Reborn at 80: From Village Scoundrel to Billionaire

The second shop was slightly larger.

Behind the counter was a middle-aged man in his forties.

"Boss, are you ready to receive the goods?" Liu Bei handed over the basket.

The middle-aged man peeked out and raised his eyebrows.

He pushed aside the mudfish on top and saw the densely packed eels underneath. In addition, there were frogs, water snakes, skinks, and other creatures in the other baskets. His eyes lit up.

"Are they all wild?"

"Just caught from the field. Boss, name your price."

The man picked up an eel, weighed it in his hand, pinched its body, and nodded.

"Eels are 2.8 yuan each, loaches are 2.1 yuan each, water snakes are 3 yuan each. Skinks are 2 yuan each, frogs are 0.8 yuan per pound, grass carp are 1.7 yuan each, and snakehead fish are 2 yuan each."

Liu Bei quickly did the math in his mind.

Compared to the price quoted by that slutty young woman next door, it's almost half as much.

Sure enough, the different shades of purple dots corresponded to varying levels of profit.

"Okay. Let's weigh it."

The man was quick and efficient; he put down the scale, announced the weight, and calculated the bill in one go.

Yellow eels, 24 jin or so, 67.2 yuan. Loach, 6 jin, 12.6 yuan. Water snake, 3 jin, 9 yuan. Skinks, 4, 8 yuan. Frogs, 3 jin, 2.4 yuan. Grass carp and black carp, plus 1 yuan, 5 jin, 9.1 yuan.

"That's a total of one hundred and eight dollars and three mao. Rounded down, it's one hundred and eight dollars exactly."

The man counted the money and handed it over.

Then they weighed Fan Ha'er again.

The eels weighed over six jin (approximately 3 catties), and the loaches weighed three jin (approximately 1.5 kg), totaling twenty-three yuan and forty cents.

Fan Ha'er's hands were trembling when he took the money.

He counted it three times, over and over, extremely excited. "Brother Bei... this is more than my dad earns in a month of fishing..."

"What's this? You'll earn even more if you follow me!"

Liu Bei patted him on the shoulder and glanced at the young woman's shop next door.

The young woman was idly peeling sunflower seeds on the counter when she saw Liu Bei looking over and raised an eyebrow.

Liu Beichong waved the money in his hand at her, then deliberately pointed to his chest: "Sister, you're so greedy. You should put on some makeup to cover it up. It doesn't look good if you're too dark!"

"you……"

The young woman's face darkened instantly, and she crushed the sunflower seed shells in her hand.

She opened her mouth, wanting to unleash a torrent of abuse, but seeing the crowds coming and going in the market, and several vendors waiting to see what would happen, she had to swallow her words back.

The middle-aged man chuckled and said to Liu Bei, "Young man, if you need any more of this kind of wild produce in the future, just come to me. My name is Chen Shunzi, everyone in town knows me. Bulk discounts available, and the price is negotiable."

"Alright. See you later, Mr. Chen."

Liu Bei and Fan Ha'er carried their empty baskets out of the alley.

Soon, Liu Bei went to the fur shop and the herbal medicine shop on West Street and sold two wolf skins and pangolin scales.

The wolf pelt was of good quality, with a nice coat color, and the shop owner gritted his teeth and gave him seventy yuan.

There weren't many pangolin scales, so the herbal medicine shop charged them five yuan.

Liu Bei sat on a stone bench by the street and counted all his money.

The seafood cost 108, the wolf pelt 70, the scales 5, plus the 29 left in my pocket, for a total of 212.

He divided the money and put it in his inner pocket, then took Fan Ha'er straight to the supply and marketing cooperative.

As soon as he walked in, Liu Bei went straight to the point and asked,

"Comrade, do you have sanitary napkins?"

The saleswoman, a woman in her fifties, looked up in surprise when she heard that a man wanted to buy women's products. She sized Liu Bei up and down.

"Are you sure you, a grown man, are going to buy this?"

"Yes. I bought these for my wife. Six packs, please."

"Oh, you're buying this for your wife. I thought you were buying it for yourself! It's seven cents a pack, no bargaining."

Liu Bei was speechless, his lips twitching slightly. "Take it."

Fan Ha'er leaned closer, craned his neck to peek at the packaging, and muttered, "Brother Bei, what's this? Is it for Aunt Flo?"

Liu Bei pushed his head aside: "Shut up, go outside and wait."

Sanitary napkins cost 4.2 yuan.

Then he went around the supply and marketing cooperative for a long time.

Three pairs of small plastic sandals, one red, one yellow, and one blue, for five yuan and forty cents.

Two bags of White Rabbit milk candy, 1.6 yuan.

Three catties of brown sugar, one yuan and fifty cents.

Two bags of salt, 80 cents.

Soy sauce, vinegar, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, and other miscellaneous items cost a little over three yuan.

One hundred jin of rice, without grain coupons, can only be bought at a negotiated price of four mao per jin, forty yuan.

After leaving the supply and marketing cooperative, Liu Bei went into a pharmacy.

His son had a slight cough, so he bought a bottle of Chuanbei Loquat Syrup for three yuan and fifty cents.

My third wife had a fever, so I got three doses of Bupleurum Decoction, which cost four yuan.

I had my period again, so I bought a box of Wuji Baifeng Wan (a traditional Chinese medicine) to take after my period ended. It cost two yuan.

