Chapter 5: Going to the City to Buy New Clothes

Liang Chuner had no idea what had just happened. She broke free from Chen Cuihong’s grasp and shouted at Jiang Jiuyue, “You think you can scold me? I’m telling Grandma! Let’s see how she puts you in your place!”

Chen Cuihong felt her vision go dark. It was over—there was no way Jiang Jiuyue would let Chuner off now.

And sure enough, Jiang Jiuyue smiled slightly, stood up, walked over, and without saying a word, slapped Chuner twice across the face. “I’m your elder. You dare speak to me like that?”

Jiang Jiuyue’s strength was no joke. Liang Chuner’s face instantly swelled, and a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of her mouth.

A few seconds later, Liang Chuner spat out a bloodied tooth, letting out a piercing wail.

Jiang Jiuyue ignored her completely and sat back down, resting her chin on her hand as she looked at Chen Cuihong. “Big sister-in-law, you’d better teach your daughter properly. Next time, it won’t just be a tooth.”

Holding her sobbing daughter, Chen Cuihong trembled all over, nodding frantically without daring to utter a word.

Jiang Jiuyue swept her gaze across the rest of them. “Why are you still standing here? Go back to your rooms. You think you’ve done enough work today to deserve a meal?”

This was exactly what Du Jinhua used to say to the original host and her daughters. But now, after seeing Jiang Jiuyue knock out one of Chuner’s teeth, no one dared to talk back. They all hurried out.

Once the room was empty, Jiang Jiuyue finally picked up her chopsticks. “Come on, eat.”

The three girls immediately grabbed their chopsticks and started devouring the food. The porridge they had eaten earlier in the afternoon had long been digested, and they were starving.

After the four of them finished eating, there was still a lot of food left on the table. Without a second thought, Jiang Jiuyue stored it all into her spatial dimension.

That’s right—she carried a space with her. Though it contained no food, it did have some weapons and medical supplies.

After so many years living in the apocalypse, Jiang Jiuyue couldn’t stand wasting food. Even leftovers were carefully stored, just in case something happened and they couldn’t get food later.

After clearing the table, she brought her daughters back to their room.

But before returning, she made a quick stop by the kitchen.

Back when Du Jinhua was alive, she was paranoid that the original host would steal food, so she only kept a small portion of the grain in the kitchen—enough to last two or three days. Now, only a little was left at the bottom of a jar.

Jiang Jiuyue took all the remaining grain in the kitchen. As for the big and second branches of the family—they still thought they’d get to eat? In their dreams!

Once she and the girls were back in their room, Chen Cuihong and Ma Guichun quietly opened their doors, planning to sneak into the main room for leftovers.

They had purposely cooked enough food for the whole family. With only Jiang Jiuyue and her three daughters eating, there had to be plenty left. Jiang Jiuyue probably couldn’t be bothered to clean up, so they might as well go grab the scraps.

But when they arrived, all they saw were a few empty plates—completely wiped clean.

Chen Cuihong and Ma Guichun exchanged stunned looks. Just one woman and three little girls had eaten enough for an entire household?

Whether they believed it or not, the fact was there was no food left. But the rest of the family was still hungry.

The two of them quietly tiptoed to the kitchen, hoping to quickly cook another meal while Jiang Jiuyue was resting.

But the kitchen was just as empty. Not a single grain of rice remained.

They were utterly dumbfounded and could only return to their rooms empty-handed.

That night, Jiang Jiuyue and her daughters slept warm and content, while the big and second branches of the family went to bed with empty stomachs—just like how things used to be for the original host and her daughters.

The next morning, Jiang Jiuyue woke up and took a moment to gather her bearings—only then remembering that she was now in a world without zombies. Her mood was surprisingly good.

She stretched lazily and called out to her three daughters, who were still asleep.

The moment Jiang Zhen’er was woken up, she reflexively begged for mercy, “Grandma, please don’t hit me! I’ll get up and do the chores right away!”

Jiang Jiuyue’s eyes darkened—she really wanted to go beat that old hag Du Jinhua up again.

When Jiang Zhen’er saw it was Jiang Jiuyue standing by the bed and looked around at the familiar room, she slowly relaxed and called out, “Mom.”

“Come on, get up. Eat some of the leftovers from last night to fill your stomachs a bit, then we’re heading into town to buy some new clothes.”

After washing up, Jiang Jiuyue and the girls ate what was left from dinner. By then, the sky was almost fully bright.

The members of the first and second branches had already gotten up, but since Jiang Jiuyue was in the courtyard, none of them dared to come out.

Meanwhile, in the dilapidated room, Du Jinhua slowly regained consciousness. Staring up at the broken, shabby ceiling, she finally remembered why she was lying there.

It was all because of that bitch Jiang Jiuyue!

Du Jinhua seethed with hatred. She struggled to sit up, but when she saw Jiang Jiuyue still standing in the courtyard, she quietly took a few steps back.

She wasn’t stupid. Jiang Jiuyue was terrifying now. If she rushed out again, she’d just get beaten up. Better to wait until Jiang Jiuyue left, and then go call the village head and bring people over to stand up for her!

After waiting a while, she finally saw Jiang Jiuyue leave the house with the three girls.

The moment Jiang Jiuyue was gone, the Liang household erupted into action.

Du Jinhua stormed into the courtyard and started screaming at the two other branches.

“You ungrateful little bastards! Your mother’s been bullied like this, and you didn’t even fart in protest! What the hell did I give birth to you for?!”

She hated Jiang Jiuyue and was furious at her useless sons who stood by and watched their own mother get abused.

“What are you waiting for?! Get your asses out here and go fetch a doctor for your mother! My arm is still hanging here!”

Du Jinhua had long established her authority in the Liang household, and her two sons didn’t dare disobey. They sluggishly came out.

Now that Jiang Jiuyue was gone, the brothers tentatively stepped outside.

When they saw everything was calm, they ran as fast as they could—one to gather people to come help at the house, the other to fetch a doctor.

At that moment, Jiang Jiuyue was walking toward the town with her daughters. Jiang Zhen’er, still anxious, asked, “Mom, now that we’ve gone out, Grandma will definitely bring people to the house to deal with you!”

Jiang Bao’er looked worried too. Mom was tough, sure, but what if Grandma brought a lot of people? Could Mom really handle it?

Jiang Jiuyue just smiled. “Don’t worry. No matter how many people come, I’ll handle it.”

She sounded confident, but Zhen’er and Bao’er were still uneasy, glancing around nervously the entire way.

Once they reached the county town, Jiang Jiuyue first bought several large meat buns and shared them with her daughters.

Zhen, Bao, and Yu had never eaten meat buns in their whole lives. They immediately forgot all their worries—the only thing on their minds was the meat buns.

After finishing their food, Jiang Jiuyue took them to a clothing shop and bought each of them a few outfits.

When the girls put on the new clothes, they looked a little uncomfortable at first, but who could resist such beautiful outfits? They were clearly overjoyed.

Jiang Jiuyue had basically spent all her silver after this shopping spree. Figuring there was no need to spend more on lunch in town, she decided to head home.

Just as they reached the front gate of the house, Du Jinhua’s shrill voice rang out:

“Village head! That wretched woman Jiang Jiuyue is back!”