Chapter 232 - 228: This is the Aroma of Oil

Chapter 232: Chapter 228: This is the Aroma of Oil

In Lin Xian Village, hardly anyone paid attention to such a minor incident.

At this moment, Lin Feng was hauling the crops for oil pressing and flour milling over to the Water Mill and the Oil Workshop.

The workers here were all temporary hires. Hearing they had a chance to work in Lin Xian Village, these people were even more enthusiastic than Lin Feng.

"Boss, is this the stuff?" Wen Daying asked.

He used to run an oil press shop, but it went out of business, unable to compete with industrial production.

When he heard Lin Xian Village was looking for workers who knew how to press oil, he signed up immediately.

"That’s right. This batch is for milling flour, and this one over here is for pressing oil."

"Alright, everyone, let’s get moving! Show the boss what we can do."

"Let’s get to it! Let’s get to it!"

One by one, they shouldered the sacks and headed toward the two buildings.

The Water Mill side required no technical skill; anyone could do that kind of work.

The Oil Workshop side was a bit more technically demanding, but not by much. Because of this, everyone was worried they wouldn’t be chosen, so they worked with all their might.

"Brother Wen, this equipment feels much easier to use than what we had back in the day."

"It really is. There’s no modern machinery, yet it’s surprisingly easy to get the hang of."

These men discovered that although Lin Xian Village used ancient methods for pressing oil, the equipment was incredibly user-friendly.

"Everyone, pay close attention. Whether or not you get to stay depends on your performance.

Remember, you must follow the procedures and pay attention to safety and hygiene.

They said that anyone who doesn’t follow the procedures will be let go, no exceptions."

Wen Daying knew very well how difficult this group was to manage; their work habits used to be sloppy.

This time, however, he wasn’t worried. Anyone who didn’t measure up would simply lose their chance to work in Lin Xian Village.

Hearing the reminder, everyone got serious, checking their procedures and making sure their work attire was in order.

When Zhou Jun and Hu Zhiming heard Lin Feng was pressing oil at the Oil Workshop, they hurried over too, wanting to see if anything magical was going on.

"Brother Lin, you won’t believe it, but some minor celebrity came to Lin Xian Village to cause trouble today."

Lin Feng asked in confusion, "Someone actually dared to cause trouble in Lin Xian Village?"

"Probably has a screw loose."

Zhou Jun said, "Lin Feng, your influence is really something. Look, all information about that guy has been scrubbed from the internet."

"Scrubbed? I didn’t even know about this. Are you sure you’re not mistaken?"

Hu Zhiming said, "It’s true. Even his personal accounts have been shut down. Someone must have stepped in."

Just then, Zhou Jun sent a few messages to ask some friends about the situation. He was surprised, but at the same time, felt it was only to be expected.

The demand from company bosses and the wealthy for some of Lin Xian Village’s products was even higher than that of ordinary people.

News about the construction of the village’s Restaurant had already spread, and many people were likely aware of the increased availability of Medicinal Cuisine.

Building a relationship with Lin Xian Village at this time would make it easier to obtain Medicinal Cuisine later on.

Didn’t you see? Even those foreign business tycoons were keeping an eye on Lin Xian Village.

"Those people acted on their own initiative. It just goes to show your influence is growing, Lin Feng."

"Haha, who wouldn’t want the things Brother Lin has here? Take that Lin Xian Tea, for example. I’m sure anyone who’s tried it wants more."

’Thinking about last night, even people who haven’t tried it are starting to want some.’

Not to mention the good news from the Cancer Research Institute. As long as those wealthy people weren’t fools, they would definitely want to get on good terms with Lin Xian Village.

"By the way, Brother Lin, you came here to press oil yourself. Is there something special about pressing it here?" Hu Zhiming asked curiously.

’You have to ask about this stuff directly, otherwise Brother Lin will never bring it up on his own.’

"You’ll know once the oil is pressed.

Come on, pressing the oil will still take a long time. Let’s take this flour back to the Restaurant and have them test it out."

The two of them looked at the flour ground by the stone mill but didn’t see anything unusual about it.

Arriving at the Restaurant, they handed the flour to the Baker in the back kitchen and asked him to test it.

