The heavy rain came suddenly, and the chickens running all over the mountain didn't have time to get back to their coop. There were only about a hundred chickens in the coop, and the rest didn't know where to hide from the rain. The rain was so heavy that many places in the orchard had been scratched bare by the chickens. Now, the rainwater mixed with mud and rocks washed down, carving out small ditches.

Lu Yufeng put on a raincoat, picked up a hoe, and went to the orchard. Lu Yunxing returned from the new house and, without even having a sip of water, followed his brother.

Wang Dahe used woven bamboo strips to set up four or five fish-blocking nets in Qingzhugou. At this moment, the innermost net was blocked by the dry branches and leaves washed in by the water. The stream overflowed onto the mountain road, and the fish that were washed down from Wild Boar Pool also jumped onto the mountain road and swam back into the stream with the rainwater.

The heavy rain gradually stopped by nightfall, coming and going quickly, completely resolving the drought of the past two years. The river in the village suddenly swelled, and the village chief notified every household to take good care of the elderly and children, lest they be swept away by the water.

With ample water in the fields, there's hope for a good harvest this year, and the village is bustling with activity.

The Lu family was eating in the kitchen, watching the light rain outside. Lu Yunxing was taking a big bite of crispy duck. "We have so many ducks. If we can't finish them all by grilling, let's make crispy duck. This stuff is really delicious."

After eating two pieces, their mouths went numb, yet they couldn't resist wanting more. Even Lu Yu was slurping his fingers as he ate.

"We need to get rid of the chickens and ducks in the orchard, otherwise the next time it rains, the hillside will be full of gullies and the soil will not be able to be retained." Lu Yunfeng thought about what he saw this afternoon. Without grass attached to the surface of the soil, the fruit tree roots alone could not retain the topsoil. The chickens and ducks were too destructive. A hundred or even a thousand chickens and ducks left no grass growing wherever they went.

Land also needs time to recover.

The next morning, Lu Yunfeng took Qin Xiaozhou and Zhao Fang back to the county town. Lu Yunxing also went with them. The plums and peaches in their orchard had been mostly picked, with only a few still unripe. Grapes and pomegranates would ripen in large quantities in late summer and early autumn, so they hired two women from the village to pick the summer fruits.

The transportation work was handed over to Wang Dahe, who did two jobs and was paid twice. The man in his thirties seemed tireless, delivering fruit, tending to the chickens and ducks, cleaning the chicken and duck pens, fertilizing the orchard, and doing everything. He would also occasionally sow weed seeds under the bare fruit trees, determined to take good care of the orchard.

Lu's barbecue stall was set up in the market. The barbecue iron rack was specially made by a blacksmith, which is lightweight and convenient to use. The spices for the meat were all developed by Qin Xiaozhou and Lu Yunfeng. In the past two days, the employees of the shop have been eating the barbecue that the two of them developed every day, and they have all gained weight.

Ma Da Ge came in handy. This big man grilled with great vigor, not afraid of the heat at all. He neatly skewered raw meat onto bamboo sticks, grilled it over charcoal, brushed it with oil, and sprinkled it with secret seasonings. The oil dripped onto the charcoal, and the aroma immediately came out.

As evening fell, the aroma filled the air, extremely enticing, drawing in meat lovers who exclaimed, "What kind of meat is this? It smells delicious!"

Ma Da flipped the meat skewers over. "We have chicken, pork, and rabbit." He paused, then asked curtly, "Which one do you want?"

The person being asked could only reply, "Give me a skewer of pork first, the fattiest kind."

Ma Da Ge, "One skewer of pork costs one coin."

"Alright!" The man tossed a copper coin into the wooden basin beside him. "There are four or five pieces of meat on each skewer. I want to see how delicious it is. Such a small amount of meat costs one coin."

Ma Da Ge silently grilled the meat and handed it over.

The man smelled it and it really smelled good. He couldn't wait to take a bite, and as he chewed, the aroma of oil and meat burst in his mouth. He wolfed it down and put ten more skewers into the bowl. "Ten more skewers, please."

Those around him could tell from his expression that it was delicious, but a skewer of meat cost only one copper coin, which was a bit expensive. Everyone swallowed hard, but more people looked than bought.

Those still remaining in the county town were all city dwellers, and they had some money. Seven or eight-year-old children were clamoring for food. The grandmother, doting on her eldest grandson, took out a copper coin and said, "We want a string of them too."

Ma Da Ge was a man of few words but quick and efficient. He added charcoal and oiled the meat quickly. He gave a skewer to a child, and when the child tilted his head to pull at the meat, it got stuck in his teeth. In his panic, the boy pulled hard on the skewer and suddenly opened his mouth and cried out, blood gushing out of his mouth, which was quite gruesome.

The surrounding crowd retreated like a tide, their faces filled with terror.

The child's grandmother immediately cried out, "Oh dear, grandson, what's wrong with you?" Pointing at Ma Dage, she cursed, "You heartless bastard! Is there poison in your meat? You're trying to poison my grandson! I'm going to the authorities to sue you for murder! Murder! Murder!"

Big Ma panicked, "It's not poisonous, there's no poison in the meat."

How could this meat be poisonous? To ensure freshness, these chickens and rabbits were brought from Wangjia Village this morning, slaughtered, marinated for three hours, and then his wife and he personally skewered them piece by piece. He also ate them and learned how to barbecue for two days. How could it be poisonous?

But the child really did vomit blood!!

The man who had bought the meat earlier was picking his teeth. "Hey, you old woman, how can you be so unreasonable? If it were poisonous, I would be perfectly fine. It's clearly your grandson who was in a hurry and bit off his tooth."

Pointing to the meat skewer in the boy's hand, she said, "Look, your teeth are getting stuck on that meat."

Only then did everyone notice the tooth. The child's grandmother snatched the roast meat, and sure enough, there was a tooth on it. "Dabao, spit out the blood in your mouth, don't swallow it."

The boy vomited blood, and there was a tooth in the blood. The old woman's heart, which had just calmed down, became restless again. Her eyes darted around, and she started shouting, "Goodness, what kind of meat is this? It knocked out two of my grandson's teeth! Pay up!" She then yelled at the crowd, "Don't eat their meat, it's very tough, or you'll lose all your teeth!!"