Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

As Xia Yu approached home with her basket, she added some more chives. Even before entering the courtyard, she could smell a wonderful aroma – the scent of rendered lard. Xia Yu's mouth watered uncontrollably. She quickly unloaded the basket and ran to the kitchen. Her brother was tending the fire, and her mother was standing by the stove, constantly stirring the contents of the pot. A considerable amount of lard had already been skimmed from the pot in the porcelain basin beside them, and seeing her brother's throat moving, she knew he was swallowing hard, just like her.

"Mother, I'll go pick some chives," she said, turning to work in the yard. Dumplings were Xia Yu's favorite food in both her past and present lives. Actually, the chives growing in the space were very clean, with no other weeds mixed in. They just needed to be rinsed with water and the roots cut off. Xia Yu quickly washed the chives clean, put them in a winnowing basket, and carried them to Liu Shi in the kitchen.

Liu had already scooped the fried fish out of the pot; they weren't fried until very dry. The oil basin next to her was almost full, probably weighing three or four pounds. "Mother, how did you manage to render so much?" Xia Yu asked her mother.

"This piece of lard you bought is thick and fat, it will yield a lot of oil, this should be enough for us to eat until the New Year," said Liu Shi. Then she ladled out a small bowl of fried dough sticks, sprinkled them with salt, and placed them next to Changyun and Xia Yu, saying, "You two take these to the main room to eat, be careful not to burn your mouths." Changyun said, "Mom, let's eat here, Xia Xia and I can keep you company."

"Then you all stand by the door. There's a basin of oil here; it's still hot, be careful not to burn yourselves," Madam Liu instructed worriedly.

"Okay, we know," the brother and sister replied to their mother in unison.

Xia Yu picked up a small oil cake, blew on it, and then held it to Liu Shi's lips. Liu Shi took a tiny bite from her daughter's hand. Seeing that it was less than the size of a soybean, Xia Yu held it back to Liu Shi's lips, saying, "Mother, you finish it."

Changyun picked up a piece, blew on it to cool it down, and handed it to Liu Shi's lips, saying: "Mother, there's still a lot left in this bowl, you can eat it too."

Seeing her two filial children, Liu felt extremely warm inside. She took the two pieces of fried dough from their hands and ate them. Instantly, a crispy and fragrant aroma spread in her mouth, reaching right to Liu's heart. The three of them ate fried dough while talking in the kitchen. In just a few minutes, Liu had already deftly chopped up the chives and put them into the bowl with the fried dough.

Seeing that the two children had finished eating the fried dough twists, Liu took the bowl again, put a handful of chopped chives in it, stirred it, and then poured it back into the previous filling bowl. She only stopped after cleaning all the salt off the bowl.

"Xiaxia, next time you dig up wild chives, remember to cut them near the root and leave the stems. They'll grow back in a few days," Liu taught her daughter life skills.

"Yes, Mom. So, if we plant the chive roots that we cut off now, will they still grow into chives?" Xia Yu asked her mother obediently.

This question stumped Liu, as she had never done it this way before. After thinking for a moment, she called to her son, Changyun, "Changyun, plant these leek roots in the vegetable garden behind our house and see if they can grow. If they can, we won't have to go up the mountain to dig them up anymore."

"Alright, I'll go right now." Changyun took the leek roots from Liu's hand and ran off in a flash.

Liu mixed the chives, fried shallots, and salt together, tasted it to check the sweetness and saltiness, and the dumpling filling was ready. Because it already contained a lot of fried shallots, it was quite fragrant, so there was no need to add sesame oil. The dumpling dough had been prepared by Liu at home that afternoon while Xia Yu went to forage for wild vegetables, and had been resting for over an hour covered with a damp cloth. At this time, the dough's elasticity was at its best for making dumplings.

As soon as Xia Yu lifted the cloth covering the basin, she was stunned. "Mom, is there too much flour? How come it's such a big piece?" There must be five pounds of flour in it.

"Not much, it's been a while since we've had anything better. I'll take some to your grandparents too, so they can enjoy it too. This is money their grandchildren earned themselves to show their respect," said Liu as she kneaded the dough. "Go wash your hands and come help me roll out the dough."

