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

At the entrance of the movie theater.

Liangzi poured the last half spoonful of watermelon juice, still covered in ice, into a disposable paper cup and handed it to a young woman wearing a floral dress.

"Hey girl, they're sold out! Come early tomorrow!"

The girl took a sip from the cup, felt a refreshing coolness, and left satisfied.

Liangzi turned around, looked at the empty aluminum basin, then at the mountain of watermelon rinds next to it, and let out a long sigh.

Then, he ripped off the towel hanging around his neck, wiped the sweat off his face haphazardly, and suddenly grinned and laughed.

"Brother Guangming! We're... sold out already?"

Liu Guangming was methodically tidying up the cutting board, rinsing the melon-cutting knife with water and shaking it dry.

"Yes, a full three hundred catties of melons, in less than three hours."

Liangzi looked at the money pouch at his waist; it was heavy and rattled with the slightest movement.

He immediately wanted to pour it out and count how much money he had!

"Don't rush to count, it'll attract thieves if you do it here."

Liu Guangming gathered the items and put them on the cart.

"Come on, let's not just stand there, let's check out the other locations."

"Alright!"

Liangzi was bursting with energy, gripping the handlebars with both hands and pushing the cart incredibly fast.

The two went to the Cultural Palace Square first.

From afar, you could see the tall, thin man pacing anxiously in circles.

There were about fifteen or sixteen people gathered around the stall, urging it to hurry up.

"Don't rush, don't rush, it'll be extracted soon!"

The tall, thin man wielded the rolling pin, his forehead covered in sweat.

Liu Guangming and Liangzi quickly went up to lend a hand.

Liu Guangming was in charge of cutting the melon, Liangzi was in charge of adding ice and pouring water, and the tall, thin guy took a break and focused on collecting money.

In no time, within ten minutes, all the remaining dozens of glasses of juice were emptied.

Next, the three of them went to the Dongguan roller skating rink together.

The situation was even more outrageous on Huang Mao's side; even the bucket for holding melon rinds was overflowing.

He was slumped on the curb, panting heavily, the aluminum basin in front of him was cleaner than his face.

Seeing Liu Guangming and his group approach, Huang Mao jumped up, patting his bulging pockets and shouting excitedly:

"Brother Guangming, Brother Liang! That's amazing! These young rollerblading enthusiasts are really willing to spend money. My truckload of melons is already sold out!"

Finally, there were the fat guy and the buzz cut guy, whose situations were surprisingly similar.

They're all sold out!

It was 12:30 p.m., under the shade of a tree next to the exit of the train station.

The six carts were put together.

However, unlike the others' excitement, Zhao Xiaojun squatted on the ground, looking at the six or seven large watermelons left on his cart, scratched his head, and his face turned bright red.

"Brother Guangming, I'm sorry to everyone."

Zhao Xiaojun felt somewhat ashamed.

"My stall is holding us back. There are too many envious people around the station today. Several stalls have copied us and also made ice and aluminum basins."

"We've taken away a lot of business, and there are still over 100 jin left to sell."

Liu Guangming walked over, patted him on the shoulder, and comforted him:

"It's no big deal. Train stations have the highest passenger flow, so if we do it first, others will definitely follow suit the fastest."

"You've done quite well to have managed to sell most of your stock despite being surrounded by a bunch of seasoned veterans."

He instructed everyone to park their cars together in a circle to block the view from outside.

"Alright, you must be hungry after working all morning."

"Fatty, go across the alley and buy a few roujiamo (Chinese hamburgers)."

Liu Guangming took out five yuan and handed it over.

"Okay!"

The fat man took the money and ran off.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Liu Guangming found a corner, gathered all the metal boxes and canvas bags containing money together, and placed them on a tattered newspaper.

"Splash..."

A pile of colorful coins and cents, interspersed with a few one-yuan, two-yuan, or even five-yuan bills, was stacked up in a small mound on the newspaper.

The six men, along with Zhao Xiaojun, stared intently at the pile of money, their breathing becoming heavy.

"Counting money."

Liu Guangming gave the order.

One-cent coins are piled up in one pile, two-cent coins in another, and all the coins are stacked into small pillars.

It took a full ten minutes to sort out this pile of loose change.

Liu Guangming took a small notebook out of his pocket.

He bought this specifically yesterday, just for today.

"This morning, our six locations sold approximately 1,300 jin (650 kg) of watermelons. Total revenue was 395 yuan!"

As soon as the number was announced, the surrounding area fell into a deathly silence.

Even the usually most outgoing blond guy was stunned.

The monthly salary of a worker in the county town is only seventy or eighty yuan.

They sold water all morning and made nearly four hundred yuan?!

Liu Guangming didn't stop, continuing to calculate: "When we do business, we have to calculate net profit."

"After deducting the cost of over 1,000 jin of watermelon (30 yuan), ice (5 yuan), and paper cups (12 yuan), the total cost is 47 yuan."

He drew a line on the notebook.

"Total revenue minus costs, net profit: 348 yuan!"

Liu Guangming raised his head and glanced at the group of young people in front of him, whose faces were flushed from excessive excitement.

"According to the rules we agreed on yesterday, no matter how much we earn, I'll take 50%, which is 174 yuan."

"The rest..."

