Yu Dong studied food science and engineering, and there's a simple common sense in their field:
the closer a material is to the upstream of production, the cheaper it is; the further downstream a product is, the more expensive it is.
A grain of rice costs 2 yuan per kilogram when it's raw; once cooked, it doubles in price; and once made into rice flour rice rolls, the price doubles again.
However, from a nutritional perspective, the energy intake is the same for the same quality of rice.
Therefore, to buy things cost-effectively, start from the source.
Based on this theory, Yu Dong roughly divided the food he needed to purchase into three categories:
The first category: unprocessed foods that meet basic nutritional needs, such as rice, flour, millet, soybeans, and oil. These are cheap and storeable, and will be the main food source in the post-apocalyptic world. This is about getting the most out of the market with the least amount of money, and will be his main food source in the future, so he needs to buy more of them.
The second category: convenient and ready-to-eat processed foods, such as instant noodles, biscuits, chocolate, canned meat, canned vegetables, and canned fruit. These are hard to obtain in the post-apocalyptic world, but they are delicious and nutritious, so even if they are a bit more expensive, he must buy some and stock up.
The third category is processed foods for enjoyment, such as self-heating hot pot, beef jerky, pork jerky, cola seeds, and various snacks... Eating these foods doesn't affect nutritional intake; they're purely for satisfying cravings and enhancing happiness. If you have extra money, you can buy some as a treat.
Of course, above these three categories, there's one true god: the fountain of life!
"Boss, how much is the water?"
Yu Dong arrived at a water delivery station in the Haiyang Agricultural Products Wholesale Market.
Inside, there were rows and rows of large blue barrels, the kind that sit on the water dispensers in offices.
"We have purified water, mineral water, and spring water, all at different prices. Which one do you want?"
"The cheapest."
"Purified water, 18.9 liters, is 10 yuan a bottle. If you don't have a bottle, there's a 50 yuan deposit per bottle."
"That much deposit?"
"That's how it is. If you don't want to drink it anymore, the deposit is refunded at any time."
Yu Dong frowned slightly. 10 yuan a bottle was reasonable, but the 50 yuan deposit was unacceptable. That would be 60 yuan a bottle of water, too expensive.
"Do you have bottled water without a deposit?"
"Then you can buy this Nongfu Spring pre-packaged water, also 18.9 liters, for 25 yuan a bottle. It's a disposable bottle
and not recycled." Although the price wasn't cheap, it was at least acceptable.
Moreover, from Yu Dong's perspective, this pre-packaged Nongfu Spring bottled water, because it wasn't in a recycled bottle, had better sealing and could be stored for longer than bottled water.
"Okay, Nongfu Spring it is. I want a lot, give me a discount."
"How much do you want?"
Yu Dong took out his phone and did a quick calculation.
An adult's daily water intake is about 3.0 to 3.5 liters per day. There might be some loss when cooking, so he calculated it to be 4 liters.
If he were to self-isolate for 3 years without leaving home, he would need to drink at least 4380 liters of water, which is 232 bottles.
"Take 300 bottles, the latest date."
Even if a little is wasted, this water would be enough to drink for three years.
Yu Dong currently has three houses to store supplies. Stacking them up doesn't put too much pressure on the space, but any more than that wouldn't be enough, as he also needs to store many other things.
After some haggling, Yu Dong bought 300 large bottles of Nongfu Spring at 23 yuan per bottle, for a total of 6900 yuan.
"Okay, I can deliver it to you now. Where should we deliver it to?"
"Xiangti Bay Community, um... wait for my call. I still need to buy some other things. We'll go together in a bit."
Yu Dong had almost finished drinking water, and he still had some left over.
But delivering...
Yu Dong remembered what the security guard had said when he entered Xiangti Bay Community.
Cars are not allowed on the surface of Xiangti Bay Community; they have to use the underground parking lot, and you need to register with the property management to enter the underground parking lot.
'Besides this water, I also need to deliver a large amount of supplies, which might attract the property management's attention... I need to find a reason to send them away.' After
thinking for a moment, Yu Dong dialed the number of Sister Zhang, the property manager.
"Sister Zhang, a few of us need to move some things to the community. We called a few trucks to transport things... um~ yes, yes, okay, then you can tell the security guard."
Sister Zhang was very enthusiastic towards Yu Dong, this 'big customer,' and would have the security guard open the gate for him.
After settling things over here, Yu Dong walked into the market. With the water bought, it was time to prepare the first type of food.
"The basic nutrients the human body needs are divided into five categories: carbohydrates, protein, fat, dietary fiber, and vitamins."
"Among them, carbohydrates, which account for about 60% of the body's daily nutrient intake... are also the easiest to obtain and the cheapest nutrient."
Yu Dong walked around the market and bought 800 jin of Northeast rice, 100 jin of millet, 100 jin of flour, 100 jin of dried noodles, and 100 jin of instant oatmeal according to his food preferences, spending 3190 yuan.
This 1200 jin of staple food combination will be his main carbohydrate supply for the next three years, enough for him to eat until he is completely full every day.
As for why there is so much rice... anyone who has eaten Northeast rice knows, it's delicious.
Easy to store, easy to cook, high in calories, and tastes good.
For such a large transaction, the merchant naturally provides delivery service, arranging for workers to load everything onto the truck. Yu Dong glanced at the loading truck.
"These things take up far less space than 300 buckets of water, but they still require a lot of space, and in order to keep them dry, they must be stored separately from the water... Space allocation is also a problem. We only need enough food to eat; we can't pursue unlimited hoarding."
"Next up is protein and fat. Survival bloggers on Zhihu all recommend one thing: soybeans."
40% protein, 20% fat, 30% carbohydrates, and rich in dietary fiber and vitamins.
Not only can it be made into soy milk, tofu, and soy sauce, but it can even be sprouted.
The key is its exceptionally long shelf life; it can last two or three years without any problems.
"Soybeans are like a doomsday food gift from God to humanity."
"I need to buy more."
Yu Dong bought 500 jin (250 kg) of soybeans directly. It wasn't that he didn't have the money; soybeans were cheap, costing only 1500 yuan. But this was enough for him to eat until he was sick of them.
After all, he wasn't good at cooking, so he would probably use these beans mostly for boiling.
Yu Dong also bought 60 liters of lard and vegetable oil to supplement his animal and vegetable fat intake, spending 1260 yuan.
"The most troublesome thing is actually how to maintain sufficient dietary fiber and vitamin intake. After all, fresh vegetables don't keep well; they'll all be gone in a while..."
Yu Dong settled for second best and bought 100 jin of mixed dried goods at the market: wood ear mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, kelp, seaweed, dried bamboo shoots, dried plum vegetables, etc., for a total of 2,000 yuan.
Finally, he bought 50 jin of salt and 50 jin of white sugar, as well as some seasonings such as soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and honey, for a total of 1,300 yuan.
"These are basically the first category of basic unprocessed foods."
Yu Dong quickly glanced through his shopping list and found that the protein content of the basic foods he bought was a bit too low. This is the key to building muscle. After the apocalypse, there will be a lot of free time, so he will definitely need to train to cope with various possible crises.
"Most of the protein we consume daily comes from meat, eggs, and dairy. After the apocalypse, the supply of meat and eggs will almost instantly stop and they will quickly rot after a power outage. So... only dairy products will remain as an option."
"UHT milk."
This stuff has a shelf life of up to a year, and if stored properly, it can still be consumed after a year.
Recently, many marketing accounts on Douyin (TikTok) claimed that milk's long shelf life was "certainly due to advanced technology and ruthless craftsmanship," attracting a large following.
This even amused one of Yu Dong's senior classmates studying dairy engineering, who went on a frenzy of writing in the comments section explaining it, and even made his own video specifically about UHT milk. He talked
about UHT sterilization, aseptic packaging materials, aseptic filling... only to receive one comment:
"Then drink more."
This made the senior classmate uninstall Douyin in frustration.
Yu Dong used to drink this stuff, mainly because it was cheap.
Imported from Australia, it cost 10 yuan per liter, with a one-year shelf life.
This is cheaper to buy online, Yu Dong thought, noting it down for now and planning to buy it all online later that evening.
