Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Unlocking the Storage Space

Melody Summers walked into the house to find her mother, uncle, and grandmother all waiting for her inside.

Seeing their three familiar faces, Melody Summers felt her eyes sting with tears and threw herself into her mother, Winnie Summers’s, arms.

"Oh dear, what’s wrong with our Melody?" Grandma came over, gently stroking Melody’s hair as she asked.

Her uncle, Colin Summers, saw this and quickly tried to comfort her. "Melody, don’t worry. Whatever it is, just tell us slowly. We’re all here for you."

Seeing the concerned looks on her family’s faces, Melody Summers forced herself to calm down and spoke.

"Mom, Grandma, Uncle, I signed the agreement to transfer the lease for Mount Anworth to The Lancaster Group today. The transfer fee is 4.4 million, and the money will be in our account tomorrow."

Winnie Summers was surprised. "What? Why did you suddenly sign it? We haven’t even harvested the fish from the pond yet. Didn’t we agree we’d sell after the harvest?"

Colin Summers was also stunned. "Melody, why would you sign it without talking to us first? You’re just a young woman, going to sign a contract all by yourself. What if you got cheated by the Lancaster Group? Those business types are all incredibly shrewd."

"Mom, Uncle, the contract had to be signed today. A mudslide is going to hit the mountain in the early hours of the day after tomorrow. If we wait, the contract will be void."

This time, they were all completely stunned. Her grandmother hesitated before saying, "But... Mount Anworth has never had a mudslide. I’ve lived here for decades. We never had one, not even during those terrible storms years ago."

"That’s right," Colin Summers added. "Before we leased Mount Anworth, your mother and I looked into it. The geology here isn’t prone to mudslides."

Melody’s expression turned serious. "I know this is hard for you to believe, but I have solid information. The mudslide will reach our home. We and our two next-door neighbors will all be in its path. Mom, Grandma, Uncle, we need to start packing now. We have to be out of here by tomorrow."

Seeing Melody’s earnest expression, her grandmother and the others found themselves starting to believe her. They knew Melody. She wasn’t the type to cause trouble for no reason.

Ever since her adoptive parents divorced, Melody had to juggle her studies with helping to manage the family’s affairs, both big and small. As the only one in the family to attend college, they often relied on her advice. She was a very dependable kid.

This was especially true after her grandmother and uncle were swindled out of 80,000 yuan in a phone scam a few years back. Ever since then, they consulted Melody on any matter involving money.

Seeing that she was getting through to them, Melody pressed on. "We can move to the school district apartment in the city tomorrow. Just trust me this one time. We’ll know for sure in the early hours of the day after tomorrow. If the mudslide doesn’t happen, we can always move right back."

After a few moments of thought, Colin Summers was the first to nod. "Alright. Our Melody is the only one in the family who’s been to college. Your uncle trusts you! Let’s have lunch. After we eat, we’ll start packing and call a moving company."

Her mother and grandmother exchanged a look, then nodded gently as well.

Melody let out a long sigh of relief.

Her grandmother suddenly thought of the contract Melody had signed and asked hesitantly, "But... if there really is a mudslide, won’t signing this transfer agreement mean The Lancaster Family is taking a huge loss? We can’t do something like that. Besides, if they find out we knew, they’ll never let it go."

"Don’t worry, Grandma. The Lancaster Family is in the tourism business. They’re a massive company with plenty of assets and insurance to handle things like this." ’As for screwing over The Lancaster Family,’ Melody thought, ’I don’t feel the slightest bit guilty. After all, they screwed me over so badly in my last life that I ended up dead!’

Her grandmother’s worries were eased.

For lunch, Grandma stir-fried some fresh greens, made pork with hot peppers, and even stewed the laying hen from the yard. They were moving tomorrow, and bringing a chicken to an apartment building wouldn’t be practical.

Though it was a simple, ordinary meal, Melody wolfed down three whole bowls of rice.

In the apocalypse, normal food fetched astronomical prices; even a small bag of crackers could sell for hundreds. To save food for The Lancasters, Melody had often subsisted on government-issued disaster relief biscuits. It had been a very long time since she’d eaten a proper meal like this.

After lunch, the family started packing.

The apartment they were moving to was a fully-furnished place in a good school district, located in the city. Winnie Summers had bought it in Melody’s name a few years prior. Since it already had furniture and appliances, there was no need to take their old things.

Melody went to the kitchen first. The apocalypse had taught her not to waste a single grain of food, so she planned to take everything. Suddenly, the voice of the Space System echoed in her mind:

[Storage Space has been unlocked for you. Store as much as you wish.]

Melody entered the space and saw that a huge warehouse had appeared on the far side of the stream, opposite the farmland. It was several stories tall, its interior lined with neatly arranged shelves and compartments.

Albus explained to Melody:

[The Arcadian Warehouse can store items and keep them fresh indefinitely. It will also automatically sort and organize everything you put inside.]

Melody was ecstatic. ’This storage function is perfect for stockpiling supplies!’

Melody immediately cleared out the kitchen. Rice, flour, oil, grains, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, salt—she took it all. She also took the cured pork belly, sausages, and ribs her grandmother had made.

Her mother and grandmother packed up all the family’s clothes and bedding, while her uncle gathered the appliances, wrapped them in foam padding, and boxed them up.

They were busy until evening, when her aunt, Grace Sutton, returned from her job at a clothing factory in the city.

Grace was supposed to be off tomorrow, but when Colin told her about the impending mudslide, she immediately took time off and rushed back to help with the move.

"Colin, are you sure about this? Oh, goodness, we have to take the new quilts we made for the New Year."

Grace Sutton had a whirlwind personality. She’d started as a line worker at the clothing factory and fought her way up to a junior manager position, with a team of employees under her.

The moment she walked in the door, she dropped her bag, rolled up her sleeves without even taking off her coat, and started packing. "Have you packed up Ian’s room yet?" she asked Colin as she worked. "All his little robots need to be boxed up. He’ll throw a fit if a single one goes missing."

Ian Summers was Melody’s cousin, the only son of her aunt and uncle, and was serving in the military. In her past life, the last time Melody had seen Ian was at their family’s funeral. The two of them, having lost everyone they held dear, had clung to each other and wept.

Not long after they had arranged the funerals, the apocalypse began. All soldiers and reservists were urgently recalled by the state and deployed across the country to provide disaster relief and suppress riots. Melody never saw Ian again after that.

"All packed," Colin replied. "I called the movers. They can load up the truck first thing in the morning."

The five of them spent the rest of the evening packing. By the end, everything was boxed up except for a few old pieces of furniture.

To make the move easier, Melody also took the opportunity to sneak a few items into her space when no one was looking.

Around ten that night, the family did one last check to make sure nothing was forgotten. Only then did they wash up and head to bed.