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

Chapter 16 Thieves at Midnight

"Are there really fifteen?"

Li Ping stared wide-eyed, looking at each cage one by one until she confirmed there were really 15, then asked incredulously, "Xiao Dao, how did you do that?"

Li Ping found it hard to believe that Chen Dao could bring back so many chickens. She had only given him 183 coins, which, at current prices, wouldn't even buy two chickens.

But Chen Dao brought back 15 chickens, and not only that, he had also brought back 40 jin of grain before that...

Li Ping couldn't imagine how Chen Dao had managed to buy so many things for 183 coins.

"Of course, it came from selling chickens."

Chen Dao explained with a smile, "This time, the four white-feathered chickens were sold for 500 coins each, just like before, for a total of 2 taels of silver."

"Two taels of silver!"

Li Ping's expression of shock deepened. Even when Chen Ping was still alive, she had never seen such a large sum of money as two taels of silver.

"It's two taels, but I've already spent almost all of that money!"

Chen Dao spent 60 coins to buy 15 sappanwood flowers at the pharmacy, and another 1350 coins to buy chickens. Now, he only has 590 coins left from the 2 taels of silver he earned from selling the chickens. Adding the previous 13 coins, he has a total of 603 coins left.

"This money should be spent."

After the initial shock, Li Ping quickly regained her composure. She realized the earning potential of raising white-feathered chickens and naturally wouldn't hesitate to spend those two taels of silver.

"Xiaodao, you must raise these chickens well; they're the key to our family having enough to eat."

"I understand, mother."

After placing the chicken coops along the wall and scattering some grain around them, Li Ping prepared dinner. The family of three then sat down to eat in the dimly lit kitchen.

Looking at the sorghum rice in the bowl, which contained not a single trace of meat, Chen Dao thought for a moment and said, "Mother, how about we kill a chicken and eat it in a few days?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Fei, who was sitting next to Chen Dao, immediately lit up with her eyes. Despite her young age, she had a great desire to eat meat.

"no!"

Li Ping shook her head vigorously, saying, "Our family still needs those chickens to make money, how can we kill them to eat?"

In Li Ping's view, being able to eat her fill was the happiest thing. Eating meat was not a necessity. Rather than killing the chicken to eat, she would rather sell it in the county town and get 500 coins to buy grain.

"Mother, listen to me."

Chen Dao said, "With the secret recipe for raising chickens, our family is no longer short of food, and we should eat better! Xiao Fei and I are at the age where we are growing, so we must eat some meat."

Upon hearing this, Li Ping glanced at the thin Chen Dao and Chen Fei, and her attitude softened somewhat.

She knew that eating meat was necessary for growth, but she was still reluctant to eat the chicken that cost five hundred coins.

"Mom, believe me, our family will definitely not lack money or food in the future, so there's no need to be reluctant to part with a single chicken."

"Alright! Let's do it your way!"

After dinner, night fell, and the entire Chenjia Village was plunged into darkness.

In the Xia Kingdom, where productivity was low, candles, as lighting devices, were relatively expensive for ordinary people. Therefore, at night, every household would be plunged into darkness. Those with wives would stay at home and have sex with their wives, while those without wives could only lie in bed and sleep.

Chen Dao, naturally without a wife, could only lie in bed, pondering what would happen next.

Each of the 15 chickens has been fed a chicken heart grass. If all goes well, we will be able to get 15 white-feathered chickens in three days. At 500 coins per chicken, that's 7.5 taels of silver. With this money, the family's poverty will be greatly improved, and eating white rice with meat will probably no longer be a luxury!

Of course, Chen Dao did not intend to sell all the white-feathered chickens. He planned to keep about half of them at home to continue breeding, and in addition... he would try to breed yellow-feathered chickens!

"White-feathered chickens can sell for 500 taels, so wouldn't yellow-feathered chickens be even more expensive?"

Thinking of this, Chen Dao couldn't help but feel troubled again. Raising chickens requires enough space. Although the number of chickens is still small, they can be raised in cages. But as the number of chickens increases, the small yard at home will inevitably become too small!

"We need to figure out a way to expand the yard, or build a new house!"

Chen Dao looked at the drafty walls on all four sides. His house was really too dilapidated, and its insulation was almost zero. Even under the covers, Chen Dao felt cold. Building a new house was imperative.

"There's still so much to do!"

As Chen Dao pondered these things, he gradually drifted off to sleep.

Outside Chen Dao's front yard, three furtive figures appeared.

Chen Jin, who was hiding outside the fence with his two brothers, peeked into the yard through the gaps in the fence and said excitedly, "There's no one in the yard."

"Shall we get started now?" Chen Yin asked eagerly. "Damn Chen Dao, he has so many chickens at home but he won't share a few with us brothers. Since he won't give them to us, we brothers will take them ourselves!"

"That kid has a damn lot of chickens!"

Chen Tong drooled. He and his two brothers had been secretly watching Chen Dao for several days and naturally knew that Chen Dao had just brought back about ten chickens today.

After all, Chenjia Village is only a small place, and it's impossible for Chen Dao to bring chickens back today without the notice of all the villagers.

"You guys wait here, I'm going in to steal a chicken."

Chen Jin gave the two a few instructions, then stepped on Chen Yin's back and was about to climb over the fence into the yard.

"Giggle!"

Just then, the crowing of a rooster from inside the courtyard startled Chen Jin. Before he could react, a dark shadow attacked!

Immediately afterwards, Chen Jin felt a sharp pain in his arm!

"what!"

The piercing screams shattered the tranquility of Chenjia Village.

Chen Dao, who was lying on the bed, immediately opened his eyes, rolled over and got out of bed, went behind the door, and looked into the front yard through the crack in the wooden door.

Li Ping, who was on the other side of the wall, was also awakened. She instinctively covered Chen Fei's mouth to prevent her from making a sound, and then asked in a low voice, "Xiao Dao, what happened?"

"Someone is trying to climb over the wall into our yard."

By the dim moonlight outside, Chen Dao could barely make out the scene outside the door. He saw a figure about to climb over the fence falling off it, and the one who knocked it down was none other than Xiao Hei, who was all white.

"Giggle!"

The little black chicken, which had pecked a bloody hole in Chen Jin's arm, showed no sign of stopping its attack. With a flap of its wings, it swiftly leaped over the fence, its sharp beak pecking at Chen Jin's calf.

"what!"

The intense pain caused Chen Jin to break out in a cold sweat. He quickly said to his two brothers, "What are you standing there for? Come and help!"

"I'm coming!"

The Chen brothers, Chen Tong and Chen Yin, reacted quickly, grabbing the wooden sticks they carried and swinging them at Xiao Hei.