Chapter 26 Put Down That Country Bumpkin, Let Me Do It 2

Chapter 26: Step Away from That Villager, I'll Handle It (Part 2)

Another key figure in the original plot is the supporting character, Gu Xiangdong.

Gu Xiangdong was an educated youth who went to the countryside alongside the original protagonist and shared the same room with him.

He was lazy and gluttonous, and for personal gain, he became the village chief’s kept man.

The village chief was in his thirties. In that era, he wielded immense power, practically acting as the petty tyrant of the village.

He had a wife, but he was exclusively attracted to men. After his wife gave birth, he never touched her again.

Originally, he had his own lover in the village, but how could a country bumpkin compare to the fair-skinned, delicate, and refined educated youth?

When this batch of educated youth, including the original protagonist, arrived, the village chief first set his sights on him, whose looks were one in a million.

However, because people kept sending goods and writing letters from the city, and his living standards were quite high, the village chief couldn’t figure out his background and didn’t dare to make a move.

As a fallback, he turned his attention to Gu Xiangdong, whose life was clearly much more impoverished.

Although Gu Xiangdong couldn’t compare to the original protagonist, he was still clean-cut and delicate-featured, much more tender than the villagers who toiled under the sun all day.

Under the village chief’s coercion and enticement, Gu Xiangdong quickly gave in. He was also attracted to men, and secretly delighted at being with the most powerful and wealthy man in the village.

In the original plot, he even looked down on the original protagonist for clinging to the destitute Luo Shuisheng and privately mocked Yan Bai.

Although his relationship with the village chief had to be kept secret, the benefits he received were tangible.

Not only did he always get assigned lighter tasks when village farm work was distributed, but he was later also given a decent house. The village chief never stopped providing his household with rice, flour, oil, and vegetables.

When news came a year later that the college entrance exam would be reinstated, the original protagonist got into a prestigious university and left the small mountain village with Luo Shuisheng and his two younger siblings.

Gu Xiangdong privately mocked them for a long time, thinking that farmers leaving their land would lose their livelihood. How could they survive in the city without starving?

Therefore, he kept an eye on their news and knew they suffered for several years.

Gu Xiangdong had actually thought about returning to the city, but he was a terrible student and didn’t get into university.

He came from a family of five children. While they were technically city dwellers, three children squeezed into a tiny room, and even a single steamed bun had to be shared. Life was actually quite hard.

To keep Gu Xiangdong, the village chief also blocked his paperwork, preventing him from leaving, while sweet-talking him with many promises.

Gu Xiangdong’s family had no connections to transfer him back to the city.

Moreover, he felt life in the countryside wasn’t bad. The village chief provided him a comfortable life—he didn’t worry about food or clothing and didn’t have to work much—so he stopped thinking about leaving.

However, the village chief later developed some deviant habits and was very virile, visiting his small hut every day to have his way with him, making his life miserable.

Gu Xiangdong suspected that the village chief had been gentle with him at first just to keep him.

They had a sweet period for a while, but once the village chief was sure he couldn’t leave, he started treating him without restraint.

All sorts of perverted methods emerged one after another, growing increasingly intense. Only then did Gu Xiangdong realize there was no such thing as a free lunch.

But by then, he truly had no way out. To survive, he could only endure.

The village chief also forbade him from marrying, so he remained the village chief’s private plaything for the rest of his life.

Years later, Gu Xiangdong saw on TV the extremely successful Luo Shuisheng, who had become the richest person, and who, disregarding everyone’s opinions, doted on Yan Bai extravagantly.

Neither of them ever married, but everyone knew their true relationship. They walked openly in the sunlight.

Seeing someone he once looked down upon reach such heights, he was filled with bitter jealousy. Comparing it to his own wretched life, he died from rage that very day.

Of course, all of the above was the original normal plot. But because of Gu Xiangdong, everything started developing in a strange and twisted direction.

No one could have imagined that after dying from rage, Gu Xiangdong didn’t enter the cycle of reincarnation. When he woke up, he had actually been reborn.

He was reborn this morning, a few hours earlier than Yan Bai, and before Yan Bai and Luo Shuisheng had developed feelings for each other.

After that, he went all out with a series of bold moves, completely setting off a derailed version of the plot.

First, he cut off many opportunities for the original protagonist and Luo Shuisheng to meet and develop feelings.

Then, he showered Luo Shuisheng with attention and even saved his younger brother at a critical moment, becoming his benefactor.

Luo Shuisheng had a character that repaid a drop of kindness with a flood of gratitude, so from then on, he felt he owed Gu Xiangdong everything.

