After my sister broke up with her boyfriend, she moved into my place. The day after her boyfriend came to apologize and beg for reconciliation, a terrifying heatwave hit. That night, she used the excuse that her boyfriend said the spare room was too hot without air conditioning, so she made me move to the spare room. The next day, she said the weather was too hot and people were dying outside, so they needed to stay for a few more days. Her boyfriend took advantage when she wasn’t paying attention and started touching me inappropriately. I told my sister, but she angrily said it was because I was wearing too little and deliberately trying to seduce him. As the food in the house became scarcer, my sister pushed me out the door, saying this way they could eat a bit less. I died from the heat outside. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the moment when my sister was crying to me on the phone. “Emma, Derek was flirting with other women behind my back, and he hit me. I’m breaking up with him,” Lily’s sobbing voice came through the phone, startling me awake. “No matter how much he begs this time, I won’t get back together with him.” “He’s been hanging around outside my apartment every day. Can I stay at your place for a couple of days?” My sister’s tearful voice jolted me. A strong, unshakeable thirst spread through my entire body. The suffocating heat that felt like it was evaporating my very being made me gulp down several large glasses of ice water. When I couldn’t drink anymore, I realized I had been reborn. I had returned to my previous life, to the day when my sister called crying about breaking up. That was indeed the last time I heard her say she wanted to break up in my previous life. Because not long after, a global heatwave was coming. It was an unprecedented, abnormal heatwave. Many people would lose their lives in this event. I was one of them. It was this phone call that led to my death in the subsequent events. My sister, Lily, had dropped out of high school for a man and had been in an on-again, off-again relationship with her dropout boyfriend for years. Every time it was all talk and no action. When she called me, she could hardly speak a sentence without mentioning that man of hers. Every time, she would be cursing her scumbag boyfriend one second, swearing to break up, and the next second she’d be happily posting lovey-dovey content on social media. “Love is about breaking up and getting back together, and in the end, not being able to live without each other,” she’d write, with heart emojis. I remember once asking her why she got back together with him again, wasn’t she breaking up with that jerk? Unexpectedly, she got angry and slapped me. “Emma, what kind of sister are you? Are you jealous of my happiness? Are you cursing me? I gave up my chance to go to college for you, and this is how you repay me?” “You’re worse than an ungrateful wretch.” She berated me as if every breakup was my fault. I angrily turned and left, not talking to her for a long time. A few days later, she called to apologize, then asked to borrow money, saying she was planning to marry Derek and needed to buy a new house. “Emma, I’m not as educated as you, and I don’t earn as much as you do.” “Your sister has finally found someone she wants to spend her life with. Don’t you want me to be happy?” She spoke while crying, implying that I owed her because I got an education and she didn’t. I’ve grown tired of hearing these words over the years. I told her directly that this was the last time, and she shouldn’t use this to guilt-trip me anymore. So when she asked for $200,000, I gritted my teeth and gave it to her. This was money I had saved up through hard work, day and night. It wasn’t the first time I had given her money, but she had never paid me back. After our parents died, she was my only relative left. They always said that Lily had a low education and it wasn’t easy for her to make money outside, so they told me to help her if I could. I never hesitated when she needed something. She had taken nearly $300,000 from me over time, with reasons ranging from buying a house to losing her job due to her low education level. The real reason was that her boyfriend was a lazy good-for-nothing who had racked up a mountain of debt, and she was happily following behind, cleaning up his messes. That night, I had an acute appendicitis attack. The pain was excruciating. I managed to drag myself to the hospital for surgery. The surgery cost 5,000,butaftergivingherthemoney,Ionlyhad5,000,butaftergivingherthemoney,Ionlyhad2,000 left. I called her asking for $3,000 for the surgery, but she cried and repeated her old excuses. “Emma, you know your sister didn’t go to school and doesn’t have many skills…” I hung up before she could say more and borrowed the money from a colleague. The night after the surgery, I was tossing and turning in bed, feeling awful. I opened social media and saw my sister had posted about having a candlelit dinner with Derek in an elegantly decorated restaurant. I turned off my phone, feeling a chill run through me. I was