Chen Ping opened his eyes wide in surprise, looking at his grandfather. It was clear that he didn't believe such words were coming from his grandfather.
But Chen Anbang continued smugly, "Cui Fugui has been a doctor his whole life and has accumulated quite a bit of wealth. He could easily be worth a few hundred taels of silver."
"That girl, Cui Hongyu, with her looks, could fetch a good price at Baihua Tower."
"Once that happens, our family will become the wealthiest in the area. You can marry any woman you want."
After hearing his grandfather's words, Chen Ping fell into deep thought.
His father had died young, and his mother remarried early. It was Chen Anbang and his wife who had painstakingly raised him to adulthood.
Although his grandfather, Chen Anbang, was the village head and he was the captain of the village protection team—both the only positions in the village that paid a salary from the county—being the village protection captain was practically useless. The county only paid him two hundred copper coins a year.
The village head's situation was a little better. He earned thirty copper coins a month, but even that wasn't enough.
Moreover, some of it had to be given to the protection team members because, without any pay, who would do the work?
So, Chen Ping often had to work side jobs.
Now that there was a shortcut to wealth in front of him, Chen Ping naturally started to feel interested.
"Grandfather, are you sure that Cui Fugui will give all his wealth to us?"
Chen Anbang chuckled dryly, "Don't worry, I have my ways. He'll have no choice but to obey."
Chen Ping gritted his teeth. "Alright, I'll listen to you, grandfather."
"Today, I'll gather everyone and give the position of captain to Chen Xiaobei."
At that moment, Chen Xiaobei had returned home, and what he saw surprised him. Chen Qiao'er came running with a wild chicken egg in her hand, excitedly saying, "Brother, look, the wild chicken laid an egg!"
Chen Xiaobei followed her pointing finger and saw in the corner of the yard, two wild chickens tied up.
Each chicken had a three-foot-long rope tied to one leg and was tethered to a wooden post.
This way, the two wild chickens had some room to move around, but wouldn't run off.
Nearby, some dry grass had been placed intentionally.
Seeing that Chen Xiaobei was staring at them, Cui Hongyu stepped forward and explained carefully, "Since this morning, the two wild chickens have been fluttering around. I had to untie them, but I didn't expect an unexpected reward."
Seeing this, Chen Xiaobei's mind started to work.
When he was young, there were many professional chicken farmers in the neighboring village, with tightly packed iron cages full of chickens that laid many eggs every day.
In those days, the hatching rate of chickens was very low, so raising chickens wasn't easy for common folk.
If he could catch a batch of wild chickens, it would be a shortcut.
With this thought in mind, he walked over and gently gave Cui Hongyu a hug. "You did great. Now that the wild chickens can lay eggs, we'll keep them. I'll go catch a few more later."
Saying this, he took out a bag of meat buns. "I brought these from the county, try one."
Cui Hongyu shook her head, directly handing the meat bun to Qiao'er. "I'm not hungry, let Qiao'er eat it."
Chen Xiaobei looked seriously at Qiao'er, then at Cui Hongyu. He squatted down and said to his little sister, "Qiao'er, your sister-in-law has to stay with you tonight, but she needs to work during the day. Is that okay?"
Qiao'er smiled and looked at Cui Hongyu. "Sister-in-law is good, she's the best to me."
Chen Xiaobei gently patted her head. "Then, how about we give half of the meat bun to your sister-in-law?"
Qiao'er nodded. "Give it all to sister-in-law. I'm not hungry, I won't eat one."
Saying this, she stuffed the meat bun back into Cui Hongyu's hand.
Cui Hongyu felt an inexplicable lump in her throat.
Growing up, whenever food was shared in the family, her father would eat first, and only then would it be her and her mother's turn. Though her father was a renowned doctor and seemed kind to others, at home, he was like an emperor.
Cui Hongyu held back the tears in her eyes, gently patting Qiao'er's shoulder. "Good girl, don't worry, sister-in-law isn't hungry, you keep the buns."
Chen Xiaobei stood up and looked at Cui Hongyu seriously, saying, "You must eat this bun today. From now on, when we get buns, you and Qiao'er will each have half."
Cui Hongyu wanted to say something, but was firmly interrupted by Chen Xiaobei. "Don't say anything. From now on, I'll decide what and how much we eat."
Cui Hongyu and Qiao'er sat side by side under the big locust tree, happily eating the meat buns. Seeing the smiles on their faces, Chen Xiaobei smiled.
As long as they were happy, even if he was tired, his heart felt sweet.
As he basked in this warmth, he heard a cough at the gate. It was Chen Ping.
Chen Xiaobei quickly went to greet him, handing him another meat bun. "Brother, just in time, have a bun."
Chen Ping waved his hand. "I've eaten enough in the county, I can't eat anymore."
Hearing this, Cui Hongyu couldn't help but chuckle.
After laughing, Chen Ping realized he had been impolite, quickly leading Qiao'er back into the house.
Chen Ping, however, ignored these things. He looked at Chen Xiaobei with a smile, "I came to discuss something with you."
As Chen Xiaobei gestured for him to sit down, he responded, "Brother, no need to discuss, whatever it is, you can just make the decision."
Chen Ping nodded. "I thought about it, and I want you to be the leader of the village guard."
Chen Xiaobei was stunned when he heard this.
Right now, he was focused on getting things off the ground, wanting to earn a little money, strive for wealth, and give Cui Hongyu and Qiao'er a better life.
But he wasn't interested in an official position.
"Brother, I'm not cut out for it. Besides, you know my character. Who in the village would listen to me?"
Chen Ping smiled slightly and patted his shoulder.
"I will, Da Ming will, Xiao Bo will, Da Qiang and the others will too."
"If they dare not listen to you after eating the buns, I'll make them spit it out."
Da Ming and Xiao Bo were the two people who had gone with him to the county earlier.
Upon hearing this, Chen Xiaobei quickly waved his hand to explain, "Brother, I didn't mean that. I just feel like you guys work hard, so I bought you all some meat buns. It wasn't to buy their loyalty."
Chen Ping shook his head, his face serious. "That's not what I meant. When I got back, Grandpa criticized me harshly. He said I lacked responsibility, that the mountain bandits entered the village and I didn't notice. Grandpa said I'm not fit to be the leader of the guard."
"I asked Da Ming, Da Qiang, and the others, and I feel you're the best person for this position."
With that, he stood up and loudly called out to the others, "Come in, all of you."
Outside, Da Ming, Xiao Bo, Da Qiang, and the others entered one after the other.
Including Chen Ping, there were a total of eight members of the village guard, and they were all present today.
Chen Ping looked around at the group and loudly asked, "Do you all want Xiao Bei to be the leader of the village guard?"
Everyone shouted in unison, "We do!"
Now it was Chen Xiaobei's turn to be confused. What was Chen Ping trying to do?