Waking up past eight, Meng Ci saw another deposit in his bank account. He was thoroughly impressed by Liang Xiu's efficiency.
He headed downstairs and found another restaurant, ordering the same braised eggplant rice bowl.
The taste was decent, so Meng Ci repeated yesterday's order- for five days straight, one hundred servings each day.
This time, he claimed it was for company employees. Under the owner's stunned gaze, Meng Ci paid a five-thousand-yuan deposit upfront to convince him.
He went to yesterday's vendor to collect the goods, also paying a five-thousand-yuan deposit to secure five consecutive days of orders.
Meng Ci knew how to drive, and coincidentally, the Meng Ci in the book had obtained a driver's license upon reaching adulthood.
Though his family owned several vehicles, they were all sedans or sports cars-not practical for this task.
So last night, Meng Ci contacted his contacts and had them arrange for a van.
He loaded the hundred boxed meals into foam boxes inside the van. After driving a short distance, Meng Ci stored the van in his spatial pocket.
He then opened his map and navigated to the wholesale market he'd located the previous night.
There were over three years of natural disasters, nearly five years of zombie sieges, and long recovery period still ahead.
Therefore, Meng Ci planned to calculate his purchases based on a ten-year timeline-over 3,600 days.
One bag of rice and one bag of flour could be consumed per month. 3,600 divided by 30 equals 120.
Forget it.
Five hundred 50-pound bags of flour and five hundred 50-pound bags of round-grain rice would suffice.
The spatial storage had preservation capabilities anyway, so spoilage wasn't a concern.
Twenty bags each of buckwheat flour, soybean flour, cornmeal, high-gluten flour, medium-gluten flour, and low-gluten flour.
One thousand barrels of rapeseed oil.
Fifty barrels each of peanut oil, corn oil, soybean oil, olive oil, and sunflower seed oil.
One large bag of table salt divided into fifty smaller bags-make it a thousand bags.
In daily life, salt is indispensable.
Twenty pounds each of red chili peppers, black pepper, ginger, scallions, garlic, Sichuan leaves, cloves, cumin, nutmeg, fennel seeds, dried tangerine peel, turmeric powder, perilla, mint, cardamom, grass fruit, onions, safflower, and cinnamon.
Two hundred pounds each of white sugar, rock sugar, granulated sugar, honey, jam, and brown sugar.
Hmm, make that five hundred pounds of honey-he loves honey.
Two hundred boxes each of MSG, chicken bouillon, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, premium soy sauce, vinegar, white vinegar, hotpot seasoning, cooking wine, and other condiments.
"Manager, do you carry any instant foods?" Meng Ci inquired while sketching on a piece of paper.
"Manager?"
The manager remained silent.
Meng Ci looked up in confusion to find the shopkeeper staring at him with his mouth agape.
"Sir?" Meng Ci waved the pen in front of the shopkeeper's face.
The shopkeeper snapped back to reality, nodding uncertainly. "We do have them, but are you really sure you need that much?"
"I'm sourcing these items from other suppliers. If you end up not taking them, I won't have anywhere to store them."
Meng Ci nodded firmly. "Of course I do."
Then he added, "Do you know the Meng Group?"
The boss nodded. It was the largest enterprise in the city.
"They're planning to invest in a department store, and I'm here to handle the procurement."
He handed the boss the procurement badge he'd casually taken from the company yesterday.
After examining it, the shopkeeper nodded reassuringly.
A company this big shouldn't default on payments.
"Manager, the company needs these items urgently. If you can deliver them within two days-"
"For any future requirements, I'll come straight to you."
"No problem." The manager agreed. Connections with major corporations meant future discounts.
He'd work overtime if he had to, but he'd get it done.
Seeing that the boss was convinced, Meng Ci continued.
Chestnuts, pine nuts, pistachios,hazelnuts, cashews, walnuts, melon seeds, pine kernels, almonds, ginkgo nuts, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, peanuts-all needed in 500-pound quantities. pecans, desert nuts, Chinese pine nuts, white melon seeds,
Caramel-flavored melon seeds? Make it a thousand pounds!
