The next day.
As Xiaoyun parked his car right behind Yezi's pickup truck, in front of them was a large construction site.
"Let's get moving," Yezi excitedly yelled as he hopped out of his pickup truck, alongside several others sitting at the back of his pickup truck.
"Okay."
The girls quickly hopped out, joining in with Huayi as they grabbed a nearby wheelbarrow before loading every single tool they came across into it.
Xiaoyun chose to join in with the men, carrying bags of concrete onto the pickup truck before moving onto the rebars.
After half an hour of carrying things back and forth, Yezi finally called a stop as he waved everyone to get back inside.
"Let's stop here before it gets too heavy for the car."
---
As the car came to a stop, everyone quickly hopped off and began uploading all the material from the pickup truck onto the floor.
Meanwhile, Xiaoyun and Yezi drove the car to 308. With a short knock, they were soon greeted by Renqin.
"Are you guys ready?" Xiaoyun asked.
"Yeah, we are ready. Let me go call them."
Renqin headed back inside for a second, then returned with fourteen people total, with an even split of young men and women.
"The rest are elderly or children. This is all the people I could call up that's physically fit enough," Renqin explained, noticing the frown on Xiaoyun's face.
"That's fine... You can send women back if you want. It's going to be back-breaking work," Xiaoyun warned.
"Come on, Xiaoyun, when did you get so sexist? I thought you were younger than me. When did you get stuck with gender norms?
They could still help mix the concrete even if they couldn't do hard work," Yezi commented.
"You're right, I shouldn't think like that... Let's drive them there."
Ten minutes later...
"Hey, Yezi, do you have any experience with construction or building a wall?"
Xiaoyun curiously asked as the two of them watched the workers through the security room window.
"I don't have any experience. I know how to build trenches, though." Yezi answered, his mind beginning to realize a critical flaw with their plan.
"Crap. How could we forget about the most important part last night?" Xiaoyun questioned back.
"I mean, it's just a wall. It can't be that hard to build, right? Just a straight line to block the zombies."
"That sounds like an awful idea... Let's talk to Renqin. They probably have someone who knows how to build a wall."
After walking over to the workers, the two of them quickly dragged Renqin over to the side before asking him a question.
"Do you know anyone who has done construction before?" Xiaoyun inquired.
"Um... I think so. Let me go talk to them first."
Renqin quickly headed back to the group of refugees before coming back with three people alongside him.
"These three had done construction before."
"What's your name? And what's your occupation in construction?" Xiaoyun asked the person on the left side.
"My name is Mi Qijian. I am a construction foreman." The man replied, saluting the two after noticing the pistol in Yezi's belt.
"You used to be a soldier?" Yezi asked, noticing the scar on Qijing's neck.
"Yes, sir!——Um, sorry, force of habit." Qijian apologized, realizing the two men before him weren't soldiers or officers.
"Congrats, you are going to be the head of the construction crew. Here's a bag of rice and an extra can of food for you."
Xiaoyun patted Qijian on the shoulder before handing over the bag of rice and a can of beef straight out of his backpack.
"Thank you, sir——I mean boss."
As Qijian looked towards the food in his hand with excitement, Xiaoyun turned his attention to the man in the middle.
"How about you? What is your name and occupation?" Xiaoyun asked.
"My name is Chen Jingming. I am a civil engineer, but I am mostly a construction engineer," The man in the middle replied.
"What's the difference between the two?" Yezi curiously asked.
"Both design the building, but construction engineers are also in the field," Jingming explained.
"Well, then, can you plan out how to build a wall here?" Yezi asked, his finger pointing towards the flimsy metal gate.
"Hm. That entrance ground is pretty flat, but I need to examine if the soil below is too soft.
Also, it depends on the material we are working with and the size... Do you want me to like a double layer or a solid base with——"
"CONGRATULATIONS, you are now the head of the operation. I will give you full control of the project.
You can have full creative control. All I need is for you to build a wall to keep the zombies out of Luoping."
Xiaoyun interrupted him before he went through his backpack again, taking out two bags of rice and a can of beef this time.
"Thank you, boss!" Jingming bowed down in gratitude before happily taking a step back with his reward.
Xiaoyun and Yezi turned their attention to the last person, who looked a lot older than the other two.
"Okay, now you. What is your name and occupation?" Xiaoyun asked.
"M-my name is Li Dan, I am a miner." Li Dan responded.