So far, Yu Dong's total spending on the first category of basic necessities is 16,150 yuan.
Balance: 81,850 yuan.
"Not bad, about what I budgeted. Basic necessities cost the least; with 20% of my money, I can cover 80% of my food needs for the next three years." "
Now I should buy the second category: convenient, ready-to-eat processed foods."-+ First up is the internet cafe's three-piece set.
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Instant noodles, braised eggs, and sausages.
Strong flavor, no need for much salt.
Buy!
Following his plan to eat one pack of instant noodles a day, Yu Dong directly ordered 46 boxes of White Elephant instant noodles (1104 packs), 1100 braised eggs, and 1100 sausages from the market vendor.
"Brother, what kind of sausage do you want? We just got a new one with zero additives, it's delicious and nutritious, want some?"
The shopkeeper, seeing a big customer, quickly promoted his new product.
Yu Dong glanced at him.
"Give me the one with the most preservatives."
"Huh?"
The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment. If he hadn't seen Yu Dong's frantic buying spree in the market, he would have thought Yu Dong was there to cause trouble.
He chuckled twice and said, "Brother, these are all qualified products, produced according to national standards, with very few preservatives added... The elderly and children can eat them without worry."
"I want this pure meat sausage. Hurry up and load it; I'm in a rush."
Yu Dong ordered a normal pure meat sausage, not bothering to argue with the owner about the ridiculous "zero-additive" ham sausage. With the apocalypse approaching, shelf life is everything.
Starch sausages are delicious, but low in protein, so Yu Dong chose the pure meat sausage.
The final cost of the internet cafe three-piece set: 4186 yuan.
"Processed foods are so expensive... Even instant noodles, a low-end processed food market touted as cheap and good, are more expensive than rice with Lao Gan Ma chili sauce..."
Thinking this, Yu Dong bought another 100 cans of Lao Gan Ma, spending 700 yuan.
At this point, although the second category of food hadn't been completely purchased, everything at the wholesale market was bought.
Tomorrow, he planned to go to a good place to buy all the processed second category of food.
Currently, the goods filled three small trucks.
When Yu Dong returned to the Xiangti Bay residential area, it was already evening.
He had the three trucks covered with tarpaulins park outside the underground garage gate while he went to the front door to ask the security guard to open it.
The 1.8-meter-tall security guard laughed heartily and rolled up his sleeves.
"Alright, Brother Yu, it's time for my shift to end. I'll help you unload the stuff."
The security guard's enthusiasm made Yu Dong slightly hesitant.
He carefully sized up the security guard. He was muscular and well-built, with dark skin and a masculine air, but... he didn't seem very old.
Yu Dong took out a pack of Yuxi cigarettes he had just bought and offered one to the guard.
"What's your name, brother?"
"My name is Liang Mian. You can call me Xiao Liang or Liangzi, it's up to you."
Liang Mian took the cigarette, his smile becoming more natural.
"How old are you?"
"I'm 20 this year. I started working right after graduating from high school, hehe~"
He scratched his head, seemingly a little ashamed of his low education level being so far from the university town.
"Athlete?"
"Huh? How did you know, bro?"
"I guessed."
"You guessed right, bro. Are you studying psychology?"
"Um... Liangzi, I was really touched when you said you'd help... You're more qualified than many college students these days."
Hearing this, Liang Mian puffed out his chest and couldn't suppress the smile on his lips.
"I'll do what I love, it's what I'm supposed to do, no problem. Let's go, bro, I'll help you unload this."
"But... I really can't let you do this, and I can't even get involved, because we hired people from the moving company, and we've already paid them. If they damage anything, they'll have to compensate me. So if you help, and then the laptops or something gets broken... what if they blame you?"
"This... it should be okay, right?" Liang Mian's pectoral muscles slowly recoiled.
"It's hard to say, Liangzi. Not everyone is as considerate as you. To avoid unnecessary trouble, just watch them move. You just need to open the garage door for us."
"Okay then, bro, call me if there's any trouble, I'll back you up!"
He patted his large pectoral muscles forcefully.
Yu Dong led three trucks smoothly into the underground parking garage and parked them on the basement level of Building 1.
He also took the opportunity to observe the layout of the garage.
There were only two barriers at the entrance and exit, leaving a large gap that zombies could easily climb over. The entire underground garage was a single-level structure connecting three buildings.
In other words, anyone or any zombie on any building could descend to the underground garage via the stairs and then enter other buildings.
Moreover, the lighting downstairs relies entirely on lamps; a power outage would plunge everything into darkness…
"The underground parking garage poses a huge risk. On the last day, we must first block up the small door leading from my building to the underground garage."
Yu Dong wrote down everything he needed to do in his notebook, then shouted to the workers,
"Start unloading!"
"One elevator for rice and noodles, and one for water."
Building No. 1 is laid out with three units per floor, sharing two elevators.
The workers worked very efficiently, filling the elevator with rice and bottled water in five minutes. Yu Dong followed the rice-filled elevator to the fourth floor.
As they passed the first floor, the elevator stopped…
The elevator doors opened, revealing a familiar oval face with an ancient-style hairstyle, breathtakingly beautiful.
Liu Yeye, carrying her small schoolbag, subconsciously took a step inside, only to find herself nowhere to stand. She awkwardly took a step back, looked up, and met Yu Dong's gaze.
A hint of surprise appeared on her face, and her rosy lips opened... until the elevator doors closed, her mouth slightly agape, but she said nothing.
Only when she saw the elevator stop on the fourth floor did Liu Yeye let out a soft hum.
She pressed the elevator button again, tilting her head, counting the numbers on the elevator, but after a long time, it was still stuck on the fourth floor...
the fourth floor.
Yu Dong opened the doors to his three apartments, directing the workers to carry the supplies inside.
But something was on his mind...
"Will Liu Yeye cause trouble if she sees me hoarding so many supplies..."
He had deliberately sent away the property manager, Sister Zhang, and the security guard, Liang Zi, and even covered the truck with a tarpaulin to prevent them from knowing what he was doing and to avoid unnecessary trouble. After
the apocalypse, anyone who knew he had a large amount of supplies could be a potential threat.
These workers, on the other hand, were fine; they delivered countless goods to various parts of Yanhai City every day, and his small shipment was nothing to them.
"Forget it, in most people's eyes, I'm just an inconspicuous passerby, and Liu Yeye can't possibly be that idle..." "
Maybe she'll turn into a zombie in six days."
Two hours had passed after all the supplies were unloaded.
After a long day, Yu Dong collapsed onto his bed, which was piled high with instant noodles, feeling utterly exhausted.
However, looking around at the abundant supplies, he felt reassured.
After declining his roommate Huang Zhiqiang's invitation to dinner, Yu Dong ordered takeout to recover before continuing his work.
His living room was overflowing with supplies; there was barely any room to move.
Expecting workers to organize things neatly was unrealistic; just dumping everything into the house was a good thing.
"Sorting the supplies tonight is going to be a huge undertaking..."
Yu Dong muttered as he began organizing his house and belongings.
The first area was his main residence: his large 160-square-meter house.
This is a four-bedroom, two-living room, two-bathroom apartment. Yu Dong kept the master bedroom, master bathroom, and living/dining area as his own living space, and used the other three bedrooms and one bathroom as storage rooms.
First, he threw all the existing, useless furniture outside. For items too large to move, he simply chopped them up with the fire axe in the hallway!
These big pieces could be used to block doors and hallways later.
Then he washed and cleaned the apartment, sealed and dried it to ensure no insect eggs remained, and then stacked bags of rice—symbols of carbohydrates and hope—onto the floor...
The whole process was tedious and exhausting, but Yu Dong gritted his teeth and persevered.
After all, he had been sorting large items late at night for three years; his life boiled down to two words: endurance.
At this moment...
Liu Yeye, a student who had just finished dinner downstairs, was holding half a bag of dried fruits and vegetables in her hand, looking up at the ceiling.
The sounds of dragging, chopping, and washing...
"?"-+ Tuesday, 8 a.m.
Five and a half days until the zombie outbreak.
Yu Dong rubbed his aching arms as he got up, took out his notebook, glanced at it, and realized he was already behind schedule.
