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

Chapter 279 Even eating shit can't keep up with the heat.

Faced with the puzzled looks of the crowd, Li Qiang said, "I just got some good news from Chenjia Village. Daoge'er from Chenjia Village is planning to take over our village's land!"

They want to take our land?

Everyone looked at Li Qiang with strange expressions, wondering if he had lost his mind.

Land is the lifeblood of the farmers of Xia State. If others want their land, it's almost like taking their lives. How can this be considered good news?

"father."

Unlike the villagers, Li Mu's first reaction was to ask with shining eyes, "Is it like the villagers of Chenjia Village, where you rent your land to Daoge'er, receive silver, and get free steamed buns every day?"

Upon hearing this, the villagers of Xiahe Village immediately brightened up, realizing the same thing.

Those who live next to Chenjia Village are very familiar with the situation in Chenjia Village. They know that it is because the villagers of Chenjia Village rented their land to Chen Dao that they are able to live such a good life. If Chen Dao can give them the same treatment as Chenjia Village, then it is not impossible to hand over the land to Chen Dao!

"no!"

Li Qiang shook his head and said, "This time it's not about renting land, but about handing over all the land in our village to Brother Dao!"

"How can this be? Does that Daoge'er think he can just take our village's land for free?"

"No, no! This land is our lifeline for getting enough to eat, how can we give it to him?"

"We depend on this land for our livelihood, how can we give it to him?"

"..."

The villagers shook their heads. The land was their means of production, and it was impossible for them to hand it over to Chen Dao for nothing.

"Everyone, please be quiet and listen to me!"

Li Qiang gestured with his hands to signal everyone to quiet down, then said, "Brother Dao will definitely not take our village's land for nothing. Brother Dao said that as long as we are willing to hand over the land to him, he can provide jobs for our village. An adult working for Brother Dao can earn at least this much every month!"

Li Qiang spread his five fingers: "500 coins!"

500 coins?

The villagers of Xiahe Village exchanged glances and began to calculate in their minds.

Five hundred coins a month, one tael of silver in two months, three taels in six months...

This income is already no less than that of farming, not to mention...

This is a job that guarantees income regardless of drought or flood, unlike farming, where you have to rely on the weather for your livelihood.

"Five hundred coins a month seems like a good deal?"

"It's actually not bad! It's not less than what we earn from farming."

"Yes yes yes!"

"..."

When Li Qiang announced the price of 500 coins, many villagers in Xiahe Village were tempted. Unlike the villagers in Chenjia Village, who had already eaten their fill and had higher expectations for their treatment, the villagers in Xiahe Village were already excited about the 500 coins a month.

"Five hundred coins is only the minimum income."

Seeing that the villagers were already interested, Li Qiang smiled and then dropped another bombshell: "Brother Dao also said that the five hundred coins are not calculated per household, but per person!"

In other words, if two people in your family help Daoge'er with his work, you can earn one tael of silver a month; four people would earn two taels..."

At this point, Li Qiang's gaze fell on a middle-aged villager in his forties: "Take you, Li Laosan, for example. Your family has two children and five adults. If your family hands over the land to Daoge'er, and then the adults go to help Daoge'er with the work, you can earn two and a half taels of silver a month!"

Two and a half taels of silver!!!

Everyone's eyes widened instinctively, and they gasped in shock.

The middle-aged man called Li Laosan was stunned by the huge sum of money—three taels of silver!

Heaven help him, Li Laosan has seen a full tael of silver very few times in his entire life, and now the village chief is saying...

He had the opportunity to earn two and a half taels of silver a month, which plunged Li Laosan into a state of confusion, even...

I can hardly imagine how I could possibly spend so much money!

"I think we have to agree to this!"

Li Mu's eyes shone like stars as he excitedly said, "Even if we farm, we might not earn 2 taels of silver per household after half a year of hard work. But if we work for Brother Dao, we can earn 500 coins a month. This is much more profitable than farming, and we don't have to rely on the weather for our livelihood!"

"That makes sense! But I'm a little uneasy about it! This land has been passed down from my ancestors. What if Dao Ge doesn't pay us after we hand it over?"

"Yes, yes! I also feel a little uneasy!"

"Although I trust Brother Dao, I still want to keep this land for myself."

"..."

The villagers clearly still had some doubts.

This is not hard to understand. Many of them have farmed for half their lives, and it is obviously not an easy thing for them to abandon their land all at once.

"You people are so fast, you can't even catch the shit while it's still hot."

At this moment, Li Laosan, having regained his senses, looked at the hesitant villagers with disdain and said, "That Dao Ge'er can feed and clothe the entire Chenjia Village, how could he possibly be short of your little bit of money?"

"Li Laosan, what are you saying!"

"Fuck you, Li Laosan! What nonsense are you spouting!"

"Li Laosan, who are you calling someone who eats shit?"

"..."

Everyone glared angrily at Li Laosan.

Li Laosan, however, said without any fear: "Isn't that right? You are all short-sighted, only ever focusing on your own few acres of land. It's not that I look down on you, but even if you are good at farming, so what? You still can't even get enough to eat."

After saying that, Li Laosan turned to Li Qiang and said, "Village Chief, I've made up my mind. I'm handing over all three mu of my family's land to Daoge'er!"

Upon hearing this, Li Qiang smiled slightly. With Li Laosan taking the lead, the other villagers would surely be tempted as well.

Sure enough, as soon as Li Laosan finished speaking, the other villagers also started to speak.

“Li Laosan is right! Even if we keep our own land, we will still go hungry. It’s better to give it to Daoge’er in exchange for a job with a guaranteed income regardless of drought or flood! I also plan to hand over my own land.”

"I've figured it out! We'll just starve anyway if we keep this land, so we might as well give it to Daoge'er!"

"My family is quite large, so working in Chenjia Village will definitely earn us more than farming!"

"..."

The villagers, who had just been scolded by Li Laosan, immediately realized that Li Laosan was right. Even if they kept the land and farmed it well, they still wouldn't be able to feed their own families.

Rather than doing that, it would be better to hand over the land to Chen Dao and get a job with a guaranteed income regardless of drought or flood!

It should be noted that every household in Xiahe Village has more than three people, and some even have ten. Even excluding children, each household can send at least two people to work in Chenjia Village.

That's at least an ounce of silver a month! That's much more than what you'd earn from farming!