Reading Ten Thousand Books Is Not As Good As Traveling Ten Thousand Miles

Lin Su had been in this world for several months, and he had a certain understanding of it. How to describe this world? Some aspects were very advanced. Take tea, for instance. The method of making tea here was no different from that in the 21st century. Perhaps it was because the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was more abundant here, the tea tasted even better than in his original world, and the production process was quite advanced. How advanced? It was almost automated.

How automated? It was quite speechless.

Tea usually grew in deep mountains and old forests, which were the territory of the Demon Race. Therefore, tea was also a staple product in the Demon Race's market. When demand increased, manual production became a bit difficult. The Demon Race came up with automation. How did they do it? Take the process of pan-firing, for example. The Demon Race would wrap a fire-element demon snake around a large iron pot, maintaining its high temperature and constant temperature. The tea leaves would tumble a few times, and then they were pan-fried. Was that automation?

But some aspects were very backward, like alcohol.

The alcohol here had no concept of distillation; it was all just primitive fermentation.

Grape wine was made by letting grapes rot, and fruit wine was made by letting fruits rot. You could imagine what that tasted like.

Even the immortal-like cultivation sects, their alcohol was actually a haphazard mix of ingredients. Whatever had a nourishing effect was added to it.

Distillation was like a piece of paper, easily pierced. Before it was broken, it was a barrier, a barrier called the "Obstacle of Perception."

The alcohol of the 21st century originated from the distillation technology that broke through in the Song Dynasty. Before the Song Dynasty, there were thousands of years of history and countless wine connoisseurs. Who truly broke through this "Obstacle of Perception"?

Li Bai was known for writing a hundred poems after drinking a large jar of wine. If you let him drink a jar of distilled wine, and he could write even a single character, he would be truly formidable.

Mr. Bao Shan stared at Lin Su for a long time.

Lin Jialiang also stared for a long time.

Lin Su faced them with a smile.

"What rare materials do you need? Tell me!" Mr. Bao Shan said.

"A thousand catties of white rice, a thousand catties of white flour, a hundred catties of paddy rice with husk, a large iron pot, and a... no, a large piece of thin iron sheet." He originally wanted to say a sealed container, but considering that doing so would make his "secret recipe" less secret, he changed his mind. He just needed a large piece of thin iron sheet. After all, he had plenty of strength now, and it wouldn't be difficult for him to make a sealed container from the thin iron sheet himself.

"That's it?" Mr. Bao Shan couldn't believe it at all.

"High-end food often comes from ordinary ingredients," Lin Su replied, using a classic line from "A Bite of China."

High-end food comes from ordinary ingredients... Mr. Bao Shan repeated it twice. It made sense! It held a profound truth!

With a raise of his hand, a gust of wind appeared, and with a whoosh, he disappeared from the courtyard.

Lin Su looked in the direction he disappeared and nodded. There was still some distance between him and that Deng Xianchu. Deng Xianchu's gust of wind filled the entire building with wind, sending him directly into the clouds, disappearing without a trace.

But Mr. Bao Shan? He only sent himself to a height of more than ten meters above the ground, and then leaped out like a rabbit...

Lin Jialiang's voice came: "Third Brother, can you really make wine?"

"I know a little."

"Are you really only using common ingredients like white rice, white flour, and paddy rice?"

"The white rice and white flour are for us to eat. This old man came to my house and ate eight of my steamed buns and drank three bowls of noodles. Was he going to eat for free? Let him bleed a little. Anyway, people like him are not short of money..."

Lin Jialiang's eyes widened, and he couldn't say a word...

About ten minutes later, a gust of wind swept through the air, and Mr. Bao Shan descended from the sky, handing a bag to Lin Su. When Lin Su opened it, his eyes widened. Thirty bags fell out of the small bag opening. As the bags landed, they transformed into normal sizes. There were at least 1,500 catties of rice, at least 1,500 catties of flour, 200 catties of paddy rice, an unusually large iron pot, the kind one could bathe in, and a large piece of thin iron sheet. Lin Su thought it looked like a large iron door that had been forcefully flattened, and it was freshly pressed...

"Are the materials enough? If not, tell me!" Mr. Bao Shan said.

"Yes, yes... Thank you, sir!"

Hearing the first few words, Mr. Bao Shan was relieved, but suddenly hearing the last four words, he became uneasy: "Kid, why are you thanking me? Is it... a premonition that this matter will be difficult to succeed?"

"Please don't worry too much, sir. This matter will surely succeed. It's just that you've spent money and gone to all this trouble..."

Mr. Bao Shan broke into a smile: "So that's all. You startled me. If this matter succeeds, I'll owe you... This is the Treasure Paper I'm giving you. It has my mark on it. Just write anything on it, and I'll receive it."

