At these words, Mrs. White immediately started wailing to Austin Hale, "Oh, your mother looks down on us! Joanne is pregnant, and she wants to kick us out! Austin, we’re only here to take care of Joanne and her baby. I never imagined your mother would be so unwelcoming. Once you two are married, will my Joanne have any peace at all? Oh, my poor, poor Joanne!"

Mr. White also said with a grim expression, "Since you Hales don’t care about this child, then we’ll just take Joanne and have her get an abortion."

"Mom!" Austin Hale exclaimed, looking anxiously at his mother. He couldn’t lose Joanne White and their baby now.

Mrs. Hale didn’t believe Joanne’s family would actually go through with an abortion and move out. The Whites had nowhere else to go. The exterior walls of their apartment building were still under repair, and the work wouldn’t be finished anytime soon. If they left the Hale residence, the three of them would have to cram into a public shelter.

But seeing the look on her son’s face, Mrs. Hale took a few deep breaths to suppress her anger and said, "My dear in-laws, just look around the market. Where can you even find vegetables? They say it’s been so hot lately that all the new seedlings in the fields have been scorched to death."

Of course, Mr. and Mrs. White knew all this. They were just using the issue as an excuse to make a scene because they couldn’t stand seeing Mrs. Hale give Joanne a hard time.

Quite a few people had bought styrofoam boxes to try growing vegetables on their balconies. With the air conditioning on, the temperature inside was much lower. But this high-cost method of cultivation only yielded enough for one family. Besides, most of what people had planted were just seedlings at this point; even if the vegetables were mature, no one would be willing to sell them.

Austin also knew how hard it was to buy vegetables. He sighed and said to Joanne, "Joanne, I’m sorry you have to put up with this."

Joanne White shook her head, putting on a brave and forbearing act. "It’s okay. If there’s no lettuce, just chicken soup is fine. I’m sorry for the trouble, Mrs. Hale."

Mrs. Hale couldn’t help but roll her eyes. ’Chicken soup? Even chicken has gotten a lot more expensive now! They say it’s so hot that the chickens can’t take the high temperatures, so the farms had to turn on their air conditioning early. The costs went up, so the price of chicken went up too.’

Joanne White was secretly delighted. ’I knew it,’ she thought. ’A mother-in-law like Mrs. Hale needs to be handled by people like my parents.’

These past few days, Joanne White had been relaxing at the Hale residence, enjoying the air conditioning and focusing on her pregnancy, with her parents there to keep her company. To add to her happiness, she received news that renovations had begun on the school district house she and Austin Hale had bought. With one good thing after another, Joanne’s mood finally improved significantly.

She was just waiting for the exterior walls of the school district house to be repaired. Then, she would find a way to get Mrs. Hale to pay for a complete redecoration. That way, she could return to the dream life she once had. ’I’ve already decided,’ she thought. ’This time, I’ll go for a European minimalist style!’

*

A week later, the temperature continued to climb. The weather forecast reported that the recent temperatures had broken Anworth’s three-hundred-year-old record for the highest temperature.

Today, the meteorological bureau issued another high-temperature warning, and schools were closed immediately.

Elaine Hughes sighed as she watched her younger son, who was home from school, playing games without a care in the world.

She had been worried for the past few days. Robert Lancaster had asked her to persuade Melody Summers to come home soon for Sylvia Lancaster’s engagement party. He also planned to hold a family recognition banquet after the party to formally announce to the public that Melody was a daughter of the Lancaster family.

Although they wouldn’t state it outright, once the announcement was made, everyone would know that Melody Summers was the Lancaster family’s illegitimate daughter.

Elaine Hughes had been thinking for days, unsure how to bring this up with Melody Summers. She had a faint, sinking feeling that if she told Melody the Lancaster family was planning to publicly announce and implicitly brand her as an illegitimate daughter, Melody would surely resent her for it.

At that point, regardless of whether Sylvia Lancaster was still part of the Lancaster family, Melody probably wouldn’t be willing to come back.

