Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

As the dishes were being served one by one and set out, Zhang Youtie, Liu Shi, and Changyun, who were working in the fields, entered the courtyard together.

"Daughter, your brother said you cooked something delicious for us again? Haha, Daddy's in for a treat today!" Zhang Youtie's voice was very loud.

"Hurry up and wash your hands, what are you shouting for? Do you want others to hear you?" Liu couldn't stand her husband's shouting at the gate and whispered to him.

"Hehe, I'm just happy!" Zhang Youtie wasn't angry when his wife said that about him.

After washing off the dust, the group sat down at the table and, looking at the two dishes on it, felt their appetites whetted by the aroma.

"Hey, what kind of vegetable is this? It's quite delicious," Zhang Youtie asked his daughter, picking up a piece of bok choy.

"This is bok choy, I stir-fried it with lard."

"Mmm, delicious. Mom, this tastes much better than what you used to cook. I've noticed our daughter is getting smarter and smarter."

"Dad, do you still remember the fate the old monk told your daughter when she was little?"

"Ah? Oh, I remember now, was it that calamity we just passed?"

"Yes, that ordeal is over, and things will only get better for our daughter from now on."

"Good, good, our daughter is so lucky!" Zhang Youtie said excitedly, his hands trembling slightly as he picked up food.

After the family finished their meal together in a warm and friendly atmosphere, Xia Yu wanted to tell Liu Shi about the shrimp in her spatial dimension. After all, if she wanted to turn these things into money, she needed someone to cover for her.

While Liu was washing pots in the kitchen, Xia Yu saw her brother hanging the *Anoectochilus roxburghii* (a type of orchid) he had washed that morning on a large straw mat in the yard. Her father, taking over his son's work, rinsed the unwashed *Anoectochilus roxburghii* in a basin of water, making sure no one was paying attention to her for the time being. Xia Yu walked over to Liu and, in front of Liu, took out a large shrimp, the size of an adult's palm, from her spatial storage.

"Oh, where did such a big shrimp come from?" Liu asked, taking the still wriggling shrimp from her hand.

"Yesterday, when my brother brought the shrimp back, I put half of them in a basin and stored them in my spatial storage, thinking I'd eat them in two meals. But I was worried the chickens would eat them if I left them outside, so I stored them in my space. Who knew that when I took them out of my space to cook lunch today, I found there were more shrimp in the basin, and they'd grown bigger." Xia Yu told Liu Shi the story she had prepared in advance.

"It seems the space the old immortal gave you is truly a treasure, allowing these things to grow rapidly," Liu said excitedly. If what her daughter said was true, then the family's living conditions would only get better and better in the future.

"Mom, I'm thinking of taking these prawns to town to sell. After all, we can't eat this every day, and the money can help supplement our household expenses."

"Well, there's a big market in town the day after tomorrow. You and your mother will go together. But your aunts might be there too. If they see such big shrimp and ask you where they came from, what will you say?" Liu Shi said worriedly, mentioning the potential problems.

"Mother, before we leave, I'll put the shrimp into my spatial storage. Second Aunt will probably still be going to the embroidery shop to sell netting, so we won't go together. We'll just find a quiet alley, take the shrimp out, and sell them directly to the restaurants in town. If we really don't have a chance, we can go again in a couple of days."

"Oh dear, Mother misunderstood," Liu slapped her forehead. She realized she'd been mistaken three times a day.

The mother and daughter agreed that they would take the shrimp to town to sell at the market. After tidying up the kitchen, Xia Yu and her mother went back to their rooms to sleep.

Actually, Xia Yu didn't really want to sleep. She felt particularly energetic lately, but there wasn't much work to do right now. The golden thread lotus had already been washed and hung out to dry; she just needed to turn it over every now and then. Lying in bed, thinking about what she wanted to add to her spatial storage, she gradually drifted off to sleep.

Xia Yu slept until around 3 p.m., when he woke up. His parents had already gone back to work in the fields. Chang Yun didn't run out to play with the other children; instead, he stayed in the shady spot in the yard watching the golden thread lotus drying in the sun. When a small bird flew down onto it, he would shoo it away and occasionally turn it over.

"Brother, go ahead and play if you want. I'll take care of these things," Xia Yu said to Chang Yun.

“I’m not going to play anymore. I’ll keep an eye on things for you. You should rest for a while too. When I went to the old house to deliver the shrimp, I heard from my older sister that Wang Pingping scolded you again. Our grandma and her grandma even had a fight! It’s all my fault. If I had gone to fetch water, you wouldn’t have run into her.” Changyun’s tone was full of guilt.

"Brother, what are you saying? I didn't suffer any losses today. I even made Wang Pingping cry, and Grandma beat her grandma pretty badly. She'll definitely avoid me from now on," Xia Yu quickly comforted her brother. A while ago, because of the time she fell and broke her head, this brother felt he hadn't protected his sister well. Like a mother hen protecting her chicks, he followed her everywhere she went and stopped playing with the village boys. Now that he'd just recovered, she couldn't let him have that guilty feeling again.

