Even in a famine, there's no panic; the eldest sister has stockpiled plenty of money and grain.

Chapter 26 Scholar Ji Refuses Marriage

Li Fugui frowned and glanced at Ji Xiucai with some displeasure.

Ji Yanwen looked completely innocent. He had no connection with their family and didn't need to expose his secret with Jiang Bai to bother with such trivial formalities.

"Is that so? Scholar Ji will be seventeen in a while, right? I wonder if the marriage has been settled?"

Although Li Fugui was displeased, seeing that there was no one around his house and that he wasn't afraid of his words being revealed, he simply decided to talk there.

Ji Yanwen's heart skipped a beat, but he smiled wryly and said, "We're still looking for a candidate, Uncle Fugui, why are you asking about this?"

Please don't let it be what he's thinking.

Li Fugui took a deep breath. He felt a little breathless as he spoke of his daughter to a young man.

What do you think of our Yao'er?

"Don't worry, as long as you are willing to marry my Yao'er, I can give you a dowry of fifty taels of silver. As long as you treat her well, that's fine."

Fearing that Ji Yanwen would refuse, Li Fugui quickly stated his family's terms.

The Li family owns an orchard and has mastered a technique for brewing fruit wine. Over the years, they have supplied wine to wineries in the county and have been living quite well.

But it was only "good"; compared to wealthy families, it was still far from being considered good.

By giving away those fifty taels of silver, Li Fugui had also shed blood and cut off his own flesh.

Let alone his heartache, even Ji Yanwen would be moved upon hearing this.

But as soon as he thought about the way Li Yao looked at him, he felt no attraction at all.

Especially when compared to the hunter's son's plump wife, who was said to have been bedridden for days, he said that his wife had been exploiting him to have a child, and it was only after she finally got pregnant that his health improved.

However, she also became frail and weak, even worse off than him.

“Uncle Fugui, this… my family is really poor, and as you know, I don’t have long to live, so I dare not delay Miss Li.”

Ji Yanwen spoke politely, but even with such politeness, it was still a refusal.

Li Fugui had long known that he probably wouldn't agree, but he was still very unhappy about losing face.

"What's this about delaying things, Scholar Ji? Your parents passed away early, and you have no relatives or friends in this village. Think about it, if you marry my Yao'er, with our family's help, you can continue your studies later. Why refuse?"

"Besides, I gave my Yao'er a dowry of fifty taels of silver. Think about it, which girl would get such a large dowry when she marries you?"

"Girls from these surrounding villages are not so easy to find. You yourself said that your family is poor and you don't have long to live, so there's even less chance of a girl marrying you. Besides my Yao'er, who else can you marry?"

"Listen to your uncle's advice, you and my Yao'er are destined to be together. Otherwise, why would God have made you both born on June 29th?"

Li Fugui kept talking, and Ji Yanwen's refusal only made him more rebellious. He insisted on marrying his daughter to him, completely unaware that Ji Yanwen's face had darkened.

"Uncle Fugui".

“Miss Li is of noble health, and I am but a poor scholar, I am truly unable to accept her. I would be grateful if you could find another suitable husband.”

After saying that, without giving Li Fugui any time to react, she slammed the door shut.

Li Fugui stood there stunned for several seconds before he realized what was happening.

Oh, so what do you mean by "body is precious"? You just think his daughter is fat, don't you?

"Bah, I'd like to see what kind of person you can marry. Don't let the government arrange a marriage for you with someone who's crippled. Let's see what you'll be so smug about then."

Li Fugui returned home seething with anger, and Ji Yanwen wasn't much better off.

Besides his daughter, there were plenty of girls willing to marry him, but they insisted on finding a capable and healthy wife for Li Fugui to see.

It's really like a tiger being bullied by a dog.

If he were still alive...

There was another knocking sound at the door, and Ji Yanwen got angry.

"I already said, Miss Li's health is precious, I can't accept..." The rest of the words got stuck in his throat, his face turned bright red, and he felt a strange sense of panic.

Jiang Bai blinked and asked, "Um...did I come at the wrong time?"

"No...no, it's the perfect time...no, no, I mean..."

Ji Yanwen was incoherent and, afraid that someone would see Jiang Bai, grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside.

Jiang Bai's eyes flickered slightly.

This season's scholar seems to be stronger than I imagined?

Not sure, check again.

"Miss Jiang, why are you here again? It's broad daylight, it's not good if people see us."

"It was my oversight; I hope it didn't delay your search."

Jiang Bai was slightly embarrassed, but if he didn't clean up the mess quickly, it would smell bad.

"No, no, no, I didn't look at it."

"Hmm, no, I'm not interested."

"Don't worry, I'll leave right away after I've taken care of the drainage."

"Oh, right, here's twenty taels of silver, your reward." Jiang Bai handed him the wrapped silver, and Ji Yanwen's hands trembled as he tried to explain.

Twenty taels?

Isn't it two hundred copper coins?

Holding the twenty taels of silver in my hand, it wasn't heavy, but it was a feeling I hadn't experienced in a long time.

Since his family was exiled, he has never had so much silver.

While he was still lost in thought, Jiang Bai was already cleaning the drain.

"Scholar Ji, now that you've received the money, shouldn't you be working hard?"

Jiang Bai rolled his eyes speechlessly as he woke up the dazed Ji Yanwen.

"coming."

Having accepted bribes, Ji Yanwen was now full of energy.

"You start the fire."

Jiang Bai gave the orders.

Ji Yanwen is now an obedient servant, doing whatever Jiang Bai tells him to do.

Offal has a strong flavor, requiring a lot of oil and spices to mask it. Using offal from four pigs to stir-fry would require an unknown amount of oil.

To make this dish taste good, Jiang Bai immediately thought of braising it.

Before coming here, the underworld had already replicated the delicacies of the mortal world one-to-one, and the underworld's braised food business was spread throughout the entire underworld.

Furthermore, the use of various spices and herbs in braising can perfectly mask the taste of offal.

Stir-fry the prepared Chinese medicinal herbs and seasonings until fragrant, then add water and simmer.

After the aroma is released, remove all the spices, wrap them in cheesecloth, filter the brine, put the wrapped spices into the pot, and then add water.

Once cooked, remove them from the water.

"Can you taste it and see if it tastes right?" Jiang Bai first scooped up a section of fatty intestine, chopped it into small pieces with a cleaver, and then used chopsticks to pick it up and hand it to Ji Yanwen.

Seeing the chopsticks she was holding, Ji Yanwen's face flushed red.

"You...you put it down, I can do it myself."

Jiang Bai was stunned for a moment, then glanced at his flushed face and belatedly realized that such a gesture was too intimate and could easily lead to misunderstandings.

She casually put down her chopsticks, winked at him, and told him to taste the saltiness.

The offal smelled delicious. If it weren't for the mourning period, Jiang Bai would have tasted it himself instead of letting him.

Ji Yanwen smelled the aroma and felt hungry. He picked up a piece with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth.

Fragrant.

His eyes suddenly lit up; he had never eaten anything so delicious.

He looked like a vegetarian puppy eating meat for the first time, his face showing undisguised shock and enjoyment.

"delicious."

"you are great."

He praised it sincerely, his eyes fixed on the last piece left on the cutting board.

His face clearly showed that he wanted to eat it.

With a few swift cuts, Jiang Bai chopped a large intestine into several pieces, put them in a bowl, and pushed the bowl toward him.

"Here, let's eat."

After saying that, he took the braised offal out of the water and started braising the next batch.

Busy as she was, she didn't notice the struggle in Ji Yanwen's lowered eyes.