"Okay, okay," she said, and went to the water vat to wash her hands carefully. Watching her daughter squatting by the water vat, diligently washing her hands, Liu Shi found her daughter increasingly adorable; even the way she washed her hands was so beautiful.

After washing her hands, Xia Yu went inside to help her mother roll out dumpling wrappers. Four or five pounds of flour was quite a task.

I watched as Liu Shi first cut off about a pound of dough from a large piece of dough, sprinkled some dry flour on the cutting board, and skillfully kneaded the dough into a smooth, long strip. Then she cut it into small, roughly equal-sized pieces. Xia Yu, standing beside her, pushed aside the pieces her mother had cut, flattened each one, and then rolled them out into round, egg-sized wrappers using a small rolling pin, thicker in the middle and thinner at both ends. One dumpling wrapper was done. Mother and daughter worked together in the kitchen, one rolling and the other wrapping, and in less than half an hour, they had finished wrapping over a pound of dough. At this moment, Chang Yun returned from the backyard, washing his hands and face as he said to Liu Shi, "Mother, all the wild leek roots have been planted, but I don't know if they'll survive."

"Give it a try. If it survives, we'll have another vegetable in our garden, and we won't have to go up the mountain to dig for chives anymore," Liu said to her son. Her hands were busy, and in the time it took to say that, she had wrapped two more dumplings.

After washing his hands, Changyun moved a small stool and sat next to his mother and Xiaxia, trying to make dumplings like his mother. Although they weren't as pretty as his mother's, and he wasn't as fast, at least none of them leaked filling. Liu Shi would patiently guide her son if he did anything wrong.

Watching his brother make dumplings, Xia Yu thought to himself: Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi, these parents, don't seem to think like other people that kitchen work should be done by women. Dad cooked lunch, and now his brother is helping to make dumplings, and Mom hasn't sent him out to play. These parents have an open-mindedness that's different from the prevailing customs of this era.

The mother and her two children spent over an hour making five or six pounds of dumpling dough. Looking at the several large trays of dumplings in the kitchen, there must have been more than two hundred! Xia Yu deeply realized what it meant to say: "Fewer people means better food, more people means better work."

In the distance, the sky was ablaze with colorful clouds, and the setting sun was sinking below the horizon. Those working in the fields began packing up their tools and heading home. Looking at the sky, Liu instructed Changyun to start a fire and boil water to cook dumplings. Xia Yu volunteered to carry buckets to the water vat to fetch water. She wanted to know what benefits the well water in her spatial dimension had for the human body, so while fetching water, she quickly transferred some well water from her spatial dimension into the water vat, but she didn't dare mix too much in, fearing she would be discovered.

Just as the first batch of dumplings was cooked and ready to be served, Zhang Youtie entered the courtyard. "Dad, hurry up and wash your hands. Come with your son and take this pot of dumplings to the old house. They're fresh out of the pot. Don't stop there either; the second batch will be ready soon, and they won't taste good if they get cold," Liu Shi assigned the task before Zhang Youtie could even catch his breath.

"Alright, I'll do whatever you say, madam," Zhang Youtie replied happily upon hearing Liu's arrangement.

"Keep joking around in front of the children," Liu said, glancing at him sideways.

He handed Zhang Youtie a large basin full of dumplings, and gave Changyun a small basin, saying to them, "There are many people at the old house. This small basin contains about twenty or thirty dumplings. Take them over with the ones in the large basin. I'm still cooking some in my pot, so don't stop there. Come back as soon as you put the dumplings down." As he spoke, he draped a steaming cloth over each of the two basins.

