Zane Simmons shook his head. "We can’t trace it. The housekeeper said it was a drone delivery. It dropped off the package and flew away in a flash. It was incredibly fast."
"A drone? A drone with that kind of payload capacity requires a flight permit. I’ll have soone look into previously authorized permits later and see if we can find any leads."
"That seems like a lot of trouble, doesn’t it? We could just check the seller’s paynt account."
"It might not be a big corporation. The governnt has started to heavily support indoor cultivation, so it’s probably so small, subsidized business."
"What small businesses? It’s hard to enter the market now. The governnt stopped approving land for it a long ti ago. The industry is monopolized by two major corporations, led by Rhodes. Unless you have so solid technological patent, it’s nearly impossible to get a piece of the pie."
"..."
lody Sumrs listened quietly to the conversation while she ate. She had mixed feelings and broke out in a cold sweat for herself. ’Thank goodness Albus and I considered all of this beforehand. Otherwise, my cover would have been blown in an instant.’
*
「The Lancaster Residence.」
Silas Lancaster was fuming on his way ho, flooring the accelerator. A traffic officer on patrol happened to see him, pulled him over, and asked for his driver’s license.
Irritated, Silas Lancaster not only refused to cooperate but even assaulted the officer, leading to his imdiate detention.
Elaine Hughes and Robert Lancaster heard the news late at night and rushed over to bail him out.
As soon as they got ho, Robert Lancaster started berating Silas Lancaster. "You brat! The company is in such a difficult position right now, and not only are you no help at all, you just go out and cause trouble for every day!"
As he spoke, Robert Lancaster reached for his belt to whip him.
Elaine Hughes, doting on her youngest son, quickly stepped in to stop him. "Oh, that’s enough," she coaxed. "What’s done is done. What good will hitting him do now?"
But Silas Lancaster said furiously, "Mom, Dad, it’s all that lody Sumrs’s fault! She’s the one who humiliated at the party! I was in a bad mood, that’s why I was speeding!"
Robert Lancaster and Elaine Hughes were both stunned. Elaine quickly asked, "What does this have to do with lody?"
Ever since Sylvia Lancaster had moved out of the Lancaster ho, Elaine Hughes and Robert Lancaster had hoped lody Sumrs would move back in, but lody had been ignoring them, much to their disappointnt.
"I ran into her at the party Zane Simmons hosted tonight. I don’t know how she managed to hook up with him." Silas Lancaster ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Zane Simmons defended her and had his bodyguards throw out!"
"Zane Simmons? The only son of the Simmons family?" Robert Lancaster asked with a slight frown.
"That’s him." A look of contempt crossed Silas Lancaster’s eyes. "Zane Simmons even had another woman with him. I think lody Sumrs has just decided to debase herself, which is why she’s cozying up to him!"
Robert Lancaster said nothing, his mind already spinning with calculations.
After Sylvia Lancaster and Ethan Sutton’s engagent, the Sutton family had yet to invest in the Lancaster Group. With the persistent high temperatures, several of the Suttons’ real estate projects had also stalled. If this continued, the Sutton family would likely be in trouble themselves, making it even less likely they could help the Lancasters.
It was only August, and the Lancaster family needed to hold on for at least a few more months until winter for the situation to have any chance of improving. What they desperately needed right now was capital.
Lately, the banks had been aggressively calling in their debts. Simon Lancaster couldn’t secure a loan anywhere, and even the loan sharks knew the state of the tourism industry, so they kept hiking up their interest rates. The Lancaster family was now drowning in debt.
Robert Lancaster and Elaine Hughes wanted to bring lody Sumrs back for another marriage alliance. They hoped to secure another round of financing to survive the next few months. Once winter arrived, the Lancaster Group might still have a glimr of hope.
"Look into the relationship between lody and the Simmons family’s only son. If we can form a marriage alliance with the Simmons family, our problems might just solve themselves," Robert Lancaster instructed Elaine Hughes.
The Simmons family’s business interests were diverse, with ventures in both energy and healthcare. Moreover, Mr. and Mrs. Simmons had co from a powerful union themselves, so their family’s foundation was much stronger than that of the Lancaster and Sutton Families combined.
Seeing that the Sutton family was no longer of any help, he figured that if there was a chance with lody Sumrs and Zane Simmons, he would publicly declare that lody was their biological daughter who had been switched at birth, and that Sylvia Lancaster was the adopted one. That way, the Simmons family wouldn’t have any objections.
