EHCR 10

The Encyclopedic Harvest: Cultivating Riches in Lean Years

Chapter 10: Then What Kind of Return Do You Want?

That day, he had fished her out of the water, slapped her face with his rough, wide palms, and later slung her across his rigid shoulders, jolting her back and forth.

He had jolted her until she saw stars and every internal organ ached.

What’s more, when Sun Xiuhe had tried to yank her down, he had simply and unceremoniously dumped her straight onto the ground.

This guy was decisive when saving people, and just as decisive when dropping them.

At the same time, Shen Che was also recalling that scene from two days ago.

Two days prior, she had looked so delicate and full of life lying in his arms, acting like she was on the verge of death. But right now, puffing out her cheeks and glaring over at him, she looked vibrant and full of spirit.

She had spunk, and she had energy.

He curved his lips into a smile as he looked at Song Zhaodi, turning to Zhao Lanzhi to say, "Auntie, your Zhaodi doesn't seem to like me very much, does she?"

Hearing this, Zhao Lanzhi looked at Song Zhaodi in surprise, pulled her forward by the hand, and said to Shen Che, "How could that be? You're Zhaodi’s savior; she was just telling her grandparents the night before yesterday how much she wanted to thank you properly."

"Right, Zhaodi?"

Shen Che was wearing a dark blue coarse-cloth single tunic, with his cuffs and trouser legs tightly bound by cloth ties, giving him a clean, agile look. Sitting on the ox-cart, one of his knees was half-bent on the wooden board while his other leg casually dangled straight and long. He lifted his wheat-bronze face, revealing a row of neat, snowy-white teeth, and looked at her with leisurely amusement.

He looked as though he had all the patience in the world waiting for her response.

Overlooking his roughness, the man really had saved her life. Song Zhaodi thus curved her lips, crinkled her eyes into a smile at him, and said, "Thank you, benefactor, for saving my life."

Shen Che seemed quite satisfied; he nodded, his gaze wandering vaguely over her chest before a strange flash crossed the depths of his eyes and vanished just as quickly.

"Is auntie heading to town?" he asked, shifting his words back to Zhao Lanzhi.

Zhao Lanzhi didn't notice the peculiar look he had cast toward her daughter either, and simply replied with an amicable smile, "We foraged some wild vegetables and are planning to take them to town to sell."

Shen Che glanced at the water celery behind them, but unlike others who questioned whether water celery could even be eaten, he simply hopped down from the ox-cart and walked right up beside Song Zhaodi.

With his towering, robust frame and broad shoulders and chest, standing right there he felt like a miniature mountain.

Song Zhaodi tilted her head back and stole a covert glance, figuring he could probably flatten her with a single slap. No wonder those shoulders felt so unyielding.

A rough, resonant, buzzing male voice rang out:

"I'm heading to town too, I might as well give you a ride."

Walking from Shuangping Village to the town took over an hour each way, making a round trip close to three hours. Taking an ox-cart could save at least half that time.

Zhao Lanzhi hesitated for a brief second before accepting the offer. "Then we'll take advantage of your kindness." As she spoke, she reached into her tunic to pull out a few copper coins to hand over.

But Shen Che blocked her hand away with a swift motion. "It's just on the way, not worth spending silver coins over."

Right after saying that, he bent down, grabbed one bundle in each hand, and effortlessly loaded both bundles of water celery onto the ox-cart. Song Zhaodi didn't even have time to offer a hand.

Shen Che and Zhao Lanzhi sat up front, chatting intermittently, while Song Zhaodi sat in the back. Swaying along with the motion of the ox-cart, her eyelids began to grow heavy.

She didn't know how much time had passed when the ox-cart suddenly jolted. Song Zhaodi opened her eyes in a daze and locked gazes directly with Shen Che's hawk-like, probing eyes.

Feeling a bit awkward and dazed, she heard Shen Che say, "Your mother is over there, she said she's just going to have a quick word with your eldest uncle and be right back."

Following the direction he pointed, Song Zhaodi saw her mother, though she was only a few zhang away.

Catching the reassuring look in her eyes, a trace of amusement flashed across Shen Che's eyes.

As if he could actually eat her.

The moment she hopped down from the ox-cart, he suddenly asked in a low voice, "How do you plan to repay a life-saving grace?"

