Chapter 371: Chapter 371: The Arrival of Extreme Cold

Melody Summers smiled and replied, "Hasn’t the Sutton family’s retribution already arrived? In my last life, Ethan Sutton’s father ignored my objections and insisted on forcing us together, all because he coveted my Lancaster family bloodline..."

Mr. Sutton was obsessed with uniting powerful bloodlines through marriage, but he truly looked down on Melody Summers.

He knew that Ethan Sutton bullied and humiliated Melody Summers, but he never put a stop to it, simply allowing his son to do as he pleased.

’He valued bloodlines so much, yet the Sutton family’s own line has now been severed,’ Melody Summers thought with a cold snort. She continued aloud, "For him, that must be the greatest revenge imaginable... And Joanne White is no pushover, either. Let them torture each other!"

’I can’t be bothered to waste any more time on such worthless people.’

Just then, her phone suddenly chimed.

Picking up her phone, she saw it was a weather news alert. The headline read:

[BLIZZARD WARNING! MAJOR TEMPERATURE DROP! EXTREME COLD HAS ARRIVED!]

The three consecutive exclamation marks underscored the severity of the situation.

Melody Summers tapped on the notification. The alert read:

[Over today and tomorrow, Anworth is expected to see over 100 centimeters of snowfall in a single day, with temperatures dropping by 10 to 20 degrees.]

[An extreme cold front has arrived. All residents are advised to make preparations to stay warm. Please refrain from going outdoors unless absolutely necessary.]

[If you must go out, please dress warmly to avoid frostbite.]

After reading the news, Melody Summers thought, ’The great freeze is finally here. Everything is happening exactly as it did in my last life.’

Starting tomorrow, the entire planet would experience its first drastic drop in temperature.

The average temperature in Anworth would plummet from negative twenty degrees to negative forty. No one would be able to last more than a few minutes outside.

But this drastic plunge was just the beginning. Over the next few months, the outdoor temperature would continue to fall, eventually reaching negative seventy or eighty degrees...

By then, Terra’s average temperature would be even lower than that of the Borean Pole. That was the true arctic apocalypse.

******

Because of the warning about heavy snow and a drop in temperature, the Summers family had turned up the floor heating by a few degrees before bed last night.

Melody Summers also turned on her electric blanket, which caused her to kick off her covers several times throughout the night from the heat.

When she woke up the next day, her sheets were covered in sweat.

Melody Summers turned off the electric blanket, stretched, and habitually reached to open the window for some fresh air.

However, the moment she opened the window, a bone-chilling gust of wind instantly blasted into the room, and she couldn’t help but shiver violently.

A second later, a stinging pain spread across her face, as if she were being pricked by countless fine needles. The temperature outside was simply too low; her exposed skin began to hurt the instant it met the air.

She hastily shut the window and threw a plush robe over her shoulders.

Peering through the window, Melody Summers saw that the world outside had become a vast expanse of white. Overnight, the snow had already piled up to over a meter deep.

During breakfast, Colin Summers popped an egg yolk shumai into his mouth and lamented as he chewed, "I wanted to go out and take a look today. Who would’ve thought I’d get downstairs only to find the building entrance completely blocked by the snow..."

Hearing this, Grace Sutton chided him, "It’s freezing out there! What are you thinking, running around? The supply distribution point is closed. Aren’t you afraid something will happen to you if you go out in this weather?"

Colin Summers scratched his head and replied, "Didn’t I tell you all before? Someone anonymously donated a large batch of coal to our residential complex. Grant said yesterday that if the municipal heating still isn’t on today, we’ll start up our own. I want to go over to the boiler room and see what’s happening!"

Melody Summers knew he was talking about the coal she had donated. She looked up and asked, "Uncle, what are Manager Grant’s plans?"

Colin Summers replied, "Manager Grant said that as long as we’re careful with it, that batch of coal is enough to last our complex for over half a month. By then, the municipal heating should be back on."

Melody Summers nodded. Anworth didn’t have any coal mines, so municipal heating resources were limited. In her previous life, the heating hadn’t come on until a month after the first major temperature drop.

Now, with this coal, The Metropolis Residences could make it through this difficult month.

After breakfast, Colin Summers and Winnie Summers were still determined to go to the boiler room and meet up with Manager Grant. Grace Sutton couldn’t stop them, so she had no choice but to let them go.

The two of them bundled up in thick coats, hats, and gloves, leaving not a sliver of skin exposed. Then, they grabbed a shovel and headed out the door.

The snow outside was over a meter deep now, so they had to clear a path as they went.

After seeing her mother and uncle off, Melody Summers returned to her room, locked the door, and entered the Arcadian Space. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

No matter how cold the weather was in the real world, the temperature in the Arcadian Space was always comfortable and pleasant.

The crisp chirping of birds echoed from the distant woods. Gentle sunlight filtered through the dense leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground. On the lawn, Leopard was sunbathing contentedly, its round belly turned toward the sky.

Melody Summers went to the livestock farm first. She had been so busy with other things lately that she hadn’t had time to tend to the chickens and ducks.

In her absence, the chicks and ducklings had multiplied at an astonishing rate. Their numbers had increased severalfold, and both pens were bustling with life.

Drinking daily from the Arcadian Stream and eating specially formulated feed, every single chicken and duck had grown plump. Their feathers were smooth and glossy, a clear sign of their excellent health.

Melody Summers skillfully tied her long hair into a neat ponytail, rolled up her sleeves, and bent down to start catching the chickens and ducks that were ready for processing.

Albus stood guard nearby, helping to move the chickens and ducks Melody selected into the Arcadian processing plant for automated butchering.

After a morning of hard work, the girl and her cat had successfully processed over 300 chickens and 300 ducks.

The meat from the freshly butchered poultry was exceptionally tender, its layer of fat glistening with a rich sheen. Leopard had been drooling hungrily nearby for some time.

Melody Summers tossed it a few of the birds. It immediately began to feast, crunching happily on the meat and bones with audible CRUNCHes.

Melody Summers stroked Leopard’s furry head, then took out her phone, logged into the Arcadia Store, and began listing the poultry for sale.

[Whole Chicken, fully cleaned. Price: 8,000. Grain-fed, freshly prepared. Includes giblets and heart.]

[Whole Duck, fully cleaned. Price: 8,000. Grain-fed, freshly prepared. Includes intestines, heart, stomach, and gizzard.]

The moment the items were listed, Melody Summers’s phone began to chime incessantly. DING! DING! DING! The 600-plus chickens and ducks were instantly snapped up by customers who had flocked to her store.

With the blizzard raging, temperatures plummeting, and roads buried in snow, even the companies specializing in indoor agriculture couldn’t make deliveries.

Many people were beginning to worry if their stockpiled supplies would be enough, uncertain if they could last until the blizzard ended.

So, when they saw Melody Summers list her chickens and ducks, they immediately rushed to buy them.

Many people bought ten or twenty at a time. One order was for a stunning 50 chickens and 50 ducks—one hundred birds in total. Both Melody Summers and Albus were gobsmacked. ’Even if they ate one every single day, that would take over three months to get through!’