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

Chapter 640 Homecoming

This also made Zhao Xiaoliang and his companion feel the importance, or rather... respect, that Chenjia Village placed on them.

Farmers like Zhao Xiaoliang live a very humble life. In order to survive, they have to give up their dignity and work tirelessly to earn a meager income.

When they worked hard in the county town, most employers treated them like livestock, looked down on them, and regarded them as beggars.

However, in Chenjia Village, Zhao Xiaoliang and others experienced respect from those in power for the first time.

Although Mr. Chen, whom they had never met before, did not personally receive them, he made them feel his importance and respect through this meal.

Aside from Mr. Chen, no one was willing to provide them with lunch, which cost twenty coins a day.

"Mr. Chen is such a good person!"

Zhao Xiaoliang couldn't help but sigh. He had been somewhat skeptical when others described the wonderful life of the villagers in Chenjia Village, but now he believed it.

If Mr. Chen was so generous to these migrant workers, one can only imagine how much more generous the villagers of Chenjia Village were.

"Yes! Mr. Chen is truly the greatest man in the world."

Zhao Shitou tore off half of the steamed bun and put it in his mouth. The soft texture and sweet taste made Zhao Shitou involuntarily squint his eyes, his face full of happiness.

Zhao Wan picked up a piece of duck meat with his chopsticks. The duck meat was stewed in a large pot, and it was not only incredibly salty and fresh, but also had the unique aroma of animal fat. The rich meat juice burst in his mouth, making Zhao Wan, who had never eaten much oily food, feel very happy.

"It smells so good!"

Zhao Wan narrowed his eyes, reluctant to swallow the duck meat. Instead, he chewed the duck meat in his mouth repeatedly until it had no taste at all, before reluctantly swallowing it.

Immediately afterwards, Zhao Wan picked up another piece of duck meat and eagerly put it into his mouth to chew.

While savoring the delicious duck meat, he remarked, "This duck meat is really delicious, but it's a pity there's so little of it."

It was clearly impossible for Chenjia Village to provide every worker with a full meal of meat. In fact, each worker, including Zhao Wan, was only given a small bowl of duck meat, with a total of about five pieces. Although the pieces were cut into relatively large chunks, five pieces of duck meat were undoubtedly a small amount compared to the appetite of a strong adult man like Zhao Wan, barely enough to give him a taste of meat.

"It's already pretty good."

Zhao Xiaoliang said with a smile, "Other employers wouldn't even give us bones, let alone meat. Unlike Chenjia Village, they still give us so much meat to eat."

Five pieces of duck meat are not a lot, but they're not a small amount either.

For Zhao Xiaoliang, who had lived for over a decade without eating much meat, five pieces of duck meat were roughly equivalent to the total amount of meat he had ever eaten before.

"Yes!"

Zhao Shitou nodded repeatedly: "Chenjia Village has really done us a good job. I thought Chenjia Village would only give us some coarse grains at most, but I didn't expect it to be steamed buns and meat."

As he spoke, Zhao Shitou carefully picked up a piece of duck meat, put it in his mouth with a happy expression, and began to chew.

The unique aroma of meat filled every cell in Zhao Shitou's body with a sense of pleasure, and even his entire body seemed to warm up.

"That's the truth."

Zhao Wan nodded, said no more, and buried his head in eating the steamed buns and duck meat.

Meanwhile, workers at the village entrance were praising the delicious meat and the generosity of Chenjia Village.

"This duck meat is so delicious! If I could eat duck meat every day, I would feel like I could die happy."

"You're dreaming! Such precious duck meat is something you'd be lucky to get even one meal with."

"Chenjia Village has really been very good to us. From now on, I'll sell all my flesh to Chenjia Village. I'll do whatever Chenjia Village asks me to do."

"Me too."

"..."

It's no exaggeration to say that this one lunch was enough to win over the hearts of these workers, causing their goodwill towards Chenjia Village to rise rapidly, and some workers even began to consider working for Chenjia Village.

In no time at all, Zhao Xiaoliang had finished all five steamed buns and a small bowl of duck meat, leaving not even the broth or spices in the bowl.

After licking the soup clean from the bottom of the bowl, Zhao Xiaoliang glanced at the shiny bowl, hesitated for a moment, then got up and walked towards Chen Chen, saying somewhat embarrassedly, "Master, I'm not full, can I have three more steamed buns?"

In Zhao Xiaoliang's mind, eating a lot was not a good thing, but rather something that people disliked. So when he asked Chen Chen for steamed buns, he was somewhat embarrassed.

Unexpectedly, Chen Chen's reaction was completely opposite to Zhao Xiaoliang's expectations.

"Being able to eat is a good thing!"

Chen Chen glanced at Zhao Xiaoliang's slightly short stature and laughed, "Brother Dao said that being able to eat is a blessing. The more you eat, the better you grow. You may be a little short, but you can eat so much, you must be good at work!"

Hearing this, Zhao Xiaoliang scratched his head, feeling very pleased. This was the first time he had been praised for his large appetite.

When he worked in the city, he was often disliked by his employers because of his large appetite. Unexpectedly, the people of Chenjia Village not only did not mind his large appetite, but also praised him.

"Three steamed buns, right? Here you go."

Chen Chen took three steamed buns and put them in Zhao Xiaoliang's bowl. He patted Zhao Xiaoliang on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Eat more, then work hard and strive to become a formal worker in Chenjia Village. Once you become a formal worker in Chenjia Village, you and your family can enjoy a better life."

"Thank you, master."

Zhao Xiaoliang took the steamed bun and said firmly, "Don't worry, Master, I will definitely work hard and strive to become a formal worker in Chenjia Village."

Zhao Xiaoliang used to have no life goals. Or rather, he had exhausted all his strength to survive and support his family, and had no extra energy to think about life goals.

But at this moment, he had an incredibly clear life goal: to work hard, strive to become a formal worker in Chenjia Village, and then live a prosperous life like the villagers of Chenjia Village.

"come on!"

Chen Chen raised his fist to encourage Zhao Xiaoliang: "You will definitely become a full-time worker."

"Uh-huh!"

Zhao Xiaoliang nodded frantically. He believed that he could definitely become a formal worker, change his life, and make himself and his family live a happy life.

About fifteen minutes later, lunchtime ended, and the workers resumed their work.

Having eaten his fill and feeling refreshed, Zhao Xiaoliang was full of energy and chopped down trees with all his might, not daring to slack off even for a moment.