I never expected that the day before the extreme heatwave hit, my husband Lucas would secretly bring his parents to live with us against my wishes. My mother-in-law Evelyn, always doting on her son, pushed all the housework onto me. She even demanded that I cook for the whole family in the sweltering 122°F heat of the kitchen. Lucas, usually mild-mannered, suddenly turned hostile towards me. Unable to contain my anger, I got into a huge argument with them. To my shock, Lucas and his parents threw me out of the house. I died of heatstroke outside. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day before the extreme heatwave. This time, I would be the one enjoying the air conditioning and watermelon while watching them slowly starve in this scorching oven. “Honey, my parents want to move in with us. We can all enjoy the air conditioning together and save on electricity bills,” Lucas said, leaning against the doorframe in his t-shirt, nervously rubbing his nose as he looked at me. I froze, as memories flooded back. Looking at my smooth, hydrated skin in the mirror, I realized I had been reborn. I had bought this house outright specifically to avoid living with my in-laws. Lucas used to be a normal person, but whenever his mother was around, he would revert to being a mama’s boy. In my previous life, I had firmly refused. But on the day I returned to work after my vacation, Lucas secretly brought his parents over. Accompanying them was Chloe, his mother’s newly adopted goddaughter. Chloe was actually the daughter-in-law Evelyn had in mind for Lucas. As soon as they arrived, they started criticizing my new house. Evelyn even gave all my skincare and makeup products to Chloe. Lucas, who used to help me with housework and cooking, became completely hands-off. The whole family would sit on the couch watching TV, dumping all the chores on me when I got home from work. Evelyn would even throw pistachio shells on the floor while I was sweeping. Lucas just watched, never saying a word in my defense. Fed up, I got into a huge argument with them. To my surprise, the usually docile Lucas exploded in anger, joining his parents in throwing me out. By then, the outdoor temperature had soared to 122°F as the extreme heatwave hit. I nearly died of dehydration outside. When I tried to return home, I found that Evelyn and Lucas had locked the door, ignoring my desperate pleas no matter how hoarse I screamed. In the end, I died of heatstroke outside the door. That extreme heatwave lasted two months. The food I had stocked up was barely enough for them to survive… Recalling this, I shuddered and gulped down water from my cup. Even after finishing it, I still felt parched, the memory of that thirst lingering. “Honey, there’s hardly anyone left in our hometown now. My parents are getting depressed with no one to talk to in the countryside,” Lucas said cautiously. “Sure, let’s bring them over!” I replied with a cold smile. He carefully watched my reaction, knowing that not only had I bought this house, but I also paid for everything we ate, wore, and used. His initial promise was that his parents would never interfere with our lives. Just six months into our marriage, he was already eager to revert to being a mama’s boy. I suppressed the hatred in my eyes and said, “The countryside has lots of mosquitoes and no air conditioning. It’s perfect for them to come escape the heat.” I couldn’t wait for them to come to their deaths.
Lucas was both surprised and delighted by my response. This was the first time I hadn’t objected when he mentioned his parents. Due to my change in attitude, Lucas eagerly drove my new Audi back to his hometown the next day to pick up his parents. It was five days earlier than in my previous life. After he left, I installed cameras in the bedroom and living room, adjusted the angles, found good hiding spots, and made sure my phone could receive real-time footage. Then I requested time off work. With the two-month extreme heatwave approaching, who would still be working? I had a habit of stocking up during sales seasons, so we had plenty of food and dry goods at home. I selected most of the ingredients, packed them up, and put them in another car in the underground garage. Then I drove back to my in-laws’ old home in the countryside they were so eager to leave. This village was indeed deserted, with everyone having moved to the city. My in-laws would never expect me to spend the extreme heatwave in the place they wanted to escape. The countryside, surrounded by greenery, without exhaust-spewing cars or the urban heat island effect, was actually ideal for escaping the heat. I cleaned the house a bit, then unloaded everything from the trunk. I also contacted a large appliance store in the city to order air conditioners and several large refrigerators. Even in the countryside, it would be hard to survive temperatures over 122°F without air conditioning. Then I ordered a diesel generator and several hundred liters of fuel from an acquaintance. During the extreme heatwave, besides food and water, electricity was crucial. In my previous life, many elderly people were too frugal to use air conditioning. There were also some new mothers who followed outdated postpartum practices, refusing to use air conditioning or fans. They ended up dying of heatstroke at home. Since heaven had given me another chance at life, I was determined to survive this ordeal and live on. Seeing that the sun was about to set, I decided to purchase other items next time. I drove home to find that my in-laws hadn’t arrived yet. Lucas was probably showing them around before bringing them back. The chicken, duck, abalone, and sea cucumber I had taken out to defrost earlier were mostly thawed. I even extravagantly used the bottled mineral water we had stocked to cook. With the in-laws and goddaughter coming to visit, I had to properly entertain them, right?
