Reborn at 80: From Village Scoundrel to Billionaire

"Brother Bei, what are you doing at the matchmaker's house?"

Liu Bei leaned back in the passenger seat, his gaze sweeping over the three of them.

"Zhang Cuihua came to my house in broad daylight to act as a matchmaker for Wanqiu, forcing her to remarry. What should I do about this?"

"What else can we do?" Fan Ha'er jumped to his feet, slamming his fist on the edge of the truck bed. "Get her! Just fuck that stinking matchmaker! Better yet, fuck her to death!"

"..."

Li Dazhuang's lips twitched.

Tan Si also twitched.

Something about what you're saying just doesn't sound quite right.

Liu Bei's lips twitched twice, and he patted Fan Ha'er on the shoulder, "You don't need to fuck her to death. If you do, you'll end up in jail."

Fan Ha'er raised an eyebrow. "If we don't fuck her to death, are we supposed to beg her?"

"No."

Liu Bei shook his head and smiled. "Isn't Zhang Cuihua the one who loves to play matchmaker? Fine, then I'll give her a taste of her own medicine."

Upon hearing this, Fan Ha'er scratched the back of his head, "What 'path of humanity'? What 'human body'? Brother Bei, can't you speak like a human being?"

Li Dazhuang also shook his head, "Brother Bei, I didn't understand either."

Tan Si nodded in agreement, "Me neither."

Looking at the expressions of the three people, Liu Bei remained silent for two seconds before speaking:

"Zhang Cuihua likes to play matchmaker, doesn't she?"

"right."

"What if someone went to her house and, in front of her husband, said that Zhang Cuihua was going to remarry?"

"..."

"Um?"

The three of them widened their eyes almost simultaneously.

Fan Ha'er was the first to react, "Brilliant, Brother Bei! Isn't this the same principle as her coming to your house to act as a matchmaker for your sister-in-law? You're a real genius!"

Liu Bei: "..."

"But the problem is," Li Dazhuang frowned, "who's going to tell them? A bunch of grown men going to someone's house to say this—who'd believe that?"

"So you need to find a woman. And she has to be from outside Zhangjiawan village. Preferably from the next village. Once you get there, just do as I say."

At this point, Liu Bei paused deliberately.

"Zhangjiawan Village is next to Aijiashan Village. I helped Ai Sanzhu and his group last time. The village chief of Aijiashan Village said we can ask him for help if we need anything. Let's go to Aijiashan Village to find Ai Changhe."

"Ai Changhe?"

"Yes, that's him!"

"good!"

While they were talking, the tractor came to a fork in the road. To the left was Zhangjiawan, and to the right was Aijiashan Village.

Liu Bei looked at both sides and made a decision.

"We'll split into two groups. Dazhuang, you drive the tractor with Ha'er to Aijiashan Village to find Ai Changhe. Ask him to find nine quick-witted women to come over, and then we'll meet up at the entrance of Zhangjiawan Village."

"Nine?" Li Dazhuang was taken aback. "That many?"

"One isn't enough, two can be explained, but three won't be believed. As for the remaining six... keep them as backups."

"Alright!" Li Dazhuang drove the tractor chugging to the right.

Liu Bei patted Tan Si on the shoulder. "Let's go. Let's go into the village and scout it out."

……

Zhangjiawan Village is small, with about a hundred households lined up on both sides of a dirt road.

After walking for more than ten minutes and going around two rows of low walls, Liu Bei and Tan Si found Zhang Cuihua's house.

The courtyard wasn't small, with three tiled houses.

There are two jujube trees planted at the entrance, and a straw mat is set up under the trees.

Liu Bei didn't go in. He just stood at the entrance of the alley across the street and looked out at the road, the height of the courtyard wall, and the positions of the neighbors on the left and right.

"Walk."

Tan Si asked, "Aren't you going in?"

"No rush. Let's wait until we arrive before we move."

About half an hour later, the sound of a tractor came from the direction of the village entrance.

Li Dazhuang, Fan Ha'er, and Ai Changhe arrived with nine women.

The first thing Ai Changhe said to Liu Bei was, "Brother Liu Bei! We haven't repaid your kindness from last time. Just tell us what you need us to do."

"Uncle Ai, this isn't difficult. It's just a matter of getting a few of the ladies to help put on a show."

After saying that, Liu Bei called the nine women together and whispered some instructions to them.

I went through the whole process twice: who should come first, who should come next, what to say when we enter, and how to answer questions.

The nine women listened with increasingly bright eyes. Finally, a middle-aged woman named Sun Jinfeng slapped her thigh and exclaimed, "Brother Liu Bei, I've done this before! There was a gossipy matchmaker in our village who almost broke up someone's marriage. Don't worry, we've got it covered!"

"Then I'll have to trouble you all, sisters-in-law." Liu Beichao clasped his hands in a fist salute to the nine women.

"Ten dollars per person after the job is done, no delays."

"Why would you need to pay for this?"

"Take it. That's the rule."

……

Zhang Cuihua's home.

In the courtyard, Zhang Cuihua's husband, Zhang Guozhong, lay shirtless on a mat under the jujube tree, a palm-leaf fan covering his face, snoring so loudly that the leaves on the trees around him rustled.

Zhang Cuihua sat on a small stool picking green beans, calculating how much money she could get for helping Lin Weiguo with his matchmaking.

