Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Sky-High Electricity Bill

Inside Crystal Mart, a crowd of local men and women, all there for the free air conditioning, could be heard discussing the latest news:

"It was the owner of 2602 in Building 5. The old man was up there in years and had underlying health conditions. It’s just been too hot these past few days, and he passed away in his sleep."

"The 26th floor? Man, that’s brutally hot. I’m on the 26th floor too. I’ve been splashing water all over my apartment, but it’s useless. The moment the sun rises, my place turns into an oven. I feel like I’m being cooked alive."

"Same for me. I’m on the 28th floor. During the few hours we get power at midday, I crank the AC to trap the cold air inside. I’ve even sealed my doors and windows with tape, but it always gets hot again after a little while. My son couldn’t stand it, so I sent him to our hometown a few days ago. My husband just stays at his factory now; at least they have power over there."

"Hey! Everyone, look at the residents’ group chat. The property management office started a donation chain to collect condolence money for the family in 2602, Building 5."

Melody Summers opened the community group chat. Sure enough, there was a donation chain. After a moment’s thought, she also made a contribution.

Other residents in the community group chat were also discussing it:

"3-1007 Kiki, Mom of Two: Someone actually died from the heat. This is terrifying. Are they really going to keep rationing our power after this?"

"6-702 The Lover: People are being baked alive. We can’t keep going on like this."

"2-1908 Coco: Anyone living on the high floors should really find another place to stay for a while. I’ve been volunteering for overtime at my factory just because it has AC."

"12-1803 AAA Lawson - Construction & Reno: I have the latest super high-speed, turbo-engine fans. They run on new-energy battery packs and last over 48 hours on a single charge. 3,000 yuan a piece. Anyone interested?"

"5-1706 AhDian: @AAA Lawson - Construction & Reno, 3,000 for a fan? Why don’t you just go rob a bank? These things normally cost a few dozen yuan!"

"12-1803 AAA Lawson - Construction & Reno: @AhDian Then go buy one for a few dozen yuan. Good luck finding one. What a joke. You have no idea how much prices have been jacked up. My own cost was over 2,000 per unit. I’m selling them for 3,000, just enough to cover my trouble. Take it or leave it. If no one wants them, I’ll use them myself."

"4-1209 Slacking Off: @AAA Lawson - Construction & Reno, I’ll take one. I can’t sleep at all. I keep waking up from the heat, and I’m starting to lose it. My company went bankrupt a few days ago, so I can’t even go to the office to enjoy their AC anymore."

"3-1007 Kiki, Mom of Two: @AAA Lawson - Construction & Reno, I need two. The malls aren’t even running their AC anymore. There’s nowhere for us to go, and my kids are constantly complaining about being hot."

"5-1706 AhDian: Heh. All I can say is, you people are the reason these price-gougers get away with it."

"4-1209 Slacking Off: Are you serious right now? I’m literally dying here, and you’re shaming me for buying a fan to stay alive? If you don’t want one, just don’t buy one!"

"..."

It wasn’t just happening at The Metropolis Residences. Other communities were also reporting deaths from the heat. The victims were typically people with underlying medical conditions, the elderly, or even infants with weaker immune systems.

But Melody Summers knew this situation wouldn’t last for long. The government’s policies were fundamentally people-first. With temperatures soaring, they wouldn’t just stand by and do nothing. A new policy was imminent.

*

As temperatures continued to climb, more and more people were suffering from heatstroke, some even from the severe, life-threatening kind.

Just as everyone was struggling against the intense heat, the government announced a new policy:

All power rationing for residential areas was to be lifted, restoring a 24-hour supply.

The trade-off was a massive cut in industrial power usage. Even office buildings were ordered to reduce consumption by 80%, forcing many factories to completely shut down and suspend production.

It couldn’t be helped. The prolonged heatwave had led to droughts in many regions, crippling hydroelectric power generation.

Meanwhile, with nearly every household running air conditioning, electricity consumption had surged.

