Chapter 4: A 20 Million Loan

The day after the Dragon Boat Festival, 170 days remained until the apocalypse.

The national economy began to enter a period of immersion; in the vast majority of the country, the economy was effectively controlled and basic work and life had largely returned to normal.

In the south, in the mountains of a village on the outskirts of Xincheng, a construction site was buzzing with intense activity.

Li Hongyuan brought the professionally designed construction blueprints to find Li Yu.

"I’ve calculated the rough budget," Father Li said. "The perimeter wall will be built with a combination of red brick and reinforced concrete. Five villas, two houses, and the ground hardening for the walkways you mentioned..."

"These add up to nearly 5 million. If you want the houses finished, it depends on what kind of renovation you choose," Father Li added.

——

Li Yu worried about his father’s aesthetic sense when it came to interior design, so he made a call to a classmate in M-City who worked in villa design. He asked her to help with the design, with the price set at the going market rate.

Since it didn't include construction, the design fee should have been cheaper. However, since this was essentially a private job for her, Li Yu didn't want to take advantage of her and ultimately paid her a standard market price.

Li Yu opened the digital notes on his phone to review the records he had made over the past few days.

He had been scouring the internet for information and had summarized a list of essential survival supplies

1. Food: Priority given to items with long shelf lives, high energy density, and ease of transport. Includes: Military canned goods, compressed biscuits, rice, flour, oil, salt, sugar, water, nuts, instant noodles, liquor, etc. Items like milk, meat, and fresh vegetables should be replenished as needed. Some things can be self-produced, such as bean sprouts, so it’s worth preparing some seeds.

2. Daily Necessities Clothing, hats, gloves, shoes, socks, soap, toothbrushes/toothpaste, towels, paper, contraceptives, hammocks/sleeping bags, blankets, umbrellas/raincoats, sewing kits, plastic bags/cling film, etc. Water purification equipment (such as direct-drinking filters) and water purification tablets should also be on the list.

3. Tools (1) Storage: Cars/bicycles, backpacks, suitcases, tents, kayaks, hammocks/sleeping bags, disassembly/repair toolkits, canteens/tableware/lunch boxes/cups (metal), etc. (2) Protective: Knives, multi-tools, saws, entrenching tools, axes, sticks, nylon rope, fishing line/hooks/nets/spears, maps, slingshots, scissors, pliers, rain boots, lifebuoys, fire blankets, safety helmets, respirators, air pumps, etc. (3) Energy: Lighters, magnifying glasses, batteries, power banks, solar panels, hand-crank generators, candles, fire extinguishers, etc. (4) Communication: Computers, USB drives/hard drives, tablets, mobile phones, walkie-talkies, radios, watches, compasses, positioning equipment, whistles, flashlights, drones, etc. (5) Others: Tape measures, mirrors, sunglasses/goggles, binoculars, maps, stationery (pens/paper), etc.

4. Medicine Thermometers, masks, cold medicine, anti-inflammatory drugs, painkillers, anti-diarrheal medicine, bandages/gauze, Band-Aids, Yunnan Baiyao, alcohol, Fengyoujing, cooling oil, vitamins, antibiotics, Vaseline, tweezers, mosquito repellent/toilet water, etc.

5. Skills: Outdoor survival knowledge. Such as: *The Friend of Dual-Purpose Military and Civilian Talent*, *The Wiseman Survival Manual*, *Wilderness Survival Manual*, *Barefoot Doctor’s Manual*, etc.

Not only that, Li Yu also hoarded some things that might be useful in the future, such as various seeds, fabrics...

After summarizing these items, Li Yu felt that a few essential books were a must-have, especially *The Friend of Dual-Purpose Military and Civilian Talent* published by the Political Department Research Office of the Shenyang Military Region—it was practically tailor-made for the apocalypse.

It taught you how to milk a cow, how to build a house, how to make braised pork, and even how to cut hair.

The even wilder part was that the sequels taught you how to tailor, process vegetables, and make traditional Chinese medicine.

According to what was written in these books, if survival in the apocalypse reached the stage of the sequels, it could no longer be called an apocalypse.

Looking at the progress, it would likely be post-disaster reconstruction. It would probably be approaching the Industrial Revolution.

Li Yu scratched his head and sighed: "The road is long and the burden is heavy."

The revolution has not yet succeeded; comrades must still work hard.

To make this base more solid and suitable for survival, Li Yu decided to increase the budget. Once the thought occurred to him, he thought of taking out a loan. After all, once the apocalypse arrived and social order collapsed, money would just be paper.

He would do whatever it took to get the money.

He took his bank statements, land use rights certificates, and construction blueprints directly to the bank to apply for a rural entrepreneurship loan.

Because the amount was large, it brought out the president of the county’s merchant bank branch.

Fortunately, Li Yu’s project was considered a boost to Xincheng’s economic development, specifically in tourism, and with the capital and land proof, the loan process went relatively smoothly.

But it wasn't that simple; after all, the figure was 20 million.

Li Yu had to take the bank staff to the construction site for an on-site inspection.

Because it was a mortgage loan, the process was a bit complicated, and it was expected to take two weeks for the funds to arrive.

