Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

After returning from the village chief's house, I told Liu about the list we had discussed, and she agreed that it was all good. Now we're just waiting for the village chief's reply; most people should come.

Unexpectedly, in the afternoon, someone from the county town came looking for Zhang Youtie. It was a waiter from Zuixiaolou Restaurant, who came to inform Zhang Youtie that from now on, sixty catties of large shrimp would be delivered to the restaurant every day. At the same time, a bundle was also delivered, which he said was sent by Steward Ding.

Upon hearing that it was Steward Ding who had sent it, Xia Yu felt a surge of excitement, sensing that Lord Shen must have given instructions; finally, there was news about whether the seeds could be planted. Zhang Youtie, seeing the same bundle as last time, understood. He took it from the shop assistant and handed it to Xia Yu.

After the young waiter left, Xia Yu returned to her room and opened her bundle. She found it was the same brocade jacket as before, with another small package underneath. She picked up the jacket first, and from inside fell a piece of paper and a letter. Picking up the paper from the floor, she saw it was another silver note, this time for five hundred taels. She carefully read the words on the note and set it aside.

Picking up the letter sealed with wax, Xia Yu tore off the wax, took out the only piece of paper inside, and opened it to find only a dozen or so words: "You may plant it yourself, and the fruit shall be handed over to the Shen family." Xia Yu looked at these words and felt a little confused. How was she told to plant it? Plant it slowly? Or plant it in a hurry? Couldn't it be written more clearly? Xia Yu felt that these ancient people, or more precisely, the ancient literati, spoke too concisely and implicitly.

Unable to figure it out, Xia Yu put it aside and opened another package in her bundle. It turned out to be a rectangular brocade box. Xia Yu guessed that it might contain gold or silver jewelry, after all, this Mr. Shen was very generous. But when she opened it, she found that it was actually a set of writing implements.

Xia Yu touched the paper in the brocade box and murmured, "Hmm, not bad, this feels much better than yellow straw paper." The brush was also small and exquisite; Xia Yu couldn't tell what kind of bristles it had, but it must be a good thing that Lord Shen had given her. The ink stick also smelled nice. Xia Yu didn't understand these things, but the shopkeeper had said that good ink sticks always had a fragrance.

He happily put away the set of writing implements, intending to give it to his brother when he returned home for his day off. Leaving aside the silver notes, the set of writing implements alone should be worth about ten taels of silver.

Xia Yu suddenly realized that her family didn't actually need to sell fish and shrimp; as long as they clung to Shen's coattails, they could become wealthy small landlords. Who would have thought they already had over a thousand taels of silver?

That evening, right after dinner, the village chief arrived at Zhang Youtie's house with a message. Five of the thirty people felt that the wages Zhang Youtie offered were too low, saying they would rather have thirty coins and not have their family provide meals, preferring to eat at home themselves. The ten people who had come last time, however, were all happy to come.

“Actually, it’s worth it for you to pay thirty copper coins for your work, even without meals, since providing meals would cost quite a bit of money,” the village chief said, offering his opinion to Zhang Youtie.

Seeing that Zhang Youtie didn't speak, the village chief continued, "Among the ten people who came last time, some of them mentioned that they have relatives who also want to come here to work, and they asked if you agree."

"Whose relatives are they?" Zhang Youtie was quite surprised to hear that people from other villages were willing to come.

"There's Old Waila from our village, and his eldest son's two brothers-in-law from Dashan's family, young men from Lijia Village, not far from here. Then there's Wang Da Niang's brother-in-law, Zhao Shugan, and Wang Da Niang's son-in-law... what was his name again? Look at my memory, I kept repeating it on the way here, afraid I'd forget. But I just can't remember. His surname is so rare. I only remember his name was something like thunder. Zhao Shugan is from Zhaojiagou, with five or six brothers, and his family is very poor. I've met Wang Da Niang's son-in-law when he came to visit relatives; he's a very reliable man, and very filial. He always brings generous gifts when he visits. It's just that I can't remember his name." The village chief looked at Zhang Youtie helplessly; he really couldn't remember.

"Let's give it a try first. Dashan and Youcai are people I've known since childhood, so their character is definitely trustworthy. If they're willing to recommend us, their character must be pretty good. It seems like that's about all the people we'll have."

The village chief cleared his throat and said to Zhang Youtie, "Third brother, I'd like to recommend someone to you, I wonder if that's alright?"

"Of course, that'll work. I trust your recommendations, Uncle. May I ask who you would like to recommend?"

The village chief said somewhat embarrassedly, "It's my son, Eryong."

"Eryong?" Zhang Youtie was a little surprised. He didn't expect the village chief to recommend Eryong.

"If it doesn't work out, then forget it. Let him find work elsewhere; it's the same." Seeing that Zhang Youtie didn't agree immediately, the village chief assumed that Zhang hadn't taken a liking to Eryong, so he quickly changed his mind.

"Uncle, Eryong is definitely capable. I just didn't expect it." After saying that, he scratched his head a little embarrassedly and said, "Last time I wanted to call Dayong and Eryong brothers, but I tried to bring it up a few times. When I saw that you didn't respond, I thought you didn't think this job was good enough, so I was too embarrassed to say it again."

"This, this, look at the mess you've made. Last time you asked for ten people, and I thought that although my two sons are hardworking, they're still not quite as good as some of the men in the village, so I didn't dare mention their names. Twenty-three coins a day, how could my family not want that?" The village chief was also a little surprised. Last time, he saw Zhang Youtie hesitate a few times when asking Dayong if he was busy, which he assumed was about the work. But how did he answer at the time? He couldn't remember. Now he realized that the two of them had this misunderstanding.

"Brother Dayong, are you busy? If not, you can come along too," Zhang Youtie said heartily.

"Doesn't that mean there's one more person?"

“One more person is one more person. The more people there are, the sooner we can finish the work. It’s settled then. Both Da Yong and Er Yong will come, and the others I mentioned earlier will also come. Let’s see how they do the work. We’ll start tomorrow.”

"That's great! The matter is settled. I'll go and reply to them right away." The village chief was also very happy. His two sons earned fifty-eight coins a day, and this job would bring in more than one tael of silver.

The families who received the village chief's message were naturally delighted. The two families who were asking on behalf of their relatives, seeing that it was still somewhat light outside, went out without hesitation to deliver the message to their relatives that very night, so that they could come to work on time the next morning.

Those who complained about the low wages were also waiting for news, hoping that Zhang Youtie would adopt their suggestions so they could earn thirty coins a day right at their doorstep. However, the village chief didn't return, and one of them, Zhang Tianming, grew impatient. He went to the village chief's house to sound him out. He was willing to work for twenty-eight coins if necessary, figuring he could make up for the two coins difference by eating a few extra meals. But when he arrived at the village chief's house, he learned that the village chief was out on business and hadn't returned yet.

The village chief's wife knew that Zhang Tianming was on the list Zhang Youtie had discussed with the village chief that afternoon. Seeing him come to see her husband, she wasn't sure what he wanted. However, since many people came to their house on business, she was more experienced than the average woman. Without asking any questions, she simply told him to come back later and sent him away.

"Mom, what's Tianming doing here?" Eryong asked, leaning close to his mother.

"I don't know, who knows what's wrong with him? This child is good in every way, except he's too stingy." The village chief's wife didn't care at all what Zhang Tianming had come for. She just happily took her grandson from Er Yong's arms and lovingly played with him.