"I was busy too late last night and haven't done any online shopping yet."
"I have to finish buying it today, otherwise the items might not arrive."
Time was of the essence; he had to act quickly!
Last night he had been organizing until midnight, so exhausted he could barely straighten his back, and he had only managed to organize the supplies in the 160-square-meter house; the supplies piled up in the living room of the other two houses remained untouched.
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This made him realize that many seemingly insignificant things could consume a lot of time.
Buying things is quick, organizing things is slow.
There are many more things like this to come.
Yu Dong felt that if his physical condition weren't pretty good, he probably wouldn't have been able to get up today.
"If only someone could do it for me..."
But Yu Dong didn't want others to know what he was doing, lest it become a hidden danger after the apocalypse, so he gave up the idea after a little thought.
He took a taxi to today's destination: the 4003 Cannery.
The company, formerly a military-industrial enterprise producing military rations, was later restructured into a private company. It continues to produce compressed biscuits and canned goods, which are highly praised in the market for their superior quality.
Yu Dong has a senior alumnus working here, who, just two years after graduation, has already risen to the position of team leader.
He will be sourcing his next batch of convenient, ready-to-eat processed foods from this company in one stop.
Sitting in the taxi, Yu Dong called his senior and then started shopping on Pinduoduo.
He first ordered the milk he wanted to buy yesterday.
"If you don't refrigerate a bottle of milk, it will only last for a maximum of two days after opening. Drinking one liter of milk every two days is just enough to supplement your high-quality protein."
"UHT milk has a shelf life of one year. If stored properly, it can last for a few months more than a year. Any more than that... and there might be problems. Buy 200 bottles of milk, and you'll have your first year's worth of high-quality protein."
Because of the large order, the boss gave Yu Dong a price of 9.5 yuan per bottle, and the production date was no more than one month old.
The milk cost 1900 yuan.
Yu Dong also bought some cooking equipment online, the most important of which was a portable gas stove. This thing is made for camping; just plug in a butane canister and you can start cooking.
Yu Dong bought three portable gas stoves from major brands for 540 yuan. He then used DeepSeek to calculate his three-year gas consumption and ordered 150 butane gas canisters for 750 yuan.
"Three years of gas consumption for only 1290 yuan! Thank goodness for modern industry!"
This is enough to ensure Yu Dong can comfortably use gas for the next three years—a great deal.
Yu Dong didn't buy much; just enough for his needs.
While organizing his space yesterday, he realized that the storage capacity of his three houses was really limited. Besides food, he had many other things to buy.
For example, toilet paper, which is considered comparable to canned food and even dubbed "apocalyptic gold" on Zhihu.
Yu Dong went on a buying spree.
Following his usual habit of using one roll of toilet paper a week, with a little surplus, Yu Dong bought 200 rolls for 270 yuan.
He also casually bought a large quantity of disposable garbage bags and 30 plastic storage boxes of various sizes, spending 791 yuan.
While he was engrossed in online shopping on Pinduoduo, his car arrived outside the 4003 Cannery.
A senior student was waiting for him at the gate.
Yu Dong greeted him and then easily obtained the wholesale price by leveraging the senior student's connections.
This is the value of a degree in food science; you know everyone there. However, graduates from their college have varying career paths.
The cannery is relatively stable, while some senior students work in pre-made meals—working in the factory while having jobs fall into their laps.
Everything was fine, but suddenly Xibei (a food delivery platform) has left me completely overwhelmed. The few "mothers" I just started dating online have dozens of messages I owe to netizens.
There's not much to say about canned food. If toilet paper can be called "apocalyptic gold," then canned food is the very essence of apocalyptic gold!
This stuff was invented to cope with extremely harsh environments.
It gives you a huge burst of calories when you need it most.
The shelf life is stretched to the maximum; it says 3 years on the label, but if it doesn't bulge after 30 years, you can still have a bite.
After the apocalypse, meat production capacity has almost dropped to zero, making this one of the few meat-eating treats available.
However... even with a senior helping me get a good price, canned food from Factory 4003 is still not cheap.
200g canned luncheon meat: 7 yuan; 200g canned braised beef: 17 yuan; 227g canned dace with black bean sauce: 13 yuan; 425g canned yellow peaches: 6 yuan.
There are actually many other types of canned goods, but they all aim to improve flavor. Yu Dong doesn't want to pay too much premium for flavor; he only needs pure protein and calories.
Canned yellow peaches are a good source of vitamins, and they're delicious and inexpensive, so it's good to stock up.
"Dongzi, what are you doing with so many cans of food? Going to help Gaza?"
"Nothing so noble. I'm just trying to take care of myself right now. I'm planning to start a Douyin account to teach people how to stockpile and survive in the apocalypse, how to scientifically balance food and nutrition to meet their needs when there's no way to go out."
Yu Dong had already prepared a whole speech.
"That's an interesting account name. It's definitely in our department's style. You should buy some of our Type 13 compressed biscuits. They're good."
"Oh? Why? Aren't compressed biscuits prone to causing constipation?"
Yu Dong also planned to buy some compressed biscuits, but he didn't prepare too many, since he already had plenty of staple foods to eat.
"The Type 13 compressed biscuits are a significant improvement over the previous Type 90 formula. The taste and energy density are both enhanced; a 200g pack contains 900 calories and is enriched with complex minerals and vitamins. Theoretically, if you have no other food, you could eat Type 13 compressed biscuits for a while without any problems, and they're less likely to cause constipation."
"I see. How much is one?"
Yu Dong didn't know much about compressed biscuits; he hadn't realized the manufacturing process had improved so much.
Vitamins are something you should consume as much as possible to avoid illness.
After finishing his shopping, Yu Dong planned to go to the pharmacy to buy some large bottles of multivitamin tablets to keep on hand. He figured he could make up for the lack of vitamins in his diet with technology.
"Hmm... if you're doing something for your show, buy the tub kind. It's well-sealed, and the visual effects are better. A 4kg tub contains 20 packets. I'll give you a wholesale price of 90 yuan."
"Thank you so much, senior. Let me calculate how much I need..."
After assessing his remaining assets, Yu Dong took a batch of second-category food from his senior:
20 tubs of Type 13 compressed biscuits, 365 cans of luncheon meat, 365 cans of braised beef, 365 cans of dace with black bean sauce, and 365 cans of yellow peaches.
He was guaranteed to open one can of meat every day and eat one can of yellow peaches every three days for the next three years.
The total came to 17,495 yuan.
This price was more than the cost of three truckloads of goods he had bought at the wholesale market. Yu Dong gritted his teeth before taking out his phone to pay.
The senior student didn't seem to feel much about selling a batch of goods; after all, the factory wouldn't make much profit at that price. He, as the team leader, didn't rely on commissions; his main job was to help his junior. Students from the Food Science Department of Yanhai University were very united, a tradition of the department.
Furthermore, he was also very interested in the video account Yu Dong wanted to create.
"Dongzi, when are you going to post a video?"
"When you talk about canned food, I'll be your science consultant, it's free~ Just contact me on WeChat."
"Can I appear in the video?"
"We food science students should stand up and do something meaningful. There's been a lot of noise online lately... You know about the story of Old Ma from the dairy engineering department who was so angry with netizens that he went to Inner Mongolia to hug a cow and suck its milk? It's hilarious~"
"Sigh~ If I had your figure and looks, I'd make a Douyin account too."
"By the way, this chocolate tastes good and looks nice, it should fit the atmosphere of your video. I'll get you two boxes to display and shoot from a good angle."
Yu Dong, carrying the two large boxes of Type 10 chocolates given to him by his senior, got into the cannery's delivery truck.
His stock wasn't even enough for the delivery...
he could only rely on his senior's connections to get a piece of the action.
"You better step up, Dongzi! Rise up! I'll come find you in the city another day!"
"Okay."
Yu Dong looked at his senior, who was still muttering to himself, and a hint of reluctance appeared in his eyes.
"The apocalypse is coming in 5 days, I don't know if we'll ever see each other again..."
If possible, Yu Dong would be very willing to help his senior. Having a helper in the apocalypse is much better than fighting alone.
