kvmb Chapter 8 The Astounding Price
Chapter 8 The Astounding Price
After a long while, Chen Dacai calmed his grief and solemnly promised, "Xiaodao, don't worry, I would rather die than reveal the secret recipe."
"No need for that, Uncle."
Chen Dao shook his head and said, "The reason I'm willing to tell you this secret recipe is that I hope you can use it. I know that although you are a skilled hunter, Uncle Chen, hunting is ultimately dangerous, isn't it?"
Despite Chen Da's success in the village, he frequently hunts game in the mountains, and his family enjoys a good standard of living.
But Chen Dao knew very well that Chen Da was risking his life to hunt. The vast mountains were full of dangers, and if he was unlucky enough to encounter some ferocious beasts that he could not handle, Chen Da could die at any time and become food for the wild animals in the mountains.
"what do you mean……"
Chen Da stared intently at Chen Dao: "You intend to make me use this secret formula?"
"Not bad!"
Chen Dao nodded and said, "Uncle Chen, you may not know this, but my white-feathered chicken sold for 500 coins. Uncle Chen, you might as well do the math. The cheapest gray-feathered chicken only costs about 100 coins, but a white-feathered chicken can sell for 500 coins. How much profit is there in that?"
500 coins?
Chen Da was stunned. He knew that Chen Dao's white-feathered chicken must be expensive, after all, its size and appearance were impressive. But he did not expect that the price of the white-feathered chicken would be so high, a full four times more expensive than the gray-feathered chicken!
Not only Chen Da, but even Li Ping, who heard the sound through the wall, showed an incredulous expression. What was the concept of 500 coins?
It's no exaggeration to say that even in peaceful years, a family in Chenjia Village might not be able to save 500 coins a year, while Chen Dao sold a chicken for 500 coins...
This number deeply shook Li Ping's heart.
"Is it really 500 coins?"
Chen Da was still somewhat incredulous. It wasn't that he didn't trust Chen Dao, but the number 500 coins was too astonishing. You know, even a hunter like him, who was skilled at hunting, might not be able to earn 500 coins even if he risked his life to go into the mountains once, and might even return empty-handed!
"Of course it's true."
Chen Dao nodded earnestly, pointing to the grain and chicken coop in the front yard and said, "Otherwise, where would I get the money to buy so many gray-feathered chickens and grain?"
"hiss!"
Chen Da gasped, a glint of fervor flashing in his eyes. If the white-feathered chickens were as valuable as Chen Dao said, then the Chen Dao family, who possessed the secret formula for raising white-feathered chickens, would be rich in no time.
Such a precious secret recipe, yet Chen Dao was willing to tell me...
Chen Da was deeply moved and sincerely thanked him: "Xiao Dao, your uncle thanks you on behalf of your aunt and brother."
With the secret method for raising white-feathered chickens given by Chen Dao, Chen Da no longer needed to risk going into the mountains to hunt, nor did he have to worry constantly about what would happen to his wife and children if he died in the mountains.
"This is what I should do."
Chen Dao said, "Uncle, you have always taken care of my family, so I should naturally repay you in return."
He is a grateful and good child.
Chen Da looked at Chen Dao with satisfaction and reminded him, "Xiao Dao, you must not tell anyone else about this secret technique, not even the villagers."
"Uncle Chen, don't worry, I know what's important."
Chen Dao nodded seriously. Although the relationships among the families in Chenjia Village were relatively harmonious due to the fact that most of them shared the same surname, money could be a powerful motivator. Once the secret method for raising white-feathered chickens was revealed, no one could guarantee that the other villagers would not act against them.
After all, human nature is unpredictable, and Chen Dao couldn't guarantee that others could resist the temptation in the face of huge profits.
"That puts me at ease!"
General Chen returned to the original question: "Xiao Dao, if you need chicken heart grass, I have some at home, I'll bring it all over to you in a bit!"
"Give it all to me?"
Chen Dao asked in surprise, "Uncle, aren't you planning to raise chickens?"
"Of course we'll raise chickens."
Chen laughed loudly, "Uncle isn't stupid. With such huge profits right in front of you, how could I not be tempted? But raising chickens isn't something you can just start doing on a whim. I need to buy some gray-feathered chickens first. Until then, you can use the chicken heart grass from my house!"
"As for the chicken heart grass that my family needs to raise chickens..."
Chen Da paused for a moment and said, "This stuff is everywhere in the Cangmang Mountains. Uncle can bring back a lot of chicken heart grass whenever he goes into the mountains."
"Will there be any danger?" Chen Dao asked with slight concern.
"will not!"
Chen Da shook his head. Entering the Cangmang Mountain was naturally an extremely dangerous thing for others, but it was not a problem for him, a hunter who was very familiar with the routes of the Cangmang Mountain.
Moreover, picking chicken heart grass does not require venturing deep into the mountains like hunting, so the level of danger is extremely low.
"Thank you, Uncle Chen."
"No need to thank me! I'll head back now. I'll have Tiedan bring you some chicken heart grass later."
"it is good."
As soon as Chen Dagang left, Li Ping from the next room came over and looked at Chen Dao in disbelief: "Xiao Dao, did that white chicken really sell for 500 coins?"
