Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Meanwhile, Zhang Youtie drove his oxcart to the shop where he had stored it before. But when the baskets were unloaded, everyone was dumbfounded. How were they going to carry five baskets for four people? And this time, they were using huge baskets, almost as tall as Xia Yu. The shop assistant who helped unload the baskets quickly noticed their problem.

"Brother, do you need help with deliveries? It's only five coins per person."

Zhang Youtie glanced at the basket, then at the family members, and said, "Find me four people."

"Alright, brother, please wait here for a moment, I'll go and get someone right away." With that, the waiter ran out.

The waiter ran too fast; Liu didn't even have time to call for help. "Sigh, three people would have been enough. Why did you call so many? I could have carried a whole basket myself."

“Your dress looks beautiful today. It would be a shame if it got torn. It’s worth spending an extra five coins.” Zhang Youtie’s explanation made Liu blush, and she stopped worrying about the extra money.

"Dad, let me put some of the baskets into my spatial storage so it'll be easier for you to carry them later," Xia Yu said, looking at the several large baskets.

Zhang Youtie reached out and lifted a few baskets. "No need to put them away. These baskets aren't heavy, but they're too big. You and your brother aren't tall enough to carry them yet. Xiaxia, try not to use your 'treasure' outside anymore, understand?"

"Yes, Xiaxia, listen to your father, don't use your precious thing outside," Liu Shi echoed her husband's words.

Hearing her parents repeat this phrase over and over again ever since they learned about the space, she could only obediently nod, knowing that her parents were doing it to protect her.

Soon, the waiter returned with four men dressed in coarse linen shorts. The waiter said to Zhang Youtie, "Brother, what do you think of these men? I noticed our baskets are quite large, so I specifically sought out tall ones."

"Alright, you've thought of everything. Thank you for your help." He then pulled two copper coins from his pocket and stuffed them into the waiter's hand.

"Brother, you're too kind." The waiter's smile deepened as he took the coins. If each of the four people gave him a coin in a little while, he would have an extra six coins from this order. How could he not be happy?

Zhang Youtie directed the four people who had come, each carrying a basket, while the last one was carried by himself. Liu Shi followed behind them, leading two children. The group followed Zhang Youtie to Baohe Hall, where Xia Yu and the others had visited before. Upon seeing the group at the entrance, the young medicine boy named Sanqi quickly came out to greet them.

"Brother Sanqi, it's been a long time!" Xia Yu suddenly jumped out from behind her father.

"It's you, little sister! I haven't seen you for several days. Are you still selling golden thread grass today?"

"Yes, Brother Sanqi, but we're selling dried goods today, so we'll need Uncle Li to take a look."

"Alright, follow me. Let's unload the baskets first; they're quite heavy to carry." Sanqi led the way, but seeing that there were seven or eight of them, he didn't lead them directly to the backyard. Instead, he had them unload the baskets in a corner of the main hall, which was right next to the passage to the backyard and wouldn't obstruct other people's passage.

After the four men unloaded their baskets, they took the five coins each from Zhang Youtie and left. Xia Yu and the others waited a few minutes before Sanqi brought Manager Li over. Seeing Xia Yu and Changyun, Manager Li smiled and his eyes narrowed: "Little girl, you're here again?" Then, seeing Zhang Youtie and Liu standing nearby, he smiled and said to them, "Your daughter is very clever, and she's quite the talker!"

"Well, she's just a kid who's fearless and dares to say anything. I have to thank you for taking care of her, Manager!" Zhang Youtie clasped his hands in gratitude to Manager Li.

"Not at all, the herbs your child dug up are of such high quality that they'll be bought anywhere. Let me check the quality of these herbs first."

"Please, please."

Just like the previous two times, Manager Li first took the golden thread lotus to a bright place to carefully examine its quality. He plucked a leaf and chewed it a few times. Then he asked Sanqi to bring a bowl of water and soaked the golden thread lotus in it. After waiting for a while, he carefully inspected the water. "Very good, very good, it's dried very well." Manager Li nodded in satisfaction, then looked at the group and said, "Before, I paid 25 coins per pound for the fresh ones you sent. This time, based on how dry they are, I'll pay you 260 coins per pound. What do you think?"

