Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

The people from the other village saw that someone was quietly taking the food home and felt embarrassed to eat alone. Among them, Zhang Dashan's brother-in-law, Li Shuanzhu, said to his brother-in-law, "Brother-in-law, why don't we go home and eat too? We have three bowls of food. Let's take them back so that the elders can have something good to eat as well."

"No need, hurry up and eat. We still have work to do this afternoon. We won't have the energy if we don't eat something nutritious." Zhang Dashan naturally wouldn't let his two brothers-in-law take the food back. If they did, his wife would definitely not forgive him, and he wouldn't be able to sleep on the kang (heated brick bed) for the next few days.

This same situation is playing out with another group of people.

Wang Youcai's brother-in-law, Zhao Shuzhi, also saw what was happening, so he pulled Wang Youcai aside to discuss sending the vegetables back to the three children.

"Brother-in-law, there's no need to send any home. Lili just made meat dumplings last night. The baby's stomach is full of oil and fat. Let's eat ours, otherwise we won't last until we get off work this afternoon." After saying that, she ate heartily the food in her bowl.

His brother-in-law, Xu Xialei, was also nearby. Hearing their conversation, he didn't stand on ceremony and started eating heartily. Their family was quite well-off; they had brought two jin of meat with them this morning, saying it was to show respect to his parents-in-law, but everyone knew it was also to thank his brother-in-law for introducing him to such a good job.

The people who had delivered the vegetables returned quickly. They ladled out a bowl of tomato and egg drop soup from the wooden tub and ate it along with the multigrain flatbreads they had brought from home. Xia Yu watched from the side, nodding in approval. Although these people were poor, they were kind. There was still plenty of food left in the basin; those who weren't full could get more. However, after returning, they only drank the soup, not touching the mixed-flour flatbreads or the vegetables. If there was any more chores to be done at home, they could always call these people over.

However, she didn't specifically call them over to get food and steamed buns, knowing the saying "a small favor is appreciated, a large favor is resented." Zhang Youtie was clearly also somewhat hesitant, and didn't call them over for more food or buns either. Zhang Youtie didn't think as deeply as Xia Yu; he simply felt that once the rules were agreed upon beforehand, they shouldn't be easily changed.

After lunch, everyone rested for a while under the shady trees. Without anyone having to call them, they each took their tools and headed towards the pond.

Xia Yu combined the two kinds of vegetables and found that there was still quite a bit left. In the end, the mother and daughter discussed it and decided to divide the vegetables into individual bowls, one for each person who came to work, and those who didn't mind could take them home to eat after work.

After finishing cleaning up, Xia Yu and Liu Shi were so tired they could barely straighten their backs. Normally, cooking for just the three of them was easy. Sometimes Xia Yu would even deliberately cook extra and store it in her spatial storage so she could just take it out and eat it when she was too tired to cook. But today, cooking for nearly forty people with her mother was truly exhausting.

"Luckily, we don't have to boil water for them today. Aunt Ma is boiling it over there. If we had to boil water and cook, we wouldn't be able to do anything," said Liu, rubbing her aching arm.

"Mother, how about I have my eldest sister and Qiuyu come over to help tomorrow? We'll give them five coins each a day. What do you think?" Xia Yu suggested.

“Your second aunt is pregnant now, and Qiuyu has to take care of her, so she probably can’t come. But if your eldest sister comes, it will be a hassle for Qiuyu to cook lunch alone at home.”

"Aren't my grandma and aunt at home?"

Do you think Qiuyu would dare to ask your aunt to cook for her?

"Oh, you only realize how little you know when you need it most. If only Aunt Ma's eyesight were good!" Xia Yu exclaimed helplessly to the sky.

"You little rascal, you shouted so loudly, you startled me." Liu Shi, who was stretching, was startled by Xia Yu's shout.

However, after Xia Yu shouted it out, she thought of the well in her space. Her family had been drinking well water for several months and hadn't noticed any significant changes. Her mother's hair and skin were better than before, but her appearance hadn't become any fairer or more beautiful. She herself only felt stronger than before, but hadn't noticed any other changes. If she gave the well water to Aunt Ma, she wondered if it would help with her eye condition?

Thinking of something, she did it; there was plenty of water in the well anyway. Xia Yu, holding a small cup and wearing a sun hat, went to find Aunt Ma.

Uncle Ma was digging the pond with everyone and wasn't next to Aunt Ma at the moment. But just as Xia Yu approached Aunt Ma, she heard Aunt Ma ask, pointing in her direction, "Is this Miss?"

Xia Yu was puzzled; how did she know it was hers?

"Aunt Ma, how did you know it was me?"

"I could tell from your footsteps that you're a little girl. The only little girl who would be here at this hour is you, Miss," Aunt Ma explained softly to Xia Yu with a smile.

Xia Yu used her mind to control the well water to slowly flow into the cup, then handed it to Aunt Ma, saying, "Aunt Ma, it's too hot to boil water here, have some water." As she spoke, she carefully placed the cup in Aunt Ma's hand.

"No, no, how can I let Miss pour me water?" As she spoke, her hand, which wasn't holding the cup, groped around in the air, trying to give the cup back to Xia Yu.

Xia Yu was startled by her actions, fearing the water in the cup would spill. She quickly grabbed Aunt Ma's hand, "Aunt Ma, try this water and see if it tastes good. It wouldn't be good if you spilled it."

"Oh, oh, I'll drink it, I'll drink it, thank you, miss."

Aunt Ma listened to Xia Yu and obediently drank the water in the cup sip by sip.

"Miss, this water is very sweet."

"Okay, as long as it tastes good, Aunt Ma, I'm going back now." Xia Yu had been busy all morning and now just wanted to go back to sleep.

"Miss, hurry back. The sun is strong now, don't let your face get sunburned."

After saying goodbye to Aunt Ma, Xia Yu didn't go to talk to her parents again. She went straight home, took a basin of diluted water to her room, and then slipped into her spatial dimension. She had sweated a lot that morning and couldn't sleep without washing up. After a quick rinse in her spatial dimension, Xia Yu put on dry cotton pajamas and lay down on the bed to sleep.

Xia Yu drew a design based on modern t-shirts and shorts, then had Liu Shi make them. The fabric used was the flawed piece. Liu Shi tried dyeing it several times with black bean water, but couldn't cover the imperfections. So she gave up and made pajamas for the whole family, one set for each person, according to the pattern her daughter had given her. The remaining fabric was intended for winter quilts; nothing would go to waste.