Chapter 892: Chapter 902 Meal Money_1 Chapter 892: Chapter 902 Meal Money_1 Such a group of people appearing unannounced at their doorstep took both Tong Sanlang and Qiao Xiaomai by surprise.

In the snowy weather, so cold, these people really were in high spirits…

It wasn’t just students, Dean Gu also came along.

He stood at the doorway with a smile, draped in a pure white tiger skin cloak, holding a small brazier in his hands, and was talking to Qiao Changshun.

With so many people arriving, it was clear a banquet was in order, and he told Qiao Changshun to quickly bring some people to the village to fetch tables, chairs, and dinnerware.

Seeing Tong Sanlang and Qiao Xiaomai coming over, he waved at them, “You’ve come back just in time. With such a group of people, you two can manage the arrangements. Don’t worry, silver is definitely not an issue.”

Now that Qiao Xiaomai had become a successful candidate in the imperial examinations, inviting her to cook meant they had to be more courteous and offer a higher price.

Although their visit was uninvited, they had discussed this in the summer, so it wasn’t considered too abrupt.

Qiao Xiaomai naturally understood this point, and after her initial surprise, she nodded and said, “Alright.”

Upon seeing Qiao Xiaomai nod, Dean Gu then turned to the surrounding throng of students, “Alright, if you want to go hunting up in the mountains, go ahead, but remember, not one of you should be missing; you must all come back safely.”

“Be quick in bringing back the game you catch; don’t delay our lunch.”

“Understood!” As soon as Dean Gu’s voice fell, the students immediately responded in unison, loudly enough to shake the snow off the eaves.

Seeing this, Dean Gu’s face showed satisfaction. He waved his hand and the bunch of students dispersed like birds and beasts, each mounting their steeds and galloping towards the mountains.

Snow had fallen just last night, and it was knee deep, making the journey not easy. Even the fast horses could not run fast, but this did not dampen the students’ enthusiasm as they all had smiles on their faces.

After the group of students had left, their servants remained. Tong Sanlang called a few people and borrowed a horse-drawn carriage from Fan Linong, driving it back to the village to move tables and chairs.

Qiao Xiaomai gave Wang Tiesheng and his wife some silver, asking them to take people with the carriage back to the village to buy dried vegetables from the villagers.

In winter, there were few fresh vegetables, and many villagers dried some during the summer. Qiao Xiaomai also had some dried vegetables, but hers were enough only for her own family’s consumption. For such a group of people, she absolutely had to buy more from the village.

There were also chickens, ducks, pigs, and sheep to prepare. Although today’s main dishes would be the game hunted by the students, who knew when they would be able to catch anything, so these other meats needed to be prepared in advance.

Dean Gu watched Qiao Xiaomai bustle about and followed Qiao Changshun to Zhu Xiang Ju.

In such cold weather, he would still prefer to sit comfortably on the heated brick bed and wait for his meal.

After sitting down on the heated brick bed at Zhu Xiang Ju, Dean Gu had the young servant following him go and call Qiao Xiaomai.

When Qiao Xiaomai came in, he nodded at the young servant, who immediately took out a thick stack of silver notes from the bag he was carrying, “Miss Qiao, here.”

“Two hundred taels per student, a total of one hundred and seven people, this is twenty-one thousand four hundred taels of silver notes.”

Qiao Xiaomai “…”

She stared at the stack of silver notes, a bit stunned, “This is too much…”

“Not at all. Your status is different now. To cook for them, this price is actually on the low side. Besides, each of them brought at least two servants, so when averaged out per person, it’s not much.”

Seeing the sunflower seeds on the kang table, Dean Gu pinched one and gently cracked it open, continuing to speak, “Moreover, our arrival today was rather sudden. If you think it’s too much, then treat the excess as an apology to you and Sanlang.”