Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Seeing her sister-in-law's somber expression, Sister-in-law Liu knew she was thinking of her younger sister again. She sighed inwardly and fell silent. For a moment, the air in the kitchen seemed to freeze.

After a long while, Liu finally spoke to Tian Maisui, saying, "Sister-in-law, these past few years have been tough on you and my brother."

"Don't be so polite. The family was in such a situation a couple of years ago, and we didn't want you to come back. What would you do if you came back? Who would eat the things you brought back? It would be a waste. Besides, it wouldn't be good if your son-in-law saw it. Your older brother was worried that you would be looked down upon by your in-laws because of the family situation. He's been thinking about you these past two years, but he didn't dare to visit, afraid that you would lose face in the Zhang family."

Knowing her sister-in-law's character well, Liu knew that her words came from the bottom of her heart, and she felt even more regretful for her willfulness over the past few years and for not coming back to help her elder brother and sister-in-law.

The noodles were quickly cooked, and Liu went out to call the others to eat. At the table, Sister-in-law Liu was prepared, knowing that Da Niu had a big appetite and ate a lot, so she wasn't very surprised. But the others didn't know. They only saw Da Niu slurping down three bowls of noodles in no time. Old Man Liu and Brother Liu's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. This appetite was comparable to that of a strong young man.

After eating three bowls of noodles, Da Niu sat down and stopped eating. The Liu family assumed she was full and didn't offer her any more.

"Big girl, why aren't you eating? There's still some left in the pot!" Liu knew her appetite; three bowls definitely wouldn't be enough.

"Okay, I'm not eating anymore. I've already eaten three bowls," Da Niu said honestly, shaking her head.

Hearing what Da Niu said, Sister Liu thought to herself that she still hadn't eaten enough.

"Big sister, if you're not full, keep eating. There's plenty left in the pot. It's just like home here. Eat until you're full, we won't count the cost." As he spoke, he picked up Big Sister's bowl and filled it to the brim again.

After finishing that bowl, Liu took it and got another. After five bowls of noodles, Da Niu finally felt that her stomach wasn't empty anymore. When Liu wanted to get more, she hugged the bowl and said she didn't want any more.

"Madam, Madam, I'm full, I won't eat anymore."

Madam Liu knew she was embarrassed. Looking at the Liu family members beside her, who were already stunned by Da Niu's appetite, she didn't say anything more, since she was now a guest herself.

After dinner, the children went out to play. Liu helped her sister-in-law prepare the beds for the night. The house wasn't large, so Liu's sister-in-law carried her brother-in-law's bedding to Liu's father's room, where Zhang Youtie would also sleep. Changyun slept in one room with his cousins, while Liu, along with Xia Yu, Da Niu, and Shi Jiu, slept in Liu's sister-in-law's room. The kang (heated brick bed) was big enough; six people could sleep comfortably. Liu's sister-in-law chatted with her sister-in-law as she took the bedding out of the kang cabinet.

"This kang was only built two years ago. The children are getting bigger and the beds are too small. So Dad said we should just build a kang in every room. There's plenty of firewood on the mountain, and it's free to collect it. Luckily we built this kang, otherwise we really wouldn't have anywhere to sleep."

She spoke lightly, but Liu knew in her heart that the idea of ​​building a kang (heated brick bed) must have been Wang's. For years, her own family had slept on a bed, but since Wang came, she had been wanting a kang. However, now that Wang was gone, Liu didn't want to waste any more energy on her, so she simply helped her sister-in-law make the bed and occasionally responded with a word of thanks.

Outside, Old Man Liu and Brother Liu were helping Zhang Youtie unpack the things he had brought from the sack.

Twenty catties of pork, ten catties of mutton, ten catties of rapeseed oil, fifty catties of rice, one hundred catties of wheat flour, ten catties of fried dough sticks, five catties of fried dough twists, and ten catties of liquor. Hearing the commotion outside, Sister-in-law Liu couldn't help but come out to see what was going on. She was startled by the pile of things on the ground at first glance.

"Why did you send so many things? This must have cost a lot of money. I hope the son-in-law won't have any objections?" Sister-in-law Liu asked Liu Shi with some concern when she saw so many things.

"No, he prepared all of these things."

In fact, Liu was not lying. These things were indeed prepared by Zhang Youtie. When unloading the truck just now, so many people went back and forth several times. She felt that there was a lot of stuff, but she did not expect that there would be so much stuff, since the grain and meat were all packed in sacks.

The things she prepared were still in the basket and hadn't been taken out yet.

Brother Liu and Old Man Liu were quite surprised to see so much grain and meat poured out of the sack; the gifts they brought back for the New Year were more than the betrothal gifts they had given when they first proposed marriage. Because the two villages were so far apart, news of events in Zhangjia Village hadn't reached them yet, and they were unaware of their daughter's family's sudden wealth.

Old Man Liu, still somewhat worried, pulled his daughter aside and whispered, "..."

"Why did you bring so much stuff? Aren't you going to manage on your own? Keep just one of these things; take the rest back with you when you leave." After a pause, he continued...

"Where did you buy such a voracious girl? Were you scammed by a slave trader?"

Hearing her father's words, Madam Liu was both amused and exasperated. It was only when the eldest daughter called her "Madam" that the Liu family realized these two girls were servants they had bought. Seeing how much the eldest daughter ate, Old Man Liu began to suspect that his daughter had been ripped off when she bought the servants.

“Dad, we made some money raising fish and shrimp this year, so we have enough money to give you all this. I specially bought that girl, Da Niu. Don't let her large appetite fool you; she's very capable and incredibly strong. She can easily lift sacks that a normal man can barely carry.” He finished speaking, glancing around at the pile of rice and flour.

"That bag of flour is the one she just brought in, don't you remember?"

After listening to his daughter's words, Old Man Liu thought about it carefully and realized that there seemed to be such a thing. He nodded, knowing that his daughter always had her own ideas, and since she felt that raising such a big eater was worthwhile, he didn't say anything more.