Chapter 44: Chapter 44: Skyrocketing Water Prices

Crystal Lynch looked at the truck beds, frowning. "Dad, Shawn, didn’t we agree to fill two whole truckloads? We’ve had a lot of customers pre-order mineral water these past two days. This isn’t going to last more than a few days."

Finn Lynch said helplessly, "We went to the warehouses of several different mineral water brands, and this was all we could get. The entrance to the water plant was packed with supermarket buyers all lined up, just as chaotic as when everyone was fighting over popsicles."

Of course, ever since the government implemented power rationing for factories, the popsicle factories had already shut down. You couldn’t find popsicles on the market anymore.

Shawn Lynch lifted his T-shirt to wipe the sweat from his forehead and added, "The water plants we went to have all stopped production. They said this batch of stock is the last of the mineral water on the market. The reservoirs are almost empty, and the water sources have dried up. Even if the factories restart later, they don’t know where they’ll get more water."

Finn Lynch nodded and sighed. "And the price for this batch is unbelievably high. The wholesale price for a case of water used to be around twenty yuan, but now it’s shot up to ninety. This one truckload alone emptied both our wallets."

Colin Summers was dumbfounded. "The wholesale price is ninety yuan? Then how much will you have to sell it for? Will anyone even buy it at that price?"

Hearing this, Winnie Summers also grew a little panicked. ’With the price having multiplied so many times, I’m afraid many customers won’t be able to accept it.’

Finn Lynch and Shawn Lynch had also hesitated when they were getting the stock, unsure if they could sell it at such a high price. But when they saw the buyers from other supermarkets snatching it up without a second thought, they gritted their teeth and brought the water back.

Crystal Lynch let out a despairing cry. "Our customers were already cursing us out for raising prices. We’re going to get absolutely flamed for this." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Melody Summers patted Crystal’s shoulder comfortingly. "It’s this price everywhere now. Don’t worry, most people should understand."

With a pained expression, Crystal could only privately message each customer who had pre-ordered, informing them that the mineral water had arrived. Then, with a knot in her stomach, she told them the price of the new batch.

Crystal had expected to be cursed out by her customers. After sending the messages, her fingertips trembled, and she barely dared to look at the replies. To her surprise, everyone calmly accepted the price.

Not only did they accept it, but many customers, upon hearing the price, immediately added dozens more cases to their orders.

There was no helping it. The recent water rationing had made everyone’s lives miserable. They all had a profound understanding of how precious water was. You could endure having no electricity for a while, but you truly couldn’t survive without water.

Many people had already driven to the big supermarkets to stock up, only to find after visiting several stores that forget mineral water, there wasn’t even a single soft drink left on the shelves. Everything had been snatched up. Seeing that Crystal Mart had restocked, they all decided to hoard a bit more, just in case.

Everyone at the supermarket breathed a sigh of relief. Crystal arranged pickup times with the buyers, and as evening approached, customers began to arrive one after another to collect their pre-ordered water.

The supermarket staff helped each buyer carry the water to the elevator entrance and then up to their apartments.

They were busy until late into the night. After all the pre-orders had been delivered, nearly three-quarters of the truckload of mineral water had been sold.

The group moved the remaining stock into the supermarket’s storeroom, planning to sell it off slowly.

*

When Melody Summers and the others returned home, utterly exhausted, their grandmother and Miss Lowell had already finished making dinner.

Seeing that Melody was finally back, Albus leaped nimbly onto her shoulder.

"You’re back. Why were you all so busy so late today?" Her grandmother brought over a large glass pitcher filled with chilled honeysuckle-honey water. "This is the honeysuckle honey Melody left in the fridge. Drink some to quench your thirst."

They each took a glass of the honey water. After downing a glass, the heat and exhaustion of the day seemed to melt away.

"This honey water is delicious. I feel refreshed all over after drinking it down in one go," Grace Sutton marveled.

Melody found it incredible too. ’Yesterday, I thought it was just my imagination, but it seems to be the magical power of a product from the Arcadian Space.’ She decided she would spend more time wandering around the space whenever she was free. ’Who knows what other surprises the Arcadian Space has in store for me.’

After dinner, Melody went back to her room and scrolled through her phone. Crystal had already posted the news about the mineral water delivery in the community and homeowner group chats, along with the price.

"4-1209 Slacking Off: @Crystal Mart The water’s in? That’s great! I want 30 cases. I can’t take it anymore. The electric bill is too expensive, so I don’t dare run the AC constantly, but the moment I turn it off, I start sweating. I’ve been so hot and thirsty these past few days, there’s never enough water. I’ll transfer you the money now."

