Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

The next day, before dawn, around 3 AM, Xia Yu was woken up by her mother. This time, she didn't waste a minute, quickly putting the bedding into her spatial storage after getting up. She left her room, quickly washed up, and went to the kitchen. She took the braised large intestines that had been soaking in the pot overnight, cut them into small, easy-to-eat pieces, put them in a small jar, and put them in her spatial storage as well. Just as she was about to leave the kitchen, she turned back, grabbed a plate, and put that in as well.

Stepping out of the kitchen, she saw the oxcart already harnessed. Her parents were struggling to lift a basket onto the cart, but the basket was too big, and the watermelons too heavy. Her mother, not being strong enough, couldn't lift it, and her brother was helping her from below, but they still couldn't get it on. Xia Yu shook her head helplessly; everyone had forgotten about her. She walked over, placed her hands on the other baskets on the ground, and with a thought, the baskets disappeared with a "whoosh." She repeated this several times until all the baskets were collected, then placed her hands on the cart, and several large baskets of watermelons appeared on the oxcart. The sudden weight of the cart almost made the ox lose its balance.

The few people still holding baskets nearby were a little taken aback by Xia Yu's actions. Suddenly, Liu Shi laughed, "Are you all still half asleep? Haven't you woken up yet? How could you forget about our precious little darling?" Only then did Zhang Youtie and Changyun realize that they had indeed been half asleep. How could they have forgotten about Xia Yu's precious little darling?

While they were talking, Xia Yu used his spatial ability to transfer the baskets they were carrying onto the oxcart. After covering them with a felt tarpaulin, the group sat down as they had the day before and set off under the cover of night.

However, once the oxcart left the village, Xia Yu asked Liu if they could put all the watermelons into her spatial storage so everyone could get some sleep. Liu, feeling a pang of tenderness, touched her daughter's still-childish face and agreed. After Xia Yu put the baskets into her spatial storage, she placed the bedding on the cart. Liu made sure her daughter was comfortable, then called Changyun over, telling him and his sister to sleep on the oxcart for a while, while she stayed with Zhang Youtie as he drove.

Xia Yu and Chang Yun quickly fell asleep. They slept for an unknown amount of time before Liu woke them. Upon waking, Xia Yu felt a disorienting sense of time distortion, as if it were the last time she sold shrimp. Stretching, she tidied the bedding in the cart, had her father stop, and everyone got out. Xia Yu then placed the large basket of watermelons directly onto the cart, and took out the small table and chairs from her storage space, placing them on top of the basket. Just as they had arrived, Chang Yun and his father sat in the front, while Liu held Xia Yu in her arms at the back of the cart.

Once everyone was seated, Zhang Youtie cracked his whip and urged the ox to move forward. Actually, Xia Yu felt a little sorry for their ox; it had pulled so many watermelons that they must have weighed five or six hundred pounds. Adding the weight of several people, Xia Yu decided to use water from her spatial storage to feed the ox from now on.

Other oxcarts gradually appeared on the road, and more people joined them; Xia Yu knew they were almost there. It was still quite dark, and people were barely visible. Zhang Youtie, familiar with the route, drove the oxcart into town and headed west. Arriving at the stall rental office, he pointed to the same stall number he'd used before. Luckily, they had arrived early; the stall hadn't been rented out yet. After paying, Zhang Youtie drove the oxcart towards the stall.

When they arrived, the butcher from last time was already cutting up meat at his stall. Zhang Youtie greeted him with a smile as soon as he arrived. However, no one from Sister Wu's fishmonger family, whom they had met last time, had come. They wondered if they would come again today.

Xia Yu and Chang Yun were trying to help their parents unload the baskets from the oxcart, but the baskets were too big. The butcher was a kind man; seeing how big and heavy their baskets were, he put his knife on the counter and ran over to help.

"Go away, you two little brats, stand aside, don't hit anything." He shooed the brother and sister aside and worked with Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi to unload the large basket.

"My goodness, what's in here? It's so heavy! Aren't you selling shrimp today?"

“It’s also a kind of food. Brother, you’ve seen more of the world in the county than we have. I’ll crack one open in a bit, and you can try it and see if my stuff sells well in the county.” Zhang Youtie said generously.

As they talked, the group unloaded the remaining baskets. They lifted the felt cloth covering one of the baskets, revealing a large, bright green watermelon inside. The pork stall owner saw it and wondered what the green thing was, but was too embarrassed to ask.

"Dad, there aren't many people around right now, shall we start a melon-picking session?" Xia Yu asked her father after her parents had settled everything.

