My village can't be like this

Chapter 671 Rapeseed Oil

After waiting for less than an hour, the rapeseed of the two families in front of them had been squeezed out, and it was Zhang An and his companions' turn next.

"Young men, it's your turn now, hurry up and pour it into the du."

Because there were people queuing, the owner of the oil press did not cut off the power. He directly called Zhang An and the other man to pour the rapeseed into the bucket of the oil press.

"Okay, I'll be there soon. That's pretty fast."

Zhang An and Zhang Laosan were squatting at the door and bragging, but when they heard the oil press boss shouting, they ran over immediately.

They originally thought that there were two families ahead and they would have to wait for more than an hour, but they didn't expect that they would be finished in just forty minutes.

"Of course not. None of the oil presses in the towns around us have a machine as big as mine, so the oil pressing speed is naturally faster."

The boss was a middle-aged man in his forties. When he heard Zhang An say that his unit could press oil quickly, his face immediately wrinkled with laughter.

For him, this is the best compliment.

Because the first bag of rapeseed poured into the bucket was from Zhang An's family, they squeezed it first, while Zhang Laosan's family squeezed it later.

But even though they had only been here for less than an hour, there were already three families queuing behind them.

With so many people coming to press oil, it is business that comes straight to the doorstep for the oil press owner.

No wonder when Zhang An and his friends first arrived and moved the rapeseed to be weighed, the boss's smile never stopped.

It's okay when the oil press is idling, but when the rapeseed is poured in and the oil is pressed, the noise is extremely loud.

Zhang An didn't feel anything when he was outside just now, but now when he was next to the crew, he felt like his ears were almost deafened.

In fact, although the noise was a bit loud, it was not that exaggerated for normal people.

The reason why Zhang An is like this is because his hearing is so good that his ear nerves are more sensitive.

Plus, I've never heard such a loud noise before, so I felt a bit tortured just now.

But the discomfort didn't last long. After a few minutes, he slowly got used to it.

When pressing the oil, the boss brings some water to add into it, which is an essential process in the oil pressing process.

Because adding water can make the oil easier to hydrate, and then some harmful substances will float to the surface, and when it finally passes through the refinery, they can be discharged from the oil.

Zhang An watched the boss add water and wondered if he should get some space spring water.

After all, space spring water is such a good treasure. If you add it in, the oil that comes out will definitely be better than that with ordinary water.

However, as soon as this thought came to his mind, Zhang An shook his head and shook it out of his mind.

Not to mention that if you want the boss to change the water, you have to find a reasonable reason. And if the space spring water is added in, I'm afraid that after the oil press stops tonight, a group of rats and insects will run in to hold a meeting.

After all, space spring water has an inexplicable attraction to creatures like snakes, insects, rats and ants. Even if only some of it remains, it will still have some effect.

Zhang An didn't want to cause any more trouble for the owner of the oil press because of himself.

"Young man, after you pour all the rapeseed, come over and pour these oil residues in to squeeze them again."

Seeing that all the rapeseed in Zhang An's family had been poured into the bucket, the oil mill owner turned around and spoke to Zhang An.

Although their unit is the largest and most advanced one around, it still cannot squeeze the juice out completely in one go and has to be put back in to squeeze it again.

Although this is not as good as the hydraulic oil presses of later generations, which can squeeze out all the oil cleanly in one go, it is already very good.

You should know that in other places, in some smaller oil presses, it takes five or six times of pressing to squeeze the oil clean.

The reason why the boss reminded him was because Zhang An looked too young, and he was afraid that Zhang An didn't know these things, so he reminded him from time to time.

Naturally, Zhang An knew about this. Not to mention the future, he had come here with Wang Fang to press oil many times in the past and he knew it very well.

But the boss meant well, so he didn't say anything.

After the boss spoke, when Zhang An had just poured the last half bag of rapeseed into the bucket, Zhang Laosan had already pushed some oil residue that had been squeezed only once over.

They came here together, so naturally they should help each other.

This is also the time when villagers press oil, and they will basically invite others to join them.

Because if only one person comes, even with the boss, it will still be a bit too much to handle.

But in a few years, when the fully automatic hydraulic oil press comes out, it won’t be so troublesome.

There were more than 300 kilograms of milk at Zhang An's house, and it took an hour to squeeze it all. Then it was Zhang Laosan's house.

