Chapter 3: Building the Base

Back in the village, Li Yu realized that if he wanted to build a base, there was no way to bypass his parents.

So, he wanted to give them a reassuring reason: building a rural tourism park.

He planned to build a comprehensive rural tourism park that integrated fishing, fruit picking, sightseeing, and outdoor dining. Besides, the location wasn't too far from the county seat. If the apocalypse hadn't been coming, building such a place would likely have attracted many city dwellers to spend their money.

Li Yu laid his plans out openly at the dinner table that evening.

His parents were stunned, sitting there in a daze, feeling a bit bewildered.

His father lit a cigarette and took a slow drag.

He said leisurely, "I support you if you want to come back and start a business like this. I’ve saved up some money over the years, intended for your wedding. But based on the scale you just described, this little bit of money definitely won't be enough."

As soon as Li Yu heard his father's response, it was exactly as he had anticipated. He immediately took out the lottery tickets he had purchased earlier and the photos of him collecting the prize money.

Liu Fanghua and Li Hongyuan were instantly shocked by Li Yu’s revelation.

They stared blankly at the balance in Li Yu’s mobile banking account: 31 million.

Having convinced his parents, Li Yu took his father to see the village party secretary the very next day to handle the paperwork for the land transformation.

Hearing that Li Yu wanted to start a business, the village secretary was very happy; this would certainly boost local income.

While they were at it, they also contracted several dozen acres of land next to the Li family's plot. This land was also public village property and had been lying fallow. Seeing that Li Yu was looking to start a business and plan for the village's future development, the secretary rented it to him at a bargain price.

*Thwack!* The village secretary was very efficient, and the official seal was stamped. After all, most of this land was originally allocated to Li Hongyuan’s household.

When his grandfather’s family had divided the property, the three uncles' families and Li Hongyuan’s family had split 60 acres in total. Li Hongyuan’s family had received nearly 15 acres, and this land was located near the mountain pond.

With the procedures settled, Li Yu began the construction of his base.

Li Hongyuan himself came from a construction background and still operated a small workshop in town to this day. In the last two years, he had transitioned to specializing in making culvert pipes, but his decade-plus of expertise was no joke.

When Li Hongyuan saw the sketch Li Yu had drawn, he was momentarily unable to process it, nearly spitting out a mouthful of blood.

"Are you building a bunker? Do you really need to build a 6-meter-high wall for a rural tourism park?

And it needs electricity?

And you want to build 10-meter-high watchtowers?" Li Hongyuan said, finding it hard to believe.

Seeing his father’s astonishment, Li Yu felt it was a tricky situation. But he still needed his father to lead the project; after all, he wouldn't feel at ease letting an outsider take charge.

Furthermore, in the construction industry, cutting corners was a common occurrence. Having his father supervise the work would ensure the base was built much more sturdily.

Li Yu replied, "Building it high is to prevent people from wandering in. Just build it according to my instructions."

Li Hongyuan wanted to say something, his mouth opening and closing, but he looked up and then lowered his head again.

He immediately noticed another detail and couldn't help but ask, "What’s the deal with this 2,000-square-meter basement?"

Li Yu answered patiently, "It’s for underground parking, Dad."

Li Hongyuan asked again, "And why are you building five villas and two rows of three-story houses?"

Li Yu replied, "So guests can stay over when they come. Plus, we can live in them ourselves."

Li Hongyuan asked again, "And what’s with these 100 surveillance cameras?"

Li Yu replied, "To prevent people from causing trouble."

Back and forth it went, with Li Yu slowly answering his father’s questions—though, of course, he skipped over the ones that were hard to answer. His father eventually stopped asking; after all, Li Yu had all sorts of excuses and reasons.

After his conversation with his father ended, Li Yu pulled him aside and said with a serious expression

"Dad, I know you have many questions, but please trust me, okay? During the construction process, if you have any doubts, tell me at any time. Do not make changes on your own. If you want to change anything, talk to me first."

He knew that as parents, they often wanted to do things they thought were best for their children.

But in this situation, Li Yu was terrified that his father might alter his design to save money or out of other considerations.

The design currently before his father was one that Li Yu had formulated after countless hours of thought, considering every possible aspect.

Additionally, Li Yu had hired professionals to draft the technical blueprints.

Li Yu watched his father, who seemed to have taken it to heart. He felt slightly relieved.

