Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Xia Yu ran all the way back to the old house, still wondering why her mother told her to look for her grandmother instead of her father or grandfather.

If she couldn't figure it out, she would listen to the adults, and her mother was always intelligent.

Panting, Xia Yu ran to the old house, and before even entering the courtyard, she shouted, "Grandma... Grandma..."

The old lady, who was directing Chunyu and Qiuyu to collect eggs in the backyard of the old house, frowned before she could even speak when she heard Xiayu's call.

"That brat's trying to summon your soul!" Even as she said this, she still walked towards the front yard. She just saw Xia Yu come in, her face covered in sweat. Without waiting for her to catch her breath, she started yelling, "What are you yelling about? I'm not dead yet! What are you yelling about! Where's your mother? Doesn't she care about you? Your father went to dig a pond, and you and your mother don't even know to go weed the fields..." Speaking of weeding, she suddenly remembered the watermelon seedlings she had pulled up, and her heart ached again.

Xia Yu held her knees with both hands and panted heavily for a while before she could catch her breath.

"Grandma, I don't know which heartless bastard smashed all the watermelons in my backyard, more than a dozen big watermelons were smashed."

"What? What did you say? Say it again." Liu couldn't believe her ears. She took a few steps forward and rushed to Xia Yu, making her say it again.

"Grandma, I don't know who smashed all the watermelons in our house," Xia Yu said clearly again.

"Hiss..." It was the sound of Chunyu and Qiuyu gasping from behind. A dozen watermelons cost several taels of silver. Even if they weren't theirs, they felt the pain of the loss.

"Where's your mother?" Liu finally confirmed what she had heard.

"My mother is in the garden. She was so angry she couldn't speak properly, so I rushed over to find you," Xia Yu said, mixing truth with falsehood, mainly because she was afraid her grandmother would scold her mother again.

"Come on, I'm going to see which heartless bastard ruined my son's watermelons. Qiuyu stays home and watches over, Chunyu comes with me." This time, Liu didn't waste any words and quickly walked out.

The group walked quickly to Xia Yu's house. As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw Liu Shi walking out from the back with red eyes. When she saw Liu Shi walking towards them, her eyes lit up instantly, and she went up to her and said, "Mother, please go and see what happened in the back. I don't know who did it, but they smashed all the watermelons. Not a single one is left." Her voice was already trembling with tears as she spoke.

Seeing that she was about to cry, Liu glared at her and scolded, "I'm not dead yet, don't cry in front of me. Look at you, so pathetic, all you do is cry at home."

As they spoke, they turned to the back of the house. Looking at the mess in the garden, Liu felt extremely distressed.

After seeing the situation in the backyard, Liu didn't say a word. She picked up a piece of smashed watermelon, turned around, and walked out. Xia Yu was stunned by her behavior. What was her grandmother planning to do?

Liu quickly called Chunyu and Xiayu to follow the old lady.

Liu was seen carrying a rotten watermelon into the village. When she reached a populated area, she began to shout, "Everyone, come and see! Which shameless person has ruined the watermelon seeds that my third son left for the villagers? Shameless wretch! This is going to cut off our Zhangjia Village's path to wealth..."

"These are the seeds we saved! The village chief said he was going to save watermelon seeds for everyone, but they've been ruined! Everyone come and see! My third son saved watermelon seeds for the village, and someone has ruined them all! Who was the heartless bastard who made your son and grandson both born without an anus..."

Liu cursed all the way, and soon arrived at the drying ground where the villagers liked to gather. Holding a rotten watermelon, she stood on a stone block and repeated her words about saving seeds, interspersed with insults about the villagers' ancestors.

As she continued her tirade, many people followed her. After listening to her rant, they finally understood: someone had gone to Zhang Laosan's house and ruined all the watermelon seeds that had been reserved for the villagers. Moreover, the village chief had specifically ordered that these watermelon seeds be kept for the villagers.

Immediately, many people were enraged. Quite a few had their eyes on Zhang Youtie's watermelons, plotting to get some seeds to plant their own next year. Who knew they'd be ruined like this? Filled with righteous indignation, these people echoed Liu's words, determined to find the culprit and make her compensate the village for its losses.

Liu had followed them all the way here, and now she knew what her mother-in-law was going to do. She didn't say anything, just covered her face and sobbed.

Of course, many people didn't believe Liu's words. They thought that if they were to leave the watermelon seeds to the villagers, they would have to grow them for several years, earn enough money, and then sell the seeds. Liu's actions caused quite a stir, even attracting the attention of the village chief.

When the village chief arrived at the drying yard, many people automatically made way for him.

Looking at the rotten watermelon in Liu's hand, the village chief's hand trembled slightly as he pointed at the rotten melon and asked, "Liu, all the watermelons in the third son's yard were smashed?"

"Yes, village chief, they've all been smashed. I heard from my third son that you told us to save more seeds this year so that we could grow watermelons for the villagers next year and give everyone an extra source of income. Look at this, I don't know which short-sighted person has some grudge against my third son that would take it out on the whole village's watermelon crop." As she spoke, Liu handed the rotten watermelon to the village chief.

Xia Yu heard everything clearly from the side. Her grandmother said that these were watermelon seeds reserved for the whole village. She couldn't help but think to herself, "Old ginger is spicier. As long as it doesn't involve her fourth uncle, her grandmother is quite shrewd."

"Village chief, are these really watermelon seeds reserved for the village?" one of the people who had doubted Liu's words asked the village chief.

"I told the third brother to save some seeds to share with the villagers next year." The village chief was particularly disappointed when he saw the watermelons that had been ruined like this, thinking that there was no hope for the whole village to grow watermelons next year.

Hearing the village chief say the same thing, everyone standing below believed him. In an instant, the crowd was in an uproar, and people were excitedly shouting to find the person who did this.

At this moment, Wang Pingping's grandmother, Wang Shi, no longer had the smug look on her face. Looking at the angry crowd around her, her face turned deathly pale with fright.

Yesterday, she saw Zhang Youtie's family drive their oxcart out. She went to their backyard intending to steal a few watermelons, but they were too big and heavy; an old woman like her could only carry one at most, and she was afraid of being discovered. In the end, she simply smashed the watermelons on the spot and ate her fill. Before leaving, she thought about the fight with Liu Shi and became increasingly angry. So she took stones and smashed all the watermelons in the backyard. She had been very uneasy since yesterday, afraid someone would come looking for her, but nothing happened overnight, so she relaxed.

Before Liu arrived, she was chatting idly with some old ladies in the village, in a very good mood. Now, seeing that this matter had aroused public anger, she was a little scared. If someone saw this and reported it, she would be disgraced, and how would her family live in the village afterward?

As the saying goes, the higher you stand, the farther you can see. Liu Shi, standing above, carefully observed the expressions of the crowd below. She had been keeping an eye on the families with whom she had a grudge, so when she saw Wang Shi's unpleasant expression from above, she understood everything.

She couldn't help but sneer inwardly, "A slut who's remarried, instead of living a proper life, she insists on doing such despicable things. I'll skin her alive this time." Thinking this to herself, she didn't show it on her face. She couldn't be too harsh in front of the village chief, so she just reiterated her reasoning in front of everyone. Finally, Liu said in front of everyone, "If anyone knows who did it, tell me, and I'll definitely thank her." Without lingering, she took her daughter-in-law and granddaughter home.