Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

The next day, Xia Yu still didn't see Zhang Youtie when he got up, because he now had to deliver shrimp to both the town and the county seat every day. He set off before dawn every day, but today he was driving a mule cart, so he should be able to return earlier.

Xia Yu was still eating breakfast when the workers arrived. Old Master Zhang from the old house, along with Zhang Youjin, also came to help. Once most of the people had arrived, the old man and Zhang Youtie led everyone, each carrying their tools, toward the pond.

Uncle Ma, who was building a fence around the pond, saw this group of people coming and naturally knew that they were the people his master had sent to dig the pond.

He quickly walked up to Old Master Zhang, bowed and said, "Greetings, sir." Then he said to Zhang Youjin, "Greetings, sir. My master instructed before he left that you two would be coming with the workers."

Uncle Ma's respectful address stunned everyone present, including Grandpa Zhang and Zhang Youjin.

"What did you call me? Grandpa?" Old Master Zhang asked Uncle Ma, "Who are you?"

"Everyone else calls me Old Ma, and both I and my wife are servants that the master bought." Uncle Ma spoke with his body slightly bowed.

"Dad, you didn't know? I thought my third brother had told you! This is someone his family bought to watch over the pond." Zhang Youjin had only heard about this from his wife, Wang Shi. He assumed his third brother had already told his parents, so he didn't say anything more. Judging from his father's reaction, it seemed his third brother hadn't had a chance to tell them yet.

Grandpa Zhang was speechless.

"Third Brother has bought the person..."

"Yes, it seems Third Brother has really made it big. He even has people to serve him now."

"I think Third Brother is no ordinary person..."

The people behind Grandpa Zhang started discussing and making a ruckus when they heard Uncle Ma and Zhang Youjin's explanation.

After a long silence, Old Master Zhang sighed and asked, "Stand still and speak. What are the arrangements for the third son? Where do you plan to start digging?"

Uncle Ma straightened up at this moment, glanced at the crowd behind Grandpa Zhang, and his eyebrows furrowed slightly involuntarily. There looked to be more than thirty-one people.

"Grandpa, the master left me a list. I'll call out names from that list first, just in case someone comes to work but isn't registered and doesn't get paid," Uncle Ma said respectfully to Grandpa Zhang.

"That makes sense, you can order it. I don't think you'll go wrong."

Uncle Ma went back into the thatched hut and took out a piece of paper. On the yellow straw paper were words written by Xia Yu with charcoal pencil. Although some of the words were white, Uncle Ma could still recognize them.

"I'm going to start calling roll now. Those whose names are called, please stand to my right," Uncle Ma said to the chaotic crowd.

Zhang Dayong

Upon hearing "Here," Zhang Dayong was immediately greeted by his name and happily stood in the spot designated by Uncle Ma.

"Zhang Eryong"

"Zhang Dashan"

"..." As Uncle Ma called out a name, someone would respond and stand next to Da Yong. Soon, all thirty-one names were called. Uncle Ma looked at the few people who hadn't been called yet, and they turned to look at each other.

"That's all? You've ordered everything?" one of them asked, somewhat incredulously.

"That's all for now. There are thirty-one people in total. I apologize if your names aren't on this list. Please forgive me and go home now!" Uncle Ma said apologetically to the remaining people, clasping his hands in a fist salute.

"How could my name not be on the list? The village chief came to my house yesterday to tell me about it. Although... but the village chief came to my house to tell me, otherwise why would I have come here so early today?" The man didn't seem to know what he wanted to say, but he stopped halfway through his sentence, only insisting that the village chief had notified them to come.

"Yeah, I only came here because the village chief told me to. Now that I'm here, they won't let me work. Aren't they just playing with me?"

"Yeah, even if Third Brother is successful now, he can't just lie to people, can he?"

"..." Just as everyone was making a ruckus and unwilling to go home, some sharp-eyed people saw the village chief slowly walking over from a distance.

He woke up a little late today, but seeing a group of people already gathered here from afar made him feel quite gratified, as he felt he hadn't made the wrong choice.

But when he got closer, he realized that there seemed to be something wrong with that group of people.

“Village chief, please tell me the truth. Wasn’t it you who came to our house yesterday and said that Zhang’s third brother was going to hire someone to dig a pond?” Zhang Tianming pulled the village chief aside and asked him to judge the matter.

He went to the village chief's house twice last night but didn't see anyone. However, he figured that since the village chief hadn't said they couldn't come, they could come and work. So he got up early this morning, ate a quick bite, and came over, hoping to work until noon so he could have a proper meal here.

The village chief looked at the group that had been arguing earlier and said angrily, "Yesterday I went to your house to invite you to work for Lao San, but what did you say at the time? Don't you remember?"

Seeing that the village chief was angry, the others stopped shouting. Zhang Tianming felt guilty and didn't dare to look the village chief in the eye. He didn't know what the others had said, but he remembered his own words clearly. However, he also felt wronged. He had only mentioned that he could skip the meals and get two extra coins. Since Zhang Youtie disagreed, they could have discussed it again!

"Village chief, Brother Zhang disagrees with what I said. We can sit down and discuss it. Why won't you let me do it without saying a word?"

"Tianming, what am I supposed to say to you? You're a father of three, how can you be so unreliable? Didn't I try to persuade you? There's a reliable place, even though the wages are two coins less than in town, at least the food won't be lacking. But what did you say to me? You said Lao San is too stingy, the town is giving him thirty coins, and he's cheating his own fellow villagers." He then looked at the others and said...

"And you lot, You Tie and I thought you were all hardworking, and you have elderly and young families to support, so we let you earn money near home while taking care of your families. But you're all so short-sighted. You only saw that You Tie was paying two coins less than in town, and you insisted on skipping meals to get the money back. People are paying to hire people to work; there are so many people waiting for this kind of work. Do you think you can sit down and negotiate with us? Don't say anything more. Go back to your homes and do what you're supposed to do. We've found enough people this time; there's no work for you. Instead of wasting your time here, go to town and ask when they're hiring." He then continued, looking at the still somewhat unconvinced group.

"Tie said that we'll dig up these few ponds first. If they sell well, we'll increase the number of ponds later. If you don't mind, you can come back and work there then."

"Village Chief, I was just being short-sighted, please don't be angry. I'll go back now, and please don't forget me if there's any work to be done in the future." One of the men, named Wang Tiedan, reacted quickly and immediately spoke up after hearing the village chief's words. After the village chief nodded, he turned and walked back, ignoring the others.

The remaining few people, seeing that Wang Tiedan had left, looked at each other and felt that there was no point in staying there, so they all asked the village chief for leave and then went their separate ways.

"Oh dear, this is all my fault. I didn't handle things well and caused trouble for Lao San." After those people left, the village chief said apologetically to Grandpa Zhang.

"No need for formalities, otherwise it would be a disservice to our lifelong friendship," Old Master Zhang waved his hand dismissively. He then said to Uncle Ma, "Shall we get to work now? What are the arrangements for the third brother?"

"Yes, sir. The master has made all the arrangements. Please follow me." Uncle Ma spoke to Old Master Zhang with the same respect.

"..." Hearing the other person address him as "Old Master" repeatedly, Old Master Zhang felt uncomfortable all over. The clothes he was wearing today seemed somewhat incompatible with the title "Old Master".

'When I get home, I need to get my wife to find those two sets of fine cotton clothes for me to wear,' Old Master Zhang thought to himself, though he was walking with his head down.