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

Chapter 168 Longing

While eating steamed buns, everyone discussed the timing of the wedding. After some discussion, they finally decided to hold the wedding in half a month.

"Then, Brother Dao, we'll head back now!"

After discussing the matter, it was already noon. After bidding farewell to Chen Dao, Li Qiang led Li Qian and Zhao Kang's families away from Chen Dao's house and embarked on the road back to Xiahe Village.

It's worth mentioning that on the way back, Zhao Kang, Li Qing, Li Qian, and Wang Yuan kept a considerable distance from each other, walking on either side of Li Qiang.

Clearly, the two families had developed some animosity over whose daughter was marrying Chen Cheng.

Seeing this, Li Qiang turned to Li Qian and said, "Little sister, are you still thinking about what happened earlier?"

"no!"

Li Qian forced a laugh.

Upon seeing her like this, Li Qiang shook his head and said, "Although she can't marry Chen Cheng, it's not bad to marry into Chenjia Village. You've seen it yourself; the people in Chenjia Village eat so well every day. If Li'er marries into Chenjia Village, she will definitely live a good life."

Hearing this, Li Qian nodded. She knew that it was already very good that her daughter could marry into Chenjia Village, but she still couldn't help feeling a little regretful that she couldn't marry Chen Cheng.

Before long, the group arrived at Xiahe Village and then went home.

Zhao Xiaoyun and Zhao Xiaomei sat in their living room, frequently glancing towards the door.

They both knew that their parents had gone out today to go to Chenjia Village to discuss their marriage, and they were both obviously very concerned about this matter.

"elder sister."

While looking outside, Zhao Xiaomei asked, "What do you think the three Chen brothers look like? Are they ugly?"

"Shouldn't it be?"

Zhao Xiaoyun frowned slightly and answered uncertainly.

Just then, Zhao Kang and Li Qing's voices came from outside the door. Zhao Xiaoyun and Zhao Xiaomei almost ran outside and opened the front door for the two of them.

"Father, mother."

Zhao Xiaoyun's gaze fell on the two of them. She didn't speak, but the questioning look in her eyes was very obvious.

"Go in and talk."

Zhao Kang smiled, gestured for the group to come inside, and then said, "We went to Chenjia Village, and the situation is indeed as the village chief described. Every household has enough white flour steamed buns to eat, and we also saw Chen Cheng..."

Before Zhao Kang could finish speaking, Zhao Xiaoyun blurted out, "What does Chen Cheng look like?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Kang and Li Qing exchanged a glance and couldn't help but laugh.

They all knew their eldest daughter's reserved nature, so the fact that she asked such a question showed that she was very concerned about her marriage.

"Chen Cheng isn't bad-looking!"

Zhao Kang didn't keep him in suspense, saying, "He's tall and strong, a real man at first glance!"

Zhao Xiaoyun breathed a sigh of relief. When Zhao Xiaomei asked that question earlier, she was quite worried that Chen Cheng was ugly or had a bad temper. Fortunately, according to her father, Chen Cheng seemed to be a good person.

"Daughter."

Zhao Kang smiled and continued, "Life in Chenjia Village is really good. Every family has enough to eat. You'll be living a life of luxury if you marry into that village!"

As he spoke, Zhao Kang recounted his experience at Chen Dao's house, even going so far as to act as a food critic, describing the taste of the steamed buns in great detail.

Zhao Xiaoyun and Zhao Xiaomei listened quietly to their father's story, and couldn't help but feel a little hopeful about their life after marrying into Chenjia Village.

In this day and age, being able to eat one's fill is the dream of countless people. The two daughters thought that the life in Chenjia Village, which their father described as having white flour steamed buns every day, was no better than that of a landlord or rich man.

…………

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Just as Zhao Kang's family was having their conversation.

At Chen Dao's house, Chen Dao looked at Chen Cheng as he walked into the living room and said in a teasing tone, "Brother Cheng, you're about to get married, how's that going?"

"Uh……"

Chen Cheng blushed and remained silent.

Seeing this, everyone in the room laughed. Chen Cheng was as honest as ever, and he wouldn't utter a word even if you hit him three times.

Seeing that Chen Cheng remained silent, Chen Dao lost interest in teasing him and changed the subject, saying to Chen He, "Village Chief, let's get some people here tomorrow and go to Xiahe Village together to present the betrothal gifts."

"no problem."

Chen He readily agreed.

Liu Yan, who was standing to the side, said, "Brother Dao, what kind of betrothal gifts do you think our family should prepare?"

"You don't need to worry about Aunt Liu."

Chen Dao waved his hand and said, "We can handle this. Aunt Liu, you just need to wait to welcome your new daughter-in-law."

"This won't work."

Liu Yan shook her head vigorously: "This wedding is a family matter, how can we let you, Dao Ge'er, spend money?"

Liu Yan clearly understood Chen Dao's meaning. Chen Dao obviously wanted to pay for the betrothal gift out of his own pocket, which Liu Yan found hard to accept. To be fair, Chen Dao had already been good enough to their family, and they couldn't keep taking advantage of him.

"It's settled then!"

Chen Dao didn't give Liu Yan a chance to refuse and made the decision directly.

Then, Chen Dao continued, "Aunt Liu, after you go back, hurry up and find some people to help you build a new house. Your house is really not suitable for getting married."

Chen Dao had visited Chen Cheng's home many times and knew the situation there very well.

The house Chen Cheng lived in didn't even have three bedrooms in total. Chen Cheng, Chen Shi, and Chen Mu shared one room, Liu Yan had another room, and the three children shared another room, making it very cramped.

Let alone use it for weddings, the bride won't even have a place to live after she marries into the family.

"I know."

Liu Yan nodded solemnly. In fact, she had long wanted to build a new house, but she hadn't been able to do so because she was thinking of using the three taels of silver to find wives for the men in her family.

Now that I haven't spent any money to get a wife, I can use those three taels of silver to build a new house.

"That's good."

Chen Dao nodded, then looked at Chen He and asked, "Village Chief, can you spare some manpower in the fields right now?"

"can!"

Chen He nodded without hesitation. The wheat in the fields of Chenjia Village had already sprouted, and there was much less work to be done. It was just a matter of irrigation and fertilization, which freed up some manpower.

After hearing Chen He's answer, Chen Dao thought for a moment and said, "Then starting tomorrow, village chief, you should make arrangements for the villagers. The wheat in the fields will be taken care of by the village women and children, and the remaining able-bodied men will build me a new chicken farm."

"chicken farm?"

Chen He didn't know what a chicken farm meant, but he nodded nonetheless: "Okay! I'll arrange it tomorrow."

…………

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The next day.

Having developed the habit of waking up early, Chen Dao woke up early and went to the backyard to say to Chen Lian and the others who were busy, "Sister Lian, please bring me six old yellow-feathered chickens."

"okay."

Chen Lian quickly tied up the six yellow-feathered chickens, then asked with some curiosity, "Brother Dao, has that peddler Wu Han come again?"