Faced with a massive power deficit, the only way to guarantee supply for residential use was to sacrifice power for industrial production.

The garment factory where her aunt, Grace Sutton, worked also announced a temporary halt to production, so she had been home resting for the past few days.

The moment the news broke that residential areas would have 24-hour power again, The Metropolis Residences’ group chat exploded with joy:

"4-1209 Slacking Off: Yes! The power is finally back on! I was going stir-crazy from the heat! I’m leaving my AC on 24/7!"

"2-1908 Coco: It’s not all good news, though. Our factory has shut down, and so have many others. Production has stopped."

"4-2009 Nina: So what if the factories shut down? What’s more important, work or your life? You gotta survive first!"

"2-1908 Coco: It’s not that simple. When factories shut down, they don’t produce anything. That means prices for everything are going to rise."

"3-1007 Kiki, Mom of Two: Really? In that case, I need to stock up on diapers and formula for the kids. The price of formula actually went up a while back. They said the cost of raising dairy cows has increased significantly. Ugh, we can barely afford it anymore."

"5-1706 AhDian: Pfft, you actually believe that? The economy has been tanking for years, factories have massive overcapacity. They pump out tons of products they can’t sell and are just waiting for panic buyers like you to clear their stock. Still hoarding? Did you ever use up all that salt you bought during the SARS scare? Or all those masks from the pandemic?"

"2-1908 Coco: @AhDian, whatever. I’m stocking up regardless. My factory’s closed, so it’s not like I have to go to work. It’s been so hot, I’d rather stock up on rice and flour and just stay home."

"..."

"Melody, should we put the generator in the basement away?" Grace Sutton suddenly asked. "I hear gasoline and diesel are incredibly expensive now. Since the power is back, using the grid is cheaper than burning fuel."

She was the type who couldn’t stand being idle. After just two days of resting at home, she was already feeling antsy.

Colin Summers had been helping the property management office with appliance installation and repairs and had even secured an official position there. Winnie Summers was managing Crystal Mart and had just received a hefty dividend for the month.

Seeing everyone in the family so busy, Grace Sutton couldn’t bring herself to rest. She spent her days cleaning the villa. She had just finished refueling the generator that powered the nine freezers in the basement and was stunned by its terrifying fuel consumption.

"Don’t put it away, Aunt Grace. The price of electricity is about to go up, too," Melody Summers replied.

Her aunt paused. "How do you know? I haven’t seen any notice from the management office."

She then grabbed her phone to check the news and was stunned to find a government announcement about an electricity price adjustment, posted just minutes earlier.

The truth was, Melody Summers hadn’t seen the news either. She simply remembered from her past life that right after restoring 24-hour power to residential zones, the government had announced a price hike.

Once power was restored, everyone turned on their air conditioners. However, the drought had severely reduced hydroelectric generation, and the power deficit was still enormous. To make matters worse, rising energy costs had also driven up the price of thermal power generation.

Facing these multiple difficulties, the government raised the rates for the second and third tiers of electricity usage. The first tier rate stayed the same, but the price per unit for the second tier was dozens of times higher, and the third tier was hundreds of times higher. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

In her past life, Melody Summers had been with the Lancaster family, and they were massive consumers of electricity. Central air, a jacuzzi, an outdoor cooling system—they used everything without a second thought. The result was a monthly electricity bill in the hundreds of thousands.

Even for a normal household, failing to conserve electricity could easily lead to a monthly bill of over ten thousand yuan.

That was how it had been in her previous life. Eventually, so many people were unable to pay their bills that the power company had to start rationing electricity for the defaulters. They didn’t cut off power completely—that would have been a death sentence. Instead, they limited those households to the first-tier quota each month, barely enough to keep people from dying in the heat.

And so, everyone was forced to start carefully rationing their power. Set-top boxes, routers, and electric water heaters were all switched off when not in use. People left lights off whenever they could, saving every last watt of their quota for the essentials: the refrigerator and the air conditioner.