Roman Rhodes’s brow twitched. He looked up at Mr. Rhodes’s sorrowful expression, opened his mouth, but didn’t know what to say.

Ronan Rhodes had been standing to the side, not daring to make a sound. Seeing this, he awkwardly stepped in to smooth things over. "Grandpa, Uncle has been busy lately, so he’s bound to be a bit stressed. As for the marriage thing, why don’t you wait until he’s less busy? There’s no rush."

Roman Rhodes was also afraid that he would genuinely make his father sick with anger during the New Year. He nodded and softened his tone. "I really don’t have time to think about these things right now, Dad. You know what the current situation is like. The backlog of cases at the bureau is bigger than it has been in years."

Hearing this, Mr. Rhodes wearily closed his eyes and said nothing.

Seeing him like this, Roman felt a sense of helplessness. He glanced at the time and said hesitantly, "Dad, I’m relieved to see you’re in good health. I still have things to deal with at the bureau, so I’ll head back for now. I’ll come see you another day."

Mr. Rhodes sighed. He knew he couldn’t control his son anymore, so he could only wave his hand in resignation. "Alright, go on and get busy. Your work is important."

Ronan Rhodes quickly stood up to see Roman out. As they walked outside, Roman lectured him, "You’d better treat the Thorne girl well. Don’t you dare bully her, and don’t do anything to bring shame to our Rhodes Family."

Hearing Roman mention his beloved fiancée, Ronan grinned. "Don’t worry, Uncle. My fiancée and I get along great. We’re planning to get our marriage license first, and then we’ll have a proper wedding ceremony after the disaster passes."

Originally, Sophie Thorne hadn’t wanted to get the license so soon. It was only after Ronan pestered her for a long time that she reluctantly agreed to get it with him after the New Year.

This made Ronan, Holden Rhodes, and Mr. Rhodes overjoyed. The three of them—grandfather and grandsons—immediately had people searching everywhere for jewelry.

Just then, someone told Mr. Rhodes that the Nimbus Hotel had acquired two diamonds of an extremely rare color and size. In his excitement, the old man won both at auction, planning to give them as gifts to his future granddaughter-in-law and daughter-in-law.

Seeing Roman nod, Ronan gave a mischievous chuckle and boldly asked, "Uncle, you should think about getting married, too. Otherwise, you’ll be so lonely. Do you think I’ll have an aunt by next year?"

In response, Roman smacked Ronan on the back of the head. The blow made Ronan stumble, and he nearly fell over. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Ronan staggered a few steps before regaining his balance. He glanced at Roman’s expression, obediently shut his mouth, and didn’t dare say another word.

Roman truly had no plans to marry. He had no expectations for marriage.

’His parents had lived apart for years. When his mother was terminally ill and passed away, her husband wasn’t by her side. Roman just couldn’t see the point of marriage.’

’If it was just about carrying on the family line, the Rhodes Family already had Ronan. Roman didn’t want to get married.’

’He was afraid he would become like his father and drag an innocent woman into the same unfortunate life his mother had led.’

As the two of them walked out of the villa, Roman quietly warned Ronan, "Stay away from the people at Adler Enterprises for a while. Don’t have too many business dealings with them, either. Someone reported them for illegal transactions with foreign powers, and the higher-ups are arranging an investigation."

Ronan’s expression turned serious. "Don’t worry, Uncle. I heard about this a while ago. I know what to do."

Some time ago, Ronan had heard that the Simmons Group was divesting from Adler Enterprises. Although the Simmons Group publicly claimed it was just a normal investment adjustment, those with sharp instincts sensed there was more to the story.

Fortunately, Rhodes Enterprises had its own desalination technology and didn’t have many business ties with Adler Enterprises to begin with.

Just then, Butler Archer had the driver bring Roman’s car around. As Roman was about to get in, he heard the sound of two people arguing with a security guard up ahead.

Roman asked, puzzled, "What’s going on up there? What’s all the arguing about?"

Butler Archer quickly replied, "It’s a distant cousin, miss. She wanted to bring her boyfriend to visit Mr. Rhodes but was stopped by security. Mr. Rhodes gave instructions that he is not seeing any guests."

Ronan glanced ahead and recognized Holly Rhodes. He smiled and explained, "She’s the granddaughter of one of our granduncles. Her boyfriend works at the company, too. I heard someone in the front courtyard earlier saying her boyfriend is competing to be the head of a project. I guess she’s here to plead his case with Grandpa."

Roman frowned at this. "What’s wrong with young people these days? Instead of working hard, they’re always thinking about pulling strings."

’And to make a scene right in front of Mr. Rhodes, no less. Those two are really clueless.’

