Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Xia Yu took a cantaloupe out of her spatial storage and cut it on the table. She whispered to Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi...

"Dad, Mom, today is a happy day. Let's eat a cantaloupe to celebrate." He said, cutting the cantaloupe in his hand into crescent shapes and handing one piece to each of them.

"Yes, Xiaxia is right, it's something to celebrate. Mom, let's make dumplings later, okay?"

“Okay, I want the three-delicacy filling.” Xia Yu raised his hand in agreement with his father’s suggestion.

"Okay, let's have dumplings. We'll call Uncle Ma and Aunt Ma over later so we can eat together. We'll make some more this afternoon and send some to your brother too," Liu said with a smile.

Everyone naturally had no objection to Liu's suggestion.

The atmosphere was somewhat tense on the carriage returning to the city. Finally, Liu Dongsheng spoke first.

"I've dragged you two brothers into this mess today. If it weren't for my foolish servant, you two might have been able to buy some shrimp from the Zhang family."

"Hey, Brother Liu, what are you saying? Brother Zhang just said it too. The Shen family has bought all the shrimp from their place. Even without the waiter's business, they wouldn't be able to buy any shrimp. The Shen family is too ruthless. They eat the meat but don't let us have a sip of soup." Zhao Youting gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words, feeling unwilling, really unwilling.

“Brother Zhao, be careful what you say. We brothers can just say these things here, but you mustn’t say them outside. Actually, I’m also very curious about this. The Shen family has never been one to hoard business, so why are they being so domineering this time? Could it be that the shrimp seller tricked us?” Li Chengye quickly reminded him, hearing the hatred in his voice.

"How dare a nobody selling prawns, with no power or influence, use the Shen family's name to control us? Besides, what he said is right. The more he sells, the more he earns. If it weren't for the Shen family's control, why wouldn't he want to do business with us?" Zhao Youting now believes that the root of everything is that the Shen family wants to monopolize everything.

Hearing Zhao and Li's conversation, Liu Dongsheng suddenly felt a little guilty. He suspected that the Shen family had discovered his plan to send someone to Zuixiaolou to steal cooking lessons. Otherwise, why would the Shen family, who were usually lenient in business, suddenly become so domineering this time? He didn't dare to respond to the two people opposite him, but pondered today's events in his mind, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that this might be the reason.

"Brother Liu, Brother Liu!"

"Ah, hey, what's the matter, Brother Li?" Lost in thought, Liu Dongsheng was called several times by Li Chengye before he came back to his senses.

"Brother Zhao and I are discussing going to the Shen residence to ask Master Shen to spare some shrimp for us. What do you think?" Li Chengye said.

'How is it? Not so good,' Liu Dongjia thought to himself, but said aloud.

“I don’t think this is a good idea. Since the Shen family signed an agreement with the shrimp seller, they’re obviously trying to monopolize the business. Shrimp is all the rage in the city right now, so why would she be willing to give up what she already has? If we go there now, wouldn’t we be blatantly trying to steal business from Zuixiaolou? If you were in that situation, would you be willing to share some of your business with others?”

"..." Liu Dongsheng's words silenced everyone in the car.

In fact, Liu Dongsheng thought that the two of them had come up with a good plan. If he hadn't sent someone to Zuixiaolou to steal the recipe, he would have done the same.

But if he let Li and Zhao go ahead and actually succeeded in negotiating the deal, then his restaurant would be out of shrimp. They'd all have shrimp, but he wouldn't, and wouldn't Hongbinlou's business be even worse off? At least they were there to keep him company; if no one made money, no one would. So, with this in mind, he strongly opposed the two of them doing it.

The carriage swayed and rattled into the county town. Zhao Youting of Baiweilou was the first to alight; the carriage belonged to the Li family. Li Chengye had taken Liu Dongsheng to Hongbinlou, and after parting ways with him, he didn't go straight back to his own Meiweiju. Instead, he had the driver take a detour to Zhao Youting's Baiweilou.

Seeing him return, Zhao Youting asked him somewhat curiously.

"Brother Li, why are you back again? Is there something else?"

Li Chengye clasped his hands in a fist salute to him and, without beating around the bush, went straight to the point.

"Brother Zhao, I've been thinking about this all the way here, and I still want to go to the Shen residence to talk to Master Shen and Madam Shen. What Brother Liu said earlier makes sense, but based on my understanding of Master Shen and Madam Shen, their magnanimity and breadth of mind are beyond our reach. If I were in the current position of the Shen family, I might hog all the food, but they wouldn't do that. Now that they've done it, there must be a reason. If our restaurant wants to survive in Ming'an County in the long run, this trip is still necessary. As for Brother Liu, since he's unwilling to go, we won't force him. I wonder if Brother Zhao would be willing to accompany me on this trip?"