But he couldn't do anything now...
because in his previous life, he had witnessed his junior, who was drinking coffee next to him just a second ago, suddenly become a zombie-like creature with twisted limbs and bleeding eyes, and then pounce on and devour a passing student.
Yu Dong didn't know where this virus, named S by the government, came from, but before the S virus broke out... there wasn't a single warning sign.
This junior was named Ding Ming, whom he knew quite well. He came from a poor family and had to work part-time to earn his living.
Yu Dong had mentored him many times; he was a very reliable young man.
"If only Ding Ming hadn't been infected, we could have survived together," Yu Dong thought.
He wanted to find someone to help him cope with the apocalypse, but the information he had gained after the outbreak of the apocalypse in his previous life was extremely limited.
Yu Dong recalled his brief half-hour of survival.
While his junior, Ding Ming, was enjoying his meal, he slipped away and hid in a corner for a while, only to be discovered by several zombies who began to flee. He was eventually caught and killed by Xu Feng.
The two people he knew, Ding Ming and Xu Feng, were among the first to become zombies.
This filled him with despair.
"If they both survived, we could form a post-apocalyptic survival team... What a pity, I don't know who we can trust outside right now. Letting them in and turning them into zombies next to me would just blow them up."
Just as Yu Dong gave up searching for useful information, his eyes suddenly narrowed, realizing something he had overlooked.
"Dead people are also a resource..."-+ "Every detail is important yet insignificant..."
Yu Dong suddenly remembered Flaubert's words.
Thanks to his extraordinary memory of those seven days, he could remember every single detail. Just as he was racking his brains trying to figure out if he had overlooked anything, his mind suddenly shifted, and he suddenly got a strange perspective.
He couldn't find living teammates, but he could use the dead.
The so-called "dead" referred to those who became zombies after the apocalypse in the previous life.
No matter what Yu Dong did now, Xu Feng and Ding Ming would directly become the first wave of zombies due to the virus outbreak.
Yu Dong couldn't save them.
At the same time, they couldn't threaten the supplies Yu Dong had stockpiled after the apocalypse.
In other words, Yu Dong could share all his supplies with them, and as long as they didn't leak the secret this week, they would carry this secret with them until they died.
Xu Feng and Ding Ming happened to be the most reliable people.
"Thinking this way is a bit cruel, but it's the truth. I can't save them, so I'm asking them to help me, to help me survive..."
Yu Dong took out his phone.
"Junior Ding, I have a high-paying part-time job here, it's urgent..."
"Xu Feng, I'm actually planning to create a Douyin account teaching people how to survive in the apocalypse, I need your help..."
Unsurprisingly, both of them accepted his request. However, Xu Feng never missed a class and could only come to help in the evenings, while Ding Ming had no such reservations. Hearing about the high-paying part-time job, he immediately grabbed his bag and skipped class to go.
"Ding Ming wants to make money, and Xu Feng is helpful... Once I hit the mark, I'll get the feedback I want."
Although he successfully acquired two excellent laborers, Yu Dong's face showed no joy.
Because in 5 days and 7 hours, he would lose these two friends forever.
Yu Dong searched his memory again for details. When the zombie virus broke out, he was in the library. Apart from Xu Feng, who was with him, and Ding Ming, whom he met by chance, he didn't see any familiar people, especially living people...
The only thing he remembered was that there were very few living people.
"I don't know how things are in other places, but Yanhai University fell almost instantly... I estimate that 90% of the people turned into zombies. If the rest didn't escape, they'll be eaten like me." "
This is the apocalypse."
Thinking of this horrific situation, Yu Dong felt even more urgent.
He had to complete all preparations in the remaining 5 days and 7 hours!
When Yu Dong arrived at the Xiangti Bay residential area in the cannery's truck, it was already noon. Ding Ming was waiting for him at the entrance.
"Brother Dong!"
A thin, dark-skinned young man waved enthusiastically to Yu Dong in the truck.
"Get in, follow me."
As usual, he asked the security guard Liang Zi to open the underground garage door.
This time, the cannery workers weren't helping with unloading. Luckily, Ding Ming, a strong young man, and Yu Dong worked together to quickly move 20 barrels of compressed biscuits and 73 boxes of canned goods upstairs.
The barrels of compressed biscuits and the neatly packed canned goods saved them a lot of time.
After everything was unloaded, Yu Dong finally spoke to Ding Ming for a few minutes.
"I'll give you 20 yuan an hour to sort goods here today, until 10 pm. After you leave, don't tell anyone about this part-time job, okay?"
"Holy crap? That's 200 a day! Guaranteed! Dong-ge, you're really my brother, saving such a good part-time job for me."
"If you're satisfied, let's get started."
"Alright~"
The price for Ding Ming was very fair. In Yanhai City, which wasn't economically developed, the average income for university students doing part-time jobs was around 100 yuan a day. Yu Dong offering 20 yuan an hour was quite generous.
Yu Dong didn't have much money, but he had to spend it, otherwise he might not be able to finish his work before the apocalypse.
Sorting was much more laborious than purchasing.
Yu Dong had a clear schedule that he had to strictly adhere to.
First, he had Ding Ming organize the goods in the other two houses according to his instructions.
He divided the newly purchased compressed biscuits and canned goods, along with other supplies, into three portions in a 6:3:1 ratio, placing them in the 160 sq m, 100 sq m, and 45 sq m houses respectively.
In case of an emergency in his main house, he could move to the other two houses without worrying about food.
With this, his second category of processed food was complete, enough to sustain him for three years when combined with the first category of basic unprocessed food.
As for the third category of luxuries… Yu Dong temporarily put it aside.
"There are still a lot of things I haven't bought. Let's buy them if we have any money left after we finish everything."
Yu Dong calculated the money on his hands again.
He had already spent nearly 20,000 yuan today.
He still had 61,165 yuan left.
"Ding Ming, have you eaten?"
"Brother Dong, I'm not hungry!"
"Authentic Anhui beef noodles?"
"Okay."
Yu Dong went downstairs to the door and bought two large bowls of beef noodles with all the ingredients. He carried them back upstairs and ate while ordering online.
With the problem of drinking water and eating solved, he should buy some medicine to keep on hand.
There would be no doctors after the apocalypse, and he would have to rely on himself if he got sick.
Fortunately, Yu Dong had been alone all these years, and the doctor at the orphanage when he was a child had taught him a lot of common sense. He was still familiar with commonly used medicines.
When Yu Dong was buying noodles downstairs in the community, he went to the pharmacy next door and asked about the prices of several medicines. He found that they were all more expensive than online, and many of them were from small pharmaceutical companies he had never heard of.
Why not just buy online?
Yu Dong compared prices and found that JD Pharmacy had a discount for purchases over a certain amount, making it the most affordable.
As for which medicines to buy, the experts on Zhihu had already provided lists, so Yu Dong just had to copy them.
First, he bought four large bottles of 300-tablet multivitamins; this would ensure his health wouldn't have any problems on days without fresh vegetables.
Then came amoxicillin, cephalosporins, levofloxacin, and erythromycin—life-saving antibiotics. Yu Dong didn't skimp, buying enough for 40 courses of treatment to ensure he could treat any infections each month.
After that, Yu Dong also bought painkillers, fever reducers, antihistamines, antidiarrheals, enemas, cold medicine, wound disinfectants, and eye drops.
Yu Dong had chosen medications from major pharmaceutical companies to avoid being ripped off if he needed them later.
They were all commonly used drugs, but the total price was considerable.
Even with coupons, it still cost 6954 yuan.
Just as Yu Dong was about to click pay, a window popped up:
[Activate JD Pay Later? First transaction discount of 50 yuan.]
Yu Dong usually closed it directly; he didn't have a habit of overspending, and spending only what he could afford was his basic principle of financial planning.
But now…
"There's still a discount."
Yu Dong clicked to activate it. Based on his past spending records, JD Pay Later gave him a 1000 yuan credit limit.
"Thanks, Brother Dong."
He paid 1000 yuan through JD Pay Later, spending 5854 yuan himself.
"If that's the case... I still have some money to withdraw."
Yu Dong immediately activated Alipay Huabei, Meituan Pay Later, Douyin Pay Later, and Kuaishou Pay Later.
