Zhou Gu had originally thought of having Shen Yi'an take Shen Song to the Xu Family Restaurant to find his eldest brother and tell him they wanted to supply wild greens.
His eldest brother would surely understand the meaning and help persuade Shen Song that wild greens weren't so easy to sell.
Unexpectedly, though the persuasion did happen, Song-ge’er came back saying outright that selling the wild greens was a loss—twenty jin of wild greens for only twenty wen, not enough to feed the whole family two full meals.
Zhou Gu figured the boy would surely give up, but then he said he wouldn't sell them piecemeal—he was going to negotiate business with the restaurants, something about supplying wild greens.
Aiyo, what restaurant would want wild greens from the fields?
Only toon shoots growing on trees were worth money.
But those were scarce and hard to find—there was no way they'd find any around here.
Even if they did find some, it wouldn't be their family's turn to pick them; they'd have been picked and sold off long ago.
Zhou Gu felt that his younger brother-in-law had become much more clearheaded, though he could still be stubborn. Still, he was always cheerful, well-behaved, and hardworking.
Even so, that little streak of stubbornness wasn't annoying. Zhou Gu figured he would let the boy try; once he hit a wall and got hurt, he would give up on his own.
Shen Song didn't know whether he was a stubborn mule or not. He only thought that selling piecemeal wasn't going to work, but if he increased the volume and supplied it to various restaurants, the money would still be fairly decent.
Though he couldn't count on getting rich from this, at least it could be used to open doors first.
This was also something he had learned from Shen Yi'an's approach yesterday.
Today he wasn't planning to sell wild greens, but to deliver them to the restaurants in town.
As long as they tasted them, they would surely know how good his family's wild greens were.
Getting every restaurant to order from him was probably impossible, but if two or three did, that would be great.
If even that didn't work, Shen Song figured he'd have to think of another way.
The three of them dug for a while and finally filled three baskets.
This time they hadn't gone too deep toward the mountains, so Shen Song didn't sense the energy from the forest like yesterday. He mused that he should go into the mountains to take a look when he had time.
After all, it was the first time he'd sensed faint energy in this world—who knew if he could devour it.
If he could, his supernatural ability would improve as well.
They had set out late, so by the time they finished digging the wild greens, hardly anyone was still outside.
The three went straight home. Shen Sanqiu tidied up the wild greens a bit and stacked them neatly in the basket, just like yesterday.
Once that was done, Shen Song and Shen Yi'an headed straight to town.
No need to rush for the evening market—this timing was just right.
Shen Yi'an carried the basket again today, and the two discussed on the road that once in town, they'd go directly to the restaurants to offer their wild greens.
It was a two-hour journey to town. Not long after the meal hour had passed, the restaurants had few customers—it was a rather leisurely time.
Shen Yi'an knew that the wild greens Uncle Zhou had bought yesterday were out of consideration for Second Uncle Gu—most likely he'd paid for them out of his own pocket, not because the restaurant wanted them.
It wouldn't be right to trouble him again today.
He figured he'd visit all the other restaurants first before going to the Xu Family Restaurant, so that not much would be left in the basket, and he wouldn't have to worry about Uncle Zhou buying them out of his own pocket again.
At the first restaurant upon entering town, Shen Yi'an said with a smile, "Young brother, sorry to bother you. We're from Shenjiagou, and we've dug up some excellent wild greens and wanted to…"
Before he could finish, the waiter impatiently said, "Go, go, go! Our restaurant doesn't want wild greens."
Shen Yi'an still wanted to take out the wild greens to show them, but the man just waved the white cloth draped over his shoulder, looking ferocious. "Why aren't you leaving? If you keep blocking the restaurant's door, watch out or I'll beat you away."
When Shen Song heard they might get beaten, he immediately grabbed Shen Yi'an and ran.
"Little Uncle, why are you pulling me along and running?" Shen Yi'an was gasping for breath. Shen Song took the basket off his back and carried it himself.
He said, "That man said he'd beat us. I don't think we could beat him."
Shen Yi'an was silent for a moment, then explained to Shen Song, "When he says he'll hit us, he's just scaring us. We don't have to run—walking slowly would've been fine too."
Shen Song gave an "Oh." "So that's how it is. Got it."
Shen Song noted down this little life lesson, then went with Shen Yi'an to the second restaurant.
It was Shen Yi'an who spoke up to pitch their wild greens again. This time, he held a bunch of the vegetables in his hand in advance. "Excuse us, shopkeeper. We're from Shenjiagou, and we've dug up the freshest first-cut wild greens. We'd like you to try them. If they're good, you can order from us in the future."
As soon as the words left his mouth, a burly fellow holding a big iron ladle raised it and swung it at Shen Song and Shen Yi'an.
"Get going! Don't get in the way of my business. Who knows where those wild greens of yours came from. Scram, scram, scram!"
