Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

As evening fell, no one came to take away the watermelons, and no one came to ask for more money.

Xia Yu looked at the register used by Uncle Ma. There were still more than 4,000 catties of watermelon in the yard, and the money was paid out as compensation of 65 taels and 7 qian of silver.

Dinner was somewhat quiet; neither Zhang Youtie nor Liu Shi were in high spirits.

"Father, don't worry. After Steward Qin reports this matter to Madam Shen today, she might raise the price a bit."

"I know that doing business requires adapting to market conditions, but thinking about how many people came and took away the watermelons today still makes me uncomfortable," Zhang Youtie sighed.

“Her father, don’t think about it. If money isn’t involved, everyone will be happy. But right now, we are indeed short of money. Don’t even mention them, I’m tempted too,” Madam Liu said gently.

"Yes, my mother is right. Take Uncle Tianming's family for example. A rough calculation shows they're short three taels and eight mace of silver. Father, if this amount of silver were two years ago, would you have felt the pinch?" Hearing his daughter and daughter-in-law's words, Zhang Youtie projected today's events onto his own past two years, and he would definitely have felt the pinch.

"That being said, in business, once the money and goods are exchanged, there's no such thing as returning the money like that. Human nature is understandable, but character is another matter." Xia Yu said this immediately after finishing her previous statement.

"..."

Zhang Youtie thought about it seriously for a while before silently nodding. But from the expression on his face, it was clear that he felt much more relieved.

Before the meal was finished, the sound of several people talking could be heard outside.

"Third brother, haven't you finished eating yet?"

Zhang Youtie lifted the curtain and went out to see what was happening. It turned out to be the village chief, Zhang Dashan, Wang Youcai, and a few others. Upon seeing them, Zhang Youtie felt a little downcast, but he still mustered his spirits and exchanged pleasantries with them.

"Uncle Village Chief is here! Have you all eaten? Sit down and have some more."

“We’ve all eaten, you eat yours.” The village chief waved his hand and casually pulled up a small chair in the yard to sit down.

Seeing that the village chief had sat down, the others also found a place to sit down.

Looking at the scene before him, Zhang Youtie downed the bowl of mung bean soup in one gulp. He put the bowl down on the table, pulled up a chair, and sat down in the courtyard with everyone to chat.

"Third brother, I don't think the Shen family managed to take a single melon with them today!"

"Yes, at the time, a lot of people were queuing up to return watermelons. Manager Qin saw that it was chaotic and told them to come back tomorrow."

"Oh, then we'll pick the ripe melons and bring them over first thing tomorrow morning, so as not to delay Manager Qin from coming to pick up the watermelons."

Upon hearing the village chief's words, Zhang Youtie suddenly raised his head, looking at the village chief and the other people in the yard with some disbelief, but quickly lowered his head in embarrassment.

"Village chief, let's not deliver them yet. I don't know if the price of watermelons from the Shen family has gone up. If it's still the same price, wouldn't that delay everyone from making money?"

"Then you don't need to think about it. We're all happy to sell it to you at the same price as before. Okay, we didn't come here for anything else, just to tell you about this. Go eat." As soon as he arrived, he got up and was about to leave.

Zhang Youtie escorted the group to the outside of the courtyard. Watching their figures gradually disappear into the distance, his chest was filled with an indescribable emotion.

The people in town who were buying melons were overjoyed to see the endless line of people waiting to sell their melons.

Many people only realize upon arriving here that the price of twenty coins per pound comes with a condition: they only accept melons weighing eight pounds or more, and reject those weighing less than eight pounds.

Upon hearing this news, many people who had returned watermelons from Xia Yu's house to come here were filled with regret, lamenting that if they had known this earlier, they would have only brought back the large watermelon when they were at Zhang's house.

"It's alright, we can just send these smaller ones to the Zhang family tomorrow. We can still sell them, right?" someone in the queue suggested.

"I feel really bad about that."

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I saw it clearly today. There aren’t many melons left in the Zhang family’s yard. I heard they signed a contract with the Shen family for tens of thousands of catties of melons. If they don’t buy enough, they might have to lose money. If we sell them back, we’ll be helping them out.”

"That's great! Tomorrow morning, I'll sell all the small melons from my house to the Zhang family, and bring the big melons here to sell." He then laughed at his own cleverness.

It has to be said that some things are indeed wishful thinking.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Zhangjia Village began to bustle with activity.

Some people who were squatting at the door eating saw Da Yong and Er Yong from the village chief's family pulling watermelons toward the Zhang family's house. They quickly went up to Da Yong, grabbed his arm, and asked...

"The price of Zhang's watermelons has gone up too?"

Zhang Dayong saw the people holding his hand; they were the family who had taken watermelons from the Zhang family yesterday. Annoyed, he said gruffly...

"No price increase."

"The price hasn't gone up? Are you stupid? If the price hasn't gone up, why don't you take it to town to sell?" The man thought Zhang Dayong's head must have been kicked by a donkey.

"Why not sell in town? Because my conscience hasn't been stolen by dogs." After saying that, he slapped the hand off his arm and, together with Eryong, drove the oxcart towards the Zhang family's house.

"Hey, hey, don't go yet. What do you mean by that? I'm just trying to remind you, why are you swearing?" The man understood the meaning behind Zhang Dayong's words and, somewhat indignant, followed beside the oxcart with his bowl, wanting to pull Zhang Dayong aside to argue.

He was so focused on what was above that he didn't watch where he was going. After taking only two steps, he lost his footing and stepped into a small ditch. He fell face-first to the ground, spilling all the porridge he was holding over his head.

Seeing what happened next, Dayong and Eryong let out a long whistle and then burst into unrestrained laughter.

How could anyone not be unhappy to encounter such karmic retribution first thing in the morning?

That morning, not only the village chief's family, but all the families who hadn't come to get their money or melons back the day before picked the freshly ripe melons from the fields and delivered them to the Zhang family.

Zhang Youtie wanted to raise prices for everyone, but the village chief persuaded him against it.

"Third brother, the price is still the same as before. Without you, none of us would be able to grow watermelons. We are all grateful to you, and you have to understand our feelings."

"Yes, Third Brother, we'll listen to the village chief."

Watching this scene unfold, Xia Yu couldn't help but be moved. A few taels of silver was no small sum for these people, yet they were so generous. At that moment, Xia Yu began to understand his father's mentality—why he always wanted to help others in the village in everything.

Uncle Ma meticulously recorded the number of watermelons from each household.