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

Chapter 604 Yongliang County

For the villagers of Zhangwang Village, even chicken and duck eggs, which are not considered meat, are rare foods on their tables.

Therefore, every villager who received the duck eggs had a heartfelt joy on their face.

"These duck eggs are really beautiful."

"Yes! I'll boil these duck eggs tonight to nourish the children at home."

“My wife recently got pregnant, and these duck eggs came at just the right time to help her recover.”

"hey-hey!"

"..."

As the duck eggs were distributed, every villager who received one beamed with joy.

As for Zhang He, it was time for him to leave.

"Village chief, we'll be leaving now."

Zhang He turned around and said goodbye to the village chief Zhang Hao, then called on Skinny Monkey and his men, and drove the truck slowly out of the village.

The villagers spontaneously followed behind the caravan, their faces full of reluctance.

"He-ge'er, remember to come back to the village often."

"He-ge'er, don't forget to come back."

"Have a safe journey, Brother He."

"May Hege'er's business prosper."

"..."

Amid the villagers' reluctant farewells, Zhang He led his team away from Zhangwang Village, heading north until they disappeared from the villagers' sight.

"I wonder if Hege'er will ever come back."

A young man muttered anxiously to himself, "Zhang He said he would take me into his team and make me a member of the caravan once he returned from the county town. If Zhang He doesn't come back, then my hope of joining the caravan will be dashed."

"Hege'er will definitely come back."

Another man said without any room for doubt, "I've played with He Ge since I was a child, and I know he's not the kind of person who goes back on his word."

"That's right, Hege'er will definitely come back."

"Yes! When Hege'er comes back, we can all join his caravan and have a full meal."

"That's right, that's right! We'll follow Brother He in business too, so we can have meat every meal!"

"..."

…………

…………

Yongliang County Town.

Farmer Li Xiang woke up from his sleep and subconsciously smacked his lips.

Last night, he dreamed that he was eating meat, and the delicious meat made Li Xiang not want to wake up from his dream.

Unfortunately... a dream is just a dream, and when you wake up, everything is gone.

"Meat is a rare treat!"

Recalling the delicious meat in his dream, Li Xiang sighed softly.

Li Xiang's grandfather was once a small landlord, or rather a rich peasant, whose family owned dozens of acres of land.

These dozens of acres of land were passed down from Li Xiang's grandfather to Li Xiang's father, and finally to Li Xiang.

Although Li Xiang, who owned dozens of acres of land, could not become extremely wealthy, he was still able to make a living.

Even the cold disaster did not cause Li Xiang's family to fall back into poverty, because his family had much more grain and savings than ordinary people. With these grain and savings, Li Xiang's family lived a fairly good standard of living, at least they did not have to eat tree bark like ordinary people.

Furthermore, because Li Xiang was a low-key person and had never done anything to harm the people, he was not purged during the massacre of Liangzhou landlords instigated by Yang Zheng, and still retained his dozens of acres of farmland.

Of course, this was also because Li Xiang, who owned several dozen acres of land, was far from being a large landowner, so the Yang family army did not focus their attention on him.

but……

Although he had no worries about food and clothing, Li Xiang was not satisfied with his current life.

Li Xiang was a man who couldn't live without meat. Even in times of peace, although he didn't eat meat at every meal, he would have meat every three to five days.

However, with the arrival of the cold disaster, Li Xiang had not eaten meat for almost a year.

The reason they couldn't afford meat wasn't because Li Xiang's family was poor, but because there was very little meat available on the market.

As we all know, in the Xia Kingdom, common livestock such as chickens, ducks and pigs need to be fed with grain. However, due to the impact of the cold disaster, the people of Liangzhou could not even guarantee their own food, so how could they possibly feed their livestock with grain?

Therefore, only large landowners who had neither money nor food were left to raise livestock.

The livestock raised by large landowners were for their own family consumption and were rarely sold on the market. Even when they were sold, the quantity was very small and the price was extremely high, to the point that Li Xiang could not afford them.

Under these circumstances, Li Xiang naturally had no meat to eat, which made him, who loved meat, suffer greatly, to the point that he even dreamed of meat.

"Sigh, I don't know when this will end."

Li Xiang shook his head, walked out of the bedroom, and went to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Li Xiang's wife had already prepared breakfast. When she saw Li Xiang come over, she smiled and said, "Husband, you're awake? Go and call the children to come and eat together."

Li Xiang glanced at the food on the table and immediately found it tasteless.

There were only plump white steamed buns on the table. Such food would certainly be a delicacy for ordinary people, but for Li Xiang... he was already tired of eating them.

However, Li Xiang knew that this was not his wife's fault, so he didn't say anything. He simply turned around, walked out of the kitchen, went to the other two bedrooms, woke up his two children, and then the family sat down at the dining table to eat.

"daughter in law."

While munching on a tasteless steamed bun, Li Xiang asked, "Did you go to the market yesterday?"

"went."

Li Xiang's wife nodded.

"Do they sell chickens and ducks at the market?"

"Have."

Li Xiang's wife replied, "However, the quantity is very small and the price is high, with a single chicken costing a full 500 coins."

"..."

Li Xiang opened his mouth, even though he was from a wealthy family, he was still speechless at the price of 500 coins for a chicken.

You should know that the chickens in Liangzhou are all common gray-feathered chickens. After a gray-feathered chicken is slaughtered and its feathers are removed, only two or three pounds of meat are left, including the bones.

In other words, the price of a pound of chicken exceeded 200 coins...

At that price, even if Li Xiang really wanted to eat meat, he wouldn't be so foolish as to buy it.

"father."

At this moment, Li Xiang's eldest son said to him, "I want to eat meat."

"I want to too."

Li Xiang's youngest daughter also spoke up.

Children don't have many thoughts; they say whatever comes to mind, and if they want to eat meat, they say they want to eat meat.

I want to eat meat too.

Li Xiang's lips twitched. The children wanted to eat meat, and of course he wanted to eat meat too, but unfortunately... the price of meat was too high.

Even though the autumn harvest had just ended and Li Xiang had reaped a large amount of grain, he still felt the pinch when faced with chickens costing as much as 500 coins per pound.

"Don't talk nonsense."

Li Xiang's wife gently patted the two children. She was a thrifty housewife, and even if the two children really wanted to eat a chicken that cost 500 coins, she would never buy it.

After all, the effects of the cold weather have not yet subsided, and we need to save our food and savings to get through the tough winter.