Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

For a moment, an unusual silence fell over the garden. Madam Zhou noticed Madam Jiang's slightly furrowed brow and quickly greeted the ladies at the table with a smile.

"Come on, let's eat our food and let the kids have their fun. Now that they're out of the mansion, let's not keep them in check. Who knows, they might get sick again before they even finish their meal."

Madam Jiang smiled with satisfaction at Madam Zhou, then raised her glass of fruit wine to the ladies.

"Come, let's raise a glass together and wish this mission a safe and smooth journey. Please!"

Her words instantly drew everyone's attention back. Everyone echoed her sentiments, raising their glasses in a toast.

Seeing that the argument between the two had attracted Madam Shen's attention, the little girl who had been picking on Shen Luo stopped talking and sat there quietly eating, only occasionally glaring at Shen Luo.

Shen Luo ignored her and focused on eating, occasionally whispering to Xia Yu beside her.

However, the maids who had been standing at a distance just moments before all approached the round table and began serving their young mistresses their meals.

Nineteen and Da Niu knew Xia Yu's temperament; he didn't like having someone serve him while he ate, so they remained standing in their previous positions. A maid from the Shen family offered to serve Shen Luo, but he refused. Having lived and eaten at Grand Tutor Li's house for years, he had always been self-sufficient in his own food and clothing, and he felt quite comfortable there.

However, their behavior was interpreted differently by the others at the table, and some people looked down on them even more. The girl who had just argued with Shen Luo was about to speak again to mock Xia Yu and the others, but was stopped by Murong Lanzhi, who was sitting between her and Shen Luo.

"Sister Fen'er, try this fried dough stick. It tastes really delicious. I just tasted peanuts, sesame seeds, and walnuts inside. But I think there are other kinds of fruit inside, sweet and sour, but I can't tell what they are. Can you try it for me?"

Murong Lanzhi's words piqued the curiosity of the other girls at the table, and they all picked up a piece of the fried dough stick. Just as Shen Lu had said, it did have a filling, making the texture much richer than ordinary fried dough sticks. However, no one could quite put their finger on what the sweet and sour flavor was.

"Hmm, the texture is indeed unique, but I can't figure out what kind of fruit that's sweet and sour inside is. Does anyone know?" Miss Zhou asked her friends at the table after she finished eating.

"I don't know, I've never eaten it prepared this way before," a little girl in a pink embroidered peach blossom dress shook her head and expressed her opinion.

The others also shook their heads.

Murong Lanzhi sighed with some disappointment.

"I was thinking of telling my cook about the filling so I could recreate it at home, but it seems impossible now."

“Sister Murong, how is that impossible? Didn’t he just say he’d eaten this fruit before? And that he knew it was different from the others? Why don’t we ask him to tell us what’s inside?” The little girl named Fen’er gestured toward Shen Luo, drawing attention back to him and trying to embarrass him in public.

Xia Yu silently cursed Shen Luo as an "idiot" in his heart. Shen Luo knew there was filling in the fruit before even eating it, which proved that he had eaten this dish at the Shen residence before. Instead of thinking about its connection with the Shen family, he jumped out and courted death.

Her words successfully drew everyone's attention to Shen Luo, and seven or eight girls turned to look at her at the same time.

Shen Luo didn't hide anything. After swallowing the food in her mouth, she took a sip of water before clearing her throat.

"That sweet and sour stuff inside is raisins."

"Raisins? What are those?" Miss Zhou asked, puzzled, having never heard of them before.

"It's fresh grapes processed using a special method to make them dried, so they can be preserved for longer," Shen Luo explained earnestly. After all, it was Xia Yu who made this, and he wanted to help promote Xia Yu's family business.

"How is that possible? Fresh grapes will spoil in no more than two days, how could they be made into raisins? Even if you dry them in the sun, they will still spoil. You're just making this up." Fen'er didn't believe Shen Luo's words and immediately objected.

"That just means you haven't seen it before. This is a newly made product, and it's not widely available on the market yet. In another two years, the Shen family's shops in the capital should be selling it," Shen Luo explained, glancing at the girl indifferently.

"You dare to look down on me? Do you know who my father is?" Shen Luo's words enraged the young lady named Fen'er.

Hearing her ask that, Shen Luo was overjoyed. He had heard Xia Yu give him the answer to this question before. He had wanted to use it for a long time, but had never encountered anyone who asked him that question before.

He opened his eyes wide, looking slightly innocent and somewhat helpless, and said...

"How would I know who your father is? Shouldn't you ask your mother about this?" Shen Luo said, winking triumphantly at Xia Yu.

His answer stunned Miss Zhou and Murong Lanzhi at the table. The two older women, already of marriageable age, naturally understood the meaning behind Shen Luo's words. However, a few younger women, not quite grasping the meaning, asked Fen'er somewhat bewilderedly.

"Isn't your father Lord Fu? I don't understand what he's saying!"

"Waaaaah...waaaah...you...you...you insulted me!" Fen'er burst into tears when she was asked this question.

Her crying was quite loud, instantly attracting the attention of the elders at the other two tables.

"What's wrong? What happened? Who bullied my Fen'er?" A richly dressed lady heard her daughter crying and hurried over. Other ladies also rushed over, afraid that something had happened and their daughters might be affected. A chaotic scene ensued.

"Mother, he...he...he insulted me," Fen'er cried, her words barely coherent. She pointed at Shen Luo and complained to her mother.

At this moment, Murong Lanzhi, who was sitting between the two of them, had already been pulled out of the fray by Madam Murong. Madam Fu was currently facing away from Xia Yu and Shen Luo. Hearing her daughter's words, she turned her head to look at Shen Luo and Xia Yu standing behind her. Her already furrowed brows furrowed even more deeply. Why did everything have to do with that annoying girl?

Before she could speak, she glanced at her maid standing outside the crowd. The maid understood her mistress's meaning, nodded slightly, and squeezed into the crowd, seemingly wanting to come in and take care of her mistress.

"What happened? How are you serving Miss? Don't you know how to comfort her? Why did you make her cry?" Madam Fu said sternly to her daughter's personal maid.

"Madam..." the little maid stammered, but dared not tell what had just happened.

“Speak properly. Who bullied Miss?” Madam Fu glared sternly at the little maid.

"Young Master Zhang said that the sweet and sour fruit contained raisins, and Miss said that was impossible. Then Young Master Zhang said that Miss was ignorant, and Miss got angry and asked Young Master Zhang if he knew who Miss's father was. Young Master Zhang said that he did not know the answer to that question and should ask Madam, and then Miss cried."

The little girl's words were simple, but those around her heard them clearly and understood their meaning in an instant. It was unclear who it was, but they knew it was someone at the back of the crowd...

He burst out laughing.