Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Her words nearly made Aoki choke on his water.

"Cough cough...cough cough, Auntie, I'm not married yet either."

After he finished speaking, he noticed that Zhang Shucheng's mother seemed somewhat incredulous, looking him up and down a few times before asking...

"How old is Master Qing this year?"

"Uh, kid, you're twenty-three this year."

"Twenty-three? Then you're a year older than my Hao'er?"

"Well, I suppose that's how it is." Aoki suddenly realized that coming into the house was a mistake. At that moment, he seemed to suddenly understand why Zhang Shucheng never brought anyone home.

"Auntie, your pancakes are delicious! May I ask where your ancestral home is?"

“From Zhongzhou Prefecture, we love noodles. If you like it, come often. I’ll make you some meat rolls next time. My Hao’er is just too boring. He never goes out to drink with his colleagues, never brings anyone home, and never gets married. I’m just an old woman at home, so bored every day.”

"Mother, you chat with the old ladies in the alley every day, how could you be bored?"

“If I didn’t chat with people every day, would we have been able to rent such a cheap and nice yard? You have to talk a lot to understand what’s going on around you. We don’t even have a vegetable garden here, and we have to buy a green onion from the market. It’s only by chatting with people every day that we know where to find fresh and cheap vegetables…”

Zhang Shucheng's mother was incredibly talkative, and in the end, Qingmu almost fled in embarrassment. He resolved never to come here again; she was too enthusiastic, he couldn't handle it.

When he returned to the scholar's residence, it was almost dinnertime. Upon learning that the master was still in the study, he went there first to report.

"Was the person sent back? How did it go?" Shen Jingheng asked Qingmu, his head down as he looked at his book.

"Yes, it was delivered to my home. Lord Zhang's mother was so hospitable; she pulled me aside and offered me some of her fried pancakes, and she told me a lot about Lord Zhang."

"Oh, is there anything interesting about it?" Shen Jingheng's eyes remained fixed on the book.

"Lord Zhang is twenty-two years old this year and is still unmarried. From what his mother said, he has a childhood sweetheart named Cui'er, but she was lost when she was young. Lord Zhang has been searching for her all these years. Also, Lord Zhang's superiors always assign him tasks during lunchtime, which always makes him miss his meals. Lord Zhang's house is rented, and his family's ancestral home is in Zhongzhou Prefecture."

“Zhongzhou Prefecture…” Shen Jingheng murmured, Qingmu’s words reminding him of the little girl from the Zhang family.

He could sense that Xia Yu was different from everyone else around him. She had never shown any fear towards him, except for the time she knelt before him when he first visited his home. In the years that followed, although they had never seen each other again, her correspondence revealed no trace of that reverence in her words.

In recent years, he has carefully studied the rise of the Zhang family. Xia Yu reminded him of Shen Changchun, the first patriarch of the Shen family. He always felt that Xia Yu and Shen Changchun had many similarities.

Shen Changchun was born into a very ordinary small merchant family. His family owned a general store, and although they were not rich, they were able to eat and dress well.

When Shen Changchun was ten years old, he contracted a cold and developed a high fever, which proved fatal. Records indicate that preparations were underway to prepare his coffin, but he unexpectedly sat up in bed. However, after recovering, his personality changed drastically. When asked why he had changed so much, he explained that he had narrowly escaped death and understood the preciousness of life and the hardships his parents had endured, so he wanted to study hard and be filial to them. He could answer any questions about his childhood in detail, confirming to his parents that he was indeed their son. They believed their child had become sensible.

Less than a year after his change, his family suddenly started manufacturing glass. The advent of glass made the Shen family very wealthy, and their business developed from a small grocery store into a well-known local tycoon.

He entered school at the age of ten, passed the preliminary examination at the age of eleven, passed the county-level examination at the age of thirteen, passed the provincial-level examination at the age of sixteen, and was personally selected by the then Emperor Yingwu as the top scholar in the palace examination at the age of eighteen.

Later, he refined salt from coarse salt and unconditionally presented this technology to Emperor Yingwu. The promotion of fine salt freed the entire nation from the bitter taste of coarse salt that had persisted for centuries, and the coarse salt refining technology gave the country a dominant position in trade with neighboring countries for over a century. To this day, no other country can refine fine salt; to obtain it, they must offer something else in exchange.

When he first noticed the Zhang family, Xia Yu's information immediately reminded him of the former head of the Shen family. He had a vague feeling that there might be some connection between Xia Yu and Shen Changchun.

Thinking of this, he suddenly recalled a diary that the current head of the Shen family had once shown him. The diary was passed down from Shen Changchun, but he couldn't understand the writing; it wasn't in any language they knew. If the little girl from the Zhang family had some connection with the head of the Shen family, could she perhaps understand the diary? However, the head of the Shen family had left a will stating that only members of the Shen family could read it.

A nameless sense of irritation suddenly welled up in his heart. He tugged at the collar of his robe, which usually fit perfectly but now seemed a little tight.

The next day, Zhang Shucheng arrived at the yamen and received unprecedented attention. Everyone took the opportunity to speak with him, and some even invited him to lunch. Zhang Shucheng understood perfectly well that this sudden enthusiasm was all because of Lord Shen. However, he was no longer entirely certain that his translation was correct. Over the years, under the suppression of Hu Shaoqing and the ridicule of his colleagues, he had developed deep doubts about his own knowledge.

Faced with the crowd's enthusiasm, he seemed somewhat overwhelmed and could only respond blankly. Seeing him like this, his enthusiastic colleagues didn't say anything, but they felt a bit contemptuous. If it weren't for the fact that he had caught Lord Shen's eye, who would want to deal with this dimwit?

For the first time ever, at lunchtime, his direct superior did not assign him any official duties, but instead warmly invited him to have lunch together.

Although he was extremely reluctant to deal with this superior who had been making things difficult for him, years of being sidelined had taught him that some things had to be done even if he didn't like them.

However, as soon as they stepped out of the government office, they saw Aoki standing at the bottom of the steps in a horse-drawn carriage.

"Greetings, esteemed sirs." Aoki bowed respectfully to the group. Then, looking at Zhang Shucheng, he said...

"Lord Zhang, my master requests your presence."

"Okay," Zhang Shucheng didn't know how to answer, so he could only give a dry "okay."

"This way, please!" Aoki bowed to the several somewhat stunned adults before leading Zhang Shucheng into the carriage he had come in.

As the carriage rattled away into the distance, the group finally realized what had happened.

"Has this young Master Zhang really won Lord Shen's favor?" Wang Shucheng, who was of the same rank as Zhang Shucheng and served as the Master of Ceremonies, said with some envy as he watched the departing carriage.

"It seems so!" one of them replied leisurely, his tone also full of envy. Only now did they realize the importance of knowing a foreign language, but unfortunately, they realized it too late.