Reborn at 80: From Village Scoundrel to Billionaire

Standing behind the door were Old Man Tan and his son Tan Si, each holding two large cabbages.

"Uncle Tan? What's going on here—"

"Xiao Bei! Uncle has come to see you!"

"You're here, why bring cabbage? Uncle Tan, Fourth Brother Tan, come in and have a seat."

Old Man Tan and his son both paused when they entered.

Because they saw that Fan Shuanzhu and his group were also there.

In particular, the forest farm director, Fan Erhe, was also there.

The forest farm director personally visited; this is a level of prestige that not everyone can achieve.

A glint flashed in Old Tan's eyes, but his smile deepened. He strode forward, nodded to Fan Erhe, and said, "Oh, Director Fan is here too? My apologies!"

"Please sit down." Liu Bei brought out two stools, then took out two Hongtashan cigarettes from his cigarette case, handing one to Old Man Tan and the other to Tan Si.

Tan Si took the cigarette, glanced at the brand, his fingers trembled slightly, and he subconsciously looked at his father.

Old Tan was quite experienced. He didn't light the cigarette between his fingers in a hurry, but first put the cabbage on the side of the table. "It's grown in our own field, it's not worth much money, I just wanted it to be fresh."

"Uncle Tan, you're too kind." Liu Bei lit a fire for him and sat back down across the stone table. "Uncle, you must have come to see me for something. Just tell me."

Old Tan took a drag of his cigarette and glanced at Fan Shuanzhu.

Fan Shuanzhu shook off the ashes and then spoke.

"Xiao Bei, Lao Tan came to see me the day before yesterday. He and Tan Si want to go hunting in the mountains with you."

"Um?"

The courtyard suddenly fell silent.

Everyone turned to look at Liu Bei.

Old Tan's smile was still on his face, but the grip on his cigarette tightened slightly.

Tan Si's Adam's apple bobbed up and down, his eyes fixed on Liu Bei's expression.

Liu Bei did not answer immediately, but instead fiddled with the matchbox, once, twice, three times.

These three blows made Old Man Tan's heart flutter with anxiety.

Old Tan had lived in the village for most of his life, always siding with whoever came to power and helping whoever was in control.

Previously, Liu Bei was a good-for-nothing who couldn't be helped, and he couldn't even be bothered to look at him properly.

But he had seen all the changes in Liu Bei lately.

Hunting, selling game, riding a bicycle, beating up Fan Ergou—the stories spread throughout the entire Fan family village.

Old Tan lived his whole life and only believed in one principle: following the right person is better than anything else.

"Uncle Tan." A minute later, Liu Bei finally spoke, "I'll call you next time we go up the mountain."

"Phew~"

Old Tan breathed a sigh of relief, and a smile spread across his face.

Tan Si, standing nearby, breathed a sigh of relief, stood up, bowed slightly to Liu Bei, and, tongue-tied, managed to stammer, "Brother Bei, from now on, if you tell me to go east, I'll never go west!"

Liu Bei waved his hand, "We're all from the same village, no need for formalities. You've come at the perfect time, the food will be ready soon, let's have a meal together before you leave."

Old Tan stood up to decline, "No, no, it wouldn't be right for me to come and freeload a meal—"

"Uncle Tan," Liu Bei looked at him, "not staying for dinner means you don't consider me one of your own."

"this……"

Old Tan was stunned. He first looked at Fan Shuanzhu, and then at Fan Erhe.

Fan Shuanzhu nodded at him, and Fan Erhe exhaled a puff of smoke without saying anything, but he also did not object.

"Then...then I won't stand on ceremony." Old Man Tan sat down again, this time feeling more at ease.

Several men sat around the stone table, chatting about the mountain paths, the temperament of the prey, and which gully had the fattest pheasants.

Old Tan was old and experienced, and he got straight to the point in just a few words. Even Fan Shuanzhu sometimes couldn't get a word in edgewise.