They ate the same thing for dinner as at noon, and no one asked where all the shrimp came from. Xia Yu was happy that she didn't have to think of so many excuses and lies.

Nothing happened that night. She got up early the next morning and spread out the golden thread lotus to dry. She turned it over every half hour, thinking that she could take some with her to town to sell when she went there the next day. She wanted to turn all the golden thread lotus in her space into money as soon as possible.

Xia Yu cooked lunch again: wild celery and cornmeal porridge with cornmeal pancakes. Xia Yu first stir-fried the wild celery with lard before adding it to the porridge. All the water was well water from her space, so the taste was quite good. Her father drank three bowls and still wanted more. If he hadn't been so full that he couldn't drink anymore, he would have wanted more.

After their afternoon nap, their parents went back to work in the fields, leaving only the brother and sister at home. However, the two didn't rest; they would check on the dried golden thread lotus every now and then, though Xia Yu felt it was definitely too late to dry it all in one day.

As the sun began to set, another day was coming to an end. Xia Yu felt that her days in ancient times were quite fulfilling. A busy day passed just like that. After cooking in the kitchen, Xia Yu handed the herbs drying outside to her brother to watch over.

Suddenly, a strange scream rang out in the yard, startling Xiaxia, who was chopping vegetables in the kitchen, so much that she almost dropped the knife. Just as she was about to go out to see what had happened to her brother, Changyun came running over, shouting in alarm.

"Xiaxia, Xiaxia, all the vegetables in the backyard have grown up, and... and... and they all grew up in an instant." She seemed quite frightened, as she was even stammering.

Xia Yu saw the vegetable ladle that Chang Yun usually used to water the vegetables in his hand and sighed helplessly, "Brother, where did you use the water to water the vegetables?"

"Um, from the water tank."

"Didn't I tell you this morning that I've been using water from the big basin to water the vegetables these past few days?"

"I forgot," Changyun said, scratching his head.

"Sigh," Xia Yu sighed and headed to the backyard first. She felt that her private space might have to be made public, otherwise she wouldn't be able to explain these things.

Upon reaching the backyard, Xia Yu saw that the vegetables that had been mere seedlings had all grown up. The cucumbers had formed, the peas were ripe, and the newly planted chives had grown tall and had even produced chive flowers, indicating they were quite mature. The small garlic sprouts had already bolted, and Xia Yu suspected that if it weren't for the need to pull out the garlic scapes before the garlic bulbs could grow, they would already be harvesting garlic. Not only the vegetables had grown, but also the weeds, some as tall as a person, so tall that Xia Yu couldn't see the end of them once she squeezed through. Fortunately, the vegetables in the backyard had only grown taller and ripened, unlike the ones in the space where they had sprouted so much that they had spread outside the yard.

Changyun followed behind his younger sister, feeling both curious and a little scared as he looked at the scene in the vegetable garden.

"Brother, it's alright. Let's pick the cucumbers and peas that have grown, and pull out the garlic scapes too. I'll tell you what happened tonight."

Hearing his sister's calm tone, Changyun felt less nervous. It seemed his sister knew the reason, so he decided to follow her instructions and pick all the ripe vegetables.

The two of them, one carrying a basket and the other a crate, picked cucumbers as they made their way into the vegetable garden from one side of the edge. Previously, the path in the small garden had been completely obscured by cucumber vines and tall weeds, as the seedlings were still small and the cucumber trellises hadn't been set up yet. Now, thanks to the water from the spatial well, the cucumber vines had matured rapidly, intertwining with other grasses and vegetables in clumps.

"Brother, how much water did you water it?"

"When I went to scoop the second ladle of water, I turned around and saw this. I was so scared I ran away," Changyun said, still a little embarrassed.

Luckily there was only one ladle of water; any more and the whole thing would have died, Xia Yu thought to herself.

The brother and sister resignedly picked vegetables carefully in the field. What had started as just a dozen or so cucumber seedlings had grown so large that the basket Changyun had brought was almost full, weighing at least twenty pounds. They had also picked over twenty pounds of peas, and Xia Yu already had several ways in mind to cook them. However, Changyun had probably sprinkled the bleach on the chives, so while these vegetables were ripe, they weren't quite old yet. The chives over there, on the other hand, were truly old; the flowers had already bloomed. But since the flowers could be made into chive blossom sauce, they couldn't be wasted.

The two were still pulling garlic scapes in the field when their parents returned home.

"Changyun, Xiaxia, what are you doing in the vegetable garden? Ah…!" The words she was about to say were choked back by the sight before her. Liu looked at her daughter and saw her nod. She instantly understood that the situation was probably related to her daughter's precious child. She didn't ask any more questions and went to help pull up the garlic scapes. Zhang Youtie, in the front yard, washed his face and noticed that Liu hadn't come out after going to the backyard. Feeling something was amiss, he went over to see what was going on.

When he arrived at the backyard, he was stunned by the scene before him. Just as he was about to ask a question, Liu interrupted him, saying, "Help with the work first, we can talk about other things tonight."

So Zhang Youtie also stayed in the backyard and didn't come out again, joining the ranks of those picking vegetables.