Otherwise, how would he survive the long apocalypse?
Dried goods like cowpeas, wood ear mushrooms, seaweed, shiitake mushrooms, and daylilies-two hundred pounds each.
Soybean paste, bean paste, sweet bean sauce, tomato sauce,chili sauce...
Any sauce the boss had, fifty cases of each.
For self-heating foods like
hotpot, rice, and dumplings, Meng CI had the boss select only big brands-two hundred cases of each.
Plus five hundred cases each of instant noodles, spicy noodles, and turkey noodles.
All this came to just over a million yuan, so Meng Ci quickly paid a fifty-thousand-yuan deposit.
He then asked the owner where
As a wholesaler, the owner was well-versed in such matters.
he could find shelving units.
He gave Meng Ci directions, and before leaving, Meng Ci handed him the keys to both warehouses.
Once everything was ready, instructed the owner to deliver it directly to the warehouses, settling the remaining balance upon delivery.
The owner cheerfully saw Meng Ci off, then beamed as he called his various suppliers.
At the shelving supplier, Meng Ci ordered two thousand metal racks outright, instructing the owner to arrange delivery that very night.
What?
Time is tight? No problem. Originally, five hundred yuan per rack? I'll pay six hundred.
As for labor and installation fees? Double them.
The owner immediately agreed, promising an overnight rush delivery.
After handing over the keys to the other warehouse and paying half the deposit, Meng Ci finally left. By the time he finished, it was already past three in the afternoon.
Meng Ci drove to a noodle shop, ate a bowl of noodles, and found the taste unsatisfying, so he didn't place an order.
Back home, Meng Ci began planning what else to buy after receiving the metal racks tomorrow.
He opened his phone, searched for fruit and vegetable names, deleted those he disliked, and printed the list.
Tomorrow, he'd head straight to the fruit wholesale market and the vegetable wholesale market and have them deliver according to the list.
For items not available, he'd circle them and either order online later or fly there personally to select them.
Then there were clothes and shoes. Meng Ci wasn't particularly interested in brand names, so he simply searched for clothing wholesale markets nearby, planning to tackle all three categories tomorrow.
Oh, and meat.
Meng Ci wasn't a big meat eater, so he only requested 100 pounds of pork, beef, and lamb, plus 1,000 pounds each of chicken and duck.
Other meats like dog or donkey meat weren't even on his radar.
He did enjoy seafood like fish and shrimp.
But bulk buying in M City wasn't feasible, so Meng Ci ordered everything online, arranging to pick it up in ten days.
He ordered a total of five
thousand fish: crucian carp, grass carp, cod, and sea bass.
Meng Ci wasn't familiar with shrimp and crab varieties, so he simply asked the vendor to pack a mix of them, totaling ten thousand pounds.
As for scallops, oysters, clams, and other seafood, Meng Ci didn't know how to prepare them, so he only ordered 100 pounds of each.
He hadn't tried these items before. Once the apocalypse arrived, he could sample them.
After paying the deposit, Meng Ci reiterated that if the customers responded well upon his return, he would continue the partnership.
Considering this was a deal worth over a million, Meng Ci reasoned that any vendor with any sense would want to build a long-term relationship and would naturally select the finest quality for him.
By the time he finished arranging these items, it was only a little past eight in the evening.
Meng Ci opened his phone to order a delivery service. He selected a barbecue restaurant, picked out a few of his favorites, and ordered fifty skewers of each.
Upon receiving the order, Meng Ci praised the flavor and planned to reorder the next day.
He then continued compiling his post-apocalyptic essentials list.
Flashlights, candles, lighters, matches, life jackets, inflatable boats, assault boats, life buoys, life rafts....
Meng Ci began researching online: what to prepare for floods, what to prepare for blizzards.
Quilts, charcoal braziers, hats, gloves, scarves, padded coats, insulated boots, thermal underwear, socks....
Thirteen days into the torrential downpour, the water and power systems would completely collapse.
Cooking would still rely on firewood and charcoal braziers, so a stove would also be necessary...