Rebirth: My college entrance exam score was stolen? I turned the tables and made a billion.

"Sister, please sit down."

Seeing the flustered older sister, Liu Guangming emptied the cloth bag, scattering all the bills inside onto the table.

"Take a closer look. Is there a 150-yuan bill here? It's all in small change, including one- and two-cent coins, and a handful of one-yuan coins."

"Even if I don't study hard and do petty theft, where would I get so many small change?"

Liu Cuihua paused, her gaze falling on the table.

Indeed, although there was a lot of money, it was all crumpled coins soaked in sweat, with pitifully small denominations.

"Then...where did you come from?"

Liu Cuihua stammered, "You mean selling watermelons? Who makes that much money selling watermelons?"

Liu Guangming patiently explained the accounts to her.

"The melons at the farmers' market cost 1.8 yuan per jin. I bought 200 jin this morning, and the cost was 3.6 yuan."

Liu Guangming was pointing with his fingers on the table.

"I'll take it to the train station."

"Passengers leaving the station are thirsty and tired from their journey in the sweltering heat. I cut a watermelon weighing over ten kilograms into pieces, and each piece costs two cents."

"A melon can be cut into ten or eight pieces, and sold for two or three yuan. That's called making a profit from the price difference."

Liu Cuihua wasn't good at business, but she could do basic arithmetic.

So, something that costs less than two cents was sold for ten times the price?

She picked up a one-cent banknote stained with red melon juice between two fingers, examined it over and over twice, and only then did she believe her younger brother's words.

With the money earned cleanly, she naturally felt relieved.

Then, looking at Liu Guangming's reddened nape, she felt so sorry for him that she burst into tears.

"On such a sweltering day, how many shady spots are there in the square at the train station? These people have to endure the sun for a mere penny or two."

"I need to quickly wash my face and rest, otherwise my skin will peel from the sun!"

Liu Cuihua got up, walked to the washbasin stand, rubbed a towel with cold water, and handed it to Liu Guangming.

"Also, why do you talk like that? You need to take care of your voice."

Just as Liu Cuihua finished speaking, the sound of a bicycle chain came from outside the courtyard gate.

Zhou Dehou pushed a Flying Pigeon bicycle into the yard.

He was wearing the work clothes issued by the cotton mill, his chest and back were soaked with sweat, and an aluminum lunchbox for serving meals was hanging on the handlebars.

"Cuihua, is dinner ready yet? I'm starving!"

Zhou Dehou kicked down the ladder, picked up his lunchbox, and stepped into the main room. "I didn't even have time to drink water while they were fixing that broken machine at the factory this morning..."

Zhou Dehou stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence.

He stared intently at the mountain of money piled up on the octagonal table.

With a loud "bang".

The aluminum lunchbox in my hand crashed onto the brick floor, the lid popped open, and the remaining two mouthfuls of dry rice inside were scooped out.

Zhou Dehou didn't even bother to pick up the lunchbox; he rushed to the table in a few quick steps.

"Cuihua...Guangming, what is this...?"

"Dehou, this is what Guangming earned this morning selling watermelons at the train station."

Liu Cuihua quickly explained.

"Selling watermelons?"

Zhou Dehou raised his head, his eyes wide, and sized Liu Guangming up and down.

"Guangming, don't lie to your brother-in-law. That old cart by the door, you could easily make that much money selling watermelons in just one morning with only about two hundred pounds of it."

Liu Guangming gathered the money on the table into a pile and simply stated the amount:

"Brother-in-law, you made a net profit of 82.8 yuan."

"However, my classmate Xiaojun worked with me, and I gave him sixteen yuan!"

After saying this, Zhou Dehou froze on the spot, his mouth half-open, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

The cotton mill is a long-established state-owned enterprise. He has worked there for seven or eight years, and even with full attendance bonuses and high-temperature subsidies, he only receives 76.5 yuan a month.

He leaves home at seven in the morning and finishes get off work at five in the evening, spending thirty days a day eating his mouthful of flying lint in the noisy workshop.

As a result, his brother-in-law, who had just finished the college entrance exam, pushed a borrowed old cart and cut watermelons for several hours, earning more than his monthly salary!

"Eighty-two..."

Zhou Dehou plopped down on the stool next to him, staring blankly at the money.

"My God, do all self-employed people out there make this much money?"