Of course, Gu Xiangdong wanted to be his lover even more, but Luo Shuisheng didn’t like him and rejected his confession.

Gu Xiangdong could only settle for the next best thing—latching onto him as a business partner and friend.

While scheming to win over Luo Shuisheng, Gu Xiangdong didn’t let go of Luo Shuisheng’s former lover, the original protagonist.

To completely prevent Luo Shuisheng and the original protagonist from getting together, and to ensure the village chief wouldn’t interfere when he left the countryside a year later, Gu Xiangdong plotted to send the original protagonist to the village chief’s bed.

He also collaborated with the village chief, employing many underhanded tactics to create numerous misunderstandings between the original protagonist and his family.

The original protagonist grew to hate his family even more for their neglect. From then on, no matter how difficult things got, he refused to contact them.

The original protagonist was so good-looking that the village chief was, of course, even more satisfied. So, a year later, it was the original protagonist who was forced to stay.

Compelled by the village chief, filled with despair, and believing his family had completely abandoned him, he gave up on himself, completely stopped struggling, and wasted his entire life in the village.

Later, his older brother came looking for him once. He originally had a chance to clear up the misunderstanding and escape, as his brother’s secret identity had by then become an influential figure.

But his life was in shambles. He felt ashamed and resentful, refusing to even see his brother.

With the village chief misleading both sides, his brother could only leave sadly after leaving some money and belongings.

Of course, all those things ended up in the village chief’s pocket. The original protagonist never knew, and the misunderstanding with his family remained unresolved until his death.

As for Gu Xiangdong, from then on, everything went smoothly. Without the village chief’s obstruction, he followed Luo Shuisheng, who went to the city to do business, and left the countryside.

Of course, he was a terrible student and didn’t get into university, but he had a small sum of money.

This money came from secretly withholding all the money and goods the original protagonist’s family had sent him over the year, in collusion with the village chief.

Relying on his memories from his previous life, although he had no business acumen himself, he knew some directions for future economic development and gave Luo Shuisheng some business ideas.

For a while, he managed to impress Luo Shuisheng. Positioning himself as a benefactor, he insisted on investing some money and became his partner.

Of course, Luo Shuisheng bore all the hard work, while Gu Xiangdong reaped the benefits without effort.

Luo Shuisheng had a great business mind. His ventures grew larger and larger, and in the 1980s, he established a real estate development company, rapidly accumulating a fortune.

Gu Xiangdong’s greed knew no bounds. He interfered in Luo Shuisheng’s projects, secretly embezzled demolition compensation funds, and hired gangsters to harass the relocated residents, which later led to the deaths of a family of three.

When the incident blew up, he pinned everything on Luo Shuisheng, who took the fall for him and was imprisoned.

Later, he stirred up trouble in prison and was beaten to death by bad people, throwing the heavenly order into chaos, causing the death of the Child of Destiny, and the complete collapse of the small world.

After the Demon Lord and the Nine-Tailed Fox went over the two versions of the story, the Nine-Tailed Fox shook his head while speaking,

“What a piece of work!”

Yan Bai was naturally extremely displeased as well,

“Gu Xiangdong deliberately injured my wrist—I’ll have to settle this score with him properly!”

The Nine-Tailed Fox raised all four paws in support,

“Gu Xiangdong came back to life a few hours before you did. According to the original plot, you were supposed to run into Luo Shuisheng today when you went to the county town to pick up a package.

You would have learned that his younger brother was sick and couldn’t get medicine. In this era, medicine was extremely scarce, making it hard to get medical care or buy drugs.

His brother had been sick with a fever for many days. The herbal medicine prescribed by the village doctor wasn’t effective, and fever reducers were unavailable.

At that very moment, you lent a helping hand.

Your family regularly sent you common medicines every year, including fever reducers and anti-inflammatory drugs, which happened to be in the package you were supposed to pick up today.

After Luo Shuisheng’s brother took your medicine, he recovered. Grateful, Luo Shuisheng started giving you little things, and you began interacting, gradually developing feelings.

Gu Xiangdong originally looked down on Luo Shuisheng the most because he was too poor.

However, since Gu Xiangdong shared a room with you in his previous life, he knew the whole story of how you two got together and understood that today was particularly important—the pivotal moment your relationship started.

So, earlier, he injured you and pretended to be kind by offering to pick up the package for you in the county town, all to steal your chance at romance.

Demon Lord, go beat the crap out of him! The way he treated you later was utterly despicable.”