Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Hundreds of miles away, Liu and Zhang Youtie also missed their children. Based on the letters Xia Yu wrote back, they counted on their fingers every day how far the mission's ship had gone.

Moreover, Liu has been very troubled lately. In addition to her son and daughter not returning home, her younger sister Xiao Cui's marriage has also encountered problems.

That day, during a family gathering, the two young people met. Madam Liu could clearly see that her sister was very satisfied with her fiancé. The young master of the Hu family seemed equally satisfied with his sister, as he would send gifts here every few days after the gathering. Sometimes these gifts were local delicacies or trendy fabrics from elsewhere, or even new jewelry from the silversmiths.

Liu was naturally pleased that her younger sister and future brother-in-law had such a good relationship. Every time someone came to give her something, she would happily accept it and then mix the shoes or purses that her sister had made for them into the return gifts she gave them.

Although she had received a letter from her daughter in the capital and remembered her sister's arranged marriage, seeing how much her sister and Young Master Hu liked each other, she gave up the idea of ​​telling her sister about it.

But just five days ago, after receiving a letter from Young Master Hu, my younger sister locked herself in her room and cried all day. By the time the maid came to report, it was already the next day. She rushed to her sister's courtyard and entered the house to find the floor covered in shredded cloth; all the dowry she had painstakingly embroidered had been torn to shreds.

"Xiao Cui, what's wrong with you?" Liu asked her younger sister, whose eyes were red and swollen from crying.

"Sister, Young Master Hu knows about my past." Liu Xiaocui said to Liu Shi in a very calm voice, as if what she was saying had nothing to do with her.

"What does he know?" Upon hearing her sister's words, Liu's heart leaped into her throat.

“He knows everything, even where I was during the years I was missing,” Liu Xiaocui said to her sister, forcing back the bitterness in her heart.

She cried all day and thought about it all night, thinking she had come to terms with it and understood everything. But now, seeing her sister's concern and questions, she couldn't help but feel a lump in her throat.

"Is he trying to break off the engagement with you?" Although Liu Shi couldn't bear it, she still asked.

Wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes with her fingers, Liu Xiaocui let out a long sigh of relief.

"He wrote to me asking about the annulment of the engagement, but he hadn't mentioned it yet."

"Sister, I'm not getting married..." After saying that, Liu Xiaocui buried her face in her sister's arms and cried loudly.

Liu gently patted her younger sister's back, letting her cry freely in her arms.

After a long while, until her younger sister in her arms fell silent, Liu realized that the baby had fallen asleep. She carefully placed the baby on the bed, pulled the blanket over her, and then tiptoed out of the room. She needed to discuss this matter with Zhang Youtie, because the two families had more than just business dealings; Zhang Youtie also had a very good personal relationship with Master Hu.

Zhang Youtie was also troubled by this matter, wondering how to annul the engagement if it really fell through. Should his family take the initiative to break it off? Or should they wait for the other party to come forward? Which approach would minimize the harm to his sister-in-law?

However, this matter did not trouble them for long, as Mrs. Hu came to their door.

After exchanging greetings, Madam Hu tried hard to force a smile, but the things she had to do today made it impossible for her to smile.

After chatting for a while, Mrs. Hu finally revealed the purpose of her visit.

"Mrs. Zhang, my old lady... no, it's me... no, it's like this..." She stammered for a long time, unable to utter a coherent sentence.

“Madam Hu, I understand what you have to say. This is Mr. Hu’s birth chart. Please take it back. I will return the betrothal gifts in full later.”

"No, no, no, it was my family's fault, we have let down Miss Xiao Cui. Consider the betrothal gifts as our dowry to Miss Xiao Cui." After saying this, she placed the birth certificate she had brought on the table and pushed it in front of Madam Liu, while taking back her son's birth certificate and putting it away.

After doing all this, Madam Hu wanted to say something, but her lips moved twice and she ultimately said nothing. She sighed, gave a perfunctory bow to Madam Liu, and left.

Inside the carriage, the old woman beside Madam Hu, noticing Madam Hu's somewhat displeased expression, offered words of comfort.

"Madam, you should try to think more positively. The old lady has always wanted her niece from her maternal family to marry the eldest young master, but now that she knows about Miss Liu's situation, she absolutely will not let Miss Liu into the family. That would only make things worse between us and the Zhang family."

Mrs. Hu breathed a sigh of relief, but thinking of her mother-in-law at home, she felt a little short of breath.

"Hmph, she wants her grandniece to marry my son, but she'll have to see if I, her own mother, agree. It's just a pity for Qing'er and Miss Liu, those two unfortunate children."

Thinking of the pained look in her son's eyes before she left home today, she felt a pang of heartache.

In the end, young master Hu still married his grandmother's cousin, but Madam Hu disapproved of this daughter-in-law. On the second day after the marriage, she made her establish rules in front of her. This displeased Old Madam Hu, and for a time, the Hu family's backyard was in chaos, with not a single day of peace.

Young Master Hu was tormented by being caught between his wife, mother, and mistress, and eventually used business as an excuse to stay away from home for years. Madam Hu, using the pretext that her daughter-in-law needed to stay home to serve her parents-in-law, sent a beautiful maid to take care of her son's daily needs.

So much so that in the end, after the maid gave birth to her eldest son, she was elevated to the status of a concubine because of her son's birth. Of course, all of this is a story for later.

In Zhangjia Village, apart from her personal maid and Zhang Youtie and his wife, no one else knew about Liu Xiaocui's annulment of the engagement.

Liu wanted to find a suitable opportunity to tell her sister about Zhang Haoran, but she felt that now was not the best time.

She wanted to write to her daughter about what was happening at home, but neither she nor Zhang Youtie could write. She didn't want anyone else to know, so she anxiously awaited her son and daughter's return so she could discuss things with them and make a decision.

Upon returning home to Beijing, Zhang Haoran was delighted to receive a warm welcome from his mother. He happily took out a gift he had brought back for her from his luggage. He had seen it while shopping with his colleagues at the border. Thinking of his mother's shabby appearance when she went out to a banquet, he felt unworthy of being a son.

"Hao'er, what is this?" Madam Gao asked, holding the box her son handed her.

"Mom, open it and take a look," Zhang Haoran said to his mother with a smile.

"You silly child, you're even trying to sell me a lawsuit!" Madam Gao scolded her son before opening the box in her hand.

"Jewelry?" Gao exclaimed upon seeing the exquisite ornaments inside, then quickly covered her mouth, afraid that the neighbors would hear.

"How beautiful it is, Hao'er! It must be expensive, how much does it cost?" Madam Gao knew that her son didn't have much money with him when he left. Seeing the gold and gemstone jewelry in the box, she suspected that her son didn't even have enough money on him.