dognovel Chapter 114 The Best Food
Chapter 114 The Best Food
Seeing the two women's behavior, He Cuilian and Ding Xiaohua couldn't help but laugh. It seemed that Li Ping's two sisters-in-law didn't know much about Li Ping's family situation.
"Don't worry, sisters!"
He Cuilian said with a smile, "It's just a chicken, it's no big deal!"
"You can eat without worry!"
Li Ping slit the chicken's throat to let it bleed, and while cleaning the feathers, she said, "We usually kill chickens to eat at home, this chicken isn't as precious as you think!"
Upon hearing this, Luo Xiu and Feng Xiang exchanged a glance, feeling that Li Ping's family was being far too extravagant, killing chickens to eat every now and then, and even killing chickens to entertain guests...
Even the wealthy landlords in the city couldn't live such a luxurious life, could they?
While the women were cooking in the kitchen, Chen Dao asked his two uncles in the living room, "Uncles, is your Xiahe Village going to have to pay more taxes?"
"Yes!"
When this matter was mentioned, Li Dadan couldn't help but look distressed: "The government is trying to force us common people to our deaths! In this year, every household is tightening their belts and not having enough to eat, and now they want to increase taxes, and by two taels of silver! I've lived for over thirty years and I've never seen two taels of silver in its entirety."
Let alone Li Dadan, most ordinary farmers in Xia Kingdom rarely see a whole tael of silver. They mostly use copper coins for their daily transactions and have no need for silver at all.
However, the government demanded two taels of silver from them all at once, an amount that the vast majority of ordinary people could not afford.
"Our village is ready to resist taxes!"
Li Feng said, "We really can't pay these two taels of silver, so we have no choice but to let the government deal with it."
"Uncles, don't worry."
At this moment, Chen Dao smiled and took out his money bag, then took out four taels of silver and placed it next to Li Dadan: "I have four taels of silver here. You can take it back and use it to pay this tax."
"No, no, that won't do!"
Li Dadan instinctively shook his head frantically: "Brother Dao, how can we take your money? Take it back!"
"Yes! Brother Dao, quickly take the money back!"
Li Feng also repeatedly refused. They were already embarrassed to have come to Li Ping's house for a meal, so how could they possibly ask Chen Dao for money again?
You should know that the four taels of silver that Chen Dao took out was no small amount. In those days, four taels of silver was enough to buy two beautiful maids!
"Take it!"
Chen Dao forcibly stuffed the silver into Li Dadan's hand: "Uncle, take this silver back and pay your taxes first. You can pay me back later when you have the money!"
Chen Dao knew very well that his two uncles would most likely not be able to repay the money. He only said this to reassure them that he would accept the money.
As expected, upon hearing Chen Dao's words, Li Dadan and Li Feng hesitated. To be honest, they really wanted to accept the four taels of silver, since the consequences of not paying taxes were too frightening.
It was just their simple and honest nature that made them feel embarrassed to accept the gifts.
Hearing Chen Dao say this, Li Dadan hesitated for a moment, but still accepted the four taels of silver: "Then I'll shamelessly accept it. Don't worry, Brother Dao, I'll definitely pay you back when I have money in the future!"
Chen Dao smiled and nodded, not saying much about the matter, but instead chatting with his two uncles about their lives and learning about the situation in Xiahe Village.
Meanwhile, the sun was gradually setting, and the villagers who had been working in the fields were returning in twos and threes. Li Ping and the others moved the steamed buns they had made to the front yard, where Chen Cheng distributed them to the villagers who were returning from work.
Feng Xiang and Luo Xiu looked at the villagers lining up outside the courtyard to receive steamed buns and couldn't help but exchange a glance, seeing the shock in each other's eyes.
Only then did they realize that they had underestimated Li Ping's family's wealth. They not only killed chickens to eat from time to time, but also treated the whole village to steamed buns...
Chenjia Village has several hundred people. Even if each person gets three steamed buns, that's at least a thousand steamed buns!
"Brother Dao!"
Standing next to Chen Dao, Li Feng couldn't help but ask, "Your family is treating so many people in the village to steamed buns, can your grain reserves last?"
"It's alright."
Chen Dao replied that he had already told Wu Han when Wu Han came last time that Wu Han would come every three days to deliver grain. With the grain that Wu Han brought, it would not be a problem to feed the entire Chenjia Village.
“If your families are having a hard time, you can come to our village to help with the work. At least you won’t have to worry about food.”
"Can we do it too?"
Li Dadan and Li Feng asked with shining eyes, "Although we no longer have a problem paying taxes with Chen Dao's four taels of silver, we still have a big problem with food. If we can eat in Chenjia Village, our lives will be much better!"
"of course can!"
Chen Dao smiled and nodded. Seeing that the steamed buns were almost finished rising, he said, "Let's go! Let's go back and eat."
In the kitchen, the family's meal was ready, and several children were staring at a large plate of stir-fried chicken on the table with shining eyes, their mouths practically watering.
Especially Li Jin and Li Cheng, the two children hadn't tasted meat for several years and had a deep-seated craving for it.
Not to mention the two children, even Li Dadan, Li Feng, Feng Xiang, and Luo Xiu, who had just entered the kitchen, couldn't help but swallow. The aroma of meat wafting in the air was too strong, making their bodies instinctively feel a sense of craving.
After everyone was seated, Chen Dao said, "Don't be shy, everyone eat!"
As he spoke, Chen Dao picked up the bowl of white rice in front of him and began to eat. Today, because they had killed a chicken, the staple food at home was white rice. However, Chen Dao was not interested in the plate of stir-fried chicken. He ate chicken every day and was a little tired of it. Instead, he was quite interested in the egg drop soup and wild vegetables on the table. He served himself a bowl of chicken soup and ate the white rice with the soup and wild vegetables.
While Chen Dao was serving the soup, everyone else started eating. Chen Cheng, who had been living in Chen Dao's house for many years, showed no politeness and swiftly picked up the chicken's tail with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth.
"It smells so good!"
As he savored the rich, oily aroma bursting in his mouth, Chen Cheng couldn't help but squint his eyes slightly, revealing a contented expression.
Li Dadan and the others each picked up a piece of chicken, and as they chewed, satisfied expressions appeared on their faces.
For farmers like them who haven't eaten meat in years, the taste of stir-fried chicken is better than any delicacy in the world.
Li Jin, sitting next to Chen Dao, picked up a small piece of chicken, took a careful bite, and her eyes lit up immediately.
It smells so good, is this what meat tastes like?
Li Jin couldn't remember how long it had been since she had tasted meat. She felt that this chicken was the most delicious food she had ever eaten in her life, without exception.