Reborn at 80: From Village Scoundrel to Billionaire

Liu Bei glanced at the tall, thin man, but couldn't immediately place him in his mind.

"Brother Liu Bei, long time no see." The tall, thin man approached, pulled a crumpled cigarette from his pocket, and offered it to him. "The Zhou family has prepared a great game of cards. The others from last time are all here, only you are missing. How about a round?"

"Who are you--"

"Bang!"

Before he could finish speaking, the door to the main room was pushed open.

Zhao Chunyan stepped out the door and immediately saw the tall, thin man; her face darkened instantly.

"Fan Ergou! What are you doing at my house again? Get out!"

Fan Ergou.

Nickname: Er Gouzi (Second Dog).

As soon as the name was mentioned, Liu Bei's memory instantly returned.

In my past life, it was this guy who kept urging me to gamble.

It started as a small game of cards, costing five cents or a dollar.

Later it got bigger and bigger, ten yuan, fifty yuan, one hundred yuan.

Later, he ended up at Wang Mazi's table and lost everything.

After his three wives divorced him, the family became so poor that they couldn't even afford to eat, and this Er Gouzi deserves a lot of credit for that.

The man in front of her was smiling and cupping his hands in greeting to Zhao Chunyan before sitting down on the stone stool, showing no intention of leaving.

"Sister-in-law, don't be in such a hurry. Brother Liu Bei and I are talking about serious matters. It's not appropriate for women to interfere in men's affairs, is it?"

Er Gouzi crossed his legs and added, "Besides, sister-in-law, you and Liu Bei are divorced. What business is it of yours how he behaves?"

Zhao Chunyan's face flushed red instantly.

Her hand had already touched the stick by the door, but after gripping it for two seconds, she let go.

Er Gouzi is right.

She and Liu Bei are divorced, so what right does she have to interfere?

"Hmph! I can't care!"

With a cold snort, Zhao Chunyan leaned the stick against the wall, turned around, and went back into the house.

"Bang!"

Zhao Chunyan slammed the door shut.

Er Gouzi chuckled twice as he watched Zhao Chunyan's retreating figure, then turned to Liu Bei and raised an eyebrow: "Let's go, brother, the Zhou family is waiting."

"I'm not going."

Liu Bei refused outright.

Er Gouzi was stunned for a moment, thinking he had misheard. "Huh?"

"I've quit. If you want to play, go ahead."

Er Gouzi tilted his head and stared at Liu Bei for several seconds, then suddenly laughed.

"Well, Liu Bei, you're putting on an act with me. And you're doing a pretty good job. Come on, do you think I don't know what kind of person you are? Stop joking, get out of here—"

"I'm not joking." Liu Bei looked at him with a very serious expression. "If there's nothing else, you can leave."

"..."

Er Gouzi's smile slowly faded, and his brows furrowed.

He took two steps forward and lowered his voice.

"Okay, I can leave. But give me some of the White Rabbit candy, rice, and brown sugar I bought during the day."

"Not distinguishable."

"Not separating?" Er Gouzi's face darkened completely.

"Liu Bei, think about it carefully. Last time you got drunk in town, you dragged me around and bragged for half the night, describing in great detail what you, Zhao Chunyan, and the other two did in bed. You didn't miss a single word, not even the positions or the sounds."

"Either you come with me to the Zhou family's house in town to play cards, or you share some of your stuff with me. Otherwise, hehe, I'll tell everyone about this. Guess what the villagers will think of your three wives when they hear about it?"

After Er Gouzi finished speaking, he took a step back, a smug look on his face.

Liu Bei kept his head down and remained silent.

Seeing Liu Bei's silent demeanor, Er Gouzi thought he had chickened out.

But the next moment,

"Bang!"

Liu Bei suddenly grabbed a stool and smashed it on Er Gouzi's shoulder.

"Bang!"

Er Gouzi was knocked to the side by the impact and fell to the ground with a thud, his face full of disbelief.

"Liu Bei, you fucking dare hit me?! You're insane!"

Liu Bei, carrying a stool with a broken leg, took a step forward.

"Say it again?"

Er Gouzi scrambled to his feet, clutching his shoulder, his face contorted in a ferocious grimace: "Damn it! You're asking for it!"

After saying that, Er Gouzi also picked up a stool and threw it at Liu Bei.

But to Liu Bei, his moves were no different from slow motion.

