After some deliberation, Qiao Yu began browsing information about mountain villages around S City on her phone while eating. Most of S City’s agricultural products came from the surrounding townships, so if she wanted to purchase grain in large quantities, the townships were clearly the best choice.
Qiao Yu first looked at some agricultural investment and recruitment advertisements online, then checked the market prices of several major agricultural towns. In the end, she chose the village with the best cost-performance ratio and one that left a distinct impression on her—Luling Village, located on the outskirts of Y City.
The reason she had an impression of this village was thanks to the fact that she happened to have a college roommate who came from Luling Village.
That roommate’s name was Yao Lingling. She often brought homemade dried fruits and dried meat from home to share with everyone in the dorm. She also frequently said that their village was a blessed land of good feng shui—whatever they planted or raised would yield abundantly. However, because of inconvenient transportation and lack of fame, they could only supply goods to the surrounding towns and villages. But since the population of those towns and villages was limited, and some villages had their own land, the annual demand was not high. Almost every year, a large amount of vegetables and fruits went unsold and uneaten, ultimately rotting in the fields. Even though they had posted investment recruitment advertisements for a long time, those who contacted them for wholesale would eventually back out due to transportation issues. And these were precisely the aspects that Qiao Yu found favorable.
Luling Village was located in the south, with a suitable climate and simple, honest folk customs. Almost every household had crops and livestock, and even in winter, fresh vegetables and fruits were produced. Most importantly, Luling Village was relatively isolated in terms of its environment. Compared to villages that were more developed and had close trade with the outside world, Luling Village had little contact with the outside due to transportation constraints, so the village surely had a large stockpile of grain.
Not only that, but besides grain and vegetables, meat was also a key focus for Qiao Yu. As the Apocalypse drew nearer, animals and plants began to gradually develop mutations. Pigs, being omnivores, were the first among livestock to be affected. In November, swine fever had already appeared in many places, so pork was especially expensive this year—the price had already exceeded more than double the normal market price of previous years, and many people could hardly afford to eat pork anymore. But because Luling Village had little contact with the outside market, pork prices there remained relatively stable, which would save Qiao Yu a considerable amount of money. While pork was still edible at the moment, she had to stock up as soon as possible. By the end of January, even if she could see live pigs, they could not be easily consumed.
Qiao Yu decided to start with Luling Village.
Qiao Yu returned to her phone’s home screen and opened the messaging app. The conversation at the very top showed twelve unread messages from a contact named Tang Ran.
Qiao Yu’s finger paused for a moment, then she opened the conversation and indifferently looked at the funny videos and clothing pictures Tang Ran had shared with her; watched as she said this one’s funny, take a look, that one’s pretty, it suits you; and also watched as she asked, seemingly puzzled and somewhat anxious, why she hadn’t replied these past two days, whether something had happened…
Tang Ran was Qiao Yu’s high school classmate, and after they went to college, they still kept in touch. Qiao Yu had once thought they were best friends, but later she discovered that their friendship was nothing more than a transaction. She received comfort from Tang Ran, and Tang Ran received various gifts and connections from her.
Fair or unfair, sad or not—none of it mattered anymore. Recalling the woman from her past life who had screamed at her with jealous, hysterical eyes, “You don’t deserve Jiang Zhan,” Qiao Yu’s gaze held only indifference.
Qiao Yu didn’t reply. She tapped back, then found Yao Lingling’s chat window in her contacts. It was winter break now, and Yao Lingling spent every holiday working at a restaurant near campus. At this hour, she probably hadn’t started her shift yet. Qiao Yu sent a tentative message and, sure enough, received a reply almost immediately.
Yao Lingling seemed enthusiastic but a little surprised. She sent a shocked emoji first, then typed: Qiao Qiao? Why are you looking for me so late? Is something wrong?
Qiao Yu didn’t bother with pleasantries and got straight to the point. She said a friend of hers was having inventory problems at their supermarket and wanted to buy fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat wholesale from Luling Village. The demand was huge—they’d take as much as was available—and the price was negotiable. But the condition was that she needed to inspect the goods first, so she hoped Yao Lingling could help make an introduction.
Yao Lingling replied with a happy sticker and typed: Really? No problem! I’ll call the village right now. Hang on a sec.
