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

Turns out you can also buy chickens and ducks.

The villagers seemed thoughtful. They only knew that this general store sold grains and cloth, but they didn't know that they could also buy meat.

"That's it!"

Chen Gou pondered for a moment and said, "Sister Xiaohua, give me 10 duck eggs, and order two yellow-feathered chickens and two ducks."

The day after tomorrow is the first day of the Lunar New Year. With the Spring Festival approaching, Chen Gou plans to buy some meat for his family to improve their living standards. After all, he is now one of the first people in the village to get rich and is not short of money.

"no problem."

Ding Xiaohua readily agreed: "Chicken and duck eggs are three coins each, 10 eggs will cost 30 coins in total. Yellow-feathered chickens are 300 coins each, and white-feathered ducks are 400 coins each, for a total of 1430 coins."

"Okay, Sister Xiaohua."

Chen Gou took out one tael of silver and 430 copper coins from his money bag and handed them to Ding Xiaohua.

After receiving the money, Ding Xiaohua asked Zhao Xiaomei to write it down, and said, "Brother Gou, you can go home and wait. Someone will deliver the chickens and ducks to your home later."

"okay!"

Chen Gou smiled and nodded, then left the general store.

Meanwhile, the other villagers who had placed orders quickly dispersed; they had all taken the time to visit the newly opened grocery store and had to go back to work.

Before long, the grocery store became deserted.

"Sister Xiaohua, check if I remember correctly? If I do, I'll call my husband to come and deliver the goods."

"That's right! Let's start the delivery!"

Ding Xiaohua glanced at it, and after confirming that everything was correct, she nodded, indicating that the delivery could begin.

Soon after, Chen Mu and Chen Shi, who were in charge of delivering the goods, received a notice and began to take the supplies out of the warehouse and deliver them to the villagers door-to-door.

…………

…………

A day flies by quickly.

On the afternoon of December 30th, Chen Dao appeared before the villagers who were about to finish work, and said with a smile, "Thank you all for your hard work!"

"Brother Dao, what are you saying? Why are we working so hard?"

"No hard work, no hard work!"

"I just bought 20 jin of flour at the grocery store yesterday. I ate my fill yesterday and I'm full of energy!"

"..."

Everyone responded to Chen Dao with smiles. To be honest, they didn't think the job was that hard. After all, they could earn 500 coins a month just by putting in their labor. Such a good thing was hard to find even with a lantern!

"As long as you don't feel tired!"

Chen Dao nodded, then said, "There's something I need to announce."

Upon hearing this, the villagers immediately focused their attention on Chen Dao.

Facing everyone's gaze, Chen Dao slowly said, "Today is Lunar New Year's Eve, and tomorrow is the new year. To celebrate the arrival of the Spring Festival, I plan to give everyone a three-day holiday!"

"Have a holiday?"

The crowd exchanged bewildered glances. The people of Xia Kingdom clearly did not have the concept of holidays, and therefore could not understand Chen Dao's meaning for the time being.

"Brother Dao, what does this holiday mean?"

"Does a holiday mean we don't have to work?"

"No work? What about our wages?"

"..."

Seeing the puzzled looks on the villagers' faces, Chen Dao smiled and said, "The holiday is for three days: tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after that. You don't have to work!"

After saying that, Chen Dao paused for a moment, then continued, "Not only will you not have to work, but your wages will not be reduced either."

Is there such a good thing?

The villagers were taken aback at first, then their faces lit up with joy.

"Brother Dao, are you really going to give us three days off?"

"You get paid without doing any work?"

"Great!"

"..."

Joy spread among the crowd. Not having to work and not having to pay less was undoubtedly a great thing!

"This practice will continue in the future!"

Chen Dao said, "Every Spring Festival, the whole village gets a three-day holiday! Everyone, from adults to children in school, gets one!"

"Wuhu! That's great! Long live Brother Dao!"

"Brother Dao is so good to us!"

"Holiday! I want a holiday!"

"..."

The villagers cheered, some even shouting the blasphemous phrase "Long live Rice Brother!" Fortunately...

There were no government officials in Chenjia Village, otherwise this person would have been beheaded!

That's all I wanted to say!

Looking at the cheering villagers, Chen Dao said, "I hope everyone has a good New Year! A prosperous New Year!"

After saying that, Chen Dao returned home.

The villagers dispersed to share the good news with others in the village.

"Aunt Liu, don't work anymore! Brother Dao said he's giving us three days off!"

"really?"

"Of course it's true! Not only will we get three days off, but our wages for those three days won't be reduced either! They said it's so we can have a good New Year!"

"That's wonderful! Daoge'er is so good to us!"

"Aunt Zhang, hurry up, let's go to the grocery store to buy some things. It's almost Chinese New Year, and we need to eat well at home!"

"okay!"

"..."

Before long, a joyful atmosphere spread throughout Chenjia Village and even Xiahe Village. Villagers put down their work and spread the good news. Soon, everyone in both villages knew about the good news.

"Great! I get three days off, I can finally get some rest!"

"Brother Dao is so kind! He actually let us have a holiday for the New Year!"

"Hehe! I'm planning to go to the grocery store and buy a chicken so my family can have a prosperous New Year!"

"..."

Soon, the villagers from both villages sprang into action, flocking to the general store in Chenjia Village. Some chose to buy flour, some chose to buy chicken and duck eggs, and others chose to buy live chickens and ducks, planning to have a sumptuous New Year's Eve.

Ding Xiaohua, the owner of the general store, seemed to have anticipated this as well. After noting down what the villagers needed to buy, she asked Chen Mu and Chen Shi to deliver the goods to the villagers as soon as possible.

Fortunately, the delivery addresses were generally not far away, and Chen Mu and Chen Shi also had villagers' donkey carts to help them get around, so they quickly delivered the supplies the villagers had bought to their homes.

So, as evening fell, smoke rose from every chimney. Some families were cooking meat, some were frying eggs, and some were eating steamed buns...

It seemed that laughter and joy were echoing in every household!

…………

…………

A new day dawned, and the year 6 of Dejing had arrived.

Given the conditions in Chenjia Village, they naturally couldn't afford to set off firecrackers. Not to mention firecrackers, not many families even put up Spring Festival couplets. But the most important thing about the New Year is always the atmosphere.

As dawn broke, the villagers of Chenjia Village awoke one by one, and the adults began to busy themselves preparing a sumptuous meal for their families.

"Dad, is the food so lavish today?"

Looking at the sumptuous meal on the table, Chen Zhong couldn't help but ask in surprise.

But on the table, there were not only steamed buns as the staple food, but also scrambled eggs and scrambled chicken. This kind of meal was something that had never been served at home before.