Reborn at 80: From Village Scoundrel to Billionaire

On the western slope of the forest farm, a grove of fir trees casts long shadows under the setting sun.

Fan Erhe led the group along the logging road.

Both sides are covered with cedar, pine and nanmu trees of varying thicknesses, ranging from the size of a bowl to the size of a person who can hug them, densely packed and blocking out the sun.

"Xiao Bei, what do you think of this patch of cedar wood? A batch was just cut down last year, and the rest are all good quality timber."

Liu Bei walked up to the nearest cedar tree and tapped the trunk with his knuckles.

"Knock knock".

The voice sounded somewhat muffled.

He crouched down and examined the tree roots again. There were no ant trails or fungal spots, and the bark was very clean.

"This one won't do."

"Huh? This tree is so straight!" Tan Si said, looking puzzled.

Liu Bei placed his palm on the tree trunk and moved it up two inches, feeling a tiny bump on his fingertip.

"There are hidden knots in the tree trunk. Once the wood has hidden knots, the furniture made from it will be unevenly stressed and will crack after two years. I'm building a 100-square-meter brick-concrete house. The beams and purlins need to withstand the load for decades, so I can't be careless or make do with what I have."

Fan Erhe leaned closer to take a look and, sure enough, found a very faint change in texture where Liu Bei had pointed.

"Xiao Bei, I didn't know you knew about this?"

"I learned this when I was hanging out with people." Liu Bei patted the wood shavings off his hands and continued walking about ten steps deeper into the woods.

After a short while, he stopped in front of an old cedar tree that was as thick as a person's embrace and tapped on the trunk.

"Knock knock!"

The sound was crisp and clear.

He then examined the growth rings; the exposed cross-section at the saw cut had uniform patterns, arranged very densely in concentric rings.

"Dense growth rings indicate slow growth, hard wood, tight fibers, and resistance to decay and pressure. It can last at least fifty years as a roof beam, not to mention furniture. Let's go with this one!"

Fan Shuanzhu squatted down and touched the cross-section. "This tree must be at least thirty years old, right?"

"Thirty-five." Liu Bei glanced around, pointing to a row on the east side. "Those trees will do. Thick enough trunk diameter, upright shape, no lopsided crowns. Director Fan, I need twelve roof beams and eight purlins; door and window timbers are extra. Is this grove enough to go around?"

"Enough! More than enough!" Fan Erhe waved his hand. "Old Chen! Bring the saw over here!"

For the next two hours, the entire forest was filled with the sound of sawing wood.

Li Dazhuang carried a 200-pound log by himself as if it were a carrying pole, his steps steady and even.

Fan Shuanzhu and Old Man Tan worked together very well in lifting the log.

Tan Si cleared away the branches at the back, while Fan Ha'er ran all over the place, filling in wherever there was a shortage of people.

Liu Bei personally oversaw every piece of material, and any that didn't meet the standards were immediately removed.

The group worked until dusk, when it was almost dark, before they neatly stacked the twenty logs beside the logging road.

"Alright! We can call it a day!" Fan Erhe wiped the sweat from his face and called back, "Old Chen! Is dinner ready yet?"

"Alright, alright! It's simmering in the pot!"

Soon, the food was served.

There was sauerkraut stewed with cured pork, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, a pot of mixed grain porridge, and a braised rabbit.

"It smells so good!"

"I can't wait!"

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's eat!"

……

Fan Ha'er, gnawing on a rabbit leg, asked, "Manager, where did this rabbit come from?"

"The guard rabbits raised in the forest farm."

"A guard rabbit? A rabbit can guard a door?"

"Yes. Rabbits have sharp ears; they jump at the slightest sound, even more so than dogs."

"You might as well raise me. My hearing is excellent too. Last time, Fan Xibei's wife was yelling at him inside the house, and I could hear her even through two walls—"

"Snapped!"

Before Fan Ha'er could finish speaking, Fan Shuanzhu's slap landed precisely on time. "Shut up and eat."

"Haha~"

Everyone laughed.

The fire crackled and popped, sparks flew into the sky, and everyone ate and laughed, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

"Um?"

Just then, Liu Bei suddenly put down his bowl.

In his line of sight, about fifty or sixty meters to the northeast, a black dot of light appeared out of nowhere.

Black represents bad luck and misfortune.

The last time black appeared was the day Niannian and Liu Bao were abducted.

This time the blackness was even more intense than that day, and there was more than one instance of it.

Two, five, ten... countless tiny black dots gathered at their location from all directions.

"Xiao Bei, why aren't you eating?"

Fan Erhe was puzzled.

"Shh-"

Liu Bei raised his index finger.

Seeing Liu Bei's serious expression, everyone fell silent instantly.

"Shh~"

Liu Bei's ears twitched.

He heard something sliding on the dead leaves.

He looked in the direction where the sound was most concentrated, and saw a pair of bright green eyes pop out from the roots of a clump of grass.

Soon a second pair appeared, a third pair, a fifth pair... until there were more than fifty pairs before the number stopped increasing.

The eerie green light clung to the ground, densely arranged like a row of will-o'-the-wisps.

"What...what is that?" Fan Ha'er's rabbit leg fell to the ground.

Li Dazhuang's pupils contracted sharply, and he shook his head: "Not really like a wild beast."

Fan Shuanzhu and Old Man Tan stood up almost at the same time.

"snake!"

"What? So many snakes?"

The men at the forest farm turned pale, and one of the younger ones slid off the stool and onto the ground.

"Don't panic!" Liu Bei grabbed a burning piece of firewood next to him and threw it into the nearest bushes.