By the time I finished cooking, I could hear Evelyn complaining loudly in the hallway. “Son, how can that Amber compare to our Chloe? Knowing we’re coming, she didn’t even come to pick us up. Who knows what kind of airs she’s putting on.” Through the door, I heard Lucas try to defend me: “Mom, keep your voice down. She bought this house, you know!” Hearing this, my father-in-law George got angry. “Bah! How could a woman afford to buy a house on her own? Women like her are just scammers. Who knows what shady business she was involved in before.” Evelyn quickly agreed: “Exactly. Son, you need to find a pure and innocent girl to spend your life with.” “Even if this woman has one apartment, she’s still not good enough for my son. Even if she owned an entire building, she wouldn’t deserve you.” These narrow-minded people were always like this. Without money themselves, they suspected others of having ill-gotten gains. They fundamentally didn’t respect women, seeing them only as men’s accessories. Even though Lucas was mooching off me, his mother would always think he was superior to me. Her rose-colored glasses when it came to her precious son were thicker than the Great Wall. It was my own fault for being blind back then. I thought he wouldn’t pose any threat to me, and with family pressuring me to get married, I just muddle-headedly went through with it. My hand unconsciously clenched into a fist at my side, nails digging into my palm. In this life, I would return all the suffering they had inflicted on me, with interest. As soon as the door opened, the whole family rushed in with their bags, shoving me into a corner. Acting like they couldn’t see me, they started moving their luggage inside. From the looks of it, they had brought their entire household, filling up my entryway and living room. “Sister, what delicious food did you make? It smells so good!” I finally spotted Chloe behind the luggage. She had deliberately dressed up in a cute pink dress and high heels, even wearing perfume. No wonder there was such a pungent smell. I quickly put on a facade, bringing out the dishes and setting a large table, inviting them to eat. But this only earned me a scolding from Evelyn. “Don’t you know we just came in from outside and are dying of heat? How can we eat now? Are you trying to give me diarrhea?” George, without taking off his shoes, propped his feet up on the sofa and lay down under the air conditioning vent, starting to order me around. “Bring the food over here. I’ll eat after I cool down.” Chloe raised her manicured nails, pretending to help me carry the plates. Evelyn quickly pulled her back: “You’re a guest. Why should you do any work? Let her do it alone.” Lucas glanced at me tentatively. Seeing that I didn’t show any displeasure, he also sat down reassured.
Once the food was on the table, they started eating without waiting for me. Even though I had deliberately made a lavish meal, they still had to find fault. “This meat is too greasy. Don’t you know how to cook? Making it like this!” “You sure know how to enjoy life, eating abalone and sea cucumber every day while leaving us to eat expired pasta in the countryside.” The old couple was putting on an act again. If you eat garbage, it must be because you love eating garbage. It has nothing to do with me. Besides, Lucas sends you plenty of money every month! I remained silent, letting them complain. After dinner, they all sat in the living room watching TV, leaving me alone to clean up the dishes. I opened the refrigerator, intending to put away the leftovers for tomorrow. Suddenly, Evelyn rushed over and knocked the plate out of my hand. “Keeping leftover food? Are you trying to feed us leftovers? Is this what you usually feed my son? No wonder he’s gotten so thin.” As she spoke, Evelyn started wailing dramatically: “Oh, my poor son! What a hard life you have!” It was like she was crying at a funeral. George also ran over, kicking me twice and spitting at me. Chloe stood to the side, gloating with her arms folded. “Sister, we’re used to eating leftovers in the countryside. We came to the city hoping to eat something nice.” I still didn’t resist them. Driving them away now would ruin all my plans. I packed up the leftovers and took them out to give to the homeless man under the bridge. The leftovers you look down on are delicacies others can only dream of. They talk as if they used to raise their son so preciously in the countryside. Now they’re disgusted by leftovers, but in a while, they won’t even have this to eat. In the evening, Evelyn barged into the master bedroom and took over my bed, moving all my skincare and makeup products from my vanity to the guest room for Chloe to use. Chloe put on an act of reluctance: “Mom, this doesn’t seem right! These belong to my sister-in-law.” She said the words of refusal but didn’t even glance at me. Evelyn glared at me fiercely: “Always wasting money buying this and that. Taking such good care of your skin, who are you trying to seduce?” Then she turned to her goddaughter and said softly: “Chloe, take these. Your brother likes it when you use these cosmetics.” She can have them. What I left behind were all opened products I hadn’t finished using, and I had added quite a few extra ingredients to them. As for those unopened skincare products, I had already sent them back to the countryside. Letting her enjoy them one last time before she dies is my act of mercy. The next day, I made another big table of food just like last night, watching them eat their fill. The food in the house was decreasing rapidly. I trembled with excitement.