Huabei also gave him a credit limit of 1,000 yuan, while the other three only gave him 500 yuan each. Although it wasn't much, it was still a pleasant surprise.
This money could only be used for online shopping. Yu Dong placed orders on several platforms in rotation, buying some miscellaneous items.
For example, a rainwater collection bucket, water purifier tablets, a water filter pitcher, and a water storage bucket set to solve the problem of daily cleaning water use. He also bought some high-tech bread with a long shelf life, glue sticks, a lighter, magnesium rods, candles, blackout film... and small items like fishing line that he heard were useful.
He quickly snapped up the 2,500 yuan discount.
At this point, Yu Dong still had 55,311 yuan left.
"Next, it's time to buy something big... electricity."
For a modern person, being without electricity is like a fish out of water—it suffocates.
"Gasoline and diesel generators are out of the question; they're noisy and the energy source isn't sustainable. Solar panels are the best power generation equipment in this apocalypse."
Yu Dong planned to install a ring of solar panels around the balcony facing south of his house to generate electricity.
After some selection, he chose Longi's 650W photovoltaic panels, which would generate 2-3 kilowatt-hours per day on sunny days.
Yu Dong calculated the length of the south side of the house and decided to install three panels horizontally.
On sunny days, the daily power generation would be 6-9 kilowatt-hours, which would be sufficient for Yu Dong's needs.
He ordered three solar panels and an installation service, spending a total of 2600 yuan. Since
the generated electricity needed storage, Yu Dong also chose a CATL outdoor portable power bank that could store 20 kWh of electricity. Connecting it to the solar panels would store the electricity generated each day and convert it into a stable power output.
On cloudy days, he could also use backup power.
However, the price made Yu Dong gasp.
"15250...so expensive."
Yu Dong gritted his teeth and bought it, after all, it concerned his quality of life after the apocalypse.
His money dwindled to 37461 yuan.
Yu Dong glanced at the time; it was already 3 PM. He told Ding Ming to continue working while he went to the hardware store.
If everything before was for my own comfortable survival, then now it's time to strengthen my defenses.
Yu Dong will never allow things like me hoarding food while my neighbors hoard guns.-+ Hardware and building materials market.
This is Yu Dong's last stop for offline procurement, completing the final link in Yu Dong's shelter.
Security.
Yu Dong took out his notebook, which recorded the problems he had discovered and the things he hadn't done yet.
This book was first published on Taiwan's best books website, t͎͎͎͎k͎͎a͎͎n͎͎.c͎͎o͎͎m͎͎, providing you with a convenient reading experience with error-free and disordered chapters. Reviewing
his findings from repeatedly entering and leaving the Xiangti Bay community these past few days, the advantages of the entire community were extremely obvious.
Fewer residents, separate above-ground and underground spaces for pedestrians and vehicles, a small but sturdy above-ground entrance, and a 3-meter-high fully enclosed wall.
These measures would allow him to maintain a relatively controlled environment during a zombie outbreak.
Even if zombies appeared in the community, firstly, their numbers would be limited, and secondly, most would be contained within the buildings and outside the community.
However, there were still four crucial issues he needed to address:
1. The ground-level entrance to the Chantilly Bay community was an electrically controlled gate. If it could be sealed before the apocalypse, the community's security would be significantly increased, preventing any wandering zombies from entering.
2. The underground parking garage was an undefended public space, extremely dangerous. The entrance from the underground garage to his building
, Building 1, had to be sealed off. 3. The ground-level main door of Building 1 also needed to be locked to prevent zombies outside from entering, thus making the interior of Building 1 relatively safe.
4. The fire door on his fourth floor was the last line of defense. Behind the fire door was a staircase. As long as the fire door could be secured, his floor would be safe.
Four layers of defense, from the outside in, optimized his survival environment for the next three years.
The main entrance to the residential complex and the entrance from the underground parking garage to Building 1 needed to be completely sealed off, making it difficult to breach even with force.
The ground-level entrance to Building 1 and his fourth-floor fire door were to be softly locked, not completely sealed off; he needed to be able to open them from the inside if he needed to leave.
After setting his goals, Yu Dong entered a hardware and building materials market shop to begin shopping.
"Cut me a piece of high-strength steel plate of this size,"
Yu Dong told the shopkeeper, pointing to his measurements. The shopkeeper glanced at it and nodded, indicating it was fine.
"How about I cut you a 12mm Q390NC steel plate?"
"Sure."
The shopkeeper calculated the dimensions.
"One price, 1290 yuan, cutting it for you free."
"Okay."
Yu Dong wanted to use this whole steel plate to block the double doors from the underground parking garage to Building 1, welding them completely shut. Steel plates this thick couldn't be penetrated even by AK-47 bullets, so Yu Dong didn't believe a zombie could pry it through.
"Give me two more of the thickest chains and matching padlocks..."
"The strongest screws, bolts, and expansion bolts you have."
"Two thick angle irons, cut to the length the elevator can fit..."
"Solid wood strips, hammers, nails, hacksaws, super glue..."
"Two more crowbars, a multi-tool kit, a high-powered electric drill, an angle grinder, two extra batteries for each, and fifty meters of hemp rope and nylon rope..."
"The quality must be the best, and don't overcharge, or I'll just go to the next shop. There's no shortage of sellers here. If you don't sell properly, plenty of others will. Am I being clear, boss?"
Yu Dong clearly stated his needs, leaving the boss stunned.
He had initially thought he only needed a steel plate and hadn't even moved from his chair. But upon hearing the numerous requests behind him, he immediately stood up and began meticulously noting them down in his notebook. His
final words made the shopkeeper hesitant to take advantage of the young man.
After a brief assessment, he decided to do the job properly; after all, he needed quite a lot, and a legitimate business deal could yield a small profit. If he misrepresented the order and was caught, he'd lose everything.
"Don't worry, brother, I guarantee you the best stuff and the fairest price,"
Yu Dong nodded, indicating he could prepare his order.
The shopkeeper went to the back warehouse to retrieve the goods, and Yu Dong breathed a sigh of relief.
Actually, Yu Dong wasn't particularly knowledgeable, but there were many talented people out there; he could simply copy their work. People often jokingly call Zhihu (a Chinese Q&A website) "Bihu" (a derogatory term for Zhihu users)
, but many of the answers there are quite valuable.
This is a rare opportunity for an ordinary person to see an industry leader personally address their questions.
Yu Dong believes that if he tries to do things haphazardly, it's definitely not as good as directly copying the work of a master. He
has his own conclusion on whether clear, meticulous logic or haphazard, inefficient experimentation will help him survive.
The hardware he bought from the hardware store will give him some modification and reinforcement capabilities, making his shelter more robust and enabling him to achieve the goals of the four locks.
After some negotiation, Yu Dong discovered that the price of this stuff was much higher than he had expected.
A Delixi brushless lithium-ion angle grinder, equipped with four batteries and 60 mixed cutting discs, grinding wheels, and flap wheels, cost 1000 yuan.
A Bosch high-powered impact drill set costs 940 yuan, a Stanley tool kit costs 1230 yuan...
and other miscellaneous items add up to a hefty price tag, making Yu Dong's heart ache.
"That's 9035 yuan in total, but I'll round it down to 9000,"
the shopkeeper said, snapping away at the calculator and giving Yu Dong a final quote.
Seeing Yu Dong's hesitation, the shopkeeper sighed and said,
"Brother, these are all my best stuff. To be honest... I don't sell more than a few pieces a year. Everyone likes to use cheaper alternatives, but in the hardware business, you get what you pay for. Use them for two years and you'll see how worthwhile this money is."
These words resonated deeply with Yu Dong.
Money wasn't important; reliability was paramount.
He lacked repair skills; if something broke, it broke.
In the post-apocalyptic world, a durable set of tools was more important than anything else.
Yu Dong had just checked online prices, and the shopkeeper hadn't ripped him off; some were even cheaper than online.
He stroked the sturdy, reliable, and square tools, each one exuding industrial aesthetics, the air filled with a reassuring scent of lubricating oil.
He knew this was good stuff.
Ding~
Payment successful.
"Deliver these to Chantilly Bay."
"Hehehe~ Okay, I'll have my assistant deliver them to you as soon as they're cut up."