"3-1007 Kiki, Mom of Two: @Crystal Mart, I want 60 cases. Money transferred. I swear, this water pressure is a joke. The flow is so weak. I spent an hour trying to collect water and only managed to fill five basins. That’s barely enough for the family to drink and cook with. Taking a shower is a luxury."

"6-702 The Lover: Me too, me too! I don’t know when things will go back to normal, so I’d better stock up. @Crystal Mart I want 30 cases. Check for the payment."

"5-1706 Ah Dian: Excuse me, is there a typo in the price? @Crystal Mart."

"Crystal Mart: There’s no mistake."

"5-1706 Ah Dian: @Crystal Mart I was just asking to be polite. You’re really going to play dumb? Look at this price yourself, it’s multiplied several times over! Believe it or not, I’m going to file a complaint against you!"

"5-1706 Ah Dian: @Crystal Mart Get out here and answer! Don’t pretend you can’t see this!"

"5-1706 Ah Dian: @Crystal Mart."

"5-1706 Ah Dian: @Crystal Mart."

"2-1908 Coco: To be fair, that price isn’t expensive right now. I heard from someone at a factory that the water sources for many plants have dried up. You can tell just by looking at the current water supply situation."

"4-1009 Lowell On Deadline: Don’t hesitate, just buy it at this price. I went to my relative’s water plant yesterday and picked up a truckload myself, and it was even more expensive than this. Things are really scary lately, it’s like the apocalypse is coming. Stock up while you still can!"

"Crystal Mart: Sorry, this batch of mineral water has already been completely sold out through private messages. If you need some, please wait for the next shipment."

"..."

Melody was a little surprised. The remaining quarter of their mineral water stock had actually sold out in a single evening. It seemed most people had a sense of the impending crisis.

"I’ve been watching lately. Almost every household in the villa district has a large water storage tank. Private water trucks have been coming to deliver water over the past few days. I heard a single tank of water costs over ten thousand yuan," Melody whispered to Albus.

Ordinary people definitely couldn’t afford that price, but there were always rich people with money to burn.

After hearing this, Albus thought for a moment and said:

[In that case, it would be great if we could sell the water from the Arcadian Stream. At ten thousand a case, we’d make a hundred million sooner or later.]

Melody and Albus began to daydream. Right now, all sorts of supplies could be exchanged for money; all they lacked was an opportunity to sell.

*

Sylvia Lancaster and Ethan Sutton’s engagement ceremony was scheduled for mid-June.

When the two families had discussed the engagement plans in April, they decided to hold a grand ceremony at the Nimbus Hotel, the largest in the city center, and invite all the socialites from the elite circles.

Unexpectedly, the government suddenly announced strict controls on commercial water and electricity consumption.

The Nimbus Hotel did have its own power generators and water resources, but under these circumstances of national hardship, brazenly holding a lavish engagement banquet was simply inappropriate.

What’s more, both the Lancaster Group and the Sutton Group owed significant corporate loans. If word got out that they had money for a huge engagement party but not to repay their loans, what would the public say?

Neither Mr. Sutton nor Robert Lancaster was that foolish.

"I’ve discussed it with Sutton. We’re changing the engagement party’s location from the Nimbus Hotel downtown to the Sutton Villa. We’ll just invite a few friends from our circle to attend," Robert Lancaster said to Sylvia and Elaine Hughes. "It’s just an engagement party, anyway. No need to make it too big."

The Lancaster Family had suffered heavy losses recently, with money only flowing out, not in. The Sutton Family wasn’t faring well either. In fact, most companies were struggling, so the two families tacitly agreed to reduce the budget for the engagement party.

Sylvia Lancaster was deeply aggrieved. This was completely different from the grand engagement ceremony she had long been anticipating. She needed a magnificent banquet to prove to the world that the Lancaster and Sutton families acknowledged her status and to quell the rumors and gossip about her identity. But now, that dream was shattered.

Sylvia was resentful, but she didn’t dare express it. Her father, Robert Lancaster, was clearly in a foul mood lately, and he would lash out at the family from time to time.

The high temperatures hadn’t subsided, so everyone was hiding at home. Who had the energy to travel? Many tourism companies had already declared bankruptcy.

Unable to borrow any more money, Robert Lancaster had to start selling off the assets in his and Elaine Hughes’s names. He also carried out several rounds of layoffs, but he still couldn’t save his company from its downward spiral.

He spent his days praying for the temperature to drop, constantly agitated and on edge.

So, when he saw the Lancaster family’s living expenses for the month, he flew into a rage at Elaine Hughes and Sylvia Lancaster:

"The electricity bill last month was 600,000 yuan?! What on earth did you two do?!"