Reborn at 80: From Village Scoundrel to Billionaire

Liu Bei glanced at Zhao Chunyan, then at Lin Wanqiu.

Two women, two expressions.

Zhao Chunyan leaned against the door frame, her dark red skirt lifted above her knees, the moonlight shining on her collarbone, clearly saying "You're not leaving tonight" was etched into her face.

Lin Wanqiu stood at the door of the east wing, her dark blue dress buttoned up tightly, but her eyes remained fixed on him.

One openly robbed, the other secretly blocked.

This is really bad.

Liu Bei was certain that if he went into either room tonight, the other one would definitely tear the roof off. At that point, all the goodwill he'd built up over the past few days since his rebirth would be wiped out completely.

Liu Bei took a deep breath and smiled at the two women.

"Have you two forgotten something?"

Zhao Chunyan narrowed her eyes: "What is it?"

Lin Wanqiu was also looking at him.

"I want to build a house. With all the money we have, we can't even lay the foundation. Now that a money-making opportunity has come knocking on our door, how can I let it pass?"

"Director Fan said that all the game I hunt is under my control. A wild boar weighs at least seventy or eighty pounds of meat, which can fetch several dozen yuan a day. I need to earn enough money to build a house before winter arrives."

Zhao Chunyan's expression froze for a moment.

Liu Bei continued, "Otherwise, when winter comes and the northwest wind blows, you, your mother, and your three children will all be huddled in this dilapidated house, freezing. Who will you blame then?"

"this……"

Having said that, Zhao Chunyan couldn't think of a rebuttal for a moment.

She can't exactly say that money is less important than people.

Forget about making money, getting into my room tonight and warming my bed is more important than anything else.

But she couldn't bring herself to say it!

Lin Wanqiu took half a step forward, "But going into the mountains in the middle of the night—"

"Don't worry. Uncle Shuanzhu, Ha'er, and Brother Dazhuang are all here. Besides, there's a whole group of people in the forest, it's not like I'm alone. There won't be any problems!"

After saying that, he turned around and strode towards the storeroom to retrieve his shotgun and ammunition pouches.

"You guys should get some rest, don't wait for me. Goodnight!!!"

"Squeak—"

Zhao Da'e's door suddenly opened.

"Xiao Bei".

Liu Bei stopped and turned around to look.

Zhao Da'e stood at the door wearing an old jacket, her expression unreadable.

The moonlight shone on her face, making her wrinkles appear even deeper than during the day.

"Mother, please don't try to persuade me. This money—"

"I'm not trying to persuade you," Zhao Da'e interrupted him. "I just want to tell you to be careful when you go to the forest farm."

"Don't worry, your son is tough." Liu Bei was taken aback for a moment, then smiled, shouldered his hunting rifle, and went out of the courtyard.

Soon, the group climbed onto the oxcart and headed towards the forest farm.

The courtyard fell silent again.

Lin Wanqiu stared in the direction of the courtyard gate, her voice urgent: "Mother, why didn't you stop him? Hunting wild boar in the middle of the night is so dangerous. What if—"

"Now you know how to worry?"

Before Zhao Da'e could speak, Zhao Chunyan suddenly interrupted with a cold laugh.

"When I told him not to go, why didn't you step in to stop him? You just hid in the back and played the good guy."

Lin Wanqiu turned to look at her: "You think I don't want to? I was just about to say something when you jumped out of the house. You've already stolen the show, what am I supposed to say?"

Zhao Chunyan glared at her: "So you mean it's my fault?"

"I didn't say I blamed you. I was just wondering why you ran out when he didn't even knock."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Chunyan's expression suddenly changed.

"Are you trying to drag him into your room again, Zhao Chunyan? Let me remind you, you're divorced now, not legally married. What will people call this if they find out? It'll be called a moral failing. If someone reports it, he'll be punished. Are you trying to ruin him?"

"Stop pretending with me! Don't think I didn't see all those little flirting you did with him during the day! Saying I harmed him, Lin Wanqiu, you're no better! You and I are equally wicked!"

"you--"

Lin Wanqiu gave Zhao Chunyan a deep look.

"Think what you want. But there's one thing I advise you to think carefully about. If you cause him to go to jail, your three children will be fatherless, and the kids in the village will laugh at you behind your back, then you'll regret it."

