Reborn at 80: From Village Scoundrel to Billionaire

Before the laughter had even subsided, Fan Shuanzhu was already about to explode on the spot.

Seeing the situation was turning bad, Liu Bei grabbed Fan Ha'er, who was still gesturing, and pulled him behind the stall. He then shouted at the surrounding villagers—

"Alright, alright! Stop watching! Wolf meat! Fresh wolf meat! One yuan a pound! Two mao cheaper than the pork at the supply and marketing cooperative! Hurry up and buy it, once it's sold out, it's gone!"

That shout was more effective than Fan Ha'er's bawdy jokes.

One yuan per jin? Pork at the supply and marketing cooperative costs one yuan and two fen and requires meat coupons, but this wolf meat doesn't require coupons and is even two mao cheaper.

The villagers swarmed around them.

"Give me three jin!"

"I want two pounds!"

"Shuanzhu, quicken your knife, don't dawdle!"

Fan Shuanzhu quickly suppressed the flush on his face, picked up the cleaver, and began to cut the meat. His movements were swift and skillful; with a few cuts, he had neatly arranged a pound of meat into square pieces.

The two wolves together weighed a little over 150 pounds. After deducting bones and offal, the pure meat that could be sold was about 110 pounds.

In less than half an hour, all the meat was sold out.

Even the skeleton was bought by Aunt Wang next door for two cents, saying she would make soup to nourish her husband's back.

Liu Bei counted the money—one hundred and five yuan.

He took out ten yuan and handed it to Fan Shuanzhu: "Uncle, thank you for your hard work. This is your wages, plus the three catties of meat we agreed on earlier. Please take it."

Fan Shuanzhu took it, looked at it over and over twice, then looked at Liu Bei, clicked his tongue, and said, "Liu Bei, let me tell you the truth, if you keep doing this every day, not only your three wives, but even Widow Li from the east end of the village will be eyeing you."

"Uncle, please watch your mouth."

Liu Bei waved his hand, picked up two wolf skins and three pounds of lean meat that he had deliberately left behind, and was about to leave when Fan Ha'er jumped up from behind and grabbed Liu Bei's arm.

"Brother Bei! Next time you go hunting in the mountains, you have to take me with you! I'm strong, I can carry things!"

"Okay, I'll take you."

Liu Bei readily agreed.

Upon hearing this, Fan Ha'er chuckled twice, leaned closer, and lowered his voice, his head almost touching Liu Bei's ear.

"Brother Bei, next time we go up the mountain, I'll tell you all about how my dad beat my mom. I saw it very clearly that day, the way my dad did it—"

"Shut up!"

Liu Bei quickly covered his mouth, looked around, and thankfully no one was paying attention.

He released his grip and stared sternly at Fan Ha'er: "Ha'er, listen carefully. This kind of thing can never be mentioned again. Do you understand?"

"Why?" Fan Ha'er asked innocently. "It's just a fight, isn't it? My dad beats my mom every day, what's wrong with saying that?"

Liu Bei's lips twitched, and he took a deep breath.

Reasoning with this simpleton is more tiring than fighting a wolf.

He changed his approach: "If you bring this up again, I won't take you with me next time we go up the mountain."

This trick worked immediately.

Fan Ha'er immediately shut his mouth like a clam shell, nodding repeatedly, "I won't say anymore! Just don't leave me behind, Brother Bei!"

Liu Bei patted him on the shoulder, then turned and left.

……

When I got home, it was already broad daylight.

After a whole night of tossing and turning, Liu Bei felt like his body was falling apart.

He splashed some cold water haphazardly on the water vat in the yard, wiped his face, kicked off his straw sandals, and yawned as he pushed open a door.

The room was pitch black, and the windows were so small they looked like dog holes; you couldn't see anything at all.

He reached the bedside, lifted the covers, and collapsed under them.

There was still a trace of body heat left in the blankets; it was warm.

Liu Bei rolled over and instinctively reached out to hug her.

Suddenly I felt—

soft.

slip.

heat.

"What is this? It's soft, smooth as jade, and still piping hot!"

"boom--"

Just as Liu Bei was feeling confused and puzzled, he was kicked off the bed.

"Liu Bei, you beast!"

"We just celebrated yesterday, and you're back again today? Are you a dog? Never-ending, are you?"

Zhao Chunyan was furious when she discovered that Liu Bei had sneaked into her bed, hugged her, and was groping her all over.

I glanced at my son beside me; thankfully he was sleeping soundly, otherwise, it would have been a bad influence.

Liu Bei woke up from the pain of hitting his head on the ground. He rubbed his eyes, looked around the room, and noticed a chipped red basin hanging in one corner and a floral blouse hanging on the headboard. He knew something was wrong.

Because he went to the wrong house; this was Zhao Chunyan's house.

His house is next door.

"Spring Swallow, you've gone the wrong way, you've gone the wrong way."

Liu Bei quickly waved his hand, "I was too sleepy and didn't see the door clearly. I'll leave now."

After saying that, he bent down to pick up the straw sandals that had fallen to the ground and slunk out of the room.

