Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

When Zhang Tianming arrived home, his wife, Li Cuilan, had already filled all the harvested watermelons into baskets. Seeing Zhang Tianming enter, she quickly called out to him.

"My brother and I will be coming over in a little while. We can hitch a ride with them and take these baskets of watermelons to town to sell."

"I've made up my mind. This year, we'll sell our melons to the Shen family instead of hauling them to town," Zhang Tianming said to himself without even looking at his wife.

"What did you say? Sell it to the Shen family? I just asked them, and they didn't say they'd raise the price," Li Cuiran suddenly raised her voice.

“I know, but the villagers just said that the Shen family spoke to Third Brother’s family. If they don’t harvest enough watermelons this year as agreed, Third Brother’s family will have to pay the Shen family three times the amount of silver for the shortfall.”

“What does this have to do with us? I only know that I will sell the watermelons to whoever offers the highest price. The Shen family can’t force us to buy them. Besides, the Zhang family has plenty of money. Didn’t they take out a lot of silver yesterday to make up the difference? If he doesn’t want to compensate the Shen family three times, he can raise the price himself…” Li Cuilan’s voice grew softer and softer, not because she saw Zhang Tianming’s dark face, but because she thought this was a good idea.

In this way, Zhang Youtie's family would add five copper coins per jin, raising the price. It was much more cost-effective than ending up with no watermelons and having to pay three times the price in compensation. Li Cuilan thought she was very clever and quickly repeated her idea to Zhang Tianming.

"Father, what do you think of my idea? This way, although Third Brother's family will have to pay some money, it's still better than losing three times the amount. Go to Third Brother's house now and tell him this idea, and see what he says?"

Zhang Tianming, whose face had been dark just moments before, listened to his wife's explanation and, after thinking about it, realized it made perfect sense. However, regardless of the reason, he was determined not to take Zhang Youtie's share of the money.

“I think it’s feasible. You just wait at home. I’ll take the watermelon to Third Brother’s house now and tell him about this method.”

"Go quickly, go quickly! Third Brother will definitely thank you for such a good idea, and he might even thank our family with a few taels of silver. That way, we can pay off the debt from building the house all at once." Seeing that her husband agreed to her idea, Li Cuilan urged Zhang Tianming to hurry up and go. She herself would wait at home for her brother to arrive, planning to cook two good dishes for him.

Zhang Tianming already had a plan in mind, so he didn't say much to her to avoid arguing. He then picked up the watermelons and left.

Those from other villages who came to sell small watermelons were asked to leave the queue. Faced with this situation, they no longer acted as if they were entitled to the watermelons they had yesterday. They did whatever the Zhang family said. However, when they saw that the ten oxcarts from the Shen family were almost full, and the Shen family's steward had not yet returned, some people began to panic.

"Brother, I'd like to ask, is it possible to harvest these small watermelons?" A man from another village tugged at Feng Dahai's clothes, smiling obsequiously as he cautiously asked.

"We haven't heard about this either. Why don't you go back first and come back in a few days? Our master is in a bad mood right now, and we don't dare to go in and disturb him."

The man returned to those in the same situation and relayed Feng Dahai's words. Everyone who heard his answer felt somewhat helpless. Some wanted to go back, but were persuaded not to by their companions.

"Sigh, let's wait a little longer. We've been waiting for most of the day. The steward from the Shen family will have to come back eventually, and then we'll have an answer about whether it's working out or not."

Hearing his words, the man who was about to leave sighed and sat down again. After selling watermelons weighing over eight pounds to merchants in town for twenty coins per pound, they didn't get as much money as they would have received from selling them all to the Zhang family. If they couldn't sell their smaller watermelons, they would lose money.

At this moment, Zhang Youtie, whom Feng Dahai mentioned was feeling troubled, was watching the procession outside with Old Master Zhang and the village chief.

The village chief nodded in satisfaction when he saw the new families.

"Hmm, not bad, they are all promising young men."

As they were talking, they saw Zhang the Cripple's wife come over carrying her load. She seemed to have something to say, but she was gesturing, and no one could understand her sign language.

Seeing this, Uncle Ma beckoned Gao Shuanzhu over and asked him to go to the pond and find Aunt Ma.

After the New Year, once the ground thawed, Zhang the Cripple's new house was built with the help of the villagers. This was all thanks to the wages his wife earned working at Zhang's house all winter, cooking hot pot broth. Zhang the Cripple had originally planned to build two mud-brick houses, but Zhang Youtie advised him that building two brick and tile houses would be safer. He offered to lend him money if he needed it.

Although Zhang the Cripple was reluctant to spend the money, he listened to Zhang Youtie and took out all the money in his house. When buying building materials at Zhang Youtie's house, he also bought materials for three rooms. One room was for the main room, one was for him and his wife, and the other was for their daughter, Xiaohua. The couple firmly believed that Xiaohua would return.

Their house was built after Zhang Youtie's house broke ground. Every day, Zhang Youtie would select ten workers from his own house construction team to help Zhang the Cripple build his house.

Of course, Zhang the Cripple provided the wages for that day. However, his family wasn't well-off, so he only paid him twenty coins a day. No one objected to this amount. They were all neighbors; if someone truly couldn't afford to pay wages, they should still help when needed.

On the day Zhang the Cripple's house was completed, he invited everyone who had helped him to his home for a meal. The meal consisted of simple cornbread dumplings and stewed pork with cabbage and radishes. With tears in his eyes, Zhang the Cripple toasted everyone, thanking them for their help to him and his wife.

However, his parents and brothers were not among these people.

Back to business

Gao Shuanzhu quickly returned with Aunt Ma. The lame woman gestured eagerly in front of Aunt Ma, then pointed in a direction and gestured again.

"Okay, okay, I understand, don't worry. I'll tell Old Ma to arrange someone to go with you." Aunt Ma understood what she meant and patted her hand reassuringly.

After comforting the lame woman, Aunt Ma went to Uncle Ma and said a few words. Hearing Aunt Ma's words, Uncle Ma called Zhang Suozhu and Zhao Mancang over.

"Suozhu and Mancang, you two go to Zhang Gensheng's house and help transport all the melons he picked over. I heard from your Aunt Ma that there are several baskets. You two drive the oxcart there."

"Alright, we'll go right away." The two agreed and headed to the backyard to hitch up the oxcart.

Because of building a house, Zhang the Cripple's family planted their watermelon seedlings a few days later than others, so they naturally ripened later. When the Shen family came to collect their watermelons last time, theirs weren't even ripe yet. This time, they're picking the first batch of watermelons.

Even after all the oxcarts were full, Manager Qin still hadn't returned. The mounted servant, after checking the ledgers with Uncle Ma and confirming everything was correct, went together to see Zhang Youtie. The mounted servant handed the silver notes to Zhang Youtie and then led the caravan away.

Those from other villages and even the villagers who hadn't sold their watermelons watched the long convoy drive away, then looked at their own unsold watermelons, and felt a bitter taste in their mouths. Many regretted their rash decision to return the watermelons without asking questions beforehand. If they had known it would turn out this way, they should have only returned the larger ones and kept the smaller ones.

Little did they know that what they had lost was not just the money from those small watermelons.