Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Xia Yu covered the pot of braised meat, placed a large stone on top, and then went to sleep with peace of mind. After returning from the village chief's house, Zhang Youtie went to the old house again to tell the old man about his family's plan to dig a pond; the old man naturally had no objections. However, Qinghe stopped him as he was leaving.

"Third Brother, do you still have any watermelons? I want more. Didn't you say you'd bring me a dozen or so so I could eat my fill? Why haven't you brought them yet?"

Hearing her words, Zhang Youtie turned to look at the old man sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) smoking, only to see his face full of helplessness. Thinking of what had happened at the dinner table a couple of days ago, he didn't dare give Qinghe food in front of him, so he vaguely said he was going home to check on things.

Watching her third brother's departing figure, she muttered something under her breath. Old Master Zhang couldn't hear it clearly, only vaguely hearing something like "Xiaxia put him away."

She immediately began to scold, "Even if Xiaxia put them away, they're still her own watermelons. You're the aunt, can't you act like an elder?"

Seeing that her father was about to lose his temper again, Qinghe stopped talking and just hoped that her fourth brother would come back soon. She had a secret that she could only tell her fourth brother because he was the smartest person in the family.

The next morning, the village chief arrived at Zhang Youtie's house with ten young men. These were men Zhang Youtie and the village chief had chosen the night before after discussing it; they were all capable men. Zhang Youtie said only a few words before leading his men to their pre-arranged work locations. At home, Xia Yu chopped the braised offal to bring Changyun, packed it into two earthenware jars, wrapped them in cloth, and placed them in a basket. The extra jar was for Changyun, and the other was for Uncle Li, the school gatekeeper. Everything was packed; his father would drive them there soon.

After draining the brine from the pot, Xia Yu boiled a large pot of mung bean water for the workers. Although meals weren't provided, the hot weather meant that water had to be available.

After doing all this, Xia Yu filled a wooden bucket with mung bean water, and Liu Shi carried the two of them on a shoulder pole to the wasteland where the pond was being dug. When they arrived, everyone was still clearing stones and weeds from the wasteland. Seeing them carrying the buckets from afar, they knew they had come to deliver water.

Before they even reached their destination, Zhang Youtie had already strode over, taken the carrying pole from Liu's shoulder, and carried it himself.

"It's too sunny here. You should take your daughter back. I'll work with the others for a little while longer and then head over."

"Alright, then keep track of the time. We need to get to the school before Changyun's lunch break, otherwise we'll miss him again," Madam Liu instructed.

"Okay, I know, don't worry. Go back, I'll carry it over to them." He took the basket containing the bowls from Xiaxia's hands.

The mother and daughter returned home. Liu picked up the basket for needles and thread and sat down at the table in the main room to sew. Cloth that had been soaking in black bean water for two days was drying in the yard; the dye was a bit light this time, appearing grayish. Liu planned to dye it several more times after it dried. Xia Yu, meanwhile, moved a small stool to sit beside her mother, her face buried in her hands, lost in thought. The whole family had been busy for so long; this moment of leisure was a rare treat.

"Mother, daughter, let's go to town." Zhang Youtie didn't keep the mother and daughter waiting long before returning. He hitched up the oxcart as he spoke, then placed the baskets they had prepared onto it.

"Xiaxia, put on your hat, the sun is really strong right now," Madam Liu reminded her daughter as soon as she stepped out the door.

Upon hearing his mother's words, Xia Yu immediately took out two hats from her spatial storage, one for her and one for her mother, while her father could wear a straw hat.

Zhang Youtie cracked his whip and shouted commands, and the ox slowly began to move forward. As they passed the village's drying ground, they inevitably received a few comments from the elderly women who were cooling off there, but they dared not speak loudly. After all, they were hoping to buy some watermelon seeds from him next year.

"Hey, did you hear? The other day, those watermelons they were selling cost fifty coins a pound." The old woman who spoke held up five fingers, her expression quite exaggerated.

"How could I not have heard? My eldest son stood outside their yard all morning that day, and they filled truckloads of watermelons. How much do you think that must have cost?" Auntie B chimed in.

"Who knows how much it will cost? Anyway, it's money we've never seen in our entire lives," Aunt Bing hurriedly voiced her opinion.

"Who would have thought that they would have such a precious thing growing in the vegetable garden behind their house? Sigh..." The first old lady who spoke sighed with deep regret.

"What? So what if you found out? Do you still want to steal one?" Aunt Bing sensed the unspoken meaning in her words and, without giving her any face, asked directly.

"Get out, get out! What are you saying, you old woman? Can't I just borrow one?" The old woman didn't want to be accused of stealing.

"Borrow? Don't flatter yourself. How are you going to pay it back? One melon weighs fifteen or sixteen pounds and costs several hundred coins. How are you going to pay it back?"

"What business is it of yours how I repay you? You're so nosy! Why don't you check on your daughter-in-law's belly? She can't even give birth to a son. What if your second son becomes childless and dies without anyone to mourn him?" Having her thoughts exposed, Aunt A was furious and spoke deliberately to hurt the other woman's feelings. Aunt C's second son had been married for over ten years and only had three daughters. The gossipy old women all said he was childless. Now, her mother had hit the nail on the head, and she was enraged, speaking recklessly.

“What’s wrong with my three granddaughters? Did they eat your food or drink your water? My three granddaughters are all more filial than the last. They’re much better than some people who have a whole bunch of sons but none of them are successful. They’re just good at having long arms.”

