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

Chapter 152 Lots of silver!

"Squeak!"

When Chen Dao's door opened, every single villager's eyes shone with fervent admiration.

"Brother Dao, have you started handing out money yet?"

Good morning, Brother Dao!

"Brother Dao, when are we getting paid?"

"..."

Seeing the anxious faces of the villagers, Chen Dao smiled and said, "Don't worry, everyone!"

After saying that, Chen Dao looked at Li Zheng in the crowd and said, "Mr. Li and the village chief, please lend a hand!"

Li Zheng and Chen He nodded and stepped out of the crowd to enter the front yard of Chen Dao's house. They saw that a table had been set up in the yard, and on the table was a plate of silver. The silver beans shimmered with an alluring luster in the not-too-bright winter sunlight.

"Wow, so much silver!"

"With so much silver, Daoge'er's family must be really rich!"

"With so much silver, if you gave it all to me, I'd never have to worry about anything for the rest of my life!"

"..."

The villagers, seeing the silver through Chen Dao's gate, were completely relieved.

Before this, they were worried that Chen Dao wouldn't be able to pay out the money, but now they had no such worries at all. With so much money laid out there, it was reassuring to see.

"The village chief will be in charge of distributing the money later, and you, Mr. Li, will be in charge of recording the names!"

Chen Dao pointed to the paper and pen on the other side of the table and said, "Write down the name of every villager who received the money to avoid duplication!"

"Understood!"

Li Zheng nodded, sat behind the table, picked up his calligraphy brush, and stood ready. The village chief also stood in front of the table with a serious expression, preparing to distribute money to the villagers.

Chen Dao walked to the gate and said to the villagers outside, "Alright, everyone line up and come up one by one to collect your money!"

As soon as Chen Dao finished speaking, the villagers immediately lined up in an orderly fashion, forming a long dragon, and marched toward Chen Dao's front yard.

"Village chief, I've come to collect my money!"

Chen Sheng, who was at the front of the line, said to Chen He with an expectant look on his face, "My family's land rent is a total of 2 taels of silver!"

"it is good!"

Chen He glanced at Chen Dao, and after seeing Chen Dao nod, he took two taels of silver from the table behind him and handed it to Chen Sheng. Li Zheng then wrote down the four characters: "Chen Sheng, two taels."

"Thank you, Village Chief! Thank you, Brother Dao!"

Upon receiving the silver, Chen Sheng was overjoyed. Without delaying the others, he carried the silver away quickly with his wife Liu Jie and son Chen Gou, as if holding a precious treasure, seemingly afraid of being watched.

Meanwhile, other villagers were also going forward to collect their silver.

"Chen Zhong, two taels of silver."

"Chen Xiong, two taels of silver."

"Chen Jian, two taels of silver."

Chen Lian, standing in the middle of the line, watched the other villagers leave after receiving their silver, and her heart burned even brighter. Unlike the others, who only received two taels of silver for renting their land to Chen Dao, she received a full three taels!

Three taels of silver was definitely the greatest wealth Chen Lian had ever possessed in her life. Even though she hadn't figured out how to use the money, the thought of having three taels of silver in her pocket soon filled her with immense excitement.

Even He Xuehua, who was being supported by Chen Lian, had an expectant look in her eyes. For her family, three taels of silver was far too important!

Soon, it was Chen Lian's turn to receive the money!

Looking at Chen He in front of her, Chen Lian said, "Village Chief, I have a total of three taels of silver."

Upon hearing this, a hint of envy flashed in Chen He's eyes. Even he, the village chief, only received two taels of silver for renting the land, while Chen Lian received three taels, which made him very envious.

"Xiao Lian, you're so lucky!"

Chen He said with no small amount of envy, "It's a full tael of silver more than others."

"It's because Brother Dao thinks highly of me, otherwise I wouldn't be able to earn so much!"

As Chen Lian responded with a smile, Chen He had already taken three taels of silver from the plate behind him and handed it to Chen Lian.

The moment Chen Lian received the silver, she felt the coolness in her palm and felt an urge to burst into tears of joy. For her family, who were struggling to make ends meet, these three taels of silver felt incredibly heavy.

With these three taels of silver, she would never have to worry about running out of food again, and she would no longer have to make her grandmother, who was over fifty years old, eat bran and flour every meal as before!

As Chen Lian turned to help her grandmother leave, she glanced at Chen Dao standing not far away, her eyes filled with endless gratitude.

At this moment, Chen Lian's gratitude towards Chen Dao reached its peak.

Chen Dao gave her a job that provided her with a comfortable life, and it was Chen Dao who completely changed her family's impoverished situation!

"Brother Dao, thank you!"

Chen Lian helped He Xuehua leave.

The other villagers at the back of the queue looked at Chen Lian's back with obvious envy.

“This Lianmei really made a fortune! She earned a full tael more than us.”

"Isn't that right? Wu Yun and those widows also get three taels of silver each."

"Brother Dao is so good to them!"

"What are you saying? Doesn't Brother Dao treat us well? Besides Brother Dao, who else would be willing to spend 2 taels of silver to rent our lousy land?"

"Yes! Our village has produced a rice-growing boy; it's truly our good fortune!"

"..."

The long queue gradually shortened, and soon all the villagers had received their silver.

Li Zheng stood up, stretched, unfolded the paper covered in writing, and said to Chen Dao, "Brother Dao, have you written it all down? Check if there are any mistakes."

"Let me see."

Chen Dao glanced at it quickly, and after confirming that there were no duplicates, he smiled and said, "Thank you for your help, Mr. Li."

After saying that, Chen Dao took a tael of silver from the table and stuffed it into Li Zheng's hand: "Mr. Li, this is the agreed-upon teaching fee."

Li Zheng was clearly surprised that Chen Dao would give him a tael of silver. He paused for a moment before accepting the silver: "Thank you, Brother Dao."

Chen Dao waved his hand, then took out two taels of silver and stuffed it into the hand of village chief Chen He: "Village chief, this is your share."

Village chief Chen He had been busy distributing money to the villagers, and he hadn't received his own share yet, so Chen Dao couldn't forget about it.

"Thank you, Brother Dao!"

Chen He grinned. Even for him, the village chief, two taels of silver was a considerable sum of money!

Holding the silver in his palm, feeling its cool touch, Chen He asked, "Brother Dao, is there anything else? If not, I'll head back now!"

Having received the silver, Chen He couldn't wait to go back and share his joy with his family, and had no intention of lingering at Chen Dao's house.

"Everything's alright for now! If the village chief has something to attend to, he can go back first!"

Chen Dao said that because today is the day to distribute money, the whole village will take a day off. In other words, the villagers do not need to work today and can celebrate with their families at home.

Of course, since they didn't need to work, Chen Dao's family didn't prepare meals for the villagers.