Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Changyun, still savoring the delicious food, was amused by his sister's bold words. "Alright, from now on, you'll be responsible for feeding us all until we're all plump and healthy." His tone was teasing, but he really meant it; hadn't all the money the family had earned lately been thanks to his sister?

The brother and sister placed the food on the table, and Xia Yu suddenly ran to the kitchen to make a cucumber salad. She mixed it with minced garlic, salt, sesame oil, and vinegar, put it on a rough porcelain plate, and brought it to the table. This was the first time Xia Yu had eaten two dishes in all the time she had been in this era.

The family enjoyed the meal immensely; none of them had ever tasted such delicious braised pork before. Even the ordinary white radish, having absorbed the broth, became extraordinary.

“These radishes are delicious too. Our daughter’s cooking skills are getting better and better. I think they are even better than those of the master chefs in the restaurants in town.”

"Dad, have you ever eaten the food cooked by the head chef at the restaurant in town?" Hearing his father's words, Changyun asked him curiously. Could it be that his sister's cooking was really better than that of the head chef?

"Uh, I haven't eaten it, but your grandfather has," Zhang Youtie replied somewhat awkwardly.

For so many years, their family had been so focused on their younger brother's education that they had never had the chance to eat at a restaurant in town. But he couldn't say this aloud. They owned the most land in the village, and they had a lot of work to do, yet their food was the same as ordinary families, sometimes even worse. His wife and children had suffered with him all these years, and he only hoped his fourth brother would pass the imperial examination. Zhang Youtie thought this to himself, but outwardly he showed no sign of it, continuing to chat and laugh with his wife and children as usual.

Smashed cucumber is usually a very ordinary dish, but it becomes extraordinary when it appears at this time of year. Every bite tastes better than in previous years. "Dad, are we going to the county town tomorrow?" Xia Yu asked her father.

"Go ahead, I've already borrowed the oxcart from the village chief. Go to bed early tonight, and we'll leave at dawn tomorrow."

"Dad, you're leaving so early? Will the baby be able to get up?"

"Bring a blanket. You can sleep in the car tomorrow. Your daughter can put it away when you get there," Zhang Youtie had already planned.

"Okay, I can get up, I can get up!" These were the words of Changyun. He had never been to the county town before, so how could he not get up if he could go to the county town?

"Should we sell all the vegetables we harvested from our garden? There's too much of it; we can't possibly eat it all!" Xia Yu asked.

"We can say the shrimp were caught in the river, but what about vegetables that are out of season? We have no excuse. What do you say, Mom?"

"I think so too, Xiaxia. We can't just sell out-of-season vegetables; it might even cause trouble. Let's not sell them; we can keep them in your treasure and eat them ourselves."

"Okay, Mom and Dad, you're right. We'll keep it in our space and eat it slowly. We won't sell it."

After the family finished their meal, they discussed what to do the next day. They then washed up and went to bed, and the night passed uneventfully.

The next day, Xia Yu was woken up by Liu Shi while she was still asleep. Xia Yu woke up with a start, thinking about the family's plans for the day, and immediately rubbed her eyes, got dressed, and got up. She also put the quilt and mattress from her bed into her spatial storage, so she could spread them out on the oxcart and sleep a little longer.

When Xia Yu went out to wash up, she found her brother had just left, rubbing his eyes. Her mother was already putting away the scales, wooden buckets, strainers, large wooden basins, small vegetable basins, and large bowls they had brought. Her father had also brought the oxcart over. As soon as Xia Yu finished gathering the things on the ground, they could set off immediately. Xia Yu first put the quilts and blankets on the oxcart, then turned around and gathered everything on the ground before brushing her teeth and washing her face. After quickly finishing these tasks, the family set off for Ming'an County.

Because they left early, they didn't run into anyone in the village, saving them the trouble of explaining themselves. Before setting off, Liu had already laid out the mattress and quilt on the oxcart, so as soon as they got on, Xia Yu and Chang Yun took off their shoes and put them under the mattress, then crawled into bed to continue sleeping. "Mom, there's still room here, why don't you come and sleep for a while too?" Xia Yu called to her mother after lying down.

"You all go to sleep. I'll wake up and won't be able to fall back asleep."

