Before Chapter 29, he had thought too much about life...

After hanging up the phone, Xu Jialan stood outside for a while longer.

Chen Yao'an came out of the store with her bag on her back. "It's getting late, I should go home."

"I send you."

"No."

Xu Jialan caught up with her and walked alongside her, repeating, "I'll see you off."

Looking at his lowered eyes, Chen Yao'an did not refuse again.

After getting on the bus, there was the expected silence; Chen Yaoan could tell he wasn't very interested.

She just saw him standing outside the door making a phone call. Was it related to that call?

Chen Yao'an wasn't interested in starting any topics, as she wasn't particularly good at it anyway.

It's not so bad to just stay silent like this.

The car drove all the way to the town, then turned onto Xiaxin Street. There was still some distance to go before reaching the entrance of her alley, but Chen Yao'an suddenly stopped it, "Wait a minute."

Xu Jialan slammed on the brakes, and both of them were thrown forward by inertia, only to be pulled back by the seatbelts, their backs hitting the seats.

Chen Yaoan deftly unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car.

"What's wrong?"

Chen Yaoan stood by the car and glanced at the alleyway behind it, confirming that the person arguing with someone was indeed Yan Shumei.

Xu Jialan also got out of the car and followed her gaze to the alley entrance, where she immediately recognized Yan Shumei.

Yan Shumei was arguing with someone until her face turned red.

She spat on the ground where the person opposite her was standing. "Pah! What kind of sure-fire business is this? We haven't seen a single hair after all this time. I think you're a fraud!"

"You even cheat your neighbors, you wicked bastard!"

The woman opposite, Aunt Zhao, was not one to be trifled with either. She had a fierce look on her face and spat directly in Yan Shumei's face.

Yan Shumei was sprayed with spittle in her face.

Aunt Zhao's mouth was like a machine gun, "This was a mutually agreeable transaction, how did it become me cheating you? It's normal for a business to lose money, and besides, what evidence do you have to prove that I took your money!"

The opponent unleashed a barrage of attacks, leaving Yan Shumei completely bewildered.

Is she trying to renege on her debt and scam her out of 10,000 yuan?!

Seeing the two arguing fiercely, Chen Yao'an rushed over and pulled Yan Shumei aside, "Grandma, what are you arguing about?"

Yan Shumei was eager to confront her, and she couldn't be pulled away. "What nonsense are you talking about! I personally handed you ten thousand yuan!"

Aunt Zhao shrugged, "Do you have any evidence? Who saw it? Who can prove it?"

Yan Shumei was suddenly overcome with anger and felt dizzy. She staggered back a few steps, and Chen Yaoan and Xu Jialan quickly supported her.

After Yan Shumei recovered, Chen Yao'an asked again, "Grandma, what ten thousand yuan? What exactly happened?"

She pointed at Aunt Zhao and accused her, feeling wronged: "She cheated me out of 10,000 yuan!"

She always knew that Yan Shumei didn't have much money, and she usually gave her some. This 10,000 yuan was probably all the money Yan Shumei had.

Chen Yao'an's mind went blank.

She looked at Aunt Zhao.

Aunt Zhao and Yan Shumei often interacted, but she never expected that Yan would scheme to harm her grandmother.

"Aunt Zhao, did you really take my grandma's money?"

“I said I didn’t confiscate it, so I didn’t. Did you see me confiscate it, or did he see me confiscate it?”

She pointed at Xu Jialan.

Their attitude was very arrogant.

"Grandma, I advise you not to speak so confidently. We're all neighbors. If you really take the money, don't blame us for not giving you face later."

Seeing that Xu Jialan was a stranger, Aunt Zhao didn't take him seriously at all and rolled her eyes at him.

Chen Yao'an: "Grandma, let's go back first."

Yan Shumei was stubborn; she shook off her hand and said, "If you won't help me, I'll get it myself!"

"I didn't say I wouldn't help you get it, so you should at least let me know what's going on."

Chen Yaoan's tone contained a hint of dissatisfaction. Yan Shumei didn't dare to go against her. She was an old woman, and if Chen Yaoan just washed her hands of the matter, what would she do?

Before leaving, Yan Shumei turned back and cursed a few more times, "You son of a bitch, you'll get your comeuppance sooner or later, may you be childless and without descendants!"

Old Mrs. Zhao was furious when she heard this, since her son had just gotten married and his fiancée wasn't pregnant yet.

She immediately launched into a tirade: "Didn't you already have no descendants? Your son and grandson are both dead!"

Xu Jialan's pupils dilated; he had no idea the Chen family had another child.

Old Mrs. Zhao's words struck Yan Shumei's sore spot without any mercy, and she wanted to go back and fight her to the death.

