Chapter 48: Material Supply Point

Once July began, the weather grew even hotter. By now, almost no one dared to go out during the day, and the streets were completely empty. Everyone hid in their rooms with the air conditioning blasting, curtains drawn tight, afraid of even a sliver of sunlight getting in.

Melody Summers had been busy in the Arcadian Space recently. The peach, apple, and pear trees in the grove had begun to bear ripe fruit. Melody picked some of the pears and brewed a large batch of honey and snow pear drink, which she chilled with ice for her family.

The first batch of chicks and ducklings at the farm had grown up. Melody Summers caught several chickens and ducks and took them all to the processing workshop.

The workshop had an automated slaughtering system that handled everything in one go: killing, bleeding, de-feathering, and gutting.

Her family had already worked their way through a portion of the frozen meat Melody Summers had stored in the freezer, so now she could finally start processing the animals from her space.

The cost of running commercial farms had become too high, and most had gone out of business. Meat was now a luxury ordinary people couldn’t afford. A family like the Summers Family, who had several meat dishes at every meal, was an extreme rarity.

While picking apples and snow pears, Melody Summers found two new beehives. She harvested a portion of the honeycomb, planning to make more honeysuckle-infused honey.

Sophie Thorne couldn’t stop praising the honey Melody Summers had given her. She had some trouble sleeping, and the honey had significantly improved her rest.

Melody Summers brought some honey over to Sophie Thorne’s place for a visit and a chat.

The renovations on Sophie Thorne’s downtown apartment were finished, but she had no plans to move back for now. For one, the high-rise was too hot, and for another, the city center was becoming more and more chaotic.

With prices skyrocketing, smash-and-grabs at downtown stores were frequent, and there were also many home invasions.

The Metropolis Residences, being less populated, was actually quieter than the downtown area. So, Sophie Thorne and Ronan Rhodes had decided to stay here until the situation returned to normal.

Sophie Thorne casually remarked to Melody Summers, "Sylvia Lancaster got engaged last month. Practically no one showed up for the ceremony."

That’s how high society worked. With the Lancaster Family on the verge of bankruptcy and the Sutton Family also in decline after several rounds of layoffs, many of the elite were distancing themselves from the two families. Sylvia Lancaster’s engagement party had been a dismal affair.

"One of the guests, who wasn’t on good terms with the Lancaster Family and had heard the rumors about Sylvia Lancaster not being their biological daughter, deliberately commented that Sylvia and Mrs. Lancaster didn’t look alike. The expressions on the Lancasters’ faces changed instantly. Ethan Sutton and his family were furious too, but they couldn’t really say anything to refute it."

Melody Summers hadn’t heard from the Lancaster Family in a long time. In the days before Sylvia Lancaster’s engagement, Mrs. Lancaster had bombarded her with calls, demanding she attend the ceremony. She had also sent a flood of messages, crying about how thoughtless Melody was and how much she was hurting her.

"Melody, are you really that jealous of Sylvia?"

"Melody, you and Sylvia are both my daughters. A mother loves all her children equally. Why must you make things so difficult for me?"

"Melody, are you sure you won’t come home? If you don’t come back for your sister’s ceremony, then the Lancaster Family will no longer recognize you as one of their own, and you will never have the chance to return!"

"..."

Melody Summers didn’t reply to any of these messages. She couldn’t be bothered to deal with the Lancasters. She knew their good days were numbered anyway.

*

After saying goodbye to Sophie Thorne, Melody Summers planned to head to the Arcadian Space to check on the miniature pigs at the farm. Two of the sows were pregnant, and Melody wanted to give them some extra feed.

Just then, her phone rang. It was Winnie Summers. Melody Summers quickly answered, and Winnie’s voice came through the line, "Honey, can you come to the property management center right now? There’s something we need to discuss with you."

Melody Summers immediately replied, "Okay, Mom. I’m on my way."

Melody Summers hurried to the property management center under the blazing sun, her back soaked with sweat by the time she arrived. Winnie Summers, Colin Summers, and Crystal Lynch were waiting for her in the lobby.

Melody Summers walked up to them. "Mom, Uncle, what happened?"

Winnie Summers grabbed Melody Summers’s arm. "A robber burst in right after we opened today! He had a knife and said he was going to rob the supermarket!"

Melody Summers gasped and quickly asked, "What happened? Did you catch him?"

