The approaching typhoon was set to make landfall in a few days, bringing torrential rains primarily to certain coastal regions. Meanwhile, most inland areas continued to suffer under scorching high temperatures.
The heavy rains brought by the typhoon were unlikely to reach the inland regions.
For residents inland, relief from the heat through rainfall still depended on whether the meteorological bureau's anti-aircraft guns could do their job.
But the artificial rainfall division of the meteorological bureau often found itself helpless. It wasn't that they didn't want to induce rain—it was simply that there were no white clouds in the sky, making artificial rain enhancement impossible.
This led to some provincial meteorological bureaus going into a frenzy whenever a lone white cloud drifted into their airspace, firing dozens or even hundreds of rain enhancement rockets at it.
They were terrified that another province's artificial rainfall division might shoot it down first.
"Mom, Weiwei, what are you two talking about?"
Li Dong happened to arrive home just as he heard them discussing the heatwave and the typhoon.
"Weiwei and I were saying that a typhoon will make landfall in a few days, bringing heavy rain. Finally, this awful weather will let up," Xu Yajun said, holding a slice of watermelon as she watched the tall figure of Li Dong walk through the door.
"Yeah, it's been unbearably hot. The heatwaves outside are relentless—without air conditioning, ordinary people can't survive," Li Dong agreed.
Cases of heatstroke and heat-related deaths were gradually increasing. Even in the Great Xia nation, similar incidents had begun to occur.
Thanks to the widespread reach of video networks, many people took precautions against sun exposure and heatstroke before heading out. As a result, severe heatstroke and fatalities were relatively rare in Great Xia.
Moreover, with the nation's advanced medical infrastructure and robust public facilities, as long as heatstroke didn't cause immediate death, timely medical intervention could usually save lives.
"Why didn't Yuanzhou come back with you?" Xu Yajun asked between bites of watermelon.
"He still has some work to finish. He won't be back until around eight or nine," Li Dong explained, turning to grab an ice-cold drink from the fridge.
"Then let's not wait for him. We'll eat first—I'll have Liu Ma set aside some food for Yuanzhou," Xu Yajun said before calling for Aunt Liu to start serving dinner.
Meanwhile, Li Tiang was still busy overseeing various construction projects at the Donghua Village site.
The land in Donghua Village had been successfully acquired.
It had taken significant connections, major favors, and tens of millions to secure the village and lease the surrounding mountainous land for ten years.
The total area of the village, including the mountains, had been surveyed and amounted to roughly six square kilometers.
However, the actual usable land was much smaller—only a few hundred acres, with plenty of wasteland. The mountainous terrain made up the majority of the area.
Otherwise, how could such a vast plot have been acquired for just tens of millions?
It would have been impossible otherwise.
And some stubborn holdouts weren't so easily persuaded to relocate.
Fortunately, the Li family hadn't handled the acquisition themselves—they had entrusted a powerful real estate company to do it, which saved them a lot of trouble.
No matter how stubborn some villagers were, they were no match for the real estate developers.
The deal was closed in less than ten days.
The villagers, happy with their compensation, relocated without complaint.
Some villagers only took their most valuable belongings, leaving everything else behind.
They took their hefty sums of money and ran off to buy houses in cities or major urban centers, seeking a better life.
Who would want to stay in the countryside when they could live in the city?
Soon after, Li Tiang swiftly established a company called Great Qin Heavy Industries Technology Company and purchased the land in Donghua Village from the real estate developers.
He claimed it would make things easier to handle.
Great Qin Heavy Industries Technology Company was positioned as a high-tech enterprise, specializing in fields such as artificial intelligence, all-solid-state batteries, polymer compounds, advanced materials and chemical engineering, biochemical engineering, genetic engineering, biotechnology, ultra-precision machining, and more.
Of course, the company had just been founded, and many of these operations couldn't realistically be carried out yet. So, it was merely using the high-tech label to secure government support and subsidies.
It also helped with tax deductions.
After all, no one could verify the truth, and with the apocalypse just a year away, who would bother investigating?
Operating under the company's name, constructing its headquarters, and carrying out various shelter construction projects were all necessary measures.
This provided cover, allowing them to act flexibly—even turning many illegal activities into legal ones.
As for the permits needed to build underground shelters?
In Li Tiang's eyes, those didn't matter. The apocalypse was coming.
By next year, the Great Xia government would even permit and encourage businesses and individuals to dig and construct their own shelters.
The government-built shelters were limited in number and couldn't possibly accommodate the entire population.
Even in major cities, the number and capacity of shelters were insufficient.
Seventeen billion people—how many massive shelters would be needed to house them all?
The resources required would be endless, and achieving this in such a short time was simply impossible.
Some people didn't even want to stay in government shelters.
Influenced by novels and movies, a portion of the population believed official shelters would be terrible places once the apocalypse arrived.
The land acquired by Great Qin Heavy Industries Technology was designated for industrial use, meaning Li Tiang could do whatever he wanted with it.
"What have you two been busy with lately? I've never seen you brothers so occupied before." Xu Yajun asked Li Dong during dinner.
Since returning home, she had grown curious about what her sons were up to. Her instincts told her they were hiding something.
Moreover, Xu Yajun felt the atmosphere at home had become somewhat strange.
But she couldn't quite put her finger on why.
"Nothing much, just some business matters," Li Dong replied, caught off guard by the question.
"Ah, children grow up, grow wings, and start keeping secrets from their parents," Xu Yajun sighed, recognizing the lie in his words.
It was the kind of sarcastic remark most parents would make.
She had raised both sons from childhood—how could she not recognize when Li Dong was lying?
"Mom, don't ask. We'll tell you when the time comes."
"Fine, I won't ask then. First, Weiwei wouldn't tell me, and now you won't either. You're really going to be the death of me."
Xu Yajun's instincts were right.
The two brothers were indeed keeping something from her.
She had no choice but to keep it a secret. For instance, her two sons were planning to sell off part of the family business their husband had worked so hard to build. Who could possibly accept that?
Half a month had passed, and Li Dong was now completely convinced that the apocalypse was real.
The stocks Li Dong had purchased had already yielded massive profits, and the series of disasters Li Tiang had warned him about were unfolding in reality.
More importantly, he had seen those meteorites hurtling toward Blue Star.