To lody Sumrs’s surprise, Mrs. Vance was also cradling a small pet dog.
The pet dog looked a bit like a Chihuahua, but it was much thinner and weaker than a normal one, appearing sowhat malnourished.
At the mont, it was curled up quietly in Mrs. Vance’s arms, looking a little listless.
lody Sumrs looked at the Chihuahua, thinking, ’During this disaster, it’s hard enough for ordinary people to feed themselves. But for Mrs. Vance to be able to keep a pet dog... it shows her family must be doing quite well...’
Mrs. Vance sidled over with a grin and said to lody Sumrs and Grace Sutton, "I just saw a few people carrying a big box, going in and out of our building. I was just wondering which family had the spare cash to buy so much stuff these days... So it was you guys again!"
lody Sumrs instantly tensed up.
She thought with a headache, ’It seems Mrs. Vance must have seen the workers when they ca to install the garbage disposal unit!’
It wasn’t that lody Sumrs was deliberately prejudiced against Mrs. Vance; the woman was just too strange!
Although they had only t twice before, Mrs. Vance had always left a bad impression on lody Sumrs.
The first ti they t, Mrs. Vance had helped Sylvia Lancaster try to guilt-trip lody Sumrs into giving up her apartnt.
The second ti, Mrs. Vance had brazenly pried about the supplies in lody Sumrs’s ho.
These were special tis, and lody Sumrs had to be on her guard against people like Mrs. Vance.
Mrs. Vance just stood there, sizing up lody Sumrs and Grace Sutton, her eyes darting all over them.
As Mrs. Vance looked at lody Sumrs’s and Grace Sutton’s clean, fair faces and their fluffy, dry hair, and then at their new fur and down coats, a calculating glint slowly appeared in her eyes.
Being so brazenly scrutinized by Mrs. Vance made both lody Sumrs and Grace Sutton feel uncomfortable...
Grace Sutton subtly shielded lody Sumrs behind her, forced a smile at Mrs. Vance, and said, "We weren’t buying things. It was just so stuff from our previous move that we hadn’t finished bringing over. We had the movers deliver it today."
After saying that, Grace Sutton seed to rember sothing and added, "Besides, what spare cash? We’re just an ordinary family. Who has spare cash these days!"
Hearing Grace Sutton’s explanation, the glint in Mrs. Vance’s eyes didn’t fade. She pressed on, "Oh, listen to you. Gas and diesel are sky-high now. Just hailing a cab costs at least a thousand to start, and delivery fees are even more expensive! The fact that your family can afford to have people deliver things shows you’re not so ordinary..."
When Grace Sutton heard this, she cursed inwardly.
But lody Sumrs, who was shielded behind Grace Sutton, let out a soft laugh and said to Mrs. Vance, "Mrs. Vance, what are you talking about? We’re just an ordinary family. We can’t compare to yours."
"Look at you, you’re still able to keep a pet dog! People are practically starving to death these days, yet you have extra food to feed a dog. That clearly shows your family is much better off than ours!"
Mrs. Vance’s expression changed at her words, and a flicker of guilt crossed her eyes.
But she quickly recovered and continued with an awkward smile, "Listen to yourself. This little puppy doesn’t need much food. Half a small sand vine cake a day is enough to keep it alive! But you two, even your hair is so clean... Tsk tsk, that’s not easy. You still have extra water to wash your hair? Did you hoard a lot of water before the disaster?"
Seeing the subtle, calculating look in Mrs. Vance’s eyes, lody Sumrs replied with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, "Mrs. Vance, you give us too much credit. If we’d hoarded water before the disaster, we’d be laughing in our sleep! Our whole family just has dry hair that doesn’t get oily, so it only looks clean!"
Fortunately, the elevator arrived just then.
lody Sumrs and Grace Sutton didn’t want to get tangled up with Mrs. Vance any longer. In this situation, the more they said, the more likely they were to slip up. These days, it was best not to let anyone know you had money and supplies at ho!
But no sooner had the two of them stepped into the elevator than Mrs. Vance followed them in.
The elevator doors closed. Mrs. Vance was about to say sothing more, but before she could speak, the pet dog in her arms suddenly started to move.
The little dog, which had been lying listlessly in Mrs. Vance’s arms, suddenly began to struggle. It strained its neck to look toward Grace Sutton and lody Sumrs, lolling its tongue out and letting out continuous whimpers and yaps, its eyes bulging as if they were about to pop out.
It was acting as if lody Sumrs and Grace Sutton were so kind of delicious food.
If Mrs. Vance hadn’t been holding it tightly, it probably would have lunged right at lody Sumrs and Grace Sutton.
Seeing this, Grace Sutton frowned, shielded lody Sumrs behind her again, and watched the pet dog warily, afraid it would leap up and bite soone.
These days, dicine was a luxury. If you got bitten by a dog, it would be difficult to even get a rabies shot!
But Mrs. Vance just said, "Oh, my little dog is just greedy, and it has a good nose. See how excited it got when it got close to you? It probably slled that you’ve been eating sothing good!"
With that, Mrs. Vance cackled. She turned her gaze back to lody Sumrs and said with a smile, "Young lady, I told you last ti I slled a nice aroma coming from your apartnt, but you wouldn’t admit it! I knew it, I couldn’t have slled wrong! For you to still be eating so well... you must have hoarded a lot of food, haven’t you?"
lody Sumrs was speechless.
’What on earth is wrong with this Mrs. Vance?!’
’Is she really that obsessed with prying into other people’s supplies?’
’Is she planning a ho invasion or just planning to co begging?’
Mrs. Vance’s words were starting to get on Grace Sutton’s nerves too. Shielding lody Sumrs behind her, she said irritably, "Who has any food these days? We don’t! We’ve been eating nothing but sand vine cakes for over a year!"
Seeing how tight-lipped both lody Sumrs and Grace Sutton were, Mrs. Vance grew displeased. She wanted to keep pressing, but seeing the ugly look on Grace Sutton’s face, she ultimately didn’t dare to say anything more.
Just then, the elevator reached the 15th floor.
Mrs. Vance silently exited the elevator, still holding her pet dog.
After leaving the elevator, Mrs. Vance looked back reluctantly at Grace Sutton and lody Sumrs.
Seeing this, Grace Sutton imdiately jabbed the close-door button a few tis.
The elevator doors then closed and began to ascend, and only then did Grace Sutton let out a sigh of relief.
Grace Sutton and lody Sumrs exchanged a look, both seeing the helplessness in each other’s eyes.
Back when they lived in a villa, Grace Sutton had always found it too quiet and a bit lonely, but now she missed the benefits of the villa imnsely.
At least in the villa community, there weren’t so many prying eyes watching them!
After they got back to their apartnt, lody Sumrs sat on the sofa for a while, but she still felt uneasy.
She was a little afraid that Mrs. Vance might start spouting nonsense in the community group chat, so she picked up her phone and started scrolling through the group ssages.
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