The next morning, Melody Summers took a taxi to see her family off at the station.

Her uncle and aunt had packed several changes of clothes for her cousin, while her grandmother and Winnie Summers had given him all their homemade cured meat and sausages.

Melody bought a pile of food and daily necessities from the supermarket for them to take to her cousin as well.

On the way back, Melody was thinking about how she needed to stockpile supplies for the period ahead, so she rented a small truck and drove it home.

While she was driving, her birth mother, Elaine Hughes, called again. Melody glanced at the screen and immediately hung up.

For the past two days, Elaine Hughes and Simon Lancaster had been trying to contact her, even sending long text messages explaining what a gentle and sensible girl Sylvia Lancaster was. They hoped Melody would accept her, and that the two could get along like real sisters.

Melody couldn’t be bothered to reply to any of it. She really didn’t have time to get entangled with the Lancasters right now.

Seeing Melody return, Miss Lowell asked, "You’ve been acting strangely these past couple of days. What are you hiding from your family?"

Melody froze. ’Miss Lowell’s intuition is really sharp.’

"Miss Lowell, I’ll be honest with you. A friend of mine in the meteorological department said there’s going to be a weather-related disaster in the near future. A very serious one, the likes of which we’ve never seen before. We need to prepare in advance."

"Don’t finish packing these boxes. It’s not safe here. This area is predicted to be the epicenter of the disaster, so we can’t stay. I’ll have to move us in a couple of days."

Surprise showed on Miss Lowell’s face. "I see. No wonder you sent your parents away."

Letting her family reunite with her cousin was only one of the reasons. Melody did need to get them out of the way for a few days. She was hiding too many things from them, and each one would be complicated to explain.

With the disaster approaching, she had less than a month to prepare. She had to sell this school district apartment in the next couple of days, use the money to buy the villa she’d already picked out as a shelter, and still leave time for stockpiling and modifying the house. Time was tight, and she couldn’t afford any complications.

*

After lunch with Miss Lowell, Melody drove to the seed market.

Although Melody had grown up in the countryside, she had only ever helped out at the fish pond and orchard. Her family had stopped growing crops long ago, and her grandmother took care of the small vegetable garden in the yard. Melody herself had never bought seeds before.

She walked into a seed shop and, looking at the dazzling array of shelves, said, "Ma’am, I’d like spinach, bok choy, radish, zucchini, tomato, green onion, chili pepper, eggplant... I want all the common vegetables. Give me the best and most expensive seeds you have."

The owner was a kind-looking woman. She glanced at Melody and asked, "Are you buying for a company?"

"No, I just want to grow some vegetables to eat at home."

Hearing this, the owner tossed a few bags of seeds in different packaging onto the counter. She told Melody, "The most expensive seeds cost several thousand yuan a bag. It’d be a waste for you to plant them. If you’re just growing them at home, these will be more than enough."

Melody was shocked. In her mind, she had always thought the most expensive seeds would be thirty or forty yuan a pack at most. She never imagined they could be so expensive. It was a real blind spot in her knowledge.

The owner chuckled at Melody’s shocked expression and explained, "There are even more expensive seeds if you want them, some costing over ten thousand yuan, but you have no use for them. Just take these cheaper ones. I guarantee your family won’t be able to finish eating them all, and you can even sell the rest at the market."

"Those very expensive seeds are all patented and monopolized by companies. The newer the variety, the higher the price. As for the benefits of these expensive ones? Maybe they’re a little rounder, a little more vibrant in color, or have a prettier shape. When you’re growing them to eat yourself, there’s no need to worry about any of that."

Even though Melody had several million in her pocket, she hadn’t bought the shelter yet. She didn’t dare squander her money on seeds that cost thousands of yuan a bag.

Shedding the lavish air she’d had when she walked in, Melody smiled and said, "Could you please recommend some with good value for the price, then? I want a bit of every kind of vegetable."

"Buying so many? Then I’ll give you the smallest packages. Once a seed packet is opened, it needs to be planted right away. If it sits for too long and gets damp, the whole packet is basically ruined."

"Okay, thank you, ma’am!"

Not knowing how long the apocalypse would last, Melody bought extra of the vegetables her family ate often—spinach, bok choy, radishes, cilantro, water spinach, lettuce, broccoli, snow peas, baby napa cabbage, green beans, celery, scallions, tomatoes, zucchini, cabbage, celtuce, carrots, cucumbers, pumpkins, luffa... She also bought a few packets of vegetables they didn’t eat as frequently, like tatsoi, okra, and red choy sum.

After buying the vegetables, she also bought some fruit seeds on the owner’s recommendation: strawberries, muskmelons, honeydews, watermelons...

Carrying bags big and small, she left the shop. Melody suddenly thought of the various pests and diseases of the apocalypse. She found a shop selling medicinal herb seeds and bought mugwort, mint, codonopsis root, isatis root, licorice root, motherwort, balloon flower root, red sage root, honeysuckle... She didn’t know if she would be able to use them, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Having spent tens of thousands of yuan at the seed market, Melody returned home fully loaded.

*

On the way back, Melody kept thinking about how to sell the school district apartment.

Last time, transferring the contract for Mount Anworth was just to screw over the Lancaster Family, and she had done so with a clear conscience.

But tricking a stranger by selling them the apartment now... she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Melody mulled over this problem all the way back to her apartment complex.

At the entrance to her apartment building, Melody heard voices. She looked toward the sound and saw what looked like a real estate agent showing an apartment to a couple.

The couple had their backs to Melody. The woman on the left was slender and had her arm linked with her tall, well-built boyfriend. She was speaking to the agent, who was dressed in a suit. "Sold? You’ve got to be kidding! We just saw the apartment the day before yesterday. How could it be sold today? Everyone knows the real estate market is in a slump these last two years. How could it possibly sell that fast?"

The agent across from them said, "I’m sorry, miss. The apartments here have always been in high demand because the top-tier school is right next door. A lot of parents are on a waiting list. I told you both the day before yesterday that if you were serious, you should put down a deposit. Unfortunately, you didn’t listen. The apartment was sold yesterday, and the down payment has already been received."

The man in the couple scratched his head and said to his partner, "Joanne, why don’t we check out another complex?"

"No!" the woman shot back. "Austin, this complex is only a few minutes’ walk from the top-tier school. When our child is born, they’ll be able to enroll right away. And it’s only a ten-minute-or-so drive from your office. Don’t you want to save some time on your commute and come home to spend more time with me?"

Joanne? Austin? Melody’s eyelid twitched. Unpleasant memories flooded her mind. She paused for a moment, then silently approached the three of them.

She heard the woman continue to ask the agent, "Are there any other listings in this complex?"

The agent replied, "No, there aren’t. Listings in this complex are always tight. That was the only one for sale in almost half a year, and there are still several clients on the waiting list, hoping to get a spot for their children’s enrollment."

"I have an apartment to sell in this complex. Are you two interested in buying?" Melody asked, addressing the group.