Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Changyun spotted his mother and sister immediately, stood up, and shouted loudly to the people in front of the jewelry store, "Xiaxia..."

Hearing someone call her name, Xia Yu immediately spotted Chang Yun. She waved at him, then spoke a few words to her mother and aunt, pointing in their direction. Chang Yun, confirming his sister had seen them, sat down again.

Just moments before, Wang was still excited, but the cold wind at the doorway instantly sobered her up. Looking at the two brocade boxes in her hands, she felt a pang of regret. How could she have resisted buying so many things, spending several hundred coins?

"Sister-in-law, you can keep these two boxes for now," Wang said to Liu.

"Alright, put it in my basket. I'll give it back to you when we get home," Liu agreed without asking why. After putting the brocade box away, the group headed towards the tea stall.

After sitting at the tea stall for a while, Xia Yu didn't want to drink tea. She saw a flower vendor across the street and decided to go over and buy a few hair accessories.

"Mother, there's a flower peddler over there. I want to go and see him."

Following her daughter's finger, Liu looked and saw a flower stall, its colorful flowers creating a lively scene.

"Go ahead, buy whatever you like, just don't go anywhere else!"

"Yes, I know," Xia Yu replied.

"Brother, are you going?" Xia Yu asked Chang Yun again.

"I'm not going. They're all for girls. I'll just have a cup of tea here," Changyun said, glancing at the items on the peddler's stall without much interest.

"Then I'll go by myself." Seeing that her brother was unwilling to go, Xia Yu walked over there by herself.

"Little sister, these are all new styles. Try them on and see which one you like," the peddler said warmly as he saw Xia Yu, a young girl, standing in front of his stall.

Xia Yu looked at the beaded strings, velvet flowers, hairpins, hair ornaments, hair ties, and bracelets on the stall. There were quite a few styles, all things that girls like.

"How much does this flower cost?" Xia Yu asked, holding a peach blossom-shaped velvet flower in her hand.

The peddler peeked at the items in her hands, held out a hand and said, "Little sister, this only costs five coins."

"Five coins for such a small flower? Can you make it cheaper?" Xia Yu didn't really know if the price was expensive or not; bargaining was just a habit.

"Little sister, this can't be any cheaper. I didn't ask for much in the first place. This kind usually sells for seven coins." Hearing Xia Yu bargain, the peddler wasn't annoyed. The fact that he didn't leave on the spot proved that the little girl had money.

"How much is this?" Xia Yu asked him, picking up another large yellow flower with green leaves.

"This is ten coins."

"What about this one?" Xia Yu picked up an even bigger one.

"Thirteen Articles"

"What about this?" Xia Yu asked, holding a velvet hairpin.

"Ten coins"

"what about this?"

"twenty"

"..." Xia Yu asked about everything on the stall one by one. If it weren't for Liu Shi and the others being impatient to come find her, the peddler would probably have gotten impatient long ago. She had never seen a customer ask about everything on someone's stall without even saying what they wanted.

"Mother, I like so many things here. I want to buy some more to give to my eldest sister, Qiuyu, and Dongyu," Xia Yu whispered to Liu Shi.

"Buy whatever you like," Liu said softly.

"Well, could you and Auntie help me negotiate the price? I've never bought these things before," Xia Yu said to Liu Shi.

"Alright, you just pick what you want, your aunt and I will handle the bargaining." Madam Liu patted her daughter's shoulder, reassuring her to choose without worry.

In the end, Xia Yu bought thirty velvet flowers of various sizes, four jade bracelets, and twenty hair ties. After her daughter had made her selections, Liu Shi started bargaining with the peddler, eventually getting a discount of fifty coins compared to the total price.

The peddler was overjoyed inside, but on the surface he still looked aggrieved at not making any money. After seeing Xia Yu and her group off, the peddler watched their backs and sighed to himself, "If only I could have this kind of business every day."

Wang wanted to buy some fabric to make new clothes for everyone in the family. As they walked towards the fabric shop, they looked at the stalls along the street. Xia Yu had liked many things along the way, and by the time they arrived at the fabric shop, not only were Chang Yun's hands full of trinkets that Xia Yu had bought, but even the small basket that Liu had been carrying earlier contained a set of porcelain cups, bowls, and saucers.

In the cloth shop, Wang bought cloth for her son, daughter, and Zhang Youjin, but not for herself.

Zhang Youjin, who usually didn't pay much attention to these things, finally noticed this and asked, "Mother, why didn't you cut yourself a few feet of cloth?"

"Oh, I just bought some things for myself at the jewelry store. I'll get new clothes made next year; I won't make any this year," Wang said.

"Buy it if you want. Clothes still need to be made. Why should I, a man, dress up so nicely? If you don't have enough money, just replace mine with a color you can use." It has to be said, money is a good thing. He wouldn't have had the confidence to say such things before, but now he knows how much money his family has earned in the past few months, which allows him to speak so confidently.

The clerk behind the counter was quick-witted. Hearing Zhang Youjin's words, he hurriedly advised Wang, "Sister-in-law, it's obvious that my brother knows how to cherish his wife. If you ask me, you should buy yourself another piece of cloth. When the family goes out to visit relatives during the New Year, it will look neat and tidy, right? If your brother is dressed in brand new clothes and you are still wearing old clothes, your family will think that your brother doesn't treat you well!"

Perhaps it was the waiter's last words that touched Wang's heart. She thought about it and realized that if the three of them wore new clothes when they went back to their parents' home on the second day of the Lunar New Year, and she was the only one with worn-out clothes, her mother would probably feel uncomfortable.

"Alright, I'll do as your older brother says. Tear four feet of that blue and white floral cotton cloth for me. Buddy, you have to give me a discount. If you charge too much, I won't take it," Wang Shi finally said.

"Oh, don't worry about that. They're all regular customers, so it's definitely not expensive." After saying that, she smiled and asked Liu, who was standing next to her, "Did you not find anything you liked today, sister-in-law?"

He remembered clearly that Liu had received him the last time she came. Although two months had passed, not many farmers bought silk, and she had bought quite a lot last time. Thanks to her, he had even sold several pieces of silk that day.