"Brother-in-law, I just took advantage of the hot weather in July and the large crowds at the train station to find an opportunity."

Liu Guangming carefully sorted the money, took out a few ten-yuan bills, and pushed them in front of Zhou Dehou.

"Take this ten yuan and go buy some meat. We'll treat ourselves to a nice meal tonight."

"No, no!"

Zhou Dehou quickly returned the money.

"You saved up your own tuition money. Your older sister and I have salaries, so why would we take yours?"

Liu Cuihua waved her hand repeatedly, forcefully stuffing the money back into Liu Guangming's cloth bag:

"Quickly put it away and keep it close to your body. Don't you understand the importance of keeping your wealth hidden?"

"Also, even if you can make money, don't go anywhere this afternoon, just stay home and sleep! You'll get heatstroke!"

"Sister, this business won't last long. At most, it will last until mid-August when it gets cold and no one will buy it anymore."

Liu Guangming brought over his rice bowl. "Strike while the iron is hot. Xiaojun and I have to go again this afternoon."

After lunch, Liu Guangming took a nap on the bamboo bed in the main room.

At 1:30 pm, when the sun was high in the sky, Zhao Xiaojun once again rode his old bicycle to the alley entrance.

Liu Guangming rinsed his head with cold water and pushed his cart out the door.

The two headed straight for the farmers' market.

At this time of year, most vegetable farmers have gone home, with only a few melon farmers who can't sell their stock still dozing under the shade of trees.

The uncle who sold them melons in the morning was leaning against the wall, smoking a pipe, his face full of worry.

There was a huge pile of watermelons in front of him, and he hadn't sold a single one all day.

Hearing the sound of the cart wheels, the uncle looked up and recognized Liu Guangming and Zhao Xiaojun.

"Oh, it's you two."

The middle-aged man tapped his pipe. "What's up? You can't finish those two hundred pounds of melons this morning? You want to return them to me?"

"Uncle, I won't back out."

Liu Guangming pushed the cart to the pile of melons and stopped it. He took out some money from his pocket and waved it. "We need to buy more. This time we need 500 jin."

The pipe in the uncle's hand fell directly to the ground.

He jumped up abruptly, not even bothering to look at the tobacco leaves that had spilled:

"What did you say? Five hundred pounds?"

"Five hundred catties."

Liu Guangming spoke.

"Uncle, same old rule, I'll pick the ripe ones, not the raw ones."

"But with such a large quantity, the price needs to be lowered. How about 1.6 cents per pound?"

The uncle didn't care about the price of one cent and six cents at all; his mind was filled with the shock that these two teenagers could actually sell so many melons.

He's been sitting here for two days, and he's only sold two or three hundred pounds.

"Young boss, you...you choose for yourself! As long as you can take it, it's 1.6 cents!"

The uncle even changed how he addressed people now.

Five hundred catties of melons, weighed, and I paid eight yuan.

The two men began loading the goods onto the cart.

The large watermelons were stacked tightly at the bottom, and then two more layers were piled on top.

The tires were half-flattened, and the metal frame made a dangerous creaking sound.

This weight is so heavy that one person simply cannot move it.

Liu Guangming was driving the bike from the front, pushing off the ground with his legs;

Zhao Xiaojun pushed the cart forward with all his might, bracing himself against the side of the cart with his shoulder.

The two were so hot that their clothes were soaked through and clung to their backs, and the sweat streaming down their cheeks blurred their vision.

Gritting his teeth, he moved the 500-pound watermelon step by step to the train station square.

It was past four o'clock.

The two quickly rested and even opened a melon to eat themselves to avoid heatstroke.

After finishing their meal, the two stared at the train station entrance without saying a word.

There is a long-distance green train coming from the provincial capital at 5:30. The number of passengers getting off this train is the sum of the two trains that came off in the morning.

As soon as the iron gate at the exit opened, a dense crowd surged out.

These people had been traveling for most of the day and were more tired and irritable than those who had been traveling in the morning.

When they saw a whole basin of bright red, dripping watermelon slices laid out under the old locust tree, they didn't even bother to haggle.

"Give me two pieces!"

"Me too! Don't push!"

The scene was even more bustling than in the morning.

Liu Guangming no longer needed to shout out commands; his two hands were solely responsible for collecting money and giving change.

Zhao Xiaojun, meanwhile, swung the cleaver, his arm numb as he mechanically chopped downwards.

