Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

In the kitchen, Liu scooped the stir-fried bok choy from the pot and divided it into two bowls. Of course, one bowl held more than the other, and the other held only enough to cover the bottom. Seeing that what was originally a large basket of vegetables was now less than half full, Liu sighed.

"Qiuyu, go to the yard and call your aunt and mother to wash their hands and get ready for dinner," Liu instructed her niece.

Qiu Yu nodded and went to the yard to call for someone.

"Third Aunt, there are pickled garlic sprouts in the jar, and there are shredded radishes from last winter in that big jar," Chunyu said to Liu Shi, pointing to two pickle jars, one large and one small, in the corner of the kitchen after extinguishing the fire in the stove.

"Did your grandmother say how much we could eat at one time?" Liu asked Chunyu.

"My grandma never said that, but if there are not enough dishes on the table, she can bring out a plate of garlic sprouts or shredded radish."

Upon hearing her niece's explanation, Liu took two plates of shredded radish from the large jar, but couldn't find any sesame oil.

"Spring Rain, where do you put the sesame oil?"

"It's locked in my milk cabinet in the main room. Auntie, do you need some sesame oil? I'll go talk to my grandma." With that, Chunyu prepared to walk out.

"Hey, come back. Chunyu, don't bother asking for it. It'll taste the same even without sesame oil." Actually, Liu was afraid the old lady would scold her. Although she had just made a mistake, that didn't stop her from scolding her daughters-in-law and granddaughter.

At this moment, the people who were washing the pig offal outside also washed their hands and came over to serve the food. The pig offal was first soaked in a large basin.

When the group brought all the food to the table, the old man's face darkened as he looked at the meal. He had said he wanted his third son's family to stay for dinner, but there wasn't even a single meat dish; they had only served pickled vegetables.

"Eldest daughter-in-law, why didn't you cook a meat dish? Don't we have some cured pork at home?"

"Dad, Mom locked the salted meat in the cupboard, and it's too late today. The salted meat needs to be soaked in water for an hour before we can cook it." Wang was also a little regretful at this moment. She had only remembered to learn how to braise pig offal, and had completely forgotten about adding vegetables.

"Then go fry some eggs." Old Master Zhang knew that salted meat needed to be soaked in water before it could be eaten, but a small cabbage just didn't look very appealing.

As he spoke, his eyes turned to Liu, who was also the one who had locked up the eggs.

Although somewhat reluctant, Liu had no choice but to take out a small key to get the eggs from the cupboard. She knew she had gone a bit too far today; her words had hurt her third son's feelings. She also knew that her husband was trying to win over his son through this meal. 'It's all her husband's fault. If she had known that her third son had promised to give her fourth son sixty taels of silver next year, she wouldn't have made such a scene,' Liu thought to herself. Although she was angry with Old Man Zhang, everyone was present, and she couldn't say anything else.

He opened the cupboard, took out four eggs, and handed them to Wang, who was waiting nearby.

"Add more scallions; it tastes better with more scallions," Liu instructed her eldest daughter-in-law.

"I know, mother"

Wang, who was about to leave with the eggs, was stopped by the old man.

"Eldest daughter, wait a moment." He then looked at Liu Shi and said...

"Take six more, so everyone can eat." Old Master Zhang said somewhat displeased when he saw that she had only taken out four eggs.

Hearing what the old man said, Liu wanted to retort, but when she caught sight of her third son looking at her, she swallowed her words and took out eight more eggs from the cupboard.

"You're such a nice person. Don't I know how to care for children? There are twelve eggs in total. Add plenty of oil and fry them until they're fragrant so everyone can eat them." It's not that Liu doesn't know how to say nice things; this time, her words were quite straightforward.

Hearing her speak like that, Xia Yu wondered if Liu had had her soul replaced when she fainted earlier? Otherwise, why would she be speaking so sweetly this time?

Liu was holding eight eggs, but she didn't hand them to Wang. Li tried to take the eggs from her mother-in-law, but the old lady dodged her.

"You sit and eat yours, I'll take it to your sister-in-law." With that, she followed her daughter-in-law to the kitchen. Once inside, she handed four eggs to Wang, and put the rest directly into the cupboard. Wang was speechless at her mother-in-law's actions. After putting the eggs away, Liu prepared to return to her room.

"Mother, aren't you going to watch me fry the eggs?" Wang called out to her mother-in-law, who was walking out.

"What's so interesting? Just don't put in so much oil. We paid for it, don't make it seem like it's free and just throw it in like that." Liu said nonchalantly. Although she always found fault with her daughters-in-law, she believed they wouldn't do something like cheating.

"Mother, you can't leave."

