Reborn at 80: From Village Scoundrel to Billionaire

Soon, Fan Xibei, Zhao Liuzhi, and Fan Xibei's wife Li Xiulan arrived at the village committee entrance at a brisk pace.

By this time, the area in front of the village committee was already packed with people.

The villagers chatted amongst themselves in small groups, all wondering why the Party Secretary had called them together so early in the morning.

Fan Xibei stopped and quickly scanned the crowd.

There is no Liu Bei.

There was no Fan Ha'er either.

Even Li Dazhuang and Tan Si were not there.

He was overjoyed.

Zhao Liuzhi stood on tiptoe, craning his neck to make sure he didn't see those familiar figures. Then, straightening his back and beaming with barely suppressed joy, he leaned close to Fan Xibei's ear and whispered, "Brother Xibei, am I right? None of them came! They must have been caught by the police at the black market last night!"

Fan Xibei smirked and patted Zhao Liuzhi on the shoulder: "Well done."

"Absolutely! Liu Bei is really done for this time. He'll be in jail for a few years, let's see how arrogant he can be then!" Zhao Liuzhi said with a smug look on his face.

"Um?"

Upon hearing this, a plump middle-aged woman nearby, who was eating sunflower seeds, with sharp ears, said, "Six Fingers, what nonsense are you muttering about? Who got arrested by the police?"

As soon as he finished speaking, more than a dozen villagers around him turned around and stared at Zhao Liuzhi.

Seeing this, Fan Xibei spoke first: "Fellow villagers, it's like this. Last night, Liu Bei took Fan Ha'er and a few others to the black market to engage in speculation and profiteering, and they were arrested by the police!"

Zhao Liuzhi nodded repeatedly in agreement, "Yes, yes, yes! They were arrested by the police!"

"..."

The moment these words were spoken, the entire room fell into a deathly silence.

Immediately, the crowd erupted in uproar.

"What? Beizi got arrested?"

"Oh dear! What are we going to do! He went there to raise tuition fees for the kids in our village!"

"Is the black market something you can just go to whenever you want? This is it, we're done for, we're in jail and all our money is gone!"

The villagers were shocked, worried, and regretful.

Several men, especially those with children waiting to start school, were so anxious they were slapping their thighs.

Seeing the villagers running around in a panic, Fan Xibei and Zhao Liuzhi exchanged a glance and felt extremely pleased.

Although Liu Bei has recently gained some fame for hunting, his reputation will be completely ruined once he goes to jail.

As time goes by, who will remember Liu Bei?

From then on, no one in the village could ever be superior to Fan Xibei.

At that time, those three beautiful women in Liu Bei's house... hehe, they'll be at his mercy...

"Bullshit! Who said we were arrested?"

Just then, a deep, resonant voice boomed.

The villagers all looked in the direction of the sound.

Li Dazhuang walked over with his bull-like eyes wide open.

Behind him were Old Tan, Tan Si, and Fan Shuanzhu and Chen Qiaolan.

The villagers were stunned when they saw Li Dazhuang and Tan Si walking over in good health.

The plump woman pointed at Li Dazhuang and Fan Xibei and demanded, "Xibei, didn't you say Dazhuang and the others were arrested by the police? They're right here, aren't they? How do you explain this?"

"Yeah, explain it!"

"Why aren't you saying anything? You two, explain yourselves!!!"

Instantly, the villagers turned their anger towards Fan Xibei and Zhao Liuzhi.

"..."

Fan Xibei was stunned.

He stared intently at Li Dazhuang as he approached, then turned and glared fiercely at Zhao Liuzhi.

"Impossible...it can't be...I clearly saw the police leave last night..."

Zhao Liuzhi was so frightened that he trembled all over and backed away repeatedly, shaking his head like a rattle drum.

Li Dazhuang rushed to the two men, grabbed Zhao Liuzhi by the collar, and lifted him up.

"You saw the police go last night? How did you know we were on the black market? Who told you we were arrested? Tell me!!!"

Tan Si also stepped forward, staring coldly at Fan Xibei: "Brother Xibei, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. Spreading rumors comes with consequences."

Fan Xibei and Zhao Liuzhi were forced to retreat repeatedly.

The two looked at each other, completely panicked.

"I...we heard it from others..." Fan Xibei forced a defense, waving his hands repeatedly, "Yes, we heard it from others!"

