At the end of Qing Dynasty, there was a farmer named Liu Yalin in Shijing, a suburb of Guangzhou. The couple opened a chicken shop called Lin Ji at the junction of Zhongshan Fifth Road and Jiefang Middle Road, and they also raised three children at home. Lin Ji attracted many customers with his good service. When Liu Yalin's eldest son was 20 years old, he opened a "Suji" chicken shop next to the shop. The Su family has a beautiful and eloquent daughter. Boss Su called her to the store to help, and after a while, she took away the customers, which made the two families gradually angry.
Liu Yalin went home to discuss with his eldest son Liu Yaoquan, who decided to help him and his two younger brothers tide over the difficulties. Choose good chickens from Dadonglan and Qingyuan outside the city gate, put them in the "trough" of the chicken farm (which means fattening in Cantonese) for a few days, and then take them to the store for sale. In front of customers, chickens are fed with feed, such as milk mixed with grains. Since then, Lin Ji's suckling chickens have spread and business has improved.
Miss Su took this opportunity to have a heart-to-heart talk. She became acquainted with Liu Yaoquan for a lifetime, and gradually became fond of him. Finally, the past was clarified and they tied the knot a year later. After the two stores were merged into one, Liu Yaoquan hung two four-foot square Chinese characters "Chicken Forest" in a storefront less than a few square meters, which not only kept the word "Lin Ji", but also implied "more chickens and less forests". "Buy beautiful chickens and go to the chicken forest" became the mantra of Guangzhou people at that time, and it became synonymous with this area over time.