I feel so good after dressing up as a peasant girl

Chapter 318 Peng Xu'an's Marriage 2

Bai Jingshan's family built a large blue brick and tile house and a high stone courtyard wall, and they had bought 76 acres of land. His mother also worked as a manager in a preserved egg workshop. Not only did she receive a salary of one or two taels of silver every month, but the preserved egg workshop would also give them some extra holiday benefits during the holidays.

Not to mention that Bai Jingzhou himself was not idle either. When he was in the academy, he would find ways to help bookstores copy books, help with accounting for some small shops run by families, set up a stall on the street to read and write letters for people, and when he returned home he would also take time to go into the mountains to hunt and collect herbs, in short, to make sure he had money coming in all the time.

Based on Gu Wenxuan's understanding of his family's financial situation, he didn't have to eat meat every day, but it would be fine for him to have a good meat meal every other day.

But now it seems as if they haven't eaten meat for a long time.

Bai Jingzhou put down his chopsticks with a satisfied look on his face. "In the academy, only vegetarian dishes and staple foods are cheap. The prices of meat dishes are not much different from those in restaurants outside. We all think it is not cost-effective, so we seldom order them."

Gu Wenhai drank tea and said to Gu Wenxuan: "We are already considered good here. We can eat meat every four or five days. The rest of the time we basically have eggs and the dried meat, meat sauce, salted eggs, and preserved eggs brought by our family."

Gu Wenche and Bai Jingshan nodded in unison. Yes, their food quality was already quite good.

It was only after they went to the academy that they realized that there were many people in the academy whose economic conditions were worse than theirs. Those people rarely ate even vegetables, let alone meat and eggs. Most of the time they just ate a few buns or steamed buns.

Gu Wenhai, Gu Wenche and Bai Jingshan all came out of hard times. Thinking about the life they lived in the past and the life they live now, and then comparing it with other people, they all feel that what they eat now is already very good.

As for Bai Jingzhou, although he had never been frugal before, he did not want to appear too eccentric, so he chose to follow the crowd and keep in line with his friends.

After the three of them left, he quietly told Gu Wenxuan, "Actually, they are greedy, but they just don't want to spend more money on food."

To put it bluntly, it's all because of poverty. When the poor suddenly become rich, the sense of unreality and the consumption habits they have developed over a long period of time make them still reluctant to spend money.

But Bai Jingzhou was not without a way to deal with this matter. He told Gu Wenxuan, "Fortunately, the academy has a break every ten days. I can take them back to the mansion every time and ask Wu Erniang to make delicious food for us."

Since they bought the meat themselves and cooked it, the three felt that the price was right and they were not being ripped off, so they didn't feel bad about spending the money. Not only did they not object, they even offered to split the cost of buying vegetables and meat.

As for Bai Jingzhou, the three said that the house and servants were all his, and the seasonings, firewood, cooking utensils, etc. were also his, so he certainly could not pay for the vegetables and meat.

Bai Jingzhou couldn't win over them, so he could only subtly support them in other ways.

The couple chatted for a while, and Gu Wenxuan finally felt relieved about the four people's study life. She said, "When I'm done with my work, I'll live in the state capital, so I can often bring you delicious food."

Bai Jingzhou didn't care whether to send delicious food or not, but he liked to see Gu Wenxuan often, so the two agreed that after Gu Wenxuan finished her work, she would go to the provincial capital.

After the group of five had breakfast at home, Bai Jingzhou and his three companions went to Peng's house early to help Peng Xuan'an.

They were going to go with Peng Xuan'an to welcome the bride. In addition to them, several nephews of County Magistrate Peng were also accompanying the wedding procession.

Gu Wenxuan had nothing to do, so she didn't go there so early. She went out shopping for the whole morning and bought a lot of braised meat and roast chicken for Bai Jingzhou and others to take to the academy, as well as some cloth, snacks, candies and candied fruits that she planned to take back to the village to give to her family.

Now that the weather is cold, the braised meat and roast chicken can be kept. Although the academy’s dormitory does not have a kitchen, it has a stove for boiling water. Bai Jingzhou and his friends only need to steam the braised meat and roast chicken before eating, and they will have meat dishes, right?

Combined with the dried meat, meat paste, sausage, dried fish, and dried shrimp that she brought them from home, they will not be short of meat for at least the past month.

In addition to meat, salted eggs, preserved eggs, pickles, fried noodles, fried chestnuts, walnuts and other nuts, she also brought cotton-padded clothes and shoes, and leather coats and boots for Bai Jingzhou and his friends.

These things were prepared for them bit by bit by the elders of each family, and Gu Wenxuan was just a tool to deliver the goods.

Fortunately, although she was not good at sewing and her cooking skills were average, she was able to earn money and bring things home. Everything that Bai Jingzhou and his family ate, wore and used had some contribution from her.

After smoothly allocating the credit to herself, Gu Wenxuan delivered the newly purchased items back to the house, and then turned to a small restaurant only half a quarter of an hour's walk away to have a simple meal.

The servants in the house also had lunch in the small restaurant. Gu Wenxuan set a meal allowance of 20 cents per person for them, and as long as they did not exceed the allowance, they could eat whatever they wanted.

After dinner, she took a walk back, took a short nap, then got up to wash and change clothes. It was almost time for her to go out for the party.

The Peng Mansion was not far from the house where they lived, and Gu Wenxuan was not the kind of delicate lady from the inner house who had to take a car to go out, so she simply took Chun Ni'er with her and walked to the Peng Mansion to congratulate.

Bai Jingzhou and the other three prepared gifts for Peng Xuan'an. Bai Jingzhou gave it in his personal name, while Gu Wenxuan gave it in the name of the entire Bai family.

She had asked Bai Jingzhou about Peng Xuan'an's marriage yesterday. Bai Jingzhou told her that Peng Xuan'an was engaged to the girl at the end of the previous year. The girl's father and uncle were both officials. The girl herself was said to be not only beautiful, but also well-educated, polite and dignified.

Peng Xuan'an, who had no talent for studying, was able to arrange this marriage smoothly. First, because the Peng family and the girl's family were of similar background, and Peng Xuan'an himself had made considerable progress in recent years. Even if this progress could not enable him to pass the imperial examination and become an official, it would still be no problem for him to protect the family business and live a stable and wealthy life with his wife and children. Second, because County Magistrate Peng's backyard was quiet and Peng Xuan'an himself was not a lustful person, after the girl married him, at least she would not have to worry about dealing with the conspiracies and tricks in the backyard.

Because the bride's parents' home is not in Qingshan County, she and some of her family members were personally taken to Qingshan County by Peng Xuan'an two days ago. They are currently living in a villa of the Peng family.

The Peng family attached great importance to this marriage. The second wife of County Magistrate Peng, who loved to stir up trouble, was sent back to her hometown to eat vegetarian food and chant Buddhist scriptures. No one in the family took the opportunity to make trouble, and every aspect of the marriage was handled very thoughtfully and beautifully.