Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 20 Huh, Master?

"This is... Spirit Wheat?"

Although he spoke with a questioning tone, the grain of wheat he was holding between his fingers had already been thrown into his mouth by Master Liu.

The moment your upper and lower teeth touch, the refreshing wort bursts onto your tongue.

The wheat grains were so small that you couldn't taste anything from just one, so Mr. Liu simply picked up all the grains and stuffed them into his mouth.

It's hard to describe the taste. The wheat aroma is richer than that of ordinary wheat kernels, but the texture is very refreshing. I don't know if it's because it's not ripe yet, but the juice is too tender. Biting into it is like biting into a fresh grape.

Before Master Liu could fully savor the taste of the spirit wheat, he was surprised to find a warm "qi" rising in his abdomen. This "qi" slowly traveled along his meridians until it gathered at the top of his head, the palms of his hands, and the soles of his feet, before dissipating.

But the chronic illnesses in my body seemed to have disappeared, my rusty joints became smooth again, one of my nostrils that had been blocked was now completely clear, and the minor problems of dry mouth and itchy throat suddenly disappeared...

The patriarch of the Liu family felt that he had never been so comfortable in his life!
"This is celestial wheat! This must be celestial wheat!"

He glared and shouted loudly, then slapped his forehead and knelt down in front of Zhang Chengdao with a thud, excitedly asking, "Immortal! Your immortal wheat is so powerful, is there really an elixir of immortality in this world? If so, please give me one, I am willing to give away all my wealth for one... no, three!"

Zhang Chengdao awkwardly took a few steps back to distance himself from the Liu family patriarch, gave him a perfunctory help, and shook his head, saying, "There is no such thing as an elixir of immortality. There is no such thing. Kneeling to me won't help. You should get up first."

The patriarch of the Liu family was quite perceptive; he quickly got up, and although his disappointment was undeniable, he still pointed to the wheat on the table and asked, "Then this 'immortal wheat'..."

Zhang Chengdao patiently explained, "This is spirit wheat, which grows by absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Naturally, it is different from ordinary wheat. However, it is only better for the body and does not have any effect of immortality. Moreover, the effect is most obvious the first time you eat it, and it is not so effective afterward. It is nothing special."

He could see, of course, that after eating that handful of wheat kernels, Master Liu looked radiant, as if he had become several years younger, and his once protruding belly had shrunk considerably.

But it was obvious that this was because the other party had neither practiced martial arts, resulting in blocked meridians, nor had they ever been exposed to spiritual energy, and was old and physically frail.

The weak body's meridians were cleansed by the spiritual energy in the wheat, repairing some minor injuries and ailments, resulting in such an amazing effect. If the meridians were cleansed by spiritual energy again in the future, the effect would not be as significant as the first time.

Hearing this, Master Liu was still not giving up. He picked up a few ears of wheat, rubbed them skillfully, and rubbed off the wheat grains along with the husks.

Unlike ordinary unripe wheat, these wheat husks were easy to peel. The husks and kernels separated easily with a rub. Before long, Mr. Liu had rubbed out a lot of wheat kernels and piled them into a small heap on the table.

He steeled himself and ate a whole bunch of wheat kernels. This time, his mouth was filled with an even richer wheat aroma.

After chewing a few mouthfuls and swallowing, the strange "qi" indeed rose from his stomach again. But just as Zhang Chengdao had said, this time the "qi" was more obvious, but the feeling of it moving through his body was much weaker. It only made his body feel warm and cozy, and then disappeared completely in a short while.

This time, my body hasn't really changed much. If I had to say something, maybe my hearing and eyesight are a little better?

After hesitating for a long time, Master Liu finally became greedy for this wheat and asked, "Immortal, since you have such immortal... uh, spiritual wheat, why do you still need to sell those gold bricks? Why not just sell this spiritual wheat?"

Zhang Chengdao frankly said, "As you can see, this spirit wheat is not yet ripe and the yield is not high, so it is not easy to sell. But I am in urgent need of money, so I took the gold bricks to exchange for copper coins so that I can buy some daily necessities such as grain, oil and salt."

Upon hearing this, the Liu family patriarch was somewhat bewildered.

Do immortals also eat grains and cereals? Do they consume oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar?

