Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Liu thought about the fabrics in the house and realized that most of them were linen, and silk was not needed for the time being. Considering that she would need to buy clothes for some family members for the New Year, she decided to buy some more.

Mrs. Liu planned to add two pieces of fabric to the New Year's gifts for the old house, one for each of the elderly couple. In previous years, she was short of money and hadn't made clothes for them for many years. This year, she had earned money, and it would seem too unfilial to just casually give them some things like before.

After some deliberation, she decided to buy two pieces of silk fabric. She carefully selected two at the counter, finally choosing a black brocade with a subtle bamboo leaf pattern for the old man, and a maroon brocade with gold swastika patterns for Liu. Neither piece was cheap; the old man's cost 130 cash per foot, and she bought six feet. Liu's cost 140 cash per foot, and she bought five feet. Wang, watching her choose such expensive fabrics, was somewhat surprised, wondering who she was buying them for. The black one looked alright, but the maroon one certainly didn't seem like something Liu could wear.

"This maroon color looks too old on you, doesn't it?" Madam Wang couldn't help but ask.

"This is intended for Mother," Madam Liu said softly.

"For Mother? Which Mother?" Wang asked blurtly.

Liu looked at her helplessly. "Who else could it be? Our mother from the old house!"

Actually, Wang regretted asking the question as soon as it left her mouth. She knew about some of the things that had happened to her brother-in-law's family, and she wondered why she had asked such a thoughtless question.

Regretting her mistake, Wang smiled somewhat sheepishly.

"Fine cotton cloth would be fine enough; this is too expensive!"

"Oh well, it's expensive, but I haven't given my parents anything nice for Chinese New Year in previous years."

Hearing this, Wang Shi said nothing more. Since her family had not separated from the family, they did not need to prepare such gifts for the two elders during the New Year.

Besides the two pieces of silk, Liu then picked out ordinary fine cotton cloth, buying a set for everyone in the family. Uncle Ma and Aunt Ma also had some. Finally, after thinking for a moment, she also prepared a set for Nineteen and Daniu. She planned to have these two girls as her daughter's personal maids after the house was finished after the New Year, so naturally they wanted to be different from others. Buying a few feet of this and a few feet of that, she ended up buying quite a lot. Realizing there were still other things to buy, she entrusted the shop to deliver their purchases to the oxcart storage shop. Changyun took the opportunity to leave the various trinkets he was wearing at the shop, asking them to help deliver them as well. The shop assistant, of course, readily agreed.

The group left the fabric shop with ease, leaving everything except the porcelain and silverware in their small baskets.

Zhang Youtie took out a pocket watch from his clothes and checked the time; it was almost noon.

"Let's go eat first, and then we can go buy other things," Zhang Youtie suggested.

“Sure, I’m tired too.” Zhang Youjin wholeheartedly agreed to Zhang Youtie’s suggestion.

The group was standing at the entrance of the cloth shop discussing what to eat when suddenly an eight or nine-year-old child ran over with his head down and bumped into Zhang Youtie's arms. Just as Zhang Youtie was about to help the child up, he felt a sharp pain in his neck, as if he had been pulled by a rope.

"Hiss..." Zhang Youtie just hissed in pain.

The child ran off without saying a word of apology. Zhang Youtie touched the back of his neck and found that the skin had been torn and blood was seeping out.

"What's going on? Whose child is this? Nobody's watching him, just running around and bumping into things in the street like this." Wang was also knocked off her feet by the child and couldn't help but curse at the child's back.

Zhang Youtie reached into his pocket, only to find his pocket watch was gone.

"That's a thief! Your pocket watch has been stolen! Don't run away..." Zhang Youtie shouted and chased after the child.

Upon hearing his shout, Wang Shi reached into her bosom and felt a chill run down her spine. Her money pouch was gone, and it contained more than an ounce of loose silver.

"You heartless thief, give me back my purse!" Wang shouted and chased after him. Zhang Youjin, Changyun, Xia Yu, and Liu, who were still standing there, finally understood what was going on.

"Sister-in-law, watch the child, I'm going after the thief." Zhang Youjin said this and chased after him.

"Uncle, I'll go with you." Xia Yu thought that among these people, she was at least a martial artist, so she called out to Zhang Youjin and ran after him.

Only Liu and her son remained standing there, staring at each other. After a few seconds, Changyun finally spoke and asked...

"Mother, shall we chase after them?"

Liu looked at the basket that Zhang Youtie had carelessly tossed on the ground. Luckily, it was lined with a lot of dry grass, otherwise the newly bought porcelain would have been broken too. She picked up the basket and said to Changyun...

"Let's go, let's go and take a look."

"Mom, let me carry you."

"Let me carry you on my back. You're still growing, don't let me crush you and stop you from growing." Madam Liu smiled and patted her son's head.

Hearing his mother say that, Changyun scratched his head a little embarrassedly.

Then the mother and daughter asked their way forward, but after searching through two more intersections, they gave up.

"Forget it, let's go to the cloth shop and wait there. Let's not get separated again. They'll come back to find us in a bit."

It must be said that Xia Yu's training during this period has been effective. While Zhang Youtie, Zhang Youjin, and Wang Shi were panting heavily, their hearts seemingly about to jump out of their chests, Xia Yu still had the strength to run forward.

"Xiaxia...don't...don't chase her anymore, hurry...hurry...come back quickly!" Zhang Youtie shouted loudly as he watched his daughter run away from him.

Unfortunately, he was having trouble breathing, let alone shouting for help. By the time he managed to finish his sentence, Xia Yu had already turned a corner and disappeared.

The adults, still catching their breath, were terrified when they saw Xia Yu disappear. Losing the child would be a terrible mistake for them. Just as they were about to give chase, they heard a familiar voice, "It's Master!"

Zhang Youtie turned his head and saw Shijiu and Da Niu.

Nineteen ran quickly to Zhang Youtie's side. "Master, what happened? Where is Miss?"

"Nineteen, hurry and chase after Miss! She went after the thief and headed north at the next intersection. Go and bring her back!" Before he could finish speaking, Nineteen leaped onto the roof and chased after the direction Zhang Youtie pointed.

Upon witnessing this incredible scene, Wang and Zhang Youjin were so stunned that they forgot to catch their breath. They stared wide-eyed at the spot where Nineteen had disappeared, their mouths agape for a long time.

At this moment, she finally understood why her sister-in-law had told her to keep an eye on Da Niu; it turned out that the girl could fly!

Da Niu helped Zhang Youtie up and comforted him, "Don't worry, sir. Nineteen will definitely be able to bring Miss back. She's very skilled in martial arts."

Zhang Youtie let out a long sigh and waved to Da Niu. There was no point in saying anything now; how could he be at ease if she didn't come back?

"Brother and sister-in-law, you go back to the cloth shop and wait for us. Tell your sister-in-law that we ran into Shijiu and Daniu, and we'll be back in a bit."

"Big girl, let's go find Miss and Nineteen." With that, she chased after Xia Yu in the direction she turned.

Zhang Youtie and Wang Shi exchanged a glance as they watched the two men disappear around the street corner.

"How much was lost?" Zhang Youjin asked.

"A little over one tael of silver," Wang replied.

"Let's go, it's not much. When you see your sister-in-law, don't mention the lost money, remember?" Zhang Youjin instructed.

"How could I not know that? Let's go back and find my sister-in-law and Changyun," Wang said, rolling her eyes at him.