Chapter 448: Chapter 448: Director Xie
Hearing what Clark Summers said, Jay Lowell was tempted. He turned to Saul Archer, asking for his opinion with a look.
But Saul Archer slowly shook his head and said to Clark Summers, "What’s that supposed to mean? Who the hell do you take me for? I’m a legitimate businessman, not some home-invading robber!"
Saul Archer wasn’t an idiot. Seeing the wound on Clark Summers’s head, he knew the "grandma’s house" Clark mentioned was no easy target. ’They’d even crack their own grandson’s skull open,’ he thought. ’They’re definitely not the kind of pushovers you can just walk all over.’
Besides, Saul Archer had no intention of getting into home invasion right now. It might be a natural disaster, but society hadn’t completely collapsed. The police were still on the job!
Saul Archer was currently organizing gambling rings. Even if the police caught him, the worst he’d get was a prison sentence of three to ten years. If he was lucky, he’d be released after a period of detention.
But home invasion was different. The maximum penalty for home invasion was death!
Saul Archer could tell the difference between detention and a death sentence.
Not only that, but the returns from gambling and home invasion were completely different.
Saul Archer was running a gambling operation here, and hordes of gamblers were willingly handing over their supplies. Why would he take a desperate risk on a capital offense like home invasion?
Knowing he couldn’t squeeze anything more out of Clark Summers, Saul Archer spat at him and said coldly, "Alright, get lost. I’m feeling generous, so I’ll let you go for now... But don’t you forget, I still have your IOU! We’re not done yet!"
Saul Archer decided that once the snow disaster was over, he’d sell the IOU to a professional debt collection agency. If all went according to plan, Clark Summers would be hounded by debt collectors for the rest of his life...
******
Because of what happened with Clark Summers, a heavy mood had settled over the Summers household for the past few days.
This oppressive atmosphere didn’t last long, however. Time slipped by quietly, and in the blink of an eye, it was the last day of 2026.
The impending start of a new year diluted the heavy mood in the Summers’ home.
Even though it was just the Gregorian New Year, everyone was still happy. The snowstorm outside had stopped, and the temperature was no longer dropping. In fact, there were faint signs of it warming up.
Melody Summers knew that if they could just hold out for another two months, the temperature would begin to rise sharply in March. The long-awaited warmth of spring and blooming flowers would return.
To celebrate the New Year, the staff at the Emergency Response Office had dug out some rice and white sugar from the government’s supplies, preparing to cook several large pots of congee to distribute to the homeowners at the shelter.
Melody Summers heard about this. Having nothing better to do, she went over to join in the fun.
Unexpectedly, just as Melody reached the 23rd floor, she witnessed a farce.
In the 23rd-floor hallway, a well-dressed man and woman were dragging two suitcases and arguing with Winnie Summers.
The young woman, dressed in a mink coat and high heels, looked down her nose at Winnie and said, "I refuse to stay in the same room as them! Those people smell like they haven’t bathed in at least a year. The stench is nauseating! We want a private room!"
The man beside her pointed a finger at Winnie and said in a low, firm voice, "You have to arrange a private room for us! We refuse to live with other people!"
Melody frowned at the sight. ’What are these two thinking? A private room? Do they think this shelter is a hotel suite?’
Hearing their demands, Winnie shook her head and replied, "Space in the shelter is extremely tight right now. It’s impossible to make special arrangements. It was already difficult enough to find two spots for you."
The woman in the mink coat grew angry. She stomped her foot and said to Winnie, "What do you mean it’s impossible? I think you’re doing this on purpose. Are you jealous that we have money, so you’re targeting us?"
Faced with their unreasonable tantrum, Winnie remained composed. She said coldly, "There are only so many rooms. All the homeowners from the entire building are crowded in here. I can’t make special arrangements for you. You can either take what you’re given or leave!"
The man fell silent for a moment, then said, "Alright, how about this? Since you can’t make the arrangements, we won’t stay here. Just give us five hundred pounds of coal, and we’ll go back to our own home. How does that sound?"
He framed it as a negotiation, but his tone was that of someone giving an order.
Melody rolled her eyes when she heard that. ’Five hundred pounds of coal?! They’ve really got some nerve! Why don’t they just ask for the moon while they’re at it?’
The woman in the mink coat chimed in, "That’s right. These supplies were sent by the government for the homeowners in this complex. A portion of it is rightfully ours. There’s nothing wrong with us taking the coal that belongs to us, is there?"
Winnie rubbed her temples and replied, "Fine. If you aren’t staying here, I can give you twenty pounds of coal."
The pair stared at her, stunned, and blurted out in unison—
"Only twenty pounds?!"
"What good is twenty pounds!"
Winnie answered, "Based on an equal distribution per person, you’re only entitled to about twenty pounds."
The woman in the mink coat frowned and challenged her, "I don’t believe you! How could the government be so stingy with its supply drop? Did you people at the Emergency Response Office embezzle the supplies?!"
Winnie sighed and patiently explained, "Please don’t make baseless accusations. Every batch of supplies has an intake record; embezzlement is impossible. The amount of coal delivered this time was genuinely very small. It’s precisely because of the coal shortage that we’ve gathered all the homeowners together for warmth."
Hearing Winnie’s explanation, the man’s expression turned very unpleasant.
Twenty pounds was far too little. It wasn’t nearly enough to last until the end of the snow disaster.
He thought for a moment, his eyes darting around, then lowered his voice. "You’re the ones managing these supplies anyway. No one would know if five hundred pounds of coal went missing... What if I buy it from you with cash?"
Hearing this, the woman beside him nodded frantically. She took off her gloves, removed the pearl necklace from her neck, and said to Winnie, "This pearl necklace is made of Australian South Sea pearls! It’s very expensive! How about I trade you this for the coal?"
Seeing that Winnie was unmoved, the woman took off two earrings and several rings from her hand, holding them up in front of Winnie’s face and rattling off, "This is Hetian jade! This is a diamond! This is a sapphire! And this is an emerald!"
"I’ll trade you all this jewelry for five hundred pounds of coal. And after the power is back on, I’ll even transfer you a bonus for your trouble. How about it?!"
Winnie shook her head decisively. Of course, she couldn’t agree to that.
After a moment’s thought, she decided to give the woman a warning. "You should probably put that jewelry away. It’s crowded here, and someone might take it."
Seeing that Winnie was completely unyielding, the man’s temper flared. With one hand on his hip, he pointed at Winnie and roared, "You stubborn woman, you’re going to do this the hard way, aren’t you? Do you have any idea who I am? One phone call from me, and all you low-level grunts will be out of a job!"
Hearing this, Melody couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
She was just about to step forward and ask who this impressive man and woman were when suddenly, the door to 2305 opened.
A man in a gray down jacket with a red armband hurried out. The red armband was the symbol of an Emergency Response Office member.
Melody recognized the man in the gray jacket. She remembered his name was Harvey Jennings, and he was also an employee of the property management center.
Harvey Jennings walked up to Winnie and the couple, saying repeatedly, "A misunderstanding! This is all a misunderstanding!"
Harvey Jennings bowed slightly to the man and woman and said in a placating tone, "Director Sheffield, we’re all on the same side here. Let’s not argue!"
