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

Chapter 639 Unimaginable Numbers

The construction team is probably the most disciplined of all the trades in Chenjia Village, because most of the construction team members are hot-blooded men. Imagine what would happen if hundreds or even thousands of men gathered together and left to do whatever they want without any restraint.

Causing trouble would be a minor matter; killing officials and rebelling are both possible.

Of course, because Chenjia Village has always treated its workers well, the construction team's workers generally don't cause trouble, but basic discipline is still required. While they may not be as strictly disciplined as the Chen Family Army, obedience is a must.

"heard it!"

Everyone answered in unison.

"I didn't hear you, speak louder."

"heard it!"

"very good!"

Chen Hou nodded in satisfaction. "Now let's divide the work."

After he finished speaking, the craftsmen behind Chen Hou came out and divided the 1000 men into two groups of 300 and 700.

Among them, 300 people were responsible for developing the woods opposite Chenjia Village, mainly engaged in logging, building houses and other work.

The remaining 700 people were responsible for building the road from the county town to Chenjia Village, mainly engaged in tasks such as carrying bricks and paving the road.

Zhao Xiaoliang and his two companions were lucky enough to be assigned to a team of 300 people. After receiving their tools, they went into the woods to cut down tree after tree, as arranged by the craftsmen of Chenjia Village.

For someone like Zhao Xiaoliang who works in agriculture year-round, logging is certainly not a difficult job. He even finds it easier than farming. The only thing that makes him a little uncomfortable is that forces are reciprocal, and when the axe hits a tree trunk, the rebound force makes his palms feel numb.

At first, Zhao Xiaoliang didn't feel anything, but as time went on, his palms started to hurt. However, Zhao Xiaoliang had no intention of stopping and continued to chop wood despite gritting his teeth.

"Xiao Liang, this job is pretty easy."

Zhao Wan, who was not far from Zhao Xiaoliang, wiped the sweat from his brow and said, "It's much simpler than the farm work we do."

"Yes!"

Zhao Shitou chimed in, "I thought the job paying 500 coins would be very tiring, but it turns out it's just logging."

Zhao Xiaoliang didn't say anything, but instead chopped down the trees in front of him with all his might. Soon, the tree, which was as thick as a bowl, fell down. Then, workers came and carried the trunk away, while Zhao Xiaoliang continued to cut down the next tree.

Before we knew it, it was noon.

The physical exertion left Zhao Xiaoliang hungry, which also reduced his logging efficiency.

"What does it smell like? It smells so good."

Just then, Zhao Shitou suddenly twitched his nose and smelled an enticing aroma. He looked in the direction of the aroma and saw that many large pots had been set up at the entrance of Chenjia Village. The aroma he smelled was coming from those pots.

"Is dinner ready?"

"Phew! Finally, it's time to eat!"

"I'm starving after working all morning."

"Time to eat!"

"..."

The other workers also noticed the commotion at the village entrance and gathered around with their tools.

Standing beside the large pot, Chen Hou smiled and said to everyone, "You are all lucky. Brother Dao has specially prepared meat for you because he knows you work hard."

"What? There's meat to eat?"

A burning light instantly shone in the workers' eyes.

"Great! There's even meat to eat!"

"Thank you, Mr. Chen."

"Mr. Chen is so kind to us!"

"I can earn 500 coins a month by chopping wood, and I even get to eat meat. This is simply wonderful!"

"..."

The workers stared longingly at the food in the pot, their mouths practically watering.

There's no way around it; over 9% of these workers come from impoverished backgrounds and might not even get to eat meat all year round, so they naturally crave it.

Fortunately, Chen Hou didn't keep them waiting too long.

"Dinner is served now. Line up and take your buns and meat in order. All you can eat is allowed, but no waste is allowed. Otherwise, you'll have to go back to where you came from."

At Chen Hou's command, everyone immediately lined up and went forward one by one to receive their food from Chen Chen, the chef in charge of distributing lunch.

"Master, I'd like five steamed buns."

The first person in line was a kind-looking man who looked at the chef, Chen Chen, with longing eyes and told him the quantity he wanted.

Seeing this, Chen Chen smiled and said, "Five steamed buns, right?"

Chen Cheng grabbed five steamed buns from the steamer, placed them on a plate, and handed them to the man. He then ladled out a bowl of fragrant stewed duck and said, "Brother Dao said everyone gets a bowl of duck. Here you go!"

"Thank you, master, thank you, master!"

The man thanked them repeatedly after receiving the steamed buns and duck meat, then ran excitedly to the side to feast.

After the man, the other workers also stepped forward to receive food, and everyone who received food had a genuine smile of joy on their face.

"Xiao Liang, Chenjia Village is really great! They even gave us meat to eat!"

As Zhao Shitou looked ahead expectantly at the gradually decreasing number of people, he spoke to Zhao Xiaoliang beside him.

"Yes! We really made the right choice coming to Chenjia Village."

Zhao Xiaoliang remarked with some emotion that when they were working in the county town before, they had encountered employers who provided them with meals.

The food provided by their employers was at best cornbread made from sorghum flour mixed with bran powder, which was nothing compared to the white and tender steamed buns provided by Chenjia Village.

Not to mention... Chenjia Village even gave them meat to eat.

Before long, it was Zhao Xiaoliang and the other two's turn to receive food. Because Chen Hou had said in advance that no one should waste food, none of the three asked for a large number of steamed buns. Instead, each of them only asked for five steamed buns.

"For you guys."

Chen Chen handed the food to the three of them, and reminded them, "The steamed buns are all you can eat. If you're still not full after you finish, you can come and get more."

"Okay! Thank you, Master."

The three thanked Chen Chen gratefully, then carried the food to a tree and prepared to eat.

"This steamed bun smells so good!"

Zhao Shitou held up the plate of steamed buns to his face, inhaled the aroma wafting from them, and a look of delight appeared on his face.

Those plump, white steamed buns, emitting a sweet aroma, made him feel reluctant to eat them.

"I heard that a steamed bun costs three coins in the city!"

Zhao Wan said with a smile, "These five steamed buns are worth fifteen coins, and with this bowl of meat, our meal is worth at least twenty coins!"

Twenty coins for a meal?

Zhao Xiaoliang and Zhao Shitou were taken aback. They didn't realize it until they calculated it, and they were shocked by what they found.

Twenty coins for a meal was an unimaginable sum for people from impoverished backgrounds.