Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

“My mother said that we’ve lived under the same roof for several years after all. Although you’ve been heartless, we can’t be ungrateful. Let’s just give you twelve taels of silver as your savings. That’s the amount we can’t give you any less than that,” Wang’s second son said to the people in the room.

"No, I have no money!" Before the village chief and Uncle Liu could speak, Sister-in-law Liu spoke first.

"I'm not talking to you, you shrew. Village Chief, Uncle Liu, please say something!" Wang's second son glanced arrogantly at Sister-in-law Liu and refused to communicate with her.

"Pah! Me, a shrew? I'm better than some people who are so shameless that you can't get rid of me no matter what you do."

"You..." Wang's eldest son, hearing her veiled insults, was about to stand up for his mother. But Wang, who was standing beside him, held him back.

She looked at Sister-in-law Liu with a forced smile and said, "Da Zhuang's wife, your father and I haven't signed the divorce papers yet. According to the rules, I'm still your mother-in-law. Although I'm a stepmother, a stepmother is still a mother. According to the laws of this dynasty, I can sue you in court for such humiliation and abuse. I've been accommodating to you before because I still consider you my own daughter-in-law. If you continue like this, we'll go see the authorities."

Unfazed by Wang's threat, Sister-in-law Liu coldly replied, "I was just about to see the magistrate. Let's go and have a good talk with the county magistrate about which inhuman bastard sold my little sister. Don't think that just because it's been a few years, it's forgotten. Every action leaves a trace; there will always be evidence of what you've done."

"Hmph, go ahead and report it to the authorities if you want. You've made a fuss about it quite a few times over the years. Go ahead and actually do it. Do you think I'm scared?" Hearing Sister-in-law Liu's words, Wang's hands clenched together involuntarily tightened, but her face showed disdain for Sister-in-law Liu.

"You..." Sister-in-law Liu was speechless, choked by Wang's words. She really wanted to report it to the authorities, but her younger sister wouldn't allow it.

Seeing that her sister-in-law couldn't win the argument with Wang, Liu stood to the side and said impatiently, "Stop rambling. If you want money, talk about money. Why bring up other irrelevant things?"

“Yes, let’s talk about money, let’s talk about money, don’t waste everyone’s time.” Wang’s second son was already getting impatient as the topic was being steered away. Hearing Liu’s words, he quickly chimed in.

"Ahem..." Uncle Liu cleared his throat before speaking, "Wang, you're asking for too much."

"Second Uncle, how much money do you think you can give me to live on? To put it bluntly, I was just staying at my son's house for a short time to take care of my grandson. The food I brought was my own rations. That's perfectly reasonable no matter where you are. How come it's become an unforgivable crime in your Liu family, and you even want to kick me out?" As she spoke, Wang Shi covered her face and started crying again.

“Oh, Wang, put your hand on your heart and tell me, was that a short stay? There are over 300 days in a year, and you’ve only stayed home for less than 20 days. You didn’t even come back for the New Year last year. Everyone else’s family was all happy and harmonious, but you just left Da Zhuang’s father at home and didn’t even come back to see him once. Did you ever think about what people thought of him? Now, there’s no point in saying any more. We don’t have twelve taels of silver. If we’re going to give you five taels of silver and write a divorce agreement, you can leave. If you think that’s too little, then you can go home and wait a few more years until we’ve saved enough money before getting a divorce.” Uncle Liu sighed helplessly.

"Huh? Go back and wait a few more years? How can you do that? No way. You have to give me my savings today." Wang's second son was a little confused when he heard what Liu Erbo said. Divorce? Going home and waiting a few years to talk about it? That would be too late.

"..."

"..."

An hour later, after much back-and-forth, they finally settled on a divorce settlement of seven taels of silver. Seeing that she couldn't get more money, Wang asked for some food, such as pork and fabric, but was nearly spat on in the face by Sister-in-law Liu. The village chief and Uncle Liu were also angry, stating bluntly that the seven taels of silver would still have to be borrowed, and if she wasn't satisfied, she could go home and wait two years until the Liu family became wealthy, at which point they would give her a few more pounds of pork to keep her warm.

Seeing how adamant the other party was, Wang's second son was afraid he wouldn't get the seven taels of silver, so he pulled his mother aside and whispered a few words to her. Wang didn't mention anything else and obediently pressed her fingerprint on the divorce agreement.

After both sides pressed their fingerprints, Sister-in-law Liu went back into the house and brought out some loose silver coins and copper coins. She put a pile on the table, and Uncle Liu and the village chief counted them for a while before confirming that it was five taels and seven mace of loose silver plus 1,300 copper coins.

"Wang, do you want to check again?" The village chief put the money into a bag and handed it to her.

"Yes, of course we need to check it again." Before Wang could speak, her second son took the money bag from her and said.

Finally, after he had checked the money, the family left satisfied, completely unconcerned about the pointing fingers and whispers of the onlookers still standing outside the courtyard.

After they left, Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi were also going home. Seeing that it was already noon, Liu's sister-in-law wanted them to stay for lunch, but Liu Shi made an excuse that it was too late and it was not safe to walk at night. She had Da Niu carry back the gifts that her sister-in-law had loaded onto the cart, and the family drove the mule cart back home.

Watching the family walk away, Sister-in-law Liu had some questions in her mind. She felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.

"Oh dear, Mother, how many people were in the car when my younger sister and her siblings left?" Upon returning to the courtyard, seeing her youngest daughter looking rather sullen because her older cousins ​​had left, Sister-in-law Liu suddenly slapped her forehead and asked Brother Liu.

"How many people? Five. What's wrong?" Brother Liu asked, not understanding why his wife was acting so strangely.

"Five! Five! I was wondering why something was wrong—one person was missing!" Sister-in-law Liu exclaimed.

"..." Brother Liu and Old Man Liu both carefully recalled the people sitting in the car just now; there were five people.

"Oh right, we're missing a girl," Brother Liu suddenly said.

“Isn’t that right? Look, my sister’s family of four came with two girls, so that’s six people, right? But when they left, there were only five people in the car. That round-faced girl named Nineteen is gone.” Sister-in-law Liu counted the number of people on her fingers for Brother Liu.

"When did that girl disappear? I didn't notice. Could she have been kidnapped when the yard was in chaos?" Brother Liu said, expressing his guess.

"I think it's possible. You should hurry and catch up with your sister's mule cart and tell her about it. I think she's probably furious; she didn't even notice someone was missing from the cart," Sister-in-law Liu said anxiously.

"Okay, I'll go after them now, don't rush." ​​With that, Brother Liu jogged off in the direction Liu and the others had gone.