Reborn at 80: From Village Scoundrel to Billionaire

"You three aren't trying to fool us, are you? It doesn't taste good at all, right?" Zhao Chunyan looked suspicious, not believing at all that Liu Bei's cooking skills were really that good. In her opinion, the three children must have found the food unpalatable and were trying to trick them into sharing the misery. She wasn't going to fall for it.

But at that moment, Lin Wanqiu reached out and picked up a grasshopper, stuffing it into her mouth.

"Click."

After chewing twice, her eyes suddenly lit up.

Then, Lin Wanqiu grabbed two more, and this time she didn't even chew them properly before stuffing them directly into her mouth.

"Um?"

Seeing this, Zhao Chunyan's pupils contracted.

She knew Lin Wanqiu all too well.

He usually eats very politely, without even making a sound with his chopsticks, but now he's grabbing food with his hands and stuffing it into his mouth?

Could it be—

"Get out of the way!"

Zhao Chunyan pushed Lin Wanqiu's hand away, grabbed three grasshoppers, and stuffed them all into Lin Wanqiu's mouth in one go.

"Click~"

"this--"

In an instant, her expression changed from doubt to shock, then from shock to disbelief, and finally her entire face was filled with the four words: How is this possible?!

"My God! Liu Bei, when did you learn to cook? This is even better than braised pork!"

"Really?"

Seeing that her two daughters-in-law were exaggerating more and more, Zhao Da'e finally couldn't resist and casually picked one up and put it in her mouth.

"Click~"

After chewing three times, her eyes lit up.

"It's delicious, really delicious! Yuehe, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and try it!"

She chewed while giving Su Yuehe a meaningful look.

Su Yuehe hesitated for a moment, then took a small bite and took half of it.

"Um?"

She paused for a moment, her eyelashes trembled a few times, and then she quickly stuffed the remaining half in as well.

Watching his four closest women scrambling for a plate of grasshoppers, Liu Bei's lips curled into a smile.

"How is it?"

"Son!" Zhao Da'e was the first to speak, chili powder still on her lips. "Your cooking is pretty good! When did you learn it? How come I didn't know?"

"Exactly!" Zhao Chunyan swallowed what was in her mouth. "You never even touched the stove before, how come you suddenly know how to cook? And you're so good at it?"

"Oh, when did you learn that?"

Lin Wanqiu also looked at him, very curious.

"Hehe~"

Liu Bei chuckled: "Back when I was out there, I learned a couple of tricks from a food stall owner, but I never had a chance to show them off."

"Oh...is that so?" Zhao Da'e nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

Zhao Chunyan was clearly not convinced, but with two grasshoppers stuffed in her mouth, she was too lazy to pursue the matter any further.

"Daddy! I want more!" Liu Bao reached out to grab another handful from the plate.

Seeing this, Panpan and Niannian quickly came over as well.

"Wait!"

Liu Bei immediately blocked the three children's outstretched hands.

"We can't finish it all. We'll save the rest; we'll need them later."

"Why keep it?" Zhao Da'e asked, puzzled.

"Fry them up and sell them."

"What?"

The room fell silent immediately after he said that.

"Sell?" Su Yuehe asked softly. "Grasshoppers... would anyone buy them? Trying them for fun is fine, but actually selling them... I'm afraid there's not much of a market for them, right?"

Zhao Da'e nodded in agreement: "Yuehe is right. This was something we only ate during famines. Now that life is better, who would spend money to buy it?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Wanqiu lowered her head and fell into deep thought.

Zhao Chunyan said, "I think it can be sold."

"Um?"

Everyone looked at Zhao Chunyan.

Zhao Chunyan counted on her fingers: "More than a hundred grasshoppers, our family can't possibly finish them all. They won't be fresh if left overnight, and it's such a waste to throw them away. Rather than letting them rot in our hands, we might as well try selling them. If we can sell them, we'll make a profit; if we can't, we can just eat them ourselves, so we won't lose much. Don't you all think so?"

"Yes! I agree." Lin Wanqiu nodded. "This flavor is very unique. I've lived for over twenty years and have never tasted anything like it. Our family all think it's delicious, and others should like it too. Besides, it's a unique recipe; no one else knows how to fry it. Scarcity increases value, so I reckon there should be a market for it."

"Um?"

Liu Bei's eyes suddenly lit up.

He glanced at Zhao Chunyan first, then at Lin Wanqiu.

One has business acumen, the other has analytical skills; these two women are truly treasures from head to toe.

"Alright! Let's not delay, let's fry them now and take them to town to sell!"

Liu Bei rolled up his sleeves, ready to make a move, but Zhao Chunyan stopped him.

"etc."

"What's wrong?"

Zhao Chunyan rolled her eyes: "Fried food loses its crispness when it cools down. It'll take at least half an hour to walk from here to town. By the time it gets there, it'll be soggy. Who's going to buy that?"

