Reborn at 80: From Village Scoundrel to Billionaire

"Daddy smells so bad."

In a daze, a soft little hand covered Liu Bei's nose.

"Niannian! Come here!" Lin Wanqiu's voice followed closely. "Dad was busy until very late yesterday. He was so tired that he fell asleep without even taking a shower when he got home. You need to be understanding of Dad. You're not allowed to say anything bad about him anymore, understand?"

"Hmm... Niannian knows she was wrong."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei slowly opened his eyes.

The little girl squatted by the bed, her chin resting on her hands, her round eyes staring at him.

The father and daughter looked into each other's eyes.

"Dad's awake!"

Niannian opened her arms and rushed over.

Liu Bei caught her, turned her over, and sat up, hoisting the little girl onto his shoulder. "How about Daddy takes you horseback riding? Giddy up!"

"OK!"

"Let's ride a horse! Let's ride a horse!"

Niannian rode on his neck, her little hands holding his hair, her smiling face revealing two small dimples.

Seeing that Liu Bei had woken up, Lin Wanqiu asked, "Did you sleep well? Do you want to lie down a little longer? Niannian, get down quickly, don't bother your father."

"No need. I've had enough sleep, I don't need to sleep anymore."

Lin Wanqiu wanted to say a few more words, but when she saw Liu Bei carrying Niannian out, she had no choice but to swallow the rest of her words and follow him out.

In the courtyard, Panpan held a piece of charcoal in her hand and was teaching Liu Bao to draw on paper, stroke by stroke.

The drawing on the paper is crooked and messy, depicting a house with several stick figures standing in front of it.

"Sis, who is this?"

"This is Dad."

"What about this one?"

"This is you."

"How come I'm shorter than my dad?"

"Because you're already short."

"snort!"

Liu Baogang pouted, but when he saw Liu Bei carrying Niannian out of the house, his two little eyes lit up immediately.

"Daddy! I want to ride too!"

Liu Bao dropped the charcoal sticks and ran over.

Panpan put down what she was holding and stood up as well.

"Come on." Liu Bei squatted down behind Niannian and put her down, letting Liu Bao climb on her.

"Let's ride a horse! Giddy up! Giddy up! Quick, let's go!!!"

Liu Bao shouted excitedly.

A few minutes later, Liu Bei waved to his eldest daughter.

"Panpan, come on over too."

"Dad, I'm a big kid now! Let's forget about it!"

"Come on! Hurry up!"

"All right!"

Panpan bit her lip and walked over.

Liu Bei picked her up as well, one in each arm, carrying Liu Bao on his left shoulder, with his right arm around Panpan, while Niannian hugged his leg.

"Alright! Alright! Stop playing around!" Lin Wanqiu chased after them from behind. "It's dangerous to have one, two, or three of them hanging on your body. Get down quickly."

"It's alright." Liu Bei chuckled, carrying the three children around the yard again and again.

"Squeak!"

Just then, the kitchen door opened.

Zhao Da'e brought out a plate of steamed sweet potatoes. Watching her three grandsons clinging to her son, chatting and laughing, the corners of her mouth slowly turned up, and she smiled with satisfaction.

A dozen minutes later.

"Xiao Bei, hurry up and wash up, it's time for breakfast!"

"Yes, Mother!"

Liu Bei reluctantly put the three children down, washed his face, and then sat down and picked up his bowl. But he had only taken two mouthfuls of porridge when Zhao Chunyan came over and sat down opposite him.

With her arms crossed and chin raised, Zhao Chunyan spoke.

"Liu Bei".

"What's wrong?"

"Didn't you go to buy timber yesterday?"

"yes!"

"Where's the timber?" Zhao Chunyan gestured with her index finger around the yard. "I've looked everywhere, but I haven't seen a single piece of wood."

"We were planning to ship it back last night, but—"

"Sister Wanqiu!"

Before Liu Bei could finish explaining, Zhao Chunyan yelled at Lin Wanqiu, "What did I say? I told you he'd been faking it all along, and you wouldn't believe me!"

"Now you should believe me, right? He said he went to buy timber, but there wasn't a trace of timber. He was gone all day and didn't come back until the middle of the night. He didn't go to buy timber at all; I think he clearly went out to fool around!"

"And you even made noodles for him and waited for him! Did you owe him something in your past life?"

Zhao Chunyan got more and more excited as she spoke, slamming her hand on the table and standing up. "Lately, he's been using all that capitalist sugar-coated bullet stuff! Today he'll hunt a pheasant, tomorrow he'll buy some cloth, the day after he'll say a few nice words, leading us step by step into the ditch! Luckily, he showed his true colors this time, otherwise you would have fallen for his tricks again in a few days!"

Zhao Da'e frowned.

My son has finally gotten better these past few days. Could it all just be an act?

Lin Wanqiu stood between the kitchen and the yard, her gaze falling on Liu Bei, her eyebrows raised.

