When Winnie Sumrs and Colin Sumrs ca ho that evening, they brought two sand vine cakes with them.
Their grandmother frowned when she saw them. "Why did you bring these back? We still have plenty of food at ho. The vegetables in the fridge will go bad if we don’t eat them soon!"
"Mom, I was the one who asked them to bring them back," Grace Sutton said, a little embarrassed.
Grace Sutton had been keeping an eye on The tropolis Residences’ community group chat for the past few days. Everyone was saying that the newly arrived sand vine cakes were fragrant and much tastier than before, with so even claiming they had a faint taste of fried chicken.
Their comnts piqued Grace Sutton’s curiosity, and she wanted to taste one for herself, so she had Colin Sumrs use his own quota to bring two back.
Hearing Grace Sutton’s explanation, the others beca a little curious too. The family took the cakes to the kitchen, cut them into several pieces, and shared them.
None of the other Sumrs had ever tried it—except for lody Sumrs. In her past life, she’d eaten so much of it she was sick to her stomach, and she never wanted to touch anything made from Desert Vine again.
Grace Sutton chewed a few bites and almost spat it out. She grimaced and said, "Ugh, this is disgusting! What fried chicken flavor? And why is the texture so sticky? Is this even cooked?"
Grandma and the others couldn’t take it either. They all grabbed the orange juice on the dining table and chugged a few mouthfuls, trying to wash the taste out of their mouths.
After drinking the orange juice, Grandma frowned and said, "It slls a bit like at, but this texture..."
Colin Sumrs scratched his head and said, "It might not taste great, but it’s free. And they say it can supplent your daily needs for water, protein, fat, and vitamins."
Grace Sutton frowned, the aftertaste lingering. "Now that you ntion it, it’s like those al replacents I had when I was dieting. Awful taste, but they provide the basic nutrients you need."
Although it tasted awful, it was free. During a ti of natural disaster, such a free al was a rare and valuable thing.
Grace Sutton sighed and said, "Let’s just eat dinner. I’m never going to be curious about this stuff again."
After the sand vine cake, the family found their dinner to be exceptionally delicious.
After a satisfying al, lody Sumrs returned to Arcadia with Albus to do so mining. Although she had earned tens of millions from selling crops and at over the past few days, she was still a long way from her one-billion goal. After a discussion with Albus, they decided they had to pin their hopes on the Arcadian Mines.
*
The atmosphere in the Lancaster family ho had been heavy lately. The authorities had announced that starting in January, they would begin compulsory enforcent against all indebted companies and individuals. The scope of this enforcent would cover all assets belonging to the responsible parties and their imdiate families—an unprecedented move.
Rumor had it that this natural disaster would last for a long ti, and the governnt was preparing for the next phase.
When they received the news, the Lancasters discovered that almost all the assets under their family mbers’ nas had already been frozen.
The Lancaster Group now owed the bank a huge sum of money. Even after Robert Lancaster sold off so many assets, he had barely managed to pay off so of the interest.
Robert Lancaster was filled with regret. He’d never imagined the authorities would take such drastic action. ’If only I had known,’ he thought, ’I should have just cut my losses and declared bankruptcy at the very start of the disaster. The Lancaster Family might have been able to hold on to so assets to get by.’
The marriage alliance with the Lawson Family was also a lost cause. Mrs. Lawson had originally asked her nephew, Flynn Adler, to make a move on lody Sumrs, but he ended up telling the Lawsons what had transpired at the Nimbus Hotel auction.
Once the Lawsons learned of lody Sumrs’s close ties to the Simmons Family, they wanted no part in offending them. They decisively called off the marriage and imdiately turned around and blocked all contact with the Lancasters.
The Lancaster Group was completely beyond saving.
Simon Lancaster had wanted to find lody Sumrs and take the eight million she had offered. He was even willing to write the letter severing their ties, just as she’d said. After all, given the Lancaster family’s current situation, every little bit helped. But the security guards at The tropolis Residences wouldn’t even let him in.
Simon Lancaster filed a lawsuit, but the court refused to even hear his case.
The 4.4 million was backed by a signed contract, and the Lancaster family had already received a payout from the insurance company. There was no dispute.
