In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 779 The Widower

Five days later, in Yongliang County.

Guo Hai, whom acquaintances jokingly call a widower, woke up in bed and sighed as he looked at the empty bed.

Guo Hai was called a widower because he was over thirty years old but could not find a wife and could only live alone.

The reason why Guo Hai couldn't get married was simple: he was just poor.

Guo Hai had no land of his own; his only property was the drafty house left to him by his parents. Under such circumstances, naturally no one was willing to marry their daughter to him. As a result, Guo Hai was still single at the age of thirty-five, unable to find a wife, let alone have children or continue the family line.

Guo Hai had long since accepted his fate. He had given up on the idea of ​​getting married. Sometimes, he would even think to himself that not having a wife might be a good thing. After all, without a wife and children, he was in a situation where he only needed to eat his fill and the rest of the family was not hungry. The money he earned from working was enough to support himself, unlike others who had to worry about how to support their wives and children every day.

Although he comforted himself with these thoughts, Guo Hai would occasionally fantasize about a life with a wife, children, and a warm bed, but given his circumstances, it could only remain a fantasy.

"Is the Guo family lineage about to end with me?"

Guo Hai sat blankly on the edge of the bed, muttering to himself that his father only had one son, and if he couldn't get married, it meant the Guo family line would end.

Of the three unfilial acts, the greatest is to have no offspring. Guo Hai felt somewhat sorry for his father and the ancestors of the Guo family, but there was nothing he could do. Starting from his father's generation, his family had not owned any land. No land meant no stable source of income. His father was already very lucky to be able to get married, but Guo Hai's luck was not so good. No one was willing to marry their daughter to him.

"Ugh!"

Guo Hai sighed heavily, his eyes filled with confusion. In a country where people get married in their teens, he had long given up on the idea of ​​marriage at the age of thirty-five. Now, he just wanted to work harder to earn more money and make his life better.

Even such a simple idea is not so easy to implement.

Guo Hai used to be able to earn a living by doing manual labor, but with the arrival of the cold disaster and the impact of war, the people of Yongliang County were impoverished. The odd jobs that used to be easy to find were now becoming increasingly difficult to find, which directly led to a sharp decline in Guo Hai's income and made his life increasingly difficult.

"I don't want to think about it anymore. I'll just go out and see if I can find any odd jobs!"

After an unknown amount of time, Guo Hai shook his head, the confusion in his eyes dissipating. Although life was somewhat difficult, he still had to try his best to live on.

He didn't even wash his face; he just put on his coat and went out.

The howling wind outside made Guo Hai shiver and his hands and feet feel cold, but for the sake of making a living, he resolutely stepped out of his house and walked quickly towards the East Market, hoping to find a odd job there and earn some copper coins to buy food.

In the world of heavy snow, Guo Hai walked alone with hurried steps. The streets were deserted, making Guo Hai feel even more lonely.

"what?"

Suddenly, Guo Hai, who had just stepped out of the alley and onto the main street, exclaimed in surprise. He saw that the area ahead was not as deserted as other places, but rather extremely lively.

A large crowd had gathered here, seemingly watching something.

"Is that the county government office?"

Guo Hai recognized his location as the site of the Yongliang County government office, and the thing the crowd was watching was the notice board in front of the government office.

This undoubtedly piqued Guo Hai's curiosity. He leaned into the crowd, tugged at the sleeve of the man in front of him, and asked, "Brother, what are you looking at?"

The man whom Guo Hai called "brother" turned around and looked at Guo Hai, then said without hesitation, "Of course, we should look at the job postings!"

"Hiring?"

Guo Hai asked with a surprised expression, "Could it be that the county government is recruiting officials?"

"no!"

The man shook his head and said, "The county government isn't hiring; the village of Chenjia in the south is hiring!"

Chenjia Village!

Guo Hai was taken aback. Now, with a large number of businessmen cooperating with Chenjia Village flocking to Yongliang County, the reputation of Chenjia Village has spread widely in Yongliang County. The clothes Guo Hai was wearing were down jackets produced in Chenjia Village.

As far as Guo Hai knew, Chenjia Village not only had down jackets with excellent warmth retention, but also many unique products, such as very inexpensive yellow-feathered chickens and white-feathered ducks, as well as chicken eggs, duck eggs, and so on.

In short, in the eyes of people like Guo Hai from Yongliang County, Chenjia Village is an extremely magical and prosperous place.

"Why would Chenjia Village come to our Yongliang County to recruit workers?"

Guo Hai asked instinctively.

"This was secured for us by Prefect Wei!"

Before the man could answer, someone in front turned around and said, "The government and Chenjia Village have reached an agreement to jointly fund the construction of an official road from Chenjia Village to Yongliang County. The construction of this official road will naturally require a large number of workers. Originally, Chenjia Village intended to use all their workers, but Prefect Wei fought for Yongliang County, so Chenjia Village set aside a thousand positions specifically to recruit workers from Yongliang County to do the work."

"Uh……"

Guo Hai scratched his head.

In his understanding, repairing official roads was often considered a form of corvée labor, and able-bodied men who performed such labor not only received no income but also had to bring their own food to work.

He simply couldn't understand why this person was so excited.

"Isn't this just forced labor?"

Someone asked on Guo Hai's behalf: "Since ancient times, repairing official roads for the government has always been considered corvée labor, and I don't want to do it!"

Upon hearing this, the man who had spoken laughed, gave the other person a look as if he were a fool, and said, "Who told you it's corvée labor? There's wages for building roads in Chenjia Village, and the wages are quite good! I asked those merchants from Taiping County, and they told me that the workers who build roads in Chenjia Village can earn at least 500 copper coins a month as long as they don't slack off!"

"What? 500 copper coins?"

"so much?"

"Are there really 500 copper coins?"

"..."

Upon hearing the man's words, everyone present widened their eyes in astonishment.

While an income of 500 copper coins a month may not seem like much, it is quite a considerable income for the people of Yongliang County.

Over the past year, soaring grain prices have already emptied the pockets of the people of Yongliang County. Coupled with the reduced grain production caused by the cold disaster, it is no exaggeration to say that the vast majority of people in Yongliang County may not even earn 500 copper coins after six months of hard work in the fields.