Chapter 17: Shamelessness Knows No Bounds 

“Let’s go!” 

…………………… 

“Uncle Shopkeeper, we’re here to sell termite(Termitomyces) mushrooms again.” 

“Oh, you’re back!” The shopkeeper’s face lit up at the mention of more mushrooms. The batch he bought yesterday had sold out by dinnertime, and today at noon, customers were still clamoring for more. “Let me see, let me see!” 

This haul was even bigger than yesterday—close to ten jin. Not bad at all! 

“Uncle Shopkeeper, what do you think of these?” 

“Bamboo shoots? They’re not very tasty.”

“I really can’t take these—I wouldn’t even pay a single copper coin for them.” 

“Uncle Shopkeeper, could I borrow your kitchen? I know how to make these bamboo shoots delicious—’really’ delicious.” 

‘Good heavens, talking like a child is making me sick to my stomach. No more of this—back to my normal self.’ 

It was currently afternoon, not peak dining hours, and the tavern had few customers. Might as well let her try—consider it a favor for the mushrooms she brought today. 

“Take them to the back kitchen.”

“Understood, Shopkeeper.” 

The kitchen staff, hearing they were there to test a dish, tactfully stepped aside. 

“Father, quickly—you peel the bamboo shoots, I’ll boil water to blanch them.” 

Time was tight; they still had to return to the mountains, so they needed to prepare a few dishes as quickly as possible. She had already surveyed out the kitchen—it had everything she needed. 

Stir-fried tender bamboo shoots with shredded pork—one dish. She didn’t make too much of it, because the recipe itself could be sold.

“Shopkeeper, the dish is ready, the dish is ready!” Zhao Dashu carried out the plate, eagerly calling the shopkeeper over to sample it. 

While cooking earlier, he and his daughter had already discussed their strategy—he would handle the price negotiations. They would sell the de-bittered bamboo shoots along with the recipe. As for the method of removing the bitterness? ‘Heh heh heh’—that wasn’t for sale. 

He had thought it over carefully on the way. He didn’t entirely trust everyone else with this, so if the deal went through, he planned to leave the bitterness-removing step to Liu Shunzi’s family. As for digging up dandelions? Let whoever wanted to dig them go ahead. 

‘Pah! Pah! Pah!’ What was he saying? His mother-in-law could dig the dandelions first. 

The shopkeeper picked up a bite of the stir-fried tender bamboo shoots with shredded pork. The shoots were crisp and tender, not a trace of bitterness—just a hint of natural sweetness, making them incredibly refreshing.

“How did you remove the bitterness from these bamboo shoots?” 

Zhao Dashu remained silent. 

The shopkeeper snapped back to his senses—’what a foolish question to ask’. It was just pure curiosity slipping out. 

“How do you two plan to sell these bamboo shoots?” 

“Give us a fair price, Shopkeeper. We’re selling pre-treated shoots that can be stir-fried directly.”

The shopkeeper choked back his words—he had actually wanted to buy the method for removing the bitterness. 

“Of course, there are many ways to cook these bamboo shoots. Would the shopkeeper be interested in the recipes?” 

The shopkeeper: ‘”…So, aside from selling bamboo shoots, you’re also selling recipes?”‘ 

“How do you plan to price the recipes?” 

“Shopkeeper, you name the price. We’re just country folk—don’t know much about these things. But we trust you, since you’re an honest man.” 

‘His daughter had said not to quote a price first—what if their own offer was lower than what the shopkeeper was willing to pay? That’d be a huge loss. But if his offer was too low, they could always negotiate.’

The shopkeeper: ‘”…This sounds oddly familiar.”‘ 

“How about this—four taels of silver per recipe. As for the bamboo shoots…” ‘They’re practically free for the taking in the bamboo groves—what a lucrative business.’ “Three copper coins per jin.” 

Zhao Xiaoyu smiled. The shopkeeper wasn’t being entirely honest. In his tavern, a simple plate of greens sold for twenty coppers—he could easily mark up the bamboo shoots several times over. Yet he wouldn’t even spare her a fraction of that profit? Unacceptable. 

