Jade Rowan had just placed a handful of rice into the iron pot on the stove, planning to make so congee, when she heard a series of urgent knocks at the door.
Jade Rowan’s heart tightened. After a mont’s hesitation, she tiptoed to the door and asked, "...Who? ...Who is it?"
The peephole on the door had frozen and cracked, making it impossible to see who was knocking. With only herself at ho, she didn’t dare to open the door rashly.
Fortunately, a voice soon ca from outside. "Jade, it’s !"
Recognizing the familiar voice, Jade Rowan quickly opened the door. Seeing Grace Sutton and lody Sumrs standing there, she asked in surprise, "Oh, it’s you, Grace, and lody! It’s so cold out. What brings you here? ...Co on, hurry inside!"
Grace Sutton and lody Sumrs ca in, carrying a basket of coal between them. The elevators had stopped working, so the two of them had lugged the heavy basket all the way down from the 16th floor to the 11th via the ergency stairwell. It had been quite an effort.
After setting the coal down in the living room, Grace Sutton looked at Jade Rowan and replied with a smile, "Mom asked us to bring so coal over. She knows the heating is out and has been worried about you all!"
Jade Rowan was pleasantly surprised to hear this. After Caron Sumrs’s gambling had led to huge debts on several occasions, the Sumrs family had announced they were cutting ties and had stopped looking out for them.
Hearing Grace say the matriarch was still concerned about her family, Jade just assud the old woman had had a change of heart and decided to accept them again.
In tis like these, life was always a little easier with the help and support of one’s in-laws.
At this thought, Jade Rowan quickly smiled and said, "You’ve gone to so much trouble! We’re doing fine over here, and we’re not short on coal. Grace, please go back and tell Mom not to worry."
When lody Sumrs heard this, she initially thought Jade was just being polite. But when they entered the bedroom, lody realized Jade wasn’t just saying that—
It really did look like apartnt 1101 wasn’t short on supplies!
lody stood at the bedroom doorway and scanned the room. She rembered that 1101 had been unfurnished, with the only furniture being the two folding beds they had brought over earlier.
But now, next to the two folding beds was a fabric sofa. A small wooden dining table, set with so bowls and chopsticks, had been placed in front of it.
Against the wall were two large boxes of coal, and next to them was a large pile of sand vine cakes and a bag of rice.
Looking at all these things, lody was a little stunned—
’There’s even more coal here than what we brought last ti!’
’Even if they hadn’t used any coal because of the central heating, what was with all this extra? Where did it co from?!’
Coal was a life-saving, scarce resource these days. No one would be willing to sell it!
Just as lody was puzzling over this, she heard Grace Sutton ask, "Huh? Is this quilt new?"
When Caron Sumrs’s family of three had moved into The tropolis Residences, they had only brought so clothes with them. Grace had been the one to gather and bring them their bedding and quilts. Seeing an unfamiliar quilt on the bed now, Grace was confused, thinking she must have misrembered.
Jade Rowan smiled and replied, "Oh, I made that myself. Our Ian gets cold easily and can’t sleep well at night, so I took apart a few down jackets and used a duvet cover to make another quilt!"
Hearing this, Grace grew even more puzzled. "A quilt made from down jackets? ...Where did you get so many down jackets?"
Making a quilt would require several down jackets at least. When Caron Sumrs’s family moved to The tropolis Residences, they only had two or three pieces of luggage. Where could they have gotten so many jackets to take apart?
Jade Rowan answered, "Caron and Clark brought them back!"
Hearing Jade’s words, lody frowned slightly. ’This is getting stranger and stranger!’
Before lody could press for more details, Jade continued, "There are a few elderly people who live alone in our building and can’t take care of themselves. Caron and Clark often go over to help them with chores, and they give them so supplies as a reward!"
A happy expression appeared on Jade’s face as she spoke. She pointed to the two boxes of coal in the corner and said with a smile, "Caron and Clark brought this coal back too! We really aren’t short on supplies here, Grace. You don’t have to worry!"
lody and Grace exchanged a look, seeing the sa confusion and surprise in each other’s eyes.
Elderly people living alone? Unable to care for themselves?
How had they never heard about them?
In tis like these, survival supplies were precious, life-saving items. Who would actually give them away as a reward for chores??
It was too absurd!
The whole situation felt off. A terrible suspicion suddenly ford in lody’s mind...
’Don’t tell ... don’t tell Uncle Caron has started gambling again?!’
’Could all these survival supplies be his winnings??’
’If that’s true... then all of our family’s efforts will have been for nothing!’
lody’s mind was in turmoil, but her expression remained calm. She looked at Jade Rowan and asked, "Aunt Jade, where are Uncle Caron and Cousin Clark? Are they not ho right now?"
The smile didn’t leave Jade’s face. "Oh, them? They just went to help the neighbors again! They should be back in a little while."
Jade was quite happy that her husband and son could bring back supplies every ti they went out to "help."
lody nodded thoughtfully and continued, "Do you know which apartnt they went to? Besides dropping off supplies, we also had sothing we wanted to talk to them about."
lody wanted to go and see what was really going on. If Uncle Caron was really still gambling... then from this day forward, she would never get involved in his family’s affairs again.
After all, if he couldn’t quit gambling, their family was dood to a bad end. lody didn’t want her own family to be dragged down with them.
Jade Rowan shook her head, a flicker of confusion on her face. "I don’t know, they never told ... How about this? Please, sit down and wait a bit. They’ll be back soon!"
Jade gestured for Grace and lody to sit on the newly acquired fabric sofa while she poured them so water.
She handed the warm cups to Grace and lody and chatted idly with a smile, "Co to think of it, these thermoses, the cups, and even this sofa were all rewards from the neighbors when Caron and Clark went to help. The neighbors in our complex are such good people, so generous..."
Hearing this, Grace and lody exchanged another look, both thinking the sa thing—’This doesn’t sound like a reward at all.’
’The more they heard, the more it sounded like gambling!’
Grace tried to hold her tongue, but in the end, she couldn’t.
She grabbed Jade’s hand, her expression grave. "Jade, please don’t be mad at for being blunt... but this doesn’t sound like they’re being paid for chores..."
"...Jade, be honest with . Has Caron... has he started gambling again?"
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