Chapter 94
Gu Xinxin also taught Uncle Wang a way to cook fish - fish cake. Fish cake is a specialty of Hunan. Put a few slices in the hot pot. It is delicate, soft, elastic and fresh. Although it and fish balls are both made of fish, the taste is different.
Fish balls have a firmer texture, while fish cakes are smoother. This is because of the different ingredients in them. Fish balls are made of pure fish meat, while fish cakes are made with rice flour.
Anyway, as long as she can make it, she can send it to the fish restaurant.
Uncle Wang's cooking wasn't very good at first, after all, they weren't used to making rice cakes here. It was only in Hunan that fish cakes were invented after seeing how rice cakes were made in various ways. But as with everything, once you get the ingredients right, the fish cakes won't be too bad.
After staying in Huaishu Town for a day, Gu Xinxin hurriedly urged Gu Daniu to go back.
Just as she was returning home, the matchmaker arrived. She was an official matchmaker, and she came to remind Gu Xinxin that she was about to turn seventeen, and if she didn't get married, the government would start collecting taxes.
The government has a roster that records the number of people under its jurisdiction and their ages clearly. No family can have one more person, nor can any family have one less person for no apparent reason.
When it comes to marriage, the official media is responsible. When you reach a certain age, they'll remind you that if you don't have a good partner, you should ask them to help you. If you already have a partner, you just need to get married before the age limit.
Gu Xinxin is sixteen now, but it is already the end of October, and the Chinese New Year is in two months. By then she will be seventeen.
The court's regulations required marriage at the age of eighteen, engagement at seventeen, and then marriage. These three things would take only one year in total.
The official mediator was a plump old woman who spoke slowly and softly, "I heard before that the He family from the county town came to propose marriage."
Gu Xinxin was silent for a moment, then nodded: "The He family did come to my house, but they didn't propose marriage, they wanted to take a concubine. And I swore an oath that I would never be a concubine in this life."
The official media laughed and said, "That's a pity. Speaking of which, the He family is actually a good family. Firstly, they are a merchant family. They are rich, but they don't care too much about rules. Secondly, they have been in business for three generations and are now planning to switch to farming and studying. The next generation will be able to take the imperial examination."
A family engaged in business cannot take the imperial examinations for three generations.
The three generations are counted from the time when the household registration of a merchant was changed. Well, the court had certain standards for the household registration of merchants, such as how many shops you own, how much property your family has, what kind of business you do, etc.
After these three generations, if you want to take the imperial examination, you have to give up some things. For example, you don’t have to touch the shop or the farmland under your name, but you can no longer get involved in business that you shouldn’t do.
Tea, silk, porcelain, salt, coal, and other items were only available to merchants. In other words, anyone involved in these things had to become a merchant. If one switched careers and stopped being a merchant, then these items were forbidden. Of course, cloth shops were different. They were, strictly speaking, engaged in embroidery and clothing making, and were not considered to be dealing in silk.
Anyway, there are loopholes that can be exploited, but you have to establish good relations with the local government in advance, otherwise when people say you are in the silk business, you won’t be able to tell it is an embroidery business.
Officials also had their own ideas. They couldn't own these businesses, but they could let their servants share in the profits. Or they could have their servants open shops directly—this risked being reported to the emperor—or they could have their servants collaborate with merchants, which is what we call collusion between officials and businessmen.
For example, the workshop currently run by Gu Xinxin's family is in the food business. There is no storefront, and there are no male members in the Gu family. All the business is managed by Gu Xinxin alone, and the workshop is also under her name. So for now, the Gu family has nothing to do with merchants.
The official media continued to talk about the He family: "If you don't want to be a concubine, the He family still has a third young master, who is sixteen years old this year, the same age as you..."
Gu Xinxin raised an eyebrow. The one who had proposed marriage was the eldest son of the He family, and since she didn't want him, they had changed it to the third son of the He family? If she really married him, wouldn't she feel uncomfortable meeting the eldest son of the He family? Was there really such a thing when proposing marriage?
She asked, "Does the Third Young Master of the He Family have any shortcomings?"
The official media couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, and after a moment, he said, "No wonder the Gu family's workshop is so popular. Miss Gu is a smart person. The third young master of the He family doesn't have any major shortcomings. He is about your age, tall, and very handsome. However, he is a concubine's son."
Gu Xinxin said "oh", it was not her turn as the legitimate child.
Although the He family was only the richest in the county, how big was a county? Under it, there would be more than ten townships, and each township would have five or six villages, which would make more than sixty villages. If all of them were as large as Xiaokaner Village, how many people would that be?
