Hualien City
Throughout 2010 Tsao attempted to join several independent baseball league teams in the United States but was rejected repeatedly. Between December 2010 and November 2012 Tsao ran a barbecue restaurant in Hualien City along with his former Brother Elephants teammate Chen Chih-yuan who was also expelled by CPBL due to game-fixing allegations. In November 2012 Tsao withdrew his barbecue restaurant shares to open his own beef noodle soup restaurant in Hualien City alongside his then girlfriend, surnamed Pan.