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

Chapter 255 The Boss

"Now that you've finished eating, come with me!"

Chen Lian led everyone to an open space in the backyard of Chen Dao's house, where chicken and duck feathers that had been moved from Chen Dao's backyard were displayed.

Because the new chicken farm has not yet been built, the task of these forty women is now to process the feathers of the chickens and ducks.

"You all come with me and deal with these feathers!"

Chen Lian found scissors and other tools and demonstrated to everyone: "First, cut off the feathers, then remove the stems of the chicken and duck feathers, leaving only the soft down."

As she spoke, Chen Lian deftly trimmed the downy feathers from the feathers and then put them into a large iron pot next to her to boil in water. This was the disinfection process.

Then, Chen Lian pointed to another large pot and continued, "After boiling, put the feathers into this pot and soak them in lime water."

Chen Lian didn't understand the principle of soaking feathers in lime water to remove grease, but that didn't stop her from learning from other elderly people that soaking feathers in lime water could make them softer and remove any odors, so this step was essential.

"Is this all the work we have to do?"

A woman from a small river village asked a question, not because she thought the work was difficult, but because it was too easy. All she had to do was trim the feathers, boil them, and soak them, and she could have enough to eat every day and receive 500 coins a month...

To be honest, this job is much easier than farming.

"Of course it's more than that."

Chen Lian replied with a smile, "After the feathers are processed, the clothes still need to be sewn, but we don't have enough fabric yet, so we need to wait for the merchants to bring it over!"

"No problem! This job is very simple, we can do it!"

"Yes, yes, yes! We can definitely do this well!"

"My needlework is always pretty good, girl, don't worry, I'll definitely do a good job!"

"..."

Soon, the women began to process the feathers under Chen Lian's guidance.

Meanwhile, in Taiping County, Wu Han, having finished breakfast, left his home and, together with the three Zhang brothers and a group of guards, transported goods out of the city.

After doing business with Chenjia Village for some time, Wu Han has become quite wealthy. He has several dozen taels of silver at his disposal. Don't underestimate these several dozen taels of silver. You should know that most ordinary people in Taiping County can't even come up with a single tael of silver. With several dozen taels of silver in hand, Wu Han is definitely considered a rich man in Taiping County, and his life is much better than that of ordinary people.

more importantly……

Now that Wu Han has money, he no longer needs to be a miser like before, hiding the silver in his house very well.

Since Xu Zhiwen took power, the security situation in the county town has improved a lot. The hooligans who used to steal chickens and dogs have become much more restrained. Even the wealthy families in the town no longer dare to bully the people at will.

This is almost inevitable.

Who is Xu Zhiwen?

He was not one of those mediocre officials or corrupt officials who colluded with powerful families, but a truly dedicated and ambitious good official who cared deeply for the people. He was extremely ruthless in cracking down on crime. Whether they were thugs or members of wealthy families, as long as they did something wrong and were caught, they would be imprisoned at best and beheaded at worst.

Under these circumstances, the public security in Taiping County naturally improved, and merchants like Wu Han, who had made money, no longer needed to hide their money as carefully as before.

Of course, another reason why Wu Han dared to flaunt his wealth was...

He was appreciated by Xu Zhiwen.

Wu Han's business dealings with Chenjia Village caught Xu Zhiwen's eye. With Xu Zhiwen's protection, Wu Han didn't need to worry about his wealth attracting the covetous eyes of others.

"Brother-in-law."

Walking on the official road outside the city, Zhang Ming said to Wu Han with a relaxed expression, "The situation outside the city seems to have improved a lot. We've been here so many times and haven't encountered any bandits yet!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Han glared at Zhang Ming and scolded, "Pay attention! Better safe than sorry!"

Zhang Ming, who had been reprimanded by Wu Han, shrank back and became alert, cautiously observing the situation on both sides of the official road.

Wu Han also scanned the woods on both sides with sharp eyes. Although the woods were less covered by leaves due to the cold weather, making the situation clear at a glance, he still felt a little uneasy for some reason.

Fortunately, nothing serious happened for the time being, and Wu Han's caravan gradually disappeared from the area.

only……

What Wu Han, who had already left, did not notice was that after they had gone far away, the fallen leaves piled on the ground on the right side of the official road suddenly trembled. Then, the fallen leaves were pushed aside, revealing two heads!

"That caravan has passed by again. Let's hurry back and tell the chief."

The two heads looked at each other, then got up from the leaf-strewn ground and ran into the depths of the forest.

Before long, the two appeared in an open space.

The trees in this area have been completely cut down, clearing out an open area in the jungle, where rows of wooden houses stand.

The two men walked without stopping into the largest house, knelt down on one knee in front of the burly men who were sitting with women on either side of them, and said, "Boss, we've seen that caravan!"

The man known as the leader's eyes lit up, and he pushed the woman in his arms away, saying, "Really?"

“It’s absolutely true, Boss! We saw them pass by on the main road with our own eyes.”

"Good good!"

The leader grinned.

His original name was Li Gang. He was originally just a restless farmer with a few acres of poor land. He was barely able to make ends meet, but he also didn't starve.

But Li Gang was ultimately a restless person; not only was he restless, but he was also quite lecherous.

Three years ago, Li Gang, who couldn't find a wife, forcibly raped a widow in the village, and then...

Fearing accountability from the authorities, he chose to flee the village and hide in the forest as a bandit.

At first, Li Gang was alone, and the only people he could rob were lone pedestrians. But soon, his opportunity came!

As the impact of the cold disaster intensified, more and more people went hungry and chose to become outlaws, and Li Gang's forces grew stronger.

From initially having only one person who could only rob lone pedestrians, it grew to five, ten, twenty people...

By this time, Li Zhong had 200 men under his command and a stable foothold in the dense forest, becoming a force to be reckoned with outside Taiping County.

Li Gang, who used to only dare to rob lone pedestrians, has become increasingly audacious, even daring to rob some caravans!