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

Chapter 398 Notice

When selling smuggled salt in the county town, Fang Hao was always on edge, fearing that he would be caught by the officials. He could only trade cautiously with the people in the town to avoid being arrested.

There was no such worry in Chenjia Village, since it was quite far from the county seat and there were no officials around, so no one would arrest him.

"Brother Fang."

The shopkeeper, Ding Xiaohua, smiled and said to Fang Hao, "You look exhausted, covered in sweat. Your boss makes so much money, why don't you hire a few more people?"

"Hi!"

Fang Hao waved his hand and said, "The owner's profits aren't high either, how can they afford to hire so many people?"

In Ding Xiaohua's view, Fang Hao's employer, Qi Cheng, was making a lot of money. But only Qi Cheng and Fang Hao knew that the salt itself was not produced in Qi Cheng. He was just making a profit from the price difference, and the profit was far less than Ding Xiaohua imagined.

"That's it!"

Ding Xiaohua nodded thoughtfully, "This is today's payment. Take it back to your employer quickly!"

"Okay, thank you, Sister Ding!"

Fang Hao smiled and accepted the bag of copper coins that Ding Xiaohua handed him, carefully hiding it in the lining of his clothes on his chest, before bidding Ding Xiaohua farewell.

"Sister Ding, I'll be going now!"

"Go slowly."

As I stepped out of the grocery store, a cacophony of noise greeted me.

Fang Hao then realized that, without him noticing, the area outside the grocery store had become crowded with people, and their target was not the grocery store itself, but the notice board in front of it.

The Chenjiacun Grocery Store is located at the junction of the residential and commercial areas of Chenjiacun, and it is also the place with the most foot traffic. Therefore, not long ago, Chenjiacun erected a notice board here to inform villagers and migrant workers about some recruitment information and "policies" of Chenjiacun.

At this moment, a huge crowd surrounded the notice board, pointing and gesturing at it.

"What does it say on this?"

"I can't read, how would I know?"

"I don't know either, can someone read it to me?"

"..."

These days, the general public's level of education is clearly low; in fact, it could be said that most people are illiterate.

Therefore, the people gathered in front of the notice board looked at each other blankly. They wanted to know what was written on the notice board, but... they couldn't read.

Fortunately, someone soon noticed a neatly dressed, slender young man in the crowd.

"Li Xiucai, please tell us what's written on it."

"Yes! Everyone, please make way and let Scholar Li read it to us."

"Li Xiucai, come forward and read it to everyone."

"..."

Li Xiucai was not a real scholar, nor did he have any official rank. He was just a literate man, but even so, he stood out from the crowd.

after all……

It is extremely rare for someone who can read to appear among a group of illiterate people.

Of course, there are quite a few literate people in Chenjia Village. Not to mention some students who learn quickly in the school, even some young people in Chenjia Village can read some characters. However, most of these people are in class or at work at this time, so it is obviously impossible for them to be here to read the announcement to everyone.

Amidst the enthusiastic gazes of the crowd, Li Xiucai followed the path that the crowd had parted to reach the notice board and said, "This notice is about recruiting members for the Chenjia Village Guard Team."

Chenjia Village Guard Team?

The onlookers were taken aback at first, then their faces lit up with surprise.

"Is the Chenjia Village Guard Team recruiting?"

"Great!"

"Li Xiucai, quickly read what's written above."

"..."

Many of the young and strong men in the crowd became excited, because they knew about the treatment of the Chenjia Village guards!

Nowadays, the training location of the Chenjia Village Guard Team is no longer at the entrance of Chenjia Village, but has moved to the newly built training ground. The training ground is not far from their location, just behind the Chenjia Village General Store. They can even hear faint sounds coming from the training ground. Of course, under normal circumstances, people do not dare to go to the training ground to disturb the training of the Chenjia Village Guard Team, but this does not prevent them from understanding the Chenjia Village Guard Team.

Anyone who has spent a few days in Chenjia Village knows about the generous benefits offered by the Chenjia Village Guard Team!

They get three meals a day, and can eat meat every other day, plus a monthly salary of one tael of silver...

This treatment was something everyone dreamed of, so when they heard that the Chenjia Village Guard Team was recruiting, many young men became excited.

Even Fang Hao stopped in his tracks and started listening intently.

He had heard about the treatment of the Chenjia Village Guard Team and even considered joining it. There was no way around it; the treatment of the Guard Team was just too good, enough to make any poor person tempted or even envious.

However, the Chenjia Village Guard Team had stopped recruiting long ago, so Fang Hao had no choice but to give up.

but……

At this point, things seem to have taken a turn for the better?

Urged on by everyone, Li Xiucai didn't keep them in suspense and read the contents of the notice aloud: "The notice says that the Chenjia Village Guard Team plans to recruit 300 people. Anyone with a household registration in Taiping County can apply to join the guard team. After joining, they will be provided with three meals a day and meat every other day. If they can pass the guard team's final assessment, they can also receive a fixed salary of 1 tael of silver per month."

"hiss!"

As soon as Li Xiucai finished speaking, a collective gasp of astonishment rippled through the crowd.

"Three meals a day, meat every other day, and a tael of silver a month? This is ridiculous, am I dreaming?"

"This treatment is too good!"

"That's right! I never dreamed I could earn an ounce of silver a month and eat three meals a day without restraint!"

"I want to join the guard team."

"I want to join too!"

"..."

Many young people were drooling. For the people of Taiping County, who generally only had two meals a day and were still not full, three meals a day was a deadly temptation, not to mention that they could eat meat every other day and receive a monthly salary of 1 tael of silver.

"Li Xiucai (Li the Scholar)".

A middle-aged man who looked mature and composed asked cautiously, "With such good treatment, are there any requirements from above?"

"Of course!"

Li Xiucai nodded and continued reading, "The requirements aren't too many. They're roughly between 18 and 30 years old, hardworking, and without disabilities, etc."

"That's all the requirements?"

A young man in his early twenties asked incredulously, "Such generous treatment, yet only this much? This is simply... amazing!"

Many young adults were emotional and spoke at once.

"I'm only 25 years old this year, does that mean I can join this guard team?"

"I'm exactly 18 this year, perfect for joining the guard team!"

"I'm suitable too!"

"..."