Liu Guangming deftly counted out his share, put it in a separate bag, and then pushed the remaining stack of banknotes to the center of the newspaper.

"The remaining 174 dollars will be divided equally among everyone."

"How about this, I'll add six yuan as a bonus. That way, each of you will get about thirty yuan!"

Thirty yuan!

The blond-haired man suddenly jumped up, his head slamming into a tree trunk with a loud thud, but he seemed not to feel any pain.

The fat man, who was usually the quietest, was now clutching the thirty yuan he had been given, his hands trembling like a leaf, and his eyes were visibly red.

"My dad works as a meat cutter at a meat processing plant, on the night shift. He works himself to the bone for a month and only makes a little over ninety yuan... I earn in half a day what he earns in ten days?"

As he was talking, the fat man suddenly started crying and sat down on the ground to wipe his face.

"Guys, you guys don't know."

"I used to hang out on the streets every day. My mom would point her finger at me and call me a good-for-nothing, saying that I would end up in jail sooner or later."

The fat man choked back tears and said, "I...I'm going to slam this money on the table and make sure she sees it properly when I get home today!"

"I can earn money now, clean money!"

The tall, thin man also wiped the corner of his eye.

"Yeah, who the hell wants to be a vagrant and get cursed behind their back? You're treated like a thief wherever you go."

"Because we didn't have any connections before, things are much better now. We can finally hold our heads high and be treated like human beings!"

Although Liangzi didn't cry, her eyes were glistening with tears.

Suddenly, he stood up straight, took a step back, and saluted Liu Guangming.

"Brother Guangming! I have nothing more to say!"

"You not only helped us make money, you also restored our dignity as human beings!"

"When you're out in this business, loyalty is key. From now on, our lives are yours! You tell us to go east, and we'll go west!"

Seeing this, the other four also saluted in unison.

The scene stunned several tourists carrying woven bags who were passing by. They all walked around it, thinking it was some kind of gang performing a ritual to pay homage to the patriarch.

Upon seeing this, Liu Guangming quickly stepped forward and helped Liangzi up.

"Alright, alright, what's with all the crying from a grown man like you?"

"You earned this money by working under the scorching sun, sweating drop by drop, and every penny was clean."

He pointed to the empty basin on the ground and raised his voice.

"Now that everyone has tasted the profits and knows this business can make money, let's not rest this afternoon!"

"Brother Liang, you take these guys and go to the farmers' market to pick up the goods at 1:30 this afternoon."

"This time, let's go straight for two thousand jin!"

"The locations are still the same as in the morning. The sun is strongest in the afternoon, around two or three o'clock, and people on the street are thirstiest, so business will only be better than in the morning."

"clear!"

Several people spoke in unison, their voices deafening.

Then, Liangzi called to his brothers, threw the tin box and bucket onto the cart, pushed the cart, and ran like the wind towards the farmers' market.

After the group of people had gone far away, Liu Guangming counted out thirty yuan from his pocket and stuffed it into Zhao Xiaojun's hand.

"Xiaojun, this is your share."

Zhao Xiaojun didn't take it and kept backing away.

"Brother Guangming, what are you doing? I haven't sold out of my stall today, and I've let everyone down. I already feel bad about taking the thirty yuan from before."

"Take it!"

Without giving him a chance to explain, Liu Guangming forcefully stuffed the money into his pocket.

"Let's keep things separate. I promised you one percent, and I meant it. All this fuss and stalling is unacceptable!"

"Besides, competition at train stations is fierce, and competitors are undercutting each other; that's not your problem."

Zhao Xiaojun touched the thick wad of cash in his pocket, feeling a mix of emotions.

However, he quickly realized what was happening.

No matter what happens, I'm sticking with Liu Guangming for life.

"Brother Guangming, are you coming to the train station this afternoon to help me oversee the stall?"

Zhao Xiaojun gathered his thoughts and asked.

Liu Guangming shook his head, looked up at the blinding sun overhead, and squinted slightly.

"You stay here and keep watch this afternoon. If anyone causes trouble, don't fight back. Just back down and we'll talk about it when I get back."

Zhao Xiaojun sensed the hidden meaning in those words and paused for a moment.

"Brother Guangming, where did you go this afternoon? Did something happen?"

Liu Guangming nodded.

"It's not that something bad happened, but it is indeed an incident."

"We've expanded too much and are making money too fast."

"In this county town, without any background or connections, the sudden appearance of such a lucrative opportunity is bound to attract flies."

Liu Guangming pointed to the cart.

"Don't forget what we learned in our political class."

"Although current policies encourage economic revitalization, we don't have licenses here, and these watermelons aren't grown by farmers themselves. Strictly speaking, it's called unlicensed operation and reselling."

"If someone tries to sabotage things behind the scenes, just give them a heads-up at the local industry and commerce bureau. If they come in a sidecar motorcycle, at best their tools will be confiscated, at worst they'll be detained along with their money."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xiaojun immediately panicked: "What should we do? My dad works at the police station, maybe I should go back and try to pull some strings..."

As soon as he said it, Zhao Xiaojun stopped.

Looking for his father?

His father was hoping something bad would happen to Liu Guangming.

Liu Guangming smiled.

"There's no need for that. We're not going to sneak around. If we're doing business openly and honestly, we need to get all the necessary permits and licenses."

"I'll go get the certificate this afternoon."