Elaine Hughes, however, felt a bit awkward. In her youth, Elaine had been a famous beauty, and Zane Simmons’s father had been one of her suitors. But she had found Mr. Simmons to be frivolous and wild, not soone she could entrust her life to, so she had chosen the more dependable Robert Lancaster instead.
Now, Robert Lancaster bringing up the Simmons family made Elaine’s expression a little uncomfortable.
Silas Lancaster was shocked to hear this. He blurted out, "Dad! Zane Simmons is no good! You don’t know, he’s entangled with a bunch of won, and I heard he even has an illegitimate child!"
"Shut up! All you do is cause trouble day after day! Can’t you see how much difficulty the company is in?!" Robert Lancaster roared at Silas Lancaster. "Your older brother is practically living at the office, the company has sold off so many assets just to survive, and you’re no help at all, just fooling around everywhere!"
Robert Lancaster threw the belt in his hand to the ground and shot Silas Lancaster another vicious glare. "From now on, you’re staying ho! You’re not to go anywhere!"
Silas Lancaster felt a suffocating anger trapped in his chest, but he didn’t dare to talk back to Robert Lancaster. Fuming, he could only storm upstairs to his room.
*
After the party ended, lody Sumrs was waiting by the entrance for Sophie Thorne when Zane Simmons sidled up to her. He whispered, "Don’t worry about the Lancaster family calling you an illegitimate daughter. I’ll spread the word and clear things up for you."
lody Sumrs was a bit surprised. "There’s no need," she said quickly. "I don’t run in your circles anyway, so it doesn’t affect . You really don’t have to go to the trouble."
"Why are you being so polite with ? We go way back," Zane Simmons said with a grin.
He then added wistfully, "Back then, my family pulled strings to get into the advanced class. I couldn’t understand a thing in lectures. All the other students were snobs who looked down on a poor student like . You were the only one who treated the sa as everyone else and patiently explained the problems to ."
Zane Simmons looked at lody Sumrs and said sincerely, "If you need anything in the future, just let know. Maybe I can help."
lody Sumrs smiled and nodded, but she didn’t take his words to heart. She was well aware that she and Zane Simmons were from different worlds. In her past life, she had been bullied relentlessly and had suffered enough in those upper-class circles. In this life, all she wanted was to live a good life with her family through the cataclysm.
Just then, Sophie Thorne ca out. The two said their goodbyes to Zane Simmons and left.
*
Thanks to Zane Simmons’s promotion at the party, business at lody Sumrs’s shop bood over the next few days. She gritted her teeth and raised the price of the wild mushroom set to 150,000 per serving, but it still sold out quickly.
lody Sumrs also restocked the honey, raising the price to 30,000 a jar and limiting each custor to two jars. Many custors flocked to place their orders:
"User xxx: It’s finally back in stock! It’s been so hot and dry these past few days, I’ve been feeling really irritable. After drinking this honey water, my whole body feels so much better."
"User xxx: Why the purchase limit? Two jars aren’t enough!"
"User xxx: Is the recipe for your honey for sale? I’ll pay for it! My grandmother’s gout has eased up after drinking it. This is more miraculous than dicine."
"..."
With the help of the wild mushrooms and honey, plus the crops from her fields and the chickens, ducks, and rabbits from her farm, lody Sumrs quickly earned her first ten million.
’If I have ten million, can a hundred million be far behind?’
lody Sumrs and Albus were ecstatic. They decided to explore the Arcadian Woods more often to see what other treasures they could find!
In the past few days, the cows and sheep in her space had given birth, yielding seven lambs and two calves. lody Sumrs cleaned the newborns, then opened a few bags of corn and soybeans to make feed. She piled the troughs high with it to provide extra nutrition for the nursing mothers.
A few pregnant miniature pigs were also close to giving birth, their bellies round and swollen. lody Sumrs gave them plenty of extra feed as well.
She had lost count of how many litters the rabbits had produced. Little white furballs, like cotton candies, scurried all over the ground. lody Sumrs gave the pregnant does so extra hay.
After finishing her work, lody Sumrs went downstairs holding Albus. She saw Miss Lowell, her grandmother, and her aunt gathered together. Both her grandmother and aunt looked worried.
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