Melody Summers didnât say this just to get revenge for her past life by making things up. It was because, in that life, Gene Young and Yvonne York had been up to no good.
In her past life, the couple had taken advantage of their official positions to commit many illegal and corrupt acts.
They used the convenience of their roles to privately hold back government supplies, which they then sold on the black market.
Gene Young had gone completely insane. He used the supplies under his control to coerce and bribe many women, using them to entertain people he wanted to curry favor with. He had openly organized a prostitution ring.
Melody only knew about this because Robert Lancaster had also patronized Gene Youngâs prostitution ring. Elaine Hughes found out, and the two had a huge fight.
Later, after an investigation by the head of the reconstruction department, the coupleâs dealings were exposed. They were expelled from the community, and those two cancers were finally dealt with.
In this life, the couple had lost their chance to get an official position, but they still dared to openly scam people for winter coats. When their scam failed, they even threatened arson.
Melody was certain that couple was still up to something shady.
After more than a year of knowing each other, Officer Sean Pierceâs trust in Melody Summers had reached an unprecedented level.
Hearing her say this, he immediately nodded. "Alright, Iâll arrange for an investigation into that couple."
At his words, Melody finally felt relieved.
******
Leaving the emergency management office, Melody Summers slowly ambled home.
In the plaza, the panic caused by Gene Young and his wife had been quelled. The crowd had returned to an orderly state, and everyone was quietly lining up to receive their supplies.
Just then, Melodyâs phone rang.
She picked it up and answered, "Hello?"
Sylvia Lancasterâs slightly panicked voice immediately came through the phone. "Melody Summers! My brotherâs high fever wonât break! You need to bring us some fever medicine right now!"
Melody froze at her words. âSimon is running a fever again?â
Melody thought back to her past life.
In her past life, when Simon had a fever, the Lancasters were at their witâs end. It was Melody who had run out into a blizzard to find him fever medicine.
And what was the result?
Because the blizzard was so severe, Melody came down with a fever too after she got back.
After Simon took the medicine, his temperature dropped. The first thing he did when he woke up was thank Sylvia for taking care of him, completely ignoring Melody, who had braved the blizzard to get him the medicine.
Seeing Melody, who was delirious with a high fever, Simon even cursed her out for dragging the family down by getting sick.
Thinking of her past life, Melody gave a cold laugh and replied, "No. Figure it out yourselves."
Hearing this, Sylviaâs voice immediately shot up into a shriek on the other end of the line.
She demanded in a shrill voice, "Melody Summers! Did you not hear what I just said?! My brother is in serious danger right now! How can you just ignore him?!"
Melody just snorted coldly and said nothing.
When Melody didnât respond, Sylvia continued anxiously, "Do you have any idea that heâs been running this fever for a whole day and night? Weâve tried everything to bring his temperature down, but it wonât break! If this goes on, he wonât make it!"
The ice packs worked a little at first, bringing the fever down a bit, but it shot right back up again.
Simonâs fever is at 40 degrees Celsius now. Without any medicine, heâs just been lying in bed, moaning in pain.
The more Sylvia spoke, the more frantic she became, the words tumbling out as she blamed Melody. "Melody Summers, this is all your fault!"
"If you hadnât refused to give up the house, my brother and I wouldnât have been forced to go up on the roof to shovel snow."
"And if we hadnât shoveled snow, he wouldnât have caught a chill and gotten a fever!"
"Melody Summers, youâve done this to him! Doesnât your conscience bother you at all?"
Listening to Sylviaâs hysterical accusations, Melody just found her noisy.
So Melody just gave a flat "Oh," and said with a shrug, "Say whatever you want."
Hearing Melodyâs reply, Sylviaâs eyes widened in disbelief.
âMelody really doesnât care if Simon lives or dies?!â
âHow could this be?!â
Sylvia remembered that in their past life, when Simon had a fever, Melody had risked her life, braving a blizzard to find him medicine.
Melody was someone who valued family ties immensely. Sylvia couldnât understand why she would refuse this time around.
Sylviaâs tone became accusatory again. "Melody Summers, no matter what, heâs still your own brother! How can you just abandon him?!"
Melody scoffed at that. "My own brother? Simon said he only has one sisterâyou. Whether he lives or dies has nothing to do with me."
Sylvia said in disbelief, "How can you say that?! Youâre too cold-hearted!"
Melody replied, "If Iâm cold-hearted, whatâs it to you?"
With that, Melody ignored Sylvia on the other end and hung up the phone.
âSimon is sick, and the Lancasters donât know how to find fever medicine, so why are they calling me?â she muttered to herself.
âGo ask a neighbor, buy it on the black market, find a scalper... There are so many options, why come to me?â
âAnd then thereâs Sylvia. Ever since she fell off that building and hit her head, her behavior has gotten stranger and stranger.â
âLast time she came to my door demanding the house, and now sheâs calling to demand fever medicine.â
âThe way sheâs acting... it reminds me of the Sylvia from my past life... â
Melody shook her head, pushing the strange thought to the back of her mind.
...
After hanging up, Melody, bored and with nothing to do, casually scrolled through The Metropolis Residencesâ homeowner group chat.
"7-901 Adventurous Lawson: So happy! I finally got my cold-weather supplies, Iâm ecstatic! The padded jacket and snow boots are so thick! Government-issued, top-quality stuff!"
"7-901 Adventurous Lawson: I also used my supply allowance to get two thick quilts and a blanket. Each quilt weighs a full five kilograms, so we should be able to get through the winter safely now!"
"7-408 Gone with the Wind: We still have quilts at home, so I redeemed a small stove and some solid fuel tablets."
"12-1803 AAA Lawson Building Materials - Closed: @7-408 Gone with the Wind That solid fuel isnât worth it! One tablet only burns for a few dozen minutes."
"7-408 Gone with the Wind: @12-1803 AAA Lawson Building Materials - Closed I know. The solid fuel is just to help get the fire started. We still have some charcoal we stockpiled earlier."
"4-2009 Nina: @7-408 Gone with the Wind But burning charcoal is really dangerous! You should just use the AC!"
"7-408 Gone with the Wind: @4-2009 Nina Thatâs what I was about to say. My AC wonât even start anymore. It just gives a defrosting error as soon as I turn it on."
"4-2009 Nina: @7-408 Gone with the Wind Huh? How come? Is it broken?"
"7-408 Gone with the Wind: We checked the manual later. It says that when the outdoor temperature is minus ten degrees Celsius, the ACâs low-temperature protection kicks in and it canât produce heat."
"2-1908 Coco: @7-408 Gone with the Wind Thatâs right. The ACâs performance depends on the outdoor temperature."
"2-1908 Coco: As long as itâs not below minus five Celsius, the heat pumped in by the compressor is still decent. Below minus ten, the compressor will heat for five minutes and then defrost for ten. If the temperature gets any lower, it runs entirely on auxiliary electric heat, and thereâs really no point in turning it on."