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

Inside the kitchen, firewood crackled and popped as it burned, and the brine in the pot bubbled and simmered, releasing a rich aroma.

He was watching her buy herbs and spices, and now she's making these dishes right in front of him, without any attempt to hide it.

Does she really trust him that much?

And with only two people busy in the kitchen, he felt a sense of peace and tranquility.

Anyway... anyway, the person listed in the family genealogy is Ji Yanwen, so even if he marries into the family, it shouldn't matter, right?

"You can keep these; I'll take the rest with me."

Jiang Bai's voice rang in his ears, and Ji Yanwen, who was lost in thought, immediately came back to his senses.

She had already packed up the braised offal, leaving him two or three pounds of it, and was about to leave with the basket on her back.

"and many more."

She turned to look at him.

“Miss Jiang… Miss Jiang.” He stammered for no apparent reason.

"I didn't cheat you out of your money."

"No...that's not what I meant. I wanted to ask what you plan to do with these braised offal pieces?"

"Of course I'll carry it to town to sell, I can't eat it anyway."

"How about I help you sell them?"

"Huh?" Jiang Bai's eyes widened. Good heavens, did he see a business opportunity?

"I'll help you sell them, and I'll share 10% of the profits." Ji Yanwen spoke more and more smoothly, since this stuff was so delicious, he wasn't worried about it not selling.

"This..." Jiang Bai was tempted when he thought about the weeds still in his family's several acres of fields.

Ji Yanwen waited anxiously for her answer, and when she nodded, he finally felt relieved.

"Okay, get a scale, I want to weigh it."

He quickly grabbed a scale, but since it wasn't a large one, he could only weigh things little by little.

"Twenty-three catties, and we won't take even a tenth of it. We'll sell this offal at thirty coins a catty, and the extra money is all yours."

"it is good."

"Then I'll go first."

Phew, now that the water problem is solved, Jiang Bai is happy. He lifts the basket off his back and walks outside.

"and many more."

"What is it now?" Jiang Bai asked helplessly.

"Have you...have you chosen someone to marry into your family?"

Jiang Bai: "..."

Her eyes narrowed. Was this guy after her money?

"not yet."

Not sure, check again.

Ji Yanwen's breathing became rapid, and he could hardly utter the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

Facing Jiang Bai's scrutinizing gaze, he took a deep breath and, as if going all out, asked, "Do you think I'm suitable?"

Good lad, you said you'd rather die than marry into another family.

Jiang Bai looked at him but did not answer.

"I...I just...I just haven't found it yet..."

He stammered, and the truth was, of course, not like that, but that was not something to be told to outsiders.

"can."

"Here, give me the silver first."

"what?"

"If you marry into the family, it's normal for your wife to manage the money, right?"

"Oh." He handed over the silver, which he hadn't even warmed yet.

After Jiang Bai left, he realized that something seemed wrong.

He hasn't even married into the family yet, so why should he pay money?

On the other side, Jiang Bai, holding the silver in his hand, also had some doubts.

He foolishly gave her the money; was he really not after her money?

If not for money, then for sex?

Touching her cheek, she nodded, as if it wasn't impossible.

Jiang Bai walked briskly, not at all afraid that Ji Yanwen would covet her braised food. After all, that little bit of braised food wasn't worth twenty taels of silver, and his twenty taels of silver were still in her hands.

In a few days, um... if he doesn't ask her for the money back in three days, she'll send someone to propose marriage.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Jiang Bai and Jiang Lü pulled up all the weeds in the field, but Ji Yanwen didn't come to ask her for money.

So on the third night, after dinner, Jiang Bai went to Qianshan Village again to confirm Ji Yanwen's thoughts once more.

"dong dong dong"

A knock sounded at the door in the night. Ji Yanwen immediately sat up and asked in a low voice, "Who is it?"

"it's me."

His eyes flickered slightly, and he quickly opened the door, pulled the person in, and complained, "Why are you so late?"

No, why does she feel that this conversation is a bit strange?

It made it seem like she was doing something shameful.

"Here, this is the money from selling the braised food."

A string of copper coins was stuffed into Jiang Bai's hand, still warm from his palm.

"Also, about what we talked about that day..."

After paying the money, Ji Yanwen began to bring up the matter of marrying into the family.

"Have you thought this through? You really want to marry into my family?"

"Yes, but I have a few conditions." He had carefully considered the matter of marrying into the family, but there were some things he needed to say upfront. If she didn't agree, he would have to think of other ways.

"Tell me."

I knew it wouldn't be that simple.

"First, I don't want to have children so soon after we get married, so we can't consummate our marriage."

Coincidentally, she didn't want to either.

"Don't worry, I'll find a way to earn the money to pay the birth tax when it comes."

"Huh? A birth tax?"

Did this type of tax exist in ancient times?

"That's right. The imperial court stipulates that every married couple must have five children, with at least two of them being male."

"Hiss, what if they can't give birth?"

"Then it will be calculated per head. For each child less than one child, there will be one tael of silver. The imperial regulations stipulate that a couple must have one child after one year of marriage, two children after three years, three children after five years, four children after seven years, and five children after nine years. If there are not enough males, then at least one child must be born every two years."

Jiang Bai angrily retorted, "Isn't this treating people like breeding machines?"

"They're already poor enough, and now they're having so many children. How can they possibly raise them all?"

Ji Yanwen glanced at her and saw that the anger on her face seemed genuine. He couldn't help but wonder, wasn't this something everyone already knew? Why was she so angry?

"The imperial court needs able-bodied men to recruit soldiers, and farming also requires strong laborers. If we don't have children, where will the population come from?"

So you're making people keep having children, right?

This inhumane treatment of women hit her right off the bat.

"Fine, the birth tax is all yours." Although she was furious, she couldn't dampen his enthusiasm since someone was willing to pay.

Ji Yanwen's face stiffened for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure.

"Secondly, after getting married, I will continue my studies and participate in the imperial examinations."

"Oh?"

Is the fox's tail finally showing?

"Don't worry, I will earn my own money to support my studies and pay my food expenses on time."

Looking at his dirt-poor home, how could she not believe it?

"You...you gave me twenty taels of silver, didn't you? I'll use those twenty taels to make money." He forced himself to speak, still feeling somewhat awkward.

"Hmm... then why did you choose to marry into the family? Was it just to avoid being forced into a marriage with someone else?" Jiang Bai asked, puzzled.

If she weren't planning to have a son-in-law marry into the family, it wouldn't really matter whether she found her own husband or was arranged to marry him.

In any case, men are dispensable to her.

Therefore, she expressed her incomprehension regarding the two conditions Ji Yanwen mentioned.

"You do not understand."

In the candlelight, his expression flickered, and his eyes seemed to hold some earth-shattering secret.

Jiang Bai blinked, and then, as if possessed, reached out towards his face.

"what are you doing?"

He was so frightened that he suddenly stepped back, raised his hand slightly, touched the coldness of the dagger, and then calmed down.

Unfortunately, Jiang Bai was faster. His hand moved with lightning speed, grabbing his right wrist and quickly twisting his other hand with his left. He then grabbed both hands together, quickly pulled the skin from his temple, and tore it to the left.