Liu Bei leaned back in his chair and listened, occasionally chiming in with a word or two, finding it increasingly interesting.

……

The kitchen was filled with steam.

Zhao Da'e was in charge of cooking, while Lin Wanqiu chopped vegetables on the side, the knife moving evenly on the cutting board.

Zhao Da'e glanced out through the kitchen window.

In the courtyard, Liu Bei sat among several men, offering cigarettes, pouring tea, interjecting in conversation, and offering seats. His every move was unhurried and deliberate. Even a shrewd old man like Tan sat obediently in front of him, as if he had been a village cadre for ten years.

A strange, indescribable emotion welled up inside her.

Her son, raised by a widow, was at his most pathetic when he got drunk and slept by the pigsty gate, and everyone in the village laughed at him. She hated him, cursed him, and lay in bed at night thinking a hundred times, "How could I have given birth to such a thing?"

But now, my son sits in the yard talking to four or five men, his back straight and his eyes steady. He's nothing like the good-for-nothing who used to hunch over and hide from everyone.

My son has finally grown up.

My Liu family line has a successor.

"daughter."

Suddenly, Lin Wanqiu walked over.

Zhao Da'e snapped out of her daze. "Wanqiu, what's wrong?"

Lin Wanqiu looked at Liu Bei in the distance.

"He...is really different now."

"You noticed it too?"

Lin Wanqiu nodded.

"Hmm. I've figured it out. It only takes three days for someone to go astray. But to become good, especially every single day, is just too difficult."

"I've been carefully considering what he's been doing lately, and it doesn't seem like he's faking it. Especially now, when he's receiving Uncle Shuanzhu and the others, everything he does—from his speech and actions to the order in which he offers cigarettes and pours tea—is so natural, it doesn't seem like he's putting on an act at all."

"Um!"

Zhao Da'e was overjoyed.

"You're right. He's really changed. But he can't do it all by himself. This family needs a woman who can make decisions to hold things together. Wanqiu, you're the most reliable of the three daughters-in-law. I remember all the help you've given me these past few days. From now on—"

"Mother," Lin Wanqiu interrupted her, "I know what you want to say."

"He's changed for the better now, I can see that. But seven years isn't something you can just forget. I... I'll see."

"Sigh~"

Zhao Da'e sighed, put the spatula on the stove, and didn't try to persuade her anymore.

Some knots cannot be tied up quickly.

Being able to say "let's see" is a huge relief compared to last month's "impossible".

She made an excuse to go to the yard to get some scallions, leaving Lin Wanqiu standing alone in front of the stove.

Liu Bei's laughter drifted in from outside the window.

Lin Wanqiu lowered her eyes, and the silver bracelet on her wrist glittered in the firelight, looking more and more beautiful the more she looked at it.

……

A moment later, the food was served.

Five pounds of pork were stewed in a large iron pot with pickled cabbage and pork belly, half a basin of braised spare ribs were made, a whole grass carp was steamed, one of the two live chickens was stewed in soup and the other was stir-fried, and two of the six cabbages were chopped and stir-fried as a base. The table was full of food.

Liu Bei, Fan Shuanzhu, Fan Erhe, Li Dazhuang, Old Man Tan, and Tan Siwei sat around the stone table, with Fan Ha'er adding a small stool next to them. Zhao Da'e, along with Lin Wanqiu and Su Yuehe, ate from their bowls, while Zhao Chunyan stood by the table serving them food.

Fan Erhe's jar of grain liquor was opened, and the aroma of the liquor was strong.

"Here, let's toast Xiao Bei." Fan Erhe picked up the bowl.

"Director, I have to go to the forest farm with you this afternoon, so please drink less."

"We're going to the forest farm, so we have to drink this bowl."

Just as Liu Bei picked up his bowl to drink, a hand reached out from the side.

Lin Wanqiu took the bowl and said, "Director, I'll drink this bowl for him."