"That makes sense!" Liu Bei nodded, somewhat stunned.

"If you're going to sell, fry it fresh. Bring your pot and oil with you, set up a stall in town, fry it on the spot, and sell it while it's hot. That's how delicious it is! People passing by can't help but stop and linger because of the smell," Zhao Chunyan added.

"That makes sense. Freshly cooked food is the most fragrant and tempting," Lin Wanqiu agreed.

Liu Bei stared at Zhao Chunyan for several seconds.

This woman... is a natural-born businesswoman.

"Okay! We'll do it your way! We'll set up a stall in front of the machinery factory in town. There are over a thousand workers there, and the biggest foot traffic is around when they get off work."

"A machinery factory?" Zhao Chunyan thought for a moment. "Okay. There are definitely a lot of people there."

After they had agreed on the plan, Liu Bei turned around and went into the kitchen, calling Lin Wanqiu over.

"Late autumn, I'll teach you how to fry it. When we get to town, you can take charge of the cooking."

"OK!"

Lin Wanqiu nodded and stood in front of the stove.

Liu Bei taught him step by step.

The cooking time, oil temperature, timing of adding ingredients, stirring rhythm, and seasoning ratio are all explained clearly.

Lin Wanqiu listened attentively and memorized it on the first listen.

The second time she did it herself, the color of the fried food was already about 80% right.

The third time.

"Sizzle~"

Grasshoppers are put into the pot, and the oil bubbles and boils.

Lin Wanqiu flicked her wrist, and the shovel flipped the spatula quickly and evenly.

When they come out of the pan, they are golden and crispy. Sprinkled with salt and chili powder, the aroma is even stronger than that of Liu Bei's fried food.

Liu Bei tried one, chewed it a couple of times, and found it tasted even better than the ones he had fried.

"Your talent..." Liu Bei looked at Lin Wanqiu, "is a bit outrageous."

"Yeah?"

Lin Wanqiu pursed her lips, but her ears turned red.

Zhao Chunyan scoffed sourly from the side, "Tch. It's just frying some bugs. What's the big deal?"

Soon everything was ready. It was already past 3 p.m., which was still a long time before we left the machine factory at 5 p.m. The timing was perfect.

Liu Bei loaded the iron pot, cooking oil, seasonings, and snakeskin bag onto the cart and was about to leave when a voice suddenly came from outside the door.

"Brother Bei!!!"

Liu Bei looked up and saw that it was Fan Ha'er.

Behind him followed Tan Si, and then Li Dazhuang, Old Man Tan, and Fan Shuanzhu.

"Hey!" Liu Bei quickly went to greet him, looking him up and down. "You're discharged from the hospital?"

"I'm out! I'm out!" Fan Ha'er patted his chest. "The doctor said I'm recovering well and can be discharged! Tan Si too!"

"Yes, you've been discharged!"

Tan Si nodded from behind.

"It's good that you're discharged!" Liu Bei patted Fan Ha'er on the shoulder. "What happened to you guys...?"

Old Tan squeezed up from behind. "Xiao Bei, here's the thing. We'd like to ask you to lead a team up Da Liu Mountain again. There are plenty of wild animals in the mountains lately, so we'd like to gather as many as possible before the weather gets cold to store up for the winter."

"this……"

Liu Bei looked at Zhao Chunyan and Lin Wanqiu.

"Go away. Lin Wanqiu and I can handle the stall setup," Zhao Chunyan said, waving her hand.

"Don't worry, go ahead," Lin Wanqiu said.

"I'll go to town to help too. Yuehe can stay home and take care of the children," Zhao Da'e said after a moment's hesitation.

"Alright. I'll go up the mountain with them. Be careful on the way."

After saying that, he went back into the house to get his hunting rifle, hung the ammunition pouch on his waist, and followed Fan Ha'er and the others out of the village.

……

A dozen minutes later, the group arrived at the foot of Da Liu Mountain.

"Help! Help me!!!"

A heart-wrenching scream suddenly echoed from deep within the woods.

Immediately afterwards, three figures stumbled out of the woods.

The first person was covered in blood, his clothes were torn to shreds, and there were several deep claw marks on his face that revealed the bone.

The second person's right arm was hanging limply, the bone was obviously broken, and the stubble was sticking out of the skin and flesh.

The third person suffered the most.

He clutched his stomach, desperately trying to stuff something back into his hands. Blood gushed from between his fingers, leaving a puddle on the ground with every step he took.

He hadn't taken five steps when he collapsed to the ground with a thud and didn't move.

"Holy crap! That guy's guts are spilling out!" Fan Ha'er was so shocked that he took a step back.

"Brother, are you alright?"

Liu Bei rushed over to check on the man and found he had fainted. He immediately helped the man with claw marks on his face up, asking, "What happened?"

"There's something in the mountains... in the mountains..."

"What is it?"

"There's...there's a monster..."

"monster?"