Reborn at 80: From Village Scoundrel to Billionaire

Liu Bei squatted down and placed three pairs of plastic sandals on the ground.

Red, yellow, blue. Brand new, with the distinctive rubber smell of the supply and marketing cooperative.

"Panpan, the red one is yours. Niannian, the yellow one is for you. Bao'er, the blue one..."

"don't want."

Liu Panpan didn't even glance at it.

"Sister, no, I don't want it either," Liu Nian whispered from behind her sister.

Liu Bao coughed twice while sitting on the low stool, his eyes lingered on the blue sandals for a moment, then quickly looked away and withdrew his feet.

Three pairs of shoes were placed in front of the three children, but no one reached out.

Liu Bei remained in a squatting position, his hands hanging in mid-air.

"A bad person is a bad person." Liu Panpan finally spoke, her voice not loud, but each word was pronounced clearly, "Today you give him a pair of shoes, tomorrow you beat him up. You once gave Bao'er a candy figurine, and the next day you dragged him off the bed and threw him in the yard because his cough was too noisy."

"A snowy day."

He had a high fever for three days.

"You're trying to use the same old tricks to fool us again? Do you think we'll believe you?"

"boom!"

These words struck Liu Bei like a thunderbolt.

He slowly lowered his hand.

A memory surfaced.

I remember that snowy day. In my past life, I had been drinking and found my son's cough annoying, so I left my four-year-old child in the yard to freeze for half the night.

It was only when Lin Wanqiu went to the outhouse in the middle of the night that she discovered it.

After that, Liu Bao's health deteriorated further.

"No wonder they didn't believe in themselves, they deserve it!"

Looking at her son, who stood frozen in place, and then at her three grandchildren with tense little faces, Zhao Da'e stepped forward and grabbed all three pairs of sandals.

"Grandma will keep it. Ask Grandma for it when you want to wear it. Come on, let's go to the backyard to watch the ants climb the tree."

She held Niannian's hand in one hand and Bao'er's hand in the other. She glanced at Panpan, who hesitated for a moment, but still went with her grandmother.

Zhao Da'e deliberately turned around and gave Liu Bei a wink.

Liu Bei understood his mother's meaning: we can't rush things, we have to take it slowly.

He stood up and carried the remaining rice, brown sugar, and medicinal herbs one by one into the kitchen and storeroom.

The fritillaria and loquat syrup was placed in a place within reach of the stove, and the prescription for regulating the spleen and lungs was wrapped in oil paper and put in the cabinet.

After working for more than ten minutes, just as they were stacking the last bag of salt into the earthenware jar, a scream suddenly came from the backyard from Zhao Da'e.

"Baby! Baby, what's wrong!"

"Um?"

Liu Bei's heart tightened, and he immediately ran towards the courtyard.

Before we even arrived, we heard Liu Bao coughing violently.

It wasn't the usual dry cough; it was a series of choking coughs that made it hard to breathe.

Her face turned bluish-purple, her lips turned white, and she curled up into a ball, her chest heaving rapidly.

Zhao Da'e held her grandson, her hands trembling, tears streaming down her face. "What am I going to do... how could this happen so suddenly..."

Zhao Chunyan rushed out of the house, and her face turned pale when she saw her son's appearance.

She stepped forward, snatched Liu Bao from her arms, and turned to yell at Liu Bei, "What are you standing there for!"

Liu Bei ran over quickly and took Liu Bao from him. "I'll carry him to the clinic."

As he spoke, he held his son horizontally in front of his chest, supporting the back of his head with one hand and his bottom with the other, and then turned and walked out.

But before he could even take a step out, a small figure blocked the doorway.

It was the eldest daughter, Liu Panpan.

Liu Panpan spread her arms wide, blocking the hospital door tightly, the old scars on her hands clearly visible in the sunlight.

"Where are you taking your younger brother?"

"Health clinic. To see a doctor."

"You're lying! You're going to sell your brother to get money for gambling! That kind of thing happens in the next village! Don't try to fool me!"

Liu Bei was stunned.

At this moment, his son Liu Bao, whom he was holding, was still coughing violently, his little hands unconsciously clutching his collar.

Liu Bei squatted down so that he and Panpan were at eye level.

He looked at his eldest daughter and said, word by word, "Panpan, Dad used to be a bastard. I hit you, I scolded you, I threw Bao'er into the snow. I admit to all of those things."

"But today, I really did go to see him for a medical checkup."

"I promise, I will bring him back safe and sound."

But Panpan still stared intently at him, without moving.

Suddenly, the son in her arms coughed again, and the bluish-purple color on his face deepened.

"You don't have to trust me." Liu Bei stood up. "You stay with me. Watch me the whole time. If I do anything to betray Bao'er, you come back and tell your grandma, tell Chunyan's mom, and let them beat me to death."

Seeing her younger brother's increasingly serious expression, Liu Panpan became genuinely worried.

"OK!"

"I'll follow you. If you dare lie to me—"

"Let's go!" Before his eldest daughter could finish speaking, Liu Bei carried Liu Bao and rushed out of the courtyard.

Panpan chased after her quickly.

After three minutes,

Old Zhou, the village doctor, was drying medicinal herbs in the yard when Liu Bei rushed in carrying his son.

