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

Chapter 143 Happiness

After loading all the goods onto the donkey carts, the caravan slowly set off. As they traveled along the official road outside the city, Xu Zhiwen looked at the dense woods on both sides and asked Wu Han beside him, "I've heard there are quite a few bandits outside the city. Old Wu, when you went out of the city to transport goods, did you encounter any bandits?"

"no!"

Wu Han shook his head and said, "Every time I go out of the city to transport goods, I bring a large number of able-bodied men as guards. Those bandits aren't stupid; they won't choose to make things difficult for us."

The bandits knew the principle of picking on the weak; they preferred to rob lone travelers and seemingly wealthy merchant caravans. Wu Han…

Neither alone nor appearing wealthy, Lin Fei naturally wouldn't choose to fight them head-on.

"I see!"

Xu Zhiwen suddenly realized that bullying the weak and fearing the strong was probably the underlying nature of these bandits. They would naturally kill anyone who had no power to resist, but they would selectively ignore Wu Han's caravan, which seemed difficult to deal with.

After all, Wu Han's caravan had more than a dozen able-bodied men protecting them, and if the bandits wanted to rob them, they would probably suffer considerable casualties themselves.

"Brother Chen has encountered bandits before."

Wu Han said in a casual tone, "I heard from the people of Chenjia Village that when Brother Chen and his group returned to Chenjia Village from the county town, they encountered a group of more than ten bandits, but Brother Chen and his group killed them all!"

"They've all been killed?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang He's eyes widened. Although he knew that Chenjia Village was not simple, he was still shocked when he heard that more than a dozen bandits had been killed by the people of Chenjia Village.

Not only Zhang He, but even Xu Zhiwen was somewhat surprised and asked, "How did they manage to kill all those forest bandits? What were their own casualties?"

"I don't know the specific details either."

Wu Han shook his head and said, "I only know that Brother Chen and his men suffered no casualties. As for those forest bandits, they all turned into fertilizer for the forest."

"No losses?"

Zhang He was even more shocked. He couldn't help but recall the night he entered the city. On that day, their group of over a hundred men had lost dozens of men while besieging twenty soldiers guarding the city walls. Yet, the people of Chenjia Village had killed more than a dozen bandits without losing a single one. How could the people of Chenjia Village possess such abundant martial spirit?

"Chenjia Village..."

Xu Zhiwen's gaze shifted, his curiosity about Chenjia Village growing even stronger. He couldn't wait to arrive in Chenjia Village and learn more about it.

…………

…………

The entrance of Chenjia Village.

Wu Zhong, who was in charge of guarding the village gate, smiled as he watched the donkey cart approaching from afar.

Now everyone in Chenjia Village knows that Wu Han is Chen Dao's designated merchant. Every time Wu Han comes, he brings a large amount of supplies. Therefore, the villagers of Chenjia Village have always welcomed Wu Han's arrival.

Chen Zhong stepped forward and said with a smile to Wu Han, who had jumped off the donkey cart, "I was wondering why I heard magpies chirping this morning. It turns out it's Brother Wu who's here!"

"Ha ha!"

Wu Han laughed loudly and handed a small bag of grain that he had prepared in advance to Chen Zhong, saying, "Brother Chen Zhong, please take this bag of grain back. Consider it a small token of my appreciation."

Every time Wu Han entered the village, he would give the young men guarding the village gate some small gifts. It wasn't to bribe them, but simply to cultivate a good relationship with the villagers of Chenjia Village.

Wu Han is able to live such a good life now entirely thanks to the goods transported from Chenjia Village, so naturally he needs to maintain good relations with the villagers of Chenjia Village.

"Thank you, Brother Wu!"

Chen Zhongxi happily accepted the grain bag. These days, guarding the entrance to Chenjia Village is a coveted job, and the reason is the small gift that Wu Han prepared.

After accepting the gift, Chen Zhong said, "Brother Wu, please go inside quickly! Dao Ge'er should be at home now."

"Alright! See you later, Brother Chen Zhong."

Wu Han waved to Chen Zhong, then signaled the young man driving the donkey cart to drive it into the village.

"Chenjia Village doesn't look any different from other villages, does it?"

Sitting next to Wu Han, Zhang He frowned. After hearing Wu Han's description of Chenjia Village, he thought it should be a very wealthy village, but the scene in front of him was completely different from what he had imagined.

The dirt road was full of potholes, the houses were low, and the population was sparse...

This reminded Zhang He of his hometown in Liangzhou. Chenjia Village was not much different from his hometown village.

"Brother Zhang, don't worry, you'll find out soon enough!"

As soon as Wu Han finished speaking, a commotion broke out.

But at this moment, the donkey cart had already entered Chenjia Village, and everyone looked around and saw a bustling crowd.

"What are they doing?"

Zhang He stared wide-eyed at the crowd ahead, finally realizing the difference between Chenjia Village and his hometown. Back home, at this time of year, every household would be huddled indoors for warmth, while in Chenjia Village…

Hundreds of villagers gathered in front, creating a lively scene, much like a market.

"Of course, they're getting steamed buns."

Upon hearing Zhang He's question, Li Dadan replied with a smile, "The villagers of Chenjia Village are now all working for Daoge'er. Daoge'er is responsible for providing them with food, two meals a day, and they have plenty of steamed buns every meal!"

"Are the steamed buns really all you can eat?"

Zhang He stared in disbelief at a man who had just come out of Chen Dao's house, holding four or five steamed buns in his hands. He was deeply shocked!

When Wu Han told him that Chen Dao provided food for the entire village, he thought Chen Dao was just giving the villagers a bite to eat, barely keeping them from starving. But he never expected...

That's not the case!

The meals provided by Chen Dao were not just enough to keep the villagers from going hungry, but were truly enough to fill their stomachs!

To feed all the villagers...

This is something that Zhang He would never have believed in the past, because in his hometown village, almost no one had enough to eat. Everyone was frugal and barely managed to avoid going hungry.

But now, this was actually happening right before Zhang He's eyes, making him feel as if he were in a dream...

Looking at the happy smiles on the faces of the villagers in Chenjia Village, Zhang He couldn't help but think that if there were someone like Chen Dao in his hometown village, would his relatives and fellow villagers who had starved to death have survived, or even lived well?

"This Chenjia Village is truly extraordinary!"

Xu Zhiwen squinted at the sincere smiles on the faces of the villagers receiving the steamed buns and couldn't help but sigh.

The smiles on the villagers' faces can be summed up in two words: happiness!