Chapter 3
However, the month they spent together that Lang Xin had imagined was in name only. Busy preparations filled every minute and every second. In today's peaceful and orderly society, things that could be avoided with money might no longer be possible in the future.
The day after the confession had already begun to rush. Neither of them was a slow-moving type; having grown up in wealthy families and having studied at a top university in the country for four years and experienced the world, they handled matters with impeccable precision.
First, convert the investments you have into liquid funds.
The virtual currency is traded online, transferred through two World Bank checkpoints, and then remitted to a Hong Kong-based bank, its origin and destination untraceable. The excess property is handled by a dedicated team, and there's no rush to sell it; this little bit of money is just the icing on the cake.
After hiring a professional manager to manage the company, this gaming technology company, which has several signature game IPs of its own, can operate independently. Lang Xin's workload was reduced to once a week, and he felt at ease traveling to H City with Chao Youqian.
H City is a tourist destination, primarily focused on cultural tourism, and many properties are specifically offered as investment properties. Chao Youqian, who had already spent a year at university and had ample savings, still harbored a deep love for real estate from his previous life. During this year of relatively low housing prices, he bought numerous vacation properties, preparing for future use and trading.
Among his favorites is this 500-square-meter apartment on the 26th floor in H City. Firstly, it's located next to a city park, offering fresh air, and it's well-developed with no nearby buildings obstructing the view. The two-elevator-per-unit layout ensures privacy. Secondly, the high ceilings, versatile layout, and comprehensive amenities perfectly satisfy his desire for a home-based lifestyle.
City H is not far from City B, and the high-speed rail takes only an hour to reach. Considering that he could work from home in the financial sector and visit City H for short periods of time, Chao Youqian hired a top-tier renovation company and designer. They installed a full fresh air system, central air conditioning, a water purification system, and underfloor heating. The floors, walls, and windows were all made of the finest materials for soundproofing.
I've been to H City quite a few times in recent years, but rarely have we visited this apartment together. Upon entering the complex, the property management staff eagerly explained that the neighborhood is now much better, with lush vegetation that protects against insects and mosquitoes, and an average temperature 5 degrees Celsius lower than outside.
The community had a total of 108 households, and with Chao Youqian and Lang Xin moving in, there were only 35 residents. Granted, the houses here were expensive, and the large size of the houses required more work to renovate. If it weren't for the apocalypse, Chao Youqian would have only used this place as a temporary tourist stopover, visiting occasionally.
The property manager swiped his card and checked the floor. Since we hadn't officially moved in yet, there were not many furniture and rooms due to the minimalist design. The property's special cleaning team would come to clean once a month.
The entrance door is a vault-grade armored door, explosion-proof, fireproof, noise-proof, and thermally sealed. Chao Youqian envisioned this apartment being used by him and Lang Xin at most. Besides the 100-square-meter living room, there are two bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, a super-soundproof video and game room, a gym, and a separate bathroom for visitors.
The nanny's room was converted into a storage room, and the kitchen and dining room occupy 60 square meters. Two built-in 655L multi-door refrigerators were installed to store beverages. The balcony is enclosed, 20 meters long and 3 meters wide.
The house without residents looked lifeless. The numerous designer storage cabinets were empty, and there was only mineral water in the two refrigerators.
The overall safety level was already very high, and Chao Youqian didn't think there was anything to change. After reading a bunch of survival manuals, Lang Xin suggested, "This building is 27 stories high. Why not buy the top floor as well? We'll need more preparation in case of a power outage. Don't worry, we still have plenty of time to renovate."
Chao Youqian had been spoiled for these years and was a little out of touch with the real world. With Lang Xin helping with the arrangements, he couldn't help but relax a little. Besides, if the wisdom and strength of the two of them were not enough, they could hire a professional team to do part of the work.
So, he immediately decided to buy the top floor as well. It had already been renovated by the real estate agent, and the plumbing, electrical, walls, and flooring were all fully pre-installed. When Lang Xin came to sign the contract, he used the same company that had previously renovated Chao Youqian.
The top floor apartment was planned for storage, water, and power generation. Workers were asked to waterproof and insulate it urgently, at a significant cost. The sloping roof prevented access, and the top floor balcony was larger, practically a terrace with a nice view, but I decided to keep it completely enclosed.
Lang Xin directly asked the decoration team to replace all the glass on the top floor and Chao Youqian's house with double-layer bulletproof and explosion-proof glass to prevent peeping, and to make it according to the most expensive and wind-resistant specifications.
The layout is still four bedrooms, two living rooms and three bathrooms. The two bathrooms have been converted into water storage rooms. A hidden water pipe is connected to the water purifier from the roof. As long as it rains, the pipe can be opened to store purified water, which is enough for two people to use for a month.
The master bedroom with its own bathroom remained, and the other three rooms were used for storage, though they would be filled in after the renovations were complete. There was no sofa in the living room; Lang Xin didn't bother waiting for custom furniture, so he simply bought ready-made storage cabinets and installed them on the existing TV wall.
After applying to the property management and relevant departments, the two floors of the house were connected, with stairs connecting the upper and lower floors, and a slide on the side to facilitate transporting things down from upstairs.
The most important thing was to connect both rooms to a secondary circuit to prevent power outages. The rooftop balcony is large, covering an area of 80 square meters and is completely covered with photovoltaic panels. The nanny's room adjacent to the balcony has been equipped with precautionary measures: half is powered by solar batteries, and the other half is powered by battery storage.
