Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

"Then, then, then how could Lord Shen know what Lord Qin's daughter is like?" Liu continued to argue, unwilling to give up.

Zhang Chengwen wanted to continue persuading Liu Shi, but his eyes caught his niece winking at him, so he immediately shut up.

"You old woman are truly unreasonable." Old Master Zhang felt he couldn't reason with her, so he angrily uttered these words and left with his hands behind his back.

"Dad, where are you going?" Zhang Youtie hurriedly chased after his father and asked as he walked away.

"Go home!" Old Master Zhang said without turning his head.

“Let’s go back too. We’ve had a commotion all day, and Xiaxia just got back. You should all get some rest.” Zhang Youjin stood up and said to his brothers.

"Let's talk a little longer. It's still early. We can go back after dinner," Madam Liu said, trying to persuade everyone who was getting up to leave.

"Sister-in-law, we'll head back now and come talk to you again tomorrow," Wang said with a smile, patting Liu's hand.

"Third Aunt, we're going back now." Jin Xiaoqiao said goodbye to Liu Shi while holding her child.

"Xiaoqiao, let Changsheng hold the child. Be careful where you step in the dark," Madam Liu said, stroking Xuan Ge's face.

Upon hearing Liu's words, Changsheng quickly took the child from his wife's arms and held him himself, playing with the baby in his arms.

"Brother Xuan, say goodbye to Third Madam."

"Xuan'er is saying goodbye to Third Aunt." The child's voice was soft and sweet, and he even clasped his little fists and bowed. His adorable appearance completely melted Liu's heart.

They escorted the people from the Zhang family's old residence all the way to the outside of the courtyard and watched them walk away. The family then went to the Grand Tutor's courtyard.

When they arrived, the Grand Tutor was packing his luggage with his old servant, Li Bo.

"Grand Tutor, is everything ready?"

"It'll be soon. I won't be staying here for more than a few days. Luo'er will be back in a few days. Changyun will also be going back to the garden in town with me to study. There are too many trivial matters to attend to at home." Li Taifu put down the books he was organizing, wiped the sweat from his brow with a handkerchief, and said to Changyun.

"Yes, teacher, I will follow your instructions." Changyun bowed and agreed.

“You have iron. Things might not be peaceful these next two years. You should buy some guards.” As the group was talking, Grand Tutor Li suddenly said this.

Upon hearing Li Taifu's words, Zhang Youtie was taken aback for a moment, but quickly responded.

“Alright, I will listen to the Grand Tutor. I will have Uncle Ma handle this matter tomorrow. Grand Tutor, your garden is large but has few people. Why don’t you move here so we can all live together and take care of each other?”

"When I came back this time, Lord Shen sent me a few skilled men to guard the garden, so safety is not a problem. These days, the price of grain on the market has not come down, and your family is doing very well in the neighborhood. I was just worried that someone might be starving and try to take advantage of you, which is why I said what I did earlier."

"Yes, that's right. The price of wheat flour has risen to eighteen coins a pound, and the heavens haven't been sending rain. If this continues, the crops in the fields will all die of drought. If the autumn harvest doesn't come through, then things will be in danger." Zhang Youtie exclaimed, speechless at the thought of this year's grain prices.

Although they still had a large amount of grain stored in their own granary, it wasn't enough to feed their large family. Now, their staple food had become a mixture of wheat and cornmeal; the servants only ate white flour once a day, and the other two meals consisted of food mixed with cornmeal. The food provided to the workers in the workshop had been changed to cornbread two weeks prior.

After talking for a while, the servants came in to report that dinner was ready and asked where Liu had set it.

"Let's put it in the yard outside; it's cooler there now," Madam Liu said to the maid.

"Yes," the maid said, having received her master's instruction. She went straight out of the courtyard to arrange for someone to set out the meal.

Because everyone had drunk alcohol at noon, the dinner was very light.

Aunt Zhou's pickled cucumbers and sweet garlic, along with a dish of raw poached fish slices, garlic-flavored pork belly, loofah, shrimp balls, and egg soup, stir-fried green peppers with shredded pork, and cornmeal steamed cake.