After achieving great success in his previous life, Liu Bei spent many years hunting real wild animals in Africa and Siberia.

He has fought wild boars with his bare hands and confronted lions at close range.

In addition, since his rebirth, his body has been strengthening every day, so dealing with a scoundrel is as easy as playing a game.

When Er Gouzi attacked, Liu Bei didn't dodge; he met the blow head-on.

"Bang!"

The stool in Er Gouzi's hand was smashed away.

Then Liu Bei kicked Er Gouzi in the stomach.

"ah--"

Er Gouzi was in so much pain that he curled up like a shrimp.

"Get out!" Liu Bei roared.

Er Gouzi covered his face, looked up, and pointed at Liu Bei: "Liu Bei! You wait! I'll make you pay!"

After saying that, he scrambled out of the courtyard gate.

The courtyard fell silent again.

Liu Bei threw the broken stool in his hand on the ground and patted the dust off his hands.

quickly,

Zhao Chunyan was the first to rush out, followed by Zhao Da'e. The two of them ran into the yard one after the other, looking around.

Lin Wanqiu didn't come out; she stayed in the side room protecting the three children.

Through the crack in the door, you could see Liu Panpan huddled in a corner with her younger siblings, while Liu Nian buried her face in her older sister's arms, her little hands clutching the hem of her clothes. Liu Bao wasn't crying, but her lips were trembling.

Lin Wanqiu squatted down in front of the three children, gently comforting them, but her gaze kept drifting towards the courtyard.

Su Yuehe covered her head with the blanket, leaving only her eyes showing, and dared not move.

"Where are they?" Zhao Da'e looked around.

"He ran away," Liu Bei said. "If he comes again, don't be polite to him, just beat him up."

Zhao Da'e stared at her son for a few seconds without making a sound, as if she didn't recognize him.

Zhao Chunyan spoke first.

"Aren't you going to town to play cards with him?"

"I've quit. I'm not going anymore. I've cut ties with him."

Zhao Chunyan crossed her arms, squinted, and looked suspicious.

"Liu Bei, tell me the truth. Did you two conspire together?"

"Colluded on what?"

"It's all an act," Zhao Chunyan began to accuse. "You two teamed up, one playing the bad cop and the other the good cop. You pretended to have reformed, pretended to have broken up with him, and then, when we let our guard down, you sneaked out. You took all the valuables from the house and went to make an even bigger fortune. Do you think I've never seen this kind of trick before?"

Liu Bei: "..."

He looked at Zhao Chunyan.

She was telling the truth, because she had indeed done something similar in her past life.

More than once.

Once, he pretended to quit gambling and stayed at home obediently for half a month. When his mother relaxed her guard, he stole the money his family had saved for eggs over three months and went to the casino.

Therefore, it is perfectly reasonable for Zhao Chunyan not to believe him.

"Chunyan, I know you don't believe me. But I keep my word. In the future, you'll gradually come to believe me."

"In the future? Who's going to talk about the future with you—"

Before Zhao Chunyan could finish speaking, another series of footsteps came from outside.

Zhao Chunyan said, "Mother, did you hear that? He even said he'd broken off all ties with Er Gouzi. And look what happened? He's back. I told you they were in cahoots, weren't I right?"

Zhao Da'e's face darkened, and she raised her hand. "You brat. I thought you'd really turned over a new leaf. I never expected—"

"Brother Bei! Brother Bei!"

Just as Zhao Da'e was about to slap her, Fan Ha'er ran in.

Zhao Da'e was stunned.

Zhao Chunyan was also stunned.

After a brief moment of surprise, Zhao Chunyan came to her senses, frowning, "Why is it you?"

"It's me!" Fan Ha'er smiled. "Sister-in-law, I've come to see Brother Bei."

"What are you doing here?"

"Brother Labei, you're going hunting tonight! My dad said it's the fifteenth of the lunar month, the moon is really full, and with such a good moonlight and easy paths in the mountains, let's go try our luck!"

Zhao Chunyan's expression was somewhat subtle.

"Going hunting at night? Are you two out of your minds?"

Liu Bei breathed a sigh of relief.

A true brother is a true brother. He came at the perfect time.

No wonder people say that a man has three kinds of best friends in his life.

One type is those who fought together, another is those who peeked at the neighbor's wife taking a bath together, and the third is those who were cellmates in prison together.

Fan Ha'er and he occupied the first two items.

He's always been a real help whenever something happens.