Chapter 72: Resolved Within a Week

Lu Hao entered Zhou Run’s house, silver needles in hand. At this moment, all the wolfhounds around the property began barking in unison. These dogs were kept at the outermost edge of Zhou Run’s home, raised specifically to guard the family’s orchard. Both Zhou Run and his father, the village chief Zhou Yuan, had set them free to ensure that no one from outside could ever steal the fruit from their trees.

These wolfhounds had bitten quite a few people before. Now, seeing Lu Hao, their eyes gleamed with a vicious green light as they charged at him, barking incessantly.

However, Lu Hao was already experienced in dealing with dogs. He crouched down, scooped up a handful of gravel, and, with a series of sharp sounds, pelted the stones at the dogs’ heads. The attacking wolfhounds were knocked down, several of them foaming at the mouth, their lives clearly hanging by a thread.

Such commotion naturally drew Zhou Run and his usual crowd of petty thugs. Rushing over at the noise, Zhou Run immediately spotted Lu Hao and the pile of wolfhounds at his feet.

“General! General! Big Yellow! Blackie! Damn it! You killed my Big Yellow and General!” Zhou Run exploded with rage.

His group of friends all stepped forward, glaring furiously at Lu Hao.

“Lu Hao, have you lost your mind? How dare you come to my house and do this!” Zhou Run pointed at Lu Hao. Even though he was fuming, he did not dare make a move—memories of the last beating he had received from Lu Hao were still fresh. Some of Lu Hao’s methods, like the infamous “piercing the filth point,” still haunted him.

“Zhou Run, was it you who brought people to my house today?” Lu Hao looked at him, frowning.

At these words, Zhou Run glanced at Lu Hao’s fierce gaze and felt a pang of fear. “No, absolutely not. You’ve misunderstood,” Zhou Run replied, shaking his head. “Listen, Lu Hao, where did you hear that? Has someone been trying to stir up trouble between us?”

Lu Hao sneered. “Does anyone need to stir up trouble? You wish you could kill me. You think I don’t know?”

“I heard from your own mouth just now that you sabotaged our water channel. Are you still going to deny it? Get over here and restore the canal, or you won’t get away with this!”

Zhou Run’s expression changed rapidly. He realized that his raised voice earlier must have been overheard by Lu Hao. Cursing inwardly, he glanced at his so-called “good brothers.”

“Screw it! Lu Hao, I’m not afraid of you! Let me tell you, it was me who beat your father, and our people who sabotaged your water channel. The reason? You’re hogging public resources! That alone is enough to take you to court and make you pay a fine!”

Zhou Run resorted to his usual tactics—threatening to sue and fine, scaring the teachers and farmers in the village with talk of legal troubles. But Lu Hao, being a university student, wasn’t fooled.

“I broke the law? Tell me, what law did I break?” Lu Hao’s lips curled into a cold smile.

“Your family has four water channels, but you won’t let us build even one? And now you’ve destroyed ours. I’m telling you, Zhou Run, this isn’t over.”

Zhou Run countered, “Our four channels were approved by the authorities. We reported everything and got government approval. What right do you have to compare yourself to us?”

“I’m not here to compare,” Lu Hao said coolly. “I’m here to tell you, if you don’t fix our water channel within a week, your fate will be worse than Sun Wenguo’s. If you don’t believe me, try it. For now, I’ll collect a bit of interest.”

With that, Lu Hao strode towards Zhou Run.

“What are you doing?” Zhou Run’s face changed. Before he or his friends could react, three silver needles flew from Lu Hao’s hand and struck Zhou Run.

Instantly, Zhou Run felt one side of his body go cold and numb, paralyzed as if he’d become a living corpse.

“I’ve had a stroke?” Zhou Run’s face twisted in shock. He collapsed to the ground, his mouth drooping, his eyes askew, unable to speak clearly as drool dribbled from his lips.

“Zhou Run, I’ve given you a chance. You’d better appreciate it,” Lu Hao said, then turned and left the house.

Back home, Lu Hao recounted the events to his parents. They didn’t say much, only frowned deeply, already resolved to protect their son at all costs, no matter what happened. As for his decisions, they would support him fully and say nothing more.

Just then, his mother Liu Xiulan said, “By the way, your sister Cuihua asked you to come over tonight. She made a fish for you, to thank you for helping her recently. Don’t eat at home tonight, go to her place.”

At that, his sister Lu Han blinked and, with a face full of curiosity, said, “Brother, I want to go too.”

Lu Hao tapped her on the head. “Go? Have you finished your summer homework? All you think about is running around. Aren’t you a proper young lady?”

With that, Lu Hao quickly made his way to Zhao Cuihua’s house. He saw the gate wide open and the lights on, knowing she was home.

Suddenly, inside the house, he heard the shouting of two women.

“You shameless hussy, Zhao Cuihua! Seducing our men—I'll kill you!”

“You think my man really likes you? He sees you as nothing but a wildflower! Don’t think you’re worth anything!”

“Shameless wretch!”

Hearing the quarrel, Lu Hao hurried inside. He found Zhao Cuihua, eyes red, explaining repeatedly, “I didn’t! I never let your man into my yard. Your Zhuzi has nothing to do with me—every time he talks to me, I send him away! Why are you so unreasonable?”

As Zhao Cuihua spoke, fish soup from the table was spilled all over her. Another woman with sharp features stood there, still railing at her, finger pointed in accusation.