"What? You expect me, an old woman, to make fried eggs myself? What am I supposed to do with you women?" Liu was immediately displeased when she heard her eldest daughter-in-law repeatedly stopping her.

"Mother, you said you were going to fry twelve eggs in front of everyone, but we only have eight. Even if they don't say anything, they might suspect I ate some!" Wang said helplessly.

"Who would say anything? Stop thinking nonsense. Why don't you just chop a couple more scallions and put them in? No one would notice. Hurry up, the family is waiting for dinner." After saying that, she went straight back to the main room.

Seeing her mother-in-law acting this way, Wang felt helpless. She thought to herself, "If you're not willing to eat it, then don't take it out. Now look what's happened; she said nice things in front of everyone, but now she's being made difficult by her."

She cracked a few eggs into a bowl and beat them. Seeing that there were obviously not enough eggs in the bowl, Wang gritted her teeth and cracked four eggs from the cupboard into the bowl as well. Then she chopped three scallions and stir-fried them with the egg mixture.

Soon, Wang returned to the main room carrying two plates. She placed the plate with more eggs on the old man's table and the plate with less on their own. The old man was very satisfied with the generous portion of scrambled eggs.

The old lady also saw the two plates of eggs, but she was very dissatisfied and glared at Wang Shi. Feeling her mother-in-law's gaze, Wang Shi became somewhat uneasy. She quickly finished the thin porridge in her bowl, ate a few bites of shredded radish and pickled vegetables with cornbread, and then got off the table. She didn't touch the plate of eggs at all.

Actually, on Liu's table, besides Xia Yu taking a few bites of the eggs, only Qinghe was eating them. The few bites Xia Yu took were for Chunyu, Qiuyu, and Dongyu. She didn't spoil this old aunt who never had enough to eat and had no manners as an elder. She wanted to stuff all the good food into her own mouth.

Seeing that a plate of eggs, which wasn't very full to begin with, was down to just one piece, Xia Yu and Zhang Qinghe simultaneously tried to pick it up with their chopsticks. Qinghe tried to push it away a couple of times but couldn't, and she became a little unhappy.

“Xiaxia, I am your aunt, you should be filial to me.”

“Auntie, we are still children. As an elder, you should love and care for your nieces. Dongyu is the youngest at this table. Neither of us should eat. Let Dongyu eat.”

"No, I'm not full yet." After saying that, seeing that Xia Yu still wouldn't let go of her chopsticks, she pouted at Liu Shi and said, "Mom, look at Xia Xia, a little girl, trying to steal my food."

When Xia Yu saw that Liu was about to speak, she didn't care about manners anymore. She grabbed the last piece of fried egg and stuffed it into Dong Yu's mouth, which was sitting next to her. Dong Yu's cheeks were bulging, and the food in her mouth almost couldn't come out.

Xia Yu was too fast. Before Liu Shi could even speak, Xia Yu had already stuffed the egg into Dong Yu's mouth.

"Liu, is this how you raise your child? Not only does she argue with her elders, but she also grabs food with her hands. You've corrupted our Zhang family's good children." Liu was furious to see Xia Yu bullying her daughter like this, but she couldn't pry the egg out of Dong Yu's mouth, so she could only vent her anger on her daughter-in-law, Liu.

"Grandma, don't talk about my mother anymore. You should discipline my aunt first. Look at all the girls in our village, none of them have waists as thick as my aunt's. Let's not even talk about others, just take those two sisters, Jin Hua and Yin Hua, who my aunt often play with. My aunt's waist alone is thicker than both of theirs combined. Other girls can make a skirt with three feet of cloth, but my aunt can't make one without five feet." She spoke fluently and loudly. Her rapid-fire delivery stunned everyone in the room. Liu Shi was so angry that she couldn't speak, pointing at Xia Yu and stammering, "You...you...you..." for a long time without being able to utter a complete sentence.

Xia Yu wasn't stupid. If she hadn't already figured out her grandfather's thoughts, she wouldn't have said those words. She actually meant well, thinking of her aunt. Seeing that her grandmother hesitated for a long time before continuing, Xia Yu said, "Grandma, I'm doing this for my aunt's own good. If she keeps eating like this, she might not be able to get married, not even if she were the sister of a scholar, let alone the sister of a top scholar. What wealthy and powerful family would marry a fat woman who only knows how to eat?"

"Waaaah...waaah...Mom, beat this brat to death! How dare she talk to me like that! Waaah...waaah..." Qinghe was so angry at Xia Yu's words that she burst into tears and wailed. Food that hadn't been swallowed yet was mixed with tears, snot, and saliva dripping down her face.

A beautiful woman shedding tears is endearing, but Qinghe's crying is... well, it's even more unbearable to watch.