Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Leaving aside how Jiu'er's first day of class went, let's talk about Zhangjia Village. If Captain Ding's men hadn't delivered Jiu'er's situation to Liu's door early in the morning, they probably would have reported it to the authorities by now.

Originally, Liu thought that Shijiu would return soon, but she tossed and turned all night waiting for him to come back. Just as she was getting anxious, her elder brother arrived at her doorstep in an oxcart.

"Big sister, is your nineteenth son missing?" As soon as he entered the courtyard, Brother Liu asked his sister anxiously.

Liu was already troubled by the fact that Shijiu had not returned. At this moment, her eldest brother came to ask about it. She could not tell him where Shijiu had gone, so she could only bite the bullet and give him a perfunctory answer.

“It’s nothing. That day at your house, she saw people from her village visiting relatives in your village. She told me she wanted to go home to see her parents, so I let her go back. She’ll be back in a couple of days.”

"Oh, I see. We noticed someone was missing from your cart not long after you left yesterday. I followed your mule cart for a long time but couldn't catch up. Your sister-in-law and I were so worried we didn't sleep a wink all night, thinking someone had been kidnapped during the chaos yesterday. Since everything's alright, I'll head back. Your sister-in-law is still waiting for news at home." Hearing his sister's words, Brother Liu had no doubts. Thinking it was a false alarm, he decided to go back. So, he left before he even warmed his seat.

Hearing his words, Liu was somewhat displeased. "Brother, what are you doing? Since you've come to my house, how can you leave without having a meal? You Tie has gone to the old house. I'll have your nephew go and call him back. You can sit here and relax."

Before Liu could finish speaking, Changyun said to his elder brother Liu, "Uncle, please sit down for a while. I'll go and call my father back."

"Hey, Changyun..." Brother Liu didn't want to eat here. His sister hadn't asked for a gift when she came back yesterday, and he hadn't brought any gifts with him today. He felt a little embarrassed to stay for dinner. But Changyun ran off too fast, and before he could finish speaking, he was gone in a flash.

Madam Liu noticed her elder brother's discomfort and deliberately put on a stern face.

“Brother, you’ve come all the way to my house, and you’re not even willing to eat a meal here. What will the villagers think of me and You Tie? If the people from our side find out, how will I ever go back to my parents’ home? This is your own sister’s house, it’s only right that you eat here. Don’t think about all that nonsense.”

"Brother, you misunderstood. Don't be angry." Brother Liu quickly spoke up when he saw that his sister was angry.

Xia Yu happily carried a wooden box out of her room and sat down in front of Brother Liu.

"Uncle, look, these are all nice things my mom bought for me. I didn't know you had a cousin named Rou Rou before, so I didn't bring her a gift when I visited. You can bring these back for me this time. See what kind she likes and help me choose."

Brother Liu was dazzled by the contents of Xia Yu's box. He knew nothing about these things; he only recognized the hair tie and didn't understand how the others were used.

“Your mother bought this for you, so keep it and wear it slowly. Your sister has one.”

“My sister has her own things, and what I’m giving her is my way of showing my love as her older sister.”

Watching her daughter interact with her eldest brother, Liu smiled at his awkward expression. When she was little, her brother would bring her hair ties back from selling eggs and vegetables in town with their mother. She was only four or five years old then, about the same age as her niece now.

Over there, Xia Yu kept urging Brother Liu to choose, and he had no choice but to select two hair ties.

"Xiaxia, the only thing your uncle recognizes in that box is probably the hair tie. Don't make things difficult for him. Help your sister choose two things for your uncle to take back."

Hearing Liu's words, Xia Yu finally understood why her uncle had only chosen a hair tie. It was just like how boys in modern times couldn't distinguish between lipstick shades, eyebrow pencils, and eyeliners.

After thinking about her little cousin's age, she chose two velvet flowers and two beaded flowers and handed them to her uncle.

