Chapter 155: Chapter 155: Secret Medicine of the Distant Sea

Lily Adler was very concerned about the cause of Sylvia Lancaster’s miscarriage and kept pressing for an answer, but Sylvia Lancaster remained silent.

Seeing Sylvia Lancaster’s silence, Lily Adler remembered what the nanny had told her that day and felt that Sylvia must have been wronged by the Lancaster and Sutton families.

With tears in her eyes, Lily Adler held Sylvia Lancaster’s hand and said, "It’s all my fault. I thought that as the Sutton family’s eldest daughter-in-law, they would take good care of you... If I had known the Suttons were so unreliable, I would have found you and acknowledged you sooner."

Sylvia Lancaster remained silent. Compared to Lily Adler’s emotional outburst, Sylvia felt no such turmoil. ’After all,’ she thought, ’I don’t think my eyes and brows look much like Lily Adler’s...’

She wasn’t sure if Lily Adler was truly her mother, so she remained somewhat guarded.

Lily Adler noticed Sylvia Lancaster’s wariness and resistance, so she stopped pressing the issue. Instead, she held her hand and rambled on, listing precautions and telling her to rest well, take care of her body, and not catch a cold.

Sylvia Lancaster listened distractedly, offering a few perfunctory replies from time to time.

Suddenly inundated with so much information, with the truth of her parentage laid bare, Sylvia Lancaster didn’t know whether to be happy or sad.

’On the one hand, I should be happy,’ she thought. ’If what Lily Adler said is true, then I’m Hector Hayes’s daughter, too. That would give me a real reason to stay in the Hayes family’s villa forever. I wouldn’t have to worry about having nowhere to go after a falling out with Clara Hayes.’

’And with a rich and powerful father like Hector Hayes to back me up, I wouldn’t have to worry about being bullied anymore.’

’On the other hand, I should be sad. Once my identity is revealed, I doubt Clara Hayes or Raymond Hayes will let me off the hook.’

’Lily Adler herself said Raymond Hayes is a ruthless man. I’m afraid he’ll either kick me out or just have me killed...’

’Lily Adler is just a mistress in the Hayes Family, not Hector Hayes’s wife. She has no official status. And Clara Hayes hates her so much. Can she really protect me, her own daughter?’

’Besides, even if I do manage to stay with the Hayes Family, as long as Lily Adler doesn’t secure a higher position, I’ll just be an illegitimate daughter. Will the maids and servants treat me differently? Will they make my life difficult?’

The more Sylvia Lancaster thought about it, the more agitated she became. A tide of anxiety washed over her, making it impossible to find any peace.

*

After handing over the five thousand jars of loquat paste, Melody Summers felt much more relaxed.

Over the past few days, the account for Paige Walsh’s research institute had been periodically updating her on the drug’s development progress. If all went well, the batch of medicine would be distributed to various hospitals and supply points soon.

Melody Summers was delighted. She felt she had done her part to help those suffering from illnesses caused by the volcanic ash.

After lunch, Melody Summers entered The Arcadian Space. Once she finished her chores in the fields, she rummaged through the warehouse for a pair of rubber boots, changed into them, then found an enormous basket. With a spring in her step, she headed toward The Arcadian Lake.

The lake’s surface glittered. The lotus seeds she had planted before had now multiplied into a vast, dense patch.

In an ordinary lotus pond outside, the flowers would have long since withered by the time the seed pods were ready for harvest.

However, thanks to the nourishment of the Arcadia Water, this patch of lotuses in The Arcadian Lake still had vast swaths of flowers in full bloom, even though the seed pods and roots were already ripe.

As far as the eye could see, layers of lotus leaves carpeted the water, with graceful, elegant lotus flowers rising among them. A gentle breeze carried their delicate fragrance through the air.

Wearing her tall rubber boots, Melody Summers carefully waded into the lake. The water in this area wasn’t very deep, reaching just up to her knees.

She bent down slightly, gently stirring the water with her hands and sighing contentedly at its refreshing coolness.

Then, Melody Summers began to harvest the lotus seed pods and roots.

She carefully selected the ripe seed pods, picking them one by one and placing them in her basket. Then she bent down again, plunging her hands into the water and digging through the mud. A moment later, she pulled out a lotus root caked in earth.

She rinsed the mud off with lake water, revealing a jade-white root, and placed it in the basket as well.

Melody Summers worked diligently, hauling each full basket to the shore before returning to dig and pick more.

Albus lay leisurely on the bank, watching Melody Summers work in the lotus pond while occasionally batting at a river crab that scuttled ashore.

Melody Summers worked all afternoon. Gazing at the piles of lotus seed pods and roots on the shore, she was filled with a sense of accomplishment.

After a moment’s thought, she picked a good number of unopened lotus buds and added them to the pile on the shore.

Once she had finished, Melody Summers walked back to the bank and sat down to rest.

She took a seed pod, broke it open, and popped a lotus seed—its bitter green germ removed—into her mouth. A fresh, sweet flavor immediately spread from the tip of her tongue.

Melody Summers returned to the warehouse, grabbed several boxes, and packed them with a mix of lotus roots and seed pods to create gift sets. In each box, she also included two unopened lotus buds.

She listed this special lotus gift box in The Arcadia Store, pricing each one at fifty thousand yuan.

The entire world had been in a drought for over a year, and aquatic plants like lotuses were virtually extinct. Even indoor farming corporations wouldn’t waste resources or energy on such things, making Melody Summers’s supply one of a kind.

The hundred-plus gift boxes were snatched up the moment they were listed. Several regular customers ordered five or even ten boxes at a time.

Melody Summers’s account was also flooded with comments. Many customers who had missed out begged her to restock, while others hoped to buy the lotus flowers and leaves separately.

Melody Summers happily told Albus to arrange for shipping, then ran back to the lake to harvest more.

Just as Melody Summers was bent over, digging for lotus roots in the mud, her fingers brushed against something round.

Melody Summers paused. ’This doesn’t feel like a lotus root!’

Puzzled, she dug the round object out. After washing the mud off in the lake water, she saw that it was a round, white porcelain bottle about the size of a ping-pong ball.

The bottle was as smooth and exquisite as white nephrite jade and emitted a faint, gentle glow, looking like a fine work of art.

The mouth of the bottle was covered with a layer of oiled paper, which was held tightly in place by a matching stopper, sealing the bottle completely.

Melody Summers opened the bottle, puzzled, and found five or six small white beads inside. Just then, a notification sound chimed:

[Congratulations! You have obtained: Far Sea Secret Medicine.]

[Blade wounds? Sword wounds? Bruises and sprains?]

[Consumption? Coughs and wheezing? All manner of internal ailments?]

[Whether it’s an internal or external injury, this medicine is a surefire cure! But as the saying goes, every medicine has its risks. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, please use with caution.]

[Hint: It seems to have drifted here from a distant sea.]

[As they say, all rivers flow to the sea. Please, with a yearning for the distant Ocean, continue to explore new areas in The Arcadian Space!]

Listening to the series of prompts, Melody Summers was stunned.

The last line, in particular, sounded just like a quest clue for unlocking a new dungeon that she might find in a video game.

’It seems that even if I hadn’t taken the boat across the river a while back, the space would have found a way to give me clues, letting me know that beyond the lake, there’s a river and an Ocean.’

Gazing at the pearl-like pills in the bottle, Melody Summers returned to the shore and remarked to Albus, "Could this be the legendary panacea that cures all ills? I feel like I’m in a wuxia novel."

Recalling the system’s warning that every medicine has its risks, Melody Summers didn’t dare to try it. She carefully put the porcelain bottle away, saving it for an emergency.