Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

After doing what Shen Jingheng had instructed, Xia Yu's life returned to normal, and the days passed by at a leisurely pace.

After the autumn planting season, Xia Yu's family started selling their shrimp. The father and daughter carried the shrimp to restaurants in town to promote them, and the first one they went to was Haoyunlai Restaurant.

After buying shrimp from Haoyunlai Restaurant last time, they sold out in half a day. Thinking of buying more shrimp to attract more customers, they discovered they couldn't find any large shrimp for sale at the market. The glittering manager of Haoyunlai was filled with regret, wishing he had kept Zhang Youtie's address.

This time, the waiter at the shop entrance was overjoyed to see Zhang Youtie arrive with his bucket again. Before Zhang Youtie could even speak, he ran off to fetch the shopkeeper.

Xia Yu saw the chubby shopkeeper again, but this time he was dressed very casually, unlike last time when he was flashy. "Hey, brother, you finally came to visit. I bought shrimp from you last time, and you haven't come back since. I even had someone keep an eye out at the market, but I haven't heard of you selling shrimp again. Come in and sit down, let's have a good chat."

"We were busy with farm work a while ago and couldn't spare the manpower, so we didn't bring the produce out to sell," Zhang Youtie honestly explained as he followed him into the shop's main hall, carrying a bucket of water.

"Oh, please sit down, please sit down. And who are you this time, brother?"

Zhang Youtie sat down on the bench opposite the shopkeeper and said, "It's like this, we've finished the autumn planting at home, and the shrimp in the pond have grown quite a bit, so we thought we'd come to various restaurants to ask if they have any we need."

"I wonder how many kilograms of shrimp you brought this time? Are they as big as last time?"

"They're still the same size as before," Zhang Youtie said, casually scooping one out of the bucket. "I only brought a few samples today. If you want more than ten pounds, we can deliver." Zhang Youtie held up the shrimp to show the shopkeeper.

"Hmm, not bad. Here's what we'll do: I'll start with ten catties a day for this shop, and we can add more if sales are good in the future."

"Oh, thank you, shopkeeper. How about I deliver it every day at Chenshi (7-9 AM) from now on?"

The shopkeeper was very satisfied to hear that deliveries could be made daily.

"Father, you haven't talked about the money yet, and the deposit too." Seeing that Zhang Youtie seemed to have forgotten to mention the money, Xia Yu quickly reminded him.

"Look at me, I was so happy when I heard the shopkeeper ordered so many shrimp that I forgot to mention the price." Zhang Youtie scratched his head a little embarrassedly.

"Shopkeeper, our shrimp is still priced at thirty coins per catty. Payment for shrimp is made in cash every day."

"The price is negotiable, as long as it's about the size of this bucket." The shopkeeper was very easy to talk to and didn't haggle over the price.

"Don't worry about that. The most important thing in doing business, no matter how big or small, is integrity, and we will never lie about that."

"Okay, okay, you're right, brother. Honesty is the most important thing in business. This is our second time meeting, so I don't know how to address you."

"You're too kind, shopkeeper. I'm from Zhangjia Village, about seven or eight miles west of town. My name is Zhang Youtie."

"Oh, Zhangjia Village? I know that place. The top scorer in this year's imperial examination was from your village, right? He's also surnamed Zhang. I wonder if you and Brother Zhang are related?"

Hearing the fat shopkeeper ask this question, Zhang Youtie felt a little embarrassed to answer directly.

“The first person on the case is my fourth uncle, and my father is his third brother.” Xia Yu answered crisply on behalf of her father, emphasizing the word “brother”.

"The top official is your fourth uncle?" The fat shopkeeper was somewhat surprised to hear Xia Yu's answer, thinking that this was too much of a coincidence.

"Yes, he is my fourth brother, Zhang Chengwen."

"Oh my, so the top scorer is Brother Zhang's fourth brother! My apologies, my apologies. Your Zhang Family Village is truly a place of outstanding people and resources. We haven't seen such excellent results here for many years. To be honest, my son and your younger brother took the provincial examination together this year and were fortunate enough to become scholars, but their talents are no match for your younger brother's."

“My fourth brother said that there is a classmate in the school who will go to Bailu Academy with him, and that is your son.”

"It is indeed my son." Hearing Zhang Youtie say this, the shopkeeper was even more certain that Zhang Youtie was indeed Zhang Chengwen's older brother.

"So it turns out we're all on the same side. Here's what I'll do: I'll take a month's worth of prawns, ten catties a day for thirty days. If that's not enough, I'll add more later." As he spoke, he took out a large silver ingot from his sleeve and pushed it in front of Zhang Youtie. It was ten taels of silver, the extra being the deposit for the next month.

"Okay, thank you, Uncle. I'll register the amount of money for you now." Xia Yu knew that adults should be polite and exchange pleasantries, so her role in coming along this time was to say things that adults were embarrassed to say and do things that adults were embarrassed to do, such as taking the money now.

Xia Yu deftly put the money into the satchel on his back, then took out a notebook made of yellow paper and a charcoal pencil, and wrote down how much money the Lucky Inn had given him, the amount needed each day, and so on.

The portly shopkeeper found Xia Yu's behavior quite strange, so he asked, "Is this little girl in Brother Zhang's family also literate?"

"Yes, whenever her brother comes back from his days off, he teaches her the characters she learned at school. My daughter learns quickly; she can remember them all after her brother teaches her only once." This reason for Xia Yu's literacy was a consensus reached by the Zhang family.

Upon hearing Zhang Youtie's reply, the fat shopkeeper exclaimed, "Brother Zhang's family is truly a model of combining farming and scholarship; they're quite remarkable."

The two chatted about other everyday things, and Zhang Youtie learned that the fat manager's surname was Jin, and that he was the manager of the restaurant, as well as a part-owner.

Manager Jin politely saw the father and daughter off. Watching them leave with their buckets, he sighed again, "They're not simple, not simple at all. Maybe in ten years, the Zhang family will be beyond the reach of a mere restaurant manager like myself." As he turned to go inside, he saw the waiter standing at the door and couldn't help but say, "Next time they come, be more polite to them."

Hearing Manager Jin's reprimand, the waiter felt wronged. He had never been rude to this family, and he was always polite to anyone who came to their restaurant. Unlike some shop assistants who were blinded by wealth and fawned over those who were well-dressed and ignored those who weren't, he was very dedicated to his job.

He wanted to speak up and defend himself, but Manager Jin had already gone behind the counter to work on his abacus, not giving him the chance.