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

Chapter 458 Return to the Village

"Yes, we are all soldiers of the Chen family army."

Without hesitation, Fang Yong and the other three replied that in Chenjia Village, being a soldier was an honor, so they were not ashamed to admit their military status.

"Ah."

Ding Xiaohua nodded, picked up a booklet, and said as she opened it, "State your names."

Fang Yong.

"Wu Gang".

"Guo Tai".

"Song Zhihua".

After they introduced themselves, Fang Yong asked curiously, "Sister Hua, is there something wrong with our identities?"

"Nothing wrong!"

As Ding Xiaohua checked the names in the booklet, she smiled and said, "However, as a member of the Chen family army, you can get some discounts when buying things at the general store! You can buy grain at half price, and chickens and ducks can be bought at 20% off."

"I see."

Fang Yong and his three companions suddenly realized what was happening, and were overjoyed at the same time.

They knew that grain could be purchased at half price, after all, they had now obtained household registration in Chenjia Village.

The 20% discount on chicken and duck was a pleasant surprise.

Mr. Chen is so kind to us.

Fang Yong and the other three secretly thought to themselves that they all knew that the Chen Family Village General Store was opened by Mr. Chen, and that the 20% discount for soldiers must have been at Chen Dao's behest. This made them extremely grateful to Chen Dao.

"It matches up."

Ding Xiaohua found Fang Yong's name and the other three's name in the booklet, then closed the booklet and said, "Fang Yong, you want to buy a duck and 10 catties of flour, right?"

"Correct!"

After Fang Yong nodded, Ding Xiaohua immediately asked Zhao Xiaoyun to fetch a slip of paper. She wrote on the slip, "One white-feathered duck, 10 catties of white flour," and then handed the slip to Fang Yong: "The white-feathered duck is 250 wen each, but with a 20% discount it's 200 wen. The 10 catties of white flour is half price at 50 wen. Pay the money, and then take this slip to the warehouse to pick up the goods."

"okay."

Fang Yong readily handed one tael of silver to Ding Xiaohua.

Meanwhile, Guo Tai and his group also made purchase requests.

"Sister Hua, I want a yellow-feathered chicken and 10 catties of flour."

"I want a white-feathered duck and 5 catties of flour."

"I want a yellow-feathered chicken and 20 catties of wheat flour."

"..."

After making the purchase request and paying the money, Fang Yong and his three companions each received a note handwritten by Ding Xiaohua and took the notes to a warehouse near the Chenjia Village threshing ground.

The threshing ground was also bustling with people. Those who had bought things at the Chenjia Village general store were queuing in an orderly fashion to enter the warehouse and retrieve their purchases.

Outside the warehouse door stood several fully armored soldiers from the Chen family army, who were on guard.

The importance of the supplies stored in the warehouse to Chenjia Village is self-evident. Therefore, soldiers of the Chenjia Army are responsible for guarding the warehouse almost every day to prevent anyone from being blinded by greed and trying to rob the goods in the warehouse.

Although the warehouse was guarded by comrades, Fang Yong and his companions did not approach them to speak. Instead, they consciously lined up and moved slowly forward with the queue.

Before long, Fang Yong and his three companions entered the warehouse and handed the note written by Ding Xiaohua to the Chenjia Village villagers who were responsible for picking up the goods.

"Just a moment."

The villager who took the note glanced at it and then began to collect the goods for Fang Yong and his group. Before long, the goods were handed over to them.

Then Fang Yong and his three companions carried the goods and left Chenjia Village on foot.

"The chickens and ducks in our village are really good!"

Walking on the official road, Wu Gang said with a smile, "These yellow-feathered chickens are so big, they must be very plump."

"I still think ducks are better."

Fang Yong laughed and said, "Yellow-feathered chickens and white-feathered ducks are priced about the same, but white-feathered ducks are much larger than yellow-feathered chickens, and they definitely yield much more meat."

"Brother Yong, this is something you just don't understand!"

Guo Tai said with a grin, "Although this duck is bigger than the yellow-feathered chicken, it is definitely not as nutritious as the yellow-feathered chicken. I heard from the old people in the village that chicken meat is the most nourishing, and duck meat is not as good."

"Bullshit! Duck meat tastes much better than chicken, and it's definitely more nutritious."

"No, no! Chicken is more nourishing. I heard that when a landlord's wife was pregnant, he would use chicken soup to nourish her body."

"I don't believe it."

"..."

The four of them arrived in Taiping County, chatting and laughing. Once there, they went their separate ways. Guo Tai and Song Zhihua left the city through the east gate to go home, Wu Gang's home was in the west, and Fang Yong left alone through the south gate to return to his home village, Tupo Village.

As dusk fell, Fang Yong, carrying a duck and a bag of flour, finally arrived at Tupo Village, a place he knew well.

Meanwhile, in Tupo Village, as the sun was setting, many villagers who had already eaten dinner were sitting on their doorsteps, chatting and passing the time while enjoying the cool air.

"Old Zhang, what good stuff did you eat tonight?"

"What else can we eat besides sorghum flour? My family doesn't have money to buy meat!"

"It's good enough to have sorghum flour to eat. I remember last year you, old Zhang, were still eating bran!"

"Yes! It's already good enough to have sorghum flour to eat. At this time last year, we couldn't even get enough bran to eat."

"Now that grain prices in the county have dropped a bit, our lives are a little easier!"

"This is all thanks to Lord Xu. I heard that Lord Xu has brought in a lot of grain and is selling it at a low price in the county town. If it weren't for Lord Xu's willingness to sell grain at a low price, how could we have bought such cheap grain? Those grain merchants would have loved to squeeze every last drop out of us."

"That's right! Lord Xu is truly a good official. If it weren't for him bringing in the grain, we don't know how many people in our village would have starved to death during this period."

"..."

The villagers sat on their doorsteps, chatting idly about recent events.

Since Chen Dao brought back 70,000 shi of grain and handed 20,000 shi of grain over to Xu Zhiwen, Xu Zhiwen gradually released the grain into the market, causing the grain price in the entire Taiping County to plummet.

Taking the price of wheat flour as an example, it rose to nearly 20 wen per jin in winter, but now it has fallen to about 10 wen per jin, a direct price cut in half. Naturally, ordinary people benefit from this.

With the drop in grain prices, many people are finally able to fill their stomachs and no longer have to go hungry every day.

Therefore, the people of Taiping County are deeply grateful to Xu Zhiwen and wish they could erect a longevity tablet for him in their homes.

"Our crops will be ripe soon, and the price of grain will definitely drop further. Then we won't have to go hungry anymore."

"Yes! Life is getting better and better."

"If only Lord Xu could stay in our Taiping County as an official, such a good official is hard to find these days!"

"A good official like Lord Xu will definitely be promoted. When Lord Xu leaves, we're afraid we'll go hungry again!"

"somebody is coming!"