Then I bought two bottles of ferrous sulfate tablets, which cost me one yuan.

In addition, following the doctor's advice, two more prescriptions were prepared for Liu Bao to regulate his spleen and lungs, costing another six yuan.

All things considered, Liu Bei spent a total of one hundred and five yuan.

I have 105 yuan left in my pocket.

After taking inventory, Liu Bei packed the items into two burlap sacks, carrying the larger items himself and having Fan Ha'er carry the smaller ones.

The two walked towards the village, and halfway there, Fan Ha'er suddenly slapped his thigh.

"Brother Bei! You bought so much stuff, your wives will be so happy when they find out! Especially that 'Auntie's Gift'!"

If you mention your period again, I'll throw you into a ditch.

……

In the village, at the Liu family's house.

The courtyard gate was wide open.

There were four people standing in the courtyard.

The leader was a man in his thirties with a pockmarked face on his left cheek. He was wearing a plaid men's shirt and holding a yellowed piece of paper in his hand.

His name is Wang Mazi.

He was a notorious gangster in town, specializing in loan sharking and running gambling dens, and he had seven or eight henchmen under his command.

In his previous life, Liu Bei lost everything at his gambling table, leaving him with nothing but a mountain of debt.

Today, Wang Mazi has come to collect debts.

He was followed by three henchmen, each carrying a wooden stick, and they all looked incredibly tough.

Zhao Chunyan stood at the entrance of the main room, holding a kitchen knife in her right hand and shielding Su Yuehe and Lin Wanqiu behind her with her left.

The three children huddled around Lin Wanqiu's legs, and Liu Nian cried so hard she could barely breathe.

Liu Panpan didn't cry, but her face turned pale as she desperately protected her younger siblings.

Zhao Da'e was blocked to the side by one of her underlings, and she was so angry that she was trembling all over.

"Wang Mazi! You shameless bastard! What kind of skill is it to come to a woman's door and bully her?" Zhao Da'e cursed.

Wang Mazi completely ignored her, waving the IOU in his hand and saying sarcastically, "Auntie, it's not that I'm being disrespectful. This is your son Liu Bei's signature and seal, a hundred yuan including principal and interest. It's been dragging on for more than half a year, and I'm only coming today, which is already giving you a lot of face."

After speaking, he glanced at Zhao Chunyan and Su Yuehe, licked his lips,

"Of course, don't say I, Wang Mazi, am not giving you a way to survive. If you can't come up with the money today, I can take either of these two women with me. As long as I sleep with them for three months, this debt will be settled. What do you say, ma'am?"

"Bullshit!" Zhao Chunyan raised the kitchen knife forward. "You dare touch a single finger? Believe me, I'll chop you up!"

Wang Mazi narrowed his eyes and sneered.

"Wow, she's a hot chick. I love the fiery kind. Guys, bring this hot chick over here."

"You dare!"

Before Wang Mazi's men could make a move, Liu Bei, who had just returned home, rushed in.

He surveyed the situation in the courtyard.

Zhao Chunyan held a kitchen knife, while Su Yuehe trembled behind Lin Wanqiu. Her gaze finally fell on the three children.

The eldest daughter, Liu Panpan, neither cried nor hid. She stood in front of her younger siblings, holding a sharpened twig in her hand.

The little girl and son were terrified, their eyes filled with fear.

Seeing this, Liu Bei's eyes turned cold.

"Wang Mazi, you dare touch my woman? You want to die?"

Wang Mazi turned around and sneered, "Oh, so the real deal's back. Good. One hundred yuan, settled today. If you can't come up with that—"

"Fuck you!"

Before Wang Mazi could finish speaking, Liu Bei darted forward, grabbed Wang Mazi's wrist that was holding the IOU, and then twisted it forcefully.

"Ah..." Wang Mazi screamed in agony, enraged, roaring...

"What are you all standing there for? Charge! All of you, get him!"

"You dare hit my older brother? You're asking for death!"

Three henchmen rushed up, wielding wooden sticks.

Liu Bei released Wang Mazi, dodged the first stick, and punched the henchman at the front in the temple with his right fist.

"Bang!"

The man's eyes rolled back and he fell down.

At that moment, the second one came from the side and kicked him in the stomach. He flew out and overturned the water vat in the yard.

The third person was so frightened by Liu Bei's sudden outburst that he stood frozen in place, trembling. Liu Bei quickly rushed over and kicked him to the ground.

Time flew by; from start to finish, it only took six or seven seconds before Liu Bei had taken down all three of Wang Mazi's henchmen.

quiet!

The entire courtyard fell silent instantly!

Wang Mazi's face was filled with disbelief. "Liu Bei, you...you dare to hit me..."

"If you keep making noise, I'll cut your tongue out."

"..."

Liu Bei pulled out a wad of cash from his inner pocket, counted out a hundred yuan, and threw it at Wang Mazi's face.

"One hundred dollars. I'll pay you back in full, principal and interest. Give me the IOU."

"Here...for you!"

Wang Mazi handed over the IOU with trembling hands.

Liu Bei glanced at it, then tore it into pieces and threw it on the ground right in front of him.

"Wang Mazi, listen to me carefully. From today onwards, if you dare to step into my Liu family's courtyard again—"

Liu Bei grabbed a wooden stick and snapped it in two with a snap.

I'll break your legs.

“Okay… okay…”

Wang Mazi picked up the money and fled with his three henchmen, scrambling and stumbling away...