Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

"Don't stop me, my third sister-in-law already told me to speak, so let go of her hand right now," Li Cuilan shouted, slapping away her sister-in-law's hand that was covering her mouth.

"Auntie, sister-in-law, don't stop Tianming's family, let her speak," Liu said again.

Seeing the commotion, Zhang Liu sighed helplessly and let go of her daughter-in-law's hand. Meanwhile, a crowd slowly began to gather outside the courtyard.

Li Cuilan straightened her clothes, which had been somewhat disheveled by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law, and said to Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi...

"Third brother, third sister-in-law, I'm returning the watermelons I sold to your family a few days ago. I'm not selling them to you anymore."

"Not selling it anymore? The watermelons were taken away from the Shen residence that very day, how can I return them to you?" Zhang Youtie thought she was just being ridiculous.

"I don't care, my family is not selling." Li Cuilan started to act unreasonably.

“Tianming’s family, you were the one who sold these melons willingly in the first place, and the Shen family has already taken them away for several days. Now you’re asking us to return them? Aren’t you deliberately making things difficult for us? Besides, you’ve already taken the money. Even if you want a refund, you should return the money to our family first,” said Madam Liu.

"This, this, please return the watermelon to me first, I'll resell it, and then I'll return the money to you." Li Cuilan stammered for a long time before finally managing to say this.

"shameless……"

"It's so shameless..."

No sooner had Li Cuilan finished speaking than a chorus of shameless curses erupted from the crowd outside. Although they felt a pang of regret for the melons they had already sold, they couldn't bring themselves to do something as shameless as Li Cuilan; they couldn't even imagine it.

While the group was locked in a stalemate, Zhang Tianming, who was at the construction site, heard a fellow villager running over to deliver the news. He dropped his tools and rushed over.

Seeing the crowd gathered in the courtyard from afar, Zhang Tianming felt his face burning.

"What are you doing here?" A sudden shout startled Li Cuilan, who was on the ground.

She turned her head and saw that it was her man. Although she flinched a little, she thought that he couldn't hit her in front of so many people, so she became much bolder.

“We sold our watermelons at a loss, and now we don’t want to sell them anymore. We’re discussing with my third brother and sister-in-law about getting them to return the watermelons to us.”

Upon hearing her words, Zhang Tianming's anger surged to the top of his head. He strode up to his wife and slapped her twice across the face.

He was so fast that Zhang Liushi and Gushi, who were standing with them, didn't have time to stop him. Li Cuilan spat on the ground with a "pui" sound, her saliva mixed with blood and a somewhat blackened tooth. The burning pain on her face made her scream uncontrollably.

"You damned Zhang Tianming, who did I do this for? Wasn't it for our family? And you knocked out my teeth in front of so many people!" As she spoke, she scratched at Zhang Tianming's face with both hands, and several bloody marks instantly appeared on Zhang Tianming's face.

Zhang Liu, who had been trying to pull her son and daughter-in-law apart, saw that her son's face was covered in chicken claw marks from his wife's scratches. Enraged, she grabbed Li Cuilan's hair and slapped her across the face.

Seeing the group of people fighting in front of him, Zhang Youtie roared angrily, "Stop it! Stop fighting!"

Seeing that Zhang Youtie was angry, several people who had been watching the commotion ran out and separated the people who were fighting.

"Tianming, as you know, the watermelons you sold to us were taken away that same day. Your wife wants me to return them, but we don't have anything to give you back. How about this: regardless of the size of the watermelons, I'll compensate you five copper coins per pound. What do you think?"

“I think it’s a good idea,” Li Cuilan said before Zhang Tianming could speak.

“My family bought a total of 760 catties of watermelon that day. We paid an extra five copper coins per catty, which is three taels and eight qian of silver. Although it’s not much, my family is willing to take a loss for the sake of Third Brother.” Li Cuilan’s mind worked quickly, and in just a moment, she had calculated the amount of money.

Zhang Tianming, who had initially found his wife's actions shameful, hesitated slightly after hearing her calculations. Seeing this, Liu shook her head inwardly, 'Still not good enough!'

Seeing that her son was actually tempted, his mother, Zhang Liu, slapped him on the head.

"Is your brain filled with shit? How can you listen to anything your wife says?"

After being slapped by his mother, Zhang Tianming, who had been hesitating over three taels of silver, suddenly became much more clear-headed. He then remembered how he had lost the opportunity to work for the Zhang family for the first time because of two coins.

"Third Brother, I am very tempted by that silver, but we can't take it. Back then, everyone's watermelons couldn't be sold. If it weren't for you and the Shen family, those watermelons would have rotted in the fields long ago."

Hearing Zhang Tianming's words, Li Cuilan felt her heart tremble with pain and roared like a madwoman.

“Zhang Tianming, you big idiot, that’s more than three taels of silver, not three copper coins. Third Brother has already agreed, and you’ve already given away the money you’ve already got.”

Zhang Tianming ignored her insults and forcefully dragged her home by the arm. Zhang Liu apologized to Zhang Youtie repeatedly before leading Gu Shi and following her son back home.

After they left, Zhang Youtie noticed many unfamiliar faces among the onlookers, presumably from other villages. He stood in the courtyard and loudly asked...

"Anyone else wanting to return watermelons? Those that have already been taken away can't be returned. If you're willing to pay extra, my Zhang family will give the market an extra five coins per pound."

As soon as he finished speaking, a buzzing sound arose from the crowd again.

After a while, no one spoke. Just when everyone thought the matter was over, a man in his forties suddenly stepped out from the crowd.

"Brother Zhang, I'm from Lijia Village, my name is Li Xingwang. My family just came here to sell watermelons the other day, but we haven't taken them yet. I've brought the money with me now, I wonder if you could return the watermelons to me?"

Upon hearing his words, Uncle Ma immediately took out the records of melon purchases from other villages, checked them, and nodded to Zhang Youtie.

"Sure, but we can't tell exactly which of those watermelons belong to your family. If you'd like, we'll give them to you by weight."

The man was surprised that the Zhang family returned the watermelon so readily, and he rubbed his hands together excitedly.

"It's alright, it's alright, it won't affect anything." Saying this, he handed over the silver he had brought with him to Uncle Ma.

"Anyone else wanting a refund or additional payment? We won't honor those requests after today."

Once the first one came along, another followed. People from both local and neighboring villages came, some wanting to return the melons, others demanding compensation. The dozen or so people who had come to find Zhang Youtie were also in the crowd. When they saw the villagers demanding compensation, their eyes turned red with anger.

"Do you people have any conscience? Back when our village couldn't sell our melons, it was Third Brother who went out to help us find a way. Now that someone is offering you a little benefit, you actually want Third Brother to pay you out of his own pocket to make up the difference? Have you no shame?"

In truth, those people understood what he was saying, but considering that Zhang Youtie had voluntarily reimbursed them, it wasn't something they had asked for. Besides, the Shen family had offered such a low price initially; who knew if the Zhang family had pocketed the difference?

Many people thought this way, but they didn't voice their thoughts because they knew they might need to ask the Zhang family for favors in the future.