"Uncle Zhou! The child can't breathe!"

Old Zhou adjusted his reading glasses, pried open Liu Bao's eyelids to take a look, then touched his neck and chest, frowning.

"The bronchi have caught a chill, and the child's constitution is too weak, with both spleen and lung deficiency. First, give him an injection to reduce the fever and stop the wheezing, then give him an IV drip."

Liu Bao cried when she received the acupuncture.

Liu Bei held his son in his arms, gently patting his back with one hand.

Panpan stood at the door, but didn't come in.

She leaned against the door frame, staring intently at Liu Bei's movements as he held the child, her gaze never leaving him.

After the IV drip was finished, Liu Bao's breathing gradually calmed down, and the bluish-purple color on his face faded.

He drifted off to sleep, his little hand still clutching Liu Bei's collar.

Old Zhou handed over a few packets of medicine, saying, "Go back and feed him on time. This child needs nurturing; it's not something that can be done in a day or two. He needs supplements, but do it slowly."

Thank you!

After paying the consultation fee, Liu Bei carried his son home.

Along the way, Panpan followed behind, neither too close nor too far, without saying a word.

……

It was already afternoon when I got home.

After Liu Bei helped Liu Bao into the house and settled him in, he went into the kitchen.

There was still some pangolin meat left on the stove from yesterday. He took out a cleaver, chopped it into small pieces, and then took out some peppercorns and star anise to start a fire.

Lin Wanqiu walked in. "What are you doing?"

Braised pork belly.

"Can you do it?"

"Give it a try."

Lin Wanqiu tried to help, but Liu Bei kicked her out.

He was busy in the kitchen by himself, tending the fire, chopping vegetables, and stir-frying. His technique wasn't particularly good, but he was willing to use oil and sugar.

The lard melted in the iron wok, and the chopped meat chunks were stir-fried. The caramelized sugar coated the meat chunks, and the aroma of caramelization mixed with sweetness wafted out of the kitchen.

In the courtyard, Liu Nian's nose moved first.

She squatted under the big locust tree, looked up towards the kitchen, and swallowed.

Liu Panpan sat next to her, pretending not to smell it, but her stomach betrayed her and growled.

Zhao Chunyan came out of the house and peeked into the kitchen from the doorway.

"You've ruined the pangolin meat! Why put so much sugar in it? Isn't it greasy?"

"My child loves sweet things."

"You remember that so clearly. Where were you all this time? If you hadn't been so careless, would Bao'er's health be so bad? It's all your fault!"

"Yes. It's my fault."

Zhao Chunyan originally wanted to continue cursing, but once the other party admitted it, her anger lost its source of force.

She snorted, squeezed closer to the stove, and reached into the pot to grab a piece of meat, stuffing it into her mouth.

"Alright, this will do. Take it out."

There were still seven people at the dinner table, but Liu Bei was still not seated.

The first thing Zhao Chunyan said after sitting down was, "Don't stand there in the way, move away from the table."

The three children buried their heads in their food.

Although the pangolin braised pork doesn't look particularly appealing, the meat is tender and flavorful, and the caramel coating is thick.

Liu Nian's eyes lit up as she chewed each bite carefully.

Liu Bao felt a little better and ate two small pieces of lean meat with his porridge.

Panpan didn't move her chopsticks quickly, but there wasn't a single piece of meat left in the bowl.

As Zhao Chunyan ate, she muttered to herself, "Too much oil."

"Not salty enough."

"Cut it smaller next time."

Her mouth never stopped, and neither did her chopsticks.

Lin Wanqiu lowered her head to eat, then secretly glanced at Liu Bei squatting under the eaves before lowering her head again.

After finishing her meal, Zhao Chunyan pushed her bowl away and was about to get up when Liu Bei came over and said, "I'll wash it."

Zhao Chunyan paused for a moment, then said, "Whatever you say."

Liu Bei put the bowls and chopsticks into a wooden basin, carried it to the water vat in the yard, squatted down, and slowly rinsed them.

At this moment, Panpan walked over and stood three steps to his side.

She was clutching half a black cornbread bun in her hand.

Liu Bei looked up at her.

"Girl, what's wrong with you—"

"I can't eat anymore. This wasn't saved for you. It would be a waste to throw it away."

Panpan didn't look at him, put the cornbread on the ground, turned around and left.

Looking at the half-eaten cornbread on the ground...

There are two small teeth marks on the edge, clearly indicating that the eldest daughter, Panpan, had gnawed on it for half and then stopped.

Liu Bei's heart suddenly warmed.

I picked up the steamed bun and took a bite.

hard.

Rough.

It makes my throat choke.

But my heart felt warm, and a little bittersweet!

"Is Brother Liu Bei home?"

A voice came from outside the courtyard gate.

Liu Bei looked up and saw a tall, thin man walk in.

It was the same villager who had come with village secretary Fan Sanyuan during the day.

It looks familiar, but I can't quite place its name.

But he remembered that the man stared at the White Rabbit candy for a long time.

"Hey bro, just finished eating?" The tall, thin guy chuckled and squatted down opposite Liu Bei.

"The old folks are playing cards at the Zhou family's backyard in town tonight. Heard you've got some extra cash lately? Your brothers' been thinking of you, wanna come over for a bit?"