Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

"Uncle Liu, I hope you can give me this thousand taels of silver in the form of a hundred-tael silver note. The denomination is too large and it's inconvenient for our family to use."

Manager Liu, who was preparing to write some documents, heard Xia Yu's words and his pen trembled, causing a large ink drop to fall onto the paper. He looked up at Xia Yu in surprise, stammering, "One...one...one thousand taels...?"

Seeing his reaction, Xia Yu was very puzzled. "Yes, one thousand taels, isn't that the price you said, Uncle Liu? I said it was too much, but you said it wasn't." At this point, Xia Yu suddenly realized what was going on and stared at Manager Liu, asking...

"Uncle Liu, do you mean... one hundred taels?"

Seeing Xia Yu's incredulous look, Manager Liu felt hesitant to nod.

"This..." Manager Liu didn't know how to put it, because the two of them had very different ideas.

Xia Yu felt sorry for him seeing him stammering and unable to speak. So, understandingly, she spoke up.

"Uncle Liu, why don't you talk to someone about it? Anyway, my father hasn't come back yet, so I'll just wait here for now."

"Okay, okay, wait a moment, I'll be right back. I'll have the waiter bring you some snacks to tide you over."

After saying that, he went out, and a little while later the waiter brought in two plates of snacks and a bowl of Eight Treasure Lei Cha (a type of tea).

"Xiaxia, Manager Liu asked me to bring this to you. Eat it first, and call me if you need anything."

"Thank you, Brother Niu Er! These two dishes are too much for me to finish. You should have some too." As she spoke, she handed a pair of chopsticks to the waiter, Niu Er.

"Oh, that won't do. If you can't finish it, I'll pack it up for you to take home and eat slowly. I'm busy outside, so I'll go out first. Call me if you need anything," Niu Er said and then left.

Xia Yu looked at the two generously sized plates of pastries on the table. One plate was jujube and yam cake, and the other was red bean paste rolls. Both were sweet pastries that children loved. Xia Yu first scooped up a spoonful of Eight Treasure Lei Cha (a type of tea), finding it rich, mellow, and refreshingly fragrant. Xia Yu really liked the taste and thought about buying some ingredients to take home and make some for her mother. She picked up a piece of red bean paste roll and put it in her mouth; the flavor was sweet, just the right amount of sweetness for her.

After eating three pastries and a bowl of Eight Treasure Lei Cha, Xia Yu felt full. Looking at the many pastries left on the table, and thinking that wasting food was shameful, she waved her hand and the pastries went into her space, leaving only two shiny plates on the table, so clean that not even a crumb was left.

Half an incense stick's time later, the door to the private room was opened again, and Manager Liu wiped the sweat from his brow before slowly walking in.

"Xiaxia, are the snacks delicious?" As she spoke, her eyes glanced at the table, but when she saw two shiny plates, she instantly became a little unhappy.

Before even sitting down, he turned and walked out.

“Niu Er…”

"Hey, Manager Liu, what can I do for you?" Niu'er heard Manager Liu call him, so he quickly apologized to the guests at the table in front of him and walked up to Manager Liu to ask.

"Bring two more plates of pastries, and fill them up."

"Okay, sure," Niu Er replied, but he was a little puzzled. Hadn't two plates been brought in just now? Did the manager want to eat them? Hmm, that must be it.

So Niu Er went to the kitchen and asked for two plates of the snacks that Manager Liu always liked, and sent them over.

After making the arrangements with Niu Er, Manager Liu turned around and sat down in his chair.

"Did you like the pastries?" Manager Liu asked gently.

"I like it, thank you Uncle Liu. It's delicious." Xia Yu replied obediently. She had just noticed that Manager Liu was unhappy for a moment, but before she could figure out why, he went out and ordered two more plates of pastries.

"I'm glad you like it. Are you still hungry? I'll have Niu Er bring two more plates. Eat as much as you like."

Hearing Manager Liu's words, Xia Yu finally understood why he had been unhappy earlier. It turned out that he hadn't served enough food because the plates were all empty. Realizing this, Xia Yu suddenly felt her face flush.