The flow of people came in waves, and the enamel basin in front of them was emptied time and time again.

They sold watermelons from 5:30 p.m. until it was completely dark, and all 500 jin (250 kg) of watermelons on the cart ended up as watermelon rinds in the trash can.

Zhao Xiaojun slumped on the empty cart, his arms hanging limply at his sides, panting heavily, too weak to even speak.

Liu Guangming untied the heavy cloth bag.

Under the dim light of the streetlights, the two squatted in the corner and began counting their money.

This time, there's too much money.

It took a full twenty minutes to count the small bills mixed with coins.

"Two hundred and sixteen yuan."

Liu Guangming tied up the last stack of one-cent coins. "After deducting the cost, I made a net profit of a little over two hundred."

In the morning it was 82 yuan, and in the afternoon it was a little over 200 yuan. So, in one day, I made more than 280 yuan.

In Songyang County at that time, this was an absolutely staggering number.

Liu Guangming divided the money into two piles, and following the morning's routine, directly counted out eighty-eight yuan and pushed it to Zhao Xiaojun's feet.

"Xiao Jun, this is your share."

"You insisted on taking 20% ​​this morning, but this time you're taking 40%! Here you go!"

Zhao Xiaojun looked at the eighty-odd yuan on the ground, then abruptly pulled his foot back, shaking his head vigorously.

"Brother Guangming, I already felt bad taking that ten-odd yuan this morning. I absolutely don't want this eighty!"

Zhao Xiaojun's voice was also a little hoarse.

"I, Zhao Xiaojun, may not be the smartest, but I can tell right from wrong."

"This was all your plan. What can I possibly do? All I can do is provide manual labor."

"When it comes to manual labor, if you're looking for someone, you can find them anywhere."

"Stop talking, Brother Guangming. If you consider me your brother, just give me ten yuan a day from now on, I won't take a penny more!"

Liu Guangming was speechless for a moment when he saw his flustered and pale face.

"Xiao Jun, that won't do. You said yourself that we're brothers. If I settle things with you like this, wouldn't you be my employee?"

"Since you're giving me so much anyway, I'm not taking it!"

Zhao Xiaojun straightened his neck.

Liu Guangming was also helpless and scratched his head.

"Here's the deal: no matter how much you earn in the future, you'll take 10%."

"Don't complain that it's too little, I won't give you more."

"Even close brothers should keep clear accounts. If you're willing to stick with me through this business, the days of making big money are just around the corner."

After saying that, Liu Guangming looked like he was about to lay all his cards on the table.

Seeing this, Zhao Xiaojun could only nod.

He then took the twenty-two yuan from Liu Guangming, put it in his pocket, and grinned.

After a day's work, he earned a total of thirty-eight yuan!

All of this was because of his good older brother.

He was also somewhat puzzled.

How come Brother Guangming is so quick-witted? He can read books and make money too!

How can the difference between people be so great!

After catching their breath, the two pushed the cart back home.

It was completely dark, and there were hardly any streetlights on the main street of the county town; it was pitch black.

As we turned past the intersection near the supply and marketing cooperative, a piercing bicycle bell suddenly rang out ahead, accompanied by the loud laughter of several young people.

"Defu, how did it go after you went to the teacher to estimate your grades today?"

"Hey, you asked about that? Our Defu brother can definitely pass the undergraduate entrance exam."

A sycophantic voice rang out.

"Hmph, that's not true!"

"I feel great! Just wait and see what my graduation celebration will be like!"

At that moment, Chen Defu was riding a brand-new 28-inch bicycle, with both hands off the handlebars, and turned to brag to his cronies riding alongside him.

He didn't even notice that a cart was coming this way.

Those nearby noticed the shadow and immediately exclaimed in surprise.

"Brother Defu! Watch where you're going!"

Chen Defu then turned around.

Turning around, he suddenly saw a huge dark shadow in front of him, and was so frightened that he frantically grabbed the handlebars and tried to brake.

But how could it be too late?

"Bang!"

With a loud crash, Chen Defu's bicycle slammed straight into the side frame of the cast iron cart.

Instantly, the immense inertia threw Chen Defu off his seat.

He gesticulated wildly in mid-air, drawing an arc before slamming his arms and legs heavily onto the concrete ground in front of him.

After landing, it rolled twice.

"Holy shit!"

"Which damn bastard dares to block my way?!"