After saying that, she tilted her head back and downed the whole thing in one gulp.

"..."

Fan Erhe paused for a moment, then gave a thumbs up. "Xiao Bei, your wife has a good capacity for alcohol!"

"Xiao Bei, I also want to toast you!"

Li Dazhuang picked up the second bowl.

As soon as she finished speaking, Su Yuehe limped over from the side carrying a bowl, saying, "I'll do it."

After finishing the drink in one gulp, her face turned bright red to the roots of her neck, and she turned around and hid back on the stool.

Before Old Man Tan could even speak, Zhao Chunyan snatched the bowl from Liu Bei's plate.

"Uncle Tan, I'll drink it, you can do as you please."

After saying that, Zhao Chunyan finished her drink in one gulp, slammed the bowl on the table, and exclaimed, "That's all!"

"..."

Old Tan's eyeballs almost popped out.

"Again." Zhao Chunyan pushed the bowl forward.

"Here!" Old Tan forced himself to pour another bowl.

Zhao Chunyan picked up the bowl and took another bite.

After downing three bowls of strong liquor, she remained calm and composed, wiping her mouth and glancing around at the table. "Who else?"

"..."

The table was completely silent.

Fan Shuanzhu's chopsticks stopped in mid-air, Li Dazhuang forgot to chew the ribs in his mouth, Tan Si froze with his bowl in his hand, and even Fan Ha'er's mouth was open in an "O" shape.

Fan Erhe put down his bowl and gave Liu Bei a deep look.

He had never seen a scene like this before in his forty-plus years of life: three ex-wives who had already divorced him, each taking the blame for him.

Even though they're divorced, they still live under the same roof, and she's still willing to protect this man.

Fan Erhe picked up the bowl and took a sip, his mind filled with only two words: "I'm convinced."

……

After the meal, the group strolled around the courtyard.

Fan Erhe walked to the kitchen door and bowed to Zhao Da'e, who was clearing away the dishes.

"Sister-in-law, to be honest, you won't find another woman in the whole world who has trained her three daughters-in-law to be like this."

Zhao Da'e waved her hand, "That's something shameful for me. What kind of mother-in-law raises three divorced daughters-in-law? People will laugh at me if they tell others."

"Who dares to laugh? Other families can't even control one daughter-in-law, but you manage three, and each one is more obedient than the last. What else could it be but a skill?"

"That's not my skill; it's my good-for-nothing son who's recently finally figured it out."

"A son's intelligence comes from his mother's good upbringing, doesn't it? Like mother, like son! Sister-in-law, I, Fan Erhe, have traveled all over the country and met many people, but there are very few I truly admire. You are one of them."

"Your lips are as sweet as honey."

"Haha~"

A dozen minutes later, Fan Erhe turned to Liu Bei and said seriously, "Xiao Bei, you must be at the forest farm before 3 p.m. I've already spoken to Old Chen; just go find him when you get here. He'll take care of the timber."

"Don't worry, it won't be a mistake."

Fan Erhe nodded and led the group outside.

Old Man Tan walked last, and before leaving, he turned back to look at Liu Bei one last time. The meaning in that glance was clear: Old Man Tan had his eye on this boat.

……

Soon, only Liu Bei's family remained in the courtyard.

Zhao Da'e pulled Liu Bei to sit in the main room.

Lin Wanqiu brought in tea, Zhao Chunyan leaned against the door frame, and Su Yuehe sat by the window in the side room, her ears perked up.

"Are you going to the forest farm this afternoon to buy timber?" Zhao Da'e asked.

"Yes. It's for building houses. Director Fan gave us an internal price, which is much cheaper than outside."

Zhao Da'e nodded in satisfaction.

"Now that we have the wood and the bricks, let me ask you something."

"Please speak."

Zhao Da'e raised her eyes, her gaze filled with a seriousness that Liu Bei couldn't decipher.

"How will the rooms be allocated after the new house is built?"