Chapter 61 – The Wealthy and Mysterious Lady

“Ah!”

Caught off guard, before the warning words could even leave her mouth, Jiang Yuan had already pulled the trigger.

Wow—this squirt gun actually had decent range!

The old woman across from her scrambled backward, trying to dodge the water jets. Jiang Yuan was very pleased.

She hadn’t expected this toy to be so effective. She’d have to give it to Xiao Nuan later to play with.

“You little witch! I’ll scratch you to death—AH!”

Just as Jiang Yuan paused, the enraged old woman lunged at her, eyes full of fury.

But then a sharp knife slashed through the air and blocked her path—its cold gleam screamed danger.

“You—you’re actually pulling a knife?” the old woman faltered, a hint of fear flashing across her face, though she still tried to question her bravely.

“You talk crap nonstop. Might as well cut out your tongue,” Jiang Yuan said coldly.

“Bullshit—” the old lady was already ready to fight, clearly itching for a showdown.

Jiang Yuan casually dug in her ear, completely unfazed, preparing to slam the door in her face.

But suddenly, the woman beside the old lady quickly pulled her away and whispered something in her ear.

The old woman’s expression shifted drastically—from disbelief to fear.

Then, without saying a word, the two of them beat a hasty retreat.

“Huh? Leaving already? I wasn’t even done having fun,” Jiang Yuan said mockingly, trying to scare them even more.

“Careful you don’t lose your tongue…” she added.

Clunk, clunk, clunk—they scurried down the stairs even faster.

Perfect!

Once those two were dealt with, Jiang Yuan noticed a woman still standing nearby, completely calm, without a trace of panic.

The woman looked to be in her early forties. Even without makeup, her aura was striking. Clearly not an ordinary person—probably someone in a high position, or maybe a boss.

Jiang Yuan labeled her as dangerous—and definitely rich.

“What do you want?” she asked bluntly.

The woman smiled, took two steps forward, and glanced at the clothes hanging in the stairwell.

“That brown one—and a set of pajamas too.”

“Okay,” Jiang Yuan said as she fetched the items and handed them over.

“Thirty thousand,” she stated flatly.

“Alright,” the woman responded, pulling out three stacks of cash from her pocket.

“Young lady,” the woman said, “do you have anything else?”

Jiang Yuan eyed her cautiously. With Sun Yian’s propaganda, plenty of people likely knew there were supplies on the 21st floor.

That guy could spin lies like no one else—make black sound like white.

“Money’s not an issue,” the woman quickly added, afraid Jiang Yuan might back out.

“I do. Midnight tonight. Bring two hundred thousand,” Jiang Yuan said, deliberately trying to scare her off.

“Alright,” the woman replied immediately.

Jiang Yuan was surprised that she agreed so readily. The woman even shot her a meaningful look before walking away.

“Who the heck is she?” Jiang Yuan muttered, thinking of her old boss who used to keep stacks of cash in the office.

She started to doubt the woman’s identity. After all, their neighborhood wasn’t exactly high-end. The location was remote, the infrastructure was average at best, and the property management wasn’t great.

No wealthy person would normally choose to live here—unless they had something to hide.

Maybe this woman was powerful and purposely kept a low profile. Hidden in plain sight, how ironic.

But whatever—so long as it made her money, Jiang Yuan didn’t care.

She decided not to mention any of this to the neighbor, even though they were cooperating more now. Some information just wasn’t meant to be shared.

Once she’d made peace with that, she felt a lot more at ease and went back inside for breakfast.

Somehow, thanks to Sun Yian’s connections, six people from Building 12 showed up that afternoon.

Jiang Yuan was surprised, but business was business—she needed to make money.

This group even bought stuff for others. Half of her racks were emptied, so Jiang Yuan quickly started restocking and hung up the clothes strewn on the floor.

People came in waves throughout the day—not bad at all.

Many were hoping to buy food, but Jiang Yuan kept quiet.

Food wasn’t something she could casually sell. Most of those people likely didn’t even have money, and exposing her supply wasn’t worth the risk.

Right now, everyone just suspected she had stuff—no one had solid proof. No point creating trouble for herself.

As for the rich lady tonight—she’d make an exception for her.

The woman had money, and Jiang Yuan needed it. A perfect match.

She wasn’t worried the woman would spread rumors either—she had supplies herself, and that alone made her valuable.

Her place, 2101, was a fortress. No one else could compare, let alone handle it.

With that in mind, Jiang Yuan went back in and prepared a “survival bundle” for the woman:

• 10 catties of rice
• 2 packs of noodles
• 1 big cabbage
• 10 loaves of bread

Before the apocalypse, this would’ve cost no more than a few dozen yuan.

But now it would go for 200,000. That woman should be thrilled.

Jiang Yuan guessed the woman had more cash at home.

For the sake of long-term gains, she decided to throw in a favor.

She added 2 bottles of trendy drinks and 2 packs of instant noodles.

That was the most she could part with—it was hard for her too.

At midnight, the woman actually showed up.

Jiang Yuan saw her through the surveillance monitor. Impressively, the woman didn’t knock or make a sound.

She was wearing the pajamas she bought earlier, arms crossed, likely holding the money.

Jiang Yuan didn’t go out immediately. She watched for over ten minutes.

During that time, the woman just tilted her head to listen for sounds in the stairwell, then cautiously checked the surroundings.

Clearly, she was afraid Jiang Yuan might trick her and rob her of her money.

Click…

The stairwell door opened. Jiang Yuan stepped out holding a small rechargeable night light.

Its glow was dim—barely enough to make out the surroundings.

“You’re here?” she asked softly.

The woman lowered her voice, clearly a bit excited.

“The money?” Jiang Yuan cut straight to the point, hand outstretched.

Without hesitation, the woman unbuttoned her pajama top and took out a black plastic bag.

Jiang Yuan used the night light to check—it looked fine.

She motioned for the woman to back up a safe distance before pushing a bag out the door and immediately locking it again.

The woman crept forward, grabbed the bag without checking it, and quickly left.

Damn, that transaction was intense.

Jiang Yuan also tiptoed back inside, careful not to wake her parents.

A successful night!

She rushed to convert the money into “time” in her space. Watching the countdown rise filled her with joy.

There were still some things in the space she hadn’t sorted yet—not too much left.

Taking advantage of the quiet, she dug two new rows of soil and planted Chinese cabbage and large-leafed greens.

After watering, she had to head out quickly.

Tomorrow, she’d plant tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, and beans.

Leafy greens were in shortest supply now. Last time, she only harvested a few.

But now with expanded growing space, the crops grew even bigger.

The real challenge was finding excuses to bring them out without raising suspicion. That was a headache.

After finishing up, she came out of the bathroom and habitually lay on her bed, checking her phone.

To her surprise, she had a new unread message—from Xia Chaoyang.