Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

"Miss, I was wrong, I was really wrong, please let me go. I really have younger siblings to take care of. If I don't take the money back, someone will die of illness tomorrow. One of the two money pouches I stole belonged to a gambling addict, and the other belonged to a customer who had just come from a brothel. Even if I hadn't stolen it, they would have gambled it away or spent it on drinking and prostitution. I swear, I have never stolen money from a poor family..." The thief knelt on the ground, clinging to Xia Yu's leg, crying and pleading.

"You've never stolen silver from poor people? Then why did you steal silver from my family?" Xia Yu asked curiously, looking down.

The thief, who was crying out, suddenly stopped. Could someone with a martial arts master protecting them be from a poor family? Could someone who could afford a silver pocket watch be from a poor family? These were true, but could he tell the truth at this moment?

He could only stammer, "Miss, I was wrong. If you really don't believe me, you can come to my house and see for yourself. I really do have younger siblings, and some of them are sick. If I'm locked up in jail, they'll be bullied to death." As he spoke, he began to kowtow on the ground again.

"Where are your parents? Do they just let you steal things?" Xia Yu suddenly thought of his past life, when some children were kidnapped by human traffickers and then crippled and forced to beg for money on the streets. He suspected that the thief in front of him might be a child controlled by human traffickers.

“My parents died of illness a long time ago, we don’t have parents anymore,” the thief said, lowering her head so that Xia Yu couldn’t see her expression.

Xia Yu stared at the top of his head for a while, and felt that what she had said was probably true. She sighed and asked Nineteen.

"Nineteen, do you think we should go visit their house?"

Hearing Xia Yu ask for her opinion, Nineteen was conflicted. She felt there was no need to go. But since her mistress had asked, it meant she wanted to go and see. After thinking for a moment, she said...

“I will protect Miss wherever she goes. However, should we ask Master and Madam to come along? What if this guy is lying again, and their house is a den of thieves?”

“Good idea, I think this is a safer approach. Let’s go, take her to find my parents.”

The thief, kneeling on the ground, breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the two women finally stop yelling about taking him to the authorities. However, he was quickly dragged up from the ground by the girl called Nineteen, who grabbed him by the collar. Now at their mercy, he was no longer the arrogant man he had been at the beginning. He followed Xia Yu with his head down, hoping to find a suitable opportunity to escape.

The group left the alley and turned onto the main street, where they ran into Zhang Youtie and Da Niu, who were looking for Xia Yu. Seeing that Xia Yu was alright except for some mud on her clothes, Zhang Youtie finally felt relieved.

"Xiaxia, what's going on here?"

"Father, this is the thief who stole our silver just now. I caught him." Xia Yu introduced the man next to her father, who was keeping his head down and not daring to look at anyone.

"Huh?" Zhang Youtie looked at the small figure.

"You child, you're so young and already doing bad things, why are you stealing on the street? Where are your parents? Why don't they do anything about you!"

He simply couldn't bring himself to say anything harsher to a toddler who was about the same age as his daughter.

Hearing Zhang Youtie's question, the man kept his head down and didn't say a word. No one knew what he was thinking.

"Dad, he said his parents are gone, and he has younger siblings to support, so he went out to steal. He also said if I don't believe him, he can take us to his house to see." After saying this, he glanced at the child next to him who had his head down, and continued...

"I want to go see him, Father. Let's call Uncle and go together. If he's lying to us, we'll send him to the authorities."

Xia Yu said she deliberately said the last sentence to the thief to scare him. Deep down, she suspected the child had been kidnapped and controlled by human traffickers. It must be said, Xia Yu's imagination is truly rich.

Zhang Youtie was unaware that his daughter had so many ideas, but he generally didn't object to her requests. Considering that there were several adults with him, as well as Shijiu, who knew kung fu, and his daughter, who was incredibly strong, he figured there shouldn't be any danger and readily agreed.

"Then let's go back to your mother quickly, she must be worried."

