Chapter 202, exclusively published on Jinjiang Literature City: Let's meet our old customers first...
Everyone looked astonished. Lu Qing asked in surprise, "You're going to make a deal with other disaster victims? Why would you suddenly have such an idea?"
Others were also curious about this.
Lu Xuan said, "It's not sudden. The village is no longer short of supplies, and the Huo family army's lives have improved. As the old saying goes, 'When poor, one should cultivate one's own virtue; when prosperous, one should help the world.' Given sufficient ability, even the gods hope that I can help more disaster victims survive the disaster."
The mention of deities immediately made everyone's expressions serious.
Li Tie couldn't help but ask, "Could this be a task given to you by a deity?"
Lu Xuan said without changing his expression, "You could say that."
[No, I didn't, don't talk nonsense!]
What a huge scapegoat!
We're like bricks, ready to be moved wherever needed.
Grandpa Zhang pondered for a moment and said, "We have enough to eat and wear, but many more disaster victims are still suffering. If we can help, we certainly can."
Even a strong military force like the Huo family army suffered casualties during the beast attack, let alone ordinary disaster victims.
If a few people die each year due to each disaster, who knows how many people will be left in the Central Plains after five years.
To put it bluntly, if less than one-tenth of the original population remains, or worse, only the people from their village are left, is that really a good thing?
Humans are social creatures, and they certainly want as many people as possible to survive.
I am indeed curious about the current living conditions of other disaster victims, but... this is not a reason for the anchor to scapegoat us!
Based on my understanding of the streamer, while they claim to be going to help other disaster victims, they probably just want to make money off them!
[Disaster victims who can't even survive have no money for streamers to earn; to be precise, they want to freeload off the labor of their girlfriends. Just look at the disaster victims in Huo Jiajun's army.]
[Stop talking nonsense. The streamer is from the apocalypse; do you really expect him to be a saint and do charity work?]
Lu Xuan deeply agreed.
Making money is definitely a must.
But looking back at the first time Huo Jiajun made a large-scale transaction with him and signed an IOU, we can see that the first time they went out, they were mostly handing over large quantities of supplies.
To see a real windfall, we'll have to wait until next time.
Li Tie didn't stop him from helping other disaster victims, but he was a little worried, "How long will you be gone? What if another disaster occurs while you're away..."
Lu Xuan said, "After this storm and polar day ended, the next month or so will be relatively calm. Apart from some areas still experiencing strong winds, no special disasters will occur. It is a rare period of stability in the year."
Otherwise, he wouldn't have specifically chosen this time to go out.
Once this period of stability, or rather, the dormant period following the catastrophe, ends, a new round of extreme heat will begin.
"In case of any unexpected event, the city's protective shield can be activated directly, whether it is a natural disaster or a man-made disaster, it can be blocked outside the shield."
Hearing this, Li Tie finally felt relieved.
Lu Xuan added, "Besides other gathering places, I also plan to find an opportunity to go to the capital to check on the situation there."
Everyone's spirits lifted.
Ge Yuan asked astutely, "Are you planning to go and see if the current court has established a new emperor?"
Lu Xuan nodded, "If there is already a new emperor, it would be good to find out what the higher-ups plan for the disaster, so that we can prepare appropriate countermeasures."
Rather than passively waiting for the disaster to end and then using the excuse of "those who are not of our kind must have different hearts" to target the villagers who are now completely different under his guidance, it would be better to take the initiative and strike first.
Lu Xuan looked at Li Tie and reminded him, "I'm going there to scout things out first. If nothing unexpected happens, we'll need the help of other villagers for the subsequent transactions. The village chief can ask who is interested in going out to do business and make more money, and make a decision before I return."
Li Tie's eyes lit up. "I understand."
During this period, each family stocked up on a lot of nutritional supplements, salt, and sugar.
Although their original intention was to sell the money after the disaster, it would be even better if they could exchange it for more supplies in advance so that their house-buying plan could be realized sooner.
Lu Qing glanced at the fruit plate on the coffee table that had barely been touched and asked, "Ah Xuan, I hear you're planning to be gone for more than a month this time? What will happen to the orchard during that time?"