"Sister Cuihua!"

Suddenly, a woman's voice came from the courtyard gate.

Zhang Cuihua looked up and saw Sun Jinfeng from Aijiashan Village looking quite surprised. "Jinfeng? What are you doing at my house?"

Sun Jinfeng deliberately spoke loudly, "Sister Cuihua, I've found the perfect man for you! I came here today specifically to tell you!"

"Um?"

Zhang Cuihua suddenly stopped picking green beans.

"Bang!"

Zhang Guozhong, sitting on the straw mat, shuddered, and the palm-leaf fan slipped off his face and fell to the ground.

He sat up abruptly, frowning and glaring at Zhang Cuihua. "What kind of good man? What's going on?"

Zhang Cuihua was completely stunned. "I...I don't know!"

Sun Jinfeng looked surprised. "Sister Cuihua, have you forgotten? A few days ago at the market, we bumped into each other, and you told me you couldn't make ends meet and wanted to remarry. You asked me to keep an eye out for good men. I finally found one yesterday, and I came here today specifically to tell you. This... you've forgotten so quickly? I've been keeping an eye out for you every day! Looks like all my hard work was for nothing!"

"You're talking nonsense!" Zhang Cuihua snapped, jumping to her feet. "When did I ever say such a thing? Don't talk nonsense—"

"That's enough!"

Before Zhang Cuihua could finish speaking, Zhang Guozhong demanded angrily, "Zhang Cuihua, explain yourself! Did this really happen?"

Zhang Cuihua waved her hands frantically, "Junior high school, she's talking nonsense! I didn't do anything—"

"Sister Cuihua! Sister Cuihua!"

Before he could finish speaking, another woman rushed into the courtyard.

She was in her early thirties and wore a braid.

Zhang Guozhong's face darkened. "And who are you?"

The woman with the braid patted her chest and took a couple of breaths. Pointing at Zhang Cuihua, she said, "My name is Lu Ruiying. Sister Cuihua complained to me the other day that she couldn't stand living with you anymore and wanted to find a man who could make money. She asked me to keep an eye out for her, and I finally found one for her. I came here today specifically to tell her."

Sun Jinfeng might be deceiving people.

But then another person, Lu Ruiying, said exactly the same thing.

Something was clearly not right!

"You..." Zhang Guozhong turned his head and stared intently at Zhang Cuihua.

Zhang Cuihua's face turned deathly pale. She opened her mouth to defend herself, "Junior High! I really didn't mean that. Don't listen to their nonsense!"

"Snapped!"

The next moment, Zhang Guozhong slapped Zhang Cuihua across the face.

Zhang Cuihua was jolted to the side by the slap, her mouth agape in an "O" shape, pointing at Zhang Guozhong, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

Just as she was about to speak after pausing, another woman rushed in.

"Sister Cuihua! Sister Cuihua, are you home?"

Zhang Guozhong looked in the direction of the voice, his face ashen, and asked, "Are you here to find her a good man too?"

Duan Lihua paused for a moment after entering the room. "Uh? Sister Cuihua, didn't you say that this matter must not be known to your man, and that it must be kept a secret? How did your man... how did he find out?"

quiet!

quiet!

quiet!

In an instant, the entire courtyard fell silent.

Zhang Cuihua's face turned deathly pale.

Duan Lihua's words were like adding fuel to the fire.

"Good! Good! Good!"

Zhang Guozhong said "good" three times in a row, then pointed at Zhang Cuihua and said...

"You, Zhang Cuihua! You're really something!"

"Not only did you secretly plan to remarry behind my back, but you also made someone keep it a secret? Fine! I work hard every day to feed and clothe you, and you secretly complain about me being poor? About me being incompetent? Want to find someone rich? Fine! Get out of here! Get the hell out of here!"

"I really didn't have it in junior high school—"

"You still dare to deny it? One person saying it is one thing, two people saying it is one thing, but three people saying it is one thing, and you still dare to say it's not true? Do you think the whole world is here to frame you?"

"Slap! Slap! Slap!"

Zhang Guozhong slapped him repeatedly, one hand on each side.

Zhang Cuihua screamed and ran all over the yard, but she was no match for Zhang Guozhong. After being caught by Zhang Guozhong, she was beaten again.

Seeing this, Sun Jinfeng, Lu Ruiying, and Duan Lihua exchanged glances at each other at the doorway and quietly withdrew from the courtyard.

……

Across the alley.

Hearing the wailing and howling coming from the courtyard, Liu Bei's lips curled into a smile. "Good for you. Let's go."

Fan Ha'er caught up, giving a thumbs up, "Brother Bei! Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! No beatings, no scoldings, no breaking the law, and she just let her man take care of it for us. How did you even get this brain? You're a real genius!"

Liu Bei: "..."

He patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, remember this. Some people you don't need to do yourself; you just need to present the truth to the right people."

"Hmm..." Fan Ha'er nodded as if he understood but not quite.

As soon as they reached the village entrance, Ai Changhe greeted them, "Brother Liu Bei, is the matter settled?"

"It's all settled. Thanks to Uncle Ai for your help this time."

"Don't mention it," Ai Changhe waved his hand. "By the way, there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"This morning, a man in a Zhongshan suit came to our Aijiashan Village. He said he was from the county. He specifically asked to see you."