After a simple meal, Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi left the Grand Tutor's courtyard with their two children. Liu Shi accompanied her daughter to Xia Yu's courtyard, while Zhang Youtie and Changyun went to inspect the residence. Grand Tutor Li's words had reminded them that the world was not peaceful these days, and their family had held a grand banquet for guests today; they were afraid that someone with ulterior motives would see this and try to take advantage of the Zhang family.

After finding Uncle Ma and explaining the situation, Uncle Ma immediately gathered all the men in his household—more than thirty men in total, young and old. The oldest was probably Uncle Ma, and the youngest was Zhang Suozhu and Wang Guixiang's ten-year-old son, Xiao Fu.

"Xiao Fu, what are you doing here? Go back to your mother." Uncle Ma saw Xiao Fu standing with his father and tried to shoo him away.

"Grandpa Ma, don't underestimate me just because I'm young. I'm fast; many adults can't catch me. If anything happens, I'm the fastest at delivering messages by running," Zhang Xiaofu said proudly.

Uncle Ma shook his head helplessly at his words, but didn't chase him away. Although this kid didn't know the meaning of politeness, he was right about one thing: he was indeed very fast.

The thirty-six people were divided into four shifts of nine people each. Each night, the two shifts worked the first and second half of the night, patrolling the courtyard.

Because night patrols are hard work, Zhang Youtie provides each patrolman with an extra late-night snack, usually steamed buns or noodles, all made from wheat flour. However, drinking alcohol is forbidden, lest it cause problems.

Upon receiving this news, everyone naturally erupted in celebration.

“Our master is really good. Where else can you find servants eating white flour these days? Being bought by our master is the luckiest thing that has ever happened to me.”

"Don't even mention feeding the servants white flour. Look at how many families in our village can afford white flour. It's the masters who have given us a peaceful life. The brothers are on high alert when they patrol at night, otherwise we would be betraying our conscience."

"That's right, none of you should try to cheat or shirk your duties. The master and mistress treat us so well. If any of you take the master's money, eat the master's flour, and don't work properly, I won't stand for it."

"Good, well said. We're not just doing this for our master, but also for ourselves. So everyone should be more conscientious and patrol the walls properly to prevent any thieves from climbing over the wall."

Uncle Ma nodded with satisfaction at the men in front of him and immediately arranged the order of duty by drawing lots.

The person who draws the first spot will immediately begin their patrol. The second spot holder can go home to rest and will return at midnight to relieve them. As for the third and fourth spot holders, they can go home to rest and will resume their shift tomorrow.

"Why did you come back so quickly? What did Steward Ma say?" Wang Guixiang was sitting on the kang mending clothes when she saw Zhang Suozhu bring his son in and asked him.

"Butler Ma said things haven't been peaceful lately, so he's having the men in the house divided into shifts to patrol at night." Zhang Suozhu washed his face with cool water, and while wiping his face, he also wiped his body with a towel. Only then did he take a palm-leaf fan and lie down on the kang (heated brick bed) to rest.

"Then why don't you go?" Wang Guixiang found his words even more strange.

"I'm on the shift tomorrow night, so I'm coming home to rest today."

"That's right, Master is so thoughtful. So many families outside are starving. Before, they could at least fill their stomachs with vegetable dumplings, but it hasn't rained in so long. If this continues, all the vegetables will wither and die. If there's no grain to eat and no vegetable dumplings to eat, then they'll have to scramble for food, won't they? I wonder how our eldest son is doing these days?"

Wang Guixiang's eldest son was bought by someone else before he came to Xia Yu's house. He is now twenty years old. I wonder if he is doing well now, and where he is.

"Don't think about it. I heard that family was quite wealthy, so they wouldn't lack food or drink. Although they might not find a kind master like ours, they should at least be able to get a full meal." Their eldest son was a scar in the couple's hearts; it hurt whenever they thought about him.