Lu Xuan had already thought about this, "Tomorrow I will force the fruit trees to ripen again ahead of schedule."
The orchard had already been harvested a couple of days ago. This time, after giving Huo Tiankuo a small portion of the fruit income to trade and putting some in the grocery store, he kept the majority for himself.
If he ripens the fruit again tomorrow, his fruit inventory will increase further, which he can then use to trade with other disaster victims.
Not only fruit, but also the first harvest of spring that will arrive tomorrow—he doesn't plan to recycle or process it either. Instead, he plans to "generate more food from food" and make a big profit.
Li Tie: "When exactly are you leaving?"
Lu Xuan: "The day after tomorrow."
the next day.
The villagers worked all day to harvest all the grain from the 200 mu of greenhouses.
In addition to the 100,000 jin he received, Lu Xuan also exchanged all the public supplies for grain. With the remaining debts for the evolution fluid that everyone had paid off, he received a total of 250,000 jin of grain.
In addition, the orchard, which had just been harvested, was forced to ripen again, and Lu Xuan harvested a large amount of fruit.
As evening fell and the storm subsided, he went to the Huo family army camp again, handed over the large ship he had agreed upon to Huo Tiankuo, and brought back 240,000 jin of mutated grain and 480,000 jin of various seafood.
These supplies could earn Lu Xuan 120 million points, but in reality, Lu Xuan didn't intend to recycle them. Instead, he planned to use them as goods for trading.
That evening, the polar day and the storm ended one after the other, and night fell again.
The villagers, having learned of the latest news that the weather would be stable for the next month or so, were able to sleep soundly without any worries, a rare treat.
The next morning, just as dawn broke, Lu Xuan left Yunlu Village, accompanied by Lu Chen, Lu Qing, Lu Yan, and a few villagers who knew the situation.
The helpers were unaware that Lu Xuan was going on a long trip, and similarly, Huo Tiankuo, who had just met him yesterday, would not have guessed it either.
By the time they remembered to inquire after not seeing any trace of Lu Xuan for several days, he had already arrived at another gathering place.
·
At an altitude of over 1,000 meters, dozens of miles away from Yunlu Village.
A sleek, cool-looking silver-white aircraft is flying steadily.
At first glance, the aircraft looked similar to the one Lu Xuan had taken Lu Chen out on the last time, but upon closer inspection, it was clear that it was much larger and more exquisite and beautiful than the previous one.
This aircraft is the limited edition one that Lu Xuan purchased during a holiday flash sale.
Besides the differences in appearance and performance, the interior is also more luxurious, with a small but fully equipped comfortable room behind the driver's seat.
At this moment, Lu Xuan was leisurely lying on the bed in autopilot mode, taking stock of the supplies in the space.
The number of people in other gathering places is definitely not just three thousand; it could be tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands!
[With just over 3,000 people, they're building greenhouses covering a thousand acres. If the number were ten times greater, wouldn't the streamer be rolling in money?]
The weather there is noticeably warmer now, so whether or not to build a greenhouse is probably unnecessary. During the rainy season, waterproof tarpaulins can be used as a makeshift solution.
[Huh? Doesn't that mean the streamer's earnings will be less? I thought it would be like the deal with Huo Tiankuo, where you could easily negotiate deals worth hundreds of millions.]
[The streamer has a lot of good stuff. If the population in other settlements is really large, the supplies they need will be several times or even ten times that of Huo's army. Even without building greenhouses, the profits won't be small.]
[Speaking of which, where is the anchor's first stop?]
Lu Xuan glanced at the comments and said calmly, "Didn't you guys see when I set the destination?"
Live stream viewers: ???
The audience members recalled the direction of his destination, and some of the clever ones quickly realized what was going on.
Yangshan County!
Is the host going back to Yangshan County to see Master Miao and his associates?
Lu Xuan said, "Since we're going to do business, we should naturally take care of our old customers first." He also wanted to check on the situation in Yangshan County after about half a year.