The freshly squeezed oil has the most fragrant aroma. Although there are fans blowing all the time in the entire oil press, the smell never dissipates.

Because the previous family had just left and the next family had started pressing oil, there was always new oil in the oil mill.

Moreover, this oil mill has been open for many years, and the whole place has been marinated with this flavor.

The previous family used rapeseed to press oil, so the oil looked dark.

But the one from Zhang An’s house is different. It looks golden in color without any trace of black, which makes people like it just by looking at it.

After moving the fresh oil out of the pot to let it air out, Zhang An started to clean up the oil residue.

"Young man, do you want to sell these fried foods? If you do, you can sell them to me."

When Zhang An had just filled half a bag, the oil mill owner came over and asked.

This thing is a good thing. When you grow vegetables and fruit trees, putting some of it in is more effective than many fertilizers.

So some people are willing to spend money to buy these fried fertilizers for fertilization. After all, it is much cheaper than compound fertilizer.

As the owner of an oil press, seeing so much oil residue being produced every day, he naturally started the business of reselling the oil residue.

This is actually the same as a rice mill, one collects bran and the other collects fried oil.

However, their purchase price is relatively lower, but as compensation, they will waive the seller's oil pressing fees.

Of course, the oil pressing fee can be waived after paying for the oil residue.

Otherwise, it would be too dark.

"We are not selling these. We are waiting to take them back and spread them on the fields as base fertilizer."

The rice will be planted in the fields soon, and the oil residue can be used as base fertilizer together with the farmyard manure at home, so Zhang An smiled and rejected the boss's intention to buy it.
In fact, even if he didn't grow rice, Zhang An had no intention of selling the oil residue. This thing was really easy to make and it would be great to take it back and grow vegetables.

"Well, how much land do you have at home? Is this enough? If not, do you want to buy some more?"

Seeing that Zhang An didn't want to sell it, the oil mill owner couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. After all, they had more than 200 kilograms of oil residue here, which was already a lot compared to the dozens or hundreds of kilograms of oil residue that other people had, so he could resell some of it.

However, the oil mill owner's disappointment soon passed, and he quickly started selling again, thinking that if he couldn't make this money, he could make other money.

"I don't have much land at home, so this is enough. I don't need to buy more."

Although oil residue is good, Zhang An has no intention of spreading it all over his fields.

After all, the manure and grass fermented by their livestock are also quite effective, and the combination of the two will be even better. The oil mill owner saw that he could neither buy nor sell the oil, so he gave up and went back to work.

After Zhang An packed up all the oil residue, he went over to help Zhang Laosan.

Zhang Laosan's family also needs to squeeze a lot of rapeseed, a little more than what they sell to Zhang An's family, but not much more, probably around 350 kilograms.

After more than an hour, all the rapeseed from Zhang Laosan's family was squeezed.

At this time, Zhang An's oil had been exposed to the cool breeze for more than an hour. Although it was still a little hot, it was ready to be bottled.

During the filling process, Zhang An looked at the golden column of oil and smelled its fragrant aroma, his saliva almost flowing out.

In fact, it depends on the person. Some people like the smell, but some people can't accept it.

After filling, Zhang An took the oil and the barrels together to the process. After deducting the tare weight of the two barrels, there was more than 85 kilograms of pure oil left.

In total, out of 100 kilograms of rapeseed, more than 26 kilograms were squeezed, which is quite good.

After Zhang Laosan's oil was cooled and bottled, the two went to the oil mill owner to pay.

The cost of oil pressing is not very expensive, and the labor fee for one hundred kilograms of rapeseed is only ten yuan.

Zhang Laosan's family paid thirty-five yuan, and Zhang An's family paid thirty-two and a half yuan.

Although the deal for oil residues with Zhang An was not completed, the boss still gave him fifty cents as a change.

After all, Zhang An had made a good business out of pressing oil here.

When he returned to the village, it was almost one o'clock in the afternoon. Zhang An unloaded the oil residue and rapeseed oil in front of his house and placed them in the yard. Then he drove the car forward a little and tried to deliver some to the village.

Although it is impossible to deliver it directly to Zhang Laosan’s home, it can save him the distance he has to travel.

"Zhang An, your sister-in-law has already prepared the meal. Go eat first and then come back to unload."

After parking the car, Zhang Laosan was not in a hurry to unload the goods, but took Zhang An home for dinner.