"Huh? Miner? I thought I asked for construction." Xiaoyun questioned as he looked over to Renqin.
"I thought mining is kinda similar. I just wanted to ensure we got everyone with any experience related to the field."
Renqin explained, awkwardly scratching his head as if he realized the two jobs were a little bit too far-fetched.
"Never, Li Dan, you can go back to work."
With the miner gone, Xiaoyun signalled the three of them to wait outside for a second as he noticed a small note inside through the security room window.
Reading the note, it was written in Yuqi's handwriting that said, "We headed back home. All the material and tools are there!"
Xiaoyun smiled as he put the sticky note into his pocket, then headed back outside to meet up with them.
"What's in that note?" Yezi curiously asked.
"Nothing," Xiaoyun answered, signaling the three of them to follow up again as they walked towards the workers.
"Do you want me to do this, or do you want to speak to them?" Xiaoyun asked as all the workers are now idling with nothing else to do.
"You can do the speaking. I hate public speaking." Yezi stepped aside, giving him the opportunity.
"Ahem!"
Everyone's attention instantly turned towards Xiaoyun as he took a short breath before stating the plan he had made with Yezi last night.
"Hello, everyone. You guys probably know we're here today to build a wall. Please remember, this wall here will protect you and me."
Seeing the workers staring at him in silence, he carried on with his speech.
"These two are going to be the project's head directors. On the left is Jingming, the chief designer and head manager.
And on the right is Qijian, the construction foreman. He is going to evaluate everyone here."
The workers continued to remain silent, looking towards him and waiting for the next part of the announcement.
"The three people who work the hardest will be rewarded with extra food, in addition to bringing a can of food back home every day."
As soon as Xiaoyun finished, the workers burst into cheer as if he had just released the biggest news in the world.
"Wait, we never discussed that part in the plan." Yezi quietly asked as he pulled Xiaoyun to the side.
"Ahem, you can all return to work now. Thank you for listening in."
Xiaoyun quickly grabbed onto Yezi's shoulder, reversing the role as he brought Yezi back into the security room.
"Just trust me. That's how to get people excited to work. The bare minimum plan is not going to work.
If you ever run a company, you will know you need to incentivize people. And this is the perfect incentive for them."
"Really... I never had that problem when I was smuggling." Yezi murmured as he still held up a confused face.
"Oh, right. Of course, you don't. Who the hell is going to complain to an arms dealer?" Xiaoyun jokingly argued back.
"Yeah, yeah. You right. Anyway, I'm going to watch from here. You staying?" Yezi asked as he took a seat.
"Sure..."
---
A month, or the entirety of June, has passed since the start of the wall building.
The wall wasn't built near the metal gates or over it like the two had initially thought. Rather, it was several hundred meters in front of it.
When Xiaoyun asked Jingming why, he explained a bunch of technical terms that he couldn't understand.
The only thing that he understood was that the wall location allowed it to use the cliff slope as a natural, invisible barrier.
Besides the wall question, Xiaoyun met up with Qijian to fulfill his promise.
The moment the workers got their reward, Qijian reported the next day that everyone was working five times as hard, proving to Yezi that his incentive plan was working.
But soon, the construction material was slowly running out. Xiaoyun simply brought more out of Yezi's car.
Even though the construction site soon ran out of material, he just kept driving the pickup truck out of Luoping before creating it himself.
Not a single soul questioned it. Everyone just assumed they must have come from the same company, even though they look suspiciously the same.
With June passing by, Xiaoyun began to know the workers individually by name.
He was starting to ask if they needed anything from the basic needs, like toothpaste, pads, and even cigarettes. Their face was instantly filled with happiness when he brought the basic item to them as a little 'bonus' on the side.
By the end of the month, he had managed to turn himself into the most popular person in the settlement.
While Xiaoyun spent his time on the wall, Yezi spent most of his time training Lingang and several of the men he had selected to be professional guards.
From learning how to use a gun to strength training, the guards started to become more and more professional.
Soon, a divide was starting to appear between the city refugees.
It was exactly what Nami predicted, as Renqin's group was slowly getting sick of living with each other.
The smallest little thing over time was creating so much irritation that several of the family finally had enough of each other.
Xiaoyun got a phone call from Renqin—a simple request to build more housing units, which he happily granted.
Construction of makeshift houses soon began, right between the houses at 304 and 308, with all the spare wood from the tree they had chopped down to clear space for the wall.
---
Just as Xiaoyun and the girls were relaxing at home, a doorbell rang.
