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

Chapter 96 A Great Act of Kindness

With a lot of doubts in his mind, Wu Han gestured for Zhang Ming and the others to wait outside, while he himself went through the open gate and entered the front yard of Chen Dao's house.

At this moment, things were bustling in the front yard. Li Ping, Chen Cheng, and others who had just finished making steamed buns were tidying up the food buckets and other items. Chen Dao, who had nothing to do, noticed Wu Han as he entered and greeted him with a smile, "Brother Wu is here."

"Brother Chen."

Wu Han responded, looking at the rice bucket that everyone was carrying into the house and the few remaining steamed buns inside, and asked, "What are you all doing?"

"Let's give breakfast to the villagers."

Chen Dao replied, "I hired some villagers to help me with the work, and the payment was two meals a day."

Were those villagers?

Wu Han's lips twitched. There were hundreds of villagers who had gathered at Chen Dao's house. Even a landlord or county magistrate in the city couldn't afford to hire so many people to work.

As for the payment for the two meals, Wu Han didn't think Chen Dao was stingy. On the contrary, he thought Chen Dao was quite generous. He had seen that Chen Dao was giving the villagers white steamed buns, which were not cheap. In those days, there were many people who couldn't get enough to eat. There were many people who would work for a meal, and some could even marry a young woman for a meal. Chen Dao giving steamed buns to the villagers who helped him was already a great act of kindness.

"Brother Chen, did you ask the villagers to help you with the farming?"

Wu Han voiced his doubts. He had noticed the villagers carrying farm tools outside, looking like they were going to work in the fields.

"Yes."

Chen Dao nodded: "I've rented all the land in the village and plan to grow some grain on it."

At this point, Chen Dao couldn't help but laugh: "Brother Wu, maybe in a while you'll be able to do some grain business with me."

"This……"

Wu Han opened his mouth, unsure whether to say Chen Dao was naive or that he was thinking too simply. In this kind of weather, how could any grain be grown in the fields?

Brother Chen, could it be that you've been scammed?

Wu Han hurriedly said, "Brother Chen, you haven't been tricked, have you? It's freezing cold now, how can any grain be grown in Qingzhou?"

"Don't worry, Brother Wu!"

Chen Dao said with a smile, "The grain I planted this time is a little different from ordinary grains. The grain seed is one I found in the Cangmang Mountains, and it can grow in the cold weather."

This was an excuse Chen Dao had already prepared. Once he started farming, the fact that he could grow food in winter would definitely not be a secret. And his ability to see the evolutionary path of living beings was his biggest secret, something he couldn't tell anyone...

Therefore, explaining the origin of the grain became Chen Dao's biggest problem. Fortunately, there was Cangmang Mountain. Cangmang Mountain was vast and boundless, and it was not surprising to find anything strange there. Thus, Cangmang Mountain became the best scapegoat for Chen Dao.

"I see."

A look of realization dawned on Wu Han's face. The Cangmang Mountain was boundless, and its monsters and herbs were endless. Although it was rare for Chen Dao to obtain unique grain seeds from the Cangmang Mountain, it was still an acceptable explanation.

"Then it seems I'll have to rely on your good fortune, Brother Chen, to become a grain merchant."

Wu Han said half-jokingly.

"There will be a chance."

Chen Dao nodded and asked Chen Cheng to call Chen Da over. Then he asked Wu Han, "Brother Wu, how much grain did you bring this time?"

"A total of 2500 jin."

Wu Han replied, "At your request, Brother Chen, all I brought this time is white flour."

After saying that, Wu Han frowned and said, "Brother Chen, the price of grain in the city has risen again recently. Wheat flour has risen to 20 wen per catty!"

"It's gone up again!"

Chen Dao couldn't help but sigh. He had planned to start farming precisely because he had a premonition that grain prices would continue to rise. However, the price of grain had risen far too quickly. When he first bought wheat flour, it cost 16 wen per jin, which was already a price that ordinary people could hardly afford. He never expected that... the price would rise by another 4 wen now.

At 20 coins a pound, even people from slightly better-off families probably wouldn't dare to buy wheat flour.

"I'm actually quite hoping that Brother Chen's seeds can really grow into grain."

Wu Han said, "If Brother Chen's seeds can really produce grain in this kind of weather, as long as these seeds are distributed, the people of Qingzhou might be better off, and the price of grain might be cheaper."

Innocent!

Chen Dao shook his head inwardly. He thought Wu Han's idea was too naive. He didn't mind spreading the cold-resistant wheat, but what use would it be even if it was spread?

The cause of soaring food prices and people's hunger has never been the cold disaster, but the land consolidation!

The Xia Kingdom has been established for nearly three hundred years. Over the years, most of the land in the hands of the common people has been annexed by those large families. Chenjia Village is only so because it is far from the county town; otherwise, every household would have land.

As far as Chen Dao knew, many people in the county town did not actually own any land. They could only work as tenants for the three major families. They had to hand over as much as 70% of the grain they grew, and the remaining 30% was barely enough to feed themselves.

Large families like the three major clans of Taiping County occupy most of the land in Xia Kingdom. If they were to take out all their stored grain, it might not be enough to feed the entire nation for three years, but it would certainly be enough to help the people survive this cold disaster.

But those powerful families are even more greedy than the capitalists of my previous life. How could they possibly give away their own grain to feed the people?

Not only did they refuse to pay, they also took advantage of the famine to raise grain prices, wantonly reaping the last remaining wealth of the people.

Chen Dao shook his head, clearing his mind of the jumbled thoughts, and said to Wu Han, "Brother Wu, let me settle the payment for the grain with you first."

As he spoke, Chen Dao took out 5 taels of silver and 500 copper coins from the house and handed them to Wu Han. The 5 taels of silver was the price of the grain, and the 500 copper coins were Wu Han's transportation fee.

After all, Wu Han had gone to great lengths and risked his life to transport the grain from the city. It would be unreasonable not to give him some transportation fees, and it would also dampen his enthusiasm.

At the same time, Chen Cheng and Chen Da each carried two chicken coops into the front yard.

Upon seeing the clucking chickens in the coop, Wu Han's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly stepped forward to ask, "Brother Chen, how many white-feathered chickens are there this time?"

"20 in total."

Chen Da replied, "A total of 8 taels of silver."

"Good good!"

Wu Han laughed heartily, took out the eight taels of silver from the white-feathered chicken last time and handed it to Chen Da, saying, "Brother Chen, I wonder when you'll be able to sell more of these white-feathered chickens?"