Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

After thinking about it for a while, Xia Yu decided not to sell the vegetable recipes.

"Thank you for your kindness, Master Zhao, but these two dishes are too simple, so I'll just give them to the restaurant. I'm just wondering if your restaurant needs this side dish?" As she spoke, Xia Yu took out two red chili peppers from her pouch.

"I was just about to ask, what kind of dish is this? I've never seen it before!" Chef Zhao looked at the chili pepper in his hand, put it under his nose and smelled it, rubbing his nose because of the pungent smell.

"This is a chili pepper, and like the dogwood, it's spicy, but I think it tastes better. Fresh ones can be used in cold dishes; they add color and can also stimulate the appetite. Dried ones can be stored for a long time and are excellent for making chili sauce or chili powder."

"How much is this?" Manager Liu had felt a little embarrassed when Xia Yu mentioned giving the recipe to the restaurant, and now that Xia Yu was recommending this chili pepper, he asked at the opportune moment.

"The fresh ones are 100 coins per catty, but not many are used in cooking. Two or three are enough for a dish. The dried ones are more expensive, 400 coins per catty."

"Sure, bring a pound of fresh chili peppers when you come tomorrow, we'll try them on the stove too." After hearing Xia Yu's price, Chef Zhao ordered a pound of fresh chili peppers.

Xia Yu happily agreed, looked at Manager Liu, and asked with a smile, "Uncle Manager, is there anything else you'd like to add?"

"Since Chef Zhao said he wants a pound of fresh vegetables, let's take these for now." Manager Liu was very respectful to Chef Zhao, seemingly agreeing to whatever Chef Zhao said, whether it was vegetables or how much.

"Alright, my father will bring fifty catties of shrimp and one catty of fresh chili peppers first thing tomorrow morning. The total is 1,600 coins. Would you like to pay a deposit in advance?"

"Oh, no need for such trouble. I'll pay the full 1,600 coins. You and Steward Ding are such good acquaintances, what do I have to worry about? It's just the recipe for the dish I just made?"

"That's easy. I'll dictate it to you, and you can write it down." Xia Yu can write, but not very well; some characters are different from modern ones. Keeping accounts for herself is fine, but writing recipes for others is out of the question. Writing a letter to Lord Shen last time was out of necessity; she was the only literate person in the family, and the content couldn't be revealed to outsiders—no one else could write it.

Master Zhao followed Xia Yu to the front, waiting for her to dictate and write down the recipe. Looking at the recipe in his hand, he immediately asked questions about anything he didn't understand. Looking at the simple steps on the recipe, and recalling the taste of what he had just eaten, Master Zhao sighed inwardly, "This dish is indeed simple, there's nothing difficult about it, but why didn't I think of it before!" He realized he needed to learn to create some new dishes; he couldn't rely on the recipes his master had taught him for the rest of his life.

"Manager Liu, will you send a copy of this recipe to Zuixiaolou Restaurant in the prefectural city?" Xia Yu asked after Manager Liu finished writing down the recipe.

"Of course, they're all restaurants owned by the Shen family, so we share everything." After hearing what she said, Xia Yu felt relieved. Actually, the dish was very simple; anyone who knew a little about cooking would understand it at a glance. The reason she didn't sell the recipe to Zuixiaolou was because she planned to also tell the two restaurants in town that bought their shrimp about these dishes, not for any other reason than to sell more shrimp.

After accepting the one tael of silver and seven hundred coins given to them by Manager Liu, the father and daughter drove the oxcart back to the village without wasting any time, as Zhang Youtie would be coming to the county town again in the afternoon to deliver thirty catties of shrimp.

"Dad, how about we buy a mule cart? Although oxen have good stamina, they are a bit slow. If we need to deliver shrimp to the town and county every day, the ox cart will take up too much time."

"We should get another mule cart. Honey, I think we should add another shrimp pond. What do you think?"

"Hmm, we should increase it. Why don't we dig a few more and build a few more fishponds? Then we can see if we can supply fish to these restaurants. Since we're only supplying shrimp, it's the same trip anyway, so we might as well add some more varieties."

The father and daughter casually discussed it and decided they should add some business to their household. There was no rule saying that raising shrimp meant you couldn't raise fish, so they decided to get started as soon as they got home. However, Xia Yu felt it was a bit of a pity that she hadn't had a chance to ask Butler Ding about the seeds today.

It was already noon when they got home. Mrs. Liu had already prepared lunch and was waiting for them. At the dinner table, Xia Yu recounted everything that had happened in the county town to Mrs. Liu. Mrs. Liu was delighted to hear about the possibility of establishing a connection with the Shen family's large restaurant. After Xia Yu finished speaking, Zhang Youtie also told her about the things he had discussed with his daughter on the way.

“Mom, I just discussed it with Xiaxia on the way here. We think we can dig a few more ponds and raise fish at the same time, so we can have more sources of income.”

“If we dig a few more ponds, won’t we be even busier? We haven’t even found someone to watch the shrimp ponds yet. Will we be able to manage?” Mrs. Liu said with some concern.

These past few days, her parents have been so busy looking for someone to watch the shrimp ponds that they've lost several strands of hair, and they still haven't found anyone. She couldn't help but ask, "Mother, can't we hire someone to look after the shrimp ponds?"

"Buy people?" Liu Shi and Zhang Youtie both looked at Xia Yu with some confusion.

“That’s right. There will be more and more things to do in our family in the future. If we don’t hire servants to help, how can we manage with just a few people? Take the present for example. If you hire a servant to guard the shrimp pond, my father won’t have to sleep in that thatched hut every night. Besides, we have his indenture, so we can trust him more than anyone else.”

“Our family are just ordinary people, how can we have servants?” Zhang Youtie was still a little confused.

“Father, our family are commoners, but we are also of good status, so of course we can buy and sell servants.”

"Where will we buy a servant to live? We only have a few rooms in our house," Liu couldn't help but ask.

“Where can’t we stay? We can sleep in the thatched hut next to the shrimp pond. We’re buying people to help us with the work, not to bring in an ancestor to enjoy a life of luxury.”

After hearing Xia Yu's words, the couple fell silent, each pondering their daughter's words. Finally, it was Liu who spoke first.

“Her father, Xiaxia is right. We were too poor to think about this before, but now we can afford to hire a servant to help look after the shrimp ponds.”

"Shall we buy one too?" Zhang Youtie's mind started to wander after hearing his wife say the same thing.

“Let’s go to the county town after we finish eating. Didn’t Steward Ding ask you to deliver thirty catties of shrimp this afternoon? Let’s go to the brokerage first to buy someone, and then deliver the shrimp.”

Hearing that his parents had finally agreed to buy the person, Xia Yu seized the opportunity and said, "Let's also buy a donkey cart or a mule cart for delivering goods. The oxcart is too slow."

"Alright, let's get everything done in one trip this afternoon." Zhang Youtie made the final decision, and that was the end of it.