The shopkeeper was beaming; anyone would be happy to have such a straightforward customer.
After leaving the hardware store, Yu Dong wandered around the market for a while and found another shop.
Tactical Frontline.
A military enthusiast's shop, it was the best equipment depot Yu Dong could legally access.
After setting up his own shelter for defense, it was time to focus on personal armaments.
The owner was a chubby middle-aged man with a menacing face; he didn't look like the kind of gangster you'd want to mess with.
He glanced at Yu Dong.
"What are you buying?"
"Individual combat gear."
"Heh~ that's quite professional. There's plenty of individual combat gear. What do you need it for? Climbing mountains? Hiking? Catching roe deer?"
"Extreme survival and self-defense. I might have to fight...wild animals hand-to-hand, so I need to protect myself from being bitten or scratched."
Yu Dong didn't really understand those people in zombie movies who fight zombies in just a vest and shorts... Even in ancient times, they knew to wear armor.
Isn't it easy for modern gear to prevent simple attacks like being bitten or scratched?-+ "Hehe~ I didn't realize you were so capable, bro. Playing it big?"
The boss of the tactical frontline perked up when he heard that Yu Dong was going to fight wild beasts.
Yu Dong smiled but didn't say anything. He glanced at the equipment hanging there. The equipment was complete and looked very new.
"Whatever you have, I'll provide it for you, whatever you need."
"Let's start from scratch, just enough to meet my needs."
"How much budget?"
"Get the best I can manage, enough to keep me alive. The budget can be adjusted flexibly."
"Interesting, you're really interesting, bro. Okay, I'll recommend a commonly used set."
"A tactical vest, protective gear, and combat boots are essential. Equip them to protect your vulnerable joints and ankles."
"For scratch and bite protection... a stab-proof vest and level 5 stab-proof gloves. These will allow you to catch blades bare-handed."
"Pair it with a tactical helmet with night vision to protect your head and neck. With this set, wild animals, except for the force of a collision, will have a very hard time inflicting effective damage on you."
"Actually, intimidation is the best way to deal with wild animals. This flare gun can fire loud blanks, as well as flares and incendiary bombs, scaring them away with sound and flames."
"As for weapons... you'll have to put in some effort yourself. These are all legal: batons, long-handled axes, machetes, tactical knives, entrenching tools, slingshots—they're usable, but not ideal for close combat." "
Finally, a set of essential wilderness survival gear: a tactical backpack, tactical flashlight, binoculars, multi-tool pliers, cable ties, radio, satellite phone, tent, sleeping bag... that's about it."
Hearing this, Yu Dong knew he'd come to the right place.
The boss was very professional.
The full set of protective gear—stab-proof vest, stab-proof gloves, protective gear, tactical helmet, and combat boots—was incredibly tempting.
From what he'd seen, zombies attacked by biting and scratching; if the equipment could withstand these attacks, he wouldn't be infected, giving him room to maneuver.
"How much is this set of protective gear you mentioned?"
"It depends on the quality you want; different brands have different prices."
"I want the best."
"The best? Did you see my shop's name? I have top-tier international brands here; a set costs over 20,000 yuan. Are you sure?"
Yu Dong: "..."
He still had 28,461 yuan left.
"It doesn't have to be that good... something slightly less fancy, but functional enough will do."
"You don't seem like a military enthusiast... I'll get you a set from a top-tier domestic brand. It'll be enough for you unless you're going to international uniforms and have gunfights with people. It'll only cost 10,000 yuan."
The fat boss took out a set of gear suitable for Yu Dong from the back warehouse. It was all black and looked very cool.
After Yu Dong put it on, the weight increased significantly, but because it clung to his body, his agility wasn't greatly affected, and the protective power was extremely high!
The boss used his knife to give Yu Dong several hard blows. Yu Dong could feel the force, but it couldn't pierce his gear at all.
"If the 10,000 set is like this, then the 20,000+ set must be incredibly durable..."
"Those are for combat gear, you won't need them unless you're going abroad."
"Okay, I'll take this set."
It's expensive, but worth it!
He also bought the other individual soldier gear recommended by the shopkeeper, besides survival gear like satellite phones, tents, and sleeping bags—all the highest quality—and a large quantity of spare batteries.
It cost him another 9,300.
Originally intending to leave, Yu Dong suddenly turned around and looked at the shop owner, who, despite his fierce appearance, was actually very professional. He asked,
"Boss, do you have any crossbows?"
"Brother, don't joke with me. Those things are contraband. This is a legitimate military enthusiast shop. If you want to buy a compound bow, I do have two here."
"Never mind then."
Yu Dong didn't know how to use a bow. He knew that to shoot accurately with it required a lot of practice, and he didn't have a place to practice. Taking it out would be a complete waste of his time.
Crossbows are controlled weapons precisely because they are easy to learn. An ordinary person only needs to learn how to aim briefly to be able to fire.
Yu Dong was just trying to ask. Seeing how nervous the shop owner was, he didn't say anything more, loaded his things onto the hardware store's delivery truck, and left the hardware market.
At this point, his procurement plan was basically complete.
He only had 9015 yuan left.
Next, he needed to fill in any gaps and renovate the shelter.
He checked the time; it was already 6 PM.
"Xufeng should be here soon..."
After this batch of goods arrived, there would be a lot of work to do, and tonight would be another busy night.
But with Xufeng and Ding Ming helping him today, the work would proceed much faster.
Yu Dong dialed Xufeng's number.
"Where are you, Xufeng?"
"Dongzi, I'm already at Chantilly Bay. The security guard at the entrance heard I was looking for you and led me directly to Building 1. He's waiting for the elevator and will be there soon."
"Let him go."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Don't let him go up. My secrets are there. If the property management sees him, they'll cause me trouble."
"Got it. I'll wait for you on the first floor."
While waiting for the elevator, Xufeng turned to look at the enthusiastic, tall Liangzi beside him.
"Master, Yu Dong isn't here, and I don't have the key, so I won't go up. I'll just wait for him downstairs. Thank you."
"Ah, okay, then you wait here for a bit. Contact me anytime if you need anything."
Liang Mian didn't think much of it and left to stand guard at the entrance.
It was just a little regrettable... He thought the residents on the fourth floor were quite nice, spoke kindly, and didn't discriminate against someone like him who hadn't gone to university. He was even thinking of helping them out if he needed anything.
"Okay."
Xu Feng sent Yu Dong a WeChat message after dismissing the security guard:
"All done."
"I'll be there soon. Take the elevator to the basement and wait for me. Help me carry some things."
Yu Dong had been a little nervous.
Because Ding Ming was tidying up on the fourth floor, a lot of furniture had been thrown out. If Liang Mian went up, he would find them tearing the place down. In this predominantly rental neighborhood, this would definitely cause a dispute and create a lot of trouble for his plans over the next few days.
That property manager, Sister Zhang, was no pushover.
Fortunately, Xu Feng handled the emergency well.
"I just got lucky. If I had called a little later, there might have been problems... This security guard, Liang Mian, is a bit too enthusiastic."
Although it might affect his plans, Yu Dong's evaluation of Liang Mian was even higher.
If he needed to team up after the apocalypse, a helpful partner was much better than an ingrate.
"I wonder if Liang Mian will turn into a zombie..."
What's more terrifying than a gym zombie?
A 1.8-meter-tall sports student zombie.
Although Yu Dong possessed considerable strength, he didn't believe his overall physical fitness could compare to Liang Mian's.
"Huh? There's another detail..."
Speaking of strength, Yu Dong recalled a brief sparring match between him and Xu Feng after Xu Feng tackled him in his previous life.
Ultimately, his much-vaunted arm and wrist strength couldn't match Xu Feng's, and he was bitten to death by Xu Feng.
Because he had worked part-time as a sorting clerk for many years, Yu Dong's arm and wrist strength were significantly superior to Xu Feng's. In his previous life, after being tackled by Xu Feng, he wasn't exhausted yet; his adrenaline surged, and he used all his strength to wrestle with Xu Feng, who had turned into a zombie, but he still lost.
"In other words, after Xu Feng became a zombie, his strength increased, and his speed increased..."
