Chapter 269: Chapter 269: The Suspicious Neighbor

Crystal Lynch was both surprised and delighted to see Melody Summers at her door, and she quickly opened it.

"Come on, come in! Hurry!"

While Crystal Lynch’s home wasn’t as warm as Melody Summers’s, they had a space heater on, keeping the temperature comfortable. Melody took off her thick coat after coming inside.

"Don’t worry about your shoes, just come in!" Crystal Lynch led Melody directly to the sofa, then ran off to get her a drink.

This was Melody’s first time visiting Crystal Lynch’s home. She glanced around and saw that the living room was piled high with unopened boxes of food and water. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

The food consisted mostly of instant meals like self-heating rice and instant noodles. It looked like they had been stockpiled before the cataclysm, and the reserves were substantial.

A pile of styrofoam boxes lay against the wall. They were filled with soil, looking as if someone had tried to grow vegetables, but nothing had sprouted.

Just then, Crystal Lynch walked over with a glass electric kettle and two teacups.

Noticing Melody looking at the styrofoam boxes in the corner, Crystal Lynch said with a sigh of resignation, "We tried to grow some vegetables ourselves. They sprouted at first, but then they all died, so we just gave up!"

With that, she poured Melody a cup of tea and said with a smile, "This is a red date, longan, and glutinous rice tea I just brewed. A cup of this on a cold day will keep you warm all night. Have a taste!"

Melody took a couple of sips from the cup. The rich aroma of red dates instantly filled her mouth, accompanied by a faint, delicious sweetness.

Melody put down her cup. Pointing to the styrofoam boxes, she suggested to Crystal, "Do you still want to try growing things? I could give you some seeds. I have extra, and they sprout really easily!"

But Crystal Lynch waved her hand dismissively. "No, it’s okay. The three of us are usually over at the supermarket. No one’s home, and we can’t just turn on the climate control specifically for some vegetables."

’That would be such a waste of power!’

Since the cataclysm began, many people had tried growing vegetables at home, but few had succeeded.

At first, it was the high temperatures. The weather was so hot and electricity prices skyrocketed that no one could bear to keep the air conditioning on for plants.

Then came the endless night. Without sunlight, vegetables couldn’t grow unless you had grow lights.

Not to mention that growing vegetables requires regular watering. Water was scarce now. Every household’s supply was rationed, leaving barely enough for daily life. Who could afford to waste it on watering plants?

For all these reasons combined, very few residents managed to become self-sufficient in vegetables using styrofoam boxes.

If you wanted to eat vegetables, you had to buy them at exorbitant prices, either from online platforms or on the black market.

Crystal Lynch continued, "Actually, it’s fine if we don’t grow anything. Before the cataclysm, my dad brought back dozens of boxes of dehydrated vegetables from his factory. They completely filled our study! We still have so much left, there’s no way we can eat it all!"

The supplies in the living room were just a fraction of their total stockpile. Thanks to Melody’s earlier warning, Crystal’s family had also hoarded an enormous amount of provisions.

In addition to the living room and study, every bedroom in Crystal’s home was piled high with all sorts of hoarded goods.

The rooms were so full of cardboard boxes that at the beginning of the cataclysm, Crystal even had to sleep on top of them!

Only later, as they slowly worked through their supplies, was she able to sleep in her bed again.

Hearing Crystal say this, Melody felt relieved.

The two of them chattered for a while longer. It wasn’t until Crystal’s father and older brother returned from work that Melody got up to take her leave.

...

After leaving Crystal Lynch’s home, Melody Summers walked up the stairs back to the 16th floor.

Just as she was about to open her door, a small black shadow suddenly darted toward her!

Melody jumped in fright. Before she could dodge, the black shadow pounced on her.

"WOOF— WOOF WOOF—"

Melody looked down and saw that the pouncing black shadow was actually a Chihuahua!

The Chihuahua’s large ears stood on end. It was tiny, looked very frail, and... incredibly familiar!

’Isn’t this the same one Mrs. Vance was holding the other day!’

Melody was speechless. ’What is Mrs. Vance thinking? Why did she let her dog out?’

The Chihuahua was nothing like its listless self from before. It was now acting completely hyper, frantically rubbing against Melody’s leg and barking nonstop.

Melody frowned and carefully nudged the Chihuahua away with her foot. But as soon as she drew her foot back, the dog immediately lunged forward again!

It stared at Melody with its slightly bulging, round eyes, a look of intense eagerness in them, as if she were a fragrant, meaty bone.

Just as Melody was getting a headache from the situation, a voice called out from nearby. "Oh my, how did you get all the way over here!"

Melody turned to see Mrs. Vance, dressed in a red puffer jacket, jogging toward them.

Mrs. Vance looked at Melody, a little embarrassed. "Young lady, did he scare you? I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention and my little dog got out!"

Melody just shook her head. "It’s fine."

The Chihuahua had only been pouncing on her enthusiastically; it hadn’t tried to bite or scratch her. Melody didn’t want to make a fuss with a small pet over such a minor thing.

Mrs. Vance bent down to pick up the Chihuahua, but the dog wriggled free from her grasp.

It spun around and ran straight for the door to Melody’s apartment.

The Chihuahua stopped in front of Melody’s door and began frantically pawing at it with its front paws, clearly desperate to get inside.

Seeing this, Melody couldn’t help but frown.

’They say dogs have the best sense of smell. Did this Chihuahua really smell the braised pork and fried chicken the Summers made today?’

Mrs. Vance also watched the Chihuahua’s actions, a thoughtful expression on her face. Then, she turned to look at Melody, a flicker of barely perceptible greed in her eyes.

Mrs. Vance rubbed her hands together and said to Melody, "Haha, look at my little dog. He’s acting like he smelled a meaty bone... Young lady, your family must have cooked up something special tonight, huh?"

Melody resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "You’re reading too much into it. Like I said, my family has been eating sand vine cake."

Disbelief was written all over Mrs. Vance’s face. She asked tentatively, "Is that right? I’ve been going to the supply distribution point every day lately. How come I’ve never seen any of your family members there picking up sand vine cakes?"

Mrs. Vance was the type to take any small advantage she could. Ever since the temperature dropped, she’d often go to the supply distribution point to freeload off the heating, frequently staying there the entire day.

She had been paying close attention these past few days and had never once seen Melody’s family go to pick up sand vine cakes.

Therefore, Mrs. Vance didn’t believe a word Melody said.

Melody took a silent, deep breath, fighting the urge to snap. "My family members work at the supply distribution point," she replied. "They bring our daily share of sand vine cake home with them, so we don’t need to go pick them up."

Melody hadn’t wanted to bring this up. In the current circumstances, the more low-key, the better.

But to get Mrs. Vance to leave, Melody couldn’t worry about that now.

Hearing this, Mrs. Vance was taken aback for a moment.

’Someone from the supply distribution point?’

Mrs. Vance knew that right now, you couldn’t afford to offend someone who worked at the supply distribution point!

So, Mrs. Vance decisively bent down, scooped up the Chihuahua that was still frantically pawing at the door, and made a quick getaway!