Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Zhang Youtie led Steward Ding, Old Master Zhang, and others to the backyard to check on the watermelons that hadn't been picked yet, and then invited them to sit down in the main room.

Xia Yu found the smallest watermelon in the backyard, moved it to the table in the main room, and cut it open in front of everyone. It had the same red flesh and black seeds as the others, and although it was small, it was still ripe. Xia Yu deftly cut the watermelon into wedges and distributed them to everyone in the room to enjoy.

"This melon doesn't look big, but it tastes just as good as the others. I'll take all the ones from the backyard later too." After saying that, he seemed to realize that what he said was a bit inappropriate, so he added, "Keep the ones you want to eat, and I'll take all the ones you want to sell."

"Yes, yes, thank you, Steward Ding. I'll find someone to pick the melons from the backyard right now." Zhang Youtie said, then stood up to go out and find someone.

"Hey, no need to call anyone else. I have enough people with me. After they finish loading the watermelons, they can go to the backyard to pick more." Manager Ding called out to Zhang Youtie, who was about to go out to find people.

A short while later, the clerk who was keeping track of the records came in with a notebook and bowed as he replied...

"Manager Ding, all the melons in the yard have been loaded onto the carts. There are sixty-five in total, and I have arranged for them to be loaded onto four oxcarts."

"Okay, now take them to the backyard and pick the melons there, just like before, making sure they all have some vines and leaves attached."

"Yes," the servant said, then left to do as instructed.

Xia Yu calculated the time and figured they might need to invite someone to lunch, so she went to look for Liu Shi in the side room. But after searching everywhere, she couldn't find her.

Just as she was about to ask the onlookers at the door if anyone had seen her mother, she saw Liu Shi return with Li Shi and Wang Shi, followed by Chunyu and Qiuyu, and finally Qinghe, who had argued with Xiayu yesterday, came in.

Seeing so many people squeezing in from outside the crowd, Xia Yu looked at her mother with some confusion.

"Xiaxia, I think we're having guests over for lunch today. There will be a lot of people, and we won't be able to handle it all, so I went to the old house and called your aunt, your great-aunt, and Chunyu and Qiuyu over. Think about what dishes we should make." Liu Shi's words were cryptic, but she was actually asking Xiayu to think of what dishes could be served to the guests, since Steward Ding had brought quite a few people today.

After quickly thinking for a moment, I decided on a few dishes in my mind.

She apologized to Wang and Li, saying, "Auntie, could you lend us the pig offal I took to the old house yesterday? We didn't expect so many guests to come today, and we don't have enough meat at home."

"What are you saying? You're the one who bought it for us, and we haven't even paid you yet. I'll go back and bring it back right now." Wang said, turning to leave.

"No, Auntie, don't rush off. We don't have enough stoves at home either. I'll go back to the old house with you to make braised pork offal. You and Auntie can watch and learn from us. My mother and the others will prepare the other dishes here."

"That's great! This way, nothing will be delayed." Wang said this with a very happy expression.

Xia Yu and his mother finalized the menu. Xia Yu would prepare all the meat and vegetable dishes, while Liu Shi, along with Chun Yu, Qiu Yu, and Qing He, would knead the dough and make pancakes for the people brought by Steward Ding. Xia Yu planned to make a large pot of stew and then make extra pancakes. With so many people, it would be impossible to prepare a full plate of dishes, so stew with pancakes would be a perfect meal.

Qinghe watched Xia Yu assign tasks to everyone, feeling quite resentful. However, she had just been severely reprimanded by her father yesterday and made to learn kitchen chores. Now that important figures were visiting, she didn't dare to cause trouble. Actually, seeing Qinghe standing beside her, Xia Yu also felt a headache coming on. Her aunt couldn't do anything; she might not even be able to flip a pancake properly. Looking at Qinghe, Xia Yu pondered for a while before speaking.

"Auntie, you're in charge of washing the scallions and peeling the garlic, we'll need a lot of garlic for the dishes later."

Seeing her reluctant nod, Xia Yu took out the piece of meat she had originally intended to give to the teacher from the basket on the oxcart. Looking at the large piece of meat on the table, Xia felt it still wasn't enough, so she made an excuse to go back to the side room to get something. Actually, she took a knife into her spatial dimension and cut off another five pounds of rib meat. When she came out of the side room with the meat, everyone present was astonished.