"This isn't good news."
This also means that if Liang Zi, a sports student who is a level stronger than Xu Feng, becomes a zombie, he might become even stronger, becoming a troublesome problem for Yu Dong to handle.
"When the apocalypse breaks out, keep a close eye on Liang Mian's movements..."
Yu Dong needs to be wary of him.
He already suffered from a gym zombie once in his previous life and doesn't want to suffer from a sports student zombie again.
Yu Dong arrived at the residential area in a delivery truck. Liang Mian was busy, so he opened the door for him and left, allowing him to successfully enter the underground parking garage with the supplies without attracting anyone's attention.
Xu Feng and Ding Ming were already waiting for him underground.
This time, two employees from the hardware store helped, and unloading the other items was quick. Finally, the five of them worked together to remove the large steel plate and placed it next to the double doors leading into Building 1 from the underground parking garage.
They definitely couldn't seal it off now, otherwise the building's owners wouldn't be able to use it and would definitely complain to the property management, causing more trouble.
Yu Dong found a welder at the hardware market and arranged to do the welding this Sunday morning.
He planned to do most of the final sealing work that day.
As Xu Feng unloaded so many tools and his personal tactical gear, he knew Yu Dong wasn't joking; he was really going to make a big splash.
Xu Feng was a little worried about this.
"Dongzi, isn't this track a bit unpopular?"-+ Yu Dong was naturally gifted at persuasion.
He convinced Xu Feng with minimal effort.
Ding Ming was a man of few words but many actions, not particularly interested in what Yu Dong did; he only cared about the high-paying part-time job he could do for a few days.
He was short of money; his family not only couldn't send him money but also needed him to send money back home...
The three of them worked much more efficiently. They
searched TWKAN on Google
until 10 PM, finally finishing cleaning the two apartments, one 100 square meters and the other 45 square meters, stuffing in large items like water, rice, and flour.
Other things still needed more meticulous organization.
After paying Ding Ming 200 yuan for his day's work, he left, rushing back to the dormitory before lights out.
Chantilly Bay is very close to Yanhai University, less than a 10-minute bike ride.
Xu Feng simply lay down on the bed.
"Dongzi, how about we sleep side by side tonight?"
Yu Dong laughed heartily, "I couldn't be happier."
Time to talk with his good brother was running out.
Tonight, the two talked all night long.
From video calls to e-commerce, from roast chicken to Zhang San, from Xibei to the future of the food industry...
later they really let loose.
They talked about history, society, military equipment, the future of communism...
Getting really into it, Yu Dong suddenly sat up.
"Brother, I don't think the world should be like this!"
Tonight, Xu Feng had a very strange dream. He dreamt that he and Yu Dong went to eat at a very special seaweed and egg drop soup restaurant. When they arrived, the owner said that they no longer had seaweed or soup...
The next morning, Xu Feng got dressed and ran five kilometers along the coastline before returning to school, completely satisfied.
Yu Dong sat up and looked out the window at Xu Feng's figure running along the beach.
"Still running around. If you had just run a few less steps these past few years, I would never have been caught by you in my past life."
"I'm the one who's really being run around to death..."
It's 7:50 a.m. on Wednesday, four and a half days before the apocalypse.
Yu Dong glanced at the dormitory group chat; his roommate Huang Zhiqiang was tagging him again.
"Dongzi, aren't you going to eat breakfast?"
"Dongzi, where did you go?"
"Dongzi, come back! Dongzi! I can't live without you, Dongzi!"
Yu Dong: "...Be careful, you'll start to look like him."
Huang Zhiqiang: "Why didn't Xufeng come back from your place yesterday? Did you hug Xufeng? Damn it...you beat me to it."
Yu Dong: "???"
Xufeng: "Wait a minute! First of all, I wasn't hugged. Secondly, something's wrong with you, Zhiqiang, something's really wrong." Zhao Youcai
: "Boring, we're about to graduate, Lao Huang, you're still so irresponsible. Tomorrow's the fall recruitment, are you going to talk to the interviewer about this?"
Instantly, the group chat went silent.
Disturbed by his roommate Zhao Youcai, Yu Dong lost interest in chatting.
He glanced at the time; it was already 8:30 in the morning. There were still four and a half days until the apocalypse.
Today, Yu Dong didn't need to go out to buy anything. He needed to organize the things he'd bought over the past few days and learn how to use the various tools he'd purchased from the hardware store.
To be honest, although Yu Dong had read expert guides and bought a bunch of tools, he had zero practical experience.
He read the instruction manual and watched online tutorials, gradually learning how to use an angle grinder to cut steel, how to use an impact drill to make holes, and how to saw a wooden board flat.
These skills were crucial for his final four safety lines and he had to master them quickly.
At 9:30, Ding Ming arrived.
The medicine he'd bought from JD Pharmacy had also been delivered.
"Wow, Dong-ge, these are all real medicines... Why don't you just buy some empty cans and display them on your livestream?"
"Because my channel focuses on authenticity, there's not a single bit of falsehood mixed in."
"Awesome."
Ding Ming felt that Yu Dong's brain was much better than his own, especially when it came to part-time jobs; Yu Dong always managed to find the best ones.
If Yu Dong hadn't been so focused on his studies, Ding Ming felt he might have already secured a supervisory position.
Now that the medicines had arrived, Yu Dong asked Ding Ming to start organizing them.
Ding Ming looked around.
"Dong-ge, how do I organize them? There are no boxes... Should I put them in a cabinet?"
Yu Dong thought for a moment and remembered that the storage boxes he had ordered online hadn't arrived yet.
"Go downstairs and buy 20 more large plastic boxes, with lids, good sealing quality, and put the medicine and canned biscuits in them."
"Okay~"
That's the downside of online shopping; it takes time to ship.
Ding Ming spent today sorting and organizing small items, while Yu Dong continued practicing his hardware skills.
Measuring, cutting, grinding, drilling, fixing...
things that seem simple are actually quite difficult to do.
Even Yu Dong, who has always been very good with his hands, spent a whole day learning how to use these tools correctly.
He'll need to practice for a while longer to use them fluently.
Ding Ming left after dinner; Xu Feng had something to do and couldn't come to help today.
Late at night, Yu Dong lay in bed doing his accounts. After deducting the money he had given to Ding Mingjie and the money he had spent on buying the suitcase and eating that day, he still had 8,350 yuan in his hand.
"We're running low on money, so we won't be paying Ding Ming for the remaining days."
A weekly settlement saves him 800.
"We're still missing one crucial piece of equipment: a primary weapon for dealing with zombies."
Although Yu Dong bought a long-handled axe, four knives, an entrenching tool, and a baton from the tactical frontline, they're too close to be effective against zombies.
Therefore, he plans to buy a long weapon strongly recommended by a Zhihu (Chinese Q&A website) expert—a spear.
A long weapon that relies on thrusting attacks.
Compared to weapons like axes, machetes, daggers, and crowbars, the spear's advantage is its length and its piercing, thrusting attack.
This will allow Yu Dong to inflict effective damage on zombies from a relatively safe distance.
Yu Dong found a seller on Taobao and bought 10 1.75-meter-long, fully-bladed manganese steel spears.
The cost was 1070 yuan.
Yu Dong lacked repair skills, so he bought extra to have on hand; if one broke, he could always replace it.
He downloaded a long video on Bilibili showing how to use spears, figuring he'd have plenty of time to practice after the apocalypse.
"I'll use the rest of the money to buy some entertainment products,"
Yu Dong thought. In the previous few days of shopping, he had only bought essential survival items—the kind he couldn't live without.
With his basic needs met, he should make his life in the apocalypse more comfortable.
Yu Dong glanced at the CATL outdoor portable power bank that had arrived today—a large machine with a 20-kilowatt-hour capacity, taller than his bedside table, but thankfully it had wheels for easy movement.
He had been charging the large battery all day, and it was almost full.
"The solar panel installers will be here tomorrow. Three panels will generate 6-9 kilowatt-hours on a sunny day, which will be enough for me to have basic electricity. I can then allocate this power properly."
He wouldn't consider using the induction cooker or water heater, as the solar power wouldn't be enough for them. The main purpose would be to power low-power, high-efficiency products.
