Reincarnation and Rebirth

"Wan'er, I think this perfume should be ready by now," Xiang Shi said.

Su Wan'er stepped forward and gently peeled off the oil paper covering it. "Okay, now I'll cut it open. Since we've all put in the effort, let's divide it up."

"What division? Our Su family hasn't divided yet. Everything belongs to the common people." When Old Mrs. Su heard that the balm could be sold for money, she was unwilling to let them squander it. "Besides, I contributed so much oil. All of this is mine."

Madam Chen became anxious, "Mother, how can that be? Qing'er and I have been busy for half a day."

Madam Xiang retorted, "Yes, Mother. Last time, our fourth branch didn't get any. This time, we can't be biased again. We should at least get two portions."

Su Wan'er had already picked up the wooden trough, unmolded the perfume, and cut it into pieces the size of mahjong tiles, a total of 21 pieces.

When Chen saw that Su Wan'er had cut it into such small cubes, she was very puzzled. "Wan'er, last time you packed it in a small box, why did you cut it into such small pieces this time?"

“I found those little boxes outside last time. You can’t find those things every day. If you don’t have a box, just cut it open and wrap it in oil paper. It’s the same.”

"Then, how can we sell it for a good price?"

"Sell?"

How much silver can it sell for?

Su Wan'er and Xiang Shi spoke at the same time.

Grandma Su glared at Chen Shi fiercely, "What are you selling? These are all mine."

He reached out to take it.

Su Wan'er reacted quickly, grabbing five or six pieces in each hand. "Grandma, I carried so many flowers down from the mountain and worked all morning. I can't let you get nothing."

"Pah, you little bitch, isn't it your duty to do chores? I'm in charge of everything in this house. You bunch of good-for-nothings, do you deserve such expensive things?"

Su Wan'er then truly witnessed what it meant to "cross the river and then destroy the bridge."

Madam Xiang was not easily fooled. "Mother, you have to make this clear. Even if my sister-in-law uses all this perfume, she can't possibly use that much. If the family is going to sell it, we, the fourth branch, must also be aware of it. We can't work and get a share but not any of the benefits."

"you……"

"Mother, Father says everyone should come to the main house. He has something to announce," Su Hehua called out from the main house entrance to the courtyard.

Su Wan'er curled the corners of her lips. Sure enough, bringing the Xiang family along was definitely the right thing to do.

Seeing that Su Wan'er, a young girl, was also going to the main room, Old Madam Su scolded, "What a waste of your life, what trouble are you causing?"

"Grandma, are you sure?"

"Get out, get out, go back home."

"Alright, Grandma, I'm going back now." Su Wan'er deliberately raised her voice so that everyone in the main room could hear her.

Inside, Old Man Su frowned. Just as he was about to speak, Old Master Su said, "Father, in any case, the second son is still the one who makes the decisions in the second son's family. Wan'er is not young anymore and will be getting married soon. It's better not to get involved in some things."

"Could that girl be keeping something from me?" Old Man Su hesitated. If it were before, he would never have had such thoughts, but now it's different. Ever since Su Wan'er fell and hit her head last time, her personality has changed. She's become selfish and calculating. Old Man Su is a little suspicious that she would be so generous as to provide the prescription so readily.

“Father, don’t worry,” Madam Chen walked in from outside. “Look at this, it smells exactly the same. It’s just that there’s no box, and she cut it into small pieces, but the fragrance is still wonderful. Smell it, doesn’t it make you feel refreshed?”

Su Youfu and Old Man Su both leaned over to look. Su Youfu nodded repeatedly, "Hmm, this appearance looks exactly the same as last time, and it smells good too. It's much better than those in town. Dad, we're sure we can get a good price."

"What does Big Brother want to sell?" Su Youcai asked with a grin as he walked in, wearing a coat on his back.

Su Youfu's face darkened, and he glanced at Su Youcai with displeasure. The old man, however, remained relatively normal, lowering his head to continue smoking his pipe.

The scent of this perfume was so pleasant that even the smoky atmosphere in the room couldn't mask the floral fragrance.

Old Su coughed lightly, "Now that everyone is here, I'll begin."

Su Youlu was then pulled by Su Zhao'er all the way to the entrance of the main house.

"Zhao'er, it's getting dark. Dad needs to finish turning over that vegetable patch so it'll be ready for tomorrow..."

"Oh dear, Dad, Grandpa said there's a meeting. There's something important to discuss at home."

