Chapter 364: Chapter 276: The Wool Comes from the Sheep — Tourists Pay to Work on the Farm!

Lin Chen merely offered a suggestion and wasn’t going to get involved in the subsequent matters, nor did he want to.

John isn’t a fool. To manage such a large farm well, he must be a competent businessman, although his level and vision might be limited and his thinking hasn’t opened up yet.

In time, he would take the idea to President Wang, and the specific details would be finalized on that end, without needing Lin Chen to worry.

Perhaps they’d even add more valuable details to the plan.

After a couple of simple rounds through the vegetable and livestock areas, he quickly found several suitable spots for an outdoor stall.

The shaded grassy area in the middle of the orchard, or the empty space beside the fish pond, as well as several small pavilions built specifically for employees or tourists to rest, all seemed ideal for an outdoor food party.

Setting up a stall here would likely have a great environment and atmosphere.

While the two were wandering around, many tourists recognized him and waved to greet him.

Lin Chen was straightforward and began a live survey on the spot.

"A food party on the farm?"

"Can we have an outdoor barbecue?"

"Hey, that sounds interesting, much more fun than us doing it ourselves~"

Outdoor grilling is a very common family outdoor activity for foreigners, with almost every household having a barbecue grill in the backyard. On days when they don’t want to cook, they just start grilling.

So, when they hear about an outdoor food activity, their first reaction is a barbecue party.

Whether it’s a single family or multiple families, or a gathering of friends, the first choice is definitely barbecue, then ordering pizza delivery.

"Of course, we can do that. I can also bring the food truck in. We can make whatever you want. I’m just gathering opinions now. If many people are interested, we can find a day in the future to try it out."

"Interested? Of course, we’re interested!"

"Summer outdoor barbecues have the best atmosphere!"

"Forget later, what about tomorrow? I’m leaving tomorrow night~"

"Huh? Then I’m leaving tonight, wouldn’t I miss out?"

"Hahaha, everyone calm down. It’s definitely not happening in the next couple of days because I’ve hired two employees from the Great Xia Kingdom, and their flight arrives tomorrow. I’ll need to train them then, so I don’t have that much free time."

"Maybe in a few days, after the new employees have adjusted to the time difference, I’ll consider it. I might put a notice on the website or maybe not. I haven’t decided yet."

He just mentioned it casually, since although the farm has plenty of space, it’s planted with crops, and too many people could easily damage the plants, which would be counterproductive.

His initial plan is still to limit the number of participants, similar to a dinner lottery, and decide how many spots will be available then.

While he was chatting with the visitors, John didn’t interrupt, quietly standing beside him with his chin in his hand, pondering something.

When Lin Chen walked back, John suddenly spoke up.

"Chef, I’ve got an idea."

"If you set up a stall on the farm, does that mean diners can gather their own ingredients and bring them to you for cooking?"

"Hmm?" Lin Chen looked at him quizzically. "Yeah, I was planning to do that. Is there a problem?"

"Then maybe we could hold some small events, like a bullfrog catching contest or a blackfish fishing contest..."

"Oh? That sounds good!"

Lin Chen raised his thumb in surprise, "You’ve learned to infer from one thing to another. Great job!"

John frowned, feeling that something was off.

Obviously, he was being praised, so why did it sound so unpleasant?

But since Lin Chen also thought the plan was feasible, it meant his thinking wasn’t wrong. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Letting visitors pay to participate in activities not only helps clean out the farm’s unwanted critters for free but also allows them to enjoy good food and watch the cooking process live, which is a very rare experience.

It saves on hiring costs, reduces employees’ workload, offers tourists a novel experience, and most importantly, it makes money!

No wonder Great Xia people are so good at business. If they use such cost-effective methods, who else could profit if they couldn’t?

Lin Chen didn’t linger much longer, just a quick stroll around was enough.

"Let’s go, I’ll see you off."

John straightforwardly led the way as they came.

"John! Those guests over there..."

An employee accompanying tourists in the fields saw him and was about to report, but John interrupted with a raised hand.

"Just handle it yourself, okay? I have more important things to deal with here."

"?"

Lin Chen blinked and considerately said, "If you’re busy..."

"Not busy! Not busy at all! It’s just minor stuff, these guys just want to slack off."

"Oh, I see..."

"John! Finally found you! A wild boar has broken into the blueberry field, and we don’t know how to deal with it. The nearby area is sealed off. What should we do next?"

"A wild boar? I trust you guys can handle it. You could ask for help from the pig farming folks; I’m busy entertaining distinguished guests here."

The employee was a bit dumbfounded, pointing at himself, "Handle it ourselves? How? Without a hunter, how can we?"

Along the way, similar issues occurred several times, all promptly dismissed by John.