A stack of Treasure Paper was handed to Lin Su, with more than a hundred sheets!

Mr. Bao Shan didn't linger. After confirming that the materials were not lacking, he wrote the character for "wind" and tore through the void, leaving.

He really didn't dare to stay any longer, for fear that Lin Su would go back on his word.

It concerned his lifelong love—wine.

It concerned his lifelong pursuit—the ultimate realm of Literary Heart.

Such low-end materials were truly insignificant to him.

And to Lin Su, it was a great joy.

With these three thousand catties of grain, the Lin Family's grain crisis was truly over.

Mr. Bao Shan left. Madam Lin, who had been waiting anxiously but couldn't come over, immediately arrived. As soon as she came in, she saw a pile of rice and flour on the ground, piled up like a small mountain.

She was greatly shocked. What was going on?

Mr. Bao Shan gave it to him!

Huh? Madam Lin's mind was filled with ecstasy. Heaven bore witness, she wasn't ecstatic about this rice and flour. Her ecstasy was: Her son had finally successfully become a disciple. Only through a master-disciple relationship could Mr. Bao Shan be so concerned about the Lin Family.

Thank heavens!

Xiao Tao, get the incense and candles, and worship the ancestors...

Lin Su entered the ancestral hall with his head down. Mom, if you keep doing this, I'll "lie flat" again. You worship the ancestors for doing something, aren't you afraid of giving the ancestors "high blood pressure"?

After worshipping the ancestors, the sun was high in the sky.

Mom spoke again:

"Take a bag of rice and a bag of flour, and give them to... Little Xue!"

"Huh? 'Helping the world again'?"

Lin Su glanced at his Second Brother, who showed no reaction. Xiao Tao, however, reacted strongly. "Madam, I wouldn't say a word if you sent it to anyone else, but Little Xue... she deserves to starve to death!"

Why such hatred?

It was because Little Xue and she used to be two maids serving the Madam, and they were quite close, like best friends in modern society.

When the Marquis's Estate went through a major upheaval, all the servants fled, and Little Xue also ran away.

Others might have sought new patrons, and Xiao Tao wouldn't have minded. But Little Xue's escape had left a knot in her heart for a long time. In her eyes, Little Xue should have faced hardships with the Marquis's Estate. She could accept others leaving, but Little Xue running away was, in her heart, an unforgivable betrayal.

The Madam sighed, "Little Xue had no choice. Her father was dying, and she went back to take care of him. She didn't want me to worry about her, so she kept it a secret. Do you remember the bundle of vegetables left outside the door half a month ago? That was from her. And at that time, her father had just passed away, yet she was still thinking of the Lin Family..."

Xiao Tao was stunned.

Lin Su was also stunned. During the Marquis's Estate's downfall, he had seen his fair share of human fickleness and the coldness of the world, yet there were still people and things that warmed the heart.

"Mother, I didn't even know about Little Xue's situation..." Lin Jialiang said. "I'll deliver this bag of rice to her myself."

"Let's find someone else to deliver it!" Madam Lin said. "Second Brother, Third Brother, from now on, you will both stay in your rooms to study. If you need anything, have Xiao Tao bring it to you."

Huh? No way? This was like being grounded! Lin Su immediately put all his brains to work, quickly finding an excuse. "Mother, where would Second Brother find someone at this hour? We can deliver this rice and flour to Little Xue together, Second Brother and I."

Madam Lin's face suddenly darkened.

Lin Su immediately added, "My learning is different from ordinary people. Studying confined to a room doesn't lead to much progress. Traveling around, on the other hand, leads to faster progress. As the saying goes, 'Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles.'"

Madam Lin fell silent. When it came to family rules, she was the authority, but when it came to scholarship, how could a mere woman dare to speak?

Therefore, she had a good habit: whenever someone spoke to her about matters in a scholarly manner, she would agree. Her own education was not high, but she deeply respected learned people.

Lin Jialiang murmured, "Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. Third Brother's words carry profound meaning. Mother, please let us go. I'll go with him."

"Alright then, you two must be careful. The Zhang Family's influence is not to be underestimated. Yesterday, Zhang Xiu's literary world was destroyed; he will surely seek revenge."

"Mother, you can rest assured about that. I have the Treasure Paper given to me by Mr. Bao Shan. If anything happens, Mr. Bao Shan will appear in an instant."

Madam Lin's worried brow smoothed, and she broke into a smile. "How could I forget that my child is already a disciple of Mr. Bao Shan? Today is truly a day of double happiness. Xiao Tao..."

Xiao Tao stepped forward.

Madam Lin hesitated for a moment. "Oh, we just paid respects to our ancestors. I had forgotten."

Damn it! Was she going to offer sacrifices again? Lin Su grabbed his brother, and each of them shouldered a bag, then ran off.