Su Yuehe had just come out of the side room when she heard Zhao Chunyan's words, and a hint of hesitation flashed in her eyes.

The three children reacted most directly.

Panpan put down her chopsticks and pursed her lips into a thin line.

Niannian raised her little head and looked left and right, then suddenly shrank half a step behind Lin Wanqiu.

Liu Bao kept his head down, squeezing the sweet potato in his hand until it was deformed.

"Is Dad really still that bad dad?"

"Is he really lying?"

"Will he still choose to be a bad guy?"

The three children suddenly remembered Liu Bei from before, and their eyes showed a hint of panic and fear.

In an instant, the atmosphere in the courtyard became somber.

"Chunyan, you've misunderstood. Last night I—"

"Knock knock knock!"

However, before Liu Bei could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a series of knocks on the door.

"Xiao Bei! Is Xiao Bei home?"

Liu Bei got up and opened the door.

As soon as the door opened, Old Chen stood in front, covered in sweat, followed by Li Dazhuang and three workers.

"Xiao Bei, the timber has been delivered to you!" Old Chen wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve.

"wood?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Da'e was the first to rush out.

Lin Wanqiu followed closely behind.

Outside the courtyard gate, a group of villagers had gathered on the dirt road to watch the spectacle.

Three tractors were lined up in a row, each with seven or eight logs stacked in its bed, the fresh scent of cedar wood wafting from a distance.

The twenty logs were all straight, with even and dense grain patterns on their cross-sections, and gleamed with a pale yellow luster in the morning light.

Zhao Da'e's brows immediately relaxed, and she thought to herself:

My son wasn't faking it; he really did go to buy timber last night!

Lin Wanqiu's gaze swept over the truckloads of timber, and she let out a long sigh of relief.

"Thankfully, it wasn't as Zhao Chunyan said."

Zhao Chunyan chased after her from behind.

The moment she saw the timber on the three tractors, the confident air on her face froze, her mouth opened but she couldn't utter a sound.

Su Yuehe was the last to come out, peeking out with her head peeked out.

The moment she saw the wood, the corners of her downturned mouth curved into a smile, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

The three children came out last.

The gloom and worry in Panpan's eyes vanished instantly.

Niannian tugged at Panpan's clothes and stood on tiptoe to look, while Liu Bao climbed directly onto the tractor wheel, wanting to touch the wood.

The same thought simultaneously popped into the minds of the three children:

That lying, bad dad didn't come back.

Now, the father in the family is not lying to them.

"You've come at the perfect time! Here, have a smoke!"

Liu Bei smiled, took out cigarettes from his pocket, and gave one to each of Lao Chen, Li Dazhuang, and several workers.

"Thank you for your hard work. Please help me carry the wood to the open space on the east side of the house to dry it for a while."

"Alright!"

Li Dazhuang and several workers busied themselves with the task.

Zhao Da'e pulled Liu Bei to a corner of the yard.

Have you made up your mind?

"What?"

"How should the rooms be arranged in the new house?"

"One room per person, then."

"Smack!" Zhao Da'e poked his forehead with her finger.

"The rooms are all different sizes! You need to know who gets the big ones and who gets the small ones. If it's not divided fairly, and Wanqiu and the other two start fighting over it, the house will catch fire, and then how will you handle that!"

"Mother, don't worry." Liu Bei rubbed his forehead. "I've already thought it through. Every room in the new house is the same size, so no one has to fight over them. The three of them can choose any of them, and they'll all be the same."

Zhao Da'e's eyes lit up, and she looked him up and down.

"That's a clever idea."

"Then let me ask you one more question. After they move into the new house, all three of them will want to remarry. Whom do you plan to marry?"

Liu Bei glanced at the bustling crowd outside the courtyard gate, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Only children make choices."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm an adult, I want it all."

"Pah!" Zhao Da'e spat. "You want it all, but does the law allow it?"

"If the law doesn't agree..." Liu Bei scratched his chin, "then we'll just maintain the status quo. We can have a few more kids with the three of them to keep them tied down. Even if we don't get that marriage certificate, they can't run away, and life will go on as usual."

Zhao Da'e stared at him for a long time.

"When your father was alive, he was an upright man, and everyone said the Liu family was honest. How did you become so crooked in your generation?"

"No matter how things change," Liu Bei chuckled, "aren't they still your own flesh and blood?"

"roll!"

Zhao Da'e cursed, but she couldn't help but smile.

This brat is getting better and better at talking.

But what that kid said is also true.

If you have several children, are you still worried about having three daughters-in-law running away?

Yes, we should have more children!

The more they have, the more firmly their hearts are bound to their three daughters-in-law!

"Liu Bei has broken the law! He's going to jail!"

The mother and son were chatting enthusiastically when suddenly, a commotion arose from the outer edge of the crowd...