Reborn at 80: From Village Scoundrel to Billionaire

When Liu Bei reached the door, he found four people standing there.

Fan Erhe carried a jar of homemade grain liquor, Fan Shuanzhu carried a piece of pork hind leg, Li Dazhuang carried a bag of glutinous rice, and Fan Ha'er had nothing in his hands, but a string of dried pheasants hung on his back.

"You're here, why did you bring anything?" Zhao Da'e greeted her, feigning disdain but deftly taking the meat and rice from her. "What are you doing standing at the door in the wind? Come in, come in!"

Fan Shuanzhu and the others entered the courtyard one by one.

Liu Bei took out the pack of Hongtashan cigarettes from the house, opened it, and handed out two to each person.

Fan Erhe took the cigarette and held it between his fingers. He looked around the yard, his gaze lingering on the several mud-brick houses, and asked, "Xiao Bei, are you really going to build a new house?"

"Um."

"How do you plan to build it?"

"Tear it down and start over." Liu Bei lit a cigarette for Fan Erhe, and after Fan Erhe exhaled a puff of smoke, Liu Bei said, "A single-story brick-and-mortar house with front and back yards, about 100 square meters in area."

"A brick-and-mortar bungalow? Or 100 square meters?"

Fan Erhe was stunned.

Li Dazhuang's match stopped halfway through striking.

Fan Shuanzhu frowned, quickly calculated in his mind, and shook his head: "Xiao Bei, a brick-concrete structure, just the red bricks, cement, and labor alone, will cost at least four thousand. Is that enough for you? You can build a brick house, can't you? At most, you can thicken the walls a bit, and you won't have to worry about the cold in winter."

"No, no, no!"

Liu Bei shook his head:

"Uncle Shuanzhu, count how many people are in our family."

Fan Shuanzhu subconsciously started counting on his fingers.

Liu Bei continued, "My mother, three ex-wives, three children, plus me, make eight people. How big should our brick house be? Two rooms? Three rooms? Where would the three kids live? Where would the three women live? The walls of these mud-brick houses are cracked, and the holes in the windows are as big as bowls. Every winter, whenever it snows, the whole family has to be covered up. Because of this, my mother's cough never stops every winter. And the three children are still young, so it's even worse."

"..."

Zhao Da'e stood at the kitchen door, touching the silver bracelet on her wrist without saying a word.

Lin Wanqiu stayed in the kitchen, listening intently.

"Besides," Liu Bei looked up at Fan Shuanzhu, "building a brick house will cost at least two thousand five hundred. The difference between two thousand five hundred and four thousand, the one thousand five hundred you get is brick-and-mortar walls and a concrete roof that won't leak for thirty years. Isn't that a good deal?"

"And—" He paused, glanced around, and lowered his voice, "three women, three children, I have to give them a decent home."

After these words were spoken, the courtyard fell silent again.

At this moment, Zhao Chunyan peeked half her head out from the doorway of the west wing.

Su Yuehe sat in the side room, listening clearly to the words through the half-open window, and then lowered her head to turn the silver bracelet on her wrist.

Fan Shuanzhu sighed and swallowed back the words he was about to say.

Fan Erhe took a puff of his cigarette, stubbed it out, and said:

"Xiao Bei is right. We should build it. For this house to stand, we need a decent place to live first. Xiao Bei, once the house is built, you can get the wood for the new furniture directly from my forest farm. The price will be handled internally, and you'll receive every invoice and receipt. Even if someone checks, it'll be spotless, and they won't be able to find any fault!"

Liu Bei nodded. "Thank you, Director."

"No need to thank me, you saved two lives." Fan Erhe waved his hand, "It's nothing, just a small thing."

Upon hearing this, Li Dazhuang thumped his chest loudly, "Brother! We've got the timber, don't worry about the bricks! I have a cousin who works at the Changhe Red Brick Factory, and he knows the director there. He can get a 20% discount on bulk bricks. I'll put in a word with him, it shouldn't be a problem!"

"Okay." Liu Bei mentally checked off the two things, then turned to Fan Shuanzhu, "Uncle, what about you over there—"

Before he could finish speaking, Fan Ha'er jumped out first, imitating Li Dazhuang by patting his chest twice. However, he didn't control his strength well, and instead made a muffled thud. He grimaced for a second before realizing what he'd done, then leaned close to Liu Bei and whispered mysteriously:

"Brother Bei, I don't have any relatives or connections. But I have something you'll definitely need."

Fan Erhe asked curiously, "What is it?"

Li Dazhuang turned his head, "Ha'er, what can you do to help?"

Fan Ha'er, looking confident, cleared his throat and leaned forward as if revealing a secret. "I know the secrets of several young women in our village."

Everyone: "..."

"For example," Fan Ha'er counted on his fingers, "Fan Xibei's wife has a purple birthmark on her left buttock. Wang Cuihua has a very large mole on her chest, located on—"

"Snapped!"

Fan Shuanzhu slapped him on the back of the head, causing Fan Ha'er to stagger back a step.

How did you know?

"How did you know?" Fan Ha'er scratched his head, speaking with a straight face. "How else could I know? You and Mom were fighting so loudly last night that I couldn't sleep, so I went out for a walk. As I was walking, I accidentally saw it."

He paused, then added, "I also sneaked over to Widow Li's place. She was lying alone in bed, groping herself all over, and making strange noises every now and then. Those noises were really—"

"That's enough!"

Fan Shuanzhu's eyebrows had stood up like two knives.

Liu Bei turned to the side, held his cigarette in his throat for three seconds before finally managing not to exhale.

Fan Erhe turned his head away, trying his best to stop himself from laughing.

Li Dazhuang couldn't hold on any longer and squatted down on the ground.

Fan Ha'er looked left and right, his face completely innocent. "I'm telling the truth! We're all men, what can't we say? Dad, why do you always hit me? I really don't understand!"

"Say one more word!!!" Fan Shuanzhu raised his hand.

"Stop." Liu Bei reached out to stop him, then turned to Fan Ha'er and said, word by word, "Ha'er, keep these kinds of things to yourself and don't say them to others anymore."

"Fine, I won't tell you then, hmph!!!"

Fan Ha'er was unconvinced and muttered something before shrinking behind a nearby stone block.

"Cough cough~"

Liu Bei coughed a few times. "Director, are you free this afternoon? If so, I'd like to go to the forest farm with you to finalize the timber matter. And—"

He raised his chin. "I heard there are a lot of pheasants in the forest. Let's hunt a few to have some extra food."

"I love to hear that!" Li Dazhuang immediately stood up.

Fan Shuanzhu nodded, "I'll go with Ha'er. More people means more hands, and it'll be easier to lift the wood."

Fan Erhe stubbed out his cigarette. "Alright, I'll take you in. Tell Old Chen, the forest ranger, not to stop you. You can hunt the pheasants as you like; those things have ruined a lot of saplings."

As the group was discussing their plan, there was a knock on the door.

Liu Bei stood up and walked towards the courtyard gate, where he found—