Rebirth: Not Being a Waste - Chapter 118

Qianjin ran to the sheep, not minding the dirt, and immediately reached out to touch one of the lambs. One lamb trembled under his hand, while the other, annoyed by the touch, butted Qianjin with its head.

The dogs at home quickly surrounded the dairy sheep, barking loudly and baring their teeth, pretending to bite. The two sheep, frightened, ran straight to their mother’s belly. The ewe shook violently, resembling a leaf caught in an autumn wind.

Everyone watching thought the dog at home was quite impressive. Raising a dog didn’t cost much, just feeding it some leftovers, but it certainly offered more than it was given.

The villagers, who were once poor, became much wealthier thanks to the Zhang family. Their savings grew, and there were always two or three types of meat on the table each month. With their improved financial situation, many villagers began to consider raising dogs.

Last year, Xiaohu gave birth to another litter of puppies. Because they were well-fed, there were eight chubby puppies in total, which Zhou Nan adored. The twins, however, grew jealous at times.

Soon, the villagers divided the eight puppies among themselves, and the sound of their barking filled the village at night.

Though the thieves were never caught, the increased number of dogs kept away any small animals that liked to steal chickens. Even the number of mice in the village dropped significantly.

Li Yan’s cat became quite fat. It was no longer as soft and cute as it used to be, and it grew elusive, mostly appearing only at mealtime. However, Li Yan saw it several times jumping off the roof with mice in its mouth. This reassured him, so he abandoned the idea of reducing its food intake. After all, farm families didn’t keep pets that didn’t work.

Zhang Shu chatted with everyone outside for a while before driving the ewe and dairy sheep into the sheepfold, where the two sheep were locked up. After washing his hands, he went to the room to check on Li Mujin and Zhang Erbao.

Zhang Erbao, like a little piglet, was still asleep. His arms were raised, fists clenched, and his face was red from sleep. He looked so cute.

Li Mujin was bored. The hot weather made it hard to sit and talk with him all day. He could only tease the child, who, of course, was only interested in sleeping.

“Why did you take so long?” he asked.

“I was delayed at Master Chu’s place. By the way, I gave them the recipe for the tea eggs, but I didn’t charge them.”

“Just give it to them. He can’t open a shop across from us anyway.” Li Mujin was open-minded. When she and Zhang Shu only owned a few dozen taels of silver, they still lived well. Now that they owned a few thousand taels, they were even more confident. Other matters seemed trivial to them, and if they didn’t pay, then so be it.

There was, however, one thing that concerned them.

Before the Chinese New Year, Zhou Nan and Li Mujin went to the county town’s fabric shop to buy fabric for new clothes, as everyone needed to wear new clothes for the New Year. Now that the family was doing well, they felt it was important to dress well. If they were stingy, they wouldn’t be able to make money.

That particular shop was closed, so they headed to another one at the end of the street. Though the shop wasn’t busy, it had a number of assistants. Two or three of them gathered in front of the counter, chatting lazily.

When Li Mujin and the others walked in, only one person glanced at them, but when he saw they were wearing plain cloth, his slight enthusiasm immediately vanished. He turned his head and didn’t acknowledge them, going back to chatting with his colleagues.

Li Mujin, who was pregnant at the time, felt irritated. What did they mean by this? Were they looking down on them?

Zhou Nan pulled him aside, signaling that they should leave quickly and not engage with such people.

Li Mujin, though still upset, listened and started to look at the fabrics. However, the cotton fabric felt rough and prickly, not at all like the soft cotton they were used to.

As they discussed the fabric, one of the clerks suddenly spoke up, saying loudly, “If you want to buy, buy. If you can’t afford it, then leave. Our fabric is already showing indentations from being squeezed.”

Zhou Nan waved at the clerk. “Is your cotton mixed with coarse cloth? Why doesn’t it feel soft at all?”

The clerk didn’t move but replied dismissively, “You’re probably used to coarse cloth, so everything feels like that. Our fabrics are pure cotton. We’ve been selling them for years, and we don’t cheat anyone. Don’t look for faults if you can’t afford it!”

Zhou Nan’s face reddened. He grew up poor, and it was rare for him to wear a new set of clothes, but he wasn’t ignorant when it came to fabric.

Li Mujin was furious. He sneered and said, “Get your shopkeeper!”

Immediately, the shop assistants looked up. Seeing the expression on Li Mujin’s face, they chuckled, “There’s no point asking for the shopkeeper. We don’t accept business under ten taels.”

Li Mujin casually took out a fifty-tael silver note and waved it in front of them. “I don’t know if you can read, but if you can, go get the shopkeeper. Otherwise, you’ll be the first to regret it once we leave.”

The assistants looked closely at the silver note, clearly seeing the five words on it—”Fifty Taels.” That was equivalent to the money their store earned in two months. Their expressions shifted, and they hurried off to fetch the shopkeeper while enthusiastically inviting Li Mujin and the others to look at their fabrics.