Back at the old house, those who had been working in the fields had returned home, and Wang and Li had already prepared the meal in the kitchen. They were carrying a large winnowing basket of cornbread mixed with sorghum flour, two bowls of thinly chopped vegetable porridge, and finally two bowls of pickled radish shreds to the main room. The old house still owned nearly a hundred mu of land, seventy mu of which had been sold off, with a rent of 50% per mu—lower than the current average. However, the old man, thinking of his fourth son's ambition for a career in government and the importance of reputation, insisted on paying a 10% discount compared to other families. He cultivated the remaining thirty mu himself. The old house could have lived comfortably, but now his fourth son needed money for school, and his grandson was growing up and approaching marriageable age, so they had to be frugal with their daily meals. They only dared to buy a few pounds of meat during festivals.

On their way back to their old house, Zhang Youtie and his son, each carrying a basin of dumplings, encountered many villagers. Whenever someone asked them what they were doing with those basins, Changyun would loudly reply: "These are dumplings my mother made, and I'm taking them to my grandparents."

"Wow, two bowls of dumplings, that's quite a lot. Changyun's mother is a filial son," the person who asked the question exclaimed with admiration.

Changyun was even happier when he heard people praising his mother for being filial.

"Grandpa and Grandma, I've brought you dumplings!" Changyun shouted as soon as he entered the courtyard of the old house.

The group, who were preparing to eat inside, heard Changyun's voice. Before they could even understand what Changyun was shouting, Changyuan was the first to react: "Second Brother has brought us dumplings."

After saying that, he darted out like a monkey to greet his second brother. At this moment, Zhang Youtie also entered the yard carrying a large basin. "Father, Mother, my wife made dumplings today, I brought some over for you."

Hearing the noise, the people inside gradually came out. Seeing the two basins the father and son were carrying, Wang and Li quickly stepped forward to take them. Grandma Zhang and Liu came over and lifted the cloth covering the basins, revealing two basins of golden-yellow cornmeal dumplings, each about the size of an egg, totaling more than a hundred.

With a "gulp," it was the sound of Changyuan swallowing his saliva.

"Why did you send over so many? How many did you wrap? How much flour did you use? Liu Shi doesn't know how to manage money. What a spendthrift woman!" Liu Shi couldn't help but grumble as soon as she saw the dumplings.

“Mother, look at what you’re saying! We haven’t had a proper meal in ages. Today the children bought several pounds of lard, and they made dumplings with the rendered fat and wild chives. Guifang and the children worked all afternoon, and this first batch was specially brought over for you and Father. How can you still complain about her!” Zhang Youtie was annoyed to hear his mother complaining about Liu Shi and spoke up to defend her. His mother was good in every way, except she was too strict with her daughter-in-law and granddaughter. In his eyes, his wife was perfect—beautiful, good-tempered, and kind—filial to her parents, and had given him two obedient and sensible children. He cherished Liu Shi very much.

"Alright, alright, third son, your mother didn't mean anything by it. She's just worried that your family doesn't have enough food. She's getting old and tends to gossip, so don't take it to heart. Your mother and I both know that Changyun's mother is a filial daughter. Come on, let's go inside. We have dumplings today. Have Chunyu go get two ounces of wine, and we'll all have a drink." Grandpa Zhang immediately spoke up to appease his third son when he saw his wife starting to nag about unpleasant things again.

"No, Dad, the dumplings will be ready soon. Changyun's mother is waiting for us to come back for dinner. I won't go inside. You all should eat them while they're hot." After saying that, she turned to Wang and Li and said, "Sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, we don't have enough bowls at home. Could you take the dumplings out and I'll take the bowls back with me?"

Seeing that he insisted on going back, Grandpa Zhang didn't say anything more, but only told his eldest daughter-in-law to put a few freshly cooked cornbread buns in a basin and take them back to eat tomorrow morning.

Zhang Youtie didn't stand on ceremony with his father. He carried the bowl of steamed buns, greeted everyone, and went home. On the way, Changyun asked his father: "Dad, why does Grandma always say bad things about Mom? I feel that Mom is not wasteful at all, and she is filial."

"Oh, your grandma, she's not a bad person, just a chatterbox, always so meticulous. Don't tell your mother what she was saying just now, understand?" Zhang Youtie instructed his son, still worried.

"Don't worry, Dad. I'm not stupid. If I told you, it would only upset Mom. I won't say anything," Changyun assured his father, patting his chest.