"Ahem," Manager Liu cleared his throat. "Xiaxia, I just discussed it with Chef Zhao. These two dishes are indeed very good, but a thousand taels of silver is really too much. I know a hundred taels is a bit too little. Do you think we can negotiate the price?"

“Uncle Liu, actually I said too much just now, but you insisted on saying less… Since there was a misunderstanding in our conversation, let’s discuss it again. You can decide what to give. This isn’t the first time we’ve worked together, and I trust Uncle Liu’s character.”

Hearing Xia Yu's words, Manager Liu felt immense pressure. He mentally reviewed his master's words before speaking, "The recipes for these two ingredients cost 280 taels. As for the new dishes you mentioned, we'll buy them from our restaurant at 30 taels each. What do you think?"

Xia Yu silently calculated in her mind, and it seemed to be about the same as what she had thought. She then smiled and said to Manager Liu...

"The amount doesn't matter. Given my father's friendship with Uncle Liu, whatever you say is fine. Two hundred and eighty taels it is. Uncle Liu, please write down the receipt!"

"Okay, okay, I'll write it right now." Manager Liu was very pleased to hear that Xia Yu agreed without saying a word and even said it so eloquently.

After Manager Liu finished writing the document, dried it, and handed it to Xia Yu, he hadn't actually considered that Xia Yu could read; handing her the document was purely a habitual action.

To everyone's surprise, Xia Yu read the document carefully from beginning to end after receiving it, and even praised Manager Liu's beautiful handwriting at the end. This surprised Manager Liu.

"Xiaxia, you can read!" This was said with certainty, not in doubt.

"Yes, I can read." Xia Yu nodded in response, her eyes still fixed on the document.

"..." Hearing Xia Yu's casual reply, Manager Liu didn't know how to ask any further questions, as if he had been too naive.

"Uncle Liu, do you have ink pad? I'd like to leave my handprint." Xia Yu asked Liu, who seemed lost in thought.

"Inkpad? You can read, right? Just write your own name on it."

"I can read, but I can't write," Xia Yu said, looking at Manager Liu with a somewhat innocent expression.

"..." Manager Liu looked at Xia Yu speechlessly. He had never imagined that there would be someone who could read but not write.

She had someone bring over inkpads, dipped her hands in it, and carefully pressed the inkpads onto the document. Two copies were made, one for her and one for Zuixiaolou. From then on, she could only make these two items for her own consumption and could not sell them in the market.

When Zhang Youtie and Uncle Ma returned, Xia Yu had already pocketed the 280 taels of silver notes. As for the other dishes, she would teach Chef Zhao how to make them another day. She would charge 30 taels of silver for each person she taught, and the more she worked, the more she would earn, with the payment settled on the spot.

To express his gratitude to Xia Yu, Manager Liu prepared a feast for them, including the restaurant's best-selling hot pot. Xia Yu, having already eaten her fill of snacks, only ate a couple of bites before putting down her chopsticks. Uncle Ma and Zhang Youtie, on the other hand, had been running around all morning and were starving; they devoured the entire table of meat and vegetables. After the meal, they chatted with Manager Liu for a while before taking their two packed bags of snacks and leaving.

Just before leaving, Manager Liu mentioned that a ship would be heading to the prefectural city the next day, and the copper pots would be delivered along with it. He hoped that Zhang Youtie could send more hot pot base ingredients the next day, preferably fifty catties of each. Xia Yu calculated the time; the cargo ship wouldn't leave until the evening, so she would have half a day to prepare the hot pot ingredients the next day. There would be enough time, so she nodded in agreement and promised to deliver them before the ship departed.

After finishing their business, the group set off in the cart towards Zhangjia Village. However, when they reached the fork in the road, Zhang Youtie remembered Zhang the Cripple and his wife, who were still being treated at Baohetang. He asked Uncle Ma to drive the oxcart back to the village first, while he and Xia Yu turned towards the town. Their reasons were twofold: first, to check on their recovery, and second, to take the opportunity to obtain more ingredients for hot pot broth.