The cloth that was labeled as “pure cotton” before was now discarded. The new cloth brought by the assistants was soft and delicate, with a fine texture. This was real cotton cloth, but in this store, they called it “superior cotton cloth,” which was three cents more expensive than the regular kind.

Li Mujin and Zhou Nan didn’t comment on whether it was good or bad; they simply allowed them to bring it over, flipping it open to take a look, pressing it in their hands. It turned out that their actions, which were once seen as a sign of being petty, now, with the appearance of the silver bills, were considered a display of refinement by wealthy people.

They became even more excited, not only bringing out all the cotton but also bringing out two or three bolts of silk satin. Li Mujin wasn’t shy and began to feel the fabric, inviting Zhou Nan to take a look as well. In fact, this silk was not as smooth as the few bolts stored at Li Mujin’s home, which were given to him by the young masters Chu and Zhou.

Finally, the shopkeeper arrived. He had been listening to a storyteller at the Chenji Teahouse and was still grumbling when he was called back. But once he heard about the fifty-tael business, his energy surged.

Li Mujin saw the shopkeeper and asked, “Are you the shopkeeper?”

“Yes, yes, I am,” the shopkeeper replied, sizing up Li Mujin and realizing he wasn’t an ordinary person. Though dressed in simple cloth, the fact that he was spending fifty taels meant he couldn’t be just anyone.

Li Mujin continued, “Is this how your staff treats customers? They don’t greet anyone when they arrive and even make sarcastic remarks when we’re looking at things. What kind of habit is this—respecting clothes first and then people? If you meet someone with a bad temper, your store could end up smashed!”

Li Mujin’s words were firm, and he saw the shop assistants’ faces turn red. He paused, then slowly put the fifty-tael note back in his pocket and pulled Zhou Nan out of the store.

The shopkeeper rushed after them, calling out, “Customer, aren’t you going to buy anything?”

“What else is there to buy?” Li Mujin replied. “You’ve upset me. Wait until I calm down!” With that, the two of them left the shop.

Zhou Nan’s anger dissipated, and the frustration of being looked down upon was gone. Though money wasn’t the best thing in life, it certainly helped in this world.

Recently, a customer began coming to the Zhang family’s store. He seemed to enjoy their food very much, coming for breakfast in the mornings and ordering sour and spicy at both lunch and dinner for several days in a row. This caught their attention.

The customer often asked questions when they had free time, such as “Is the store busy? How many employees do you usually hire? Do you have someone to guard the store at night?”

Second Aunt secretly speculated that he might be looking for a job, hence his detailed inquiries.

However, she wasn’t short of staff. Second Aunt helped out with the youngest son of her older brother. Earlier this year, her eldest son and daughter-in-law also came over because Zhang Shu bought the shop next door, and their business expanded significantly.

To dissuade the customer from his idea, the second aunt exaggerated a little, telling him that there were more than a dozen people working at the store, with four or five night watchers.

After hearing this, the customer left with a sour expression. But the second aunt had no choice; if she didn’t say it, would he have given up?

The man who came to inquire was rather unremarkable in appearance, someone who could easily be forgotten after one glance. His name was Zhao Lao’er, and he was one of the four members of the river bandits group.

He returned to the small boat and told the others about the incident. Originally, they planned to kill and set fire to the shop under the cover of night, but this idea immediately vanished. They only had four people, and their weapons were just short knives. They likely wouldn’t be able to kill anyone, and they would only end up alerting the surrounding people instead.

There was an organization along the river paid to protect the merchants. They patrolled at night, and anyone who crossed them would end up in serious trouble. After one plan failed, the river bandits could think of nothing else except killing and arson. Their strategist, a brother who used to provide them with ideas, died, and now they were left without a plan.

That day, San Cunding returned from his “business” and brought with him a bundle left behind by a passenger—a packet of dried plums.

San Cunding shared the plums with the group, cursing as he ate. “Damn him, holding onto a bag of dried goods so tightly. I thought it was silver, thought I’d hit the jackpot today. Instead, it’s this crap. I put a lot of effort into stabbing him and kicking him into the water.”

The other river bandits cursed along with him. These people were poor, and generally, those with money didn’t use small boats. Only those in a hurry or lacking funds chose such boats.

San Cunding, after eating too many dried plums, woke up several times during the night. His face was pale, and he was vomiting bile.

Other bandits had similar symptoms, though not as severe.

San Cunding lay in bed, cursing weakly. “That bastard! I feel like this after eating his food. If he’s still alive, I’ll make sure he regrets giving me this junk!”

One of the bandits suddenly had an idea. “What if the food vendor sold something that could kill people? Heh…” he muttered, grinning.

Panshan Village

“Shuanzi Aba, are you out walking again?”

A boy with a round belly smiled and answered, “Yes, just out for a walk.”

He was waiting for Brother Ashan to return. He went to the city to do business and promised to bring back dried plums. But why hadn’t he returned yet? The baby in his belly was growing impatient.

He stood at the entrance of the village, looking off into the distance…