Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

The group left the embroidery shop and discussed buying some grain. Last night, Liu had given the money for grain to her two sisters-in-law, asking them to buy some cornmeal after selling the eggs today. Jinghe saw her brother still watching people sculpting clay figures at the stall outside the embroidery shop, so she ran over.

"Brother, do you want a clay figurine?"

"No, I just think it's quite interesting. Do you like it?"

"I like you, let's buy two!"

"Just buy one. I'm all grown up now, I don't play with these anymore."

Jinghe ignored him and asked the old man sculpting the clay figurines, "Grandpa, how much do you sell these clay figurines for?"

"Small ones are three coins, large ones are five coins," the old man selling clay figurines replied.

"Grandpa, can we buy two small ones for five coins?"

"Alright, little girls. You can choose two." Jinghe quickly took out five coins and handed them to the old man. She was afraid that Changyun wouldn't be willing to spend the money. He was only ten years old, much younger than herself in Jinghe's eyes.

The two girls chose their favorite clay figurines and went to the grain store with the adults. Jinghe wanted to find an opportunity to tell her mother how much money she had made selling herbs, so that her mother could buy more grain. She no longer wanted to eat fancy dishes; she just wanted cornbread for every meal. After eating cornbread mixed with vegetables for several days, Jinghe's face was almost green. If she kept eating it, she felt like she would turn into a vegetable cornbread. She could grow plants in her own space, but even if she grew wheat, she had no reason to openly eat it. She felt her conscience wouldn't allow her to eat alone in her space. After all, she occupied someone else's daughter's body and enjoyed the love of her parents. If she didn't take good care of them, she felt she would be unworthy of being human.

It was only a few minutes' walk to the grain store, but Jinghe's mind was already racing with thoughts.

There were quite a few people buying grain at the store, and it was even a bit crowded inside. Liu arranged for her brother and sister to wait at the door, worried they might get pushed over inside.

There was a pork stall a dozen meters away from the grain store. Jinghe saw that Liu and the others were busy in the store and didn't have time to look at them, so she pulled Changyun toward the pork stall.

"Brother, let's go buy some meat."

"Why don't we wait for Mom to go together? I've never bought meat with Mom before, we don't know how to choose it, what if they cheat us?" Changyun said with some worry.

"If it's not spoiled, it'll all taste good." Jinghe thought of all the different ways she cooked pork in her past life, and couldn't help but drool.

"Uncle, how much is this meat?" Jinghe asked.

"Lean meat is twelve coins a pound, and meat with fat is fourteen coins a pound," the butcher replied without looking up as he shaved a large bone.

"How much is the pure fat pork?" Jinghe asked again. This time, the shopkeeper, who was bent over picking meat from bones, finally sensed something was wrong. He looked up and saw a young woman slightly taller than the pork cutlet.

"Even pure fat meat costs fourteen coins a pound," the butcher replied somewhat impatiently. In her opinion, how could two such young children possibly have money to buy meat, especially since she hadn't seen any adults with them.

"Do you still have pork fat?" Jinghe asked, ignoring his impatience.

The shopkeeper reluctantly put down his boning knife and pulled a large piece of pork fat from under the counter. "Young lady, this pork fat can only be used to render oil. If you're craving it, you'd be better off buying the fatty part."

"Fat meat is too expensive, I can't afford it. How much is pork fat per pound?"

"Ten coins per pound"

"I'll take the whole thing then, can you give me a discount?"

The butcher looked down at the piece of lard again, thought for a moment, and said: "If you want it all, I'll give it to you for nine coins per pound."

"Okay, weigh yourself then."

"Six jin and eight liang," the butcher announced. Jinghe looked at the tall scale in his hand and was quite satisfied. Although the butcher's tone was unpleasant at first, he was actually a nice person.

"It's sixty-one coins in total, I'll give you sixty coins," the shopkeeper generously rounded down the price.

Jinghe felt that her boss was a really nice person.

They paid the shopkeeper sixty coins and asked him to cut the lard into two portions, one for themselves and one for their brother. After covering the baskets tightly with the cloth they had brought, the two returned to the grain shop entrance.

At this moment, the adults in the store were still haggling with the shopkeeper and had no idea that the two children had gone out for a walk and then come back.

"Brother, you watch the basket, I'm going in to check on Mother and the others," Jinghe said to her brother.

"Go ahead, but be careful not to get stepped on," Changyun instructed her.

"Yes, I know, don't worry."

Jinghe walked past the crowd to her mother's side. She heard Wang Shi say to the shop assistant, "We want so much, can't you give us a discount? Look, our two families together have a hundred catties, and my sister-in-law also wanted ten catties of millet. You have to give us a discount."

Liu, standing nearby, also joined in the bargaining, saying, "If you can't make the decision, go ask the shopkeeper." The young shop assistant, probably worn down by their nagging, said he would go ask the shopkeeper.

After a while, the shopkeeper returned and said to the women, "Sisters, the shopkeeper and I have been talking until our lips are sore, and he finally agreed that 100 catties would normally cost 300 coins, but he will give you a discount of 5 coins, so it will only cost 295 coins. However, 10 catties of millet will cost 40 coins, not a penny less. If it is possible, I will arrange for someone to deliver the grain to your oxcart immediately."

"Sure, sure, we'll pay now. You can arrange for someone to come with us and deliver it over there." Wang happily took out the money and said to Li, "Second sister-in-law, you go with this young man and watch the grain being weighed."

Li responded and left.

Liu also took out the copper coins for the thirty catties of grain she wanted to buy. When Wang saw that she had counted out ninety coins, she quickly took out five coins from her account and said to her, "I have already counted out two hundred and ten copper coins. You can just give me eighty-five coins plus forty coins for the millet." As she spoke, she stuffed the five coins back into Liu's hand.

Over there, Li watched as the grain was weighed. One hundred catties of grain were divided into two bags, seventy catties for the old house and thirty catties for Jinghe's family. Actually, Jinghe meant that she could buy more. She had already told Liu about selling the golden thread lotus, but Liu just patted her hand lightly and didn't say anything else. Jinghe knew that her mother was thoughtful, so she didn't say anything more.

The clerk at the grain store called over a man dressed in a short, coarse brown linen shirt and asked him to help deliver the grain to Jinghe and her companions' cart. Actually, they could have simply stated which village the oxcart belonged to and the driver's name. But Wang and her family were worried and decided to go with him anyway. They could always come back for the rest of the purchases; there was plenty of time.

The group arrived at the elm tree where the oxcart had been parked and found that the two women who had been riding in the cart when they arrived had returned, along with a mother and daughter, who seemed to be from the same village. They were chatting and laughing on the cart. Seeing them return, the driver helped the man unload the grain onto the cart and said with a smile to his sisters-in-law, "Sister Zhang, have you prepared everything? Everyone's back early today. If you've prepared everything, let's head back now. We can still make it back in time for lunch."

"Let's go home. We'll leave once everyone's here." After discussing it, Wang, Li, and Liu decided to go home with a wave of their hands. Although they still had some odds and ends to buy, they would have to come back in a few days to sell eggs, so they could buy those things then.