Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Zhang Youjin and Zhang Youyin hadn't eaten dinner either. They had come to call their father for dinner, but the old man didn't want to go back. So, they had to go home to deliver a message and then stay here to wait with him.

Xia Yu made a large portion of food today, so she used two bowls to serve it.

While cooking, Zhang Youtie had already told Grandpa Zhang about the melon-selling situation that day, but he only told him the parts that he could.

Before he could finish speaking, the food was served. Zhang Youtie ate a sesame seed cake in a few bites and felt less hungry. Then he told him about the Shen family's affairs. When he heard that the richest man in the county had bought all of their watermelons for fifty coins per pound, the old man's face turned red with excitement.

"Good, good, good! Our family has finally recovered." Seeing her father-in-law's happiness, Liu gave her husband a wink. Zhang Youtie knew this was to urge him to tell him about Changyun's schooling.

"Ahem, Dad, we have some extra money this year because of these watermelons. My wife and I want to send Changyun to the school in town as well."

"What? You want to transport Changyun to the school?" Upon hearing his son's words, Old Master Zhang's hand, which was holding a chopstick, trembled slightly.

"Yes, Father. Changyun has always wanted to study, but we never thought about it before because we didn't have enough money. But now that we have money, we want our child to go to school."

"Third brother, I think we should support your fourth brother first before we talk about Changyun going to school! If your fourth brother can pass the county-level exam this year, he will have to go to the capital to take the provincial-level exam next year. If you spend money on Changyun now, I'm afraid you won't have enough money for your fourth brother to go to the capital next year."

Upon hearing what Grandpa Zhang said, Changyun, who had been happily eating, suddenly felt as if something was blocking his throat. The sesame flatbread made of white flour tasted bland in his mouth. His eyes stung terribly, but afraid that others would see him like this, he could only bury his head low and chew the flatbread in his hand as if it were wax.

Zhang Youtie, who hadn't expected his father to answer like that, opened his mouth and stammered, not knowing what to say. Finally, he said helplessly to his father, "Father, if we really wait until my fourth brother passes the exam as you say, how old will Changyun be? He'll be getting married by then, and how will he be able to go to school?"

At this moment, Zhang Youjin and Zhang Youyin, who were at the dinner table, suddenly felt that they shouldn't have stayed here for dinner. Their father's words were clearly unreasonable. It was perfectly normal for the third son to send his own son to school with the money the family earned. But their father actually said such a thing for the sake of the fourth son...

"Third brother, don't blame your father. I'm doing this for all of us. Your fourth brother is about to graduate, so we need to put all our efforts into supporting him. Once he passes the imperial examination, it will benefit Changyun and his brothers as well!"

After saying that, he looked at Changyun, who was eating a sesame seed cake with his head down, and said, "Changyun, it's not that I don't love you, it's just that our family really doesn't have the money to support two people to study!" His words were full of heartache for Changyun and helplessness regarding the family's situation.

Xia Yu, listening nearby, was furious. She had always thought her grandfather was more knowledgeable than the average farmer, but what he was saying today made her finally understand what her mother meant when she said her grandfather was "sensible and determined to support a scholar." Wasn't that just wanting to support one?

"Father, how much silver will my fourth brother need to go to the capital next year?" Madam Liu asked Old Master Zhang.

"I haven't calculated it either, but it should be at least seventy or eighty taels. After all, food and lodging in the capital city cost a lot of money, and the journey is also long." Old Master Zhang calculated that the third son's family should be able to raise that much money by selling the watermelons. He thought he would take it first and use it, and then pay it back to the third son when the fourth son passed the imperial examination.

It has to be said that Grandpa Zhang's plan was very well done!

"Father, if my fourth brother goes to the capital for the imperial examination next year, You Tie and I will contribute sixty taels of silver for his travel expenses. What do you think?" Liu Shi said to the old man.

“This…” The old man didn’t agree immediately, because it was different from what he had thought.

Xia Yu, standing to the side, noticed the old man's thoughts; in fact, not only Xia Yu, but everyone present could see it. While the others remained silent, Xia Yu couldn't help but speak up.

“Grandpa, my fourth uncle still has almost a year before he goes to the capital to take the imperial examination. And it’s not like we won’t make money during this time. We’ll get sixty taels next year, and if we don’t have the remaining twenty taels, we can add some more if we have the money.” Actually, Xia Yu wanted to say that whether he could pass the county-level exam or not was another matter, and that it was good that he was already thinking about becoming a provincial-level scholar. But he didn’t dare to say it out loud, afraid that his grandfather would be furious.

As soon as Xia Yu spoke, the Zhang brothers lowered their heads in shame, feeling even more ashamed that they shouldn't have stayed there.

Seeing the old man's bright eyes, Xia Yu continued, "Grandpa, my father also told me some things about our family's ancestors. I think you know more than I do. What I want to say is that if our family had been able to cultivate several scholars at the same time, then when the founding emperor passed away, there would have been others in our family to support us, and we wouldn't have been so quickly squeezed out of the capital by the powerful and influential."

Seeing the old man's furrowed brows, Xia Yu continued, regardless of whether he was thinking or angry, "Besides, it's inevitable that Fourth Uncle will feel lonely entering officialdom alone. Our family will have countless big and small matters to attend to in the future. If we rely on him for everything, won't Fourth Uncle be exhausted by all these trivial matters? Moreover, in the future, we family members will not only fail to help him in his career, but will actually hinder him. There's a saying that goes, 'Brothers fight tigers together, fathers and sons go to war together!' If my brother can also go to school, even if he doesn't study as well as Fourth Uncle and can't become an official, he can still learn some knowledge and understand things. Wouldn't he be able to help Fourth Uncle with some things within his capabilities? Wouldn't Fourth Uncle have an arm to lean on in the future?"

Xia Yu's words were all for the sake of her fourth uncle. After hearing this, the old man fell into deep thought. He even temporarily put aside Xia Yu's comment that "it could exhaust his fourth uncle." When he heard his granddaughter say that, the old man's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

Whether the old man was genuinely worried about his fourth son working too hard in the future, or had learned from the rapid decline of his ancestors, he thought for almost fifteen minutes before finally speaking.

“I was being too optimistic. Xiaxia is absolutely right. Like father, like son, brothers fight side-by-side. Besides, his fourth uncle is practically a scholar, so he can offer Changyun more guidance in his studies.” He then looked at Zhang Youyin.

"Second brother, why don't we let Changyuan go to school too?"

"No, no, no, Dad, we don't have any money right now, so we can't let Changyuan go. Besides, that kid only thinks about playing all day long; he's not cut out for studying." Zhang Youyin waved both hands together to refuse his father, afraid that one hand wouldn't be enough to express his wishes.

Seeing Zhang Youyin's words, the old man didn't offer any further advice and didn't bring up the rest. Xia Yu had a wicked thought in his heart that his second uncle must have mentioned the money. Logically speaking, Changyuan's schooling should be funded by the family's official funds. His grandfather was probably afraid that using this money for Changyuan would affect his fourth son's schooling, so he only mentioned it once and then didn't mention it again.

Hearing the adults stop talking about school, Changyun lowered his head and ran to the yard to wash his face. Hearing the sounds of fetching water and wiping his nose, Liu Shi looked outside with a pained expression. This silly child—even if his grandfather disagreed, she would still send him to school.