Chapter 32: Not Going to Take This Silently

Village Head Zhou sighed and said, “Of course, I’ll make them pay you back.”

“Not just the money they got for selling Zhou Xiaoju, but also the herbs that were damaged in my yard, and the money for my cat that was kicked to death.”

“This…” Village Head Zhou was a little embarrassed, “Those herbs were picked up, they shouldn’t be unusable, right? And if you want compensation for a wild cat, isn’t that a bit…”

From his perspective, he also thought it was the fault of Zhou Shugen and his father. The key was that asking for money wasn’t easy. He was the village head, but he didn’t have the final say!

“Uncle Zhou knows what my cat was like when it came to my house, and you’ve seen what it’s like now. I spent a lot of money raising it. And these Gastrodia elata in the yard, I dug them up from the deep mountains. And good medicinal herbs are graded by their appearance…” She picked up a piece and showed it to Village Head Zhou, “These have been trampled like this, their appearance is extremely poor. I saw a medicinal herb purchasing station in town. If Uncle Zhou doesn’t believe me, you can go to town and ask what the price of Gastrodia elata is. Usually, I charge a symbolic fee to the villagers when I treat them, just enough for them to eat. Now that someone has deliberately destroyed them, I can’t just take this loss, can I?”

Jiang Nian pressed on, and Village Head Zhou had no words to say.

He sighed deeply and said, “I know you’re right. That’s the truth, but asking for money isn’t as easy as you think. Jiang Nian, I know you’re a good girl. Since you came here, especially to the people in our village, you’ve been genuinely good. Our villagers all appreciate you. But every village has a few troublemakers. I can only try my best to talk to them. If they don’t give you the money, don’t blame me.”

She felt sorry for her cat, but to others, it was just a useless animal that wasted food. If someone really cared about a cat, they wouldn’t have kicked it to death.

As for those herbs, only when they were sold would people care about their appearance. In the countryside, they were all for personal use. Who cared about that?

“It’s okay, Uncle Zhou, go ahead.” Jiang Nian didn’t mean to make things difficult for him.

Life was peaceful. She wasn’t one to fight and kill, but the premise was that she shouldn’t be pushed too far.

You see, she wasn’t a good person at heart.

It was just that after merging with the original owner’s memories, she was inevitably influenced by her and became a little kinder.

Like treating these villagers, she would never have done that before. Let alone charging so little, it wasn’t even enough to buy medicine.

After Village Head Zhou left, Niu Aixiang worried, “What if they refuse to pay?”

Zhou Xiaoju’s expression was complicated, but she was very certain, “They definitely won’t give it. They won’t even give back the money they got for selling me. Village Head Zhou is probably going to make a trip for nothing.”

On the way back, she had said that she would definitely pay Jiang Nian back the eighty yuan. At the time, she didn’t expect Zhou Shugen to pay it back.

Anyway, Jiang Nian couldn’t bear this loss.

Li Rui snorted and teased Zhao Heiping, “I always thought the villagers here were pretty kind. I didn’t expect there to be people even more shameless than you. Even though we haven’t been here long, we’ve seen all kinds of strange people. It’s been worth the trip.”

Zhao Heiping was cunning and thick-skinned. He didn’t take Li Rui’s words to heart.

“This is just the beginning. There’s still a long way to go. You’ll see even more in the future.”

Niu Aixiang already felt very guilty towards Li Rui, and now she couldn’t help but feel a little dissatisfied with Zhao Heiping, “Heiping, it’s true that we owe Li Rui. Don’t be like that.”

Zhao Heiping didn’t care about her. It was just that it wasn’t time to fall out yet.

He pursed his lips and said nothing, but Niu Aixiang had a delusion. It turned out that he still cared about what she said.

As for his occasional harsh words, it must be because of his current situation that made him feel bad, and he couldn’t control his temper.

Love doesn’t need explanations. Those who love him have already come up with all the excuses for him.

Li Rui was about to be driven crazy. He sneered, “Hypocritical, you two are both hypocritical.” They were all no good.

Niu Aixiang apologized to him several times, but a young man’s sincere heart had been betrayed, and it wasn’t easy to appease him.

Even if it was her fault, being spoken to like that would still make her feel embarrassed.

“Forget it, you’re in a bad mood now. We won’t talk to you.” She pulled Zhao Heiping away, “Jiang Nian, we’ll go back first. We’re all intellectuals. If you need anything, just ask. Don’t be polite to us.”

Li Rui, on the other hand, seemed to be relentless, “Don’t bother. If you two stab me in the back again, I won’t be able to take it.”

Although they had come together, now, Li Rui naturally put Jiang Nian and himself together, while Niu Aixiang and Zhao Heiping were together.

Being targeted again and again, Niu Aixiang couldn’t help but get angry, “Suit yourself.”

…

Village Head Zhou’s initial consideration was reasonable. Sometimes, the imagination is good, but when it comes to actual implementation, it’s difficult.

He went to Zhou Shugen’s house and tried to reason with them. Forget about making them pay compensation, they weren’t even willing to give back the eighty yuan they got for selling Gao Xiaoju.

“Uncle, it’s not that I’m unwilling to give you the money, it’s just that I’ve already used it to pay off debts. Even if you kill me now, I can’t get the money!”

Zhou Shugen wasn’t lying.

He was reported by Zhou Xiaoju and lost his job, but he was only released thanks to connections. If the people he owed money to hadn’t come to his house, Zhou Lao Ye wouldn’t have been so heartless as to sell his granddaughter to a fool.

Even if she wasn’t as precious as a grandson, she was still a child he had watched grow up. She had been obedient and sensible all these years, and she had had a hard time.

Village Head Zhou’s face was filled with guilt when he faced Jiang Nian.

But that was all.

His own family was also struggling to make ends meet, and he didn’t have the ability to make up for the money.

Li Rui was indignant, “Does it just end with a simple ‘no money’? That’s eighty yuan! It’s half a year’s income for an ordinary family!”

Village Head Zhou lowered his head even further, “Don’t worry, I won’t let Jiang girl suffer this loss. I’ll criticize and educate Zhou Shugen at tomorrow’s meeting…”

“Will he have money after you educate him?”

There was a moment of silence.

Jiang Nian smiled, “Forget it, it’s not a lot of money. It’s getting late. Uncle Zhou, go home quickly. We’ve all been scared enough today. We need to wash up and go to bed.”

“Okay, you…” Village Head Zhou wanted to say a few more words, but in the end, it only turned into a sigh.

Li Rui rolled up his sleeves, “Jiang Nian, don’t worry. I have a few classmates in a nearby village. I’ll let them know. Even if we make a big fuss, we won’t take this lying down.”