Just as he was thinking about heading back to the courtyard to check on the Lin Xian Tea, he saw Wu Jiaxing approaching with several old men.

However, the way those old men were looking at him seemed a bit strange.

"Master, this is my boss, Lin Feng."

"Boss, this is my master, Yang Deyu. These gentlemen are his friends: Peng Lai, Guo Ziying, Lu Huaicai, and Liu Yuxi. They are all master painters."

"Boss Lin is truly amazing!"

"Boss Lin’s methods are extraordinary."

"What Boss Lin did was so satisfying."

"In the prime of his youth, a hero emerges; young and promising, with lofty ambitions."

Lin Feng looked at Wu Jiaxing, a little confused. ’Is this why you warned me?’

’And this last one, why did he just recite a poem?’

Wu Jiaxing was also a bit baffled. He remembered these old masters being quite hot-tempered, which was why he had warned his boss beforehand.

’What’s going on now?’

’Could it be that they’ve discovered the benefits of Lin Xian Village and want to butter up the boss?’

Yang Deyu couldn’t stand it anymore. ’These four old coots are truly shameless.’

Their art circle was, in some ways, not so different from the entertainment industry, even though it was part of the cultural sphere.

Befriending someone as powerful and influential as Lin Feng would be of great benefit to them.

’Master your civil and martial skills, and sell them to the imperial family.’

In today’s society, that saying still applied; only the "imperial family" had changed.

"You four, stop embarrassing yourselves."

"We’ve imposed on you by coming to Lin Xian Village this time, Boss Lin."

"Elder Yang, please don’t say that. I’m very good friends with your son, Director Yang. I couldn’t be happier that you and these four gentlemen could come to Lin Xian Village."

Yang Deyu said happily, "I heard from my boy, Yongjun, too. He said the medicines you produce here have been a great help to his work."

"It’s just a small help.

Jiaxing, tell your wife in a bit that I’ll be treating your master and the four masters to lunch at the Restaurant."

"Yes, Boss.

I’ll show my master and the four masters around the village first. You can go take care of your own business, Boss."

After Wu Jiaxing led the men away, Zhou Jun said, "Lin Feng, you’re really something else. That Guo Ziying actually praised someone of his own accord today."

"You know them?"

"Not really, I’ve just heard their names and stories.

I don’t need to introduce Yang Deyu. The one who recited the poem is Peng Lai; he loves to recite ancient poetry and is a master of landscape painting.

The tall, skinny one is Guo Ziying. He’s brilliant at Western-style painting, has an odd temper, and never initiates conversations.

The chubby one is Liu Yuxi, a master of portrait painting.

The stocky one is Lu Huaicai. He specializes in rock painting."

Lin Feng nodded, finally having a clearer picture of who these men were.

The three of them went into the courtyard and looked at the tea leaves that were laid out to dry, noticing a slight change in them.

"Brother Lin, have the white jade-like veins in these tea leaves increased?"

Zhou Jun said, "They definitely have. I can’t believe the silver veins have turned the color of white jade."

Lin Feng had noticed it too. He was beginning to understand why the leaves needed to be mature before they could be picked.

The processing of this Lin Xian Tea clearly involved drying the leaves for ten days, after which the silver veins would turn the color of white jade.

When the white jade color appeared on the tea tree, it meant the leaves were mature and the silver inside was beginning to transform into white jade.

If he didn’t pick them, they would probably turn from silver to white jade on their own after a while.

However, leaving them on the tea tree unpicked would affect the tree’s continued growth.

Only an idiot would leave the tea leaves on the tree unpicked.

Not only were the silver veins changing, but the color of the leaves was also shifting from a vibrant green to a dark, inky green.

"Alright, stop staring. We’ll know what’s what in ten days."

"Brother Lin, can we harvest a new batch of these tea leaves every day?"

"It’s not clear yet. We’ll have to harvest for a while to understand the specific growth cycle."

Although Lin Feng had his suspicions, he really didn’t know the exact growth pattern of Lin Xian Tea.

"Lin Feng, given the situation with these tea leaves, we can’t open South Mountain to the public yet. We need to do something about the area around the tea trees first."

