Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Xia Yu followed Liu Shi to her mother's bedroom. Liu Shi bolted the door, pulled out a large wooden box from under the bed, took out a small bag containing copper coins, and pushed it in front of Xia Yu: "Xia Xia, this is the money you earned from selling herbs last time. From now on, you can keep all the money you earn yourself. You don't need to give it to your mother anymore. I was afraid you would lose it if you didn't keep it safe. Now that you have that treasure that the old immortal gave you, you can keep all this money yourself from now on."

"Mom, take this money. We'll buy more grain from now on and stop eating wild vegetable buns. I know you and Dad work very hard to support Uncle's education. I'm selling herbs to earn money so that you, Dad, and my brother can eat better," Xia Yu said sincerely to her mother. This was her true feeling.

“Silly girl, I know you’re filial. Keep this money for your dowry. Your brother will be getting married in a few years, and I don’t know what your future sister-in-law will be like. Listen to me, keep all the money you earn for yourself.” As she said this, Liu seemed to be thinking of something, and her tone was somewhat wistful.

Hearing this, Xia Yu didn't insist any further and put all the money into her spatial storage right in front of her mother. Even in later generations, mothers like Liu Shi, who cared so much for their daughters, were rare. In later times, it was not uncommon for daughters to go out to work and earn money to build houses and get married for their brothers. Not to mention her own family's situation; in her previous life, they were considered a complete money-loser in her parents' eyes and mouths.

Stopping thinking about those unhappy things, after all, everything is different now. She has such a loving mother. Seeing that Liu Shi seemed to be stuck in some memories and was in a low mood, Xia Yu wanted to cheer her up, so she changed the subject: "Mother, do you like the pillowcase I bought you?"

"I love it, Mother loves it!" Madam Liu said with a smile in her eyes.

"Mom, I'm going to earn lots of money in the future to buy you new clothes and jewelry, and make you look beautiful," Xia Yu promised her mother.

"Oh my, my good daughter, it seems the old monk was right, I'm going to enjoy my daughter's blessings from now on!" Liu Shi was all smiles as Xia Yu coaxed her, and her mood improved as well. The mother and daughter whispered and laughed in the room for a while before going to wash up and prepare for bed.

Back in her room, Xia Yu locked the door and entered her spatial dimension. The basin she had used to hold the shrimp no longer contained just a few; some were already half a palm's length, and there were countless tiny shrimp. If she weren't in her spatial dimension, Xia Yu felt the shrimp would likely suffocate from lack of oxygen—there were just too many. She considered ordering a very large wooden basin, but she was too small now, and her family would always accompany her whenever she left the village. Having it made by the village carpenter would be too conspicuous. After pulling out several strands of hair, Xia Yu decided to dig a pond in her spatial dimension herself and transfer the shrimp there first.

After leaving the space, she peered through the crack in the window to make sure the lights in her parents' and brother's rooms were off. She then quietly opened the door, went to the woodshed where the farm tools were kept, took an iron shovel, and put it into her space. Afterward, she returned to her own room and locked the door.

Back in the space, Xia Yu chose a spot not far from the pond to begin digging. Looking at the shovel on the ground, Xia Yu tried to control it with her mind to dig a hole, but after trying for a long time, the shovel remained firmly in place, motionless, and she couldn't figure out why. If she couldn't control the digging with her mind, she would have to dig it herself.

But there seemed to be no better way at the moment. Xia Yu picked up the shovel and resignedly began digging in the spot she had chosen, shoveling soil with each shovelful. She dug for an unknown amount of time, only knowing that her arm was about to break and her palms were burning with pain. Because she was breathing through her mouth, her throat had also become dry and sore.

Xia Yu shoveled into the ground, exhausted, and sat down to look at her work: three meters long, two meters wide, and about fifty centimeters deep. She couldn't help but want to groan; if she wanted to raise shrimp, the depth would have to be increased by at least seventy centimeters. Just as she was thinking this, the pit in front of her suddenly became deeper, as if by magic.

"Hmm?" Xia Yu rubbed her eyes, looking at the pit she had just dug; it really had gotten deeper. She stared at the edge of the pit, wishing it were just a meter wider.

With a "bang," it really did widen. Looking at the now-formed pool, Xia Yu silently prayed that it would be filled with stones to prevent leaks. And indeed, what had been a dirt pit was now lined with stone slabs, becoming a real pool. "Ah!?" It actually worked! Why didn't the iron shovel react earlier? She felt she needed to study this space more thoroughly when she had some free time!

Xia Yu washed his hands and face in the pool and dusted off the dirt on his body. He then lay down by the well and gulped down several mouthfuls of well water. The cool water soothed his throat, which had been burning from working.

After confirming she was clean, Xia Yu left her spatial dimension and went to her family's water vat. She dipped a hand into the vat and saw the water level visibly decrease. Xia Yu then sipped half the water into a newly constructed pool in her spatial dimension. However, the pool was still too large; half a vat of water barely covered the bottom. Thinking of the shrimp in the basin, she gritted her teeth and sipped all the water from the vat into the pool. After that, she poured well water from her spatial dimension into the vat. She had drunk well water several times before, but hadn't noticed any special effects. She hadn't experienced diarrhea, flatulence, or detoxification, and her skin hadn't improved. It seemed to only promote the growth of animals and plants; its benefits to humans were subtle and didn't significantly affect appearance. These past few days, she had only vaguely felt that her body was better than before. This was good enough, Xia Yu thought, after all, being too beautiful wasn't necessarily a good thing for a farm girl like herself.

After finishing all this, Xia Yu returned to her room and re-entered the space. She moved some well water from the pool to the newly prepared shrimp pond, but she didn't dare to add too much, fearing that the pond would overflow with shrimp again by tomorrow morning. Seeing that the water was less than ten centimeters deep, she decided to fetch some water from the stream tomorrow. Once Xia Yu had transferred all the shrimp from the basin to the pond, she didn't linger and went straight out of the space to bed.