Chapter 430: Chapter 430: Frostbite
When Melody Summers returned home from 1501, she happened to run into Winnie Summers and Colin Summers, who were just about to head out.
Seeing the two of them fully bundled up in down jackets and fur hats, Melody quickly asked, "Mom, Uncle, it’s so cold outside. Where are you two going?"
Winnie Summers reached out and tightened the scarf around Melody’s neck. "We’re heading to 1806 to discuss how to receive the supplies with Mr. Lynch and the others," she replied.
Hearing this, Melody asked, a little confused, "Receive supplies?"
Winnie nodded and explained, "That’s right. Everyone’s nearly used up the charcoal and food that was distributed before the blizzard. We got a notice from upstairs saying they’ll be airdropping replenishment supplies, so we have to go discuss how we’re going to receive them."
Colin Summers added from the side, "Yeah. They say the supplies will be dropped onto the roof of each building during a break in the snow. If that’s true, we’ll have to clear the snow off the roof beforehand."
Melody’s eyes lit up at the news. "Let me go with you," she suggested. "Maybe I can help."
Colin shook his head repeatedly. "A few employees from the property management center live in this building, and they’ve already gone over. With so many of us, we’ll have enough people to handle it. It’s too cold right now, so you should hurry back inside!"
Winnie chimed in, "He’s right, sweetie. Hurry home. It’s freezing out, so don’t run around. Look at you, your face is all red from the cold!"
After they spoke, they ignored Melody’s protests and unceremoniously pushed her through the door.
Seeing this, Melody felt helpless and could only give up on the idea of tagging along for now.
’In any case, the government’s decision to airdrop supplies will solve our most pressing problem. The city has been snowed in for over two months, and now the heating is out. If we don’t get more supplies, I’m afraid people really won’t be able to hold on much longer...’
As Melody mulled this over, she took off her scarf, hat, gloves, and goggles. The underfloor heating in the apartment was running high, and the warmth radiating up from the floor was deeply reassuring.
Grace Sutton walked slowly into the living room carrying a fruit platter. When her gaze fell on Melody’s face, her eyes widened, and she couldn’t help but exclaim, "Oh my! What happened to your face?!"
Hearing her voice, Melody looked up, a bit dazed. She saw Grace hastily put down the fruit platter and run toward her, her face etched with worry.
Grace ran to Melody’s side, frowning as she gently touched Melody’s face. "H-How did this happen?!" she asked, her own face filled with distress. "Why is your face so red? And it’s bleeding a little!"
Melody didn’t know what she meant, so she casually picked up a mirror from the cabinet to take a look—
—And she was shocked by what she saw!
In the mirror, her face was slightly swollen. Large, uneven red patches had appeared on her once fair, smooth cheeks, and some spots were even oozing blood.
In addition, two small, transparent blisters had formed on the skin below her right eye. They weren’t particularly obvious, but a closer look revealed the tissue fluid seeping within.
Just then, Grace also noticed the two blisters. She gasped, at a loss for what to do. "Th-This is frostbite, isn’t it?!... Oh, what are we going to do?!"
Melody’s skin was very fair, which made the red patches on her face look all the more startling and severe. But with the city snowed in, they couldn’t even go to a hospital. Grace was instantly frantic with worry, and her hands began to tremble slightly.
Even Melody herself hadn’t expected it. She had only been outside for a short while and had gotten lazy, not bothering to wrap her face with her scarf. And now she had frostbite!
’This cold is just terrifying!’
’Thank goodness I was good and wore my goggles. Otherwise, my eyes would have probably gotten frostbitten too.’
Seeing how anxious Grace was, Melody quickly tried to reassure her. "I’m fine, Aunt. We have frostbite medicine in the first-aid kit in the storage room. I’ll go put some on, and I’ll be okay!"
In her past life, Melody had suffered greatly at the hands of the Lancaster family and had often gotten frostbite during the blizzard. Having learned her lesson, she had stockpiled plenty of medicine before the disaster this time around, especially for frostbite.
She changed into her slippers, ran to the storage room, and dug out the frostbite ointment.
Then, she took out a "Far Sea Secret Medicine" pill, scraped some powder from it into the ointment, and applied the mixture to her face.
The description for the "Far Sea Secret Medicine" said it could treat both internal and external injuries, so she figured it must be effective for frostbite as well.
Sure enough, not long after applying the ointment, the two blisters on Melody’s face deflated, and the spots that had been bleeding began to heal.
Melody couldn’t help but marvel inwardly. ’This Far Sea Secret Medicine is truly amazing! Aside from the exorbitant price, it has no flaws!’
Melody waited in the storage room for a little longer until the red patches on her face had mostly faded before getting up and leaving.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she returned to the living room, she saw her grandma, Miss Lowell, and her aunt sitting together, seemingly in the middle of an argument.
Her grandma slapped the sofa and said irritably, "Send him things? Why?! We’ve already given him so much. It’s only been two months, how could he possibly have used it all up? Are we just giving him more things to gamble away?!"
Hearing this, Grace Sutton said hesitantly, "But... the power is out now, and so is the heating. Cameron and his family can only rely on burning coal to stay warm. The coal we sent them before might not be enough for their whole family..."
Melody understood now. They were discussing whether to send supplies to her third uncle, Cameron Summers, and his family, who lived on the 11th floor.
Judging by her grandma’s tone, however, she was clearly against it...
Sure enough, her grandma snorted coldly and retorted, "How could it not be enough! They received the government supplies, and on top of that, you all moved so much extra stuff over for them. Other people are getting by just fine with only the government supplies. Is he going to die or something?!"
Hearing this, Grace felt a little awkward. She knew she shouldn’t meddle in her brother-in-law’s family affairs, but...
Still, Grace felt that no matter what, she and Jade Rowan were both daughters-in-law of the family. She was here living well, while Jade was downstairs starving and freezing. It made her feel a little uneasy.
So she continued trying to persuade her. "Mom, we should at least take some coal to Cameron and his family. The heating is off now, and without coal, the temperature inside is colder than an icebox... Clark is still so young. If he gets seriously ill from the cold, what would we do then..."
Miss Lowell also chimed in. "That’s right. In this weather, frostbite is no joke. Cameron may have done a lot of wrong over the years, but Clark hasn’t done anything wrong. We can’t let him freeze along with his father. At the end of the day, the child is innocent..."
At the thought of her daughter-in-law, Jade Rowan, and her grandson, Clark Summers, the grandmother’s resolute expression wavered slightly.
Hearing this, Melody also stepped forward and said, "Grandma, my aunt and Miss Lowell are right. It’s just too cold right now. People could really die with the heating off. We should take some coal over to Third Uncle’s place!"
Seeing that Melody agreed, her grandma was silent for a moment. Finally, she sighed, nodded, and said in a low voice, "...Fine, just the coal then... If you bring anything else, he’ll definitely find a way to gamble it away!..."
