Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Xia Yu found the two velvet flowers in her father's hand a bit of an eyesore, but there was nothing she could do; that was the prevailing aesthetic of the time. Little girls looked good wearing red flowers. However, she still liked the gift her father had chosen for her, as it was the first time in both her past and present lives that she had received a gift from him.

The group continued strolling along the street, and many shops had already opened. Xia Yu said to his parents...

"Brother is going to school soon. Should we buy him a couple of outfits? Mother, we haven't had time to make the fabric we bought last time. How about we buy him a couple of ready-made outfits?"

"I don't want to. The clothes I'm wearing now are fine, I don't need to buy any more." In Changyun's mind, going to school would cost a lot of money, and he didn't want to spend any more of his family's money.

"Brother, the clothes you wear to school are different from the clothes you wear when you're working at home. What if people laugh at you?"

"Let whoever wants to laugh, laugh all they want. I don't care about any of that. I go to school to study, not to compete with others on who dresses the best!"

"..." Xia Yu fell silent. Well, she had to admit that her brother was very strong-willed, while she was somewhat superficial.

Zhang Youtie and Liu stood to the side, smiling as they watched the two children talk. Only when their daughter fell silent did Liu speak.

"Xiaxia, the school in town has school uniforms. After we register your brother, we'll need to buy them the uniforms that everyone wears in school. How about we buy him a couple more sets so he can change into them?"

Xia Yu was unaware of this. When her mother mentioned it, she thought it was a good idea, as it would prevent students from comparing their clothes.

"I see. Do we need to prepare anything else ourselves?" Xia Yu asked Liu Shi.

“Of course we do. We need to prepare the bedding your brother uses at school, as well as buying writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. Since we’re in the county town today, let’s buy them here. The selection is definitely more complete than in the town.” Liu explained to her daughter, the last part of which was addressed to Zhang Youtie.

So, the group first found a shop selling writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. As soon as they entered, Xia Yu smelled the fragrance of paper and ink, took a deep breath, and exclaimed to himself, "Ah! This is the essence of culture!"

The shopkeeper and his assistant had probably just opened. The shopkeeper was busily calculating and organizing items, while the assistant was wiping down the counter and shelves. Seeing them enter, the assistant quickly put down his rag and went to greet them.

"Gentlemen, what do you need? We have a full range of goods here. Tell me what you're going to use them for, and I can recommend the most affordable options." The young shop assistant was very quick-witted and rattled off a whole bunch of things.

Hearing this, Zhang Youtie spoke up.

"My son is about to start school, what items should we buy?"

It's not Zhang Youtie's fault for directly asking the shop assistant to recommend something; the main problem is that none of the four members of his family knew anything about it, so how could they choose? Xia Yu was the same; she had never been exposed to these things in her previous life. Besides, even when she practiced calligraphy in her previous life, she only bought bottled ink; she had never seen an inkstone or ink stick.

Upon hearing that they were new students, the young clerk led them to the counter and asked them to wait a moment. He then went inside to get some things, and after a while, he brought out a pile of items and placed them in front of them, explaining each item to them.

"Brother, this is relatively inexpensive hemp paper. It's not expensive and suitable for new students to practice calligraphy. A ream costs only 210 copper coins. This inkstone is ceramic; although it's not valuable, it's easy to use. It only costs 30 copper coins per piece." He then held up a black object with both hands.

"Brother, this is an ink stick. Look, our ink stick weighs at least an ounce, and it's very hard, so it doesn't dissolve easily when soaked in water. Smell it now." The shopkeeper held the ink stick up to Zhang Youtie's face. When Zhang Youtie moved closer and smelled the ink stick in the shopkeeper's hand, the shopkeeper continued, "Doesn't it smell wonderful?"

"It has a pleasant fragrance. How much are these ink sticks?"

"Our things aren't expensive. This ink stick is only three hundred copper coins," the shopkeeper said, stating the price. He then picked up a calligraphy brush, which looked rather small and delicate. "Brother, this brush isn't big, but it's suitable for children just starting school to practice calligraphy. Each one is only two hundred copper coins." After introducing the Four Treasures of the Study, the shopkeeper looked at Zhang Youtie and asked sincerely...

"Brother, do you like these? If not, we have better ones. But based on my years of experience in the shop, these are more than enough for a new student. Once you've improved your calligraphy, you can buy some better brushes and ink."

Zhang Youtie looked down at Changyun next to him and asked, "Son, what do you think of these?"

"That's all, Dad." Changyun looked at the items on the counter with a hint of liking in his eyes, but also felt sorry for the money.

Liu and Xia Yu remained silent, since it was for Changyun and he was happy with it.

"Alright, then I'll take an inkstone, four reams of hemp paper, two ink sticks, and two brushes. That'll do for now. We'll buy more when we run out." Zhang Youtie decided what he wanted to buy right away.

"Alright, please wait a moment, brother, I'll go get it for you." With that, the waiter went to retrieve the items from the various shelves.

The shopkeeper, who had been calculating on the abacus nearby, noticed them. Since it was rare for newly enrolled students to buy so much at once, he was worried they wouldn't be able to store it properly. So, while his assistant was preparing the goods, he came over to chat with Zhang Youtie and the others.

"Brother, I just heard you order four reams of yellow hemp paper. I'm sorry for saying a few more words, but I hope you won't mind." After saying this, he clasped his hands in a fist and bowed to Zhang Youtie before continuing.

"Our hemp paper is most susceptible to moisture. Once it gets damp, the writing will bleed. And these ink sticks, you must store them in the box after each use. If they get damp or too dry, they will affect their performance. So, brother, please be careful to store these things after you take them home, so as not to affect their use if they are not stored properly."

"Thank you very much, shopkeeper. I'm a rough man and don't know anything about these things. I'm so grateful for your reminder."

By this time, the shop assistant had already categorized and placed all the items on the counter for Zhang Youtie and his companions to inspect. Only after he confirmed that there were no problems with the goods did the shopkeeper bring out the abacus and begin calculating.

The shopkeeper quickly calculated the price: "A total of 1,870 cash." The shopkeeper then clasped his hands in thanks to the shopkeeper.

Zhang Youtie didn't have that much silver on him, so he reached out to Xia Yu for some, since most of their family's silver was currently stored in Xia Yu's spatial storage. Xia Yu rummaged in her sleeve and finally pulled out a five-tael silver ingot. The shopkeeper was quite surprised to see that Xia Yu could hold a five-tael silver ingot in such a small sleeve, and he looked at it a few more times.

The shopkeeper brought out a steelyard, cut off a piece from the five-tael silver ingot, weighed it, and found it weighed two taels and one mace. He returned the remaining half of the ingot to Zhang Youtie and gave him two hundred and thirty copper coins in change. He also gave Changyun a water dropper.

The shopkeeper and his assistant packed everything up, tied it with hemp rope, and handed it to Zhang Youtie. After the money was exchanged, the group left the shop called Wenxuan Pavilion.