Reborn at 80: From Village Scoundrel to Billionaire

"Click."

The trigger was pulled halfway.

The sound wasn't loud, but at the quiet foot of the mountain, it was louder than a thunderclap.

Fan Xibei's pupils suddenly contracted.

Old Tan reacted the fastest, rushing forward and grabbing Liu Bei's gun barrel, pressing it down. "Liu Bei! Liu Bei! You can't! You can't!"

Tan Si rushed forward, and together with Zhao Liuzhi, they grabbed Fan Xibei's arms and dragged him backward.

"Let's go! Brother Northwest, let's go!" Tan Si's voice was hoarse. "If we don't leave now, someone will really die!"

At that very moment, someone unexpectedly raised a gun.

It's Fan Ha'er.

He held the hunting rifle level, pointing the muzzle at Fan Xibei, his eyes wide with excitement.

"Brother Bei! I'll help you!"

"..."

Everyone was stunned.

Fan Shuanzhu's face first turned white, then green, and finally purplish-brown.

"Snapped!"

She slapped her son on the back of the head.

"Put the gun down!"

Fan Ha'er stumbled forward, turned to look at his father, his face full of grievance, "Dad! I was helping Brother Bei!"

"Help me my ass! Step back!"

Fan Shuanzhu snatched the gun from his son, glanced at the situation, his face darkening. He shouted at Fan Xibei, "Xibei! You're a father too! What kind of nonsense is this, causing such a scene in the middle of the night! Old Tan, Zhao Liuzhi, take them away right now! If you keep causing trouble, I'll go to your uncle—the Party Secretary—tomorrow and tell him everything that happened tonight!"

Upon hearing this, Fan Xibei's face twitched a few times.

His uncle is the village party secretary. If things really escalate to that point, regardless of who's right or wrong, he'll lose face first.

So they just slunk away like that?

It's even more embarrassing.

He broke free from Tan Si's grasp, raised his gun, and pointed it at Liu Bei.

"Liu Bei! You have a gun, but I don't? You dare touch me! We'll both die! We're all fucking wiped out! Who's afraid of who!"

His voice is loud enough.

He held the gun quite steadily.

But his gaze drifted away.

Liu Bei could see clearly that Fan Xibei was bluffing, because his finger hadn't even touched the trigger.

"OK."

Liu Bei uttered a single word and continued pressing his finger down.

Just as Liu Bei was about to be apprehended, Lao Tan grabbed Liu Bei's arm tightly.

"My ancestors! My ancestors! Are you really going to hit me?!"

Tan Si and Li Dazhuang exerted their strength at the same time, pushing and dragging Fan Xibei seven or eight steps away.

Zhao Liuzhi ran behind.

As Fan Xibei was dragged along, he continued to verbally abuse her: "Liu Bei! You just wait! Don't think I'm afraid of you! If you come down the mountain empty-handed tonight, see how I laugh at you!"

The sound grew fainter and fainter.

Finally, only a series of chaotic footsteps remained, disappearing around the bend in the mountain path.

Old Tan released his grip, a wide smile spreading across his face, and bowed slightly to Liu Bei.

"Liu Bei, don't take it to heart. That's just how people in the Northwest are; they can't keep their mouths shut, but they're not bad at heart..."

Liu Bei glanced at him but didn't reply.

Old Tan said a couple more bland, polite words, and seeing that Liu Bei didn't react much, he wisely turned around and went to catch up with Fan Xibei's group.

The foot of the mountain suddenly became quiet.

Only Liu Bei, Fan Ha'er, and their son remained.

Fan Ha'er rubbed the back of his head, squatted on the ground, and muttered softly, "I just helped Brother Bei hold the gun up for a second... I didn't even fire it... Dad, why did you hit me..."

"If you hit me again, I don't care if you're my dad or a wolf, I'll smash your baby-giving thing to pieces."

Fan Shuanzhu was tapping his cigarette ash with his back to him when he heard this and paused.

He slowly turned his head, his face twitching a few times, and he managed to squeeze out a few words: "What did you say?"

"No...nothing was said."

Fan Shuanzhu took a deep breath, tucked his pipe back into his waistband, and pointed at his son's nose, yelling, "Do you have a brain? What if a fight had really broken out and someone had died? If someone died, Liu Bei would have to pay with his life, and if you had pointed a gun, you would have to pay with your life too! Both families would be finished!"

"Ah... will it really happen like this?"

Fan Ha'er opened his mouth; he hadn't considered any of this at all.

Liu Bei then walked over and patted Fan Ha'er on the shoulder.

"Uncle Shuanzhu is right. Ha'er, don't be so impulsive in the future. Don't meddle in things that aren't your business."