To prevent the central air conditioning from breaking down and becoming difficult to repair, we installed top-of-the-line air conditioners in all three bedrooms. The outdoor units are both heat-resistant and waterproof, making them easy to repair. The downstairs kitchen didn't require much modification, with only three 826L freezers and a refrigerator of the same model as the one downstairs added to the upstairs kitchen.
In fact, villas seem to be more suitable for survival in the end times, but current regulations prohibit illegal construction, and no matter how high the walls of the villa are built, they cannot prevent the prying of interested people, and the privacy is not as good as that of a large flat in the sky.
As a backup option, since they had the money, they couldn't afford to neglect the renovation of the villa. They didn't do much to the garden outside, just replaced the door with the strongest armored door and replaced all the floor-to-ceiling windows with anti-theft windows.
The villa had already been renovated according to the real estate developer's master plan; they had simply planned the space for use. The second basement floor connected to the garage, housing an SUV and a new energy vehicle, and photovoltaic panels were installed on the top floor, covered in transparent waterproof bags.
Other facilities are the same as those in the large flat, including water purification, fresh air, water storage, etc. Because it is a single-family house, the solar panel installation area is larger, and a solar generator is installed on the fourth floor.
The renovation and transformation of the villa and the large flat were carried out simultaneously. Even if the price was twice the market price, the rush work would take more than a week.
It took two days in City H to sign all the contracts and purchase all the major components. After handing over the two properties to professionals, Lang Xin also found a reliable team recommended by a friend to oversee and identify any deficiencies, ensuring excellent quality.
After arranging the most basic questions, he felt relieved. After returning to City B, Chao Youqian dragged Lang Xin to watch many apocalyptic movies and read novels. He also took advantage of the situation and posted anonymously on an online forum, asking, "If the apocalypse were to happen in a month, what would you stockpile?" He spent several thousand yuan to mark it in red, and also stated that accounts with excellent answers could be rewarded.
Incentivized by money, internet celebrities have been using their imaginations to come up with answers or lists of tens of thousands of words, but no one believes this question is true.
As small figures in the tide of the times, their wealth and possessions were just a drop in the bucket. Lang Xin had been worried from the beginning that Chao Youqian would give in and tell him about his apocalyptic prophecy, but Chao Youqian rolled his eyes at him. He wasn't stupid, and spreading rumors without any evidence would only bring him trouble.
Using a fake identity and phone number, he rented a large warehouse in a deserted area in H City and hired an old man to open the door.
Lang Xin originally wanted to continue purchasing things with Chao Youqian, but his game technology company ran into problems with its distribution in Country R. Although he had a manager, this serious crisis still needed to be resolved by him personally.
Giving up without a clear reason was too conspicuous, so Chao Youqian could only tell him to hurry back, then shoved a long list of items with domestic purchase restrictions or prohibited sales at his disposal. Lang Xin pinched the innocent little scoundrel and boarded the plane, feeling a mixture of resentment and reluctance.
Chao Youqian stayed in his apartment in City B and shopped online. He first ordered more than a dozen outdoor emergency kits. The 5kg backpack contained medical supplies, warmth, survival equipment, food, etc. More than 100 items could allow two people to survive outdoors for 7 days.
Besides his phone, Chao Youqian also had a computer connected to a ladder running in front of him. He had bought six Costco doomsday meal kits for $8,000 each, with a shelf life of 25 to 30 years, enough for two people to eat for 12 years. These canned foods were meant to be stored away in his closet; he planned to have two in his apartment and four in his villa.
Then, I purchased according to my needs based on the list provided by netizens. Don’t say it’s really dizzying. If I list all of them here, it would be a 60-page book on various supplies, like an encyclopedia of modern industrial products.
Orders were placed one after another, each numbering in the dozens. Daily necessities were familiar brands, high-priced, high-quality, and high-volume. Clothes ranged from spring to winter, the quantity numerous, but all universally recognized as top-quality. Millions were spent in one afternoon of shopping.
I checked out everything I could buy and needed. There are still many restrictions on online shopping in China. I couldn't find stun guns, animal traps and other items with a certain degree of lethality online.
Chao Youqian shopped until 8 p.m., only to order takeout at the urging of Lang Xin's international phone call. City B's apartment was in a busy area, so takeout was still plentiful at that hour.
I ordered a cup of Cheese Peach, and then placed an order for a beef burger combo from ZJS, along with a box of egg tarts, a bucket of fried chicken, and their new ice cream. Any leftovers can be used as a late-night snack; this kind of junk food is something I'll eat less of each time.
Slide the mouse to browse the online shopping platform at will, and the WeChat prompt sound will be heard.
Wu Gu: Are you planning to check out? If you don't move out after a month, you'll be forced to leave. Don't miss out.
Chao Youqian then remembered what he had forgotten. Senior year graduation was in early June, and final exams generally didn't end until the end of June, so the deadline for graduates to move out of the dorms was July 10th.
If he was unaware of the situation, he would definitely wait until July 8th or 9th to move out. This also provides a basis for the original novel in which he returned to school to live because of a random inspection of his thesis.
He replied, "I understand, I'll do it tomorrow," and then Chao Youqian exited the shopping website. Moving into a dorm was incredibly tiring. Even though he'd only been there a short time, he still had a lot of stuff. Add to that the constant rush of the past few days, and he fell into a deep sleep the moment he closed his eyes.
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