The 2 million was ruled a legal, voluntary gift, as Robert Lancaster and Elaine Hughes were both aware of the transfer.
Now, the Lancasters were completely out of options when it ca to lody Sumrs.
Simon Lancaster was filled with imnse regret. He should have listened to lody Sumrs back then, signed the agreent to sever ties, and taken the eight million.
Sylvia Lancaster had also returned to the Lancaster family ho.
A couple of days ago, when she asked Ethan Sutton for living expenses, he had mocked her again.
Sylvia Lancaster would normally have just endured it, but these past few days, her mind had been consud by thoughts of the 420 million pink diamond. This ti, she couldn’t hold back. She got into a fight with Ethan Sutton, demanding to know where the pink diamond was.
The Sutton Family was also overwheld with trying to repay their bank loans, so Ethan Sutton was already in a foul mood. After arguing with Sylvia for a few monts, he lost his temper and slapped her across the face.
Sylvia Lancaster was stunned. She had been doted on by the Lancaster family her whole life and had never been hit before. She clutched her face, crying, and ran back to the Lancaster family ho.
With their daughter-in-law having run back to her parents’ ho, the Sutton Family showed no intention of coming to smooth things over. Sylvia was thus left in an awkward position, stuck at the Lancaster residence. She grew anxious, regretting her impulsive behavior from that day.
But now, it was too late for regrets.
Robert Lancaster kept trying to calm himself down, reasoning that as long as he was alive, he could always stage a coback.
He said to his family in a heavy voice, "Whatever jewelry you have that hasn’t been registered by the authorities, sell it as soon as you can. Convert it into cash or Gold and entrust it to friends you can trust. After we get through January, the whole family will have to live on that money."
"The maids, drivers, servants, and bodyguards—fire them all. We can’t afford to hire anyone now."
"As for the rest... we’ll leave it to fate."
*
For the past few days, lody Sumrs had been constantly mining in the Arcadian Mines.
The vegetables planted in the Sumrs Family’s yard were growing well. With the help of the Arcadian Stream, the yard was once again as vibrant and full of life as ever.
The Arcadian Fields were also yielding a bountiful harvest. The fennel, green onions, chives, and other crops lody Sumrs had planted were almost ripe. New Year’s Day was just over a month away. When the ti ca, they could slaughter a few mini-pigs, and the family could make dumplings.
While thinking about her New Year’s plans, lody Sumrs swung her pickaxe in the mines. Suddenly, a purple glow she had never seen before appeared right where her pickaxe struck.
lody Sumrs’s eyes widened. ’Could it be a purple diamond?’ Natural purple diamonds were extrely rare. If it was real, she was about to be rich.
lody Sumrs held her breath and dug carefully. In no ti, she had unearthed two pieces of ore.
It turned out to be one pink and one blue piece of ore.
The purple light from before must have been created by the overlapping pink and blue colors.
lody Sumrs hurried to take the two ore fragnts to the processing workshop. She placed them in the ore processing machine, and the display screen read: [Pink Diamond ore detected. Blue Diamond ore detected. Now proceeding with purification and cutting.]
A mont later, two diamonds ca out on the conveyor belt.
The two diamonds were about the sa size, both slightly larger than the Pink Diamond she had dug up last ti.
But their colors were much more beautiful.
The Pink Diamond was more vibrant and dazzling than the previous one, a beautiful rose-pink. The Blue Diamond was rich and pure in color, as magnificent as the deep sea.
lody Sumrs was amazed. She held the dazzling Pink Diamond, unable to put it down. Albus also curiously pawed at the Blue Diamond, watching the brilliant fire within it.
lody Sumrs picked up the Blue Diamond and looked at it again, then said to Albus, "White, we’re going to be rich this ti!"
Albus tilted its head and asked:
[Host, how much are you going to price them at?]
Learning their lesson from the previous Pink Diamond, lody Sumrs and Albus decided not to let a middleman take a cut this ti.
The human and cat duo discussed it and decided to list both diamonds at the sa ti. The Pink Diamond was priced at 400 million, and the Blue Diamond at 600 million!
As long as these two diamonds sold successfully, a new area could be unlocked!
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