When Yvonne York heard this, she instinctively clamped a hand over Gregory Lawson’s mouth.

She glanced back at the bedroom door, and only let out a sigh of relief after confirming that Joyce Lawson hadn’t heard the commotion in the living room.

Seeing her act like this, Gregory Lawson’s face filled with dissatisfaction and anger. He frowned and said, "Mom, what’s with that look on your face? ...Don’t tell me you’re actually afraid of that worthless money-drain?!"

"She dared to hit me today, so who knows what she’ll do next! I don’t want her in this house anymore! This is my house; the deed has my name on it! Mom, you have to help me kick her out!"

As soon as Gregory Lawson finished speaking, the movement seemed to pull at his wounds. He suddenly hissed in pain and started coughing again. "COUGH, COUGH—"

Seeing this, Yvonne York watched Gregory Lawson with a look of pure heartache. While rubbing his back to soothe him, she said in a low voice, "There, there, son. Don’t be angry for now. Listen to Mom..."

Yvonne York lowered her voice and whispered in Gregory Lawson’s ear, "...Your Miss Yvonne told me a while back that her neighbors are looking for a wife for their son and are willing to pay a handsome bride price..."

"Your Miss Yvonne showed them a picture of your sister. They’ve already taken a liking to her, and they’ve agreed to have her marry their son in a few days..."

Some time ago, Miss Yvonne had proactively contacted Yvonne York. She said her neighbors in 1506, the Sutton family, were wealthy. The family patriarch was a big-shot business owner who ran a company and lived in a villa.

It’s just that the Sutton family’s son had an accident and was injured. Now, he can no longer perform as a man.

So, the Sutton family wants to find a daughter-in-law. As long as she’s a good person and can accept that their son is "damaged," they’re not picky about anything else. They’re even willing to offer a generous bride price!

When Miss Yvonne learned of this, the first person she thought of was her niece, Joyce Lawson.

Joyce Lawson was a doctor from a prestigious university. And while she was only an intern—a position held due to the current crisis—it was still a respectable job.

So, Miss Yvonne went to Yvonne York and Mason Lawson and told them about it.

When Yvonne York and Mason Lawson heard they could get a huge bride price, they agreed immediately.

With Miss Yvonne acting as the matchmaker, the two families quickly settled the marriage. Only Joyce Lawson, the "bride," was still kept in the dark.

Yvonne York soothed Gregory, her eyes gleaming with greed for the bride price. She whispered in his ear, "As long as your sister marries the Sutton family’s son, Mom can get a huge sum of money! With that money, Mom can get you a wife in the future..."

Gregory Lawson snorted at her words, curling his lip in disdain. "I don’t want a wife! Grandma said women are just a worthless money-drain! I don’t want one!"

Yvonne York just smiled. She patted Gregory Lawson’s head, sighed, and said, "Silly son, how can a man not want a wife? Your dad’s dead now, so it’s just the two of us left to fend for ourselves. You have to get married so you can carry on the Lawson family line!"

***

After dealing with Titus Lowell and his two brothers, Melody Summers had a few relatively peaceful days.

The moment she got out of bed this morning, she was hit with bad news—the power was out.

Luckily, the internet within the province was still working. Melody Summers sat at her dining table, stirring her fragrant corn porridge while scrolling through the province’s trending topics and news.

The snowfall had continued unabated, burying entire three-story buildings. The accumulated snow was already ten meters deep.

The news reported that due to the severe cold, raging blizzards, and temperatures dropping to over sixty degrees below zero, power supply facilities in many areas had been damaged. Coupled with insufficient energy supplies, this had led to a large-scale power outage across the country, which was not expected to be resolved anytime soon.

Although the province where Anworth was located hadn’t lost internet access yet, the networks in many other cities had already collapsed.

Trending topics were filled with cries of despair. The public was in a state of panic, and the power outage only made their already difficult struggle for survival even worse.

Many people were pleading for help online, saying their neighbors had frozen to death and they themselves couldn’t hold on much longer. They begged for heating to be restored and for material aid.

To appease the public, the municipal government promised that all residential communities in Anworth would have their heating restored in stages within a week.

Melody Summers breathed a sigh of relief at this news.

The heavy snow had been falling for over a month, and the batch of coal she had donated to The Metropolis Residences was about to run out. If the city didn’t restore heating soon, the residents there probably wouldn’t make it either.

After breakfast, Melody Summers checked the community’s resident group chat again. The mood was somber because of the power outage.

"4-1009 Lowell On Deadline: This is awful, just awful. The power’s out. My life-saving hot water bottle and electric blanket are useless now."

"5-601 Ocean: Power outage doesn’t affect me much. I ran out of money for the electric bill a long time ago anyway. Now that the power’s out for everyone, it’s perfect. You can all freeze to death with me! Haha!"

"4-1209 SlackingOff: ..."

"4-1209 SlackingOff: Some people are just insane."

"4-1009 Lowell On Deadline: @4-1209 SlackingOff Don’t bother with people like that."

"4-1009 Lowell On Deadline: We were just talking about this yesterday, saying the power would probably go out if things kept up. Didn’t think it would actually happen... I shouldn’t have jinxed it!"

"2-1908 Coco: The snow, the extreme cold, the energy shortage... with all these problems piling up, a power outage was inevitable."

"4-1209 SlackingOff: Yeah, actually, the fact that the grid held on this long before going out just shows how advanced the country’s infrastructure and energy reserve planning are."

"7-901 Adventurous Lawson: I can’t believe it’s already over sixty degrees below zero. If this happened in ancient times, would entire nations have been wiped out?"

"4-1009 Lowell On Deadline: @7-901 Adventurous Lawson You don’t have to go back to ancient times. A lot of countries are already wiped off the map. I heard even America the Beautiful has fractured! The developed nations that relied on imports are the worst off; they all starved to death before the extreme cold even hit."

"3-1007 Kiki, Mom of Two: I saw on the news this is a long-term outage? Oh god, when will the power come back on? Don’t tell me we have to wait until the ice and snow melt?"

"2-1408 Bella Grant: @3-1007 Kiki, Mom of Two The power isn’t coming back anytime soon. I just used the last of our savings to top up our electricity account just to run the electric blanket for my kid, and now they’re telling me it’s a long-term outage? Are you serious?"

"4-1009 Lowell On Deadline: Sigh, I don’t even know if I’ll live to see the power come back on."

"7-901 Adventurous Lawson: Oh god, we’re already trapped inside with nothing to do but play on our phones. If the power’s out and we can’t use them, our only link to the outside world is gone... That’s so hopeless... It feels like being stranded on a deserted island."

"4-1009 Lowell On Deadline: @7-901 Adventurous Lawson You live alone? Go find a neighbor. You can huddle together for warmth."

"7-901 Adventurous Lawson: @4-1009 Lowell On Deadline Ugh, don’t even talk about it. One of my neighbors just jumped yesterday. He said his cat died and he didn’t want to live anymore, so he gave me his suicide note and jumped off the building."

"5-601 Ocean: @7-901 Adventurous Lawson Did he eat the cat before he jumped?"

"7-901 Adventurous Lawson: ..."

"4-1209 SlackingOff: ..."

"4-1209 SlackingOff: My phone’s only at 30%. I’ve only got a few more minutes to chat with you guys."

"5-1107 Azure: I’m down to 5% battery. Goodbye, my dear neighbors. I hope we’ll all meet again someday. Everyone, you have to hold on."