Qiao Yu finished the rest of her breakfast in a few quick bites. By the time she’d washed the dishes and come back out, she happened to hear the message notification chime from her chat app.
She picked up her phone, unlocked the screen, and sure enough, it was Yao Lingling: Qiao Qiao, I got in touch with the village chief. He said you’re very welcome to come check out the goods. I happen to have next Tuesday off—if you’re free, want me to take you to our village for a look?
Qiao Yu switched out of the chat, opened her ticketing app, and carefully checked the train dates and times before typing back: Sure, I’ll leave it to you then. I see there’s a 5:30 train next Tuesday morning. If the time works for you, just send me your ID number and I’ll book the tickets.
Yao Lingling didn’t seem too busy at the moment and replied almost instantly: The time works fine, but don’t worry about the tickets—why don’t you send me your ID number instead?
…
The two went back and forth for a few rounds, but in the end, after Qiao Yu insisted several times, she got Yao Lingling’s ID number and booked the tickets.
With the food supply issue resolved, the anxiety weighing on Qiao Yu’s mind finally eased considerably. Today was Wednesday, and there were still six days until the trip to Luling Village. Qiao Yu decided to use the time to take care of some daily necessities, medicine, and clothing first.
What Qiao Yu wanted was numerous and varied. Setting aside whether a regular mall would even have everything, such a massive purchase volume alone would easily raise suspicion. So whether for the sake of product selection or privacy, online shopping was the best choice.
Qiao Yu opened her usual shopping app and searched for several online stores ranked in the top ten by reputation that shipped from locations close to her. She picked four women’s clothing stores and four men’s clothing stores. Without bothering about styles, she bought ten pieces of each item in the recommended size. Even though it was currently winter, online shopping had the advantage of crossing seasons—almost every store carried clothes for all four seasons, the only difference being how much of each they stocked.
After that, Qiao Yu searched again for several stores specializing in winter outdoor down jackets and summer short-sleeved T-shirts. After the Apocalypse, the climate would become extremely harsh, with no distinction between the four seasons. Days would be scorching hot, and nights would be bitterly cold. So thick down jackets and cotton short-sleeved shirts were undoubtedly the most practical clothing. As for shoes, Qiao Yu uniformly chose hiking boots and sneakers from outdoor supply stores.
After buying clothes and shoes, Qiao Yu began to ransack various outdoor equipment shops in earnest. Before experiencing the Apocalypse, Qiao Yu had not been an outdoor sports enthusiast; her knowledge of outdoor gear was limited to hiking boots and backpacks. But now, no one could understand the practicality of outdoor equipment in the Apocalypse better than she did.
Qiao Yu found several outdoor equipment stores with well-known brands, high ratings, and relatively close shipping locations. Following the same approach as when she bought clothes, she purchased 10 to 20 pieces of each product from every store, except for portable gas stoves and gas canisters. Portable gas stoves were easy to carry and took up little space, making them the most convenient tool for outdoor cooking, and gas canisters as fuel were absolutely essential, so the more stockpiled, the better. Qiao Yu bought 50 portable gas stoves from each store and then cleared out all the gas canisters, causing merchants to line up sending her messages, asking whether the orders were correct.
Qiao Yu replied to each one, telling the shopkeepers that she hoped they could ship as soon as possible, preferably using expedited courier services, the faster the better. Faced with such a big-spending customer, the merchants naturally agreed repeatedly, promising to ship the same day and striving to ensure Qiao Yu received the goods within five days.
In addition, Qiao Yu also placed orders for large quantities of mineral water, medicine, and daily necessities such as tissues and sanitary pads. She also bought 5,000 PC water buckets and several thousand sets of disposable meal boxes, bowls, and chopsticks, all marked for expedited shipping.
Over the following days, because there were so many online purchases requiring her personal signature for delivery, Qiao Yu didn’t leave the house except for one trip to pick up her car. Fortunately, Qiao Yu lived in a villa district where the houses were spaced relatively far apart, offering good privacy, so she didn’t attract onlookers.
It was just tough on the security guard at the entrance who handled registrations. Watching several large trucks of packages arrive at Qiao Yu’s house every day, he struggled to log them all while marveling that the world of the wealthy was truly hard to understand.