“Brother Li is right. I also believe that the Shen family must have a reason for doing this. However, isn’t it a bit unethical for us to act on our own without Brother Liu’s knowledge?” Zhao Youting said, still somewhat doubtful.

Hearing his words, Li Chengye lowered his head and pondered for a while before speaking.

“A real man shouldn’t talk about others behind their backs, but I feel that this matter may have something to do with Brother Liu. If we involve him, it will make things difficult to get things done. Besides, doesn’t he also oppose us doing this?”

Zhao Youting wasn't stupid; he understood everything after hearing what Li Chengye said, so he didn't say anything more. He only discussed the time with Li Chengye, and that was the end of it.

Inside Hongbinlou Restaurant, Liu Dongsheng felt a headache coming on when he saw the waiter standing at the entrance. The waiter, seeing him return, ran up to him with a fawning smile.

"Brother-in-law, you're back!"

Liu Dongsheng gave a somewhat annoyed "hmm" and didn't want to pay any attention to him.

"Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, I want to tell you something." The waiter didn't notice the annoyance on his face and continued to speak, seemingly oblivious to the situation.

"I want to ask you something first." Liu Dongsheng stopped and looked at his younger brother, who was his most beloved concubine.

"Brother-in-law, please feel free to ask me anything."

Has anyone ever sold shrimp door-to-door?

"Selling prawns? No, we don't!" The waiter was a little unsure what his brother-in-law meant by asking this question.

"No? Then I heard that someone came to our restaurant to sell their shrimp, but you didn't let them in and even pushed them away."

"No, absolutely not. I've never done such a thing," the waiter answered confidently. He genuinely didn't remember. He'd pushed around many people who looked poor, but he didn't recall ever pushing around people selling prawns.

Seeing his confident demeanor, Liu Dongsheng chuckled in exasperation. Looking at his smile, Xiao Er felt a chill run down his spine. However, remembering Liu Dongsheng's affection for his sister, he still mustered the courage to speak.

"Brother-in-law, I want to talk to you about something."

"You said."

Liu Dongsheng wasn't unaware that his brother-in-law was somewhat materialistic, but he was also quite clever and had never made a mistake before. However, he never expected that his first mistake would cause him such a huge problem. What does a restaurant rely on to make good food? Ingredients, of course—fresh and unique ingredients. He had actually driven away a man who came to sell prawns, and now this ingredient issue was holding the restaurant hostage. Seeing many regular customers going to Zuixiaolou, he was so angry he couldn't eat, and this man even dared to make demands in front of him.

"Didn't you say that if I worked as a greeter for a year, I would go inside and do the work?" Although the waiter could hear the coldness in his words, he still asked fearlessly.

"Where do you want to go?"

"Hehe, brother-in-law, how about I become the second manager? We're all on the same side. I can also keep an eye on Manager Yu for you."

Liu Dongsheng, seeing that he was still foolish enough to want to be the second manager, couldn't even muster a sneer. "I think there's a very important place that would suit you perfectly, an essential place that any restaurant needs. Would you like to go?"

The waiter's eyes lit up at these words. Wasn't the kitchen an indispensable part of any restaurant? He quickly nodded, "Yes, yes, I'm willing to go, brother-in-law." He nodded rapidly, afraid his brother-in-law might change his mind if he hesitated. He had already planned it out: once in the kitchen, with his relationship with his brother-in-law, wouldn't he be able to eat and take whatever he wanted from the restaurant?

"Alright, since you're willing, I'll arrange for Manager Yu to replace the people there. You can go there in a bit."

"Thank you, brother-in-law, thank you, brother-in-law." The waiter bowed and scraped as he escorted Liu Dongsheng inside. Liu Dongsheng stood smugly at the door, waiting for Manager Yu to come and inform him of his new post. But if he heard what his brother-in-law and Manager Yu said, he wondered if he would cry.

"Manager Yu, have Ding Xiaobao, who greets guests at the door, go to work in the Five Grains Reincarnation Room."

"Master, this...this...is this going to work?" Manager Yu knew about the relationship between Yu Xiaobao and the master, and he stammered a little when he heard his arrangement.

"He's willing to go, so you just arrange it. The pay will be double what it was before. If he wants to work, he can; if he doesn't, he can get lost."