The firelight illuminated an area of ​​two meters.

Sure enough, the ground was covered with snakes.

Some are bluish-gray, some are yellowish-brown, some are as thick as an adult's wrist, and some are as thin as a thumb.

"Damn! There are more than fifty of them!" Old Chen's legs went weak and he collapsed next to the stove.

"Everyone back inside the shed! With your backs against the stone wall!" Liu Bei shouted.

Everyone quickly shrank into the stone shed.

Li Dazhuang picked up a machete and stood in front to block the way.

Fan Shuanzhu and Old Man Tan each grabbed a fire poker.

Liu Bei glanced around the shed, his gaze landing on a hunting rifle hanging in the corner.

"Manager, is that gun usable?"

"Yes! The ammunition is in the metal box under the stove!"

Liu Bei ran over, took off his gun, opened the metal box, grabbed a handful of ammunition, stuffed it into his pocket, loaded the bullets, and chambered a round.

The first snake had already crawled to the entrance of the shed.

"Bang!"

The snake's head exploded, and its headless body writhed wildly on the ground for two seconds before going still.

"Snakes are afraid of fire! Dazhuang, quickly pull all the firewood out of the stove and throw it by the door!"

"Good!" Li Dazhuang opened the stove door and threw more than a dozen burning firewood at the entrance of the shed. The flames immediately shot up to half a person's height, forcing the snakes at the front to take two steps back.

But the snakes behind didn't stop and continued forward.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Liu Bei fired three shots in quick succession, each hitting the snake's head precisely.

But bullets are limited, and fifty snakes are simply not enough to fight them.

"Uncle Shuanzhu, Uncle Tan, grab the torches and shoo them to both sides! Don't let them get around to the back wall!"

Two old men, each holding a burning wooden stick, stood at the gaps on either side of the shed.

"Hey! Don't just stand there! Go help your dad!"

Before he could finish speaking, a bluish-gray snake darted in from the side gap and bit Fan Ha'er's calf.

"Ah~" Fan Ha'er cried out and reached out to pull.

"Don't pull!" Liu Bei shouted immediately, but it was too late.

"Damn! I got bitten."

Almost at the same moment, a scream came from the other side.

Tan Si was also bitten on the back of his right hand, and the snake was still hanging on his hand. Old Man Tan rushed over and killed the snake with a stick.

"Fourth son!"

"Father... my hand is numb." Tan Si's face turned white rapidly in the firelight.

Liu Bei gritted his teeth. He didn't have time to be distracted, because at that moment, even more snakes swarmed over.

"Dazhuang! Catch the gun!"

Liu Bei tossed the hunting rifle to Li Dazhuang, picked up a hoe from the ground, and together with Fan Shuanzhu, Old Tan, Fan Erhe, and Old Chen, they formed a human wall.

Burning, beating with sticks, splitting with hoes, shooting.

Li Dazhuang's marksmanship is not as good as Liu Bei's, but it's enough to hit a snake's head at a distance of three meters.

"Bang! Bang!"

Each shot was accompanied by the hiss of a snake.

One snake after another was killed.

Ten minutes later, more than fifty snake corpses lay scattered on the ground.

The last yellowish-brown venomous snake that tried to crawl under the stove was cut in two by Liu Bei with a hoe.

"Huff... huff..."

Everyone gasped for breath. Snake blood and charred wood mingled on the ground, and a foul stench permeated the scene.

Liu Bei threw down his hoe and rushed to Fan Ha'er.

The area around the teeth marks on my calf is already swollen.

"poisonous!"

He then looked at the back of Tan Si's hand, which showed the same condition.

"Manager, immediately arrange for someone to take them both to town to find a doctor! Snake bites can't be delayed!"

"Alright! Old Chen—"

"Wait a moment."

Liu Bei suddenly raised his head, and his ears twitched again.

He heard faint breathing sounds coming from the bushes about 13 or 14 meters away, at the 11 o'clock position directly in front of him.

Liu Bei snatched the hunting rifle from Li Dazhuang and checked it; there was one bullet left.

"Bang!!!"

Liu Bei fired without hesitation.

"Ah... my leg!"

A scream came from the bushes.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot! We surrender!"

Immediately afterward, another person begged for mercy.

"Let's go take a look!"

Liu Bei strode over with his gun in hand, followed closely by Li Dazhuang and Fan Shuanzhu.

In the firelight, two people were crouching in the bushes.

He was shot in the calf.

The other one had his hands raised, his face filled with terror.

Judging from their clothes and appearance, they must be from out of town.

Liu Bei pointed the gun at his forehead.

"Speak. Who sent you?"

"It's Wang Mazi. Wang Mazi paid us a hundred yuan to come... to release snakes..."

"Son of a bitch!!!"

Fan Erhe's expression suddenly darkened.

"Damn it!!!"

Fan Shuanzhu clenched his fist.

"Wasn't Wang Mazi in the police station? When did he get out?" Liu Bei pressed.

"He's got someone to bail him out. He was released yesterday!"

Where is he?

"The casino behind the brick kiln in town."

Liu Bei returned the gun to Li Dazhuang.

"Tie them up. Uncle Shuanzhu, Uncle Tan, you two take Ha'er and Lao Si to the health center. Director Fan, take these two to the police station. When you get there, remember to find Chief Zhou Jianguo first."

"As for those snakes, I'll trouble you, Old Chen, to sell them in town. We'll split the money!"

"Xiao Bei, what about you?" Fan Erhe asked.

"Me...?" Liu Bei squinted, raising an eyebrow, "Of course I'm going to settle accounts with Wang Mazi!"