After finishing the loan procedures in the county, Li Yu returned to the construction site.

He happened to run into Lai Dongsheng, a worker from Li Hongyuan’s small workshop. In his 40s, he had been with Li Hongyuan for over a decade.

From the initial engineering contracts to the later production of culvert pipes, Lai Dongsheng had always worked with Li Hongyuan.

He had been diligent and conscientious for years, a man of honest and loyal character—a typical, simple rural man.

"Uncle Dong, are you helping out too?" Li Yu asked.

Lai Dongsheng looked up and saw it was Li Yu. "Oh, it’s Yu-zai. Your dad stopped the work on the culvert pipes and asked me to come over to help."

"You’ve really made something of yourself, Xiao Yu. Starting such a big business as soon as you got back."

Li Yu looked at the man, whose skin had turned dark from years of sun exposure, and smiled. Uncle Dong had always been good to him.

He was reliable and honest. Having worked for their family for so many years, he had at least had a stable income in the village, if not a fortune.

Li Yu said, "Uncle Dong, there’s a lot to do on the site, please keep an eye on things."

After a brief chat, Li Yu walked toward the construction site.

Seeing that the foundation for the perimeter wall had been laid and they were starting to build upward, the hundred-meter-long wall already had a faint outline.

He felt a little more at ease. However, seeing that there weren't many people on site—only about a dozen—he felt the progress might be a bit tight.

He went to discuss it with his father, suggesting they hire more hands to finish the wall as quickly as possible before starting on the interior buildings.

Because of the scale of this project, many villagers had come to watch. Li Yu didn't want others to see the series of constructions going on inside.

During the construction, some villagers were gossiping. Some of the meaner ones were even saying that Li Yu was a fool for spending so much money on this.

Li Yu, of course, ignored them. He just watched them idling away; when the apocalypse truly broke out, they would be the ones crying.

That was why he wanted to finish the wall first, so that people outside would be blocked by the high walls and unable to see what was happening inside.

Although Li Hongyuan was a bit puzzled, he followed Li Yu’s idea and hired more people to speed up the construction of the wall.

Ten days later, thanks to the day-and-night efforts of dozens of workers, they finally enclosed the two mountains, a pond, and the flat land.

The 6-meter-high wall, several kilometers long, looked like an ancient behemoth when viewed from the mountains.

Fortunately, because this area was a hilly basin with many surrounding mountains, and the forests had been protected by government policies over the years, there had been no illegal logging.

So, shielded by the two mountains, it was actually very difficult for outsiders to see the full picture unless they were standing at a very high vantage point.

Li Yu gave himself a mental thumbs-up. It seemed that although this place was large, it was sufficiently hidden.

After the wall was built, Li Yu made a call to his younger brother, Li Hang.

His brother was two years younger than him. He had been mischievous as a child, but he had managed to get into a junior college, majoring in home appliance repair.

He had just graduated not long ago and was currently looking for work in the city.

Li Hongyuan and Liu Fanghua had three children: the eldest, Li Yu; the second, Li Hang; and the third, Li Yuan.

That’s right, Li Hongyuan was just that casual with names. After Yang Liwei went to space in the last century, there was a national space craze.

Li Hongyuan followed the trend and gave the three of them these names, pinning his infinite expectations for the motherland to conquer the stars and the sea on them.

As it happened, Li Hang hadn't been having much luck with his job search lately. The kid was always bouncing around, with an incredibly active personality.

Li Yu called him: "Xiao Hang, what are you busy with? Dad said you didn't even last a month at your last internship before you got into a fight with your boss."

The background noise on Li Hang’s end was a bit loud; he was probably on a busy street.

Li Hang replied indignantly, "Brother! It wasn't my fault! That supervisor is an idiot; he tried to make me a scapegoat for something I didn't do. He even docked my internship pay. It’s a miracle I didn't beat him up!"

Hearing the kid’s blunt reply, Li Yu said, "Then come back. I’m doing some things here at home; come over and help me."

Li Hang became interested immediately. He had been naughty since he was a kid, but because he was two years younger than Li Yu, he had been beaten up by Li Yu constantly.

Even though they grew up fighting, the brothers had always been close. As they grew older, Li Yu became more steady, but Li Hang remained impulsive, often getting into fights with others.

"Sure, big brother. I’m in. I’ll buy a ticket and come back right now." Li Hang didn't hesitate or ask what he would be doing; in his heart, his big brother would never lead him astray.

After hanging up, Li Yu thought about it. He had originally wanted Li Yuan to come back too, but since the base wasn't fully built yet, he just expressed some simple concern for her.

Li Yuan was still studying medicine at a university in the neighboring province, only in her second year. Li Yu told her she had to come back for the National Day holiday.

Li Yuan replied with an "okay." She had always listened to her big brother since she was a child. Unlike her second brother, she had never been beaten by their big brother.

Her temperament was completely different from Li Hang’s. Li Hang was bold and reckless, impulsive and fierce. Li Yuan was timid and gentle, her personality as soft as water.

With everything roughly arranged, Li Yu began to put the procurement of supplies on the agenda.

(End of chapter)