Zhao Chunyan stared at his back as he disappeared through the doorway, and only when she was sure he was really gone did she loosen her grip on the corner of the blanket.

She sat on the bed, her chest heaving several times.

gone?

Is he really gone?

That bastard never goes back to the wrong room before.

Zhao Chunyan bit her lower lip, a hint of something indescribable flashing in her eyes.

If you want to take advantage, fine, but don't get a divorce.

As long as we don't get divorced, you can do whatever you want, I won't object to even the most outrageous sexual positions.

But you went astray.

Even after the divorce, he still sneaks into his mother's bed.

brute.

Shameless thing.

She pulled the blanket over her head, muttered a few curses, and went back to sleep.

……

I don't know how much time passed.

A whiff of meaty aroma wafted in through the crack in the door, abruptly pulling Liu Bei out of his dream.

He rubbed his eyes and walked out of the room; the sun had already risen above the courtyard wall.

In the courtyard, the eldest daughter, Liu Panpan, was squatting on a low stool, holding a broken wooden comb in her hand, combing the hair of her younger daughter, Liu Nian.

The little girl's hair had been tangled for a long time, and Liu Panpan patiently straightened it strand by strand, moving very gently.

Seeing this, Liu Bei slowed his pace.

But as soon as he appeared, his little girl Liu Nian saw him.

The six-year-old girl trembled, dropped the hem of her clothes she was clutching, rushed over and hugged her sister's leg, burying her face in it, too afraid to look.

Liu Panpan suddenly stood up and shielded her younger sister behind her.

The eight-year-old girl, with a tense expression, pulled a sharpened twig from under the stool and held it up towards Liu Bei.

"You bastard! Get away from me! If you come any closer, I'll stab you!"

The little girl's hands were trembling, and the tip of the branch was pointing in Liu Bei's direction, swaying incessantly.

But she stood firmly in front of her sister, refusing to back down an inch.

Liu Bei stopped in place.

He looked at the old scars on his eldest daughter's hand, which was holding a tree branch. They were from when she raised her hand to cover her face when he hit her before.

In his past life, he considered his two daughters to be a financial burden. When Panpan protected her younger sister from being beaten, he beat her even more severely.

commit a sin.

That's a fucking monstrosity.

Liu Bei neither stepped forward nor got angry.

He took a step back and bent down, trying to make himself look less intimidating.

"Panpan, the braids you did for Niannian look really nice."

"Don't pretend with me! I've heard that kind of talk a million times."

Liu Panpan didn't believe it, so she raised the branch even higher.

Liu Nian peeked half her head out from behind her sister, then quickly withdrew.

"well……"

Liu Bei knew that nothing he said would make a difference.

He sighed, went around to the side, and headed straight for the kitchen.

After taking a few steps, Liu Panpan's hushed voice came from behind: "Niannian, don't be afraid, the bad guys are gone."

Liu Bei paused for a moment.

He didn't turn around.

He was afraid that if he turned back, his eldest and youngest daughters would misunderstand him even more.

As he hurried toward the kitchen door, he ran into Zhao Chunyan coming out carrying a broom.

Zhao Chunyan casually asked, "Where did you go last night? You only came back this morning? You didn't really go up the mountain, did you?"

"Yeah, we went up the mountain. We shot two wolves, one shot each."

Zhao Chunyan rolled her eyes: "Keep bragging. If you brag any louder, the Thunder God will strike you dead."

Liu Bei didn't bother to explain and squeezed into the kitchen.

Inside, smoke filled the air, and a large iron pot sat on the stove, bubbling and steaming.

Mother Zhao Da'e squatted in front of the stove adding firewood, while Lin Wanqiu stood in front of the chopping board chopping something.

That meaty aroma comes from the pot.

Liu Bei peeked into the pot and saw that the few pounds of wolf meat he had brought back last night had been chopped up.

"Mother, you've already prepared the meat so quickly?"

Zhao Da'e didn't even look up: "If we don't eat it properly, what are we going to do with it? The moon lotus is still cooking, it's good to have some nourishment."

She paused for a moment, then continued, "I went to the pond early this morning to wash vegetables, and Sister-in-law Tan and the others were talking about you. They said you went up the mountain last night and hunted two wolves, and you were selling meat at the village entrance before dawn this morning."

Liu Bei smiled and nodded, "Yes, that's right!"

No sooner had she finished speaking than Zhao Da'e slapped Liu Bei on the forehead.

"What about the money from selling them?"

"Why aren't you taking it out? Did you go to some shady place and spend it all again? Or did you gamble it away? Tell me!"

Lin Wanqiu glanced at Liu Bei, then lowered her head and continued chopping vegetables, as if she hadn't seen anything.

"Mom, is there even a question? He definitely didn't kill the wolf. It was Uncle Shuanzhu and his son who did it. He's just trying to save face by helping Uncle Shuanzhu and getting Uncle Shuanzhu to promote him! How hypocritical!"

Zhao Chunyan returned, her face full of disbelief and mockery.