"Sister-in-law, why do you keep so much meat in your house? And it's even in the children's room. Aren't you afraid of attracting rats?" Wang asked first.

"Well, this was originally intended for the long-distance running registration, but I didn't manage to send it out." As for why she put the meat in her daughter's room, she didn't say. Actually, she didn't know how to say it, and couldn't think of a suitable excuse for the moment.

"Mom, I'll make this stew when I get back in a bit. You guys knead the dough and make the pancakes first. The stew is easy to make, but making the pancakes takes time."

"Alright, go ahead, Mother knows."

After arranging everything, Xia Yu carried the seasonings and five pounds of pork belly to the old house.

Liu Shi also got busy. She took out two large basins, poured in flour, and started kneading the dough with Chunyu.

On Xia Yu's side, they encountered Liu Shi, who was coming this way, halfway there. Seeing them carrying things back, Liu Shi asked curiously...

"The watermelons are all sold out. What are you guys doing here instead of staying and helping out?"

"Mom, there are a lot of guests at Third Brother's house today, and they will be staying here for lunch. They don't have enough stove, so Xiaxia will take some meat to the old house and use our stove to cook some dishes."

Upon hearing Wang's answer, Liu lifted the basket behind Xia Yu and saw it was full of meat. She glanced at her two daughters-in-law.

"You two aunties, don't you know how to help carry the baskets?"

Xia Yu was speechless at Liu's behavior, and she also understood Liu's thinking. In her mind, she had divided the family members into different ranks. The old man was first, then her fourth uncle, then her aunt, then her three sons and three grandsons, then her granddaughters, and finally her daughters-in-law. She could scold and even yell at her granddaughters, but compared to her daughters-in-law, her granddaughters were a little more precious in her heart.

"Grandma, this basket isn't heavy; I wanted to carry it myself." Xia Yu, afraid that her mother would use this as an excuse to scold her two aunts, spoke up first to explain.

"Okay, you guys go ahead, be quick and don't delay the third brother's family's affairs." She ignored Xia Yu's explanation and directly instructed the group.

After hearing her words, the group quickly said goodbye and headed to the old house.

Back at the old house, Xia Yu first cut the large chunk of meat into pieces, and put it into a pot with the pork offal that had been cleaned the day before, along with cold water, scallions, and ginger to blanch it.

After the water was cooked, Xia Yu put the meat and offal into different basins. While doing this, he would explain to Wang and Li why they were doing it this way and what issues to pay attention to.

Soon, Xia Yu put the seasonings into the pot of braised offal. Wang Shi and Li Shi, who were standing next to her, were amazed to see Xia Yu throwing in so many spices. There were so many seasonings. They had seen it clearly. There were two big handfuls of salt alone, and there was also white sugar in it.

In another pot, Xia Yu was cooking pork. She had planned to make a cold dish of garlic-flavored pork belly, a stir-fried twice-cooked pork, and finally a braised pork belly. After deciding on the order of the dishes, she decided to cook the pork first.

She timed it carefully, and once the meat in the pot was ready to be made into garlic-flavored pork belly, she scooped all the broth from cooking the meat into a large bowl, preparing it for later when making a stew.

Clean the pot, add oil and white sugar to caramelize it, then add the reserved meat broth. Add the pork belly cut into bite-sized pieces, then add scallions and ginger to remove any unpleasant odors. Bring it to a boil again over high heat, then reduce to a simmer. Xia Yu explained each step to Wang and Li, so the two watched quietly without saying much. However, seeing Xia Yu using so much white sugar in the meat dish, Li couldn't help but ask a question.

"Auntie, we stir-fry the sugar to color the meat and make it look better. It also makes the meat taste better. Actually, it's not just for meat dishes; adding a little sugar to many cold dishes can also make them taste better."

Seeing the two nod repeatedly, seemingly understanding, Xia Yu didn't continue. She was afraid she might use words they wouldn't understand, which would require further explanation and be even more troublesome. So she tried to use simple and easy-to-understand sentences.

As the sun rose higher, Xia Yu took a section of large intestine from the pot of braised meat, cut off some pieces, and asked the two aunts to taste it for saltiness. After receiving their affirmative answer, she scraped the offal and broth from the pot into a large basin to continue soaking. In another pot, the braised pork skin was already tender enough to easily pierce with chopsticks. Xia Yu scooped out the meat and broth from the pot and put it into a ceramic pot. After reducing the sauce slightly, it would be ready to serve.