Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

It wasn't until they sold the fourth bucket of shrimp that Xia Yu and his team were able to catch their breath and rest for a while.

"Oh dear, people in this county town are definitely better off. In our town, we can only sell about two buckets a day," Liu said to Sister Wu beside her.

"There are very few shrimp for sale at this market, at least we've never seen any before, let alone shrimp this big! Wait a little longer, more people should come, we won't have to worry about selling the remaining bucket!"

Actually, Xia Yu and her family couldn't leave either. They hadn't returned the twenty basins and bowls they brought with them, and there was also a wooden bucket. They wouldn't be able to get back until the afternoon. As the sun rose higher and they walked south, the number of people in the market gradually decreased. Except for the wooden bucket the manager had taken, which hadn't been returned, everything else had been returned. During this time, Xia Yu's family sold another dozen or so pounds of shrimp. Seeing that they still had more than half a bucket of shrimp left, the family discussed it and decided that Liu Shi and Changyun would stay at the stall to watch over it, while Xia Yu and her father would take the bucket to a restaurant to try and sell the remaining shrimp.

Zhang Youtie asked Brother Du, the fishmonger, if he wanted to come along, but Brother Du smiled and declined. They only had a few fish left and planned to sell them at the market. Zhang Youtie asked them for directions to a few restaurants and asked them to watch Liu's stall before driving his oxcart towards the nearest restaurant. The streets in the county town were wide enough for oxcarts to pass, but if your ox defecated in the street, the owner of the oxcart was responsible for cleaning up the mess.

The father and daughter drove the oxcart to the nearest restaurant in the market. Zhang Youtie parked the oxcart next to the restaurant and told his daughter to watch the oxcart. He was going to go in and ask as usual, but as soon as he stepped onto the steps in front of the restaurant, he was chased down by the waiter at the door: "Hey, brother, this is a restaurant. If you want to eat, you can go to the noodle stall or wonton stall."

"No, sir, you've misunderstood, I'm not..."

Before Zhang Youtie could finish speaking, the waiter looked at the person behind Zhang Youtie and said with a smile, "Young Master Li, you've arrived! We've saved your usual seat for you. Please come in, watch out for the steps!" As he spoke, he pushed Zhang Youtie, who was standing next to him, aside with obvious displeasure.

"You..." Zhang Youtie looked at the waiter angrily, wanting to say something more, but the waiter didn't even glance at him again, only bowing and ushering the young master Li inside. Xia Yu, who had witnessed the whole thing, came over and pulled Zhang Youtie back to his oxcart. "Father, let's go. We can't do anything to him now. Let's sell the shrimp to other restaurants." After saying that, she looked up at the restaurant's name, then pulled Zhang Youtie, who still wanted to speak, back to her oxcart.

Actually, Xia Yu was angrier than her father. Seeing the waiter push her father felt like a profound insult. She wanted to gouge out the man's smug eyes, but years of forbearance from her past life quickly calmed her down. Now, their family was just a poor, powerless peasant family at the very bottom of society. What good would it do to win an argument with that man? Their purpose in coming out was to sell shrimp. Even if the waiter apologized for some reason, what difference would it make? In this society, the poor shouldn't talk about face or respect.

Perhaps sensing his daughter's resentment and unhappiness, Zhang Youtie comforted her instead: "Xiaxia, my dear daughter, let's not be angry. That waiter is blind to our shrimp. He wouldn't even take our money when we offered it to him. One day, we'll sell our shrimp to all the big restaurants in the county, but we won't sell to them. Haha, what do you say?"

“Okay, Dad, let’s do it this way. From now on, we’ll sell the shrimp to all the restaurants in town, but not to them. Let them watch others make money and make them envious.”

"Yes, that's ambition. That's how we'll be. When we get back, Dad will take you and Mom out for a nice meal."

The father and daughter comforted themselves, quickly putting their unhappiness behind them. They drove the oxcart to another restaurant; it was midday, the busiest time for the establishment. Zhang Youtie, as before, parked the oxcart in a shady spot outside the restaurant, letting his daughter wait for him inside. He carried the bucket towards the restaurant's entrance, and a waiter greeted them with a smile a few steps away: "Sir, would you like to eat?"

"No, I have some prawns and I wanted to ask if your restaurant would like them?"

When the waiter heard Zhang Youtie say that, he stuck his head out and looked into the bucket. When Zhang Youtie saw his action, he put down the bucket and took one out to show the waiter.

"Brother, we're busy right now. Why don't you wait here for a moment while I go and call the manager out?"

"Alright, then I'll trouble you, sir!" Zhang Youtie said, bowing to the waiter.

The waiter turned and trotted inside to call their manager. Soon, a middle-aged man wearing a brown cotton robe came out, clasped his hands in a fist salute to Zhang Youtie, and said, "Brother, are you the one who wants to sell prawns? Take a look."

Zhang Youtie casually scooped a shrimp out of the bucket again and held it up in front of the middle-aged man.

Are they all this big?

"Yes, they're all about this size, you can rest assured about that."

"How much did you sell it for? How much do you have left?"

"There are about fifty catties left, which cost thirty-two coins per catty. Anything over thirty catties will cost thirty coins per catty."

The shopkeeper mentally calculated for a moment, then said, "I'll take them all. Xiao Si, help this gentleman go to the backyard to weigh them. Come to the counter to collect the money later."

After making arrangements with the waiter, he clasped his hands in a fist salute to Zhang Youtie and said, "Thank you for your trouble, brother. Please go with Xiao Si to get weighed."

"Alright, shopkeeper, you go ahead and do your work. I'll go get the other bucket from the oxcart." After saying that, Zhang Youtie walked over to Xia Yu.

“I said there are still fifty catties left, but the shopkeeper wants them all. That bucket just now had more than ten catties, so does this one have thirty catties in total?” Zhang Youtie whispered to his daughter.

After listening to her father's words, Xia Yu silently reached her hand into the bucket next to her, nodded to her father, and at the same time, a few drops of space well water dripped into it.

Seeing his daughter nod, Zhang Youtie picked up the bucket and headed back towards the restaurant. The waiter, carrying another bucket, led him inside. A quarter of an hour later, Zhang Youtie and the waiter emerged from the restaurant, each carrying a bucket. As Zhang Youtie took the bucket from the waiter, Xia Yu, from her vantage point, saw her father slip something into the waiter's hand. Xia Yu guessed it was probably copper coins, but she couldn't see how many from the distance.