in agony from surgery, and my own sister wouldn’t give me a penny, but she was enjoying a candlelit dinner with my money. For two weeks after the surgery, she didn’t call me once. From then on, I never answered her calls again. Until this morning, when I received photos she sent of her being abused by Derek. The handprint on her face was obvious, and the bruises on her thighs and arms were particularly noticeable. She looked like she had been badly beaten. I instinctively became worried. After all, she was my only relative left, and I couldn’t ignore her. I called her back, and just like now, she was sobbing and talking about breaking up. They had broken up and gotten back together before, but it had never been this serious. Afraid she might be abused, I agreed to let her stay with me for a couple of days. Little did I know that as soon as she arrived, Derek would show up too. I angrily tried to kick Derek out, but she cried and begged me, saying Derek owed loan sharks money and would be beaten to death if I kicked him out. She asked me to help her one more time, let them hide for a few days, saying it was too hot to find a new place now. I softened once again, telling myself this would be the last time. But I never expected that this time, they would shamelessly move in with me. Complaining that the spare room was too hot without air conditioning, saying they might get heatstroke, they made me move to the spare room. I was so hot I was only wearing a t-shirt and shorts when Derek suddenly barged into my room, his eyes roving over me lecherously. I screamed in fright. But my sister angrily accused me of trying to seduce her boyfriend. Finally, using the excuse that there wasn’t enough food, they said they were guests and told me to go out and buy groceries. They pushed me out the door. It was so hot outside that it was unbearable. I knocked on the door, begging my sister to let me in, but she said there wasn’t enough food for three people anymore, and with one less person, they could last a few more days. Better for one to die than all three. No matter how much I knocked, she wouldn’t open the door. I kept knocking persistently, but she remained coldly indifferent and never opened up. In the end, I slowly died of dehydration, feeling utterly heartbroken. “The weather bureau reports that today’s highest temperature will be 111°F. High temperatures will persist for the next week. Please take precautions against heatstroke and minimize going outdoors…” The familiar weather forecast was playing on the TV, and my sister’s sobbing came through the phone again. “Emma, Derek hit me. You won’t abandon your sister, will you?” Seeing that I didn’t respond, Lily quietly asked.
In my previous life, that feeling of thirst so intense it made my heart race, yet also chilling to the bone, rose up again. I gulped down another large glass of ice water to suppress it. Not hearing me speak, Lily’s crying grew louder, and her tone suddenly became sharp. “Emma, if I had been the one to go to college back then, would I have to beg you like this? Have you forgotten what you promised Mom and Dad?” “I’m your only sister. How can you be so heartless, watching me get beaten?” “Do you want me to make a scene every day at your home and office, telling everyone how ungrateful and inhumane you are?” Here we go again. She seems to only know how to repeat this one line over and over. I’ve helped her so much more over the years. Whenever things don’t go her way, she takes out her frustrations on me with baseless accusations. She has never shown any gratitude. Even when disaster struck in my previous life, she coldly pushed me out to die. Remembering the desperation and suffocation I felt before dying in my previous life, Lily’s cold face kept flashing before my eyes. Gripping the phone tightly, I spoke softly, “Do you really want to come stay with me?” Sensing an opportunity, Lily quickly nodded, her voice taking on a hint of joy. “He owes a ton of money and keeps hitting me. There’s no way I can keep living like this.” “Emma, I knew you were my dear sister. I knew you wouldn’t abandon me.” A smile played on my lips as I spoke again, “Sis, are you absolutely sure about this?” She seemed surprised that I hadn’t rushed out to help her like before. Her tone started to become impatient: “Emma, are you done?” I took a deep breath and finally said to let her move in three days later, as I was currently away on a business trip. She quickly agreed. In my previous life, Lily had also come over three days later. Thinking carefully about her personality, she probably wanted to rush over immediately. Even if I said I was away on a business trip, she would likely camp out in front of my building waiting for me. If I guessed correctly, Derek probably got into a fight over the money he owed and was now being held at the police station. Derek owed a ton of debt and had assaulted someone, so he was on the run hiding everywhere. Lily was waiting at home for three days for him to be released, then planning to occupy my place long-term. Since she wanted to come, let her come then.