Furthermore, there is such a large county town here, which probably has a population of tens of thousands? Or even hundreds of thousands?
Therefore, the He family is considered to have a very high status in the local area.
She smiled and said, "I've never met the third young master of the He family, but I don't think this marriage is appropriate. The eldest young master of the He family just asked someone to take a concubine, but I refused. If I marry the third young master, wouldn't that... easily cause a rift between brothers?"
The official media had a half-smile on their faces, probably because they felt that Gu Xinxin had a high opinion of herself - how could they be against her brothers for a village girl like her?
At first, she really didn't understand why the He family wanted to marry Gu Xinxin, but when she saw the Gu family's workshop, she understood. The He family was probably after the Gu family's workshop.
To be frank, the girls in the county town are much prettier than Miss Gu. Even if they are from ordinary families, they walk in a gentle and graceful manner and speak softly. No matter how unsophisticated they are about dressing up, they will definitely have a hairpin or velvet flower on their head and some traces of rouge and powder on their face.
Look at the Miss Gu in front of him. She only has a wooden hairpin on her head, no earrings, no necklace, not even a bracelet, and no makeup on her face. She is wearing ordinary linen clothes. Compared with other village girls, the only difference is that her clothes are not patched.
Her complexion is just so-so, and her facial features are pretty, but no matter how pretty they are, they might not even be as good as the maid of the He family.
If a girl like this were to marry into the He family, she would probably be useless once the Gu family's workshop changed its name. At best, she could become the third young lady. At worst, she would probably die in a few years.
How could someone like her have the courage to say that other brothers would quarrel over her brother?
Do you really think you are a peerless beauty?
The official media didn't think much of Gu Xinxin. The families she usually acted as a matchmaker for included the daughter of the county magistrate, so a village girl like Gu Xinxin was really not within her matchmaking range.
But she couldn't show it on her face. If she wanted to make this marriage proposal with the He family, they said they would give her at least one hundred taels of silver as a reward.
The official media laughed and said, "What's so hard to get over between brothers? Besides, the eldest young master has never met you, he just thinks your pork floss is good. If you marry the third young master, you will be family. There is no need for the eldest young master to quarrel with his brothers over such a trivial matter."
Gu Xinxin couldn't help laughing: "Really? It sounds like the He family's eldest young master is coveting my pork floss recipe."
The official media's expression froze instantly.
Gu Xinxin picked up the teacup and said, "I don't want to marry into the He family. There's still a year left. Don't worry, matchmaker, I'll pay you whatever tax you owe me, even if I can't get married by then."
The official media warned earnestly: "You are young and don't understand the seriousness of this matter. If you pay taxes, your marriage will be even more difficult."
It's not easy for women in this world.
Silver is so hard to earn, and it's such a wonderful thing. Yet, you paid taxes on it. So, you must have some serious problem that prevents you from getting married. Perhaps you're extremely ugly, or involved in a scandal, or have a hidden illness. In any case, anyone who gives silver isn't a normal person.
After all, if you get married you don't have to pay taxes. Who would be so stupid as to pay taxes every year without getting married?
Then, it became a vicious cycle: the more money they paid, the harder it was for them to get married; the harder it was for them to get married, the more money they had to pay, until they had to pay to the government to arrange a marriage for them.
The government didn't order all the unmarried men and women to come and meet each other and marry whoever they found suitable. Instead, the county magistrate took a book and circled them: "This man is 23 and unmarried, and this woman is 21 and unmarried. They are of similar age, so they should be circled together."
In such cases, the girl might be from a wealthy family and the boy a beggar. Or the boy might be educated and the girl might be blind or lame. There are all sorts of situations. Anyway, the county magistrate would not go to see the girl, let alone investigate her family background, ask about her temperament, or judge her character.
Therefore, no one would hand over their marriage to the county government unless it was absolutely necessary.
The official media, in a persuasive manner, explained the situation clearly to Gu Xinxin: "You are a good girl. I see that you have delicate features and are quite intelligent. In that case, why not take advantage of your age and quickly find yourself a good marriage? The He family is sincere. If you have time, why not meet the third young master of the He family first? Maybe after seeing him, you will think that the third young master is okay. To be honest, the third young master's appearance is really beyond words. He is one of the best in the entire He family."
Otherwise, Master He would not have taken his mother as a concubine.
Gu Xinxin waved her hand: "The He family won't consider it anymore. But since you've persuaded me like this, why don't I first state my requirements? I'll ask the matchmaker to help me keep an eye out for it. If there really is a suitable marriage, I will definitely not treat you badly as a thank you gift."
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