Ronan nodded in agreement. "The company has always been a meritocracy. Don’t worry, Uncle."

After speaking, Ronan seemed to remember something and added, "Speaking of which, that cousin’s boyfriend is Simon Lancaster, the eldest son of the Lancaster Family—the one that used to be a leader in the tourism industry. A lot of companies went bankrupt this year, and the Lancaster Family was no exception."

’The Lancaster Family from the tourism industry?’ Just this morning, Roman had dealt with the case of the Lancasters going to Melody Summers’s house and assaulting her with a knife. He remembered it clearly, along with all the outrageous things Melody had told him the Lancasters had done.

Roman’s brow furrowed. "Rhodes has a lot of joint projects with the government right now, so you need to be careful about who you hire. That Simon Lancaster’s younger brother and parents attempted a home invasion and murder today—they nearly killed someone. I was the one who handled the case. If someone with a family like that gets into company management, what kind of message would that send if word gets out?"

Ronan was taken aback, saying in surprise, "That really happened?"

Then, Ronan’s expression turned grave. He said to Roman seriously, "Don’t worry, Uncle. I’ll take care of it."

Only then did Roman nod and drive away.

*

In the blink of an eye, more than a month had passed since the New Year, and the festive atmosphere had faded.

It was now March. In years past, this would have been the time when the ice and snow melted and spring was in full bloom, but now, the high temperatures and drought persisted.

This abnormal heatwave had started last April and had now been going on for almost a full year. Lakes and rivers around the world had all but dried up. For an entire year, the parched earth had yielded no crops.

In the residential community’s group chat, people still occasionally discussed the New Year’s supplies they had received, reminiscing about the taste of pork, rice, and flour. Unfortunately, most people could now only subsist on sand vine cakes.

At the beginning of the year, most businesses had collapsed. Few people still had jobs. The majority of families were just burning through their savings. If it weren’t for the sand vine cakes, many people would have literally starved to death.

During this time, Melody Summers practiced her boat-piloting skills on the Arcadian Lake every day. Although her technique was a bit rusty, she had at least worked up the courage to sail a short distance from the shore.

The body of water was immense. The lake’s surface seemed boundless, meeting the sky at the horizon, making it impossible to see the opposite shore.

There were no longer any areas shrouded in white fog within her current field of view; all the nearby regions were now unlocked. However, Melody wasn’t sure if there were still unlocked areas on the other side of the lake.

Melody had asked Albus, but the white cat had only told her that he wasn’t sure either, and that she would only learn the unlock conditions for the next area by reaching a place that was shrouded in white fog.

’The Arcadian Space already has farmland, streams, forests, mountains, and a lake. It’s like a paradise, a true Arcadia. If there are still unlocked areas, I wonder what they could be.’

Seeing that it was almost noon, Melody steered the boat back to the dock.

She had previously planted some lotus seeds in the Arcadian Lake. Now, patches of lotus leaves floated on the water’s surface, and she could faintly see some graceful lotus buds among them.

After a little more time, she would be able to harvest lotus seeds and roots.

Melody left the space, went out her door, and walked down the stairs to see Grace Sutton in the living room, frowning and sighing at her phone.

"Aunt Grace, what’s wrong? Why so gloomy?" Melody asked, puzzled.

Grace Sutton replied with a worried look, "I just got a message from the owner of the clothing factory. She said if the high temperatures don’t break this year, the factory will have to close down."

In truth, it was remarkable that the clothing factory had managed to hold on for this long. After all, so many businesses had gone under last year that less than a tenth had survived.

Fortunately, the factory building was owned by the boss’s family, so there was no rent to pay. The biggest expense was the monthly base salary of just over a thousand for each employee.

But if they still couldn’t resume operations this year, with only money going out and none coming in, the owner wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer.

Grace Sutton had started at the factory doing odd jobs. Through years of diligent and conscientious work, she had worked her way up to management. The thought of the factory closing down like this truly saddened her.

Melody thought for a moment. ’According to the timeline from my past life, this heatwave will end next month.’

’Starting from early April this year, volcanic eruptions will cause an endless night. Without seeing the sun for a long time, the temperature will drop continuously, eventually leading to blizzards and extreme cold.’

’Melody remembered that in her past life, after the heatwave ended, the government had predicted the coming global freeze. Many factories received notices to resume work. The state issued orders for them to rush the production of cold-weather gear and supplies.’

’As a clothing manufacturer, Grace Sutton’s factory would surely be among those tasked with producing winter clothes.’

So, Melody offered some comfort, "Aunt Grace, maybe the temperature will drop in a month or two. Don’t worry just yet. The heat started in April last year, so maybe things will change for the better this April."

Grace Sutton sighed at her words and nodded. "Let’s hope so."