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

Chapter 106 Xiaohe Village

Wu Yun and the others have been working at Chen Dao's place for several days now. When they first arrived, the ducks in the yard were the most common grey ducks, but when they came back today, the ducks had changed.

Not only did it grow larger, but its originally grayish feathers also turned red, which greatly surprised Wu Yun and the others.

"Let's not pry too much into Daoge's affairs!"

Chen Lian said, "Just do your job well and you'll have enough to eat."

Chen Lian knew, of course, that Chen Dao was hiding something from them, but she had no intention of investigating. She was already very content to be able to work and eat with Chen Dao, and there was no need to pry into his secrets and upset him.

Wu Yun and the others probably thought the same way. They asked the question simply out of curiosity. But when they heard Chen Lian say that, they quickly suppressed their curiosity and continued to work.

…………

…………

The front yard of Chen Dao's house.

Chen Cheng was testing his arm strength by holding up the stone locks. These stone locks were specially made by the old stonemason in the village by Chen Dao, and cost Chen Dao a lot of copper coins.

At this moment, Chen Cheng was holding a stone lock engraved with the words "two hundred jin" (approximately 100 kg), and his clothes were being pushed up high by his bulging muscles.

"call!"

A moment later, Chen Cheng put down the stone lock and said to Chen Dao, who had come over, "Brother Dao, I now have the strength of two hundred jin."

"Not bad!"

Very good. He gave Chen Cheng a thumbs up and a big thumbs up. Chen Cheng's progress was visible to the naked eye. Before practicing martial arts, he had arm strength of about 100 jin. Now, in just a few days, he has gained the strength of 200 jin, which is stronger than the arm strength of an ordinary ninth-grade martial artist.

Of course, Chen Cheng was not yet a martial artist at this time, because his skin had not completely changed and had not yet become as tough as cowhide.

Chen Dao estimated that when Chen Cheng fully entered the ninth-grade martial artist realm, he would have at least 300-400 jin of strength, far surpassing ordinary ninth-grade martial artists.

As for Chen Dao himself...

During this period, Chen Dao mostly gave the blood from the Blood Feather Chicken to Chen Cheng, while he himself enjoyed the chicken meat. With the subtle nourishment from the chicken, Chen Dao's strength has now increased to over 400 jin. Before long, he will probably become an eighth-rank martial artist.

"Cheng-ge'er, come with me to the fields!"

Chen Dao hoisted Xiao Yuan, who was running quickly, onto his shoulder, and then took Chen Cheng with him. They walked slowly towards the fields of Xiao Chen Village to the south.

In the boundless fields, the villagers of Chenjia Village are working hard. Strong adult men are responsible for tilling the land, while women and smaller children are doing what they can.

Village chief Chen He stood by the field, watching the villagers busy in the fields, a gratified smile on his face.

Many years ago, when he took over as village chief, Chenjia Village was just as busy, lively, and full of hope. But with the arrival of the cold disaster, Chenjia Village has not been this lively for a long time.

Fortunately... Chen Dao emerged from Chenjia Village. With his help, the entire village seemed to regain its vitality, and everyone wore a satisfied smile.

"village head."

Just then, a voice came from behind Chen He. Turning around, Chen He's smile widened even more: "Brother Dao is here?"

"Ah."

Chen Dao nodded and asked, "Village chief, how much longer until the land is plowed?"

"almost!"

Chen He thought for a moment and said, "I estimate that we can finish tilling all the land today, and we can start sowing tomorrow."

At this point, Chen He frowned and asked, "Brother Dao, are you sure you can really grow crops in this weather?"

"Don't worry, village chief, I know what I'm doing!"

Chen Dao said something, then looked at the villagers busy in the fields. The idyllic pastoral life was the life that many people in big cities in China longed for in their previous life. But in fact, the idyllic pastoral life was not as wonderful as imagined, because farming was no easier than working, and even more tiring.

But at this moment, in Chen Dao's view, the villagers who were busy in the fields all had smiles on their faces. Their bodies may be a little tired, but their faces were full of hope. Perhaps it was because they saw the hope of having enough to eat while working in the fields!

While the villagers were busy, Li Qiang, the village chief of Xiaohe Village, south of Chenjia Village, was standing on the edge of his own village's fields, gazing at the busy villagers of Chenjia Village in the distance, his face full of bewilderment.

"father."

Li Qiang's eldest son, Li Mu, also asked, completely bewildered, "What are the villagers of Chenjia Village doing? Are they trying to grow crops in this land?"

Xiahe Village is not far from Chenjia Village; in fact, the fields of the two villages are connected. Standing on the edge of the fields in Xiahe Village, you can see the busy villagers of Chenjia Village from afar.

In fact, three days ago, Li Qiang noticed the unusual behavior of the villagers in Chenjia Village. During these three days, Li Qiang would come here almost every day to watch the busy villagers from afar.

"How would I know?"

Li Qiang shook his head and said, "Are the villagers of Chenjia Village out of their minds? In this weather, no matter how well they cultivate the land, no crops will grow!"

Li Qiang knew Chen He, the village chief of Chenjia Village. He always thought Chen He was a smart man and shouldn't have done something so foolish.

"So what are they doing?"

"do not know."

Li Qiang still shook his head. He also couldn't understand the behavior of the villagers in Chenjia Village. Even if they wanted to plow the land, they should wait until spring when the weather warmed up before plowing. Now that it's freezing cold and the land can't grow any crops, what good would it do to plow the land?

Is it possible...

Li Qiang couldn't help but think of the two government officials who had come to Xiahe Village a while ago. Everyone in Chenjia Village had to pay silver as taxes, and Xiahe Village, which was not far from Chenjia Village, was no exception!

Li Qiang couldn't help but wonder if Chen He really couldn't afford the taxes, which was why he came up with such a foolish idea—to pay taxes with the grain grown in the fields.

But that's not realistic. Even if the land could grow crops, by the time the crops are grown, he would have already missed the tax payment deadline!

Standing by the field, Li Qiang gazed at the busy villagers of Chenjia Village in the distance, completely puzzled. It wasn't until the sun was setting that Li Qiang returned home with his son, Li Mu.

Meanwhile, the villagers of Chenjia Village, who were busy in the fields, also carried their farm tools to the edge of the fields and walked towards the village in twos and threes.

"The work is done, time to eat steamed buns again."

"The land has been plowed today, so can we sow the seeds tomorrow?"

"Definitely! I wonder if the rice can actually grow food."

"I hope the rice can be grown, so I can continue to eat steamed buns!"

"Me too."

"..."