Although puzzled, Master Liu still said solicitously, "Whatever the immortal lacks, why not take it from my house? I dare not say we have everything, but whatever is available in this county, my house should have it all." At this point, Master Liu sucked in his stomach, bent over, and adopted a respectful and eager demeanor, adding, "To be honest, immortal, my wife is the owner of the Huiyou Escort Agency in Feihu County. Even if it's not available in the county, just let me know, and I can find a way to get it for you!"

Master Liu's words really tempted Zhang Chengdao.

After all, Feihu County is so backward that there isn't even a pawnshop, and it's unlikely that rice shops, pharmacies, or general stores will be open. Even if you exchange gold ingots for money, it would probably be difficult to buy what you need.

He had originally thought that even if he couldn't buy food, he could still buy a bunch of prepared dishes from this inn. Anyway, there was no limit to the number of slots in his backpack, and the things he put in his backpack wouldn't spoil. He could just take them out as needed.

If he can just hold on for one more day, the wheat in the fields will be ripe. If he can get through another week, he'll be able to grow enough ramie, kudzu, and other crops for harvesting.

But the invitation from Master Liu made things easier for him. At least he could buy more hemp rope to build more structures, which would make it easier for his cheat ability to upgrade. And he could also buy enough ingredients to feed his cheap apprentice, who was not cheap at all.

Moreover, he was deliberately keeping the Liu family patriarch in suspense, hoping to make him a "distributor" of these spiritual grains.

Therefore, Zhang Chengdao said, "If Master Liu is willing to help, that would be great. Actually, what I need is not anything else, but a lot of ingredients, as well as soy sauce, salt, sugar, star anise, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, and the like."

Upon hearing this, Master Liu's face lit up with joy, but before he could speak, Manager Zhao, who was standing to the side, preemptively spoke up.

He slapped his thigh and exclaimed, “Hey! Immortal, why are you going to all this trouble? I run a restaurant and I have plenty of everything you need! I’ll give you as much as you want, but please, could you also send me some immortal wheat?”

Master Liu's face immediately turned pale, his eyebrows furrowed, and he cursed, "Manager Zhao, isn't that unethical of you? How dare you snatch someone right in front of me?"

Manager Zhao was startled. How could he dare offend Master Liu, this local tyrant? But he was unwilling to give up this opportunity, so he could only bow and scrape, explaining in a humble voice, "Oh, Master Liu, please don't misunderstand. How could I, a mere shopkeeper, dare to steal your business? It's just that, it's just that, as you see, I happen to have everything the immortal wanted! It saves you two from having to run back and forth. I only need a little bit, just a little bit of immortal wheat!"

Manager Zhao spoke while gesturing with his hands.

“It’s spirit wheat,” Zhang Chengdao first corrected Manager Zhao’s statement, then promised, “I didn’t bring much today, just this much, and I didn’t get to distribute it. Here’s what we’ll do: I’ll have my apprentice bring some over tomorrow, and you can decide how to distribute it yourselves. I’ll only care about the total amount of money I receive. As for who bought the spirit wheat and how much they bought, I won’t concern myself with that.”

"Alright! Alright! What's your apprentice's name? What does he look like? I've already sent someone to wait for him at the county entrance!"

Master Liu nodded vigorously, afraid that the "immortal" would change his mind—as long as it could be bought with money, nothing was difficult!
"My apprentice..."

"...Brother Xu, why don't we eat something here first, then find out where my master went. He said he came to buy grain, and then...wait!? Master!?"

Just as Zhang Chengdao was about to answer, he heard his cheap apprentice's voice coming from outside the shop, growing louder as he approached. A moment later, he saw him lead a man who looked older than him into the shop.

It turned out that Chang Ping'an and Zhang Chengdao had agreed to meet at the crossroads leading into the county. When Chang Ping'an arrived, he saw that there was no one at the crossroads, so he guessed that his master must still be buying things. That's why he planned to take Xu Ying out for a meal first before going to find his master.

Unexpectedly, upon entering the only restaurant in the county, he saw his master talking to Liu, a well-known local tycoon.

Chang Ping'an scratched his head, feeling that the atmosphere in the shop seemed rather strange, but without thinking much of it, he subconsciously asked, "Master, are you eating here too?"

Tomorrow is the first test run! Ahhhhh!

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(End of this chapter)