Shen Song stood still without moving, and Shen Yi'an hastily pulled him away and ran.
The two ran quite a distance and were both thoroughly exhausted, especially Shen Song, who was still carrying the big basket on his back with over twenty catties of wild greens inside.
Shen Yi'an braced his hands on his knees, bending over and panting nonstop. "Little Uncle, that man was going to hit you. Why didn't you run?"
Shen Song set the basket on the ground and copied Shen Yi'an's posture, panting heavily. "Didn't you say we didn't have to run and walking slowly would be fine?"
Shen Yi'an fell silent.
"When that man looked at us, his expression was vicious. If he says he'll hit you, then he really means it."
Shen Yi'an sighed lightly. "Little Uncle, you have to learn to read people's expressions."
Shen Song nodded earnestly at his words. "I can read expressions. Don't worry, there definitely won't be any problems next time."
What Shen Song didn't say was that his mental energy hadn't sensed any danger. That man was probably just like the one before—only bluffing, and wouldn't actually do anything.
Still, fully discerning a person's true emotions was very difficult for Shen Song.
He could only judge whether a person harbored killing intent toward him.
Shen Yi'an privately doubted whether Shen Song could really distinguish people's true expressions. But the wild greens still had to be sold, so after resting for a while, the two continued.
This time, Shen Yi'an carried the basket.
The third restaurant also ended in failure. They stated their purpose and showed the vegetables.
The shopkeeper looked them over carefully and said, "They are indeed quite good, but we have designated vegetable suppliers, and the restaurant has no plans to introduce new dishes. Please head back, you two."
Shen Song and Shen Yi'an went to seven restaurants in a row without managing to give away a single bunch of vegetables.
No matter how good the vegetables looked, no one wanted them. These restaurant owners didn't even want to try.
The sun was getting harsh, and both of their faces were sunburned red as they sat in the shade hugging the basket, resting.
Shen Yi'an sighed helplessly. Selling wild greens was a dead end.
"Little Uncle, should we keep going?"
There were only two grand restaurants in town, but quite a lot of ordinary eateries—a dozen or so.
They had only asked at half of them. There was still the other half.
Shen Song didn't want to give up halfway, so he said to keep going.
After more than an hour and a half, they had visited every restaurant except the Xu Family Restaurant.
They gave away two handfuls of wild greens.
At one place, the shopkeeper was a ge’er. Seeing that Shen Song was also a young ge’er, with his face sunburned red and looking very thin, he took pity on him and accepted the vegetables.
At the other, the shopkeeper couldn't be bothered to talk. After hearing them out, he simply gestured with his eyes for them to set the vegetables down, then turned and left.
Shen Yi'an figured that even if these two places accepted the vegetables, they would never place orders with them later.
With only two handfuls given away, Shen Yi'an couldn't very well carry all the remaining wild greens back to the Xu Family Restaurant either.
He was afraid Uncle Zhou would dig into his own pocket to buy them again. Too much of that kind of thing would only hurt the goodwill between the two families.
Shen Song confirmed it—wild greens truly couldn't be sold. He would have to think of another way.
They carried the wild greens home again.
On the road back, Shen Song kept mulling over what to do next.
His earth-element ability only worked for farming.
The Zhou Dynasty was different from the Interstellar Era—not everyone had a supernatural ability, and wars weren't fought with them.
At that thought, Shen Song wondered if he could earn military merit too. If he used his ability secretly, surely he wouldn't be discovered?
Shen Song set this idea aside as a backup plan.
Then he thought of the Blessed Land Technique he had performed the night before—the crops in that area had all been eaten by the animals from the woods.
If wild greens were worthless and couldn't be sold, what about meat?
Crops grown with the Blessed Land Technique were rich in spiritual energy and could attract animals.
He could try luring the animals from the woods, then use his earth-element ability to catch them.
But this was something he would have to do alone—he couldn't have anyone following him, or there would be no hiding his ability.
Having decided on his next move, Shen Song had no idea that both the Xu Family Restaurant in town and the Old Mr. Chen were thinking about his wild greens.
At the Xu Family Restaurant.
Before the lunch rush, the customer who had ordered stir-fried wild greens the night before came with his whole family, just to eat the vegetables again.
There were still some left in the back kitchen—just enough to stir-fry.
This time there was no sesame oil; they were cooked with lard instead, and the flavor was no worse than with sesame oil.
Shopkeeper Xu still sold them for three wen. He didn't expect to make money off the wild greens; he just hoped to sell off what remained.
The diner could tell it wasn't made with sesame oil, but the portion was larger than last night's, and the stir-fry tasted excellent—it went wonderfully with rice. Besides, fresh tender wild greens like these truly depended on luck, so he said nothing.