"How is that not my business?" Fan Ha'er stood up. "You're my brother! If Fan Xibei bullies you, he's bullying me! If he dares to do that again, I'll stand up for him! And if my dad dares to stop me—"

He glanced at his father, gritted his teeth, and said, "I'll keep shooting, even if it blows his thing that makes babies out of existence!"

Fan Shuanzhu: "..."

He looked down at a certain part of himself, then at his son, and the veins on his temples throbbed twice.

commit a sin.

What sins did you commit in your past life to be born like this?

"They're my own children! They're my own children. No matter how unfilial they are, I have to put up with it!!!"

Liu Bei quickly reached out and covered Fan Ha'er's mouth, "Alright, alright! Stop talking! If you keep talking, your father won't go hunting tonight, he'll beat you first."

Fan Ha'er's mouth was covered, and he was still mumbling incoherently.

Liu Bei didn't let go, pulling him towards the mountain path. "Let's go hunting. Don't waste time."

It took Fan Shuanzhu a while to catch his breath before he shouldered his gun and followed.

The three of them walked up the mountain path, bypassing the direction Fan Xibei's group had entered the mountain, and cut into the dense forest from the small path on the east side.

The moonlight was shattered by the tree canopy, falling to the ground like scattered silver.

Liu Bei walked at the front, his steps steady and light.

Fan Ha'er held up a kerosene lamp in the middle to light the way, while Fan Shuanzhu brought up the rear, glancing back every now and then.

After walking for about an hour, the forest became deeper and quieter.

Even the chirping of insects and birds could no longer be heard; only the soft sound of crunching dry twigs underfoot remained.

Just then, Liu Bei stopped.

In his line of sight, slightly to the left, a pale red dot of light appeared.

It flickered twice in the depths of a dark forest, blurry and pulsating.

Red indicates that prey has appeared nearby.

"Let's go over there!" Liu Bei pointed in a direction.

"That's Sanlipo over there." Fan Shuanzhu recognized it too, and grabbed Liu Bei's arm. "That's the direction of Sanlipo, you can't go there. The terrain in that forest is complicated, and it's easy to get lost at night. Someone went in a couple of years ago and almost didn't come out."

"What are you afraid of!" Fan Ha'er raised the kerosene lamp higher. "Last time, Brother Bei and I went to Sanlipo, and nothing happened! Dad, don't always be a coward."

After saying that, he pushed Liu Bei forward.

The two of them ran very fast.

Fan Shuanzhu, following behind, was so anxious he kept stamping his feet. "Those two brats—"

He gritted his teeth, shouldered his gun, and gave chase.

I can't let anything happen to my son.

After passing through a patch of low bushes and climbing over the low hills of Sanlipo, the view suddenly opened up.

Ahead lay a crescent-shaped meadow, brightly lit by the moonlight.

Fan Ha'er was the first to see it.

His kerosene lamp nearly fell to the ground.

"Father!" he shouted back at Fan Shuanzhu, who was catching up, his voice low and urgent, "Look! It's a four-legged creature! It's a four-legged creature!"

Fan Shuanzhu craned his neck to take a look.

In the middle of the meadow, a large, robust four-legged beast was munching on the grass.

The four unlikes, also known as the mountain donkey by the elderly, is scientifically called the Chinese serow.

With a white mane around its neck and a reddish-gray body, it moves effortlessly across steep cliffs and is known as the Pegasus.

This creature is extremely rare in Da Liu Shan, and its meat is tender. I never expected to find it in Sanlipo.

Fan Shuanzhu's breathing became heavy.

But before he could even rejoice, a commotion suddenly arose in the distant woods, and a herd of goats darted out from the bushes.

The chaotic sound of hooves startled the four-legged creatures on the meadow, causing them to suddenly raise their heads.

Oh no! It's startled and it's going to run away.

"It's all over, it's all over, it's all over!" Fan Ha'er wrung his hands anxiously.

"What a pity!"

Fan Shuanzhu also felt a pang of regret.

The distance was at least 150 or 160 paces, and in the dim light of night, it would be almost impossible to hit it with an old-fashioned hunting rifle.

"Bang!"

Just then, a gunshot suddenly rang out.

It was Liu Bei who fired the shot; a puff of white smoke came out of the muzzle.

The body of the four-legged creature stiffened for a moment in the moonlight, then bent its front legs and collapsed to the ground with a thud.

There was a two-second silence on the meadow.

Holy crap.

Fan Shuanzhu's cigarette holder fell off.

One hundred and fifty paces, at night, moving target, one shot kill.

Liu Bei had already rushed out.

Fan Ha'er followed closely behind, yelling as he ran forward.

Fan Shuanzhu bent down to pick up the pipe, his fingers trembling.

He had carried a hunting rifle for twenty years and had never seen such marksmanship in his life.

This is unbelievable!

Is this kid... possessed? His marksmanship is so accurate?

He composed himself and started walking after him.