Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Seeing them come out, Madam Liu quickly led her daughter to greet them.

"Dad, is everything settled?"

"Alright, just bring the child over tomorrow." As she spoke, she took the basket off her back, and Liu Shi felt its weight. Somewhat strangely, she lifted the floral cloth covering it, and there it was, the rib meat she had just cut off, still neatly placed inside the basket.

"Dad, why wasn't this meat delivered?"

"Don't even mention it. I didn't have a chance to give it away. Teacher Li led me to Teacher Zhang, who was collecting tuition fees, gave me a few instructions, and then went to teach his students. After Teacher Zhang finished collecting the tuition fees and other fees, he saw us off. I didn't even know how to take the meat out, or who to give it to."

"Won't not giving a gift have any impact on our child? I seem to remember our father saying that in addition to tuition, there should also be a formal apprenticeship gift," Liu said with some worry.

"I don't know either, let's ask our father when we get home!" Zhang Youtie was also a little worried after hearing what Liu said. He seemed to have heard about the apprenticeship ceremony before, but he couldn't remember the exact words.

So the family didn't dare linger in town because of this incident, and drove the oxcart straight back to the village. Before they even entered the village, they ran into other villagers who were walking home after finishing their work in the fields. Seeing them driving the oxcart, they all joked that Zhang Youtie should give them a ride.

"No problem, come on up and sit down." Zhang Youtie wasn't stingy; he'd give those who wanted a ride a bit, since it was only a short distance to the village. Soon, five or six people got on the oxcart, and the others, seeing there wasn't enough room, didn't insist. They carried their farm tools and walked along the sides of the oxcart, chatting with Zhang Youtie and the others as they went.

"Zhang Laosan, I've noticed you haven't been working in the fields these past few days. Could it be that you've been using your backs too much and your legs are too weak? Haha...hahaha." The man couldn't help but burst into laughter after saying that.

"You little rascal, there are still two children here, what nonsense are you spouting?" An old woman sitting on the oxcart scolded the person who had just made the joke.

"Oh dear, I was wrong, I was wrong. Look, I just blurted out the wrong thing. Nephew and niece, don't be angry."

"I think your mouth is missing a gatekeeper. When you get one, you won't be able to spout nonsense anymore," said another older woman. She then patted Liu, who was sitting next to her.

"Hey, I've noticed you haven't been working in the fields for days, and I haven't seen anyone at your house during the day. What's all this secrecy about?"

"What could we do? We had an oxcart, didn't we? The children always wanted to go out and explore. Anyway, we cleared the weeds from the fields recently, so we took the children to the county town for a stroll," Liu said, making up an excuse.

"Aren't you afraid your mother-in-law will scold you? This morning I saw her go to your field, and I don't know what she saw, but she even pulled some weeds for you, and then she left grumbling." The old woman whispered to Liu.

Hearing this, Liu's heart tightened. Had her mother-in-law mistakenly pulled up her watermelon seedlings, thinking they were weeds? She'd been so busy these past few days that she hadn't gone to check on the seedlings—no, the watermelon seedlings. But there was no use in being anxious now; she had to wait until she'd checked on them in the field.

At this moment, Liu returned home with a large bunch of grass in her hand, muttering curses under her breath. Seeing that her mother-in-law was in a bad mood, Wang and Li did not dare to go forward and provoke her. The two of them stayed in the kitchen to prepare dinner.

"Old man, look at the third son's wife. The weeds in the field are all grown to a hand's length, and she hasn't been seen weeding. Ever since we bought the oxcart these past two days, she's been so smug, acting like she's some kind of queen. She's been coaxing the third son to take her out for walks every day. I just went to their house, but the gate was locked, and there was no one home. I wonder where she's gone again." As she spoke, she handed the weeds she had pulled to Old Master Zhang.

Actually, from the moment she entered the courtyard, Old Master Zhang had heard her cursing and swearing from inside the house. However, having been together for a lifetime, he knew his wife's temperament and didn't want to pay her any attention. He figured she would stop once she finished cursing and calmed down. But when he saw the weeds she offered, Old Master Zhang, who was smoking his pipe, didn't exhale a smoke ring but instead choked on it and coughed violently.

Liu was also startled by his reaction. She quickly threw the grass in her hand on the ground, stepped forward to pat Zhang's back to calm him down, and said, "Why are you so agitated, old man? If you're angry about having children, just scold them when they come back. Why make yourself so angry?"

Hearing what she said, Old Master Zhang was about to speak when he inhaled another puff of smoke, followed by another violent cough.

After finally calming down, Old Master Zhang pushed Liu's hand away and said...

"Bring the grass from the ground over here so I can take a look."

"What's so interesting about grass?" Liu muttered, not understanding what the old man was trying to do.

"Hurry up, stop nagging, bring it over here." Old Master Zhang was getting a little angry.

Seeing that he was angry, Liu picked up the weeds from the ground and handed them to Old Master Zhang.

Grandpa Zhang's hand trembled slightly as he held the bunch of "weeds." He had helped his third son's family harvest watermelons before, and these leaves clearly looked just like watermelon leaves; these weeds were all watermelon seedlings. Seeing that Liu had pulled up at least a dozen watermelon seedlings, Grandpa Zhang was furious. How many watermelons could these seedlings have grown into? That was money! Now, this thoughtless old woman had ruined them all.

Grandpa Zhang was so angry he wanted to hit her. They had been married for decades, and he had never laid a hand on his wife like other men. But now he was losing his temper. That was all the money his fourth son had saved for his exams!

However, he held back and asked her, "Are there still many of these weeds in the field?"

"How can there not be many? This kind of grass is growing in the middle of several rows of wheat fields. I only pulled up one row. I'm going to take Liu Shi to the field to see the rest myself and give this lazy woman a good lesson. I'll ask her if her eyes are blinded by shit. She can't see all these weeds growing in the field. All she does is go out for walks every day."

Hearing her say that, Old Master Zhang felt a little better; at least there were still a few mounds left, and they weren't completely destroyed.

“Stop scolding your wife all the time. She and the third son have already moved out. They've raised the children on their own all these years, and we haven't done much. On the contrary, they've helped us a lot with the fourth son's education. As the saying goes, ‘He who takes a man's money is bound to do his bidding.’ So stop acting like a mother-in-law in front of Changyun’s mother.”

"Was I eating her food? That was what my son should do to support me and help his younger brother. From ancient times to the present, it has always been 'the family doesn't separate while parents are alive.' Back then, because of that brat Xia Yu, the old monk said we shouldn't live in a place with many men, so we separated them early on. We even gave them nearly thirty acres of land, and even the house they live in now was built for them by you and your sons. My son, whom I raised, hasn't been filial to me all these years. Am I wrong to ask him to contribute some money to support his fourth brother's education? Besides, those thirty acres of land, every year during the busy farming season, wasn't it you and your eldest and second sons who helped with the work? Could your third son and his wife have managed it all by themselves?"

After saying so much in one breath, Liu felt a little thirsty. She picked up the bowl of cold tea on the table and drank it all in one gulp. Wiping her mouth, she continued, "Besides, wasn't it your parents' dying wish to support a scholar? So, if the fourth son is doing well, his older brothers will naturally benefit as well. The fourth son won't mistreat his brothers; he'll naturally repay the money he's taken from his children over the years."

Just as they were about to continue, they suddenly heard Wang's voice from the courtyard: "Third brother, third sister-in-law, you're here? Our parents are in the main room, please come in."

When Grandpa Zhang heard that Zhang Youtie and the others had returned, he glared at Liu and said, "The children are here. Control your temper and stop talking nonsense."