Shopkeeper Liu chuckled, but inside he was falling apart. He had anticipated this reaction from everyone, but there was nothing to be done, for their boss always came up with some "unique and ingenious" ideas!
Shopkeeper Liu looked up at Lin Yuan in a plea for help, but as expected, he didn’t receive any leeway to maneuver.
He sighed and with a gesture for silence, Shopkeeper Liu raised his voice and called out, "Ladies and gentlemen, please, hear me out!"
The people at the front had already instinctively moved back quite a bit because of that peculiar smell, leaving the previously crowded area now completely deserted.
To ensure that everyone could hear him clearly, Shopkeeper Liu had no choice but to bellow, "Everyone, this is the latest dish introduced by Fuman Building. As for its name, that remains a secret for now. As you have noticed, this item is quite special. What I want to say is, anyone with the courage to try it is no ordinary person."
Not just no ordinary person, anyone who dares to eat this must surely not be human!
Everyone was holding their noses and watching from a distance, opting not to speak so as to avoid the smell invading their mouths. But, even so, not a single person had left, and more were even coming over to see what the fuss was about!
Lin Yuan sat leisurely by the window, drinking tea. Seeing the crowd below grow larger and larger, her mood improved as well—this was exactly the effect she desired. What’s the harm in a stench? The more pungent it is, the more curious people become, and the more curious they are, the more they want to try it. Of course, those who dare to take the first step would indeed need great courage.
Shopkeeper Liu bitterly smiled to himself, so many people gathered around a stinkingly unpleasant dish and unwilling to leave—this must be the most bizarre thing he had experienced in his life.
"Ladies and gentlemen," continued Shopkeeper Liu, "as I’ve just said, anyone daring to try our new product is certainly no ordinary person. Therefore, here at Fuman Building, we are putting up one hundred taels of patterned silver as a reward for the first person to come onto the stage and eat the contents of this dish—this person will receive that one hundred taels of silver."
No sooner had he spoken than sounds emerged from the crowd, which had been quiet for quite some time.
"Wow, one hundred taels!"
"One hundred taels of silver? That’s enough for our family to live on for a lifetime!"
Indeed, for a regular family, that one hundred taels of silver could cover many years of food and drink. It was precisely because of this that Lin Yuan had decided to offer such an amount of silver—not enough would have failed to serve any promotional purpose.
Even so, those who would dare to step up on stage to eat something of unknown nature for one hundred taels of silver were still very few.
After the first round of comments, there was another silence until an old customer of Fuman Building cleared his throat and asked, "Shopkeeper Liu, you said you’d give one hundred taels of silver to the first person who tries this, but we don’t even know what this is or how to eat it. What if it’s not even edible? Wouldn’t Fuman Building just be playing a joke on us then?"
Another person next to him chimed in, "Exactly. Leaving aside whether it’s edible or tasty, we need to know first if it’s safe. What if someone dies from eating it? That’d be a terrible loss. Losing one’s life for one hundred taels of silver is truly not worth it!"
As soon as these words were uttered, a few farmhands who had been impulsively tempted to try their luck on the stage couldn’t help but halt. They had wives and children waiting at home, how could they risk their lives for some silver?