Lin Feng nodded. He also knew they couldn’t let tourists get close to the tea trees, or someone would definitely try to pick the leaves secretly.

Hu Zhiming said with a laugh, "That’s easy. We just need to put a fence around the tea tree area."

"Since you said so, I’ll leave this matter to you."

Lin Feng agreed that fencing it off was a good idea; otherwise, people would likely try to sneak in and pick the leaves.

Hu Zhiming didn’t refuse. He made a call on the spot, telling the people who were making the wooden frames for tea picking to send over a batch of fencing.

At lunch, he hosted Wu Jiaxing’s teacher and friends. The men were full of praise for the food in Lin Xian Village.

They were especially impressed with the Medicinal Cuisine, knowing it was difficult to come by and had health-strengthening properties.

They were too embarrassed to ask Lin Feng for some Medicinal Cuisine directly.

"Boss! Boss! The oil’s been pressed!" Wen Daying shouted as he ran over to Lin Feng.

The oil from the Oil Workshop was just too incredible. They had never smelled an aroma like it.

Lin Feng, who had been resting and thinking about the construction of the Mountain God Temple, stood up when he heard this.

"Brother Lin! Brother Lin! I heard the oil’s been pressed! Where is it?" Hu Zhiming came running over from the side.

Soon, Zhou Jun also walked over, followed by Wang Lihua, who was holding her daughter’s hand.

"Boss, the oil is at the Oil Workshop. We didn’t prepare any barrels to store it.

That oil is so amazing, we weren’t sure what kind of container we should use to hold it."

"Let’s go. We’ll take a look first."

At lunchtime, he had already tasted the flour, and it was indeed better than what he usually ate.

’Once the wheat grown in Lin Xian Village matures, the flour milled from it should produce even more delicious food.’

’The wheat grown in Lin Xian Village would have its own quality bonus. The two effects combined would make for even better flour.’

The group arrived at the Oil Workshop and found quite a few tourists there as well.

However, they were being blocked by the workers and couldn’t enter the Oil Workshop.

"Boss Lin is here! Boss Lin, what’s inside that smells so good?"

"Yeah, it looks like an oil workshop, but I’ve smelled sesame oil before, and it’s not this kind of fragrance."

"This aroma is so overpowering! What on earth is this oil pressed from?"

"..."

Lin Feng said, "Everyone, please make way for a moment. We’re going inside to check on things, and we’ll tell you more when we come out."

The tourists cleared a path, and Lin Feng led his group inside.

"Brother Lin, is this the aroma of oil? It smells even better than perfume."

"Mom, it smells so good! I feel hungry again," Wu Yu said, patting her little tummy.

"Yes, yes! It’s the kind of aroma that makes you want to eat the moment you smell it."

It was an aroma that stimulated the appetite, one that was hard to describe. It was like smelling a delicious meal and wanting to eat, but also slightly different.

After going inside, they saw a large wooden barrel placed in the Warehouse. Even though it had a lid on, the aroma was still seeping out from the cracks.

"Boss, we’ve only pressed one barrel of oil so far." Wen Daying stepped forward and removed the lid, revealing a layer of clear film underneath.

Looking through the film, they could see the golden-yellow oil inside.

Lin Feng finally understood what "increasing the oil’s purity" meant. Ancient pressing methods could never achieve this level of transparency.

There wasn’t a single speck of impurity to be seen; the oil looked just like golden-yellow Amber.

"What crop was this oil pressed from?"

"Peanuts. We pressed the peanut oil first."

"After you finish pressing for the day, calculate how much oil you can produce in a single day."

"Understood. I’ll calculate it at the end of the day."

Wen Daying was thrilled. ’Looks like my job is secure.’

Hearing their conversation, the others looked at the Oil Workshop. It seemed this building was just like the others.

Apparently, not a single building in Lin Xian Village was ordinary.

Wang Lihua’s eyes gleamed. She realized this oil might be helpful in treating anorexia.

The oil could clearly be produced in large quantities and would be cheaper than the Medicinal Cuisine. If it really worked, it could help many patients with anorexia.

She decided she would talk to Lin Feng about it when she got back later.

Her own daughter’s condition had made her keenly aware of the torment that anorexia inflicted on both patients and their families.