Crystal Lynch nodded. "We got him. After questioning him, we found out he’s not from our community; he’s from the Garden Community up ahead. He tried to rob the supermarket over there too and got banned from the premises. He was just wandering around looking for another target and ended up setting his sights on us."

With prices soaring and unemployment high, more and more people were resorting to desperate measures.

Winnie Summers continued, "The property management department is taking this robbery very seriously. Manager Grant from the management center told us they want to designate Crystal Mart as the community’s official supply point. They would dispatch their own security guards to protect the supermarket, and he asked if we would agree." Winnie Summers added, looking conflicted,

"Manager Grant is in his office waiting for our answer right now. We don’t know much about this sort of thing, so we called you to see what you think."

Crystal Lynch nodded in agreement. "Our family can’t make a decision either. From what I understood from Director Grant, the government will eventually take over the community’s supply distribution. Melody, what do you think we should do?"

It finally clicked for Melody Summers. ’The higher-ups are preparing to establish official supply points.’ She hadn’t expected the supply point for The Metropolis Residences to be set up so soon; she thought it would be at least another month.

This was a good thing. It was like the supermarket was being temporarily nationalized. With the government as their backer and the community security guards providing protection, they would no longer have to worry about the supermarket’s safety.

Melody Summers said quickly, "Mom, Uncle, Crystal, we have to agree. Restocking is only going to get harder, and the world is going to get more chaotic. Without the government and property management’s help, we won’t be able to keep the supermarket running."

The other three understood and nodded in agreement. Then, they went with Melody Summers to Director Grant’s office.

Manager Grant was a middle-aged man in his forties who was in charge of the entire property management center.

Hearing their affirmative response, Manager Grant smiled and nodded. "To be honest, we just received a directive from our superiors. It says that the supply of resources, especially food, will become increasingly tight. To prepare for the worst, all community property management departments are required to establish official supply points within their respective communities."

"Our management center discussed it, and we believe your supermarket’s construction is the most secure. Its anti-theft systems and other features are all very comprehensive."

"We were originally planning to send someone to discuss this with you later, but we didn’t expect the robbery today. So, we might as well finalize it now. That way, we can go ahead and post guards over there."

Melody Summers marveled inwardly. ’The execution of The Metropolis Residences’ property management is truly top-notch. No wonder they ended up building a reconstruction zone here later on.’

Manager Grant then made a few calls, instructing the property management staff to proceed according to their plan. After hanging up, he turned back to Melody Summers and the others. "Don’t worry. For the time being, our property management staff and security guards will be living in the area around the supermarket to ensure its safety at all times. In a while, the government will even dispatch police officers to be stationed here."

Melody Summers felt a sense of relief. ’From this day forward, Crystal Mart is a supply point with government backing!’

After bidding farewell to Manager Grant, the four of them walked back toward Crystal Mart.

On the way, Crystal Lynch said to Melody Summers, "Melody, thanks to you reminding me to hoard supplies, our family stocked up on a ton before the prices shot up. We have water and food stacked two layers high across several rooms, and we even bought two new large freezers. I did the math—if we’re careful, we have enough for our family of three to last three or four years."

"That’s good. Better safe than sorry." Melody Summers felt relieved to hear it.

When the four of them reached the supermarket entrance, they saw that several of the adjacent, previously closed storefronts were now open. Property management staff and security guards were busy moving things inside.

Just then, a property management employee walked out. It was Hollis from the sales office. Seeing Melody Summers, he greeted her happily, "Miss Summers, it really is you! I was inside and thought I recognized you."

"Hollis, thanks for all your hard work," Melody Summers replied with a smile.

Hollis scratched his head. "Oh, it’s nothing. We’re just following orders from the higher-ups to secure the community’s supply point. Nobody’s buying property these days anyway, so the sales office is the quietest department. That’s why I got reassigned here."

"From now on, the property management staff and security will be living in the storefronts next to the supermarket. If anyone else dares to try and rob the place, we’ll take them down immediately. So, Miss Summers, you don’t have to worry about security."

Colin Summers was delighted to hear this. "That’s wonderful, just wonderful. Thank you so much, to you and the whole property management department."

For the past two days, the Summers Family and the Lynchs had been taking turns sleeping at the store, too afraid to really rest. With the property management department here, they could finally go home and get a good night’s sleep.