"Bang!"

Lin Wanqiu closed the door.

"..."

Zhao Chunyan stood frozen in place.

That's right.

She may not care about her reputation, but what about Liu Bao?

That's her son. She finally managed to call Liu Bei "Dad," what if something really happened to him...?

"snort!!!"

Zhao Chunyan gritted her teeth, her face turning pale and then flushed, before finally closing the door.

Zhao Da'e, standing to the side, couldn't utter a single word.

After her two daughters-in-law finished arguing, she slowly stretched.

"That was truly amazing!"

The more fiercely the two daughters-in-law argue, the more they care about their son.

Once his son has earned enough money to build a house, and the new house is erected, he can bring his three wives back into the family... Then, hehe, each of his three daughters-in-law will give him a big, fat grandson, and the Liu family's lineage will flourish.

Zhao Da'e felt increasingly pleased with herself. She yawned, locked the courtyard gate, and went back to her room to sleep.

……

The oxcart swayed and rattled along the night road.

The moon hung over the eastern mountain, casting a white glow on the field ridges.

Fan Erhe sat in the front of the car and glanced back at Liu Bei, who was resting with his eyes closed.

"Xiao Bei, you've been busy all day, aren't you tired?"

"Not tired. Not bad." Liu Bei opened his eyes.

"It's so good to be young," Fan Erhe sighed. "My old bones are still weak from walking up the west slope this afternoon."

Liu Bei smiled but didn't reply.

Fan Erhe then asked, "Are you building a new house?"

"Hmm. I'm still short of money. I'll finish this deal tonight and maybe save some more."

"Good lad!" Fan Erhe gave him a thumbs up. "So young and already knows how to save money and manage a household. But then again—"

"Xiao Bei, there's something I've been curious about and have been wanting to ask you."

"Please speak, Manager."

"Those three... ex-wives of yours," Fan Erhe carefully chose his words, "they divorced you, yet they're still willing to live under the same roof and get along harmoniously?"

Liu Bei glanced at him: "Why are you asking that?"

"I'm just curious! Three women make a drama, let alone three ex-wives. In other people's homes, this would have caused a huge uproar, but you seem pretty peaceful. Honestly, do you have some secret recipe? Tell us so we can all learn something."

Upon hearing this, the ears of the other three people on the platform simultaneously perked up.

Fan Shuanzhu pretended to look at the moon, but his head unconsciously tilted in this direction.

Li Dazhuang was even more direct, simply turning around to face Liu Bei and sitting there with an eager expression.

Fan Ha'er was the most enthusiastic.

He climbed over from the back of the car and grabbed Liu Bei's sleeve.

"Brother Bei, tell me quickly! What's the secret recipe? Tell me so my dad can learn it! He always loses to my mom when they fight in bed! She always gets on top of him and beats him up! It's awful! Can you teach him?"

"puff--"

Fan Erhe coughed violently as a puff of his dry tobacco choked him.

Li Dazhuang covered his mouth tightly.

Fan Shuanzhu's old eyebrows stood on end like firecrackers as he raised his hand to slap him.

"Are you even my biological child? Why do you always bring up my past? Can't you change the subject?"

Fan Ha'er shrank back: "I'm just stating the facts..."

"Facts my ass!" Fan Shuanzhu was so angry that his veins bulged.

But when he looked down at Fan Ha'er's square face, which was exactly the same as his own, he put his fist down again.

For the sake of being their biological child, I'll just have to put up with it.

Liu Bei, who was holding back a lot of laughter, almost broke down. He cleared his throat and said seriously, "If you want to know how to manipulate a woman, to make her completely devoted to you, so that if you point east she won't dare go west, and if you point west she won't dare go east—"

"It's actually very simple."

Upon hearing this, all four of them turned their attention to him.

Even Li Dazhuang, who was rushing to catch the carriage, stopped looking where he was going.

Liu Bei held up two fingers.

There are only two methods.

"Which two?" the four asked in unison.

Liu Bei opened his mouth, about to speak—

The oxcart lurched violently, its wheels crushing a large rock, causing the entire cart to shake violently.

Five people almost fell.

Once he regained his balance, Fan Ha'er was the first to panic.

"Brother Bei! Tell me quickly! What are those two methods?"