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

After the transaction was completed, Old Man Li left.

Wu Han couldn't help but say enviously, "Brother Chen, you've struck it rich! Buying so many chickens at once."

Wu Han was truly envious. Although his stall always had an endless supply of chickens and ducks, he actually bought them from other people and only made a small profit from the price difference after selling them.

Chen Dao... immediately pulled out two taels of silver to buy chickens, his generosity catching Wu Han completely off guard.

"Brother, do I look like someone who's struck it rich?"

Chen Dao countered with a question.

Wu Han carefully examined Chen Dao and immediately fell silent.

No matter how you look at it, Chen Dao doesn't seem like someone who has made a fortune. The reason is that Chen Dao's body is too thin and weak, and the clothes he wears are patched burlap. He looks like a poor child and has nothing to do with being rich.

"Sigh, life is tough for everyone!"

Wu Han sighed, his expression wistful.

With grain prices soaring, even he, a resident of the county town, is feeling the hardship of life. Sometimes Wu Han can't help but wonder if one day he will end up like the refugees outside the city.

After all, with taxes becoming increasingly heavy, even many people in county towns are struggling to get enough to eat.

"Brother Wu, we'll be going now. See you again someday."

Chen Dao bid farewell to Wu Han and drove away from the county town with Chen Da.

After leaving the county town, Chen Da, who had remained silent until now, finally couldn't help but ask, "Xiao Dao, why did you buy so many hens?"

The purchase of 20 grey-feathered chickens was something Chen Dao and Chen Da had discussed long ago, but what Chen Da didn't quite understand was...

Why did Chen Dao buy a hen?

Hens are more expensive than roosters. If we buy all roosters, we can probably bargain with Old Man Li and get the price down to around 80 coins each.

In response to Chen Da's question, Chen Dao countered, "Uncle Chen, didn't you notice just now that there are even fewer stalls selling goods in the East Market?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Da frowned and recalled, discovering that, just as Chen Dao had said, the East Market of the county town was vastly different from the East Market he remembered.

The East Market used to be extremely bustling, with every street crowded with vendors selling goods and customers buying them. But today, the East Market is unusually desolate, with very few stalls and even fewer customers buying goods!

"The higher the price of grain is now, the less goods will be available."

Chen Dao explained, "Especially livestock such as chickens, ducks, and geese, it is very likely that they will not be able to buy them in the future."

Livestock also require food. As food prices rise, people will go hungry, and fewer and fewer people will be able to raise chickens, or even none at all.

Chen Dao bought hens with this in mind. He hoped to breed more chickens at home instead of going to the city to buy them every time. Even if he could buy them, the price of live chickens would only increase with the soaring price of grain.

"I see."

Chen Da nodded in agreement. Just as Chen Dao said, as grain prices rise, fewer and fewer people will raise chickens, and there will be even fewer live chickens on the market, and a situation where it is difficult to find a chicken.

For the long term, it is indeed advisable to consider breeding more chickens at home.

Thinking of this, Chen Da couldn't help but glance at Chen Dao and sighed inwardly.

Since that injury, Chen Dao seems to have become much smarter. He not only found a way to breed white-feathered chickens, but also considered such long-term matters. I suppose Brother Ping in heaven would be very gratified.

…………

…………

Back to Chenjia Village.

Chen Dao was the first to jump off the donkey cart, unloaded four chicken coops from the cart, and handed one of the chicken coops to Chen Da, saying, "Uncle Chen, these are the five chickens we agreed on before."

Before buying the chickens, the two had already agreed that Chen Da needed a total of 5 chickens, while Chen Dao would buy as many as he could afford. At this point, they had bought a total of 20 chickens, and the agreed-upon 5 chickens would naturally be given to Chen Da.

Chen Da took the chicken coop, took out 450 copper coins from his pocket and handed them to Chen Dao: "Xiao Dao, this is the money to buy the chickens."

After Chen Dao accepted the money, the two parted ways.

Chen Da went to the village chief's house to return the donkey cart, while Chen Dao went straight home.

When Chen Dao got home, he saw his mother, Li Ping, squatting in the front yard with a worried look on her face. Next to Li Ping was Chen Fei, who was small and squatting down beside her, trying her best to look as worried as Li Ping. It was quite funny.

"mother."

Chen Dao walked into the courtyard and asked curiously, "Why are you like this?"

"Xiaodao is back?"

Upon seeing Chen Dao, Li Ping breathed a sigh of relief, then pointed at Xiao Hei in front of her and complained, "Xiao Hei eats too much. It has already eaten two jin of grain in just one day."

"what?"

Chen Dao couldn't help but look at Xiao Hei, only to see Xiao Hei pecking at the chaff and sorghum scattered on the ground, making cheerful clucking sounds.

"Two pounds of grain a day? Can you really eat that much?"

Chen Dao was astonished. He knew that a strong laborer's daily grain consumption was less than two jin (approximately 1 catties), and Xiao Hei ate two jin of grain a day…

Xiao Hei consumes more food in a day than a strong adult laborer.

"is not that right?"

Li Ping said with a look of disgust, "After you fed it this morning, it kept clucking around me. At first, I didn't understand what it meant, but then I realized it was hungry, so I had to give it some food. Once it started eating, it couldn't stop. It ate from morning to afternoon, and it has eaten a total of two pounds of food."

It's no wonder Li Ping was so disgusted; Xiao Hei's food consumption was simply too high. Even Li Ping herself didn't consume more than 2 jin (1 catties) of food a day, while Xiao Hei, a single chicken, consumed 2 jin (1 catties) of food a day...

In other words, Xiao Hei is a chicken comparable to a ninth-rank martial artist; otherwise, Li Ping would have slaughtered it for meat, since such a large consumption of grain would be too much for the family to bear.

"Looks like fighting chickens aren't so easy to raise! They eat more than I do."

Chen Dao muttered to himself, but reassured Li Ping aloud, "It's just two jin of grain, don't worry about it!"

As he spoke, Chen Dao placed the chicken coop he was carrying in front of Li Ping and said, "Mother, look what I brought back?"

"So many chickens!"

Before Li Ping could speak, Chen Fei ran over, stood in front of the chicken coop, and said with a drooling voice, "So many chickens, brother, are we going to have chicken tonight?"

All you ever think about is eating meat!

Li Ping stood up, nudged Chen Fei, and asked in shock, "Xiao Dao, how many chickens are there?"

"Fifteen in total."

"Fifteen?"

Li Ping was stunned and stood there frozen.