If he hadn't taken Zhang An's car, it would have taken a lot of effort for him to take the bus to transport more than 300 kilograms of rapeseed twice, so it was only right for him to invite people to his home for a meal.

"Third brother, this is not acceptable between us, and my family is ready."

Zhang An didn't take it seriously and quickly refused.

"Okay, don't be polite to me. Don't be fooled. I don't know. Your family has already eaten. And when I came here just now, I told my aunt that she didn't need to heat up the food. You ate at our house."

Zhang Laosan didn't care what he said and just pulled him home.

"Brother San, stop pulling. I'll go, but we have to take the oil back first."

It would be embarrassing to argue in broad daylight, so Zhang An had no choice but to follow him.

However, when leaving, you still have to take the two barrels of rapeseed oil in the truck bed.

After all, there are so many people in the village, who can guarantee that there is no one with dirty hands and feet.

If someone took away these two barrels of oil when passing by, it would be a huge loss.

You know, they have so much rapeseed, and the essence is all in this oil.

After finishing the meal, Zhang An followed Zhang Laosan to move the oil residue from the car back home.

On the way, he was seen by Mr. Zhang Qi who had just returned.

"Zhang An is here. You can go to my place and check on the rapeseed. I have already winnowed it yesterday."

Before the rapeseed was weighed, Mr. Zhang Qi wanted Zhang An to go and take a look at their rapeseed.

If you are satisfied, that's fine, but if you are not satisfied, you can just raise it.

"Okay, then I'll go take a look with you."

Mr. Zhang Qi's house is right next to Zhang Laosan's, separated only by a half-person-high wall, so it's not difficult to go over and take a look.

"You guys went to press oil today. How much did you squeeze from the rapeseed of the third brother? I think his rapeseed is very good this year."

On the way, Master Zhang Qi asked Zhang An as they walked.

This is a habit of many elderly people in the village. They always like to ask about other people's homes and then compare them with their own to have a rough idea.

"It's not bad. He calculated that out of 100 kilograms of rapeseed, he squeezed nearly 26 and a half kilograms."

Zhang An knew that Mr. Zhang Qi was asking about the oil yield, so he answered directly.

"That's still okay, it's already a lot. Last year, when my family squeezed 100 kilograms, we only squeezed 25 kilograms and 3 ounces. This is more than a kilogram less."

When Master Zhang Qi heard what Zhang An said, he exclaimed in surprise.

Everyone knows that rapeseed cannot produce any oil, and the yield is basically just over 25 kilograms. Zhang Laosan's family has never produced more than 26 kilograms of rapeseed, and he has never encountered such a family before.

"The rapeseed they have this year is really good, after all, it is grown in the field, but it may also be that the oil press in the oil mill has been run-in, so the oil is squeezed more cleanly."

Zhang An felt that it was not only related to rapeseed, but also to the oil press.

After all, it is normal that the old machines cannot squeeze out clean oil.

The current unit in the oil press is a new machine that was installed just two years ago.

Now it seems that we have just passed the adjustment period.

Following Master Qi to their home, we saw the ground in the yard was full of rapeseed drying in the sun.

"My seventh grandmother is still drying rapeseed?"

Zhang An called out to the old lady who was drying rapeseed in the yard.

Yesterday he heard Uncle Zhang Qi say that the rapeseed had been dried, and he thought that all of theirs had been dried, but he didn't expect there was still some.

"I just got this back yesterday. Since the sun is nice today, I took it out and shook it around."

Although Grandma Qi is old, she is still very energetic and looks very motivated, but there are only a few old teeth left in her mouth.

After talking to Grandma Qi for a few words, he followed Master Zhang Qi into the main hall to check the rapeseed.

"Seventh Master, your rapeseed is not bad. You are still at home. I will go back and get a horse to carry it."

Zhang An just grabbed a handful, looked at it for a few seconds, and then said to the old man next to him.

Although the rapeseed of the old man’s house was not as good as that of Zhang Laosan’s next door, Zhang An was generally satisfied, as the rapeseed was not bad.

After all, Zhang Laosan's rapeseed is planted in fertile fields, while the one in his hometown is only planted in the mountains, so there is definitely a difference in fertility.

But as long as it is not shriveled and the particles are just smaller, it is not a problem.

(End of this chapter)