"Who's outside?"
Walking over to the door, Xiaoyun sees Yezi and Huayi standing right outside, their faces filled with excitement.
"What are you all so happy about?" Xiaoyun curiously asked as he opened the door.
"The wall is finished! How could you not know that? I thought you would check there every day." Yezi happily announced.
"I was about to go there in the afternoon. And I thought it was going to be done by the end of July... Let me go call everyone."
Xiaoyun headed back inside to call up all the girls, which took much longer than he expected. But they eventually all got inside the car.
Arriving at the wall, Jingming and Qijian stood outside the security room with all the workers behind them.
"Boss, the wall is finished."
Qijian yelled out loud as Xiaoyun stepped out of the car, with all the workers looking extremely proud of their achievement.
"Well, let's see how it is... You two mind giving me a full tour?"
"Of course, boss."
As Xiaoyun's tour group followed behind the two, they were stunned by the wall as they walked past the security room.
"Is this wall really done in under two weeks? Is it sturdy?" Yueyue asked curiously, looking at the three-meter wall with stairs on the side.
"Yes, it can withstand several car crashes with reinforced concrete with rebar inside. We built it thick enough that a person could stand on top of it.
Or crawl down while shooting down zombies between the battlements on the wall." Jingming explained as he led the group up the stairs.
Looking down, everyone could see a small moat dug between the wall and the ground outside, separating them in a clean line.
"The moat is to make the wall taller than it appears. Since the ground is lower on the outside, the wall is actually more than three meters high on the outside.
However, we can't put water on the moat since it might seep underneath the wall's foundation over time." Jingming explained next.
After walking for a bit, they finally saw the actual entrance to the main road. The original entrance that led to the metal gate.
"Here's the entrance, boss. It is a simple draw bridge with a deeper moat in front to create a gap.
When zombies try to enter, they simply fall and cannot reach the door. So, the door is actually one of the safest areas."
"What if the zombie builds a ladder with their body?"
Leyan immediately raised her concern as she remembered seeing the zombies building a human ladder.
"Um, there's no way to avoid that... The best we can do is either build the wall higher or dig the moat deeper."
Jingming paused for a second, then continued.
"If that does happen, the door would be the last concern. We can't dig any deeper as the soil is completely packed unless we get an excavator."
"He's right. We are supposed to kill them before they get close. The wall is more to prevent them from sneaking in." Yezi added.
After touring most of the wall, the tour group finally headed back down to where they began their journey.
"So what do you think, boss?" Jingming curiously asked.
"This is amazing. You guys did a great job! About time we finish the wall."
Xiaoyun murmured, his mind already thinking of shifting more workers into building more houses instead.
"Ahem, Xiaoyun, I think you forgot we have two entrances. We only finished one side of the road." Yezi reminded.
'Oh right... Jingming and Qijian, can you build another wall on the other entrance?" Xiaoyun requested.
"No problem, boss, as long as there is enough material," Jingming replied.
"And enough food for everyone," Qijian added.
"Don't worry about that. I will give it to you tomorrow. All of you guys deserve a break for now."
---
Inside Xiaoyun's car...
"What do you guys think about the wall?" Xiaoyun asked as he started up the engine before switching the gears.
"Well, it certainly is sturdy. I couldn't leave a mark when I punched it." Yueyue commented.
"Besides the issue I mentioned earlier, I think it's a fine wall... Unless some sort of mutant came in." Leyan replied.
"The wall is so tall, it's like triple Lily and my height!" As Nami added her comment, Lily nodded in agreement.
"What do you think, Yuqi?" Xiaoyun asked.
"I think this wall is fine, but I am just thinking, isn't there a small forest between the two entrances?"
"What about the forest?" Xiaoyun asked again.
"I don't think some trees are going to stop a zombie horde or some lone zombie sneaking in. Wouldn't it be safer to build the wall the entire way through?"
Xiaoyun thought about it for a second, then answered back with an answer that Jingming had told him at the beginning of the construction.
"That's just a risk we have to take. For now... Besides, I doubt zombies are going to walk into a forest randomly when there is a road right in front of them."
"I guess..." Yuqi murmured with a still concerned look on her face.
"Yuqi, I think you are just worrying too much for now. We don't have the material and the manpower to build an entire wall covering that long of a stretch.
We'll build it later when we have spare time to cut down that forest and connect the walls." Xiaoyun reassured.
"You're right... I'm just overthinking it."