Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Chapter 185 "Big Girl" Sister

After everyone had returned to their rooms, Uncle Ma pounded on the door even harder.

"Hey girl...hey girl...do you want some of the braised pork noodles I made?"

"Ah, braised pork noodles! I'll eat it, save me a bowl."

Who would have thought that as soon as Uncle Ma finished speaking, Da Niu's reply came from inside. Zhang Youtie gritted his teeth to force himself not to laugh. Liu Shi, on the other hand, couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Uncle Ma heard some movement inside and continued to shout, "Big girl, open the door quickly! Master and Madam are here. If you don't open the door, you won't get enough to eat anymore!"

"Ah? Master... Madam?"

At this moment, Da Niu, who was sitting on the kang, was still in a daze. She heard the words spoken by the people outside, but she couldn't understand what they meant.

"She's awake, but still a little dazed," Nineteen reminded Uncle Ma from the side, hearing Da Niu's murmurs.

"Big Girl, it's Uncle Ma! Open the door quickly, Master and Madam are here. Big Girl... Big Girl..." Upon hearing Nineteen's words, Uncle Ma quickly increased the force of his knocking on the door.

The drowsy girl sitting on the kang (heated brick bed) finally woke up completely when she heard the words "Master" and "Madam" again.

"Coming, coming, sir and madam, please wait a moment, I'll be right there," Da Niu called out as she quickly put on her coat.

Soon, the door opened, and a rush of hot air rushed out of the room. Seeing the person standing in the doorway, Da Niu scratched her messy hair, feeling embarrassed.

"Hehe, sir, madam, I was sleeping quite soundly."

"Hmm, I slept really well!" Zhang Youtie said, stamping his slightly numb feet.

"Hehe..." Da Niu stepped aside to let Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi into the house. Hearing Zhang Youtie's words, she chuckled awkwardly.

The group entered the house, and Liu glanced around. The furnishings were quite simple: a small table on the kang (heated brick bed) with two bowls on it; a cabinet with a row of bedding on the kang; a kettle on the stove; a basin stand with a washbasin on it; and a toothbrush cup and a jar of salt on the windowsill. Other than these, there was nothing else in the house.

"Big girl, this is our newest member, Nineteen. She'll be sharing a room with you from now on. Can you help me see if we need anything? Go ask Aunt Ma to bring her over tomorrow." Liu Shi beckoned to Nineteen, who was following behind, and introduced her to Big Girl.

After saying that, she turned to Shijiu and said, "This is Da Niu. You two will sleep in the same room from now on. She will take you with her tomorrow..." She stopped mid-sentence, looked at Shijiu's black clothes, and changed her mind, "Never mind, I will arrange for Aunt Ma to bring your clothes to you first thing tomorrow morning. You should put away the clothes you are wearing."

"Yes, Madam, Nineteen knows everything," Shen Nineteen said obediently, bowing to Madam Liu.

Seeing that everything was arranged, he instructed the two girls to lock the door and get some rest. The group then went out, and Uncle Ma escorted Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi home before turning back to his room to sleep.

By the pond, in Da Niu's room.

Looking at the new girl, Nineteen, Da Niu thought she was really pretty, with round eyes as cute as her own little sister. Seeing Nineteen, who was shorter than her, Da Niu felt a surge of elder sisterly affection.

"Nineteen, how old are you? You look younger than me, so why don't you call me Big Sister from now on?"

Looking at the kind-faced girl in front of her, Nineteen's round eyes curved into a smile as she spoke.

"Big Sister, I'm twelve. How old are you, Big Sister?"

"Um..." Da Niu hesitated for a moment after hearing Shi Jiu's answer and looking at the person who was half a head shorter than her. However, she thought Shi Jiu was pretty and didn't want to give up the opportunity to be her older sister, so she replied somewhat guiltily.

I'm almost thirteen.

"Oh, so Sister Da Niu is a bit older than me. I just turned twelve!" Seeing Da Niu's slightly wandering eyes, Nineteen didn't expose her little scheme. People like Da Niu were much more reassuring than the people in her previous place.

Seeing that Shijiu had no doubts, Da Niu happily put herself in the role of the older sister.

"Nineteen, you sleep on the kang, it's warm here." As she spoke, she carried her own bedding to the other side of the kang table and brought over Zhang Youtie's quilt to make up the bed for Nineteen.

After setting up the kang (heated brick bed), he turned around and saw that Nineteen was still standing in the same spot, so he called to her.

"Nineteen, come and sleep, aren't you sleepy!" he said, then explained to her.

“We don’t have enough bedding at home. You can do what I did, spreading half of it under your body and covering the other half with it. But don’t worry, Madam has already asked the aunties in the house to make some. Once they’re done, we’ll get some new ones, and then we can spread one bedding on the ground and cover ourselves with the other.”

Actually, Nineteen had just suddenly thought of the scene when she was training with the leader. The warm room and the kind-hearted girl made her too relaxed, and she was a little distracted for a moment.

Hearing Da Niu's rambling explanation, Shi Jiu praised with a smile, "Da Niu, you're so smart! I was just thinking about how to sleep."

She took off her clothes and, like Da Niu, used half of the quilt to cushion herself and the other half to cover herself. Da Niu, seeing that she was settled, got up and extinguished the oil lamp.

Perhaps she was sleepy, but in the darkness, Da Niu tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. After a while, she whispered, "..."

"Nineteen, are you asleep?"

"You're still awake? What's wrong, Sister Da Niu?"

"Why are you called Nineteen? Is it because you're the nineteenth in your family? Or were you born on the nineteenth?" Da Niu couldn't sleep, so she made conversation with Nineteen.

But after she asked, she didn't hear Nineteen's reply. After a long while, just when Da Niu thought she had fallen asleep, Nineteen's voice came from the darkness.

"I have many uncles, cousins, brothers, and sisters. I am the nineteenth child, so I was given this name."

"Oh, I guessed it! That's how we named our children too. But all the boys in my family have names, and the girls are named with numbers. You see, I'm called Da Niu, my sister is called Er Niu, my second uncle's sister is called San Niu, and my little sister is called Si Niu..." Da Niu counted on her fingers, telling Shi Jiu the names of her siblings one by one. But after she finished, she realized that Shi Jiu was breathing evenly and had fallen asleep.

Afraid of disturbing Shijiu, Daniu lay on the kang without daring to turn over. After lying there for a while, she became sleepy and soon fell asleep, her snoring indicating that she was sleeping soundly.

In the darkness, Nineteen opened her eyes, staring at the pitch-black roof. Thinking of the past, she pinched her thigh hard. The pain made her realize she had truly crawled out of that dark swamp. But this happiness should have belonged to her older sister, Seventeen. In their final match, a slip of the tongue allowed her to win by sheer luck. The words her sister, her face covered in blood, smiling at her as the leader took her away, she could always recall when she closed her eyes: 'Live well.'

A tear rolled down her cheek and disappeared into the clothes she was using as a pillow.