Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 428: Returning to the Town Again

Chen Nuo walked up to the sunflower field, and seeing that the sunflowers were fully ripe, he smiled at Fairy Baihua, "Thank you. Whatever reward you want, as long as I can provide it, I will."

Fairy Baihua blushed slightly at Chen Nuo’s smile. She rubbed her face, trying not to appear overly flushed in front of Chen Nuo, and then waved her hand.

"Oh no, there’s no need for that. You’ve helped me with an Awakening of my Divine Skills. I’m just helping you with a small favor—it’s no trouble at all, so no reward is necessary."

"No, a reward is still needed," Chen Nuo said.

He was never one to casually accept the kindness of others. Since Fairy Baihua had helped him, he was determined to repay her, "My disciple’s milk tea shop has just opened. Did you manage to grab a cup?"

"Ah, the one opened by Sun Wukong?"

Actually, Fairy Baihua had been in line just before she got here. She was about to get served when she received Chen Nuo’s message. Faced with the choice between milk tea and Chen Nuo, Fairy Baihua resolutely chose Chen Nuo.

"Yes, Tian Peng just told me there are many Immortal Officials in line. Haven’t you had a chance to try it yet?" Chen Nuo asked.

Fairy Baihua thought for a moment and then nodded, "Oh, business is booming indeed. The line of Immortal Officials stretches all the way to the South Heavenly Gate."

"How about this—I’ll have Sun Wukong prepare a few cups of milk tea for you, and you can just go pick them up directly," Chen Nuo proposed with a smile. "Does that work as a reward?"

Of course it did. Normally, an Immortal Official could only buy one cup of tea, and now Chen Nuo was offering to give her several cups for free. It was a most welcome proposition.

Fairy Baihua nodded, "If that’s the case, it can’t be any better. This reward is much more significant than the favor I did for you."

With Fairy Baihua’s agreement, Chen Nuo sent a message to Sun Wukong to prepare several more cups of milk tea and then said to Fairy Baihua, "All set, Sun Wukong is on it. You can go pick them up now."

"That’s great. If there’s nothing else, Shopkeeper Chen, I’ll take my leave first." With her milk tea in mind, Fairy Baihua didn’t stick around for small talk and hurriedly bid farewell.

Chen Nuo looked over the rapeseed spread across his yard, stretched out his hand, and used his Mana to gather the crops, collecting everything into a Silken Pouch.

Fortunately, he had won an oil press in a previous raffle. Although he initially thought about using it for oil extraction, the system was more convenient, so the machine was put aside. Unexpectedly, it now came in handy.

After harvesting the seeds, Chen Nuo turned the rapeseed stalks back into the soil, enriching it with nutrients. The soil was mundane, after all—its nutrients were limited, not as infused with Spiritual Energy as that of the Immortal Realm.

Chen Nuo then entered his house, which was quite spacious. Although it only had a bedroom and a living room, it was more than enough for him.

He fetched the oil press from his Silken Pouch and found some containers. Once everything was prepared, he began to extract oil.

The first to be pressed was rapeseed. The extraction wasn’t easy, but with his Mana, he could simplify the complicated process. The easiest part was putting the seeds into the press to start extracting the oil.

From the acres of rapeseed, he managed to press two jars of oil. The yield was quite good, even more than he had anticipated.

Perhaps it was also due to Fairy Baihua’s Mana, but the seeds seemed plumper than usual.

After the rapeseed came the soybean oil, which was strikingly bright and clear, looking even better than the rapeseed oil in color.

After finishing the extraction, Chen Nuo started comparing them.

Rapeseed yielded the most oil, but the peanut oil was the most fragrant. It was bound to be delicious for cooking. Each type of oil had its own nutritional benefits, which couldn’t be discerned from appearance alone.

There was no kitchen here, and Chen Nuo hadn’t planned on dining in this place. The fact that he couldn’t taste the flavor of the oils through cooking was slightly regrettable.

Chen Nuo thought it over and decided to start by going out to sell the oil, seeing which type of oil was repurchased the most. He would then determine which type to produce in large quantities in the future.

He had already set his sights on a shop, a jewelry store, which didn’t have many customers and was preparing for a transfer of ownership. When Chen Nuo passed by, he had already targeted it.

The small town didn’t have a large flow of people; their business mainly relied on mutual transactions between neighbors.

Chen Nuo wasn’t worried that the small shop would transfer quickly; his priority was to price the oils.

The price couldn’t be very expensive; after all, his initial idea was for all the common people to be able to afford oil, but it shouldn’t be too cheap either. If one day he left and the oil-pressing technique was left behind, it wouldn’t be good if those selling the oil couldn’t price it properly or even recover their costs.

Setting the price wasn’t easy; after all, he was still unclear about the cost of these raw materials.

After giving it a lot of thought, Chen Nuo decided to take another stroll in the small town to check the prices of the raw materials before setting his own, including processing and labor costs.

In just an instant, Chen Nuo was at the entrance of the small town from the courtyard.

The raw materials should only be sold in the grain shops, and in this small town, it was not difficult to find such shops.

As Chen Nuo walked toward the shop, he hadn’t gone far when suddenly someone tugged at the hem of his clothes. Chen Nuo looked down to find a little girl with big eyes.

The child looked familiar, though he couldn’t recall where he had seen her.

At the moment, she was tugging at Chen Nuo’s clothing. He was startled and thought she might be the shop owner’s child he might have blocked her way, so he quickly made room for her to pass.

"I’m sorry, go ahead."

The little girl didn’t move but simply stared at Chen Nuo. Perplexed, he asked, "What’s the matter, little sister? Is there something you need?"

The child shook her head and then ran off again.

What a strange child, Chen Nuo thought as he watched her run away, her clothes were worn and dirty. The adults really should take better care of her.

Upon entering the grain shop, Chen Nuo began inquiring about prices. "Shopkeeper, how much are your soybeans selling for?"

"Soybeans, eh? Twenty coins for a load."

The shopkeeper was an elderly man; he looked at Chen Nuo then lowered his head to calculate on his abacus.

Chen Nuo didn’t quite understand how much a load was. Looking at the bags inside the shop, it seemed about the same amount he got from that acre of soybeans he harvested. So, he asked, "How much for one of these bags?"

"You need that much?" The shopkeeper lowered his head to examine his account book, "Let me see, uh, this bag of soybeans is three taels of silver."

Three taels didn’t sound too expensive. Chen Nuo then asked about the prices of peanuts and sunflowers, but this place didn’t sell rapeseeds.

Rapeseeds were typically used for oil pressing, and it’s possible they didn’t know that plants could also be pressed for oil, so they might not stock them. After having asked about all the prices, Chen Nuo had a better idea in mind.

"Young master, why do you only ask about the prices and not buy anything?" the shopkeeper asked with a puzzled expression, "Are you just scouting out the market?"

"No, I’m here to inquire about the prices first." Chen Nuo hurriedly explained, "My family needs a lot of things, and I’ve come alone. Even if I bought them, I couldn’t carry it all."