As Elaine Hughes was worrying, the family’s housekeeper walked into the living room carrying two large gift bags.

"Ma’am, these were just delivered from the luxury boutique you frequent," the housekeeper said.

Elaine Hughes asked the housekeeper to open the bags. Inside were two large gift boxes, each bearing the logo of the luxury brand.

Opening the two gift boxes revealed neatly arranged fresh fruits and vegetables.

In the fruit box, cream strawberries and Shine Muscat grapes were arranged in alternating red and green layers to form a large heart. At the very center of the heart were plump, shiny, dark-red cherries, while bright yellow mangoes, red apples, and green starfruit filled the gaps around the edges.

The vegetable box contained an assortment of fresh seasonal vegetables. Green broccoli florets were trimmed to look like little umbrellas, and beans, purple cabbage, and more were arranged neatly, all looking incredibly fresh.

"Pfft, why would a luxury store send this stuff?" Silas Lancaster, who was playing games nearby, saw the contents of the boxes and scoffed. "Why are there two scallions in this vegetable box? Sending scallions to their VIP customers? What is this, some kind of performance art?"

Silas Lancaster was a spoiled young master who never had to lift a finger for his clothes or food. He had nothing to do with grocery shopping or cooking, so he had no idea that a single scallion was now a rare find on the market.

Ever since the tornado, there had been a relentless heatwave, and the vegetable section of the supermarket was completely devoid of green. The fruit section was even more dismal, with only dried fruits like jujubes left.

To maintain their client relationships, luxury stores were sourcing expensive fruits and vegetables through special channels, packaging them into gift boxes, and sending them to their high-level VIP customers.

Although it was nearly impossible to buy fruits and vegetables on the open market, some corporations were engaged in large-scale indoor farming, using advanced temperature-control technology and top cultivation experts in enclosed facilities.

The cost of these indoor-grown vegetables was already extremely high. And because there were no other vegetables on the market, scarcity drove their value up, causing the prices of these high-cost vegetables to soar even higher.

Ordinary people couldn’t afford these vegetables, but a wealthy family like the Lancasters certainly could. That was why the Lancaster household never lacked for fresh fruits and vegetables.

For an ordinary family, these two boxes of fruits and vegetables would have been a godsend. But for the Lancasters, it was merely a pleasant but unnecessary luxury.

Society’s resources have always, in one way or another, congregated at the very top. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Elaine Hughes looked at the fruits and vegetables and thought of Melody Summers. She said worriedly,

"Silas, you don’t realize that fruits and vegetables are out of stock everywhere. I wonder if your sister, Melody, is able to eat things like this right now."

"Mom, why do you even care about her?!" Just thinking about Melody Summers made Silas Lancaster’s arm tingle. He still had no idea what that damn woman had used to zap him!

Silas Lancaster irritably tapped at his phone screen, manipulating his game as he spoke. "She took over six million. Isn’t six million enough for her to live in luxury? You should be more concerned about me. When is Dad going to raise my allowance back up? I only get twenty thousand a month now, which is nowhere near enough! It’s so hot, all my classmates went to The Borean Pole to have fun, but I’m so broke I don’t even dare to join them."

Hearing this, Elaine Hughes placated Silas, saying, "Wait a little longer. Once the company’s business improves, we’ll raise your allowance. Besides, your sister is getting engaged soon. Wouldn’t it be nice to stay home and spend more time with her?"

At that, Silas Lancaster reluctantly nodded.

Meanwhile, Sylvia Lancaster was in her room, enjoying the cool air conditioning while choosing her engagement dress. She had commissioned a famous designer, and the gown’s lightweight fabric was adorned with dazzling crystals, exactly to her liking.

Sylvia Lancaster also knew about her father’s plan for the family recognition. This way, even if Melody Summers returned to the Lancaster family, she would still be an illegitimate daughter. Illegitimate children are gossiped about no matter where they go. Melody was destined to never be able to hold her head high in front of her.

The thought made Sylvia Lancaster’s mood even more cheerful.