Who do you think has longer arms?

"Whoever responds, I'll talk to them!"

"..."

Seeing that the two were about to fight, the people sitting nearby quickly separated them and tried to persuade them to stop.

Zhang Youtie's family was unaware of what was happening, but that didn't stop those who were interested, such as Wang Pingping's grandmother, who hadn't slept well for several days.

While everyone was talking about Zhang Youtie's family, she was sitting by the drying yard. However, she hadn't rested well for the past few days and wasn't in good spirits, so she just listened without participating. When she heard them talking about stealing watermelons, her heart was stirred.

Zhang Youtie was driving an oxcart when he met two women from the same village who were also going to town. He kindly offered them a ride on the oxcart.

Upon arriving in town, they parked the oxcart. Zhang Youtie, carrying a basket, followed Liu Shi and Xia Yu straight to the school.

"Uncle Li, I brought my child to school a few days ago, do you remember?" Zhang Youtie said with a smile to Uncle Li as he opened the school door.

“I remember, I remember, you’re Chengwen’s third brother! You’re here to see the kids today?” Uncle Li still remembered them, but Xia Yu felt he probably remembered his fourth uncle even more.

"Yes, that's right. We enrolled late, so we wanted to see if he could keep up with the teacher's lessons."

"Okay, I'll go call him. What's the child's name?"

Zhang Changyun

"Okay, you wait here, I'll go get someone for you." After saying that, Uncle Li closed the door again.

"Oh, oh, thank you for your trouble, Uncle Li..." Zhang Youtie's words were interrupted by the closing door.

Before long, the people outside the door heard Changyun running inside, calling out, "Dad, Mom, Xiaxia!"

"Slow down, slow down, be careful not to fall," the people outside could still hear Uncle Li's voice, which should have been directed at Changyun.

Just hearing her son's voice brought tears to Liu's eyes; her child had never been away from her for so long in all his years.

The door was pulled open, and Changyun, his face flushed from running, immediately threw himself into Liu's arms.

"Mother, Mother, I miss you so much," she said, her voice already trembling with sobs.

Seeing Changyun like this, Madam Liu couldn't control herself any longer. She hugged Changyun and tears streamed down her face. "Mother misses you too."

Seeing their state, Uncle Li, who had followed them, couldn't help but sigh. This kind of situation happened every year. He was already used to it.

After a long while, Changyun finally got out of his mother's arms, tears still wet on his face.

"Brother, have you seen me and Dad?" Xia Yu looked at his brother speechlessly.

"Hehe, how could I not see you? Xiaxia, I miss you and Dad too, I miss you so much." Changyun was a little embarrassed to cry like this in front of his sister.

"You brat, you're already in school, and you're still crying. Aren't you ashamed?" Zhang Youtie said with great emotion.

"I'm not ashamed. You are my closest family. I don't feel ashamed to cry in front of you." Changyun stubbornly refused to admit that he was ashamed. If you ignored his face, which was almost on fire, he really didn't seem ashamed.

"Uncle Li, how long is our lunch break? Can we take the kids out for lunch?" Zhang Youtie asked.

“It’s been an hour, but he should have already eaten. You can ask him.” When Uncle Li found him, he was already writing in the classroom, so he must have already eaten.

"Father, I've eaten. Could you take me to buy some lamp oil? The school doesn't give us enough," Changyun said to his father.

"Brother, what did you have for lunch?" Xia Yu asked from the side.

"I ate cornbread buns, I ate two." Changyun didn't know why his sister asked that.

"Why didn't you eat any vegetables? Did your father not give you enough copper coins?"

"It's enough, it's enough. I only spent six coins, it's more than enough."

Upon hearing him say this, Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi realized that something was wrong. Changyun had been here for two and a half days. How could he afford to eat for six coins?

"Uncle Li, do you know how much the food is priced at our school?" Xia Yu asked Uncle Li, who was standing next to her.

"Yes, of course I know. Three cornbread buns cost one coin, two white flour buns cost one coin, two bowls of soup cost one coin, a bowl of meat dishes cost two coins, and a bowl of vegetable dishes cost one coin. Our school's prices are set fairly so that students can eat their fill for a small amount of money."

"Brother, do you only eat cornbread buns every day and never drink soup or eat vegetables?" Xia Yu asked directly what was on his mind.

"Well, as long as I'm full, it's fine. I don't care if I eat the soup or the vegetables." Under his sister's watchful gaze, Changyun could only answer honestly.

“Changyun, our family doesn’t lack money right now. You’re still growing, so don’t be too hard on yourself when it comes to food.” Madam Liu felt sorry for her son when she heard him say this.

"Mom, cornbread buns are really delicious. That's what my two senior classmates in the dorm eat."

"Brother, listen to me. If you keep going like this, your health will collapse. No matter how well you study, without a strong body, how can you participate in the imperial examination? I heard that the exam requires you to stay in the examination hall for three days and three nights, eating and sleeping there. Many students with poor health, let alone answering the questions, some even fainted in the examination hall and had to be carried out. Brother, do you want to study hard for so many years, only to be unable to complete the imperial examination because of your health?"

Seeing his younger sister's serious expression, Changyun was a little frightened and couldn't help but turn to look at his parents.

"Is that really the case?"

Neither Zhang Youtie nor Liu could answer, because neither of them knew.

“That’s right, your sister is absolutely right.” A voice came from inside the door; it was the teacher who had admitted him to the school that day.