Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Xia Yu was awakened by her mother. It turned out that it was all just a dream, and she was still sitting on the oxcart, already at the entrance of Zhangjia Village. Her mother and aunts had already unloaded all the things they bought under the big poplar tree at the village entrance, and she was still asleep on the oxcart. Xia Yu's face was a little hot, so she quickly grabbed her mother's hand and jumped off the oxcart.

"Hey, Mother, where did my brother go?" Xia Yu asked Liu Shi when she didn't see Changyun.

"I sent your brother back to get help. Your aunt and I can't carry all this grain back. We can just wait here," Liu said, reaching out to smooth Xia Yu's hair, which was a little frizzy from sleeping.

When Changyun went to the old house to call for help, everyone was eating. Hearing that the person had already returned from town, Grandpa Zhang arranged for his eldest and second sons to go to the village entrance to move things. Meanwhile, Grandma Zhang, Liu, saw her second grandson running around, his head covered in sweat and his face flushed, and immediately felt a pang of heartache. She pulled Changyun to wash his face.

Changyun struggled to say, "Grandma, I still need to go home and tell Dad to go to the village entrance to fetch grain."

"Your eldest and second uncles have both gone. They will deliver the grain to your house. Come over and wash your face, rest for a while. Look at you, you're covered in sweat, don't get too hot."

"Changyun, listen to your grandma, go wash your face and come eat. You haven't had lunch yet, have you?" Grandpa Zhang said to Changyun, holding his rice bowl.

"Grandpa and Grandma, I'm not hungry. My mom gave me money to buy some sesame seed cakes this morning," Changyun said.

"He's still growing, how can one sesame seed cake take him anywhere? Today we're having noodles made with two kinds of flour. Qiuyu, go get your second brother a bowl of noodles, a full bowl!" No matter what Changyun said, Liu pulled him to the water vat to scoop water for him to wash his face, while instructing her granddaughter to get noodles.

Knowing her grandparents' temper, Changyun obeyed their arrangement and sat down next to her eldest brother Changsheng with her bowl, ready to eat. Liu Shi saw Changyun's not-so-full bowl and started scolding Qiuyu: "You brat, I told you to fill it to the brim, why did you only bring over this little bit?"

"Grandma, there's not much noodles left in the pot. Auntie and Mom haven't eaten yet!"

The autumn rain replied timidly.

"You brat, you're talking back now! Trying to cause trouble? You think you're asking for a beating?"

When Liu saw Qiuyu dare to contradict her, she immediately became enraged, slamming her chopsticks on the table. It looked like she was about to roll up her sleeves and hit Qiuyu. Changsheng and Changyuan, who were eating nearby, put down their bowls, ready to grab her at any moment. Dongyu, being very young, was terrified by Liu and burst into loud tears. Chunyu rushed over to hug and comfort Dongyu. With her older sister holding her, Dongyu's crying subsided, but she still sobbed softly. Only their aunt, Qinghe, seemed unaffected, holding her bowl and watching Qiuyu being scolded with a smug look of satisfaction.

"Hey, hey, hey, we're eating! Why are you scolding the children? If they're not full, get more. Besides, what's wrong with Qiuyu thinking about her mother and aunt? Look how scared you've made the children." Seeing that Liu was about to start a fuss, Grandpa Zhang spoke up to stop her. After saying that, he said to Qiuyu, "Qiuqiu, good girl, eat your food properly. Your grandma has a sharp tongue but a soft heart. Quickly comfort your sister and don't let her cry. She'll be upset while eating." Then he said to his grandsons, "Changyun, go get more when you're done. Your aunt and uncle can cook more when they get back. Changsheng and Changyuan, you two sit down and eat too."

Changyun glanced apologetically at his cousin, knowing he had caused her another scolding. But with his grandparents present, he couldn't say anything more, so he lowered his head and ate his food.

Changyun hadn't even finished his bowl of noodles when he saw his uncle carrying a bag of noodles, followed by his two sisters-in-law with baskets on their backs. He didn't see his second uncle, his mother, or Xiaxia, so Changyun knew they must have gone straight home.

Changyun quickly finished the noodles in his bowl, put the bowl down, wiped his mouth, and said to his grandparents, "Grandpa and Grandma, I'm full. I'm going home."

Grandpa Zhang looked at Changyun with affection, raised his chin and said to him: Go back, go back. You got up early this morning, go back and take a nap.

Upon hearing his grandfather's words, Changyun ran off in a flash. Before Liu could even ask her grandson if he had eaten his fill, she could only see Changyun's back.

Changyun stopped as soon as he ran out of the old house. He had just finished eating and didn't want to run so fast, but he was afraid that if he stayed any longer, Qiuyu would scold him again. He also noticed that both of his aunts only had half a bowl of noodles left, and he felt a little embarrassed.

