Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Standing next to Old Master Zhang, Changyun had already seen Xia Yu enter carrying a large watermelon before she even spoke. As soon as Xia Yu called out, he ran to his sister's side, carefully took the watermelon, and placed it on the table in the main room. Liu Shi, who was preparing food in the kitchen, also quickly came out upon hearing her daughter's call.

Seeing the watermelon her daughter was holding, she knew that the watermelon seedlings in the backyard had grown and borne fruit.

"Third son, what is this?" Old Master Zhang asked his third son.

Zhang Youtie didn't know what it was either; this was the first time he'd ever seen it. He looked up at his daughter and son.

"Dad, do you remember the other day when we went to town to buy things and we met that old man who sold seeds? This is what we grew from those seeds, what's it called, melon? Think about it." He winked at Zhang Youtie as he spoke.

“Yes, Dad, it was his nephew who gave it to him. He didn’t know what it was. He couldn’t grow it, so he took it out to sell,” Changyun chimed in, continuing his sister’s words.

"Oh...that's it! I remember now, you actually grew it? What is it? Is it edible?"

“Yes, we can eat it. My grandpa, uncles and aunts are all here, so my mom just told me to pick one and cut it open so everyone can have a taste.” Xia Yu never missed an opportunity to flatter her mother.

"What food? Keep it for yourselves, don't cut it. We're going back now. When we came, the eldest son's wife had almost finished cooking." As soon as Grandpa Zhang heard that the round ball Xia Yu brought out was food, he stood up and was about to go back.

"Dad, don't go. The food is ready. Eat here. We've been living here for so long, and you haven't eaten at our house since the day we moved in! It just so happens that the children's father bought a piece of meat in the county town today. I'll have Changyun get some wine, and I'll have Youtie have a couple of drinks with you and your two older brothers." Liu Shi sincerely urged from the side.

“You two have already struggled enough to raise two children on your own, and you spent a lot of money buying an oxcart today. How can we eat your food here! The eldest and second eldest are leaving.” With that, Old Master Zhang walked out with his hands behind his back.

Xia Yu and Chang Yun knew that their mother genuinely wanted the old man to have dinner there, so the two of them stepped forward and each grabbed one of the old man's arms, saying, "Grandpa, Grandpa, please eat here. We want you to eat at our house."

"Grandpa, let's eat here. We can't eat if you and Uncle Zhang aren't here. Let's eat here..." Xia Yu and Chang Yun clung to Grandpa Zhang's arm like taffy, shaking it.

"Alright, alright, we'll eat here. Stop shaking us, or your grandpa will fall apart!" Although Grandpa Zhang was dizzy from being shaken by his grandchildren, he felt a sweet warmth in his heart and agreed.

"Mother, give me some money, I'll go buy some wine," Changyun said, reaching out to Liu. Liu quickly went inside, counted out twenty coins, gave them to her son, and instructed, "Buy all of it for wine."

"Okay, Mom."

"Changyun, go to the old house and tell your grandma we've eaten dinner here. Let them eat by themselves and not wait for you," Grandpa Zhang said, stopping Changyun as he was about to leave.

"Okay, I'll go tell Grandma first, so they don't keep waiting." With that, he ran off in a flash.

Xia Yu went into the kitchen to help her mother cook. She took out a bunch of chives, a bunch of garlic shoots, two cucumbers, a plate of dried shrimp, a section of pork intestine, a piece of pork belly, and prepared scallions, ginger, garlic, and chili peppers. The last time she stir-fried pork intestine with chili peppers, it was too spicy, so she decided to use garlic shoots instead and use less chili peppers today, otherwise her grandfather, being older, might not be able to handle too much spice. She silently planned in her mind that for cold dishes she would make cucumber salad with garlic and pork belly with garlic sauce. For hot dishes, she would make stir-fried pork intestine with garlic shoots and stir-fried dried shrimp with chives. Four dishes—three meat and one vegetable—was already considered a very good meal for their rural family; even at weddings in their village, they didn't necessarily need three meat dishes.

The mother and daughter were busy in the kitchen when Zhang Youtie suddenly came in, leaned close to them, and whispered, "That melon hasn't been cut yet. I don't know how to eat it."

Upon hearing Zhang Youtie's words, Liu suppressed the urge to facepalm. Oh yes, how could she have forgotten about the watermelon? It was already on the table, just sitting there, forgotten to be cut. She quickly grabbed a kitchen knife, rinsed it clean with water, and thankfully, the garlic hadn't been cut yet, otherwise the strong garlic smell would be hard to get rid of. "Xiaxia, go cut the watermelon open and tell your dad and the others how to eat it."

Xia Yu obediently took the knife from her mother and went to the main room. When her father came over to talk about the melon, she remembered something: she needed to buy another knife next time she went to town. Otherwise, she'd have to use it to cut pork intestines and raw meat one minute, and then cut watermelons the next—the thought made her feel a little disgusted.

Just like the melon this morning, the knife tip had barely penetrated a little when the whole melon split open with a "bang." Xia Yu saw the red flesh and black seeds exposed inside and knew that the melon was perfectly ripe. A fresh, sweet aroma wafted out from the split melon.

"Mmm, it smells wonderful! I've never smelled anything like it before," Xia Yu's second uncle said, sniffing the air a few times. "What kind of melon is this?"

"Watermelon, Second Uncle, this is a very juicy fruit, it's especially thirst-quenching. Grandpa, Uncle, Second Uncle, you should all try it, it's so sweet, even better than sugar water." Xia Yu said, handing a piece to each of them, and finally handing one to her father as well.

"Xiaxia, is this the red one?" Zhang Youjin asked.

"Yes, eat the red flesh, but spit out the black seeds inside."

After saying that, he picked up a piece, took a bite, spat the seeds into his palm, and spread them out for them to see.

Following Xia Yu's example, the group took a bite of the red melon flesh.

"Mmm! It's delicious, so sweet." The grandfather and his sons all had the same expression, their eyes suddenly widening. However, it was the grandfather who said this. As for her father and two uncles, they didn't even have time to speak before taking another bite and savoring it.

Xia Yu had to help her mother cook, so she didn't have time to discuss how delicious the watermelon was with the others. She quickly finished the piece she had taken and went to the kitchen with a knife to cook. She had originally wanted to take a few more pieces of watermelon to her mother, but then she thought that her family didn't need these things, and that her grandfather and the others didn't have many opportunities to eat them, so she decided to save them for them.

Seeing her daughter come over, Liu asked, "How's this melon? Is it as sweet as the one we had this morning?"

"Just like the one this morning, I took this one out of my space. Although the ones in the backyard have grown, they are not as big as the ones in my space, and I'm not sure if they are ripe or not. So I took three out of my space, and put the other two in the melon vines in the backyard. I'll have my grandpa and the others go and check on them in a bit, and take those two back to the old house for them. That way, we'll have an excuse to sell them later."

"Yes, you've thought of everything. When you brought the watermelon over earlier, I really thought it was from the backyard and was already ripe. Let's start cooking. Your grandparents haven't eaten at our house in years. Let's prepare some nice dishes today and have your dad, uncles, and other relatives keep them company."