"Who told you that? Bring that person out for a face-to-face confrontation!" Li Dazhuang asked angrily.

"This..." Fan Xibei stammered, cold sweat dripping from his forehead.

"Is there even a question? It must have been Fan Xibei and Zhao Liuzhi who reported it themselves."

Just then, another voice rang out.

Upon hearing this, the entire village turned to look in the direction of the voice, and saw Liu Bei walking gracefully towards them.

Behind him followed Zhao Da'e, Fan Ha'er, and three women: Zhao Chunyan, Lin Wanqiu, and Su Yuehe.

"It's Xiao Bei, he's alright!"

"Beizi! I'm so glad you're alright!"

"Beizi, what exactly happened?"

The villagers were overjoyed and took the initiative to surround him and greet him.

Liu Bei smiled and responded to each of them, then walked straight to Fan Xibei and Zhao Liuzhi.

Seeing Liu Bei standing perfectly fine in front of him, without a single hair missing, Fan Xibei was completely dumbfounded.

He turned his head sharply and glared fiercely at Zhao Liuzhi.

That look clearly questioned: Didn't you fucking say he was arrested?! What on earth happened?!

Zhao Liuzhi's legs went weak from the glare, his lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a single word for a long time.

Just as the situation reached a stalemate, a coughing sound came from outside the crowd.

"Ahem! Make way, everyone!"

Village Party Secretary Fan Sanyuan walked over with his hands behind his back and a pigeon-toed gait.

Upon seeing this, the villagers quickly made way and greeted him.

"The Party Secretary is here."

Good morning, Party Secretary.

Fan Sanyuan walked up the steps of the village committee and stood in the middle.

His gaze swept across the entire room, lingering on Liu Bei for a second longer, before he raised his hand and gestured for him to calm down.

"Alright, quiet down!"

Silence fell instantly.

Fan Sanyuan cleared his throat and announced loudly, "I've gathered everyone here so early this morning because I have some incredibly good news to announce!"

"Last night, Liu Bei from our village, along with Da Zhuang, Ha'er, and a few others, went to the county town overnight and sold that water ghost!"

"That water ghost sold for a total of three hundred and sixty yuan!"

"Boom!"

Immediately, gasps of astonishment erupted from the crowd.

Three hundred and sixty yuan!

These days, even a strong laborer couldn't save that much money in a year!

How can a water ghost sell for so much?

This isn't some kind of water ghost, it's a money printing machine!

The next moment, Fan Sanyuan continued:

"What I didn't expect was..."

"Liu Bei didn't keep a single penny! He donated all 360 yuan to the village! To pay for the kids' tuition!"

At this point, Fan Sanyuan took out all the thick stacks of ten-yuan notes.

quiet!

quiet!

quiet!

A deathly silence fell over the area around the village committee.

Everyone stared wide-eyed in disbelief at the thick wad of banknotes in the Party Secretary's hand.

That's three hundred and sixty yuan!

Even if it's just half, it would still be a great kindness.

But Liu Bei donated it all without keeping a single penny!

That's amazing!

"Well done, Beizi!"

"Beizi, you're a real man!"

"Having you in our village is a blessing!"

The villagers all gave Liu Bei a thumbs up, their eyes filled with deep respect and gratitude.

Fan Sanyuan handed the money to the village accountant next to him, and then led the applause.

"Come on! Let's all give Liu Bei a round of applause!"

"Clap clap clap!"

Thunderous applause erupted immediately.

Liu Bei instantly became the focus of respect for the entire village.

Fan Xibei and Zhao Liuzhi were extremely embarrassed. They wanted to clap along, but they just couldn't lift their hands.

I wanted to slip away, but there were people all around, so there was no way to escape.

Just then, the plump woman shouted at Fan Sanyuan on the stage, "Secretary! I have something to say!"

"Before Beizi and the others arrived, Zhao Liuzhi told Fan Xibei that Beizi and his gang had been arrested by the police!"

"Beizi and his gang went to sell the water ghosts for the sake of our village's children! But those two heartless bastards stabbed us in the back; they're utterly despicable!"

"I propose that the village must severely punish these two bastards! Otherwise, who will dare to do good deeds for the village in the future?"

These words instantly ignited the villagers' anger.

"Yes, severely punish them! They must be severely punished!!!"

"A scoundrel who betrays his country!"

"Secretary! This kind of person cannot be let off lightly! He must be severely punished!"