Song Zhaodi almost lost her footing, quickly grabbing onto a bundle of water celery to steady herself. Meeting his expectant gaze, she took a breath.

"Tomorrow I will send over a generous gift..."

"Not enough." Before she could finish, Shen Che cut her off.

Her eyebrows twitched defensively. "Then what do you want?"

Shen Che fixed those bright, sparkling eyes of his directly on her, making her skin crawl all over. She thought to herself that if he dared utter a single improper or wild remark, she would definitely curse him out until his head spun.

Who would have guessed that he simply dropped the line: "No rush."

Just then, Zhao Lanzhi returned, followed closely by her eldest brother, Zhao Zenghua.

Zhao Zenghua said he knew a tavern cook and could help introduce them to see if they could sell the water celery directly to the tavern.

So they unloaded the water celery from the ox-cart, and Shen Che drove the ox-cart away.

"This Shen Che doesn't seem as lawless as the rumors make him out to be. Looks like rumors can't be trusted."

Zhao Lanzhi had a favorable impression of Shen Che, and her tone carried praise, but Song Zhaodi kept quiet.

Eldest uncle shouldered both bundles of water celery, led them through a couple of alleys, and stopped behind a wooden door curling with cooking smoke.

"This is the tavern's back kitchen I was talking about. I know the cook inside, but I've got no guarantee he'll agree to take this water celery."

After all, in the eyes of ordinary folks, this was just livestock feed.

Though they had already tasted how delicious water celery could be, Zhao Lanzhi still lacked confidence and instinctively looked over at Song Zhaodi.

"Eldest Uncle, don't you worry about that. I have full confidence they'll buy it."

Hearing this, Zhao Zenghua glanced at Song Zhaodi, feeling that his niece had truly changed and feeling quite gratified.

"Zhaodi has grown up."

The mother and daughter were led into the back kitchen. After Zhao Zenghua explained their purpose to a sweating, busy cook, the cook glanced at the water celery behind them and let out a laugh.

"Zenghua, you're not pulling my leg, are you? Aren't those just water weeds for feeding livestock?"

"These aren't water weeds, they're called water celery. If you cook them using my method, they're tender, fragrant, and sweet, tasting even better than radishes and cabbage. I guarantee you'll be able to sell them!"

Song Zhaodi spoke with ringing conviction and absolute confidence.

When she first stepped into the back kitchen, she had already observed the place: this tavern's vegetables mainly consisted of cabbage and radishes, prepared mostly by boiling or stewing.

Dishes like those could hardly count as good appetizers for drinking.

The cook looked over at Zhaodi upon hearing her words, and Zhao Zenghua chimed in from the side, "Tiechui, this is my niece, Song Zhaodi. She knows how to make this water celery taste delicious."

Tiechui nodded, looked Song Zhaodi up and down with continued skepticism, and said, "Little girl, it's not that I don't believe you. But this is a tavern, our customers don't really eat vegetarian dishes, and you've got so much..."

"That's just because the vegetarian dishes here don't suit the customers' palates. Let me make a plate of water celery first, and Uncle Tiechui can taste it before making up your mind."

Hearing this, Tiechui smiled at Zhao Zenghua and said, "This little girl sure talks big. I've been a cook for many years, could I possibly fall short of you?"

Song Zhaodi replied, "You have nothing to lose by trying. If it works out, it'll only benefit your tavern business."

Tiechui thought about it for a moment and agreed, "Fine then, I'll let you try."

So, Song Zhaodi immediately grabbed a handful of water celery, cleaned them, washed them, blanched them in boiling water, and chopped them into small segments to set aside.

Then she began preparing the sauce: she minced scallions, garlic, and chili peppers separately, added an appropriate amount of salt, soy sauce, and mature vinegar into a bowl, mixed them well, and drizzled sesame oil over top.

Finally, she tossed the sauce and the water celery together until evenly coated.

"It's done, have a taste." Song Zhaodi gestured for Tiechui to try it.

With a look of doubt, Tiechui picked up a small chopstickful and placed it into his mouth. After chewing a few times, his eyes lit up.

"Mhm, not bad, really not bad." Tiechui nodded repeatedly. "Crisp, tender, smooth, and delightfully sour, spicy, and savory."

With that, he picked up another large mouthful. "Delicious!"

"I'll take both of your bundles of water celery."

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