Lin Chen didn’t say anything, but he had seen through it—this guy was purely using him as a shield.

This guy didn’t want to work!

He subtly curled the corners of his mouth upward, secretly calculating in his mind.

Using him as a shield now, when he’s used as a shield in the future, this old fellow probably won’t refuse, right?

Yeah, yeah, he definitely won’t!

John, walking in front, suddenly felt a chill down his back and, puzzled, stretched out his hand, spreading his fingers.

"Strange, there’s no wind, so why does it feel so chilly?"

After sending him back to the restaurant, John asked for a cup of iced cola, dawdled for a long time before slowly driving away.

He thought tonight’s dinner would be like usual, with three pairs of guests, and just cook some dishes they hadn’t tasted before to wrap up the day’s work.

Unexpectedly, the first pair of guests turned out to be fellow countrymen!

"Good evening, Chef Lin, I’ve heard so much about you, I finally get to see you in person!"

The young couple didn’t look too old, similar in age to him, about twenty-five or six, and the girl even looked a bit younger.

"Hello, hello, do you have any special requests for dinner? Just leave the ingredients to us."

Lin Chen and Jonathan proactively stepped forward to take the ingredients they were holding, which were quite heavy and seemed to have many varieties, but this also meant that the quantity of each was limited.

The two exchanged a glance, seemingly having discussed a strategy beforehand, and spoke in unison.

"We want a pretty meal!"

"...Western cuisine?"

"Not necessarily, as long as it’s a pretty meal. We want to avoid Chinese food. It’s rare to have time to travel abroad, so we want to try some cuisine from different countries."

"Exactly, exactly, and if you can make dishes from as many different countries as possible, that would be even better!"

No Chinese dishes, huh?

Lin Chen scratched his head; he really did not expect to encounter such a situation.

After translating their request to Jonathan, they had a brief discussion about the general direction, and then began inspecting the ingredients brought by the couple.

"Chef Lin, how are you with Western cuisine? If you can do it, we’ll choose you, especially since our English isn’t great, and our French is even worse; we rely on gestures while traveling abroad, communication is really tough!"

Before he could answer, Lucas, watching the fun and not fearing chaos, responded with a strong Great Xia accent.

"His Western cuisine is top-notch. Have you heard of God’s Kiss, the currently popular Michelin restaurant in Paris? The head chef is a Michelin three-star chef."

"They have a branch in Amiens, and Old Lin was responsible for the meats in the kitchen there. You can look up that restaurant online; if it’s a meat dish, it’s likely his handiwork."

The fact that Lucas could speak Chinese didn’t surprise the couple, since they had obviously done their homework before coming.

But the fact that Lin Chen was once part of a Michelin restaurant’s team was a complete surprise to them.

They quickly went online to surf a bit, their eyes growing brighter and nodding continuously.

"Alright, alright, it’s decided, it’ll be you!"

"We don’t have high demands, as long as the dish quality is decent. Mainly, it just has to look good in photos. With your skills, it would be quite difficult to make anything taste bad, right, Chef Lin?"

"As for variety, making dishes from five, six, or seven, eight countries shouldn’t be a problem, right?"

"...Thank you."

Lin Chen sighed helplessly; it really was a case of fellow countrymen seeing each other and getting teary-eyed, giving him a challenge right off the bat.

It’s not that the demands are too much, but they are troublesome and time-consuming.

Different countries’ cuisines have different characteristics, meaning each dish has to be prepared from scratch, which is the most time-consuming and labor-intensive.

"Any dietary restrictions?"

While translating for a confused Jonathan, he carried a few bags of ingredients to the central cooking area to start preparing.

He handed over the vegetables needing washing to Elsa and Lucas; these small tasks didn’t require his guidance anymore, and both could handle them well.

Lucas, an outsider, was now also almost like a skilled little kitchen helper.

"No dietary restrictions, oh right, no cilantro!"

Jonathan was glad to take it easy, cheerfully fetched a chair to sit nearby, ready to watch Lin Chen cook.

He could also learn some skills along the way.

"If you don’t have a specific dish you want, I’ll just make something randomly, okay?"

"Go ahead, go ahead, make anything you want~"

The young couple excitedly held their phones and also gathered around the workstation, taking photos and videos.

It’s rare to travel abroad, and lucking out by securing a dinner from a head chef was certainly something to document and brag about to friends.

Lin Chen still wore his clean and tidy black chef’s coat with gold trim, appearing very imposing.

When he picked up the chef’s knife, his previously gentle eyes abruptly changed, becoming as sharp as an eagle’s eye, and his whole demeanor transformed completely.

The first dish would certainly be an appetizer.

Now that they’re here, speaking of a pretty meal, traditional French appetizers and salads are a must. These recipes were etched into his body, becoming instinctive, requiring no thought, he could make them effortlessly.