Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 141: Flat Peach Encounters Obstacles Everywhere
Hearing what Haotian said, the Food God and Stove God were ecstatic and quickly responded, "It’s all thanks to Your Majesty’s wise and divine might!"
Sun Wukong, watching the two deities behave like this, was a bit startled, thinking, Goodness, such bootlicking, and they’re experts at it too!
Thinking back to the times when he used to flatter his master, Sun Wukong felt somewhat inferior.
When it came to taking initiative, he was far behind, and he decided that he should improve his skills in this area given the chance.
Who knows, maybe his master would be in a good mood and give him something nice again.
Zhou Kang, however, did not offer flattery but spoke with a sense of shame, "Replying to Your Majesty, I didn’t contribute much effort, just helping to prepare the ingredients and assisting a little, all the dishes were made by Great Immortal Wukong."
Not that he didn’t want to cook, but the gap in culinary skills was too vast; the dishes he made couldn’t compare, and he feared ruining the Flat Peach Banquet with his own cooking.
But over these days, he considered the true wealth to be the cooking skills he had observed and learned from Great Immortal Wukong.
He had deeply memorized the actions and scenes of Great Immortal Wukong cooking, and although he hadn’t practiced them yet, he knew his culinary skills had improved by leaps and bounds.
Haotian looked at Zhou Kang with surprise, not expecting such a temperament from a mere mortal; it seemed the trial hadn’t crushed him but pushed him even further.
Clearing his throat, in a very pleased mood, Haotian said, "In light of your outstanding performance, you shall be rewarded!"
With that, he secretly sent a telepathic message to the Jade Pool, signaling her to bestow the rewards.
The Jade Pool understood, put aside her distraction with the delicious food, and took on a regal demeanor.
With her lips slightly parted, she said, "Reward Sun Wukong with ten thousand Immortal Crystals, three nine-thousand-year Flat Peaches, and elevate him to the rank of Director of the Imperial Kitchen, third class."
The reward was substantial; Immortal Crystals were a cultivation resource in the Heavenly Court, though the promotion was trivial.
The real prize were the three nine-thousand-year Flat Peaches.
Even Maitreya Buddha, representing Buddhism and as a Quasi-Saint, had only received three, which showed how pleased the Jade Pool was with the banquet.
No one would refuse such a reward.
However, she had encountered Sun Wukong, who had almost been sick of Flat Peaches.
"Your Grace, could this reward be exchanged for something else?" Sun Wukong asked with a sheepish smile.
Although it was tasteless to refuse a reward, he truly did not need something like Flat Peaches.
???
Everyone was stunned to hear this—had anyone, ah no, any monkey ever refused Flat Peaches?
And nine-thousand-year ones at that!
Was there something wrong with this monkey’s brain, or had they misheard? What was going on?
"You really don’t want them?" The Jade Pool could hardly believe it and asked again.
Maitreya Buddha before, and now Sun Wukong—although the banquet had gone perfectly, it was causing the Jade Pool to lose faith in the value of the Flat Peaches.
Since when had Flat Peaches become so worthless?
"I do not." Sun Wukong answered decisively and cleanly.
The Jade Pool immediately felt a frustration she couldn’t express, as if it was clogging her heart uncomfortably.
Watching the Jade Pool’s darkening expression, Sun Wukong also felt guilty and, scratching his head awkwardly, said, "Your Grace, could I possibly request a different reward?"
"What would you like?" the Jade Pool asked, clearly annoyed.
Sun Wukong pondered for a moment, seeming a bit embarrassed to say it out loud, then murmured, "Could Your Grace grant me some things that can grow naturally?"
The Jade Pool, Haotian: "???"
Things that grow naturally? What kind of reward was that?
Seeing the puzzled looks from the two, Sun Wukong sheepishly smiled, exposing his sparsely-haired arm.
"My hair is a little too thin and grows slowly. They say the Heavenly Court is the richest place in the Three Realms, surely it’s not lacking things that can grow naturally, right?"
He felt that the hair on his body was no longer enough for his tuition fees and needed to find a way to address this. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
It was indeed quite sparse!
