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

Chapter 23 Killing the Chicken!

"Your Excellency, the imperial court's wording this time is extremely harsh. If we cannot pay the full amount of taxes, I'm afraid..."

He Jian probably didn't say anything, but Xu Zhiwen knew it in his heart.

Xu Zhiwen was just a scholar from a humble family. He had no powerful connections in the court. People from other prominent families would at most receive a minor punishment for not paying taxes, but Xu Zhiwen... would lose his official position!

Having thought of this, Xu Zhiwen immediately made a decision and said to He Jian, "Fine! Go and arrange the tax collection!"

"Yes."

He Jian bowed and left quickly.

Xu Zhiwen leaned back in his chair, feeling utterly powerless.

Having studied diligently since childhood, he possessed a scholar's lofty ideals. When he first took office in Taiping County, he also thought about making a difference and improving the lives of the people of Taiping County.

But it wasn't until he actually started doing it that he realized just how difficult it was.

Indeed, in theory, he was the highest-ranking official in Taiping County and could control everything in the county.

But that's not the case at all!

Xu Zhiwen, the county magistrate, was only the nominal ruler of Taiping County. The real rulers were the major families in the city. Once Xu Zhiwen's decrees conflicted with the interests of the major families in the county, his subordinates would immediately comply in name only and would not carry out Xu Zhiwen's orders at all.

This left Xu Zhiwen feeling extremely helpless. He wanted to make changes, but he didn't know where to start and could only let things take their course.

Over time, he has become what he is now; this county magistrate is no different from a mascot.

When facing those powerful families, they had no confidence whatsoever, and even if they had to swallow their pride, they could only extract 600 shi of grain from them.

Life is tough!

Xu Zhiwen sighed deeply.

…………

…………

Chenjiacun.

Chen Si slowly drove the donkey cart to a stop at the village entrance.

The young men jumped off the vehicle, their eyes burning with anticipation as they looked at Chen Dao, their minds preoccupied with the promise of 5 jin of sorghum flour per person.

"Don't worry, everyone, I promise you won't be shortchanged on the grain I promised."

Chen Dao did not disappoint everyone, and said directly, "Five catties of sorghum flour for each person, I'll give it to you now."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately became excited and hurriedly began distributing the grain.

Before long, everyone returned home happily, each carrying five catties of sorghum flour.

Chen Dao and Chen Da drove a donkey cart towards their home.

The donkey cart stopped in front of his house. After unloading his share of grain, Chen Dao said, "Uncle, we're going to kill a chicken for dinner later. Why don't you invite Auntie and Tiedan over for a bite?"

"no need!"

Chen Da felt awkward about eating at Chen Dao's house, so he quickly said, "I have things to do when I get back, so I won't eat at your house!"

"Uncle, please walk slowly."

"it is good."

Chen Da drove away in his donkey cart.

Chen Dao immediately knocked on the door and called out, "Mother, it's me."

"coming!"

The door opened, and Li Ping led Chen Fei out. They were taken aback when they saw the large amount of grain laid out on the ground.

"Xiaodao, why did you buy so much grain?"

"Let's move in first, and I'll explain everything to you in detail later."

So, Li Ping and Chen Dao carried all the grain on the ground into their house.

Afterwards, Chen Dao told Li Ping about the details of his trip to the county town.

After listening, Li Ping frowned and asked, "Has the price of grain in the city gone up again?"

"Yes."

"Life is getting harder and harder for us ordinary people!"

Li Ping sighed deeply. Rice at 20 wen per jin was completely unaffordable for ordinary people. You have to know that many people might not even earn 20 wen a day after working hard!

Li Ping couldn't help but feel fortunate that her son was capable enough to find the secret method for breeding white-feathered chickens, otherwise...

My family probably can't even get enough bran to eat right now.

"Xiaodao, how much grain did you buy this time?"

"I bought a total of 50 jin of rice, 200 jin of sorghum flour, and 500 jin of rice bran," Chen Dao replied, listing the items with great familiarity.

Rice was for improving his family's meals. Chen Dao was already tired of eating sorghum flour every day and couldn't wait to eat white rice.

As for sorghum flour and rice bran...

Sorghum flour can be eaten occasionally, but its main purpose is to be mixed with rice bran and fed to chickens.

"Rice?"

Li Ping stared wide-eyed and asked, "Xiao Dao, why are you buying rice?"

From Li Ping's perspective, being able to eat sorghum flour every meal was already the best life imaginable; eating rice... she had never even considered such a thing.

"Of course, I bought it to eat."

Chen Dao said, "Mother, our family is not so short of food now, so we should eat better."

Li Ping remained silent; she still found it hard to accept such a luxury as eating rice.

Chen Fei, standing to the side, brightened up with her eyes and asked expectantly, "Brother, are we going to eat rice?"

"Of course!"

Chen Dao gently stroked Chen Fei's hair and said with a smile, "We not only want to eat rice, but also meat!"

"Eat meat?"

Chen Fei became even more excited and hugged Chen Dao's leg, saying, "Brother, I want to eat meat!"

Chen Dao went to the chicken coop, grabbed the gray-feathered chicken that had failed to advance, and carried it to the kitchen.

"Xiao Dao, are you really going to kill a chicken?" Li Ping asked as she followed Chen Dao into the kitchen.

"Of course!"

While boiling water in the pot, Chen Dao replied, "Mom, we have a way to raise white-feathered chickens, so we will definitely not lack food in the future. Don't always think about saving."

"All right!"

Li Ping hesitated for a long time, but still agreed to kill the chicken and eat it, since it was something that had been agreed upon beforehand.

"Go wait outside, Mom will cook."

"No need, Mother, you go and rest outside. I'll show you what I can do."

"You can?"

Li Ping said with a face full of doubt, in her memory, Chen Dao rarely entered the kitchen, so it was unlikely that he would cook.

"I'm sure I can do it, Mother, you just wait outside."

Chen Dao pushed Li Ping out of the kitchen and started working on his own.

It wasn't that Chen Dao insisted on cooking, but Li Ping often cooked in a frugal style: with little oil and salt. The food she made was really hard for Chen Dao, who had enjoyed all kinds of Chinese cuisine, to swallow. In order to satisfy his stomach, Chen Dao had no choice but to cook himself.

"Xiaodao, please don't burn the kitchen down."

Standing outside the kitchen door, Li Ping still looked into the kitchen from time to time with some worry, afraid that Chen Dao would burn the kitchen down or ruin the chicken.

Fortunately, Chen Dao also came from a rural background in his previous life, so he knew a little about killing chickens.

He first cut open the chicken's throat and collected all the blood in a bowl.

Next, the chicken was scalded in boiling water, and then all the feathers were quickly plucked out. The chicken's internal organs were then removed and set aside. Finally, the chicken was chopped into small pieces with a kitchen knife.