"Charging power tools and portable devices, as well as lights like flashlights and table lamps, is necessary, but thankfully they don't use much electricity."
"For entertainment... I need a high-performance laptop and a high-performance tablet."
Yu Dong didn't have a laptop or tablet himself, and he didn't have enough money to buy them, but... thankfully, Xu Feng did.
"There won't be any internet after the apocalypse, so I'll download some offline resources beforehand—novels, movies, and TV series—that'll be my enjoyment after the apocalypse."
Downloading by myself was too much trouble, so Yu Dong bought a portable hard drive from Taobao.
A 14TB drive with 4000 highly-rated movies and TV series on Douban cost 1654 yuan.
He also downloaded several hundred online novels to his phone.
"These things will keep me from feeling so lonely while waiting for the world to return to normal..."
After a quick calculation, Yu Dong figured that if he didn't use his laptop intensively, he'd still have plenty of battery left.
"Maybe I can get a refrigerator and some Coke."
Yu Dong couldn't imagine how great it would be to lie at home in the apocalypse, have an ice-cold Coke, and watch a movie.
Yu Dong ordered a 93-liter single-door Haier refrigerator from JD.com. It's energy-efficient (Level 1), and customer service said it only uses 0.38 kWh per day. Yu Dong figured that was a bit of an exaggeration; it should be able to keep it under one kWh per day.
The total cost was 638 yuan.
Canned Coca-Cola was cheap; if you bought it by the case, it was only 1.8 yuan per can. Mirinda was the same price.
Yu Dong bought 500 cans of Coca-Cola and 500 cans of mixed-flavor Mirinda, spending 1800 yuan.
He only had 3188 yuan left.
"What should I buy next..."
Yu Dong thought, then fell asleep from exhaustion.
Early the next morning, Yu Dong vaguely heard noises in the hallway. He sat up, quickly dressed,
and opened the door to find a small box placed in front of him.-+ Thursday morning.
Three and a half days until the apocalypse, someone left a box at Yu Dong's door.
Yu Dong's heart leaped into his throat, countless possibilities of things going wrong flashing through his mind.
He pressed his pounding heart and picked up the box.
It was a delicate, transparent plastic box with a pink sticky note on it.
[To the senior who just moved in]
[I live downstairs from you. I'm so happy to be your neighbor. I know you've just moved in and have a lot to do, so noise is inevitable, but... could you please rest a little tonight? My dad is coming to see me, and this is really important to me. I want to spend a nice evening with him. Please~~~]
[These are butter cookies I baked myself. Please don't mind them!] [
Third floor, junior Liu Yeye]
Yu Dong opened the transparent plastic box, and a rich aroma of milk and wheat wafted out.
Inside was a row of bear-shaped cookies, delicate and warm.
Yu Dong picked up a bear cookie and put it in his mouth; the crisp and creamy texture greatly satisfied his taste buds.
"Delicious."
A smile appeared on his lips, and all his tension vanished.
Putting away the cookie box, Yu Dong gained a different understanding of Liu Yeye.
Her skills were good, and she was very polite.
Yu Dong liked this kind of person because he disliked the world's many hostile elements. The biggest difference between humans and animals is that humans can cooperate.
The moment primitive people joined hands to form tribes, humanity became the most powerful mammal in nature.
"When the apocalypse comes, go listen outside her door. If she's turned into a zombie, kill her quickly and let her be free."
Although Liu Yeye was a bit fleshy in some areas, the natural weakness of women shouldn't pose much of a threat to him.
Yu Dong felt bad for disturbing Liu Yeye's nightlife a few days ago, but he still had to do it.
Time was of the essence.
He had to prepare everything in the shortest possible time.
"But then again... I've already packed up the big items, I only need to pack the smaller ones tonight."
Within his capabilities, Yu Dong wouldn't disrupt the father and daughter's reunion.
After all, this might be a final farewell for them.
At 9:30, the diligent Ding Ming arrived again.
"Your task today is to collect the packages and organize them, placing them where they belong."
The nearest shipping location has already sent the packages.
A large number of packages will arrive in the next day or two.
"Starting today, except for JD.com's one-day delivery, no more online shopping. Time doesn't allow it."
The end of the world is in three and a half days, and Yu Dong won't schedule anything else for the last day.
He needs to prepare everything in these three days, and use the last half-day to construct the four lines of defense.
Also, the workers installing the solar panels have arrived today and will begin the renovation.
He happened to run into the foreman and asked him about the tools he learned to use yesterday.
He supervised the work while practicing.
Problems were solved on the spot, ten times faster than learning from the manual yesterday.
During his break, he also pondered what else he might have forgotten.
For example, he had suddenly remembered the legendary three divine books of time travel. He
ordered "Militia Training Manual," "Dual-Use Military and Civilian Personnel Manual," and "Barefoot Doctor Manual" from JD.com, preparing to study them carefully after the apocalypse.
Tonight, Yu Dong didn't let Xu Feng come over; he could do some small tasks himself without disturbing the father and daughter's reunion downstairs.
In addition, he had an important task to do himself tonight.
The early autumn sea breeze was already a bit chilly. Yu Dong put on a coat, picked up his notebook, and went downstairs.
On the lawn downstairs, two very old people were walking their dogs, and a heavily pregnant mother was swinging with her daughter.
At the gate, a couple who looked like college students were carrying a bag of snacks, chatting and laughing as they entered the community.
The boy's hand was nonchalantly pinching the girl's round buttocks beneath her jeans.
The security guard at the entrance had been replaced by an older man.
One room in the property management office still had a light on.
Looking up, most of the three 29-story buildings in Chantilly Bay were dark, with only a few illuminated areas.
However, the third floor of Building One, the apartment directly below Yu Dong's, was brightly lit; the owner must be quite happy.
*Tap*...
The sound of a guzheng filled the air, its lighthearted melody adding a unique filter to this haunted neighborhood.
Yu Dong stood on the lawn of the Chantilly Bay neighborhood, silently recording everything.
...
Friday morning, two and a half days before the apocalypse.
Yu Dong watched as the solar panels generated electricity to charge the large battery and smiled contentedly.
"I wonder if, after the apocalypse, electricity will be as valuable as canned food, earning it another title of 'post-apocalyptic gold'."
The thought of having electricity during his years of home quarantine inexplicably lifted Yu Dong's spirits.
Although it would only be a few kilowatt-hours a day, it would allow him to maintain a sense of modernity, unlike the ancients who relied on dim candlelight at night.
Thinking of this, Yu Dong called Ding Ming.
"When you come, buy three boxes of candles from the convenience store downstairs and bring them up."
Today, they had a big job: installing blackout film on the windows of three rooms.
This would prevent others from peeking at him with binoculars and also block out the light inside.
At night, he could turn on a little light himself without becoming a bright firefly in the surrounding neighborhood.
Yu Dong and Ding Ming worked all day and finally finished installing the blackout film before sunset.
The brightness of the room decreased slightly, but the view outside was still clear.
From the outside, even with the curtains open, the entire fourth floor was shrouded in a hazy gray, making it impossible to see inside.
"That's much better."
Just then, his phone rang; it was Huang Zhiqiang calling.
"Dongzi, what happened? You've disappeared. We've been calling you in the group chat all day and you haven't replied. Did you go to a brothel?"
"I've been busy. What's wrong?"
"What? Forgot about our tradition? Friday night is our dorm dinner day!"
"Oh..."
Yu Dong had been working intensely for five days straight and had completely forgotten about it.
His time was extremely precious, and he had to consider every possible oversight.
He found that no matter how much he prepared, it wasn't enough; there were always details he hadn't thought of.
If he hadn't put on blackout film today, he almost forgot to buy candles, something so important.
He was so focused on generating electricity with solar power that he neglected the more reliable traditional doomsday lighting tools.
"Oh, you big dummy! Hurry up, I'm waiting for you at the usual place. No need to wash your hair or do an enema, just come straight here."
"Old Huang, your surname really suits you. I'll be there in a bit."
After hanging up the phone, Yu Dong changed into clean clothes and went out.
Although the apocalypse was coming, he still had to go to the dinner with his brothers.
This time, it would be their last dinner in the dormitory.