Reborn a day later, I emptied my enemy's possessions beforehand.

Zhou Haibing was completely stunned.

The younger brother was caught stealing and went to jail. Instead of reflecting on whether he had raised his children well or criticizing his brother for breaking the law, the father blamed the older brother.

Just because he's the older brother, does that mean he deserves to take the blame for all his younger brother's actions?

Zhou Hailong spent two years in prison, but after his release, he not only did not restrain himself, but became even more outrageous.

He met a group of even more ruthless thugs and started collecting protection money, running brothels, and getting into fights, gradually sinking deeper into the abyss.

Zhou Fuxiang always felt that his youngest son was the best child in the world, and that everyone else was at fault.

Zhou Haibing has cleaned up Zhou Hailong's messes countless times over the years; he himself has lost count.

How much medical expenses were paid, how much damages were caused, how much money was spent pulling strings to get him out—his company was almost destroyed by the gangsters Zhou Hailong had brought along.

He almost lost 50 million yuan to Zhou Hailong, which nearly broke his financial chain. He was also swindled out of 30 million yuan by Zhou Hailong through a fake kidnapping. He remembered every single one of these incidents.

And Zhou Fuxiang always said the same thing:

"He's your brother, you can't just abandon him."

Zhou Haibing sometimes wonders if he would have had an easier life if he weren't the eldest brother, or if he weren't Zhou Fuxiang's son.

There is one more thing that is most important—Li Su'e.

In 1975, Zhou Haibing was eighteen years old, and Li Su'e was eighteen years old.

They were both at the prime of their lives, meeting under the old locust tree, watching the sunset on the hillside, and whispering to each other in the clinic.

He said he wanted to marry her, and she said she did.

When Zhou Fuxiang learned of this, his reaction was so intense that it was something Zhou Haibing had not anticipated.

"Do you even know what her background is? Her father is a capitalist! She's the daughter of a capitalist! If you marry her, your life is over!"

"You'll never join the Party! You'll never become a doctor! Nobody will even give you work points! And you'll drag our whole family down with you!"

Zhou Haibing said, "Dad, I like her."

Zhou Fuxiang slapped him across the face:

"Can liking someone put food on the table? Can liking someone be a lifeline? If you don't want our family to suffer because of you, then cut ties with them!"

Zhou Haibing knelt down and begged him.

He knelt in the main room for an entire afternoon, until his knees were swollen.

He told his father that Li Su'e was a wonderful girl, that she was well-educated, gentle and virtuous, and that she would not cause any trouble for the family.

Zhou Fuxiang sat in the chair, smoking a cigarette, without saying a word, his face as black as the bottom of a pot.

That attempt yielded no results.

Zhou Haibing refused to break up, and Zhou Fuxiang refused to back down, so the father and son remained deadlocked.

Later, Zhou Fuxiang changed his strategy.

Instead of directly opposing him, he asked him to marry Sun Deming's daughter, Sun Guiying.

Sun Deming was the village head and village party secretary of Wolong Village. In the rural areas of that era, this was the highest-ranking official, whose word was law and no one dared to offend him.

If the Zhou family could form a marriage alliance with the Sun family, the benefits would be substantial:

Approving homestead land has become easier, and there's no need to ask for favors to complete the procedures. Even when the production team distributes grain, they can get a few extra kilograms.

Zhou Fuxiang shared this idea with Zhou Haibing.

Zhou Haibing said, "I will not marry Sun Guiying; I don't like her."

This time, Zhou Fuxiang didn't hit him or scold him; instead, he changed his approach—he cried.

A man in his fifties sat on a chair in the main room, tears streaming down his face, snot and sobs flowing freely, his voice hoarse and trembling:

"Haibing, I've never asked you for anything in my life, except for this one thing. Listen to me. If you don't marry Sun Guiying, Sun Deming will make trouble for our family."

If he makes trouble for our family, we won't be able to stay in the village anymore.

Can you bear to watch your old father be driven out of the village? Can you bear to see your younger siblings homeless?

Zhou Haibing remained silent.

Zhou Fuxiang slid off the chair again and knelt on the ground:

"If you don't agree, I'll kill myself right now. You try me, I mean it."

Left with no other choice, Zhou Haibing married Sun Guiying.

He ripped Li Su'e out of the softest part of his heart, and that wound has not healed for decades.

Now he knows that the woman he married has been lying to him from beginning to end.

She had a child with Wang Jinshan and had him raise it. She conspired with Wang Jinshan to steal his company shares. She called Wang Jinshan "husband" and Zhou Haibing "old thing".

She acted in front of him for thirty years, and she acted better than any Oscar-winning actress.

He sacrificed his life's happiness in exchange for a huge green hat (being cuckolded).

He also wanted to settle this score with his father.

The car exited the highway and turned onto the county road leading to Chenjia Village.

The fields on both sides of the road were lush and green, and wisps of smoke rose from the distant villages. The sunset on the horizon was ablaze, turning the whole world orange-red.

Just after six o'clock, the car drove into Chenjia Village.

The old locust tree at the village entrance is still there, and it's a size thicker than it was decades ago.

Several elderly people were sitting under the tree enjoying the shade. When they saw the black Mercedes-Benz S-Class drive up, they first squinted at the license plate.

Then an old lady recognized it first, stood up and waved at the car:

"The sea ice is back!"

Zhou Haibing rolled down the car window, smiled, and nodded at her: "Aunt Li, how are you feeling?"

"Okay, okay, everything's fine." Aunt Li smiled, her wrinkles smoothing out.

"Your dad's home. I just came from his place. He's drinking with Lao Zhang and the others."

"Thank you, Aunt Li."

The car continued driving in, and people kept greeting him along the way.

Old Zhao, who was smoking at his door at the east end of the village, grinned when he saw the car.

"Hai Bing, you got a new car again? This one must have been expensive, right?"

Liu's wife, from the west end of the village, stood by the roadside holding her child. The child waved at the car, and she waved back.

"Hai Bing is back!"

A few young people were sitting at the entrance of a small shop in the middle of the village. When they saw him, they stood up and greeted him, "Hello, Mr. Zhou."

Zhou Haibing responded to each question with a polite smile, but his heart remained unmoved.

None of these people knew why he had come back.

All they knew was that he was the richest man in the county, the most successful entrepreneur in the surrounding area, and a big shot who drove a Mercedes and wore designer clothes.

They didn't know he had a terminal illness, didn't know he was dying, didn't know he was going to be reborn in 1976 tomorrow, and didn't know that he was coming back this time to take all of his father and father-in-law's belongings.

The car stopped in front of the European-style villa.

The three-story marble exterior, the Roman-columned portico, and the red glazed tiles shimmering in the setting sun.

A BMW X5 was parked in the yard, its gold paint particularly eye-catching under the lights.

That was Zhou Fuxiang's car, which Zhou Haibing bought for him a few years ago for nearly a million yuan.

The old man drove this car around the villages within a hundred miles, telling everyone he met, "How is my car?" but he never said, "My son bought this for me."