The family members who had come along hadn't expected the stir-fried wild greens to be so delicious. They had come purely because the shop had been blessed with sutra chanting by the monks of Lancheng Temple the day before, and they wanted to bask in some Buddhist fortune.
It was just a dish of stir-fried wild greens—how good could it possibly be?
Yet they mixed the vegetables with their bean rice and ate every last bit.
The diners who came after them, seeing how heartily they ate—and seeing that many people at several other tables were doing the same—couldn't help asking curiously what it was.
When they heard it was stir-fried wild greens, and it wasn't expensive, they each ordered a plate to try.
Plate after plate was ordered like this, until the back kitchen ran out of wild greens.
The customers who missed out were disappointed, and those who had eaten and wanted more were even more so.
"Shopkeeper Xu, your wild greens are truly delicious. Will you have more tomorrow?"
"I didn't even get any—watching everyone eat so heartily made me crave it too. If you have some tomorrow, please be sure to save a portion for me."
"I heard that when the monks from Lancheng Temple came begging for alms yesterday, this stir-fried wild greens was exactly what Shopkeeper Xu gave them? Why didn't you prepare more? I came here specially for it. Shopkeeper Xu, with such a small amount, how could it possibly be enough to sell?"
"A pity I didn't get to eat it today. Even if there's some tomorrow, who knows if it'll taste as good as today's."
"That's true. Wild greens change from day to day—it's not easy to get ones that are fresh and tender."
Listening to the diners' chatter, Shopkeeper Xu's mind began to spin. Quite a few people had indeed come because of the Lancheng Temple monks. Even if the taste wasn't great, it should still sell, shouldn't it?
When you're in business, who ever complains about making too much money?
Shopkeeper Xu immediately sent a laborer out to the outskirts to dig up wild greens, hoping to sell more.
The laborer hurried back just before the meal hour ended, only to find quite a few customers still in the shop.
They were all customers who had stayed after hearing Shopkeeper Xu say he was going out to find wild greens—some wanting a taste, others wanting to eat more.
The moment Zhou Niandong got hold of the wild greens, he knew they wouldn't do.
Whether they were fresh and tender was secondary; somehow they felt like they were missing something compared to the previous batch—hard to put into words. In any case, even if you couldn't articulate the quality of an ingredient, you could still clearly see it.
When the waiter came again to hurry things along in the kitchen, Zhou Niandong had no choice but to cook quickly.
The customers outside were soon served the stir-fried wild greens. Those who hadn't tried it before frowned deeply after just one bite.
This isn't anything special either.
As for those who had eaten it before, they spat it out outright.
It wasn't that it was truly unbearable—it was that they had tasted the good version, and now eating this bad one, the contrast was simply too stark to swallow.
"And here I thought it was some delicious delicacy. I waited forever, and this is what I get?"
"Three coins wasted. I'd have been better off ordering a small plate of peanuts to go with my wine."
"Those monks cultivating at Lancheng Temple really do have it hard, eating things like this."
"If it's this bad, how did those people earlier eat it so heartily? Were they cursed or something?"
Those who had eaten it earlier immediately shot back: "What curse? Didn't you see me spit it out? It's completely different from the stir-fried wild greens I had before—there's simply no comparison."
"Shopkeeper Xu, what's going on with this batch of greens? Nowhere near as good as before."
"I knew there'd be some difference, but I never expected it to be this big."
Shopkeeper Xu wondered how big the difference could really be, and took a bite himself—he nearly spat it out.
In such a short time, the cook's skills couldn't possibly have declined.
It wasn't the cook—it was this batch of wild greens.
Or rather, yesterday's greens had simply been too good.
Shopkeeper Xu apologized: "This batch of greens really isn't as good as yesterday's. Let me go inquire and confirm whether we can get a supply like yesterday's. Whether or not we can, I'll give everyone an answer."
Shopkeeper Xu didn't charge for the stir-fried wild greens either, so the customers could hardly complain further.
Whether or not Shopkeeper Xu wanted to sell stir-fried wild greens was one thing, but he certainly couldn't let the shop's reputation be ruined.
After placating the customers, he went to the kitchen to find Zhou Niandong and asked in detail where yesterday's greens had come from.
Zhou Niandong told him truthfully. Learning that it was Zhou Niandong's relative who wanted to sell the greens, Shopkeeper Xu was secretly delighted.
He told Zhou Niandong to go home early today and go find his relative first thing tomorrow morning, to see if there were any more wild greens. If the quality was the same as yesterday's batch, he should buy them up.
Old Mr. Chen, who sold malt candy, wandered around the town for a long while but couldn't catch sight of the two people who had been selling wild greens the day before.
The handful of wild greens from yesterday had already been eaten, and today Yuan-ge’er vomited up whatever he ate.
When Old Mr. Chen returned home, his whole family looked at him expectantly. He shook his head helplessly, drawing a round of heavy sighs.