Reborn at 80: From Village Scoundrel to Billionaire

"Grandma, I'm opening the door!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei, who was in the bucket, suddenly turned his head to look at Lin Wanqiu and Zhao Chunyan.

The two women turned to look at him at the same time, their eyes wide open, as if to say: What should we do?

Liu Bei quickly scanned the bathhouse.

Apart from a few old planks, a wooden bucket, and a puddle of water on the ground, there was nowhere to hide a person.

He gritted his teeth, pointed into the wooden tub, and squeezed out three words in a low voice: "You all come in! Get out of the water!"

"What?" Lin Wanqiu exclaimed in a low voice, looking at the waist-high wooden bucket, then at Liu Bei inside the bucket, her face turning bright red.

Zhao Chunyan was also stunned. "The three of us? This bucket? Can it hold them all?"

"Squeak—"

Just then, Panpan's hand landed on the door panel outside.

"Panpan is coming in, there's no time left. Come in quickly!" Liu Bei urged.

"All right!"

Left with no other choice, Lin Wanqiu rolled up her trousers and stepped in. The water level suddenly rose, and she quickly sank down, curling up and shrinking below the surface.

"Let's squeeze in!"

Zhao Chunyan gritted her teeth and followed her inside.

But the bucket is only so big.

After the two women squeezed in from the left and right, the water in the bucket overflowed and splashed all over the ground.

Lin Wanqiu's shoulder was pressed against Liu Bei's arm, and Zhao Chunyan's back was pressed tightly against Liu Bei's chest.

The two people were shoving each other underwater, trying desperately to shrink down until their heads were just below the surface.

Until one moment, Zhao Chunyan's elbow slipped and bumped into a spot she shouldn't have.

Lin Wanqiu's knee struck the wrong spot.

"Wow~"

Liu Bei's mouth suddenly opened to its widest extent, and his eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets.

Upon hearing Liu Bei's voice, the two women underwater also felt the strange sensation under their elbows and knees.

For a moment, both women froze in their tracks.

quiet!

quiet!

quiet!

For a moment, the three of them were silent, with only the sound of water dripping from the rim of the bucket onto the ground.

"Panpan!"

Just then, Zhao Da'e's voice came from outside the door, "Your father is taking a bath in there! What are you doing in there, little girl? It's outrageous! Go, go, go back inside!"

"Oh..." Panpan pouted and withdrew her hand from the door panel. "Then I'll wait until Daddy finishes washing before I come back."

Soon, Liu Panpan's footsteps faded into the distance.

"Phew~"

Outside the door, Zhao Da'e finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

She glanced instinctively through the crack in the window, and her expression froze.

She was so focused on peeking through the window that she didn't even notice her eldest granddaughter walking up from behind.

Now that Panpan has called out like that, the three people inside must know that she's been eavesdropping outside.

"this……"

Zhao Da'e's face was extremely embarrassed. Her lips twitched twice, and she shook her head as she quickly left the bathroom doorway.

After walking seven or eight steps, she glanced back and muttered softly, "I didn't see anything... I didn't hear anything..."

……

house.

"Hoo hoo~"

After hearing Panpan walk away, Lin Wanqiu and Zhao Chunyan almost simultaneously surfaced from the water, panting heavily.

"Phew~"

"Ha~"

The three of us looked at each other.

Liu Bei's lips were still twitching, because he hadn't recovered from the feeling of being squeezed by the two women.

But the next moment his eyes widened again.

Lin Wanqiu's clothes were soaked and clung to her body, revealing her beautiful curves.

Zhao Chunyan, needless to say, had a full and alluring figure outlined by her wet clothes.

Two figures, one gentle and the other fiery, one soft and the other strong, were both clearly drenched by the water.

"Gurgle~"

Liu Bei's Adam's apple bobbed up and down, then bobbed again.

He felt like his throat was on fire.

Noticing Liu Bei's strange look, Zhao Chunyan followed his gaze and looked down, her expression changing drastically. "Where are you looking!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Wanqiu glanced down at her own appearance and immediately blushed.

So, the two women reached over at the same time and pinched Liu Bei's inner thighs hard, one on each side, their nails digging into the flesh and twisting half a circle.

"Aww~"

Liu Bei's face contorted in pain, his mouth agape, yet he dared not utter a sound.

Seeing Liu Bei's contorted face, the two women simultaneously let go of his hands.

One person climbed over the bucket from the left, and the other stepped over it from the right, each carrying their soaking wet clothes as they walked out.

The two exchanged a glance as they passed the doorway.

"snort!"

Zhao Chunyan snorted and turned her head away.

"snort!"

Lin Wanqiu snorted and walked away with her chin raised.

Water splashed all over the floor, leaving Liu Bei sitting alone in the bucket, looking down at the two purplish-blue pinch marks on his thighs, a slow smile curving his lips.

"It really hurts. But it was worth it."

……

evening.

At the village entrance, white banners fluttered gently in the evening breeze at the mourning hall.

When Fan Shuanzhu and Old Man Tan returned, they went to help. One chopped wood to build a frame, and the other helped burn paper offerings.

Li Dazhuang and Tan Si also returned from the county town in the borrowed horse-drawn carriage.

The two, covered in sweat, arrived at Liu Bei's house with Fan Ha'er.

"Xiao Bei! We're back!"

"Come in and talk," Liu Bei said, ushering the group into the courtyard.

Zhao Da'e sat on the threshold sewing shoe soles, Lin Wanqiu chopped vegetables in the kitchen, Zhao Chunyan leaned against the courtyard wall cracking melon seeds, and Su Yuehe wiped Liu Nian's face. Soon, the ears of the women all perked up.