Zhang Youtie, Liu Shi, and Changyun all looked at Xia Yu simultaneously. They didn't know how much fresh *Anoectochilus roxburghii* they had brought out, and only Xia Yu knew whether the price was reasonable compared to freshness. However, they were still taken aback. Putting everything else aside, they knew roughly how many kilograms were in those baskets, and hearing the shopkeeper quote such a high price, they couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.

Xia Yu silently calculated in her mind that this time, the dried lotus root could yield about one pound from nine pounds of dried lotus root. Nine pounds of fresh lotus root would cost 225 coins, which means that nine pounds of fresh lotus root could be sold for an extra 35 coins.

"Yes, this price is very fair, it's even a few dozen coins more than fresh ones, thank you, Uncle Shopkeeper."

Hearing Xia Yu's strange way of addressing him, Manager Li couldn't help but burst into laughter. "You little rascal, from now on you can call me Uncle Li, Uncle Manager, Uncle Manager! You're quite the character..." He finally managed to stop laughing. Then, somewhat apologetically, he said to Zhang Youtie, "I'm so sorry, brother, your daughter is really interesting. This is the first time I've ever heard you call me Uncle Manager. This way, please, come with me to the backyard. Let's weigh these golden silk herbs." He then called to a few people who were organizing the medicine cabinets, "You guys come here for a moment and help me move these herbs to the backyard."

Hearing Manager Li call for baskets, Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi quickly each took one. Five people came over; three of them each carried one, while the remaining two looked at Liu Shi and Zhang Youtie, then took the basket from Zhang Youtie's back, with one helping the other carry it. Seeing this, Zhang Youtie took the basket from Liu Shi and carried it himself, following the others towards the backyard.

Xia Yu, holding her mother's hand, followed them to the backyard. This wasn't their first time there, so they were quite familiar with the place. The weighing process was the same as before, but this time Manager Li was also watching, occasionally pulling out a sprig of *Anoectochilus roxburghii* from the basket to examine it. Xia Yu thought she was checking, but what Xia Yu didn't know was that Manager Li was extremely satisfied with the dried *Anoectochilus roxburghii* they had brought. She had never seen such high-quality *Anoectochilus roxburghii* before; the young girl had processed it very cleanly, without any weeds or dust. Although she didn't say it aloud, she was extremely pleased.

After all five baskets were weighed, they totaled sixty-two jin. Manager Li asked Sanqi to bring him the abacus and started calculating rapidly. "It's a total of sixteen liang and one hundred and twenty wen. Brother, can you check if it's correct?" Manager Li knew that this amount was quite large, and Xia Yu was too young to calculate it, so he directly asked Zhang Youtie.

Xia Yu had already calculated it using multiplication, but she still stood quietly beside her mother, waiting for her father to finish the calculation. After a while, Zhang Youtie, with sweat beading on his forehead, said, "Yes, yes, Manager Li's calculation is correct. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. You see, I'm just a country bumpkin and I'm too slow at calculating. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

"Oh, it's alright, it's alright. Brother, you haven't studied arithmetic, so being able to calculate so quickly is already beyond the reach of ordinary people." That's what he said, and that's really what he thought in his heart.

Zhang Youtie stacked several baskets together, carried them on his back, and went with Manager Li to collect the silver. This time the amount was too large, so they couldn't just accept copper coins. When Manager Li asked them how to settle the bill, they discussed it and decided that fifteen taels would be paid in silver ingots, and the remaining one thousand one hundred and twenty coins would be paid in copper coins, which could be used for the family's daily expenses.

Shopkeeper Li gave them three five-tael silver ingots and one string of cash plus one hundred and twenty copper coins. Zhang Youtie thanked Shopkeeper Li profusely. After saying goodbye to Shopkeeper Li, the group was escorted out by Brother Sanqi. As they parted at the door, Xia Yu slipped a few more coins into Sanqi's hand, this time five copper coins. Sanqi watched their departing figures from the doorway, feeling conflicted. Was this young girl planning to bribe him with a few coins every time?