After leaving the county town, they traveled by large boat for six days before arriving at their new residence.
The aircraft was much faster than the large ship. Even without going full speed, Lu Xuan could still see many familiar mobile cabins, wooden houses, or thatched houses on the adjacent high mountains in just one hour.
...
On the mountain, among the disaster victims who were busy with spring plowing, someone stood up and stretched because he was tired. He looked up casually and saw something flying down. He was shocked and exclaimed, "Look, what's that in the sky?"
People in the surrounding fields instinctively looked up, their expressions changing as well.
"Quickly, go and call Old Master Chen and Master Miao!"
Several fast runners saw the object in the sky getting closer and closer, and without saying a word, they quickly ran to report it.
When the silver-white aircraft landed to within tens of meters of the ground, several hundred people had already gathered below, and among them were many familiar faces.
Master Miao, Old Master Chen, Chen Bing, Boss Wang, Landlord Liu, and so on.
These people's faces showed both tension and barely concealed anticipation and excitement.
The aircraft descended until it was only one meter off the ground before slowly coming to a stop.
The hatch slowly opened from bottom to top, and Lu Xuan, dressed in a dark, fitted outfit with a long trench coat over it, jumped down nimbly. He smiled at the crowd and said, "It's been several months since we last met. How have you all been?"
Upon seeing the familiar faces they had been longing for, Master Miao and the others immediately had tears in their eyes.
Chen Bing's eyes lit up with excitement, "I knew it could be anyone but someone from Yunlu Village who could fly down from the sky, and it really was you! Hahahaha!"
Unable to contain himself, Chen Bing rushed over and patted Lu Xuan's shoulder hard, his voice choked with emotion, "We thought we'd never have the chance to see you again."
Lu Xuan smiled calmly, "As long as we're still alive, we'll meet again someday."
With red eyes, Chen Bing wiped his face and grinned, "You're right, we've met today."
At this moment, the others also came to greet them.
"Brother Lu!"
"We are relieved to see that you are safe and sound."
"We were just discussing whether to send someone to try and find you a few days ago, but I didn't expect you to come looking for me first."
Master Miao, Old Master Chen, and the others looked at Lu Xuan with a mixture of excitement and nostalgia.
Lu Xuan scanned the crowd and found that although none of them had lost any limbs, they looked noticeably thinner and more haggard than before. In particular, the formerly slightly chubby Boss Wang had become slender, which showed that he had suffered a lot in the past few months.
After a group of people talked to Lu Xuan for a while, Old Master Chen said, "Alright, everyone stop standing outside. Quickly invite Brother Lu inside, sit down, and we can chat slowly."
“That’s right, Brother Lu, let’s continue our discussion up there.” Chen Bing pointed to a large mobile cabin higher up on the mountain, which was where influential people in Yangshan County usually held meetings.
On the way up the mountain.
Lu Xuan took a special look at the surrounding environment. On the mountainside, there were cultivated fields everywhere, as well as mobile cabins, or self-built earthen houses or thatched houses interspersed among them.
Outside the mobile cabins, one can see many items covered with animal skins and tattered bedding.
After noticing his gaze, Chen Bing took the initiative to explain: "The makeshift houses are much sturdier than wooden houses, but they are not warm. In winter, in order to increase the warmth, everyone covers the outside with a layer of quilts, then puts on a thick layer of mud. After lighting charcoal inside, it is much warmer than an earthen house."
"The weather is starting to warm up now, and the mud layer has been removed. These quilts haven't been taken down yet because everyone is busy with spring plowing."
Grandpa Chen said from the other side, "We pieced together some of the mobile shelters into large houses and installed air conditioning inside. On the coldest days, we let the disaster victims take turns going in to warm up."
One air conditioner can heat a space of two to three thousand square meters. They bought five units and pieced them together into five large houses, which could accommodate a total of twenty to thirty thousand people.
Although they only made up a third of the total population, some of the remaining people were able to wear bio-suits to keep warm, which prevented the disaster victims from freezing to death.
Lu Xuan nodded to indicate that he understood.
To achieve this much with limited resources is already quite remarkable.