When Chen Dao brought back the grain and chicken coop, Li Ping had some doubts. She remembered clearly that she had given Chen Dao a total of 183 copper coins. Based on her understanding of grain prices, 183 copper coins could not buy that much grain at all. Therefore, Li Ping guessed that the price of grain in the county town had dropped.
It wasn't until she heard the conversation between Chen Dao and Chen Da that Li Ping suddenly realized what was going on.
It wasn't that grain prices in the county town had dropped, but rather that the white-feathered chicken bred by Chen Dao had sold for a high price.
"real."
Chen Dao nodded and said, "Mom, cook more food from now on, and don't be as frugal with food as before."
In the past, when Li Ping cooked, she would make very little food to reduce food consumption, barely enough to feed her family of three. As for being full... that was impossible.
Nowadays, there's no need to be so frugal. With the secret formula for breeding white-feathered chickens, we no longer need to cut back on food and clothing.
"Mother knows."
Li Ping looked at Chen Dao with satisfaction, feeling that her son had grown up. Not only had he matured a lot, but he had also found a secret recipe for raising chickens that would bring in a fortune. Maybe...
My family's poverty can truly be changed by rice.
…………
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Not long after, Chen Da's son, Chen Tiedan, brought over some chicken heart grass.
As Chen Dao took the chicken heart grass, he counted the number of grasses and said to Chen Tiedan, "Tiedan, do you want to play at your brother's house for a while?"
"No, it's too cold!"
Chen Tiedan shook his head and ran back home quickly. In this weather, even adults felt cold, let alone children.
When Chen Tiedan left, Chen Dao counted the number of chicken heart grasses he had brought.
"There are 16 chicken heart grass plants in total, just enough to upgrade this batch of gray-feathered chickens into white-feathered chickens."
Chen Dao picked out five stalks of chicken heart grass and fed them to the five gray-feathered roosters in the cage. After feeding them, Chen Dao took out some sorghum and rice bran from the house, mixed them together, and scattered a handful around the cage, letting the gray-feathered chickens peck at them.
"If we eat better, will we grow bigger when we evolve into white-feathered chickens?"
This is why Chen Dao bought sorghum and rice bran. According to his limited knowledge, the more livestock eat, the more meat they will grow. Therefore, Chen Dao planned to feed these gray-feathered chickens more grain to see if he could make them grow bigger.
Meanwhile, Chen Dao was also thinking about other things.
Sorghum, characteristics: relatively low yield, thrives in warm climates.
[Sorghum Advancement Route 1: Soaking seeds in the juice of *Hedyotis diffusa* (a type of grass) has an 80% chance of advancing the seeds to cold-resistant sorghum seeds.]
Characteristics of cold-resistant sorghum: It is resistant to severe cold, but has a lower yield.
[Sorghum Advancement Route Two: Stimulating sorghum seeds with pollen from houttuynia cordata has a 90% chance of causing the seeds to mutate and evolve into high-yield sorghum seeds.]
High-yield sorghum is characterized by its short growth cycle and high yield, with a maximum yield of 600 jin per mu.
This was the message that appeared in Chen Dao's eyes the moment he bought the sorghum.
After several days of exploration, Chen Dao has figured out the pattern of his cheat code: he can only see the advancement path of things that belong to him or his family.
Therefore, it wasn't until Chen Dao bought the sorghum at the grain store that the cheat code revealed the advanced information about sorghum.
"Cold-resistant sorghum and high-yield sorghum are both good things, what a pity!"
Chen Dao shook his head. The current situation at home was really not suitable for farming. Not to mention that Chen Dao didn't know what Cold Stone Grass and Fishy Flower were, even if he did know, it was impossible for him to plant them now.
The reason is simple: the weather is exceptionally cold throughout Qingzhou, making it impossible to grow any crops. Yet, Chen Dao's few acres of land are producing grain...
If this gets discovered by others, Chen Dao will probably be in serious trouble.
This is not the enlightened China on Earth, but a feudal society.
If Chen Dao were to produce high-yield, cold-resistant sorghum, he would likely be arrested and tortured by the authorities in no time, forced to hand over the sorghum seeds.
"They still don't have the ability to protect themselves!"
Chen Dao sighed softly. Now, let alone high-yield sorghum, he even has to be careful when selling white-feathered chickens, for fear that others will find out that he has the secret recipe for breeding white-feathered chickens.
At this moment, Chen Dao desperately wanted to become a martial artist, or to train a fighting chicken that could rival a martial artist, so that he could have the ability to protect himself.
"Xiaodao, come and eat!"
Li Ping's voice came from inside the house, and Chen Dao hurriedly replied, "Coming!"
Because Chen Dao bought a lot of grain, the dinner portion was quite generous. Chen Dao and Chen Fei's bowls were filled with thick boiled sorghum porridge, and even Li Ping's sorghum porridge was not as thin as before.
Chen Dao smelled the faint fragrance of the sorghum porridge and said, "Mother, don't be stingy with food anymore, eat more yourself."
Chen Dao noticed that the sorghum porridge in Li Ping's bowl was much thinner than that in his own bowl. Clearly, even with enough food, Li Ping still adhered to the principle of thrift and was unwilling to eat more for herself.