As she was about to leave, Sophie Thorne was still a little worried. She took lody Sumrs’s hand again and asked, "Are you sure you don’t want to move to The Nimbus Hotel? I can arrange a suite for your family. It would be a perfect way to avoid The Suttons."
The Sutton Family’s bloodline had been severed, making them sothing like cornered beasts. Sophie Thorne was afraid they might do sothing rash in their desperation—lashing out and dragging soone down with them, and that lody Sumrs would be caught in the crossfire.
But lody Sumrs just shook her head. "There’s no need! Don’t worry, I can handle it."
lody Sumrs hadn’t been afraid of the Sutton Family before, and she wasn’t about to start now.
’Besides,’ lody Sumrs thought, ’what does Ethan Sutton getting castrated have to do with ? Is there any reason to pin the bla on for that?’
’If anything, I’m the one who put Raymond Hayes behind bars! The Suttons ought to be thanking for it!’
Seeing lody’s insistence, Sophie Thorne could only nod in resignation.
After a mont’s thought, she added, "There’s a party at The Nimbus Hotel the day after tomorrow. You should bring your family and co. I’ll send soone to pick you all up."
lody considered this for a mont before nodding in agreent. A huge snowstorm was expected in a few days, so there weren’t many chances left to get together and enjoy themselves.
’At a gathering like that,’ she thought, ’people are always up-to-date on the latest news. It couldn’t hurt to go and gather so information.’
The property manager had ntioned that the coal shipnt for The tropolis Residences still hadn’t arrived, and lody wanted to see for herself what the situation outside was really like...
******
After seeing Sophie Thorne off, lody Sumrs happened to run into Joyce Lawson on her way back.
Joyce Lawson was clutching a plastic bag, and lody could vaguely see it was filled with a pile of sand vine cakes.
Seeing lody Sumrs, Joyce Lawson smiled and waved. "Sumrs, have you picked up today’s sand vine cakes? I heard they added sugar today, so they taste sweet!"
Joyce Lawson looked much better; it seed she had managed to pull herself together.
lody was taken aback for a mont. She sidestepped Joyce’s question and asked tentatively, "Joyce... are you alright?"
Joyce Lawson paused, stunned, then smiled and shook her head. "I’m fine... My family told they were just worried I’d get cheated by soone, that’s why they put the house in my little brother’s na... I’ll still be the one living there, and my brother won’t try to take it from ."
Joyce really had managed to convince herself.
’Even though my family favors my brother over ,’ she thought, ’it... it doesn’t an they don’t love !’
When she was sick, her father would bring her water and dicine, her mother would bring homade als to her bedside, and her grandmother would keep an eye on her little brother to make sure he didn’t disturb her rest.
Joyce Lawson sighed and murmured, as if to console herself, "Really, as long as the whole family lives together, it doesn’t matter whose na is on the deed..."
Seeing Joyce in this state, lody knew there was nothing more she could say. ’In the end, it’s her family’s business. What good would saying anything more do?’
’Could I really force Joyce to cut ties with her family?’
’Could I actually say to her face, "I don’t think your family loves you that much"?’
’There was no way to say it that wouldn’t be out of line.’
So lody could only force a smile. "Well... I guess you have a point..."
Hearing lody say that, Joyce seed to let out a breath of relief, as if she’d gotten the answer she was looking for. She then changed the subject and started making small talk with lody.
"Sigh, ever since we bought this apartnt, my salary and bonuses have been completely wiped out. I used to be able to go to the black market for a little rice to make congee now and then, but now it’s just sand vine cakes for all three als."
"Oh, by the way, Sumrs, let tell you a little trick I’ve figured out over the last six months. If you cut the sand vine cakes into small pieces, dry them in the sun for two days to get the moisture out, then cure them in salt overnight, they’re really good with congee the next day."
"But you can’t do that with the sweet ones from today, of course. The taste would be really weird..."
"I heard the experts say we’re in for several months of heavy snow, so I don’t even know if I’ll be able to get to work. The hospital told that if the snow gets bad enough to lock down the city, we don’t have to co in. But that ans I won’t get paid. Ugh, it’s so stressful."
These were precarious tis. An employee who showed up for work one day might suffer a terrible fate the next. Because of this, wages were now paid out daily or weekly. You only got paid for the hours you worked, and base salaries had been almost entirely eliminated.
’If I can’t go to work because of the snow and I stop getting paid,’ Joyce thought, ’my family will have nothing but sand vine cakes to eat for a long ti. I don’t know if they’ll be able to stomach that!’
lody listened quietly, chiming in with a murmur of agreent now and then. ’The height of the snow disaster will definitely be the hardest ti...’
After chatting for a little while longer, the two headed back to their apartnt building together.
They rode the elevator up to the 16th floor. As soon as the doors opened, lody saw several property managent staff in the hallway. Tate was among them.
Several boxes of various sizes were piled in the hallway, looking like luggage.
Joyce Lawson, clutching her sand vine cakes, returned to 1601, while lody stood in the hallway and watched curiously for a mont.
Tate noticed lody and greeted her with a smile. "Miss Sumrs!"
lody greeted Tate back, then asked, a little puzzled, "Why is everyone gathered here? Did a new neighbor move in?"
Tate nodded. "Yup, the new owner of 1602 just arrived. They hired us to help bring all their luggage up at once."
lody said, "Oh," and thought, ’More and more people have been moving into The tropolis Residences lately. Joyce’s family just moved into 1601, and now 1602 is already getting new neighbors.’
Just as lody was saying goodbye to Tate and getting ready to head ho, she suddenly heard a man call her na from behind—
"lody Sumrs!"
Startled, lody turned around to see a man and a woman walking out of 1602.
The man seed completely oblivious to the cold, wearing only a black suit despite the sub-zero temperatures. He had a short, stout build, which made the suit look slightly comical on him.
The woman with him was even more absurdly dressed. She had a sweater on her upper half,
lody looked at the woman’s thin stockings and couldn’t help but shiver.
’Can these two not feel the cold?’
The man in the suit who had called her na strode up to lody. He squinted, giving her a careful look-over, then spoke with an air of surprise. "lody Sumrs, it really is you! Long ti no see!"
lody looked at the man in confusion, her brow furrowed slightly. She honestly couldn’t rember who he was.
After a mont’s hesitation, she asked tentatively, "I’m sorry, you are...?"
Hearing her question, the man in the suit slapped his thigh in mock exasperation. "Co on, you don’t even rember ? It’s ! Your old classmate, Ivan Warren!"
lody’s eyes widened slightly—she rembered now. The man in front of her was indeed her college classmate, Ivan Warren. Not only that, he was also Austin Hale’s good friend and roommate.
lody had been reborn, so to her, college felt like it was many years ago. That was why she hadn’t recognized Ivan Warren right away.
Ivan Warren’s eyes swept over lody from head to toe, his admiration plain to see.
When he spoke again, his tone took on a flirtatious edge. "Wow, gorgeous. It’s been two years, and you’ve only gotten more beautiful... Are you still single?"
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