Along the way, many people who had received the news gathered around them.
Some bold villagers loudly asked Lu Xuan how the people of Yunlu Village were doing, while others who knew Gao Dalin, Jin He, and others inquired about their current situation.
Lu Xuan said, "They are all fine."
Some people even asked excitedly, "Brother Lu, is your village still hiring?"
Lu Xuan, Old Master Chen, and the others paused slightly.
Lu Xuan said, "I won't accept it for now; there might be another opportunity in the future."
He came out mainly to do business this time, so it's impossible for him to go back halfway to send people off or take people who want to join around. If there are suitable candidates when other people from the village come next time, he can consider it.
However, this needs to be discussed with the village chief after we return, and we'll see what the village chief decides.
"Brother Lu, can I exchange some of my medicine with you?"
Lu Xuan: "Everyone, don't worry. I will trade medicines with Elder Chen and the others. You can come and exchange them yourselves when the time comes."
Old Master Chen and Master Miao exchanged glances, a hint of joy in their eyes.
Fifteen minutes later, the group finally reached the top of the mountain.
Once inside the mobile cabin, Lu Xuan discovered that it had been divided into several small spaces.
Chen Bing took the initiative to explain to him, "The mountain area is small. To accommodate the entire county, we can only squeeze everyone together as much as possible. So, apart from the room where my second uncle and the others usually use it for meetings, the other small rooms are used for living. The conditions are a bit poor, but at least we can survive, which is a good thing."
Lu Xuan nodded.
In the post-apocalyptic world, many survivors in safe bases couldn't even enter the bases and had to pitch tents outside. Yangshan County was just a bit more cramped, but the living conditions were already considered quite good.
As they were talking, Boss Zheng, Landlord Zhao, Cheng Yi, Miao An and others who hadn't appeared before arrived one after another. Upon seeing Lu Xuan, they all looked deeply moved.
Lu Xuan noticed several deep scratch marks on Cheng Yi's two or three legs, deducing that they were wounds left during the beast attack.
Just like the scars on the bodies of many ordinary people when they were outside.
The council chamber was not large and had few seats. After Old Master Chen, Master Miao, and others sat down, the younger people, such as Cheng Yi and Miao An, could only stand at the back.
They didn't mind at all; they were filled with joy at reuniting with old friends.
After they sat down, before Lu Xuan could even bring it up, the others took the initiative to talk about their experiences over the past few months.
Old Master Chen said, "Two days after you left, just as you said, the flood came very soon."
The old man recalled the raging torrent and the county town that was swallowed up in the blink of an eye, and his hand holding the teacup still trembled uncontrollably.
The county town, which had survived the major earthquake relatively intact, was swallowed up by floods in an instant.
If they hadn't moved to the mountain a day in advance, tens of thousands of people in the city who had barely survived the previous disaster might have perished instantly.
However, avoiding the flood does not mean being safe.
The continuous heavy rains following the floods have caused them great inconvenience, including the impact on their farmland cultivation, difficulties in travel, and an increase in the number of sick people due to the drop in temperature.
At its peak, the floodwaters reached nearly halfway up the mountain, forcing them to relocate to the mountains at least three times throughout the rainy season.
Grandpa Chen said, "The mutated seeds you gave us back then were indeed very good. Together with the other traded goods, at least no disaster victims starved to death during the rainy season."
Although the newly reclaimed wasteland in the mountains was not fertile enough, the continuous rain affected the harvest, and a mudslide washed away part of the fields, the final harvest still did not disappoint them.
With ample medicine available, sick people can receive timely treatment. When the current is not so turbulent, people can take kayaks out to retrieve usable items washed ashore by the flood. If they are lucky, they can even catch some fish. Life is not as hopeless as it was during the extremely hot season.
only……
Grandpa Chen took a breath. "The thunder and lightning in the last few days of the rainy season really gave us a fright."
Others recalled the apocalyptic scene during the thunderstorm, and a hint of fear appeared on their faces.
The mountains are covered with trees, making it easy to be struck by lightning during thunderstorms, let alone during extreme weather like thunderstorms where the sky is filled with lightning.
