Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

When Chang Yun returned from his break, the second pond was already half-dug. It was only then that he learned that his family had actually bought someone, and that he had been promoted to "Young Master" in the eyes of Uncle Ma and Aunt Ma.

Seeing her brother return, Xia Yu quickly took out the set of writing implements that Lord Shen had sent back and gave it to Chang Yun. Chang Yun stroked the set, which looked far more exquisite than his own, for a long time, but ultimately told Xia Yu to put it away. Xia Yu looked at Chang Yun with confusion. She knew her brother really liked the set, so why was he letting her keep it? Chang Yun, noticing his sister's confusion, puffed out his chest and said...

"I'll save it for when I pass the imperial examination and become a scholar. My writing now doesn't deserve such fine brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones."

“Okay, brother, I’ll keep it for now and use it when you pass the imperial examination.” Xia Yu was happy to see her brother’s ambition.

Changyun didn't rest during his day at home. He got up early and went with Zhang Youtie to deliver shrimp to the county town and other towns. During the day, he pulled weeds in his backyard vegetable garden and caught insects from the vegetables to feed the chickens. After lunch, he played with his old friends Jinbao and Gou Dan for a while, and in the afternoon, he went with Zhang Youtie to deliver shrimp to the county town again. Zuixiaolou in Fucheng also served several shrimp dishes, including the two dishes Xia Yu had given him last time. Based on these, the chefs in Fucheng had developed several new dishes. However, due to the limited number of shrimp ponds, the daily supply was limited. The amount supplied to Zuixiaolou in Fucheng was seventy catties for three days, because the cargo ship between Shenfu and Fucheng only ran once every three days. Xia Yu was afraid that the shrimp would die and affect business, so each time he would use three buckets to carry the seventy catties of shrimp, with only two drops of space well water in each bucket.

Changyun's day off happened to be the day he was supplying shrimp to Zuixiaolou in the prefectural city, so Zhang Youtie took him along. After delivering the shrimp, they bought more than ten reams of yellow straw paper for Changyun at a paper and ink shop in the county town, and also bought five catties of lamp oil at a general store for him to use at the school.

“Son, don’t be stingy with the lamp oil. Your sister said that poor lighting can affect your eyes. Our Aunt Ma ruined her eyes by doing embroidery in dim light. We don’t need to worry about lamp oil now, so you don’t have to be stingy, understand?” Zhang Youtie knew that his son had to study in the dormitory every night, and he was afraid that he would be reluctant to light the lamp, so he gave him a special instruction.

"Okay, Dad, don't worry. Xiaxia also told me about this. I didn't waste any money on lighting the lamps, but I didn't skimp either."

"Okay, that's my good son. What do you want to eat? We'll buy it and have your mother cook it for you."

"Dad, my roommates said they want to eat the pork tripe that we make. They said they'll bring me some of their family's delicious food when they go back home this time."

“That’s easy. The old house is making braised food right now. I’ll go back and buy some later, and you can take it with you tomorrow morning.” Zhang Youtie was happy to hear his son say that his son got along well with the people in the dormitory.

"Are you keeping up with your studies?" Zhang Youtie had been quite busy lately, and unless he came back from his long-distance running break, he rarely visited him. The two of them hadn't had a chat like this in a long time.

"I can keep up. The teacher is very kind to me, and the two senior brothers in my dormitory are also very kind. They always help me answer my questions in detail."

"Okay, that's good. Once we're done with this busy period, your mother and I will bring you some good food. I heard from your fourth uncle that you can cook for yourselves in your dorm?"

"Actually, cooking is not allowed in the school, but sometimes when everyone studies too late at night and gets hungry, they will build a simple stove, light a fire, and bake the flatbread on it. I heard that some dormitories have earthenware pots for cooking porridge, but our dormitory does not."

"Oh, I see!" Zhang Youtie kept his son's words in mind, thinking of going home to discuss with Liu Shi and Xiaxia to see if he could bring some food that would keep well and taste good.

When they got home, Liu and Xia Yu had already prepared dinner, four dishes that were all Changyun's favorites: sweet and sour pork ribs, braised pork belly, stir-fried cucumber, and cucumber stir-fried with shrimp. Seeing how much delicious food his mother and sister had prepared for him, Changyun's eyes welled up with tears. But this didn't stop him from eating the meat and gnawing on the ribs. The boy's appetite was bottomless; he ate most of the four heavy dishes, along with three steamed buns, and finally drank two bowls of sweetened mung bean porridge before letting out a satisfied burp. Xia Yu watched from the side, her eyes almost popping out of her head. Had her brother been starving at school for days?

"Dad, is the money you gave my brother for food not enough? How long has he been starving?"

