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

Chapter 797 Farming is a Dead End

"Let's go inside, it's cold outside!"

Huang Li and his wife Wu Fang helped Huang Ming and his two younger siblings carry the flour they had brought back into the house. Then Huang Ming led his three younger siblings to the kitchen to get busy.

While working in Chenjia Village, Huang Ming would occasionally learn some cooking skills. Although he was not as proficient as a chef, he could still make steamed buns, the most common food in Chenjia Village. So he volunteered to take his three younger siblings to the kitchen to make steamed buns.

Meanwhile, Huang Shu, who was in the living room, asked his parents about the past year: "Mom, how have you been doing this past year?"

Looking at the two elderly people with their sallow complexions and sunken eyes, Huang Shu couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. When they left, the two elderly people were thin, but not to this extent.

Clearly, the family's situation was not good during that year.

"How did you get through it..."

After a moment of contemplation, Wu Fang slowly recounted the events that had unfolded in her family over the past year.

It turns out that after the three Huang brothers left home, although the family's burden was reduced somewhat, they still lived a very difficult life.

With two adults and three children, they could only eat one meal a day on average. The three children were constantly hungry and their bodies were getting weaker day by day.

Fortunately, after about three months, with Yang Zheng's rebellion and occupation of the entire Yongliang County, order was restored to some extent, and Huang Li was able to find odd jobs in the county town from time to time...

With odd jobs, Huang Li had an income, and his family's life improved somewhat, preventing them from starving to death.

In this way, relying on Huang Li's odd jobs and the crops produced in the fields, the family of five has barely survived to this day.

Listening to Wu Fang's account, Huang Shu felt extremely fortunate that Yang Tianwang had rebelled and occupied Yongliang County; otherwise, his family would have had no chance of survival!

"This King Yang is truly a great general!"

Huang Li also sighed, "Ever since King Yang occupied our Yongliang County, those corrupt officials and landlords have disappeared. We ordinary people have finally found a way to survive!"

Although Huang Li was not very knowledgeable, he knew that Yang Zheng had played a crucial role in his family's survival.

In the past, corrupt officials ran rampant in Yongliang County. Not only were taxes extremely heavy, but the people were also exploited by these officials in various ways. It was Yang Zheng who beheaded all these corrupt officials, eliminating their exploitation of the people, which gave the people of Yongliang County some breathing room.

In the hearts of most people in Yongliang County today, Yang Zheng is almost a savior, if not a bodhisattva. After all, without Yang Zheng, even more people would have starved to death in Yongliang County...

"Yes! Mr. Yang and Mr. Chen are both excellent people!"

A look of reminiscence flashed in Huang Shu's eyes. When he was working in Chenjia Village, he had heard about Yang Zheng's reputation for caring for the people. He had also seen Yang Zheng from afar. At that time, Yang Zheng turned his head and smiled at him. He was not like those high and mighty big shots. Instead, he gave people a very approachable feeling.

"lets change a topic!"

Huang Li shook his head, ending the topic, and asked, "Xiao Shu, how many days will you be able to stay this time?"

"Chenjia Village gave us a 10-day holiday, and two days have already passed!"

After calculating for a moment, Huang Shuxin replied, "We'll stay at home for about six days, then we'll have to head back to Chenjia Village."

"Only six days?"

A look of disappointment flashed in Wu Fang's eyes. If she could, she would certainly like her sons to stay at home forever, but she also knew very well that her three sons now had a better future, and she should not affect their future because of her reluctance to part with them.

Therefore, although she felt somewhat disappointed, Wu Fang did not say anything to persuade her three sons to stay.

Huang Shu, however, seemed to notice the disappointment in his mother's eyes and said with a smile, "Mother, we plan to take you all with us to Chenjia Village this time we come back."

"what?"

Wu Fang and Huang Li were both stunned for a moment, seemingly not expecting Huang Shu to say such a thing.

What kind of place is Chenjia Village?

In the descriptions of the Huang brothers, Chenjia Village was an incredibly wealthy paradise where everyone could eat their fill, stay warm and clothed, and even eat meat. They instinctively felt that people like themselves were not worthy of living in such a heavenly place.

"Xiaoshu, can we go to a place like Chenjia Village?"

"of course can!"

Without hesitation, Huang Shu said, "Chenjia Village never refuses outsiders. As long as they are not criminals, they can live in Chenjia Village. Parents, you can bring your younger siblings to Chenjia Village with us. Then our family can be reunited in Chenjia Village!"

Upon hearing this, a glimmer of light flashed in Huang Li and Wu Fang's eyes. It would be a lie to say that they didn't want to live in Chenjia Village.

The reason I asked that question was simply because I subconsciously felt that I didn't deserve to live in a paradise like Chenjia Village.

Upon hearing Huang Shu say that everyone could go to live in Chenjia Village, the two were immediately intrigued.

However, Huang Li still hesitated, frowning as he said, "But... if we all go to Chenjia Village, what will happen to the land here?"

In an agrarian society like the Xia Kingdom, land is absolutely the thing that farmers are most reluctant to part with, after all, it is almost the only means of production they can possess.

"Why not just rent the land to someone else to farm?"

Without thinking, Huang Shu said, "Dad, farming has no future. Even if you grow a lot of crops on those few acres of land, you won't earn much money. It will be different if you go to Chenjia Village. Even if you just work as a laborer for the shops in Chenjia Village, you can earn at least five or six hundred coins a month. Dad, think about it, how long would you have to farm to save up five or six hundred coins?"

"..."

Huang Li was speechless. If anyone else had told him that farming had no future, he would have scoffed at it.

But these words came from his eldest son, who had just returned from Chenjia Village and could earn 800 coins a month, so he had no choice but to believe them.

"Xiaoshu, is it really possible to earn such a high income by doing manual labor in Chenjia Village?"

Wu Fang asked, her eyes wide.

"Yes!"

Before Huang Shu could answer, his second son, Huang Xian, interjected, "In Chenjia Village, no one who does manual labor earns less than 500 coins. Moreover, not only men can work in Chenjia Village, but women like you, Mother, can too!"

In the garment factory of Chenjia Village, even the women who did needlework could earn 800 coins a month, earning no less than the men!

"What?! Women can earn this much money?"

Wu Fang's eyes widened even more. There was a saying on Earth in her previous life: "Productive forces determine production relations."

In the Xia Kingdom, an agrarian society with extremely low productivity, the vast majority of occupations were manual labor!

In terms of physical strength, men are naturally much stronger than women, which means that men's income and status are far higher than women's!