Chen Yao'an, however, held onto Yan Shumei's arm tightly.

Xu Jialan looked at her, but she didn't turn around. She stared straight ahead at the street, pulling Yan Shumei along as they continued walking forward, her eyes dark and unfocused.

He helped Chen Yao'an pull Yan Shumei into the car.

There was still some distance to the Chen family's house, and no one spoke in the carriage; the air was heavy with tension.

Xu Jialan looked at the rearview mirror.

Yan Shumei was wiping away tears, while Chen Yaoan stared out the window without saying a word.

They soon arrived at the entrance of the Chen family's alley and Xu Jialan parked the car.

Chen Yaoan helped Yan Shumei out of the car and walked towards the Chen family home, with Xu Jialan silently following behind.

When she got home, Yan Shumei didn't say a word and went straight to her room.

Chen Yaoan went to see Zhou Yao first. Zhou Yao was the same as usual, and she told her to watch TV by herself.

Xu Jialan came out of the house and was still standing in the yard.

Chen Yao'an walked over to him and asked, "Aren't you going back?"

"Are you in such a hurry for me to go back?"

"No……"

"Then you stay here by yourself for a while, I'm going to find my grandma."

Xu Jialan nodded.

Chen Yao'an let him be and went into the west room where Yan Shumei lived.

Yan Shumei was sitting on the edge of the bed wiping away tears. When she saw Yao'an come in, she helplessly grabbed her hand. "Yao'an, is there any way to get this money back?"

"Grandma, tell me, what exactly happened?"

Yan Shumei's eyes darted around, a hint of guilt in her eyes, but at this point, that was all she could do.

"It was a while ago... A while ago I heard that old woman Zhao say that she inquired about a business, that it sells health products, but you have to pay money first to be eligible to join."

"She also told me that if I could recruit a few people to join them, I could get a commission, and she would give me half of that person's membership fee."

"It won't be long before I can earn back what I lost by joining, and I can earn even more."

Halfway through the conversation, Chen Yaoan pressed his forehead. "Isn't this just a pyramid scheme?"

It's an old trick from so many years ago, how could she still fall for it?

Yan Shumei stood up, took out a few boxes of health supplements from the corner of the room, and handed them to her.

"Look, these are the health supplements."

Chen Yaoan took it, glanced at it, and realized it was just some substandard products!

"I think these health supplements are pretty good; they say they can cure many diseases."

She threw the things aside, somewhat angry.

"grandmother!".

Chen Yao'an was a little agitated and couldn't help but shout. Only after shouting did he remember that Xu Jialan was still outside.

She lowered her voice: "Grandma, these are all scams, and you absolutely can't take these health supplements! What if someone dies from them?"

"No way," Yan Shumei said, still clinging to a sliver of hope. "I think these health supplements are pretty good."

Chen Yao'an's heart skipped a beat. "You ate?"

"No, not at all." She hadn't had a chance to eat yet.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Grandma, have you forgotten how many people in town have been scammed like this before and lost their money? This is pyramid selling!"

Upon hearing the word "pyramid scheme," Yan Shumei was completely jolted back to reality.

"Is this what pyramid schemes are?"

In the past, due to the backwardness of the town, many people were taken away to participate in pyramid schemes. Later, people who came back said that these were all scams, and those who went out were swindled out of a lot of money. In recent years, we have rarely heard of such things.

"Then how did you realize you'd been scammed?"

"I asked around the town, but no one was willing to do it. I thought if it couldn't be done, I'd just return the money, but then..."

"Can we get that money back? Huh?" She grabbed Chen Yao'an's hand and shook it.

Chen Yaoan remained silent.

Yan Shumei then burst into tears again, “That’s all my retirement money!”

"Since it's your retirement money, you should keep it safe."

Yan Shumei was so angry that she slapped her on the shoulder. "Who am I doing this for! It's all because I see you're too tired and I want to help you earn some money!"

"You heartless bastard!" he said, slapping her again.

Chen Yao'an felt her temples throbbing incessantly.

"Say something! If not, we'll hire a lawyer."

"Ten thousand yuan isn't even enough to hire a lawyer."

Yan Shumei collapsed onto the bed, crying even louder than before.

Xu Jialan was still standing in the courtyard, a cigarette between her fingers, not yet finished.

A faint sob came from the crack in the door of the west room.

Xu Jialan's eyebrows were furrowed.

He never cared about a mere ten thousand yuan before; he probably lost more than that in a single night through his fingers.

However, he now realizes that 10,000 yuan could be a huge burden for an ordinary family.

Now, isn't he facing the same predicament?

He had previously underestimated the complexity of life.