The Jade Pool nodded, comparing him to a normal monkey, Sun Wukong indeed had much less hair, and all the monkeys she had seen had thick fur.
Sun Wukong was far behind in comparison.
However, giving up three nine-thousand-year-old Flat Peaches just for good-looking facial hair, isn’t that a bit too much of a loss?
In his heart, Haotian of the Jade Pool found it somewhat inexplicable, but naturally, they did not understand what monkey fur meant to Sun Wukong.
That’s the tuition and meal fees! That stuff is even more important than life itself!
Seeing the determination in Sun Wukong’s eyes, Haotian and the residents of the Jade Pool felt they had no choice in the matter, for it was the first time they had encountered someone who was eager to reject valuable gifts.
What an oddity.
"You have the mana to control its growth at will, don’t you?" The Queen Mother also asked out of curiosity.
Could it be that this monkey doesn’t even know something so simple? Surely not?
"I, Old Sun, naturally know that, but what I want is the kind of natural, handsome fur growth!" Sun Wukong gestured as he spoke.
Every time he thought about the foolish act he had done, it was as if his body ached; he definitely did not want to continue plucking fake monkey hairs.
His demands weren’t few.
In her mind, the Queen Mother scoffed and then pondered for a moment before saying, "The hair care products I usually use, I will give you some when the time comes."
Although she was not sure if it would be useful for hair growth.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Sun Wukong beamed with joy and bowed in thanks,
Money saved!
The Queen Mother nodded and then turned to the other Two Deities, saying, "Both of you are promoted to seventh-grade chefs of the Imperial Kitchen."
To the Food God and Stove God, the Queen Mother was much more casual, and even a mere promotion was quite satisfying for them.
Seventh-grade, that’s a full one-grade promotion, with a substantial increase in salary!
The Food God and Stove God thanked her excitedly and profusely.
The Queen Mother, accustomed to such proceedings, turned her gaze to the only mortal present, Zhou Kang.
With a graceful gesture, a rather delicate and exquisite Flat Peach appeared in her hand.
"As Sun Wukong’s assistant chef, you did a very good job."
"This three-thousand-year-old Flat Peach is your reward, and from now on, you will be a chef in the Imperial Kitchen, with the rank of ninth grade."
The Queen Mother had noticed the mortal’s hard work, and since he had contributed and displayed talent, she did not mind cultivating him a bit.
"Hurry up and thank the Queen Mother."
Seeing Zhou Kang seeming as if he had turned into a fool, without any reaction, the Kitchen God urgently prompted him.
This was a three-thousand-year-old Flat Peach, after all, the potency of which could allow one to ascend to immortality.
The intentions of the Queen Mother were clear at a glance; she intended to have Zhou Kang stay in heaven as an Immortal Official.
A great stroke of fortune!
However, Zhou Kang did not make the choice the Kitchen God had hoped for; he did not take the Flat Peach offered by the Queen Mother.
"Your Majesty, this humble citizen only wishes to return to the mortal realm to live as a commoner, so I kindly ask Your Majesty to retract this command."
Rejected again?!
The Queen Mother’s expression soured; she could understand Sun Wukong’s refusal, but even a mortal with no cultivation didn’t want the Flat Peach?
Had her Flat Peaches become so undesirable in the few days she hadn’t seen them?
No one accepted them, even when given for free...
"Are you sure? Though this is only a three-thousand-year-old Flat Peach, it could grant you the Dharma and thousands of years of life if you become immortal," the Queen Mother explained in a low voice, thinking Zhou Kang simply didn’t understand the value of the Flat Peach.
Zhou Kang took a deep breath and remained resolute.
"This humble citizen has wife and children, elders and young ones in the mortal world, so I do not wish to become immortal. I only want to return to live an ordinary life. Though the life of mortals is short, it has its own splendor."
"Meat and wine pass through the intestines, but Buddha remains in the heart."
On the other side, Maitreya Buddha licked his rotund belly, his face filled with contentment.
His huge body sat upon the clouds, swaying back and forth, as if he could fall off at any moment.
