This Was a Crushing Loss
Shen Zhao was furious. "I'm eating breakfast at my own house, why should I pay you? Have you no shame?"
Zhou Wanwan sneered:
"This meal should cost at least 10 taels of silver. Your Shen Clan has no shame!"
"Could it be that your Shen Clan can't even afford to eat now?"
The surrounding neighbors all came over and said:
"Oh dear! What's going on with the Shen Clan?"
My house is gone overnight, should I move?
Old Master Shen was a man who cared a lot about his reputation. His lips twitched repeatedly as he said, "Yes! We're getting ready to move."
"Wow, you moved pretty fast! Who did you hire to help you move?"
You can even move your house? I'm going back to my hometown soon, and I'd like to take my house with me. I wonder if that's possible?
Old Master Shen almost burst into tears. If he found out who had moved his house, he would definitely not let them get away with it.
Zhou Wanwan continued eating, while the delivery person waited nearby.
After Zhou Wanwan finished eating, the delivery people simply took the breakfast off the table.
Shen Zhao sneered, "You can't finish it, you'd rather throw it away than give it to me, is that right?"
Zhou Wanwan said, "I've been a guest at your Shen Clan for a long time, and I haven't had a single decent meal. I've had to pay for everything myself. Your Shen Clan's hospitality is truly exceptional."
The man next to him Perfected Baoyi, nodded and said, "Indeed, I bought this breakfast myself!"
Old Master Shen looked at Perfected Baoyi and said, "Daoist Master, how much money do you think we need to persuade the Mountain God not to take our things?"
After pondering for a moment, Perfected Baoyi said, "I need to discuss this with them. We'll need to prepare at least twenty or thirty thousand taels of silver!"
"Alright, alright, I'll go prepare right away. Please wait a moment, Daoist Master."
The Shen Clan was out of money, so he had to go to the money exchange to withdraw it. After a while, he hurriedly returned with 30,000 taels of silver notes.
Perfected Baoyi's eyes widened at the sight of the 30,000 taels of silver, but he waved his hand and said:
"Hey! Mountain gods don't like banknotes. Have you ever seen a mountain god go to a bank to withdraw money himself?"
The mountain god's favorite things are gold and silver.
"Alright, then I'll exchange it all for gold and silver." Old Master Shen was determined to go all out.
You must make a good impression on the mountain god, otherwise no one can stand this constant commotion.
Soon, the 30,000 taels of gold were exchanged back.
Perfected Baoyi sat in the carriage, which slowly drove up the mountain.
The eldest disciple said, "Master's skills are truly amazing! In just a short while, you've managed to swindle 30,000 taels of silver."
Perfected Baoyi sneered:
Can't you guys be a little more polite with your words?
What do you mean by "cheating"? This is called earning money through my own abilities.
The second disciple quickly chimed in, "Master is right. Our master is the most powerful; no one can compare to him."
The three rushed into the mountains, Perfected Baoyi, and said:
"Throw these things into the cave, and we'll come back for them tonight."
After collecting the money, the eldest disciple went back first. The 30,000 taels will be just enough to repair our Daoist temple.
The three of them discussed it and made a good plan. Perfected Baoyi also rushed back at mealtime.
He looked at Old Master Shen with a smile and said, "We've discussed this matter with the Mountain God. Have you sold your estate?"
Old Master Shen nodded and said:
"I don't know which bastard knew my family was selling the estate and tried to drive the price down so low I almost vomited blood."
I owned a total of 16 estates along that mountain range, and they only sold for a total of 2,000 taels of silver.
This is an absolute rip-off.
The Perfected Baoyi beside him said:
"Don't worry about whether we lose money or not, it's good enough if we can sell them at all. If you keep holding onto them and don't sell them..."
"Then more things will happen at home."
Old Master Shen sighed and handed 5,000 taels of Perfected Baoyi:
"Forget it, let's just leave it at that!"
We're planning to move to a bigger house; the Shen Clan actually owns quite a few houses."
Zhou Wanwan followed along. The Shen Clan's houses were indeed numerous, large, and luxurious.