"Huh?" Zhang Youtie looked at his daughter in confusion, wondering if he had forgotten to pay when his son went to school last time.

“Yes, I gave him 100 coins in ten days.” After saying that, Zhang Youtie looked at Changyun and asked, “Son, tell me the truth, is 100 coins not enough?”

"That's enough, that's enough. It's just that the food at our school isn't as good as what Mom and Xiaxia make. It's the same meat, but the braised pork at home is tender and not greasy, while the fatty meat at the school is hard to chew, and I don't really like it," Changyun said somewhat embarrassedly.

"..." Xia Yu looked at her brother speechlessly. This was a classic case of going from frugality to extravagance being easy, but going from extravagance to frugality being difficult. When she first came here, her brother's favorite dish was large slices of fatty pork, saying it tasted delicious. Now he was complaining that the fatty pork at school was hard to chew.

However, Xia Yu had a good idea. Her aunt went to town every day, so they could ask her to deliver some good food to the school. They wouldn't have to deliver it every day, but they could send it back to her brother every two or three days.

When Xia Yu shared her idea at the dinner table, Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi naturally thought it was a good idea, but Chang Yun was a little embarrassed, feeling that it was too much trouble for his aunt.

"I was just mentioning it casually. I still need to ask my aunt what time she goes to town every day. If it's too early, like our father who leaves before dawn every day, then I can't have her bring it to you."

So the family agreed on this arrangement. After dinner, Zhang Youtie led Changyun back to the old house, partly to visit Grandpa Zhang and Liu Shi, and partly to buy some braised food for Changyun to take with him the next day. Wang Shi naturally refused to accept the money, and Zhang Youtie and his elder brother Zhang Youjin argued over the money for a long time. Finally, Changyun lied, saying he was buying it for a classmate, and that if he didn't accept the money, he definitely wouldn't be able to buy it for them again. Only then did Wang Shi accept the money, though it was still much cheaper than selling it outside.

The next day, Zhang Youtie went to deliver the shrimp before dawn. Xia Yu, worried about her brother going to school that day, didn't sleep as soundly as usual. Hearing her mother washing up in the yard, she quickly got dressed and came out. She took a large basin of shrimp from the shrimp pond in her space; this was for the second shrimp pond, which would be ready to be filled in a couple of days after it was disinfected. She and Liu Shi peeled, deveined, and shelled the shrimp. They coated them in egg batter and fried them into salt and pepper shrimp, which they would take to school for Changyun later.

When Changyun woke up, Liu had already sorted and packed all the things he wanted to take with him. There were not only the braised food and salt and pepper shrimp he bought yesterday, but also a few fried pancakes. Xia Yu also packed him a jar of homemade rice wine, as well as twenty or thirty raw eggs and a clay pot.

Changyun was dumbfounded as he looked at the pile of things.

"Mom, Xiaxia, why did you bring so much stuff?"

"Brother, Mom is worried that you'll study too late at night, so she'll give you a dry biscuit and some rice wine. You can crack a few eggs into it, and it'll be more nutritious than just eating a dry biscuit."

“The rice wine and eggs will keep well. Remember to finish these shrimp, braised dishes, and fried dough sticks today,” Liu added to her daughter’s words.

"Just be careful when cooking at night, don't burn anything," Xia Yu added, continuing her mother's words.

Changyun could only nod as his mother and sister spoke, one sentence after another. Then, he realized something was amiss. Wasn't it supposed to be about studying hard for years? Bringing so much stuff and eating so comfortably—could that really be called studying hard?

After Changyun finished breakfast, Uncle Ma drove him to the school in town in an oxcart. Worried about Aunt Ma's safety by the pond alone, Xia Yu stayed with her. Taking advantage of the quiet moment, Xia Yu gave Aunt Ma her daily supply of well water, which she had been drinking for four or five days, but Aunt Ma's eye condition showed no signs of improvement.

Aunt Ma wondered why Xia Yu made her drink a glass of cold water every day, but she was gentle by nature, and she believed that Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi had saved her and Old Ma's lives, so she naturally didn't object to Xia Yu's request. Xia Yu told her to drink it, so she drank it without asking any questions.

Uncle Ma hadn't returned from town yet, but the workers had already started arriving one after another. Those who arrived early didn't stop there; they took the planks Uncle Ma had split and began fenced off the pond. They had been working there for several days and knew that Aunt Ma was blind, and that it would be dangerous for her if the pond wasn't fenced off. So, everyone spontaneously started the work, and now the fence around the pond that had been dug was almost finished. There was only a gap of less than three meters left, and it seemed that it could be completely fenced off today.

Xia Yu stayed with Aunt Ma until Uncle Ma returned from town, then said goodbye to Aunt Ma and went home to help prepare lunch.