Tang Xiaoman took Fubao out, and was immediately hit by a wave of blazing sunlight that made her dizzy.
It was only a little after seven in the morning, but a huge, glaring sun was already hanging in the sky, hotter than a normal noon.
A faint, hazy steam seemed to float in the air. The ground felt like a giant griddle placed over fire—hot enough to cook pancakes at any moment.
Fubao whimpered nonstop, lifting its paws alternately to relieve the burning pain.
Tang Xiaoman quickly opened the car door and called Fubao inside.
She turned the air conditioner to maximum. About ten minutes later, the car finally cooled down.
During the morning rush hour, the sudden heatwave shocked everyone outside, and complaints erupted everywhere.
“It’s weird! It was fine at home during breakfast, but the moment I stepped out it felt like fire was falling from the sky!”
“It’s only morning and the sun is already this intense—what about noon?!”
“The weather forecast didn’t say anything about a heatwave today. Why is it so hot?!”
…
The streets were in chaos. People couldn’t tolerate the sudden heat and either hid inside cars or rushed into nearby buildings for shelter.
Soon, there were almost no pedestrians left—only moving vehicles.
Then the radio broadcast issued a heatwave warning, recommending work and school suspension to prevent heatstroke.
Tang Xiaoman remembered that in her previous life, after the heatwave came torrential rain, typhoons, and floods—but why had the heat arrived earlier?
The heatwave, the prelude to the apocalypse, had advanced by half a month.
Even though the car’s air conditioning was strong, sweat still formed in her palms.
Her heart pounded heavily, and even her eyelids twitched.
With memories from her past life, she immediately sensed something was off.
If the heatwave had come early, did that mean the rainstorms, typhoons, and floods would also come earlier?
Tang Xiaoman bit her lip and decided to speed everything up and race against time.
She picked up her phone and called the renovation company manager.
“I’m the owner of Villa 98 in Tianlai Manor. Has the renovation been completed?”
The manager was surprised. “According to the contract, it should be completed tomorrow.”
“Can you finish it today? As long as quality is maintained, I’ll pay extra for early completion.”
Money worked instantly.
The manager’s tone became polite. “That… is a bit difficult, but we can manage! I’ll send more workers. We’ll aim to finish before lunch!”
After hanging up, Tang Xiaoman immediately contacted several inspection agencies—renovation material quality testing, explosion-proof glass certification, bulletproof material grading, and a water quality testing center.
Normally, these required appointments, but she offered an extra 100,000 per order.
They all agreed to arrive at 1:30 PM.
After settling this, she drove straight to the electronics mall to stock up on appliances for her space.
The sudden heat disrupted many lives, especially those deprived of freedom—like Gu Heng.
Inside the detention center, Gu Heng nearly passed out from heatstroke.
He demanded a room with stronger air conditioning but was rejected, and he cursed loudly.
The guards, already irritated by the heat, turned off the surveillance cameras—and even the air conditioner.
Gu Heng, already half-dead from heat, couldn’t endure it.
He gasped like a fish out of water.
He crawled to the bathroom, trying to cool down with water.
But the tap water was hot.
His vision spun, and he collapsed inside the steam-filled bathroom…
Tang Xiaoman parked at the mall’s underground parking lot but didn’t turn off the engine.
It was too hot—she needed the air conditioning.
Even the underground garage was stifling, though slightly cooler than outside.
The elevator, thankfully, was air-conditioned.
At the appliance store, she bought ten large freezers, five battery-powered medicine refrigerators, twenty car fridges, and twenty air-cooling fans.
She left her Tianlai Manor address and returned to the car with Fubao.
Outside again, the roads were burning hot, steaming.
To protect Fubao’s paws, she took out a large backpack from her space. Fubao climbed inside and was carried into the shop.
At a water sports store, she picked up twenty gas masks and twenty sets of biohazard suits.
After paying, she left.
Through the rearview mirror, she spotted several suspicious shadows tailing her.
She sneered. “Even in a heatwave, they still don’t stop following me. So dedicated.”
With Fubao guarding her, she ignored them and continued her business.
Next stop—buy gold bricks at the bank.
After four hours of emergency treatment, Gu Heng barely survived heatstroke.
Old Madam Gu cried bitterly, holding him.
“It’s all that damn Tang Xiaoman’s fault! She ruined my precious grandson!”
Su Rou wiped her tears softly. “Sister has gone too far… she targeted me, then Su Ke, then even sent Sister Shu Jia to jail… I didn’t expect her to be so ruthless toward Ah Heng…”
Old Madam Gu suddenly froze.
“Could it be… Tang Xiaoman bribed the guards to kill Ah Heng?!”
Everyone was shocked.
Su Cheng and Liu Yaqin immediately joined in condemnation, calling Tang Xiaoman vicious and unworthy of mercy.
Gu Heng, weak but conscious, was also filled with hatred.
He had originally thought Tang Xiaoman’s rebellion was just a tantrum to get his attention.
He underestimated her—and now nearly lost his life.
He had planned to:
But everything failed.
Now, after surviving death, Gu Heng finally became cautious.
“I want Tang Xiaoman’s new phone number. I need to talk to her,” he said coldly.