Chapter 39
I Cannot Be Saved
Madam Yang’s life was in Zhao Chuchu’s hands.
She had full confidence that Zhao Chuchu would not bat an eyebrow if she wanted to kill someone.
Since Madam Ma had refused to come up with the money, she could only ask Mister Zhao to get the eight pieces of silver to pay Zhao Chuchu to save her own skin.
Zhao Chuchu found a scale and measured the silver. It was exactly eight pieces.
Finally, she put down the dagger and released Madam Yang.
Madam Yang immediately ran behind Mister Zhao and glared angrily at Zhao Chuchu. She started ranting and raving but stopped immediately when she saw Zhao Chuchu’s smug look.
Zhao Chuchu looked around at the villagers. “In the future, if anyone dares to bully the Xie family, you can check out whether your throat is hardier or my dagger is sharper. Stop playing tricks with me!”
The crowd was silent.
In the beginning, the Zhao family had appeared righteous and had berated Zhao Chuchu for being unfilial. Now, they could only shrink back in fear.
The Zhao Chuchu they knew now had fought hard to survive in modern times. She had saved people but had killed even more people.
The ruthlessness and murderous intent in her were awakened when she crawled out from hell. No ordinary man would be able to fight her indomitable spirit.
Zhao Chuchu saw that most of the villagers had left. There were only a handful of them who were grateful to her, such as the Chen family.
Old Mrs. Chen said, “Chuchu, don’t you worry. The few of us here can help you with building the wall. It’s not time for the spring harvest yet. If we get to work quickly, we should be able to build the wall before we start harvesting in spring.”
“My sons can help.”
“And us too.”
“We will join in too.”
Zhao Chuchu smiled gratefully at them. “Thank you, everyone. I won’t let you work for free. I will pay you for helping me build the wall.”
“We’re fellow villagers. Why talk about money?”
“If it weren’t for your cure, we would have been dead now. We won’t even be here talking to you.”
“It’s all settled then. Chief Niu, just give us a shout, and we can start work. It’s only a wall. We can get it up in a few days.”
The people who stayed behind kept talking and did not give Zhao Chuchu a chance to interject. They soon left when their discussion ended.
Zhao Chuchu could not get in a word at all.
As for those who had left earlier, they commented sarcastically after taking a few steps. “Someone thinks she’s a divine doctor just because she got lucky and chanced upon the prescription.” They remained indignant that Zhao Chuchu had gotten the upper hand.
“The biggest joke is that some people still insist on sucking up to her. Don’t they find their behavior disgusting?”
“Anyway, it has nothing to do with us. We’ll just wait and see what those brown nosers can benefit from this. Let’s see if she can save them when they are really dying.”
Zhao Chuchu was not offended when she heard their snide remarks. Instead, she smiled brightly at them. “Don’t worry. If anyone is dying in your family, I won’t save them.”
“You!”
The villagers were smoking with anger.
Zhao Chuchu walked away nonchalantly, leaving them immobilized in their fury.
Back at Xie Heng’s house, Zhao Chuchu handed all the silver she collected earlier to Xie Heng. “These are for the stuff stolen by the Zhao family.”
“Silver?”
“Well, I made them cough out the money. Take them.”
“Since you are the one who got them to pay you back, you should keep them. You don’t have to give them to me.”
Zhao Chuchu glanced at Xie Heng. On seeing that he was not being polite, she kept the money.
“All right then. I’ll give it to Chief Niu to pay for the wall.”
“You decide what you want to do with them yourself.”
Zhao Chuchu put the silver away and went into the kitchen.
Zhao Chuchu let out a sigh when she thought of the cooking she had to do. She was not a good cook, and her head would throb whenever she saw the stove.