Although his relationship with his father wasn't particularly close, his father had generally kept his word on things he promised since Li Yu was a child.

He checked the time; there were 175 days left until the apocalypse.

He said to his father, "Can the entire project be finished in three months?"

Li Hongyuan looked at Li Yu in disbelief...

Three months... this included two mountains, a mountain pond, and several dozen acres of land.

In three months, he had to enclose two mountains, the pond, and the plains with high walls.

Altogether, it was nearly over a hundred thousand square meters, and the perimeter wall alone would be several thousand meters long. At a thickness of 1 meter...

He did the math. Currently, building a 6-meter-high wall on the market cost about 500 yuan per meter. At two meters thick, the cost would likely multiply several times over.

In other words, just building this high wall would cost nearly five million.

Three months?

What was he thinking?

Seeming to see the disbelief in his father's eyes, Li Yu continued

"We can hire more people. The transportation is convenient, and moving materials is easy. Just try your best to get it done in three months."

Li Hongyuan looked at this decisive son. Through their interactions over the past two days, he felt a sense of strangeness; he vaguely felt that his son had become firm and resolute.

He felt a bit of gratification inside: a man should be like this.

Li Hongyuan then grumbled, "Eh, it’s your lottery money anyway. I’ll help you do it. I told you last time to buy two apartments in the city first, but you wouldn't listen."

He looked up and added, "I’ll try my best with the timeline. But three months is a bit of a stretch."

After saying this, he turned and walked out of the living room, immediately switching into "phone mode."

"Hey, Engineer Zhang, does your team have any work right now? I just took on a project here..." His father was smart; he didn't specify whose project it was.

After one call ended, he dialed several more in succession.

"Hello, Director Zhang, what’s the price of your cement these days?"

"Hello, President Liu, is your company working on any new projects lately?"

Watching his father enter work mode, Li Yu felt both amused and a little heartbroken.

This old man, he complained so much, but he was so fierce when it came to work.

After all, during the great construction era years ago, the market for building houses and renovations—whether in the countryside or the county—had been very booming.

It was only in the last two years that house building had slowed down, leading his father to transition to making cement culvert pipes.

Seeing his father return to that energetic state, for him, this was definitely the biggest project he had ever taken on.

Li Yu ran back up the mountain to verify and observe the terrain once more.

The two contracted mountains, plus a 5-acre mountain pond.

The pond was surrounded by mountains; the lake reflected the scenery, and the two mountains were mirrored in the water—a pleasant view.

Directly in front were the dozens of acres of land, flat, with a small pond in the middle.

In the very center stood a centuries-old camphor tree.

This camphor tree was registered; the authorities had even come to give it an "ID card."

The scenery was nice.

In Li Yu’s vision

There would be two layers of walls. The outermost layer would be a 6-meter-high wall with an electric fence, and the inner layer would be a 2.5-meter-high wall surrounding the residential area.

The walls would definitely need electric fencing, and the electric fence would require photovoltaic solar power. The vast mountain tops could provide ample solar energy.

The solar panels on the mountain tops would guarantee power for the electric fences, and the photovoltaic panels on the roofs would ensure all indoor electricity needs.

Additionally, three 10-meter-high watchtowers would be set up at the two highest peaks and on the plains.

Furthermore, the dozens of acres of plains would definitely be planted with crops like rice. His preliminary plan was to plant 4 acres. Based on the current yield of 1,000 jin per acre, and calculating that one person consumes an average of 200 jin of grain per year...

Plus, they could grow two, or even three, seasons a year.

That meant one acre could support 15 people. Only in the warm south, combined with intensive farming, could such high yields be achieved.

4 acres could support over 60 people.

Of course, this was just his optimistic idea.

Additionally, he would raise fish in the mountain pond; his father was already using it for fish farming.

Most of the mountains were currently planted with orange trees; he would plant some other fruit trees later.

A garden.

In Li Yu’s heart, he always felt that he wanted to build a beautiful garden.

Even in the desperate apocalypse, one could keep a piece of pure land to oneself.

The improvement to one's mental state would be excellent.

Li Yu had always liked Suzhou-style gardens, so the construction style in many places would have a classical Chinese aesthetic.

Coincidentally, there was a large quarry not far from Li Yu’s home. It would be perfect for the base construction.

Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

As for the money, 25 million was more than enough to leverage hundreds of millions in value.

The little one will provide two chapters every day, 6,000 words daily.

(End of chapter)