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

Chapter 891 The Dull-Witted Guy

"Is the grain in Chenjia Village really that cheap?"

The shopkeeper asked incredulously, having lived in Youzhou since childhood, he had never seen such low grain prices.

Even in the best of times, when the weather was favorable and the harvest was plentiful, the price of wheat flour in Youzhou never fell below 15 coins!

The reason for such high grain prices is quite simple: the Lu family controls almost all the land in Youzhou, and the vast majority of the grain produced on that land also belongs to the Lu family.

The Lu family has absolute control over the grain market in Youzhou. Whether it is to protect their own interests or to squeeze money out of the people of Youzhou so that they have no choice but to continue to work hard for the Lu family, the Lu family will not allow grain prices to be too low.

Therefore, in Youzhou, it was extremely difficult for ordinary people to fill their stomachs. Many people could only eat one meal a day or even a whole day, yet they had to engage in manual labor all day long.

The man even saw many farmers and women faint in the fields due to hunger.

"Correct!"

Zhang He smiled and nodded, saying, "In Chenjia Village, you can buy a pound of wheat flour for 10 coins. The price of grain is much cheaper than in Youzhou!"

"No wonder!"

The man muttered to himself, “With grain prices so low, it’s no wonder that the villagers in Chenjia Village, whose income is about the same as his, can eat white flour steamed buns every day and occasionally even meat!”

"besides."

Zhang He continued, "Everyone in Chenjia Village can go out to work and earn money. Even women can earn five or six hundred coins a month. A family of three can earn one and a half taels of silver a month, and a family of five can earn two and a half taels of silver a month."

In Chenjia Village, the prices of grain and other daily necessities such as salt and cloth were relatively low. Therefore, the villagers of Chenjia Village never worried about going hungry or not having enough clothes to keep warm in winter.

"Women can earn money?"

The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment. For someone like him living in Youzhou, it was an extremely rare thing for a woman to earn money.

Although women in Youzhou also needed to work in the fields, apart from helping their husbands farm and mending clothes, they could hardly find any other work in the market.

Because women are naturally weaker than men, and in a feudal society like Xia Kingdom with low productivity, most jobs are heavy physical labor, employers, considering efficiency, would not hire women at all. This led to... women having to depend on men for survival, otherwise they would not be able to survive independently.

That's why the waiter was so shocked when he heard Zhang He say that the women in Chenjia Village could earn five or six hundred coins a month that he was stunned for a short time.

There were also women in his family, a total of three: his mother and two younger sisters. Because the family did not own any land, the three women could not help with farming even if they wanted to. They could only stay at home and do sewing and mending. The family's income almost entirely depended on the help of the shop assistants and his father and brothers.

The man couldn't help but think that if his mother and sister could earn five or six hundred coins a month like the women in Chenjia Village, the family would have an extra tael and a half of silver each month, greatly reducing the family's financial burden and eliminating the need for frugality...

Unfortunately, he could only dream about it. It was unrealistic for a woman to earn five or six hundred coins a month in Youzhou.

Fortunately, because the family was large, the young man's family was allocated a lot of farmland. In the future, his mother and sister could help his father take care of the farmland, while he and his brothers would work outside to earn money. As long as they were willing to put in the effort, their lives would eventually get better.

"This Chenjia Village is truly a paradise. The people living there must be very happy."

The man sighed, then laughed and said, "I'm even a little tempted to move to Chenjia Village and live a better life!"

"Ha ha!"

Upon hearing what the man said, Zhang He and the others couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Every ordinary person who knows even a little about Chenjia Village would love to move there, but they can only dream about it.

Leaving aside whether Chenjia Village would accept them, the long journey alone was enough to dispel any thoughts they might have.

Not to mention, it's hard to leave one's homeland; unless forced to, very few people can bring themselves to leave their hometown.

"Hey buddy, if you're thinking of staying in Chenjia Village, I can introduce you to some options!"

"I can do it too!"

"You're quite clever, buddy, knowing that you can live a good life if you go to Chenjia Village!"

"..."

The men in the caravan chatted happily, and knowing that the man was just joking, they even enthusiastically offered to introduce him to jobs.

Faced with the enthusiastic men, the man grinned and clasped his hands in response, saying, "Thank you all for your kindness! But my roots are in Lingshui County, so I can't go to Chenjia Village!"

After saying that, the waiter changed the subject: "Guys, the kitchen should be almost ready. I'll go serve you the dishes!"

Soon after, dishes were served to the group by the waiters. The caravan men, who had been traveling for days and whose mouths were practically dry, immediately began to eat heartily.

While eating, we chatted casually with the staff, and the atmosphere was quite pleasant.

Of course, Zhang He didn't forget the brothers guarding the goods. He specially instructed the shop assistant to send hot dishes to the brothers guarding the goods before he picked up his chopsticks and began to enjoy the food on the table.

…………

…………

After a hearty meal, Zhang He booked thirty guest rooms in the restaurant, where three or four members of the caravan could stay in each room to rest for the night and alleviate the fatigue of their long journey.

The next day, as soon as it was light, Zhang He and the others woke up. After having a simple breakfast at the restaurant, they drove their truck away from Lingshui County and headed north.

Three days later, looking at the town in the distance, one of the men in the caravan grinned and said, "This must be the Killer Barbarian Town ahead, right? We've finally arrived. This journey has been anything but easy!"

From Taiping County to where they now see Shaman Town, the group has traveled for eight days. During these eight days, apart from occasionally passing through cities where they could resupply and rest, they spent most of their time in the wild or in villages, which can be described as living a life of hardship and sleeping in the open.

Therefore, everyone's faces inevitably showed some fatigue at this moment, and they only had one thought in their minds, which was to reach their destination, Shaman Town, as soon as possible, and then rest well in Shaman Town to relieve their physical and mental fatigue.

"Damn it, I didn't know doing business wasn't easy until I followed Brother Zhang! These past few days of traveling have shaken my butt so much it's practically split into five pieces."