"Yes, it looks good. Xiaxia's choice is always beautiful." After saying that, she tried to put the thing Xia Yu gave her into her clothes.

"Wait!" Seeing her uncle's actions, Xia Yu quickly called out to stop him.

"You can't carry this in your clothes like that, it'll get crushed. I'll go find you a box to put it in." With that, she ran back to her room.

Xia Yu went inside. The brother and sister were talking when they suddenly heard someone shouting outside.

"Madam, are you inside?"

"Aunt Ma, I'm inside. Come in."

Brother Liu saw someone enter and, not immediately recognizing the visitor, was about to stand up. Just then, he heard Madam Liu say...

"Brother, please sit down. This is Aunt Ma from our family."

Aunt Ma had already heard what Changyun had said, and now that she had entered the house and heard Liu Shi say this, she immediately curtsied to Brother Liu and smiled.

Greetings, Uncle.

Her gesture of greeting left Brother Liu bewildered, momentarily at a loss for what to do. Fortunately, Madam Liu spoke up and asked...

"Aunt Ma, what brings you here at this hour? Is something the matter?"

“Madam, it’s nothing. I just ran into the young master, and he said that his uncle has come. I thought you and your uncle must have something to talk about, so I brought Sister-in-law Zhou over to help prepare lunch.”

"You're so thoughtful. You all go and prepare. I'll talk to my brother for a bit more. If you need anything, just ask Xiaxia to get it."

"Yes, I understand," Aunt Ma replied with a smile, then curtsied to Brother Liu before retreating.

After Aunt Ma left, Brother Liu breathed a sigh of relief and whispered to Liu Shi...

"Big sister, how many servants do you have?" He knew of two, Da Niu and Shi Jiu, and from what Aunt Ma said earlier, there was also one called Sister Zhou, making a total of four, which was beyond his comprehension.

"They were all bought for farm work, and there aren't many of them."

Soon, Changyun summoned Zhang Youtie back, along with Old Master Zhang, Zhang Youjin, and Zhang Youyin. Upon hearing from Changyun that Liu's eldest brother had arrived, they quickly changed their clothes and came to entertain the guest.

At noon, everyone drank quite a bit, especially Brother Liu, who was slurring his words. Mrs. Liu originally wanted him to stay the night, but he was worried about his wife waiting for news at home and insisted on leaving.

"It's... alright, sister, you... don't worry, this old ox is very smart. Even if... even if... I fall asleep on the oxcart, it... will... still find its way back." Although she said this, how could Liu Shi feel at ease letting him go back by himself?

"Brother, why don't you stay here for the night and go back early tomorrow morning..." Before Liu could finish speaking, her elder brother waved his hand to interrupt her.

"No...no...I must...I must...go back."

There's no reasoning with a drunk person. Seeing that her elder brother insisted on going back, Liu asked Zhang Youtie and Uncle Ma to make a trip to take her brother and the oxcart back.

By the time they brought Brother Liu home, it was already getting dark, and the family hadn't even had dinner yet, much to their concern. Seeing him brought back so drunk, Sister-in-law Liu angrily pinched Brother Liu several times.

"There's iron here, don't leave. Stay here for the night. The city gates will be closed if you go back now," Old Man Liu said to his son-in-law.

Zhang Youtie took out his pocket watch, checked the time, and said, "It's alright, Father. We still have time. We won't stay any longer; we'll head back now."

Seeing that they really didn't want to stay overnight, Sister-in-law Liu quickly took out a few meat buns that had been heated in the pot, wrapped them in a clean steaming cloth, and put some hot water in an earthenware pot. She then put them all into the mule cart.

"Take this to eat on the way. Since you don't want to stay, then hurry back."

After bidding farewell to his father-in-law and Sister-in-law Liu, Uncle Ma quickly drove the mule cart back the way they had come. They needed to get through before the city gates closed, otherwise they would have to take a different route, which was not only longer but also less safe.