Thinking about the unprecedented and brutal heatwave that was about to hit, I felt a chill. Most people would lose their lives in this natural disaster. Besides the food shortage, there would also be insufficient water and electricity supply in high-rise buildings, and heatstroke would be rampant. Since heaven had given me another chance, I needed to use these three days to make thorough preparations. This time, I was going to take good care of myself. First, I rented a large villa with a basement nearby. I had looked at these villas when I was house hunting before. They all came with basements. The basement temperature was cool and perfect for avoiding the heat. At the time, I thought the first floor was too dark, needing lights on day and night, so I didn’t go for it. Now in this weather, it was perfect to rent it, in case of sudden power outages later when air conditioners and fans couldn’t run normally. Also, the villa was far from others, which would draw less attention, making it convenient for me to store supplies later. As soon as I stepped inside, I felt the coolness hit me. I took out the jacket I had prepared and put it on. The male realtor who had brought me here involuntarily shivered and hugged himself, then smiled and introduced the place. “Ma’am, this is the villa with a basement you requested. Except for the poor lighting on the first floor, how do you like the rest?” He trailed off, looking at me strangely. After all, young people nowadays prefer houses with good lighting and bright rooms when renting. While I was oddly looking for a place where you couldn’t see the sun even in broad daylight and needed to turn on lights as soon as you entered. Although the weather was indeed very hot now, everyone had air conditioning at home. I paid him the money and, seeing he seemed nice, started chatting with him. “The weather is so hot. Several elderly people back home got sick with heatstroke after being outside too long. They can’t even go out to buy vegetables. This house is cool and cheap, so I can save some money too.” I’m not sure if he understood my meaning, and I couldn’t be too obvious about it. After finding the house, I continued shopping for the supplies I needed. I borrowed a small tricycle and spent most of the day going to a wholesale market about ten miles away. I bought dozens of boxes of instant noodles and canned food, and brought them home to store. Then I went to other places further away to buy some vacuum-packed vegetables and fruits. I put all these things in the basement, and finally ordered several super large refrigerators online. I also went to buy several boxes of wholesale ice cream, snacks, and so on. After staying in the basement for a while, I couldn’t help but shiver. Suddenly inspired, I bought a set of hot pot cookware. Then I went to other places to buy ingredients for hot pot, like beef, chicken, and so on. I bought quite a lot and stuffed it all into my big refrigerator, filling it to the brim. Thinking about how unpredictable people can be during disasters, for safety and self-defense, I also went to a knife shop to buy some weapons for protection, and picked up a bag of mouse traps while I was at it. Finally, thinking about the possibility of water and power outages, I bought several large water storage tanks with purifiers. I also learned online how to make a solar power panel. In addition, I stocked up on plenty of backup medicine to prevent heatstroke, just in case. Of course, I was very cautious while doing all this, afraid of drawing attention. I dressed inconspicuously and wore a baseball cap. By the time I finished all of this, three days had passed. Looking at the room full of supplies I had stockpiled, I was very satisfied. It would be enough to last half a year. In my previous life, experts on TV said the extreme heat would end in two months at most. I had stayed home eating and drinking with them for half a month, until food became scarce and I was pushed out. At this point, Lily’s call came in.
“Emma, I’m already at your door. You’re still not back?” Her breathing was a bit heavy as she spoke, likely because it was indeed very hot outside. I sat leisurely on the couch enjoying the air conditioning, and said slowly, “Sis, my car won’t arrive until tonight. Why don’t you find a coffee shop to rest in…” Before I could finish, she hung up. It was getting dark outside. I ate dinner, called a cab, and headed home. Lily was standing in the hallway outside my apartment, empty-handed. The bruises on her face hadn’t faded, and you could still see clear handprints. I didn’t rush to show concern like I used to. She brushed back her sweaty, matted hair and glared at me with fiery eyes. “Why are you only getting back now? I’ve been here for so long.” Before I could speak, she snatched my bag, took out the keys, and opened the door. She kept complaining, “I told you to make me a copy of the key.” Once inside, she immediately turned on the air conditioning and started rummaging through my fridge. She took out a large, unpeeled durian. “At least you had the decency to buy this for me.” I looked at the durian in her hands, inwardly frustrated that I had forgotten about it. I could only watch as Lily opened it up. She set aside one large, intact piece of flesh and hastily devoured the smaller pieces. When she had eaten her fill, she picked up the large piece and looked at me warily: “Emma, I’m saving this. Don’t you dare touch it.”
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