After lunch, I rented a truck and went to the supermarket. I bought: 15 boxes of pasta 5 bags of flour 20 cases of bottled water 7 barrels of cooking oil 4 boxes of bread 5 boxes of milk 2 boxes of alcohol 5 cases of Coke Plus my favorite lobster, abalone, sea cucumber and various meats. At the market, I bought half a pig, 66 pounds of beef, and 66 pounds of lamb. No need to buy vegetables – my in-laws had planted some in their yard. I’d just pick those and refrigerate them when I got back. I also bought some fruits – watermelon, apples, pears. Fruits spoil easily in high heat, so no need to buy too much. To prevent heatstroke, I bought some common medications like heatstroke medicine. There are lots of insects in the countryside, so I also bought insect repellent. After meeting basic survival needs, next came things for mental stimulation. I downloaded over 10GB of novels, movies and TV shows. I bought Lego sets and puzzles, and selected some books from the bookstore. These things were enough for me to live on for a year, let alone the mere two months of extreme heat.
While I secretly built up my safe house, I continued cooking for my in-laws. Finally, after my unrelenting efforts, only some noodles, tofu skin and other dry goods were left at home. The weather was getting hotter and hotter. Starting tomorrow, temperatures would climb step by step to 122°F. During this time, Evelyn hadn’t been idle either. She kept praising her goddaughter in front of Lucas. “Chloe is like the apple of my eye. The more I look at her, the prettier and more pleasing she becomes.” As she praised Chloe, she would turn the conversation to criticize me, both directly and indirectly. “You’ve been married for over six months now, why haven’t I seen any sign of a baby? This woman only cares about working outside and not taking care of the home. What use is a woman who doesn’t have children?” “You’re our family’s only son. We can’t have you without an heir.” “Women only have these few young years. Once you pass this age, it becomes harder to conceive and give birth.” Before marriage, I had made a firm agreement with Lucas – these five years were the rising period of my career, so having children was out of the question. Perhaps he had gotten too comfortable over the past six months. After listening to his mother’s analysis, he also decided to have a child first. That night, he pressed his body against mine: “Honey, let’s listen to my mom and have a baby first!” I turned and slapped him across the face. Every time it was like this. Things we had agreed on in advance would immediately change as soon as his mother objected. If he’s going to listen to his mom so much, why bother getting married? He might as well spend his whole life with her. That way he’d never have to be weaned and could contentedly remain a mama’s boy forever. The night was still young, and everyone was sleeping lightly. This slap woke up the people in the two adjacent bedrooms. Evelyn ran over and saw the red mark on her precious son’s face. She immediately flew into a rage. “Amber, you wretched woman! I knew you were no good. How dare you hit your husband!” She picked up a broom and threw it at me. When she missed, she tried to run over and pull my hair. George also came to help, but I wasn’t going to just take it. I grabbed George’s toupee right off his head, instantly aging him by over a decade. Chloe took advantage of the chaos to caress Lucas’s face. “I’ll blow on it and the pain will go away.” I grabbed my pre-packed bag and headed for the door. You can just live and die here by yourselves! I heard the sound of the door being locked from inside. “Stay out there for the night, you wretched woman. Don’t even think about coming back!” They seemed to have forgotten that this was the house I bought. I drove both cars out of the garage, parking one in my company’s underground lot, then drove the other back to the countryside. I finally moved into the safe house I had prepared long ago. The outdoor temperature was already very high. I quickly turned on the air conditioning, finally feeling alive again. But this was just the beginning. The true extreme heatwave was about to arrive.
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