Chapter 63: The Old Lady Gets a Beating

As soon as she said that, Xia Chaoyang immediately picked up on the signal.

“You old hag, what does this have to do with you? Who gave you the right to butt in?

If you’ve got nothing better to do, get lost. Stop spewing crap everywhere.”

But the old lady wasn’t one to back down. The moment she heard Xia Chaoyang say that, she fired back.

“Are you brain-dead or something? I was speaking up for you! No wonder she doesn’t want you—you’re just a walking disaster!”

“This is between me and my wife. Why are you sticking your nose in? You’re probably just looking for a way to take advantage.”

“Your wife? Does she even acknowledge you? Stop being delusional.”

Xia Chaoyang wasn’t dumb. Cozying up to Jiang Yuan was his only way in—and only once inside could he get supplies.

He turned to her, wearing a pitiful, fawning expression.
“Yuan Yuan, look—I even helped you scold her. Doesn’t that mean you’ve forgiven me?”

Jiang Xingmin stood by anxiously, terrified his foolish daughter might fall for it again.

“You think I’d forgive you just like that? Keep dreaming.

We’re already divorced. You brought your mistress into my house, and now you come back just to disgust me?

Is this what Building 9 calls sincerity?”

Jiang Yuan’s blunt rejection made the people behind Xia Chaoyang panic.

Even if there wasn’t any food, they still hoped to buy some clothes or daily essentials.

They had risked their lives to get here—if they went back empty-handed, it would be a huge waste.

“Please, miss, don’t be angry. We didn’t know he had that kind of history with you.

We came all this way through the heavy rain—we brought money and everything. Look…”

The man pulled out his wallet to show his sincerity.

Hmm. To buy some time, she’d let it go—for now.

“In that case, go ahead and pick out what you want…”

As soon as she said that, the old lady from earlier got smug.

“See? What did I say? Throwing yourself at someone who doesn’t want you—serves you right!”

“You sure you still want to yap like a stray dog here?”

Jiang Yuan shot her a cold glare, but the old woman wasn’t afraid.

“And what if I do? What can you do to me?”

She even crossed her arms in defiance—clearly trying to stir the pot.

It looked like doing business quietly wasn’t going to be an option.

Jiang Yuan gave a faint smile, turned around, and rummaged through a bag behind her.

The old woman got nervous, thinking she was going to pull out the water gun again.

But instead of a water gun, Jiang Yuan came back holding a handful of candy.

The cheapest kind—hard candies in colorful wrappers. The kind corner stores used to give as small change.

But now? These were precious.

Jiang Yuan raised the candies high and shouted loudly to the crowd:

“This old hag pissed me off. Whoever smacks her gets a piece of candy.

The harder you hit, the more you get…”

“I think you’re full of—ah!”

The old lady didn’t even finish before Xia Chaoyang slapped her across the face.

“Yuan Yuan! I hit her! Where’s my candy?”

Jiang Yuan shrugged—she hadn’t planned on giving him any, but since he started it…

“Here.”

She tossed a candy over the railing. Xia Chaoyang caught it excitedly.

“You brat! I’m gonna fight you!”

Realizing things were spiraling out of control, the old woman went full tantrum—shouting, flailing, and trying to land the first strike.

Xia Chaoyang wasn’t having it and started grappling with her.

The others, seeing that candy was actually being handed out, gave the old lady a few kicks of their own.

Jiang Yuan quickly tossed another piece of candy.

Once the first person joined in, more followed—and a full brawl broke out.

It started as a one-on-one, but soon turned into a free-for-all.

Right at the center of the chaos, Xia Chaoyang couldn’t avoid getting hit.

“Ow! Who hit me? Argh—!”

Nice. Jiang Yuan watched with great satisfaction, nearly heading inside to grab a small stool and some sunflower seeds.

The noise drew attention from the neighbors. Song Yi peeked out and silently backed away.

Zhang Kaiyang also came up to see what was going on. Jiang Yuan waved him off, and although confused, he quickly left.

With so many people and so much chaos, it took around five minutes to settle down.

“Ugh… owww…”

The old lady lay sprawled on the ground, groaning like she was on the verge of death.

Xia Chaoyang was covered in bruises too, though he was sitting up.

“Miss, we’ve finished the beating, so…”

The man who’d shown his wallet earlier spoke up. Jiang Yuan was in an excellent mood.

“I don’t know who hit more or who hit less. Take all these candies and share them among yourselves.”

“Sure, sure—thank you!”

Xia Chaoyang watched helplessly as a whole handful of candy was given away to someone else—he was fuming.

“Yuan Yuan, how about I hand them out?”

But the man wasn’t easy to push around—he shot him a glare.

Whoever held the candy held the power—only an idiot would give that up.

“Seriously? You cheated with a mistress and still have the nerve to speak?

This woman’s amazing—beautiful and kind. You really couldn’t see what you had. You’ve disgraced all men.”

He said that partly to shut Xia Chaoyang up, and partly to flatter Jiang Yuan and keep the right to distribute the candy.

No matter how angry Xia Chaoyang was, he didn’t dare fight back—not when they’d all be heading back together later.

As for Jiang Yuan—he probably wouldn’t get in today.

“Miss, I’d like two packs of diapers. How much?”

A woman spoke up from the back—she had come out specifically to buy things for her child.

Jiang Yuan looked at her and saw the desperation in her eyes.

It reminded her of how hard she had worked for Xiao Nuan in her past life—how much she had endured and compromised.

“500 yuan per pack.”

“I’ll take two.”

“Alright.”

Honestly, 1,000 yuan a pack wouldn’t have been unreasonable these days. But she didn’t want to favor this mom too much—so she gave her a modest discount.

Besides, Xiao Nuan barely used them now, and she had stockpiled a lot earlier.

Selling some would clear up much-needed space.

The storage inside her space was packed tight—just narrow walkways left.

Anything less essential had already been moved outside.

Later, she planned to use every bit of available space to grow food.

If she could sell what she didn’t use for money, all the better.

And it might even help extend the usable time of her space—making full use of every resource.

The rest of the people began choosing their items.

Jiang Yuan didn’t hesitate—among all the clutter, there were still useful things.

And now that the weather was getting colder, warm clothing was in high demand.

Too bad she hadn’t stocked up on much winter wear.

If business kept up, she’d have to figure something out.

Jiang Xingmin stayed with her the whole time. Once the people from Building 9 finished their shopping, they began to leave.

Xia Chaoyang lingered, hoping for one last chance.

Jiang Yuan looked at him with a faint, mocking smile.

“Xia Chaoyang, if you really want to apologize, how are you planning to deal with Bai Mengmeng and her child?”