Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 599 - 598: Promoting Local Specialties

Li Mutuo asked, he had yet to visit Chang’an, but the local customs and flavors around Chang’an filled him with longing; yet, he hadn’t expected to encounter someone leaving Chang’an.

"I’m going elsewhere to do business," Tian Peng said offhandedly.

Although Li Mutuo seemed friendly enough, it was still necessary to be cautious while traveling.

"Is there no business to do in Chang’an? Why then do you need to go elsewhere?" Li Mutuo asked in confusion, "Could it be that Chang’an is not suitable for business?"

"That’s not it," Tian Peng couldn’t tarnish Chang’an’s reputation, so he explained, "The business I’m involved in is mainly weapons and ironware, which don’t have much room for growth in Chang’an."

Li Mutuo thought it over carefully, indeed, the people of Chang’an lived in peace; they would only purchase weapons if necessary.

The most commonly used items were related to clothing, food, shelter, and transportation. The demand for weapons really wasn’t that high.

"And you, I saw a big carriage outside; are all those goods yours, to be sold in Chang’an?" Tian Peng asked.

Speaking of his own products, Li Mutuo was quite proud. He nodded, "Those are all specialty products from my hometown. They are commonplace there, but I thought they might not be available in Chang’an, so I brought them here. I believe the people of Chang’an will definitely like them."

"Is that so?" Tian Peng nodded, "What are the specialities of your hometown?"

"There’s quite a few," Li Mutuo started to say, but then he thought it would be better to just show Tian Peng his products rather than just talking about them.

This person was kind-hearted and had even treated him to those delicious noodles; surely he was a good person.

Li Mutuo excused himself in the middle of speaking and then turned to walk towards his carriage.

Tian Peng relaxed his guard quite a bit as he watched Li Mutuo rummaging through the carriage.

He could have just described them, but he insisted on personally fetching them, which suggested he was a warm-hearted individual. A person as enthusiastic as him was surely not ill-intentioned.

After rummaging for a while, Li Mutuo returned with several items in his hands.

He proudly placed them on the table and began to introduce the delicacies of his hometown to Tian Peng.

"These are raisins from our hometown, these are red dates, and this, this is nuts candy, all specialties of our place. Try some," he encouraged.

Tian Peng looked at the wrinkled little nuggets with some hesitation, "This, what is this called?"

"Raisins," Li Mutuo explained, "They’re grapes that have been dried in the sun, losing their moisture, which is why they look all wrinkled, but the flavor is very good. The sweetness and taste of the grapes are preserved inside."

"So, these are grapes." As long as it wasn’t something strange, Tian Peng was relieved and popped a raisin into his mouth.

The small piece didn’t offer much texture, but the sweetness was exceptionally pronounced, and the grape flavor was particularly strong. The texture of the fruit felt like chewing honey with an empty mouth.

The taste was indeed good, and Li Mutuo had a right to be proud; these were indeed delicious.

Seeing Tian Peng nod in approval, Li Mutuo was delighted and brought out some red dates, "Try these as well. These red dates are a type of dried date from our area, deep-fried in oil to allow for long-term preservation."

Tian Peng took a date and habitually squeezed it, only to find that the thing was immovable, very hard.

"This, you’re sure it’s a red date? Why is it so hard?" Tian Peng asked, concerned he might damage his teeth before even tasting it.

"These red dates have been deep-fried for a long time, which is why they are so hard. It makes them easier for us to preserve. Ordinary dates can only be kept for a few days, but these can last much longer," Li Mutuo explained.

So they were thoroughly fried. He had thought when Li Mutuo mentioned frying, it was just a quick dip in oil, not actual deep-frying.

"Give it a try, Brother Zhu Ganglie, this one tastes even better than ordinary red dates."

Although he didn’t know if he might chip a tooth, in order not to embarrass the other person, Tian Peng still picked up a red date and bit into it.

With a crunch, a piece of the red date was bitten off—indeed, just as he had thought, it was incredibly hard, as if he were biting into a rock.

After biting off that piece, Tian Peng chewed it, and though the red date was tough to bite into, it wasn’t as frightening to chew as it had felt to the touch.

Of course, it was still pretty hard.

When he first started chewing, his whole head shook from the firmness of one bite, but after a few more chews, the flavor of the red date began to spread in his mouth.

The oily taste also gradually emerged, turning into a rich butteriness, and the longer he chewed, the tastier it became, making one want to keep eating more.

"This really does taste good," Tian Peng praised. "It’s perfect for snacking in one’s free time."

"Right? I knew the taste of red dates couldn’t be bad," Li Mutuo said, delighted seeing Tian Peng complimenting it.

"And since red dates nourish the blood, they are very suitable for women to eat. If you target the right market, you can sell them to nobles and officials; I’m sure their ladies would love to eat them," Tian Peng advised.

"Oh, okay," Li Mutuo nodded in agreement.

In their region, the red dates were also a snack for leisure time, but he hadn’t known about this particular benefit.

He had heard that the more noble and wealthy were particularly interested in nourishing their blood. As long as he mentioned the benefits when selling, surely those nobles and officials would be eager to buy.

"What’s this?" Tian Peng asked, looking at another item Li Mutuo was holding, which was square and indistinguishable.

"It’s our specialty nuts candy," Li Mutuo said. "Brother Zhu Ganglie, try it; this snack is very substantial, and it can also relieve hunger. This is how we eat it."

Tian Peng picked up the nuts candy and realized that the square sweet was quite heavy.

They called it candy, but it was actually all kinds of nuts, which are very nourishing; with so many nuts plus the sweetener, it definitely could relieve hunger.

"Nuts candy is made of various nuts from our region mixed with honey and malt sugar, then compressed into shape with molds. It’s also very popular in our parts," Li Mutuo explained. "These items are the most famous things from our region, and many people from other places like them too. That’s why I thought of bringing them all to Chang’an."

Tian Peng listened to Li Mutuo’s introduction and took a bite of the nuts candy.

Indeed, just as it appeared on the outside, it felt substantial in the mouth, brimming with the aroma of various nuts and the sweetness of honey and malt sugar.

"If used to replenish strength, this is indeed very good," Li Mutuo said.

"It’s excellent," Tian Peng agreed, nodding. The candy tasted good, and as Li Mutuo said, it truly was satisfying and filling.

After just a couple of bites, he felt slightly stuffed—though the biangbiang noodles had contributed to the feeling, the nuts candy indeed helped to satisfy hunger.

Since the snack was so good, an idea sparked in Tian Peng’s mind. Taking this as dry food seemed indeed a good idea.

If he could bring this product to the northwest, that would also be great. The northwest was colder, and eating more of this would be beneficial; the confection was similar to meat in that it was filling and could fend off the cold.

"How much of this did you bring?" Tian Peng inquired.

"A total of one hundred jin, but it’s very heavy. Although it’s one hundred jin, it doesn’t look much," Li Mutuo replied.