If Lu Xuan hadn't provided them with some lightning rods and reminded them to install them inside the mobile shelter, they probably would have suffered heavy losses in just those few days.
Although they were lucky enough to survive by hiding in the makeshift hospital, the trees that were struck by lightning on the mountain, the houses that were built after people went up the mountain, and the lightning strikes in the fields still caused them considerable losses.
"But these are nothing compared to the troubles that come with winter," Mr. Wang couldn't help but say.
The expressions of the others also became serious.
The biggest trouble during the rainy season is nothing more than heavy rain and the occasional hail.
The temperature is not particularly low overall, and as long as you find a place that is high enough, the danger is not that great.
The coldest season is the most deadly.
In terms of warmth, as mentioned earlier, thanks to the large cabin equipped with air conditioning and the bio-suit, the charcoal collected thanks to Lu Xuan was only used a small portion during the rainy season and came in handy during the extreme cold season. Overall, there were no major problems with warmth.
Regarding farmland, although the temperature was very low in the first two months of winter, they deliberately planted only cold-resistant mutant radishes and cabbages.
Although production dropped by more than half, the final harvest still ensured that the disaster victims would not starve.
But it didn't work for the next two months.
Not only were the temperatures so low that even the mutated seeds couldn't grow, but after the polar night arrived, there were also beast attacks.
Upon hearing the words "beast attack," Lu Xuan frowned. "Were there significant personnel losses during the beast attack?"
He hadn't expected the wild beasts to go berserk during the extreme cold season. The weapons he traded with Yangshan County were only a few hundred cold weapons, which were probably not enough to deal with thousands of wild beasts.
Old Master Chen let out a long sigh.
"How could it not be big? Every two or three days, a large group of crazed wild beasts would swarm in. If it weren't for the fact that the mountain is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and that we have quite a few people, and we also have the lamps you gave us for lighting, it's not impossible that we would be completely wiped out."
Even though most people survived, the number of young and strong who died at the hands of wild animals, as well as those bitten to death by poisonous insects, snakes, or rats, still totaled more than 600.
[Huh? One attack every two or three days? Why are they encountering beast attacks so infrequently?]
Exactly! At their peak, these streamers could do three or four streams a day.
More than six hundred people died. Wow, that many?
Is that a lot? Yangshan County's population should be tens of thousands. Six hundred people might only be one percent of the total population, which is already very small.
[Aside from the streamer, the other survivors were lucky to escape the beast attack; losing only one percent is indeed not a significant amount.]
As for why the frequency of encounters was lower despite having more people, the audience was puzzled and could only conclude that they were lucky, while Yunlu Village was unlucky.
Overall, Yunlu Village is much stronger than Yangshan County. There were no casualties, and they even got a lot of meat, so it wasn't a loss.
After recounting his side's losses, Old Master Chen asked Lu Xuan with concern, "You don't seem surprised at all by the beast attack. Did Yunlu Village also encounter one? Is the village alright?"
Others also looked over with concern.
Lu Xuan said, "The village is fine; there were no casualties."
Those present couldn't help but show envy.
Although they had guessed the outcome when Old Master Chen asked the question, they still couldn't help but feel envious when they actually heard it.
Master Miao smiled and said, "It's good that you're alright, it's good that you're alright."
The two then reminisced about their experiences over the past few months for quite some time. Finally, Mr. Chen asked the question that everyone present was concerned about.
"I wonder what brings you here, Brother Lu?" Surely it's not just to find out about their current situation?
Lu Xuan smiled under the expectant gazes of the crowd and said, "I'm mainly here to discuss business. The items we traded for back then have been used up in a few months, and I was thinking that perhaps you would be willing to purchase a new batch of supplies?"
Although they had already guessed Lu Xuan's intentions when they heard him say he would be trading medicines, everyone's eyes lit up instantly when they received a more definite answer.
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Author's Note: Special thanks to the following:
A landmine was thrown into Changyu Mountain.
"Changyushan", irrigate with nutrient solution +20
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