Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Xia Yu sat in the shade by the kitchen door, chin in hand, gazing at the golden thread lotus drying on the straw mat, her thoughts wandering far away. The bubbling sound from the two pots pulled her back to reality. Lifting the lid, the aroma almost made her mouth water; she quickly slurped some in. She then poked a piece of meat with chopsticks, which went in easily. Confirming the meat was cooked, she added the diced radish she had just chopped. She stir-fried the meat and radish evenly, sprinkled in a small handful of salt, stirred a few more times, tasted the broth, and, finding it slightly bland, added more salt before covering and continuing to cook. After finishing, Xia Yu grabbed a rag from the stove and wiped up any spilled broth to prevent mosquitoes from appearing in the heat.

"Mom, I'm back! What are we having for dinner today?" Changyuan, who had been out playing all morning, ran back and went straight to the main room to find his mother as soon as he entered the courtyard.

“Your sister is working in the kitchen, go see for yourself,” said Liu, who was sewing with her head down. She looked up at her son and saw that his face was flushed and his forehead was covered in sweat. She scolded him, “Why are you sweating so much? Where did you go to play with Jinbao and the others?” As she spoke, she took out her handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

"We went rabbit hunting, and we caught one today. We brought it home for Er Gouzi because his grandma is sick!" Changyun said, taking the handkerchief from his mother and wiping his face haphazardly. "I'm going to the kitchen to see what delicious food my sister is making. I can smell the aroma!" He then put the handkerchief on the table and ran out again.

Upon reaching the kitchen doorway, Changyun saw Xia Yu sitting by the stove and chuckled, "Xia Xia, I smell something delicious! Are we having meat for lunch today?"

"Brother, you have a really good nose! The pot lid hasn't even been opened yet, and you already know we're eating meat!"

"That's right, I could smell the meat from far away."

"Brother, if you do me a favor, I'll cook you meat again tomorrow."

"What is it?" Changyun became interested immediately when he heard that he could eat meat tomorrow.

“I used the water from the space well to wash vegetables there the day before yesterday. Go out along the drainage ditch and see if there’s anything unusual about the grass near the ditch,” Xia Yu said to her brother, pointing to the place in the yard where her family washed up.

"Okay, I'll go now." Changyun said and ran out.

Seeing her son run away again in the main room, Liu was puzzled and went to the kitchen to ask Xia Yu, "Xia Xia, it's almost time to eat, why did your brother run away again?"

"Mother, I used water from the space well to wash vegetables there the day before yesterday. I asked my brother to go out along the drainage ditch and see if there were any changes in the plants nearby?"

Xia Yu repeated what she had just said to her brother to her mother.

"Oh? Right! How could we have overlooked that? It's good that you remembered. Although our house is a bit out of the way, it's possible that people might come this way." Her tone was full of worry.

"Mother, don't think too much about it. My brother will be back soon. If there are any problems, we can figure out a solution together." Not wanting Liu Shi to worry too much, Xia Yu tried to change the subject. "Mother, tomorrow we're going to Ming'an County to sell shrimp. Will the price be the same as in town? Should we raise the price?"

"Huh? Shrimp?" Still thinking about what had just happened, Liu was caught off guard by Xia Yu's sudden change of topic. "Oh, you mean the shrimp-selling trip to Ming'an County?"

"Yes, what I mean is, can we raise the price a bit?"

"I haven't thought about that yet. So, how much do you think would be appropriate?" Madam Liu genuinely hadn't considered this question.

"How about thirty-five coins? Isn't that too much of an increase?" Xia Yu was somewhat uncertain about the price.

"That's a bit much. Five coins can buy a pound of white rice, so that's thirty-two coins! I think that price is acceptable; even an average family can afford it if they grit their teeth."

"Okay, Mom, we'll do as you say. But we can't borrow someone else's scale again this time, can we? When are we going to buy a scale?"

"No need to buy one, there's a steelyard balance at the old house, we can borrow it tonight."

The mother and daughter were talking by the stove when Changyun returned. "Mom, Xiaxia, I just went to check. The plants on both sides of the drainage ditch haven't changed much, but I found a lot of fish at the end of the drainage ditch where it meets the river. They look quite big."

After thinking for a while, Liu looked up at her son and daughter and said, "It must be because stone slabs were used on the bottom and sides when the drainage ditch was built." Seeing that her son and daughter still didn't quite understand what she meant, she explained a few more words:

"I heard that the drainage ditches in our village used to be built without any lining, and they were always clogged with silt. The village had to send people to clean them frequently. Later, someone discovered that laying smooth stone slabs on the drainage channels could solve the problem, so the drainage ditches we use now were all dug and relaid by the villagers with a lot of effort. After we moved out, because the location we chose was relatively remote, we couldn't connect to the village's drainage ditches. Instead, it was more convenient for our side to connect directly to the river. Your grandfather said that our drainage ditch should also be built to the same standard as the village's, otherwise it would be too troublesome for just our family to clean it if it got clogged. So your grandfather, along with your uncles and your father, went through a lot of trouble to get some stone slabs from somewhere and laid them on the ditch. The well water you poured in didn't leak from the drainage ditch into the soil next to it; instead, it flowed directly into the river, which is why the outlet of our drainage ditch attracts fish from the river."

"Mom, can we still use this water as bait to fish in the future?" Changyun suddenly asked after hearing his mother's words.

After listening to Changyun's words, Xia Yu truly admired her brother's ability to think outside the box, his boundless imagination, and his divergent thinking. "Hmm, very clever." Why hadn't she thought of using this method to catch some fish to add to the family's meals?

It seems that whether someone is smart or not is not absolutely related to whether they have gone to school. I went to school for more than ten years in my previous life, but my brain is not as quick as her brother's, who has never been to school!

"Mom, I think my brother is right. We can try it in a couple of days," Xia Yu said, seeing that her mother was still thinking.

Before Liu could answer, Zhang Youtie returned from the fields, temporarily ending the conversation. Liu went out to greet him, helping Zhang Youtie bring water and handkerchiefs. Changyun and Xia Yu greeted their father and then continued with their own tasks. Xia Yu lifted the lids of the two pots; the brown rice was ready, but the braised pork and radish still needed to have the sauce reduced over high heat.

Changyun helped scoop the rice into a wooden basin, and Xia Yu picked up a piece of meat, blew on it, and put it to her brother's mouth.

"Brother, can you taste it for me?"

Changyun, who was serving rice, was already drooling from the aroma wafting from the pot. He swallowed hard before daring to open his mouth, waiting for Xia Yu to place the meat near his lips. The moment the meat entered his mouth, his eyes widened involuntarily. The fatty meat melted in his mouth, rich yet not greasy, while the lean meat was tender, juicy, and not dry at all. The aroma was so enticing that Changyun wanted to swallow his tongue. He felt this was the best food he had ever eaten in his life. His family had bought fatty pork before, but it had never been cooked to such a delicious perfection.

"Delicious, delicious, it smells so good, Xiaxia!"

Actually, even without him saying it, Xia Yu could tell from his expression that the food must taste good. But as a chef, being praised like that for his own cooking is definitely a happy thing.

"It's delicious. I'll make it for you again in a couple of days." Looking at her brother's somewhat dark and thin face, Xia Yu added in a daze, "Brother, I will definitely raise our family to be healthy and plump."