Xu Kuo gently patted Jiang Xiuya's hand and softly comforted her, "It's alright, don't be afraid."
He turned to look at Zhou Junhong, his eyes instantly turning icy cold: "Get out! Don't let me see you again!"
Zhou Junhong felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He scrambled to his feet and, with a few of his men, fled the scene in a disheveled state. Their panicked figures resembled a few stray dogs.
Xu Kuo intended to take Jiang Xiuying home, but after only a few steps, the village chief blocked their way.
"What's wrong?" Xu Kuo frowned.
"Xu Kuo! You damned jinx!" The village chief pointed at Xu Kuo's nose and launched into a tirade of abuse. "You've caused such a huge mess, and you think you can just walk away like that? What do you take our village for? What do you take us villagers for?!"
The village chief became more and more agitated as he spoke, spitting as he spoke. He was filled with hatred! It was all Xu Kuo's fault, that jinx! Of all people to do, he had to mess with a bully like Zhou Junhong! Now, the whole village was going to suffer!
Xu Kuo understood that this old man was using this as an excuse to retaliate against him for winning his family's land.
“Village chief, what you’re saying is really interesting. I didn’t recruit Zhou Junhong. He sells counterfeit goods and cheats people, and then tries to turn the tables on me. What does that have to do with me?” Xu Kuo sneered, not giving an inch.
The surrounding villagers, after hearing the village chief's words, also began to criticize Xu Kuo.
"That's right! Xu Kuo, you've caused trouble, you can't drag all of us down with you!"
"The village chief is right! You have to give us an explanation!"
"We have to pay up! We absolutely have to pay up!"
The villagers were all talking at once, their emotions running high, and they all pointed the finger at Xu Kuo.
Xu Kuo glanced around, a cold smile creeping across his face as he looked at the villagers' greedy and ugly expressions. These people, who had previously received his favors, were now kicking him while he was down—truly, their greed was insatiable!
"You want me to pay compensation? Dream on!" Xu Kuo coldly said, then grabbed Jiang Xiuying and headed home without looking back.
"You...you stop right there!" A villager tried to step forward to stop him, but was startled by Xu Kuo's sharp gaze and trembled, forcibly retracting his foot.
Watching Xu Kuo's departing figure, the villagers stomped their feet in anger, but there was nothing they could do.
"Pah! What a piece of trash! He'll get his comeuppance sooner or later!"
"Exactly! You ungrateful wretch!"
"Just wait, Zhou Junhong definitely won't let this go!"
The curses were incessant, but Xu Kuo paid no attention.
Back home, Xu Kuo comforted the still-shaken Jiang Xiuying.
"Honey, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault for causing you trouble." Jiang Xiuying nestled in Xu Kuo's arms, her eyes red-rimmed, full of self-reproach.
"Silly girl, how can this be your fault? It's those people who are bad, it has nothing to do with you." Xu Kuo gently stroked Jiang Xiuya's hair and comforted her softly.
"But... the village chief and the others will definitely not let us off the hook. Why don't we prepare some gifts and go apologize to them?" Jiang Xiuying said worriedly.
"Apologize? Do they deserve it? These people are a bunch of ungrateful wretches. The more you back down, the more they take advantage of you! They just want some benefits."
Jiang Xiuying sighed helplessly, "Sigh, what can we do? We can't just keep dragging this on, can we?"
"Don't worry, I have a way to deal with them," Xu Kuo said confidently.
"Then you have to be careful, and make sure you don't get into any more conflicts with them," Jiang Xiuying cautioned, still somewhat worried.
"Yes, I understand." Xu Kuo nodded.
He turned to look at the badly damaged door and thought to himself that it was time to build a few brick houses.
"Xiuya, you stay at home. I'll go find Captain Wang and ask him to find someone to repair the house."
"Be careful, there seems to be some infectious disease in the village lately, don't catch it."
"An infectious disease?" Xu Kuo was taken aback.
He suddenly remembered that in his previous life, at this time, the village had indeed experienced an infectious disease outbreak, and many people had fallen ill.
The root cause is that the villagers have poor hygiene habits, coupled with a lack of food and clothing, resulting in weak immune systems, which allowed the virus to take hold.
However, Xu Kuo was not worried. He had the "Ancient Acupuncture Method" as a reward from the system, so infectious diseases were no problem for him.
Xu Kuo found Captain Wang in town and told him about the house repair project. Captain Wang immediately patted his chest and agreed, promising to bring people to start work the next day.
Xu Kuo felt relieved and went to the pharmacy to get some medicine to prevent infectious diseases. In those days, medical conditions were poor, and any slight disturbance could easily lead to a major incident, so it was necessary to prepare in advance.
On the way back to the village, Xu Kuo thought to himself that it wasn't enough for his own family to take precautions; he also needed to make sure that the people around him were on the same page.
As soon as he entered the village, Xu Kuo ran into Niu Erbao, Tan Wang, and Liu Yuan.
"Erbao, Tanwang, Liuyuan, come here for a moment." Xu Kuo called the group aside.
The three of them surrounded them, looking puzzled.
"Master, what's wrong?" Niu Erbao asked, scratching his head.
"Here's something good for you." Xu Kuo took out several packets of medicinal herbs from his cloth bag and handed them to them. "These are medicines to prevent infectious diseases. Take them back and boil them in water to drink. One dose for each of you. Don't mix them up."
"Infectious disease?" Tan Wang was taken aback. He took the medicine packet and asked with some skepticism, "Brother Xu, there aren't that many infectious diseases these days. Aren't you overthinking it?"
“Yeah, Master, this medicine tastes really bitter, I don’t want to drink it.” Niu Erbao also looked resistant.
Liu Yuan didn't say anything and silently accepted the medicine packet.
"Listen to me, this medicine can save lives, you must drink it!"
Seeing Xu Kuo's serious expression, the others dared not say anything more and each took their medicine and went back.
Early the next morning, Captain Wang led a group of people, carrying bricks, tiles, lime and other materials, to Xu Kuo's house and started working enthusiastically.
This commotion was quite significant, and it quickly attracted a large crowd of villagers.
"Wow, Xu Kuo is building a brick house? That's quite extravagant!"
"You bet! How much money did that cost? It's such a waste!"
"Hmph, who knows where this money came from? It's probably from some shady dealings!"
The villagers stood at a distance, pointing and whispering, their words dripping with sarcasm. They were jealous of Xu Kuo, but dared not say it openly, so they could only gossip behind his back.
Xu Kuo listened to these idle gossips and sneered inwardly. These people were typical envious people, unable to bear seeing others do well.
When I was down on my luck, they all stood by and watched coldly. Now that I have the ability to build a house, they start to gossip and criticize me. It's utterly ridiculous!
"A bunch of poor, sour grapes!" Xu Kuo retorted without any politeness.
"Who are you calling a poor wretch? Xu Kuo, don't think you're something special just because you built a dilapidated brick house!"
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