Old Madam Shen said:
"I feel like I've encountered too many strange things lately. I was thinking that this time, I should have a big celebration at home to bring some good luck."
My 50th birthday is coming up soon, and I'll invite everyone over. What do you think?
Old Master Shen nodded and said, "This fiftieth birthday celebration definitely needs to be lively and festive."
Old Madam Shen frowned and said, "If you say you want to cook more than 20 tables of food, will our kitchen be able to keep up?"
The steward, who was not far away, said:
"Madam, we can't prepare enough food for more than 20 tables right now."
The kitchen staff say that the food supplies have been running low lately, and they suspect something is wrong with the kitchen; several chefs have even quit.
Old Madam Shen said, "What did you say? This is outrageous! They just leave like that! Who will cook for us if they leave?"
Zhou Wanwan chimed in from the side, "I think takeout is pretty good."
As soon as Old Madam Shen saw Zhou Wanwan, she became furious. "Shut up! You jinx, you're always hanging around in front of me, what exactly do you want?"
Zhou Wanwan looked at her and said, "I'm not a jinx, people say I'm a lucky star."
Old Madam Shen sneered from the side, "Lucky star? I think you're a jinx, get out of here!"
Left with no other option, Zhou Wanwan had to leave.
She recommended the cook out of kindness; otherwise, the Shen Clan wouldn't even be able to put together a decent meal.
To be honest, the Shen Clan's food was the worst.
She had never eaten such terrible food.
No wonder Shen Zhao thought her cooking was delicious.
Shen Zhao said sarcastically, "Oh! Zhou Wanwan got kicked out, huh? Hurry up and go to the kitchen to cook for me."
Zhou Wanwan frowned and said, "Money."
Shen Zhao said, "We haven't started eating yet, why would we need money? You start cooking, and I'll pay the bill when you're done."
Shen Zhao wasn't stingy; he simply didn't have any money in his pocket.
Even the silver they kept in their pockets was completely stolen.
Zhou Wanwan entered the kitchen, Old Scholar Tree asked, "You actually believed his nonsense and are planning to cook for him?"
Zhou Wanwan scoffed lightly:
"I'm not a masochist, why would I cook for him?"
For lunch today, I'd like to eat braised fish maw with crab roe, braised deer tendon, stir-fried silver fish with fermented rice wine, honey-glazed golden fungus, stewed duck with cordyceps, braised bamboo shoots with dried scallops, steamed croaker...
As Zhou Wanwan read the report, the Old Ancestor beside her took notes.
After they finished writing, they let the trees start cooking for Zhou Wanwan.
These trees come with their own tools, their own tableware, and all sorts of ingredients.
The tree next to it:
Last night we went to the beach and found lots of delicious food.
I think we should just use seafood for today's banquet!
The seafood we caught last night was pretty good.
Zhou Wanwan waved her hand and said, "Okay, then let's change the dishes."
Braised sea cucumber, steamed grouper, garlic scallops, salt and pepper mantis shrimp, crab roe with fish maw, steamed geoduck with black bean sauce, blanched bamboo shrimp, braised conch with abalone sauce, and shark fin rice.
Zhou Wanwan ate her shark fin rice and exclaimed, "This tastes so fresh!"
The Old Ancestor said, "Their newly prepared dishes taste good, don't they?"
The Old Scholar Tree beside her peeled mantis shrimp and said, "Eat more if you like it. These mantis shrimp are quite delicious."
Zhou Wanwan devoured the mantis shrimp one after another, thoroughly enjoying herself.
The Shen Clan family members waited in the front hall for the chef to prepare the meal.
But no matter how long I waited, it never came.
Old Madam Shen was getting impatient. "Where's the food? Why hasn't the food arrived yet? Don't you know we're hungry?"
The head steward rushed over from the kitchen and said:
"Madam, our kitchen only has one chef left, and he's in his seventies or eighties."
I don't think I can eat this dish.
"Bring it out first. Even if you can't eat it, you'll have to make do," said Old Madam Shen impatiently.
Shen Zhao asked, "Where's Zhou Wanwan? What did she burn?"