"Her mother, you should lie down and take a nap too, it's still early."

"I can't sleep anyway, I'll stay with you to catch the train."

When Zhang Youtie heard Liu say that, he looked at her and chuckled.

From Xia Yu's angle, she could see her parents' profiles, and her father was grinning foolishly at her mother. Xia Yu thought to herself that her father really liked her mother. Although they never said those things, it was clear from their daily interactions that her father treated her very well.

Thinking like this, she fell asleep. When she woke up again, they were almost in the county town, and it was already dawn. Liu woke up the two children, packed up the bedding on the oxcart, and took out the things and wooden buckets needed to sell shrimp from her space.

As the number of pedestrians and oxcarts on the road gradually increased, Xia Yu realized that this road was much wider than the one leading to the town; at least two oxcarts like theirs could easily drive side by side. After walking for a while, Xia Yu could see the tall city wall from afar. It looked very magnificent and grand, completely different from the city walls that had been preserved in modern tourist cities.

The city gates were guarded by soldiers. Drivers had to dismount and walk in, leading their oxcarts, but no soldiers stopped them for inspection, and no entrance fee was required. Zhang Youtie had been to the county town before; he wasn't entirely familiar with the roads, but he roughly knew what to buy and where to go. So, upon entering the town, he drove his oxcart towards the west. However, the other passengers had no idea where he was going.

"Dad, where are we going?" Changyun was the first to ask.

"Go to the west side of town; that's the market where they sell these things."

"What do they sell in the other districts, Dad?"

"The North City is where the wealthy people of the county live, and it's forbidden to sell these smelly things there. The East City is where ordinary people live, and there are many shops; it's very lively. The South City is probably the poorest place. I've heard it's very chaotic and poor, but I've never been there. The West City, which we're going to now, allows you to sell anything—things grown in the fields, caught in the river, or caught in the mountains."

"Oh, do rich people come to the West Market to buy things?"

"Probably. People from wealthy families who are in charge of purchasing probably come here to find some new items, but I'm not sure."

They drove their oxcart directly to the market. It was a large market, divided into sections. Food vendors were in one area, egg and vegetable vendors in another, and meat vendors selling chicken, duck, fish, mutton, and pork were grouped together. There was also a section specifically for livestock; Xia Yu saw oxen, horses, donkeys, and mules among the animals. Xia Yu's father first went to the market management office, paid ten coins, and received a number plate—this was their stall for the day.

"Dad, renting a stall costs ten coins, that's too expensive! If those vegetable and egg vendors don't do well, they won't even make back their stall fees," Xia Yu couldn't help but sigh.

“We have an oxcart, so I rented a large spot, which naturally increases the stall fee. Smaller spots are cheaper; if you just rent a small spot to sell vegetables, the rent might only be one penny a day,” Zhang Youtie quickly explained, sensing that his daughter might have misunderstood.

"Oh, if that's the case, it makes sense!"

Xia Yu couldn't help but sigh, "This market is well managed, and it doesn't seem to be much different from modern models."

The group easily found their stall, which was quite nice, right under a large locust tree, so it wasn't sunny at all. The two stalls next to them were already occupied; the one on the left was selling pork, and the one on the right had an oxcart with wooden barrels even bigger than theirs on it, which hadn't been unloaded yet, so they didn't know what they were selling.

After Xia Yu's family tied up the oxcart, while everyone was busy unloading other things, Xia Yu reached into each of the five buckets and felt around inside. They were all filled to the brim with shrimp and water. The other two extra buckets were borrowed by his father when he went back to the old house to borrow a scale.

After unloading everything, there was an extra table and four chairs compared to when they set off to load the truck. It turned out that Xia Yu had taken out the table and chairs she had bought earlier from her spatial storage. Last time, when the family sold shrimp, they had stood for most of the day, and their legs were still sore. After everything was arranged, Zhang Youtie first poured a bucket of shrimp into a large basin. It has to be said that it was much clearer to see the shrimp in the basin than in the bucket. They were all large shrimp, each about the length of a hand, and they looked very appealing.

The shop next door had finally unloaded everything. Xia Yu peeked over and saw that it was pretty much as she had guessed; they were selling the same kind of goods as her shop.