Zhang Youtie looked out over the street. There were hardly any customers at the market; most people were there to sell their goods. "Let's open one first and let the uncles and elders at this stall have a taste."

"Okay!" Hearing her father's arrangement, Xia Yu asked her brother to cover for her. Under the cover of the felt cloth and basket, she took out a cracked watermelon and the knife and plate she had put away before leaving the house from her space. She put the watermelon on the small table and cut it into triangular pieces one centimeter thick. Chang Yun took a piece and tasted it. "Hmm, it's quite sweet."

This watermelon weighed over ten kilograms, far too much for one plate. Xia Yu asked her brother to help carry the plate, starting with the nearest pork stall, giving four pieces to each. The vendors who received the watermelons were all amazed and asked the siblings what they were. Xia Yu's answer was always the same: "This is a watermelon, a kind of fruit, grown at home. Please try some." After delivering one plate, she would return to cut another and continue delivering.

The stall isn't fully staffed yet; they've already delivered a melon that hasn't even been used up.

"Brother, how much is this watermelon?" The pork stall owner finished eating the watermelon Xia Yu had given him and felt he hadn't had enough. Thinking of his parents, wife, and children at home, he wanted to buy one to take back for them to try, so he came over to ask the price.

"Brother, this is fifty coins a pound," Zhang Youtie quoted the price, a result they had discussed at home. Those grown outside would sell for fifty coins a pound, while the extra-large ones grown in Xiaxia's space would sell for two taels of silver each.

"Fifty coins a pound?" The pork stall owner's voice suddenly rose, attracting the attention of people at other stalls.

Realizing he was speaking too loudly, he lowered his voice somewhat embarrassedly, "It's too expensive!"

“Brother, I know this price isn’t cheap, but think about it, this isn’t from our area. We went through a lot of trouble to grow it. Here, apples and pears cost a lot more per pound. If you compare it to that, doesn’t it seem less expensive?” Zhang Youtie delivered the explanation he had prepared beforehand. Their price wasn’t set randomly; it was based on the prices of local fruits. Apples could cost fifty coins per pound at their peak. The difference was that you could buy several apples with one pound, but a watermelon weighed over ten pounds, and the size difference made buying just one watermelon seem too expensive.

I thought about Zhang Youtie's words carefully, and they seemed to make a lot of sense. I looked at the big watermelons again; the taste from the one I just ate still seemed to linger. The juice was sweet but not cloyingly sugary. I knew my family would love it.

"Uncle, there's something my dad didn't mention earlier. You see, we've all eaten apples, but I doubt anyone around here has ever seen a watermelon. Besides, we didn't grow many this year, so after these few days, we won't be able to buy any even if we want to." Xia Yu, seeing the struggle on the butcher's face, added another push.

Upon hearing Xia Yu's words, the pork stall owner gritted his teeth and made up his mind to say, "Pick two for me." He had only planned to buy one, but after hearing Xia Yu's words, he decided to buy one for his parents-in-law as well. The days for visiting relatives were approaching, and a melon plus two pounds of pork would be a very presentable gift.

"Alright, big brother, I'll pick out two good ones for you." Zhang Youtie said, picking up one melon to look at it, then picking up another to examine it, and finally choosing two. Xia Yu watched with amazement, wondering what his father's criteria were for choosing the melons. However, he couldn't ask in front of outsiders; if his father just pretended and couldn't give a clear explanation, it would seem like his father was lying.

I weighed them on a scale; the two melons weighed 28.3 jin (approximately 19.9 catties). The scale beam was quite high, and the pork stall owner seemed very satisfied with the scale.

"Twenty-eight catties and three ounces, that's a total of 1,415 copper coins. Forget about the three ounces, brother, just give me 1,400 copper coins." Zhang Youtie was very generous, directly waiving the three ounces, saving 15 copper coins. Even so, the pork stall owner still winced in pain.

"Brother, wait a minute, I'll go to the stall to get you the money." The pork stall owner said this and quickly ran back to his stall.

Xia Yu was amazed by the pork stall owner's audacity. He'd been standing there for so long with money on the stall, wasn't he afraid of being stolen? She was also a little surprised; it wasn't even dawn yet, and the stall didn't seem to be open for business. How could he carry so much money? Thinking this, she quietly asked her father, Zhang Youtie, who was also puzzled by his daughter's question. At this moment, Changyun, who was standing nearby listening, whispered, "Dad, is that uncle thinking it's too expensive? Is he using money as an excuse, but actually doesn't want to buy it?"