"Brother Bei, it's all sold out!" Li Dazhuang said excitedly.

"How many did you sell?" Liu Bei asked.

"Donkey-headed wolves are a rare sight; the people in the county town had never seen one before. As soon as the meat was put out, it was ten yuan a pound, and the wealthy people in the county town went crazy, almost starting a fight. Skin, bones, internal organs—everything was in demand. Over two hundred pounds, not a single piece left, sold for a total of two thousand and seventy yuan!"

"Hiss~"

The shoe sole in Zhao Da'e's hand fell off.

In the kitchen, Lin Wanqiu's knife, which she was using to cut vegetables, stopped in mid-air.

Zhao Chunyan was completely unaware that the sunflower seed shell in her mouth had fallen onto her clothes.

Su Yuehe stopped wiping Liu Nian's face, her mouth agape in an "O" shape.

Two thousand and seventy dollars!!!

The last black panther sold for 1,500, but this time it's gone for over 2,000.

The employees of the supply and marketing cooperative only earn thirty or forty yuan a month, while this donkey-headed wolf is worth four or five years' salary for them.

quiet!

For a moment, the courtyard fell silent.

After a brief moment of surprise, Zhao Da'e sprang up from the threshold and rushed to the stone table, her hands trembling as she opened the cloth bag that Li Dazhuang had taken out.

"Splash!"

A thick stack of banknotes lay on the table, neatly arranged: large bills, five-yuan notes, two-yuan notes, and one-yuan notes.

Zhao Da'e counted the bills one by one with her fingers, her lips moving as she counted them again and again.

"One...twenty...three hundred...one thousand..."

The more she counted, the more his hands trembled.

Liu Bei was also somewhat surprised.

He originally estimated that he could sell it for a maximum of 1,500 or 1,600 yuan, but he did not expect that the rich people in the county would be so generous.

After a moment of hesitation, Liu Bei spoke up: "According to the old rules, it will be divided according to the number of people."

"No way! You killed Donkey Head Wolf, it was all your doing from start to finish. The rest of us didn't even lift a finger. Besides, if it weren't for you, Tan Si and I might have died on the mountain that night. This money has to be yours."

Tan Si nodded, "Da Zhuang is right."

Fan Ha'er chuckled and said, "Brother Bei, you take the lion's share, just give me a few pocket money."

After a few seconds of silence, Liu Bei said, "Alright. Let's do it another way. I'll take half, one thousand and thirty-five. The remaining one thousand and thirty-five will be divided among the five of you. Dazhuang, Tan Si, Ha'er, Uncle Shuanzhu, and Old Tan, two hundred and seven yuan each."

"This..." Li Dazhuang was about to decline.

Liu Bei glanced at him and said, "If you don't agree, then don't come up the mountain with me again."

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Li Dazhuang shut his mouth.

Tan Si remained silent.

Fan Ha'er was beaming from ear to ear, giving Liu Bei a thumbs-up: "Brother Bei! You're a true friend!"

After dividing the money, the three went to the mourning hall at the village entrance to help, leaving only one family in the courtyard.

Zhao Da'e dragged Liu Bei under the eaves and berated him in a low voice, "Are you crazy? You're just going to split over a thousand yuan like that! Why don't you split the thing in your crotch too?"

Liu Bei: "..."

"Mother, one person's strength is ultimately limited. I will have many things to do in the future, and I can't carry everything myself. These people are trustworthy. If I spend a little money now, they will be able to do great things for me in the future."

"you--"

Zhao Da'e glared at Liu Bei for two seconds. "Fine. But next time you need to let me know before you spend money!"

"Okay, I'll definitely let you know next time."

"That's more like it." Zhao Da'e was finally relieved.

"Wanqiu, you can keep the money!" At this moment, Liu Bei looked at Lin Wanqiu.

"Huh? It's me again?"

"Um."

"Alright!" Upon hearing this, Lin Wanqiu glanced at Zhao Chunyan, curled her lips, and walked over to put the money away, leaving Zhao Chunyan seething with anger.

……

Before they knew it, the day of the funeral arrived. The whole village sent Fan Laosan and Fan Mazi up the mountain to be laid to rest.

The sound of the suona echoed in the mountain valley for a long time, the white banners burned out, and the mourning hall was dismantled.

However, discussions about the donkey-headed wolf began to circulate in the village.

Because someone brought back a message from the county town:

Liu Bei's donkey-headed wolf sold for at least two thousand yuan.

"What?"

Two thousand? My family's entire year's harvest doesn't even reach five hundred!

"It seems Liu Bei has really changed!"

"Yes, they've become successful again. The Liu family has finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel!"

Under the old locust tree at the village entrance, the villagers were talking amongst themselves, some with envy and some with sour grapes.

In a corner, Fan Xibei, after hearing the villagers' discussions, angrily snapped a weed in half.

Zhao Liuzhi squatted down next to him and secretly glanced at him: "Brother Northwest... two thousand yuan..."

"Shut up."

Fan Xibei stood up and walked away with a gloomy expression.

Zhao Liuzhi shrank his neck and quickly followed.

……

In the village party secretary's office.

"Two thousand dollars?"

Fan Sanyuan slowly tapped his fingers on the table.

a bit.

Two times.

Three times.

Gradually, his brows furrowed into a deep frown.

……

The next day, it was dawn.

In the courtyard, Liu Bei's family was sitting together eating breakfast.

"Wow, quite a feast! No wonder everyone says your family has struck it rich! Seeing it today, it's true!"