Chapter 6: Countdown to Doomsday
Two months remained until doomsday.
The entire world seemed to have entered a period of stagnation, a picture of peace and prosperity.
In a small mountain village of a southern city, hidden among green hills and mountains.
A huge wall surrounded dozens of acres of mountain forests and fields.
If one ignored the 6-meter high wall and three watchtowers, the entire base still had the feel of a rural tourist attraction when viewed from the mountain.
But if one saw the sturdy warehouses of several thousand square meters below, it would become clear that this was actually a fortified fortress.
The basic construction had been mostly completed. In the 4-acre rice paddy, golden rice plants swayed, their heavy ears bending the stems.
The adjacent garden was a riot of colors. The 300-year-old camphor tree in the center, which took 5 people to encircle, was still lush and green.
The orange trees in the mountains were laden with fruit, likely ready for harvest in a month or two.
In addition, Li Yu had planted grapefruit trees, navel oranges, pear trees, peach trees, kiwi trees, loquat trees, papaya trees, persimmon trees, and more on the mountain.
Since they had just been transplanted, many trees had not yet borne fruit.
Xin City was located in the southern subtropical zone, belonging to the evergreen broad-leaved forest bioclimatic zone.
Basically all fruit trees and some trees that could be grown at this latitude had been planted to some extent.
The water surface between two mountains was calm, a beautiful mountain pond scene.
At the edge of the pond, Li Yu had even made three small fishing boats. Many willow trees were planted around.
As the saying goes: Hanging willows manage the years of youth, flying catkins and flowers charm the distant sky.
Li Yu looked forward to seeing the willows swaying and catkins flying next March or April.
Even in the apocalypse, Li Yu wanted to create a paradise.
On the plains side, next to the big camphor tree, five villas and a row of 3-story houses were being built. The decoration work was basically complete.
The warehouse below was filled to the brim. Li Yu had even built a small cold storage facility, though it was very power-hungry so only a small one could be built.
Whenever Li Yu saw the 5-meter high, 2000 square meter underground warehouse, there was an inexplicable sense of security.
From Li Hongyuan and Liu Fanghua's perspective, it wasn't quite so wonderful.
Although Liu Fanghua hadn't said anything during the construction period, she had been worrying about it all along.
But when they stood on the mountaintop watchtower at dusk,
Looking down at the entire base from the highest point, they sincerely felt the beauty of the scenery:
Seeing the beautiful garden, the mountain fruit trees planted through scientific planning, preserving aesthetics while planting a variety of fruit trees.
Seeing the livestock raised under the fruit trees, each doing well in the mountain forests.
Watching old hens leading groups of chicks foraging under the trees.
Watching 4 Chinese rural dogs running all over the hills.
Seeing the beautiful scenery by the mountain pond, the wooden dock and three antique small fishing boats.
Seeing the villas that looked luxurious to them, along with a large lawn and a lush bamboo grove, even with a small pavilion built in the middle of the bamboo.
In the center of the pavilion were two plaques, replicas of Chen Tuan's inscriptions at Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang: "Open up the sky's shore on horseback, extraordinary dragon among men."
Next to it were two huge rocks from the quarry, 4 meters high.
An air of antique elegance permeated.
Moreover, seeing the hundreds of square meters of breeding grounds, also using antique structures, with zoned planning.
The biogas pool and septic tank below made good use of the manure produced by livestock.
Seeing the lake water slowly flowing out of the mountain pond, forming a small stream passing through the garden, directly surrounding the rice fields, seeing a swath of heavy rice ears waving.
Seeing a small square of over a hundred square meters, with some recreational facilities on it.
Seeing a spring of water excavated from 3 kilometers deep in the forest, flowing through pipes buried underground to beside the bamboo grove, forming a small clear spring pool.
Seeing this base that cost tens of millions to build, Liu Fanghua and Li Hongyuan suddenly felt:
How wonderful! Perhaps this rural tourism base their son Li Yu built would really attract many people.
