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

Chapter 10, First Fighting Chicken

Village chief Chen He was a man of vision. When he first built Li Zheng's house, he hoped to also build the village school so that the village children could study. Therefore, the house occupied a large area, including not only Li Zheng's residence but also a portion of the village school.

Unfortunately……

Chen He's idea was good, but studying is not such a simple thing, because studying requires not only a teacher, but also tools such as paper, pen, and books, and these tools are no different from luxuries for the people of Chenjia Village.

In the past, when the harvest was good, some villagers would think of sending their children to school, hoping that their children could learn some characters. But now... with the bad weather, the villagers' harvest has dropped significantly, and no one sends their children to Li Zheng's school anymore.

The reason is simple: the villagers are starving, so where would they get the money to pay Li Zheng's tuition? And where would they get the money to buy paper, pens, and other tools?

"come in."

Li Zheng led Chen Dao into his study. His study was not large, and there were very few books. After all, Li Zheng was just a schoolteacher in the countryside, and books were extremely expensive in those days, so Li Zheng could not afford to buy too many.

Chen Dao even speculated that the books on the study shelf were likely brought with him by Li Zheng when he fled to Chenjia Village.

"You can read?"

Seeing Chen Dao's gaze fixed on the bookshelf, Li Zheng asked curiously.

"I know some of them."

Chen Dao nodded. The characters in this world were very similar to the traditional characters used in ancient China in his previous life. Chen Dao could barely make out the characters by guessing and deciphering.

"Did your father teach you that?"

Li Zheng sighed, "In my opinion, your father was the hardest-working and most visionary person in the entire Chenjia Village. During the busy farming season, he would work diligently in the fields, and during the off-season, he would come to my house asking me to teach him to read. It's a pity..."

Unfortunately, Chen Ping came from a very humble background.

Li Zheng sighed inwardly. If Chen Ping had come from a better background, if he had been born into a prominent family, or even if he had been born into a wealthy family in the county town, his future would probably not have been too bad!

However, he was born in Chenjia Village...

With that kind of background, no matter how hard you try, it's useless!

Because of Chen Ping's background in Chenjia Village, it was clear that no matter how well he studied, he could not achieve anything significant; at most, he would become a bookkeeper or something similar in the county town.

But it's pointless to say anything now. Chen Ping has passed away, and thinking about these things is just asking for trouble.

Li Zheng turned to Chen Dao and asked, "What brings you here?"

"Mr. Li, I would like to ask you about some things."

Chen Dao said directly, "You are very knowledgeable, have you ever heard of black-clawed chicken and sappanwood flowers?"

Black-clawed chicken? Sappanwood flowers?

Li Zheng frowned and pondered for a long time before replying, "I've never heard of the Black Claw Chicken, but I do know a little about Su Mu Hua."

Chen Dao's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly said, "Please enlighten me, sir."

"Sappanwood flowers are a medicinal herb."

Li Zheng stroked his flowing beard and said, "This flower, after being dried and processed, can clear heat and reduce internal fire; it is one of the more common medicinal materials."

Medicinal herbs?

Chen Dao's heart skipped a beat. If it was a common medicinal herb, then wouldn't that mean... it could be sold in pharmacies?

If we can buy sappanwood flowers at the pharmacy, then the matter of the white-feathered chicken advancing to the next level will be settled.

Chen Dao felt a surge of excitement, but his face remained impassive as he said, "Thank you for your explanation, Mr. Li."

Li Zheng stroked his beard and accepted Chen Dao's thanks with a clear conscience.

For a teacher, nothing is more gratifying than resolving a student's doubts. Although Chen Dao was not strictly speaking his student, Li Zheng was still pleased to be able to resolve Chen Dao's doubts.

"Mr. Li, then I won't bother you any longer!"

"Why don't you have a meal before you leave?"

"no need!"

Chen Dao declined Li Zheng's invitation. With no students studying at the school and Li Zheng struggling financially, how could he possibly offer to freeload a meal here?

As Chen Dao walked out of Li Zheng's house, he glanced back at Li Zheng's figure and couldn't help but sigh.

Even a scholar like Li Zheng, who is respected by the villagers, is having a hard time these days. Just now in the study, Chen Dao clearly saw that Li Zheng's arms were extremely thin, and his cheeks and eye sockets were sunken. Obviously, Li Zheng's living conditions were not good, and he might not even be able to get enough to eat.

In addition, Chen Dao also noticed that Li Zheng was the only person in his home!

Li Zheng, who has lived in Chenjia Village for ten years, seems to have no intention of getting married and has always lived alone.

In fact, many women in Chenjia Village were willing to marry Li Zheng in the past, including the village chief Chen He, who had acted as matchmaker for Li Zheng many times. However, for some reason, Li Zheng had no intention of getting married and is now all alone.

…………

…………

Back home, Chen Dao looked at the five gray-feathered chickens in the cage, his eyes gleaming.

We've already found the materials to upgrade the white-feathered chickens to yellow-feathered chickens. The most important thing right now is to upgrade these five gray-feathered chickens to white-feathered chickens, then take them to the county town to sell them and earn enough capital. After that, we'll buy sappanwood flowers from the county town's pharmacy and start preparing for the upgrade to yellow-feathered chickens.

"If all of these gray-feathered chickens can be upgraded to white-feathered chickens, that would be 3 taels of silver, which would definitely greatly improve the family's situation."

With these thoughts in mind, Chen Dao felt an exceptionally strong desire to change his family's circumstances, because... at this moment, he craved meat and white rice!

Two days later in the morning.

Chen Dao and Li Ping stood in front of the chicken coop, looking at the five chickens inside with delight.

Unsurprisingly, all five gray-feathered chickens evolved into white-feathered chickens!

Do not!

Not all of them are white-feathered chickens!

Chen Dao's gaze fell on the chicken coop, but he noticed that one chicken was particularly different from the others.

All the other chickens have snow-white feathers and yellow feet and beaks, but this chicken has snow-white feathers, but its feet are as black as ink, shimmering with a metallic luster under the sunlight. Its beak is golden, and its body is a size larger than other white-feathered chickens, making it look particularly strange!

[Black-footed Chicken: Born from an unpredictable mutation during the evolution of gray-feathered chickens into white-feathered chickens; it cannot evolve further.]

[Black-footed Chicken Characteristics: Agile and powerful in combat, comparable to a ninth-rank martial artist.]

"It's mutated!"

The words that appeared in his eyes filled Chen Dao with joy. The word "mutation" might be unfamiliar to the people of Xia Kingdom, but it was all too familiar to Chen Dao, an Earthling!

Mutations often symbolize unpredictability; however, the outcome of this mutation was positive.

What Chen Dao felt most deeply after transmigrating to this world was poverty and hunger, followed by a lack of security!