Lin Ke took it and gulped down a mouthful without even looking.

Then his eyes widened in surprise, and he sprayed the mouthful straight at Bai Zhantang.

How could this be?

Milk tea?

"How did you think of combining them like this?"

Bai Zhantang wiped the liquid from his face and suppressed his laughter, playing dumb with a puzzled look. "What? What are you talking about?"

Lin Ke was speechless. To prank him, Bai Zhantang had actually thought of pouring milk into tea!

Bai Zhantang probably thought it would taste terrible, didn't he?

Yet that taste had reminded Lin Ke of something from his previous life.

Milk tea!

Yes, that milk tea lacked sugar, so it wasn't particularly close to the flavor he remembered.

But it had reminded him of one crucial point.

The shops on Chaoyang Street offered too little variety and lacked anything truly distinctive.

So, to customers, did it make any difference where they listened to stories, ate, or watched dancing? Couldn't they do that elsewhere?

Take the tea shops and their storytelling.

They kept telling the same worn-out old tales. What if he taught them something different?

His head was full of things these people would find strange and novel! Didn't his previous world have escapist power-fantasy novels by the handful?

As for the Tongfu Grand Restaurant, selling monster meat was a specialty, but other shops could do that too!

Did it have anything others didn't?

No!

Even if others weren't necessarily as skilled as Shopkeeper Tong, why should customers come here?

Besides, they didn't know how good his cooking was.

Lin Ke realized that once the crowds arrived, they could save themselves the trouble of advertising or hiring an endorser!

The Capital Prefect's General Office would handle the publicity this time, and he himself was the one being publicized. He could provide endorsements too!

With those thoughts in mind, he stepped forward and called loudly, "Wait! Stop arguing! I have a solution."

Everyone stopped and looked at Lin Ke.

"Boy, if your solution doesn't satisfy me, I'll carry out what I said earlier."

Lin Ke felt a chill in his crotch and instinctively squeezed his legs together. He gave two dry chuckles. "Heh, heh. Don't worry! This time, I'll make sure every one of you is satisfied."