Everyday Wealth in Bianjing

The column Bianjing Eatery Diaries is currently updating.

Here is the blurb for this story.

Xu Zhuxiao always thought her family had it pretty good back in the village. But after the whole family moved to the capital, she went from being the most well-off young woman in the village to the poorest one on the street.

Before the move: three bowls of rice at every meal.

After the move: clutching three copper coins and swallowing her hundred-and-first mouthful of saliva in front of the capital's pricey pastry shop.

She figured it out: I need money!

Later, she really did become rich.

Then she witnessed the boss she'd been planning money-making schemes with just yesterday get his entire household confiscated.

She figured it out again: I need power, too!

But the powerful families looked down on her humble origins, and marrying some minor official wouldn't help her much.

Then inspiration struck, and she slapped the table and jumped to her feet. “I'll recruit a promising scholar and have him take the exams!”

Her gaze swept across the room and settled precisely on her older brother's classmate, who was always coming around to mooch food.

He was handsome enough and good at studying, but he didn't look... very bright.

“You'll do.” Xu Zhuxiao smiled as she handed him a contract. “Room and board, plus a promising future. Once you pass the exams, we'll split the earnings fifty-fifty. Deal?”

The refined young scholar's ears turned red. He asked quietly:

“Um... does that include clothes for all four seasons?”

Theme: Gaining the wealth you deserve through hard work and ingenuity