Chapter 34: Black Pearl Dinner

The glass windows in Jiang Yan’s apartment were double-layered.

They insulated against heat and cold, and were even bulletproof.

In addition, she had the renovation company apply a layer of the latest foreign-developed single-permeable composite glass film, originally designed for luxury cars.

This film not only had excellent heat and cold insulation but also a special feature: she could see clearly outside.

But for anyone outside, even if she didn’t draw the curtains, her room appeared completely dark.

The privacy was excellent.

This effectively prevented nosy people from “peeping” with telescopes or drones.

After adjusting the telescope’s interpupillary distance and other settings, Jiang Yan looked at the group of people in the garden.

A few officials in white shirts and black trousers were talking to the property management staff.

The community manager and a few supervisors were also present.

They spoke as they walked toward the underground garage.

Everyone wore helmets and gloves, covering all exposed skin.

Of course, their faces were red and flushed from the heat, even redder than freshly cooked shrimp.

Officials?

Underground garage?

Jiang Yan quickly ran these two phrases through her mind and suddenly realized.

Qianshui Bay had five buildings, with roughly over five hundred households.

If parking spaces were built one-to-one, there would be at least five hundred.

Assuming each car parking space was ten square meters, the underground garage would total over five thousand square meters.

This didn’t include scattered civil defense parking spaces.

So, with the current extreme heat, it was likely that the underground parking spaces were being temporarily requisitioned as cooling shelters for residents.

However, most parking spaces had been sold, and a few were for rent.

Whether the owners were willing to move their cars was a major problem.

Cars left outside faced not only heat-related issues but also safety concerns.

What puzzled Jiang Yan was that in this extreme heat, such arrangements could have been handled by an official notice or a phone call.

She couldn’t guess why they came in person.

Qianshui Bay was on relatively high ground, with good geological structure.

The developer was a state-level company, and the building quality was solid.

Normally, this wouldn’t be a standout feature compared to things like school district or transportation convenience.

But during the rainy season, these buildings fared much better than many urban apartments.

Could the officials have already predicted heavy rain following the heatwave?

After all, she had been reborn; perhaps among the top officials there were some extraordinary individuals as well.

But this question would only be answered later.

Jiang Yan didn’t dwell on it.

The group didn’t emerge from the garage for half a day.

They probably went straight into the building from the underground garage.

She put away her telescope and turned her attention to a more immediate concern: what to eat tonight.

For lunch, she had simple cold noodles in the warehouse, which sufficed for a quick meal.

Tonight, she wanted a proper feast.

Especially today marked a milestone: she had stocked all necessary supplies before the disaster hit.

It was worth celebrating.

Jiang Yan retrieved a bottle of top-tier red wine worth over seventy thousand, along with a single-serving natural crystal decanter and a wine glass.

To add a sense of ceremony, she also brought out a candelabra and a luxury table runner from her former villa to decorate the dining table.

She uncorked the wine, poured it into the decanter to breathe, then went to the bathroom.

She soaked in a leisurely rose-scented bath, dried her hair, and changed into a light, cool silk nightgown before moving to the dining table.

Leaning slightly, she brought her nose close to the decanter. The sweet fragrance of linden flowers rose, and the wine had breathed perfectly.

Outside, it was already dark, with a terrifying temperature of 58°C.

In the garden, streetlights glowed dimly, with no visible human figures.

But the silhouettes of blood mosquitoes could be faintly seen.

Their size and number had visibly increased.

In the neighboring residential buildings, every home had lights on.

Some frantically filled bathtubs with water; others hurried to prepare rice and dishes while electricity, water, and gas still worked.

Some wielded feather dusters, angrily scolding children; couples were shouting and fighting; some elderly or children, suffering from heat-related illnesses, knelt on the ground and cried.

A few households had installed air conditioners in the past two days, facing the same problems Jiang Yan had encountered that afternoon.

However, Jiang Yan had dealt with it directly at the door, sometimes violently and decisively.

These other households, clearly less prepared, had to negotiate and plead with others after opening doors.

Two families, already large, still couldn’t resist neighbors persistently moving in with them.

Everyone knew that power would soon be cut, and even air conditioning wouldn’t last long.

Yet some clung to hope, believing official announcements: survive these two days, and temperature, water, electricity, and gas would return.

Additionally, Qianshui Bay’s property management had backup power, enough for two to three days.

Of course, some families were harmonious, or young couples ignored the heat, cozy together.

In short, life was full of flavors: sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy.

But none of that concerned her.

After a quick glance, Jiang Yan closed the curtains with her phone.

She had decided on tonight’s menu during her bath: selected dishes from a certain Black Pearl restaurant.

Peppery Angus veal steak, dried mushroom crystal tiger prawn balls, lemongrass glass-crisp squab, garlic butter baked lobster, seasonal vegetables in broth, coconut braised fresh abalone, tempura golden sparrow flowers, refreshing seaweed salad, and osmanthus rice wine dessert.

With a thought, the four meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, one soup, one cold dish, and one dessert instantly appeared neatly on the dining table.

Though the table seemed crowded, each portion was small.

Four translucent, chewy prawn balls.

Two small crispy roasted squabs.

Three small bites of tender green seaweed.

Half a small bowl of fragrant, sweet-and-sour rice wine dessert.

The large plates were just for presentation.

When ordering from these Black Pearl restaurants, five-star hotels, and traditional establishments, she bought the dishes with their containers.

Though more expensive, this ensured exquisite plating.

As a former food blogger, she valued color, aroma, flavor, and presentation.

With the space’s preservation and warming effects, the dishes were just like freshly served, saving her the trouble of reheating.