6: Growing vegetables in the countryside

There were also the most important assault boats and rubber dinghies; during the heavy rain and flood periods, one would have to rely on them to go out.

assault boats require diesel. Later, she would have to find time to buy diesel and gasoline. There were no shortcuts for this; she could only buy small amounts at gas stations, siphon them out, and store them in her space.

By the time she reached this point in her stockpiling, it was already one in the morning. She didn't feel sleepy at all, so she continued. The sooner she got things into her space, the sooner she could feel at ease.

She couldn't neglect the lifestyle aspect either—two thousand sets of cosmetics. After all, no one knew how long the Apocalypse would last. As someone who loved beauty, she had to stockpile them while money wasn't tight.

Shampoo, body wash, soap, laundry detergent, facial cleanser, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and most importantly, a massive supply of sanitary pads.

insecticide and insect powder were a must. There would be a Plague of Insects later, and those bugs were disgusting; the evolved ones could even eat people.

The insects of the end times were incredibly formidable, capable of fighting humans back and forth. However, they had a fatal weakness: they were terrified of chemicals like insecticides. While it wouldn't kill them, it was very effective at driving them away.

Ai Yue browsed the pages. As she wandered through the listings, she saw pepper spray. She thought that although she already had weapons, who would complain about having more?

One hundred bottles of pepper spray, one hundred bottles of chili water, and one hundred stun batons. Seeing Baseball Bats, she bought those too! Didn't the thugs on TV always use them to beat people? It would definitely hurt.

An ice cream shop flashed before Ai Yue's eyes, and her hand paused. How could she have forgotten this? Eating it during the extreme heat would be absolutely wonderful.

It just so happened there was an ice cream factory in this city. Tomorrow, Ai Guosheng would go rent a vehicle while she went to stockpile ice cream—two tasks handled at once.

At three in the morning, Ai Yue felt a bit drowsy. She closed her laptop and forced herself to sleep; after all, she had to get up at seven-thirty to head to the ice cream factory to stock up.

Thinking this, she soon fell asleep.

The 'buzzing' of the phone alarm woke Ai Yue. She performed a 'carp leap' to spring out of bed, quickly finished washing up, and left her room. She found Ai Guosheng sitting in a chair by the balcony drinking tea, waiting for her.

Ai Yue quickly finished the hand-pulled noodles her mother had made and headed out with her father. They agreed to meet at the ice cream factory and then went their separate ways.

They arrived at the ice cream factory just as work started. Upon hearing that Ai Yue wanted to buy a large quantity of ice cream, the manager enthusiastically welcomed her into the reception room. After all, it was the off-season and monthly sales were pitifully low. Manager Wu was very happy to see a large order appear.

“Miss Ai, these are our factory's product categories. Take a look at which ones you need, check them off, and write down the quantity. We will prepare the goods and deliver them to your specified location,” the manager said warmly.

With a flourish of her pen, Ai Yue checked off all the affordable ice creams, one hundred of each kind—cones, milk puddings, popsicles, Haasi, Chun Cui, chocolate ice cream, Torches, Qiaozis, and so on—filling thirty large crates.

It cost nearly forty thousand, but compared to other things, this could only be considered pocket change.

“There's no need to deliver the goods for me; I'll haul them away myself. However, I want them now. Is that possible, Manager Wu?”

“This... it's possible, but you'll have to wait about an hour.”

“That's fine.”

“Then please sit here for a moment, I'll be right back.”

“Alright, go ahead with your work.” Seeing the manager leave, Ai Yue took out her laptop and used the time to continue purchasing supplies.

She searched for security supply stores online and communicated with customer service about whether they had the latest polar cold-weather gear and mummy sleeping bags.

The shopkeeper told her they had everything she needed, all standard equipment for Arctic researchers, capable of resisting minus fifty to sixty degrees. They guaranteed authenticity with a tenfold refund, but the price was steep: one hundred thousand for a full set from head to toe.

Ai Yue gritted her teeth. She had already bought cosmetics; she had to buy life-saving equipment no matter how expensive it was!

Two sets per person, totaling six sets. Six mummy sleeping bags, binoculars, waterproof flashlights, radios, extra-large capacity solar chargers, and earthquake/fire emergency kits—these cost a total of one million.

After filling in the delivery address and paying, one million was gone in just half an hour. Ai Yue felt a bit of heartache, clutching her chest and burying her head on the table.

“Oh my, Miss Ai, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?” Manager Wu happened to see this as he walked in and asked with concern.

Ai Yue raised her head as if nothing were wrong and tidied her hair: “I'm fine, just a bit sleepy from waking up too early this morning.”

Manager Wu didn't quite believe Ai Yue's answer, as he had seen her pained expression very clearly. However, since the guest was unwilling to say, he had no reason to press further.

“Oh, I see. Miss Ai, your goods are almost ready; we just need to load them onto the vehicle.”

“Alright, wait a moment, I'll make a call.”

Manager Wu made a gesture indicating she should go ahead.

Ai Yue was just about to call her dad to ask where he was when his call came in. She and her father really were on the same wavelength.

Answering the call, she learned Ai Guosheng was already at the ice cream factory's main gate. Manager Wu provided excellent service by hauling the ice cream to the gate and loading it onto the vehicle.

The two of them settled the bill and left the factory, driving out of the city. On a stretch of road without cameras, Ai Yue took all the ice cream into her space.

Ai Guosheng followed the navigation toward the countryside.

They had done their research. Ninety kilometers from the city was Shangjia Village. The villagers had developed two businesses for collective prosperity: a vegetable base and a breeding base.

So here, the two of them could buy various vegetables, cattle, sheep, pigs, and chickens in bulk, as well as eggs and milk.

Ai Yue checked her bank card and found she had already spent 136 million, with 324 million remaining.

Ai Yue clutched her chest with a pained expression, feeling that this money was being spent far too quickly.

To survive the various natural disasters of the end times, there were even more expensive things she hadn't bought yet. Just those firearms and ammunition had already cost 100 million.

She now regretted a bit why she hadn't 'shorn more wool' in the Beautiful Country. But she also knew that if she, a foreigner, had stood out too much, she probably wouldn't have made it back alive; even her hardcore friend couldn't have saved her.

Now the main focus was to save wherever possible, Ai Yue thought uncertainly, touching her phone with a hint of sorrow.

They soon arrived at Shangjia Village. Upon entering, they found the village chief and handed him the list of what they needed.

The village chief was very happy to see it. This year, their village had planted too many vegetables, and the distributors they worked with couldn't take them all. Ai Yue and her father's arrival would help clear some stock.

However, he looked a bit troubled by the meat, eggs, and milk Ai Yue wanted. Eggs and milk were fine, but for beef, mutton, and pork, they had fixed partners. Basically, everything the village produced was already accounted for, with no extra meat to sell them.

After agonizing for a long time, the village chief finally slapped his thigh. Seeing how many vegetables Ai Yue was buying, he decided to mobilize the entire village to sell her the pigs they raised at home—there would be about a hundred heads. But as for sheep and cattle, he was unable to help.

Ai Yue saw that the village had its own vegetable and breeding bases, so they wouldn't lack food and drink when the end times came. Thus, she accepted the farmers' home-raised pigs with a clear conscience.

Ai Yue ordered two truckloads of every kind of vegetable the village produced: tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, chili peppers, green peppers, green beans, potatoes, leafy greens, celery, various radishes, various mushrooms, Chinese cabbage, pumpkins, chives, and so on.