Meanwhile, on Xia Yu's side, after her second uncle helped her and her mother carry the grain home, Zhang Youtie wanted to invite him to stay for a meal, but her second uncle refused to eat there and left as soon as he put down the food.

While Zhang Youtie and Liu were packing up the things they had bought that day, they discovered pork fat in the small baskets that the brother and sister were carrying. Only then did Liu remember what her daughter had told her about selling golden thread lotus for money. She thought she could only get a few copper coins, but she never expected that the money she got would be enough to buy so much pork fat.

"Xiaxia, how much money did you make selling those herbs today? Why did you buy so much lard?" Liu asked.

"One pound of golden thread lotus costs twenty coins, and the total is eight pounds and three ounces. The manager of Baohetang gave us one hundred and sixty-six coins. I gave two coins to the young apprentice in the clinic, and spent another sixty coins to buy this much pork fat. Now I have one hundred and four coins left." She quickly and clearly calculated her income and expenses for the day for her parents, leaving them stunned for a few seconds.

While her parents were still in a daze, she walked to the basket that hadn't been tidied up yet, turned her back to them, and transferred the money bag from her spatial storage, dumping it all onto the table. Earlier, when paying for the pork lard, they hadn't had enough money on them, so they had taken some from the money bag. But Xia Yu felt it wasn't safe to keep it in the basket, so she moved the money bag into her spatial storage when her brother wasn't looking.

Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi, still reeling from their return home, were nearly jolted out of their wits by Xia Yu's actions of turning over the money. For years, their family had honestly farmed the land, never imagining that the weeds they used to dig up in the mountains could actually be medicine that could be sold for money. Hmm, it seems quite valuable.

"Mother, put the money away. There was still a lot left when I dug last time. I want to go and dig some more later," Xia Yu said to her mother, Liu Shi. After speaking, seeing that her mother still hadn't moved, Xia Yu touched her slightly hungry stomach and said to her father, "Father, we haven't had lunch yet. Do you have anything to eat at home?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes, yes, I made a salty cornmeal porridge with vegetables, but I didn't expect you to come back so early, so I didn't make much. You eat first, and Dad will make more." Zhang Youtie didn't react at first, but when he heard his daughter say she was hungry, he remembered that everyone hadn't had lunch yet. He stood up and prepared to go to the kitchen to start a fire and cook.

At this moment, Madam Liu also realized what was happening. Seeing that Zhang Youtie had already gone to the kitchen, she did not stop him. She and Xia Yu used the bag in their hands to collect the copper coins on the table one by one, and then took them to the room to put away.

Xia Yu looked at the half-finished basket and thought her parents were a bit slow to learn; they'd probably already forgotten about the pork fat. It was getting hot, and if these two pieces of pork fat weren't rendered today, they might spoil tomorrow. Just as she was thinking about how to spend the afternoon, Chang Yun returned from the old house. Seeing Xia Yu alone in the main room, he asked curiously, "Where are Mom and Dad?"

Xia Yu replied, "Dad's cooking, and Mom went inside to put the money away. Brother, come help me get the lard to the yard; I need to wash it, and then we'll render the oil after dinner."

Changyun helped Xia Yu move the lard to the vegetable washing area in the yard, and then brought out a large earthenware basin from the kitchen. When Liu came out of the house and saw what the brother and sister were doing, she quickly stopped them and said, "I'll clean up the lard this afternoon. You two hurry up and wash your hands and get ready to eat."

As they were talking, Zhang Youtie came out of the kitchen carrying a small bowl of shredded mustard greens and cornmeal porridge.

"It smells so good, Dad, did you put sesame oil in it?"

Changyun immediately smelled the aroma wafting from the vegetable paste. Zhang Youtie glanced at Liu Shi but didn't answer, only chuckled.

Liu gave Zhang Youtie a reproachful look and said: Why are you looking at me like that? You're feeding the child sesame oil, how could I possibly disagree?

The group sat together, eating warmly and affectionately. Changyun suddenly remembered he'd brought back a sesame seed cake for his father, so he quickly rummaged through the basket. A neatly wrapped sesame seed cake in oil paper was placed in front of Zhang Youtie. The man, seeing the sesame seed cake his son had brought back, had tears welling in his eyes. Seeing him like this, Liu felt a pang of sadness. Over the years, to support her fourth brother's education, the old house and their own home had almost dried up. It had been a long time since she'd been able to treat her husband and children to a decent meal. The last time they'd eaten meat was during the New Year. The child had bought lard himself today; he must have been craving it.

"Eat quickly. This afternoon we'll go up the mountain to dig some wild leeks, and tonight I'll make you all some fried leek dumplings," Liu said to the people at the table.

A few "gulps" were the sounds of swallowing saliva.

Zhang Youtie couldn't bear to eat it himself, so he broke a sesame seed cake into four pieces, and each member of the family got one, which they ate soaked in wild vegetable porridge.