"Big, big thing, what big thing?"

"You'll see when you go inside." Su Zhao'er pushed Su Youfu into the main room. "Grandpa, my father is here."

Old Man Su didn't even lift his eyelids, and said to Su Youlu, "Since you're here, sit down and listen together."

"Dad, what's wrong?"

"What Father wants to talk about is this balm. Someone in town has taken a liking to it and wants to buy our family's recipe. What do you think?"

Su Youcai's eyes darted around. "Dad, how much silver are they offering?"

"Twenty taels."

"Twenty taels?!" A greedy glint appeared in Su Youcai's eyes. Xiang Shi tugged at his clothes from behind. He turned around and saw Xiang Shi shaking her head at him. Only then did he remember that the two of them had agreed in the room that they would not sell the house, but would make it themselves and sell it.

"Father, how much is this piece of perfume?"

Old Man Su then looked up at Su Youcai and said indifferently, "Fortune is in your age. You often go to town, so tell me about it."

Su Youfu cleared his throat. "Father, the ones that were packaged in boxes before were a bit bigger and more exquisite than this one. They said they could sell for four or five taels of silver. So this small one should be worth at least two taels of silver, right?"

"Two taels?" Su Youlu and Su Youcai exclaimed in shock. Su Youcai quickly said, "Father, we can't sell the recipe. Think about it, if this thing is sold for ten yuan, it will be twenty taels. It's not worth selling the recipe at all."

Su Youlu also said in a simple and honest way, "Yeah, Dad, I want to buy this stuff just by smelling it. Hehe, it'll definitely sell well. I'll go door to door selling this every day from now on."

"Ahem..." Su Youfu coughed lightly, "Second brother, we're not selling cheap goods. Such good goods should definitely be sold in the shop."

"But we don't own a shop."

Su Youcai realized what was happening and said sarcastically, "Big brother means to sell it at your sister-in-law's shop? Tsk tsk, how much or how little you sell it for will be up to you, won't it?"

“You’re wrong. We can keep track of how much we produce each day, and we can reconcile the accounts when we sell it.”

"Hmph, that's not necessarily true. What if they say they're selling it for two taels, but actually sell it for two and a half taels? We wouldn't know that," Su Youcai said with a roguish grin.

Xiang agreed, saying, "That's right, if you ask me, it's best for us to sell them ourselves."

Su Youfu stared at the two who had ruined his plans with a gloomy look in their eyes. They had actually thwarted all his schemes.

"If you have money, then tell me your thoughts," Old Man Su asked.

"Father, why don't we rent a shop and sell this perfume ourselves?"

Su Youfu immediately shook his head, "How can that be? I am a scholar, after all. There is a hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. If our family goes into business, my career will be jeopardized."

Grandpa Su nodded. "Indeed, we can't let your elder brother's future be delayed."

"Father, this is actually not difficult to solve. Just put the shop under the name of our fourth branch, and that will be fine."

"Hmph, fourth brother, don't forget, your Su Lin will also be competing next year."

Su Youcai choked. Indeed, if they went into business, it would affect Su Lin.

Suddenly, Madam Xiang said, "Father, it's not impossible to cooperate with my sister-in-law's family, but we need to get Youcai to help out at the shop as well."

"No."

"That won't do!!"

Su Youfu and Chen immediately refuted this.

"This won't work, that won't work, so what do you mean, brother?" Su Youcai smiled sarcastically, as if he could see through Su Youfu's thoughts.

Grandpa Su was getting a headache from the two brothers arguing, so he remembered he had another son. "Second son, what do you think?"

Su Youlu scratched the back of his head and grinned sheepishly. "Dad, this is the thing Wan'er was working on during the day, right? It's not certain if it will sell, and we don't even know how much silver it will fetch. Why don't we try setting up a stall in town first? If it sells well, then we can think about the shop."

Su Youcai immediately nodded, "Second brother is right, Dad. Let's give it a try first. We can't just listen to what others say about two taels. Maybe we can sell it for three taels and someone will want it."

Su Youfu gave Su Youlu and Su Youcai a gloomy look and then remained silent.

Madam Chen couldn't sit still any longer. If she didn't sell these at her shop, how could she explain it to her father?

As if reading her mind, Madam Xiang smiled and said, "Actually, you can also sell it at your sister-in-law's shop. We can offer you a wholesale price. What do you think, sister-in-law?"

Chen glanced at her father-in-law sitting at the head of the table, but ultimately didn't dare to say anything more.