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

Chapter 26 The Allure of Eating

"Xiaodao, time to eat."

Li Ping's voice came from inside the house, and Chen Dao immediately returned to the house to have breakfast with Li Ping and Chen Fei.

Today's breakfast was naturally not as lavish as last night's, but it was still a luxury compared to the past. Each of the three of them had a bowl of white rice in front of them. Although it seemed a bit bland, it was at least much better than the gruel they used to eat.

Chen Dao quickly finished the rice in his bowl, then stood up and said, "Mother, I'm going out to find someone to do something."

"Ok!"

Li Ping nodded.

Then Chen Dao left his house and went directly to Chen Da's house.

"Brother Dao is here? Come and have a meal with us."

Upon seeing Chen Dao enter, He Cuilian hurriedly and warmly invited him to eat together. She had always liked Chen Dao, and now she liked him even more, since the white-feathered chicken breeding secret recipe that Chen Dao provided had improved her family's life.

When Chen Da brought home a huge pile of grain yesterday, He Cuilian was completely stunned.

Even though her family was one of the wealthiest in Chenjia Village, they had never seen so much grain!

Not to mention that there were 50 kilograms of rice among these grains!

With this grain, her man would no longer need to risk going into the mountains to hunt, and she would no longer have to live in constant fear that something might happen to Chen Da.

For this reason, He Cuilian was extremely enthusiastic towards Chen Dao. Ignoring Chen Dao's refusal, she directly pulled Chen Dao to sit at her family's dining table.

It's just that she didn't have a daughter, otherwise He Cuilian would have considered becoming in-laws with Chen Dao.

"No need, Auntie, I've already had breakfast!"

Chen Dao, who was pressed into a chair by He Cuilian, waved his hands repeatedly in refusal.

He Cuilian, undeterred, said, "It won't hurt to eat some more. Daoge'er, have some with your Uncle Chen."

"No need, Auntie. I came here to discuss something with Uncle Chen."

Upon hearing that Chen Dao was in trouble, He Cuilian's expression immediately turned serious, and she tried to pull Tie Dan to the next room to avoid him.

“Auntie, there’s no need to avoid this matter.”

Chen Dao stopped He Cuilian from avoiding him and said, "I came here to ask Uncle Chen for a favor."

"What is it?" Chen Da asked.

"My family plans to rebuild the house."

Chen Dao said directly, "During the reconstruction period, we may need to stay at Uncle Chen's house for a while, I wonder..."

"You're renovating your house? That's great news!"

Before Chen Dao could finish speaking, He Cuilian readily agreed: "We have two spare rooms in our house. You, your mother, and Xiao Fei can come and stay anytime!"

After saying that, He Cuilian asked, "Do you need your uncle to come and help?"

"Need not."

Chen Dao said, "I can find enough manpower."

"This won't work."

He Cuilian shook her head and said, "Your uncle must go and help! You are the only male in your family, and the villagers will inevitably look down on you, cheat and shirk their duties. Your uncle must keep them in check."

Chen Dao thought about it and realized that it made sense, so he nodded and said, "Then I'll trouble you, Uncle!"

"No trouble."

Chen Da waved his hand, indicating that he was happy to help Chen Dao.

And so the matter was settled. As for the compensation, Chen Dao didn't mention it. He knew that if he did, Chen Dao wouldn't accept it, so it was better not to bring it up.

…………

…………

After politely declining He Cuilian's invitation to breakfast, Chen Dao left the Chen family and arrived at a dilapidated house.

This house wasn't much better than Chen Dao's house; even the front door looked shaky, as if it could be blown down by a strong wind at any moment.

From the original owner's memories, Chen Dao knew that this was the home of one of the young men who had helped yesterday, Chen Cheng.

Yesterday's trip to the county town left the deepest impression on Chen Dao, who was not only tall and strong but also extremely hardworking!

Most importantly, through the original owner's memories, Chen Dao knew that Chen Cheng's family was one of the poorest in the village, and that as long as he was willing to give them food, Chen Cheng would probably be willing to help with the work.

With these thoughts in mind, Chen Dao stepped forward and knocked on the door.

"Who?"

A somewhat hoarse female voice came from inside the room.

Chen Dao immediately replied, "I am Chen Dao from Chen Ping's family. Please open the door, Auntie."

Squeak!

The old door opened, revealing a woman with a slightly hunched figure behind it.

The woman's face was etched with deep lines, as if marked by hardship, making her look like a 60-year-old grandmother.

But Chen Dao knew that the woman in front of him, named He Yan, was only around 40 years old...

Looking like a 60-year-old at 40 is the norm in this world and a true reflection of the plight of the poor.

"Is that Daoge'er?"

Liu Yan looked Chen Dao up and down with her cloudy eyes, then smiled kindly and said, "Come in quickly, it's cold outside."

"Okay, Aunt Liu."

Stepping through the door, Chen Dao glanced left and right, only to find that there was nothing in the front yard except for a well. Liu Yan must have been drawing water earlier, as there was a wooden bucket full of water next to the well.

"Mother, who's here?"

Just then, a burly figure walked out of the house; it was Chen Cheng.

"Daoge'er?"

Chen Cheng's eyes lit up when he saw Chen Dao. "What brings you here!"

"I need your help with something."

"Go inside and talk."

It was too cold outside, so Chen Cheng quickly led Chen Dao inside. As for Liu Yan, she went to the kitchen, which was separated by a wall, to boil a cup of water for Chen Dao.

This is one of the advantages of living at the foot of the Cangmang Mountain. The villagers of Chenjia Village, who have no shortage of firewood, can even boil water to entertain guests. In other villages, they would probably have to be extremely frugal with firewood for boiling water.

"Brother Dao, is there anything I can help you with?"

Once inside the house, Chen Cheng immediately asked, "Do you need us to escort you into the city?"

"no!"

Chen Dao shook his head and said, "I plan to ask you to help me build a house."

"Building a house? No problem!"

Without hesitation, Chen Cheng replied, "Brother Dao, I'll definitely help you if you need anything."

Building a house is nothing more than doing physical labor, and Chen Cheng has no shortage of strength. Since he cares about Chen Dao, he is naturally willing to help Chen Dao.

"Brother Cheng, let me finish speaking first."

Chen Dao said, "This time, I probably won't be able to pay you like I did yesterday for helping build the house! I can only provide meals every day, you see..."

"They even provide meals?"

Chen Cheng's eyes lit up when he realized he had already planned to help Chen Daobai with his work.

At the same time, Chen Shi and Chen Mu from the next room rushed over, looking at Chen Dao with burning eyes and asked, "Brother Dao, does helping you build a house really include meals?"

"..."

Faced with the three men's intense gazes, Chen Dao was taken aback.

He underestimated the appeal of meals to the villagers of Chenjia Village. Just the promise of a meal was enough to elicit such a reaction from the three adult men in Chen Cheng's family...

The allure of this meal is comparable to, or even surpasses, the high salaries of my past life!