“Shopkeeper, to be frank, bamboo shoots may be abundant in the mountains, but we have to harvest them, strip the husks, ‘and’ remove the bitterness for you. It’s backbreaking work.” 

The shopkeeper fell silent for a moment. “So… how much do you want?”

“Fifteen coppers per ‘jin’—you can turn around and sell them for dozens of coppers! No loss on your end!” 

‘Truthfully, their target price was ten coppers, but his daughter had insisted on starting high and haggling down. That way, the shopkeeper wouldn’t feel cheated.’ 

His daughter had a strategy for everything—every move calculated. Ever since her “awakening,” he’d been utterly in awe of her. 

“Five coppers, not a penny more. Have you even checked how much a bundle of greens costs? One copper! This isn’t even a meat dish—this price is already sky-high!” 

“No, no, no! What other dish requires this much tedious work? And you’re selling freshness—yours will be the only place in the entire county town that has it. The customers will keep coming! Fine, I’ll compromise—14 coppers. Deal?” 

“Six coppers. I’m being generous because you two seem honest. Don’t try to fleece me. Any higher, and I’m walking. If it doesn’t turn a profit, why would I bother?”

“Don’t be like that, Shopkeeper! You just tasted it—tell me, how was the flavor? Thirteen coppers, how about it?” 

“No, no, I can’t do that price…” 

The two haggled copper by copper, neither yielding easily, until they finally settled on eight coppers. 

‘Two coppers cheaper than she’d hoped, but for a vegetable dish, this was already a steep price—plenty of profit. She could live with it.’ 

As for the recipes, they closed at four taels each. Zhao Xiaoyu personally demonstrated the dishes to the chef on the spot: 

– Stir-fried Bamboo Shoots 

– Tender Bamboo Shoots in Chicken Soup 

– Stir-fried Bamboo Shoots 

– Old Duck and Bamboo Shoot Soup 

– Tender Bamboo Shoots in Chicken Sauce 

– Cold Bamboo Shoots Salad 

– Pickled Bamboo Shoots 

And as a goodwill gesture, she threw in Stir-fried Bamboo Shoots with Pork for free—plus an extra dish, Stir-fried Bamboo Shoots with Chili Peppers.

By throwing in two extra recipes, the shopkeeper felt the deal was fair enough, and his mood improved considerably. 

“Brother Zhao, here’s 35 taels—payment for the recipes, plus the earnings from the termite mushrooms. As for the bamboo shoots, when can you start supplying them?” 

Zhao Xiaoyu was genuinely impressed. ‘In just this short time, his father was already on brotherly terms with the shopkeeper? No wonder half the village considered him family—his knack for instant familiarity was truly unmatched.’ 

‘The ancestors weren’t wrong—shamelessness really does make one invincible!’ 

“How many ‘jin’ per day does the shopkeeper need?” 

Their business wasn’t limited to just this tavern—they had eight establishments in nearby county towns alone. Even if each location only required twenty ‘jin’ daily, that still added up to a hundred and sixty ‘jin’.

“Let’s start with a hundred and sixty ‘jin’ per day.” 

‘Wow, now that’s a big deal!’ 

Zhao Dashu was completely exhilarated, so much so that he was practically dizzy. He hadn’t even fully processed the thirty-five taels yet, and now this cascade of surprises kept coming. 

‘We’ ‘have’ ‘to split from the family!’ 

‘Even if they break my legs, I’m doing it!’

“Deal, Shopkeeper. We’ll take our leave now—there’s a lot to arrange, so we’d best get back and start organizing.” 

“Go on, go on.” 

As they were leaving, the shopkeeper even packed them a box of pastries. “For the little niece.” 

“Thank you, Uncle Shopkeeper.” 

“Ah, ah!” ‘[cheerful acknowledgment]’

Leaving the county town, the two were in such a hurry that they only bought some dry provisions along the way. “We need to move even faster. We’ll stop by your grandmother’s place first—let them know to go dig up wild herbs—no, I mean medicinal herbs.” 

From memory, her maternal grandmother’s family were all decent, honest people. But because they ‘were’ so decent, they could only watch helplessly as the Zhao family mistreated their daughter, their hearts aching but powerless to intervene. Of course, being dirt poor themselves, they couldn’t offer any material help either.