But why had the warehouse stockpiled so many supplies? They still couldn't understand. Just these things, if used by their family of five, would probably last for ten lifetimes.
Li Yu's family was actually quite a large one. Apart from his youngest uncle Li Hang, who had been staying at home helping with the construction of the base recently, his other uncles were all working elsewhere.
Li Hongyuan's name was actually a family tradition. Li Yu's grandfather had used a four-character idiom to name the four brothers: "yuan da qian cheng" (great future prospects).
The eldest was Li Hongyuan, second Li Hongda, third Li Hongqian, fourth Li Hongcheng.
The fifth was Li Yu's aunt Li Qingqing, the youngest in the family. She was only ten years older than Li Yu.
Li Yu was the eldest son and grandson of the entire family. When Li Yu was young, he received the love of all his uncles. The old man Li Yushi also often admonished the family to be united, to twist into one rope, for harmony brings success to all affairs.
Under grandfather's family philosophy, the family atmosphere was quite good. There were no problems like fraternal strife.
On Li Yu's maternal grandparents' side, his grandmother had been a sent-down youth back then, and later met his grandfather. The overall family situation was much better than Li Yu's paternal grandparents' side.
On Li Yu's maternal grandfather's side, there was a big uncle Liu Jianwen, who had been serving as a company commander in the county's Armed Police unit. There was a younger uncle who had been doing business in the north, and a younger aunt who had married far away to Beijing.
Although Li Yu's maternal grandfather's side didn't have as many descendants as his paternal grandfather's side, there were still quite a few people.
Li Yu had grown up climbing mountains and trees in the countryside, catching fish in rivers, until he later went to board at school in the county town. He still remembered his aunt often sending over milk and fruit every week.
His aunt was gentle in nature and had been quite devout in Buddhism in recent years. She had always been good to Li Yu.
So recently, Li Yu had been pondering this question:
How could he get some of his relatives who were away to come back?
After thinking for a long time, he still couldn't come up with a good solution.
But he made up his mind about one thing - absolutely not to disclose that doomsday was approaching.
To avoid thankless efforts later.
After all, people aren't fools. If they were asked to stay in this base all the time, it would be impossible. It's not like they could be told that the apocalypse was coming soon, so don't run around.
If they hadn't seen zombies, how would they believe? One person might be manageable, but dozens of people would be very difficult to handle.
Although Li Yu had made such big moves after returning home during this period, because he had repeatedly emphasized to his parents, they hadn't disclosed much about what Li Yu had been doing recently. But human nature being what it is, family members who were away had heard some rumors, though they didn't know exactly what Li Yu was doing at home.
They only knew that Li Yu had started a business at home.
There was only a week left until the National Day holiday, when family members who were away would come back for the holiday and family reunion.
After all, some family members might have other plans and might not be able to return home in time.
So Li Yu came up with an idea, which was to use the name of this rural tourism park he was creating as a business to invite family members to come and take a look, and offer some suggestions.
It was also during the National Day period, so both sides of the family could gather together.
So after dinner, Li Yu chatted with his parents at the dinner table.
Li Yu looked at his father who was smoking after dinner and said to him, "Dad, this tourism base is almost done now. Why don't we have uncles come and play during the National Day holiday? They could also offer some suggestions then."
Li Hongyuan looked at Li Yu, slowly taking a drag on his cigarette: "That's fine, but when exactly is this tourism park of yours going to open? It's pretty much built now, so much money spent, sigh, don't know how long it'll take to recoup the costs."
Li Yu looked at his father's worried face, feeling his father's concern. But there was nothing he could do. Having been reborn, he had long decided that he couldn't tell anyone about the apocalypse, because no one would believe him even if he did, and it might even bring unnecessary trouble.
He could only keep it secret to the end. When the apocalypse came, perhaps they would be grateful that he had built this base so early.
Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was the National Day holiday.
(End of Chapter)