Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 424 Temporary Stay for a While

Niu brought the dishes to the table, and finally set down a pot of soup, "This is a seaweed soup gifted by our shopkeeper. It’s a sea vegetable and tastes especially fresh. You must try it, honored guest."

Being inland, naturally, we can’t get fresh seafood, but seaweed is easy to preserve, simply by drying, so it’s not so rare to have some here.

Chen Nuo looked at the spread of dishes on the table. There was very little oil in the dishes; although they had all the necessary ingredients, both the color and the aroma were far from satisfactory.

"This is really too bland," Chen Nuo had just finished speaking when he remembered Jin Zha mentioning that ordinary people couldn’t afford oil, so he asked quietly, "Why is there so little oil even in this restaurant?"

"A pig only yields so much fat, and not all of it can be rendered into oil. If we only use the lean meat, the flavor will be much less. Also, the restaurant is likely considering our tastes; there’s already a lot of oil used," said Jin Zha.

It was only then that Chen Nuo realized the crux of the issue, "In the common folk households, do they only render oil from pork, and not from other sources?"

"What are you talking about?" Jin Zha looked at Chen Nuo with a hint of bewilderment. "Besides lard, what other kind of oil is there?"

"Do you only know about animal fat?" Chen Nuo looked at Jin Zha with an even stranger expression. "Have you heard of vegetable oil?"

"What vegetable oil?" Jin Zha was clueless. "Anyway, all I know is animal fat."

This person probably doesn’t touch a finger to water, and likely doesn’t know about this at all. Chen Nuo called over the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, come here for a moment."

The shopkeeper scurried over diligently, with a very respectful demeanor. "Honored guest, is there something unsatisfactory with the dishes? Our place is small and the variety of dishes we make is limited. If you’re not used to our food, please bear with us. We are not Chang’an, after all; we just serve the homemade dishes that our neighbors enjoy."

"It’s not about the dishes," Chen Nuo said. "I wanted to ask what kind of oil you use for cooking in this restaurant?"

"This shop uses lard rendered from pigs we slaughter ourselves; it makes the dishes smell wonderful," the shopkeeper replied.

"Do you have no other oils? Like, for example, peanut oil?" Chen Nuo asked.

"Peanuts have oil?" The shopkeeper was puzzled.

It seemed clear now: not just Jin Zha, but even the shopkeeper was unaware that peanuts could be used to make oil, let alone oils like sunflower, soy, or peanut oil—most likely, they had never even heard of them.

"All right, I understand. You can go back to your work," Chen Nuo dismissed the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper, not fully grasping the situation and assuming Chen Nuo had some issue with the oil used, left scratching his head.

He thought to himself that people from outside were indeed different. Coming to this small place, they found it hard to get accustomed to everything; neither the wine nor the food suited them, not even the oil. Truly, they were people molded from gold.

"What’s wrong? I didn’t answer incorrectly, did I?" Seeing the shopkeeper could not provide an answer either.

Jin Zha laughed and asked, "But what is this peanut oil you spoke of? Is it made from the peanuts we often eat as a snack with drinks?"

"Exactly, that’s the one," Chen Nuo replied. "Peanuts have a high oil content and can be used to extract oil. It’s not surprising that these common folks don’t know about it. How could just the oil rendered from pigs be enough to meet the needs of the entire town?"

"So, what do you want to do?" Jin Zha asked. "This small town has its own way of life. Surely you’re not planning to meddle?"

"Why not, what’s wrong with that?" Chen Nuo looked at Jin Zha, puzzled.

"It’s not right for you to do that. Their life is what it is, and perhaps someone will discover that peanuts can be used to make oil in the future, but that time isn’t now."

"Your actions would disrupt their lives. We are gods; we can descend to the mortal world for amusement, but that’s all we can do. We cannot change the lives of mortals," Jin Zha explained.

Chen Nuo understood these things. It was a natural law, but there was one thing Jin Zha might have forgotten, "Although I possess mana, I am not a god."

Jin Zha had forgotten too that Chen Nuo’s mana cultivation was even higher than his, and even the shop he ran only did business with gods. Over time, this made him forget that Chen Nuo was not a god but rather, strictly speaking, a human.

"I seem to have forgotten about that."

"It’s not just a passing thought for me. I’ve grown tired of my Chaos Residence. The scenery here is nice, nestled between the mountains and by the water. I plan to live here for a while," Chen Nuo said.

"Why?" Jin Zha was surprised. "You were doing well in your Chaos Residence. What are you doing coming to a small town? Moreover, don’t you still have a lot of business? What about the guests who have made reservations? What will happen to them if you come here?"

"Just let them wait. They’ve waited so many days already, a few more days won’t make a difference," Chen Nuo said irresponsibly.

"That’s too irresponsible," Jin Zha thought of his own delayed dining reservation and, despite being frustrated to the point of itching teeth, could do nothing about Chen Nuo’s cavalier attitude.

"This isn’t being irresponsible," Chen Nuo laughed. "I’m going to develop new dishes, and I’m going out to find ingredients. So, pushing back the reservations a few days will not make them think I’m irresponsible, but rather that I’m a dedicated and good chef."

"You’ve got your excuse all figured out," Jin Zha said, crunching on a chicken leg. "In any case, whether you’re running the shop or cooking, they have no choice if you don’t show up."

"But it’s too late today. We’ll stay here overnight and talk about anything else tomorrow."

Although this restaurant was rather small, it also offered lodging.

Chen Nuo was not a very picky person either. He found a temporary place to stay, and as soon as daylight broke, he planned to buy a house nearby. That way, whether doing business or anything else, it would be much more convenient.

Jin Zha originally planned to leave after eating, but his curiosity about what Chen Nuo would do was piqued. After all, this was the shopkeeper of Chaos Residence. Naturally, Jin Zha wanted to see what would happen.

The next day, when Chen Nuo left the restaurant, he began looking for a suitable house. He did not set his sights on the small town but instead on a large estate in the suburbs, complete with a garden in the back – quite unique and charming.

"You’re buying an estate too far from the town. Isn’t that inconvenient?" Jin Zha questioned, puzzled.

"What’s inconvenient about it?" Chen Nuo was genuinely puzzled. "I’m not an ordinary mortal. Even if I bought a house on the edge of the sky, I could still walk to the town every day."

"Ah, you have a point," Jin Zha found himself at a loss for words.

Chen followed the homeowner around the property. He was very satisfied with this estate; it was big and spacious, exactly what he wanted.

Jin Zha didn’t quite understand. Looking at such a large property, he felt it was quite a waste if it was only for a short stay of a few years.

If someone like him thought the estate was big, then it must indeed be very large. It hardly seemed like an estate but more like a manor.

"Chen, why buy such a big house? You’re not going to live there long anyway."

"Even if I don’t live there long, the house isn’t going anywhere. If the two young masters ever get tired of Chang’an, it would be nice to come here for a visit," said the homeowner eagerly before Chen Nuo could reply. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

The homeowner was a wealthy businessman. The estate had been in his hands for some years now.

The house had been unable to sell precisely because it was too big.