"Well, let's go"

The thief, who had been thinking of finding a chance to escape, completely abandoned that idea. The girl named Da Niu took his place and restrained his arm. The moment she grabbed him, he knew that escape was hopeless. Nothing unexpected happened along the way; he obediently followed them to the entrance of the cloth shop where he had stolen the money.

"Are you alright?" Seeing everyone return, Madam Liu hurried over and asked Zhang Youtie with concern. She didn't know that Xia Yu had chased the thief alone; she assumed the father and daughter were always together.

“It’s alright, everything has been recovered. This is the kid who stole things earlier. He said he has no parents and his younger siblings who are sick and need to be taken care of. My daughter wants to go visit them.” Zhang Youtie briefly explained the situation.

When Wang heard that this was the thief, she originally wanted to scold him, but when she heard that such a young child had no parents and had to take care of his younger siblings, the words she was about to say were swallowed back. It wasn't that she was particularly kind, but even the most hard-hearted person would feel some pity for an eight or nine-year-old child who had lost his parents.

"Let's go then. If Xiaxia wants to see it, we'll go see it." Madam Liu knew that her daughter wouldn't do this for no reason. Anyway, the oxcart belonged to their family, so it wouldn't matter if they went back a little later. It would just mean that they would travel a bit slower because it was getting late.

So, the group, who were originally going to eat, temporarily lost their appetite after this incident and followed the direction the thief pointed to, heading towards his house.

After walking for about 15 minutes, winding through many twists and turns, they finally arrived at the "home" he had mentioned. Looking at the thatched hut before them, barely larger than Xia Yu's cowshed, they couldn't understand how such a poor place could exist in Ming'an County. However, the path they had just walked on, the muddy ice under their feet, proved that what they were seeing was indeed real.

"Little Kouzi, why are there so many people at your house today? Are they your relatives?" An old woman with completely white hair, whose age was hard to guess, came out from a nearby hut. Her hunched body showed how much suffering she had endured.

It turned out the thief's name was Little Button. He nervously glanced at the men who had brought him there, and seeing that they didn't seem inclined to speak, he smiled at the old woman and said...

"Yes, I met her on the street and brought her home to meet us. Grandma, what are you doing here?"

"Sigh, I'll go find something to eat. Xiao Bao just said he's hungry and wants some steamed buns," the old woman sighed.

"Hurry up and bring your relatives inside, it's cold outside. I'm leaving now." With that, the old woman, her back hunched, walked back in the direction they had come from.

"Grandma, don't go. We still have half a steamed bun. Take it and give it to Xiaobao first." Xiao Kouzi seemed to have made a great decision before calling out to her mother-in-law's back.

"You can keep it for Xiaoxi. It's not easy for you to get food. I'll go to the restaurant and see if there's any leftovers we can pick up." After saying that, she turned her head and slowly started walking forward again.

"Miss, may I give her one of the sesame seed cakes I bought?" Da Niu suddenly spoke up.

Xia Yu turned her head and saw that the girl's face was covered in tears. She noticed that everyone was turning to look at her. She took the bundle behind her back to her chest and pulled out a still-warm sesame seed cake.

"Okay, then go ahead and give it to her. But her little one wants steamed buns, and she's unsure if she wants these," Xia Yu said.

Hearing Xia Yu agree, Da Niu quickly ran to the old woman and handed her the sesame seed cake.

"Grandma, these are some sesame seed cakes I bought. We can't finish them all. Does your little one want some?"

The old woman looked up at Da Niu, then turned to look at where Xiao Kouzi and the others were standing. Her blurry eyes made it impossible for her to confirm whether the person who gave her the sesame seed cake was a relative that Xiao Kouzi had brought back.

"No, that won't do. You're not well-off either. These sesame cakes are too precious. You should give them to Xiao Kouzi and her brother. I'll go get some steamed buns." Although she couldn't see clearly, Da Niu's voice was unfamiliar to her, so she still refused.

Upon hearing her say that, Da Niu grabbed her hand and forcefully shoved the sesame seed cake into her hand before running back to Xia Yu's side.