Chapter 005: Hoarding Supplies (Part II)

After packing the poultry and livestock into cages and loading them onto the truck, Zhou Yang bought all the auntie's stock of eggs, as well as some grains and rice bran for feed, making her clap her hands in delight.

After paying in full, Zhou Yang left. As he was leaving, the auntie even invited him to come back next time.

Only after driving a long way from the auntie's house did Zhou Yang find a deserted spot to put the items from the truck and the poultry and livestock into his space, even building a few more pens for them.

By the time he finished, it was almost three in the afternoon.

Estimating that the elderly folks in the countryside would probably be coming out to set up stalls and sell vegetables at this time, Zhou Yang searched for the nearest wet market on his GPS and headed straight there.

The elderly folks in the countryside loved growing vegetables; when they grew too many to eat, they would set up stalls outside nearby wet markets to sell them.

Although these stalls only sold seasonal vegetables and didn't have as wide a variety as the markets inside, the produce was fresh and pesticide-free—something impossible to find in the city even if one wanted to.

Driving near the market, he indeed saw a long line of elderly people at their stalls. Finding a place to park nearby, Zhou Yang took out several oversized plastic bags and went from stall to stall, buying out almost everything the elderly vendors had.

Zhou Yang's flashy move left the onlookers stunned.

Many people came up to ask why he was buying so many vegetables. He could only make up an excuse, saying he was buying them on behalf of a friend in the city and didn't know the reason himself.

After collecting all the vegetables from the elderly vendors, Zhou Yang drove away and found another deserted spot to put everything into his space.

Following this pattern, Zhou Yang swept through several other markets of various sizes in the surrounding area. Along the way, he also bought some local pork, Leaf fat, freshly slaughtered chickens and ducks, and fish from each market. He only headed back once it was getting late.

Unfortunately, it wasn't harvest season. After asking villagers from several villages, they all said the Early rice of the Large-scale farmers had only just been planted, and harvest was still far off—at least until mid-to-late July. Otherwise, he would have wanted to buy a batch of fresh rice.

However, every Large-scale farmer kept a good amount of grain for themselves. Zhou Yang asked them one by one and bought three to five bags whenever available. This allowed him to collect about 2,000 catties of rice grain; he could just buy a small Threshing machine later.

Moreover, given the current weather, he estimated that this year's Early rice would have to be harvested by the beginning of the month, or there would be nothing left.

The beginning of July happened to be the first few days of the Apocalypse. He should still be able to drive around then, so he would come back to see if he could collect some new rice.

After returning the truck, Zhou Yang drove his own car to the warehouse; there was a batch of shelves waiting to be picked up.

By the time he reached the warehouse, the truck delivering the shelves was already waiting.

The driver and another worker unloaded the shelves into the warehouse and helped assemble them. They only left after seeing Zhou Yang finish the payment.

Once the workers left, Zhou Yang closed the warehouse doors and put all the shelves into his space. He placed some in the cellar and some in the open area outside. After re-categorizing and organizing his supplies in the space, it finally looked much more organized.

By the time he finished with the shelves and returned home, it was already 7 PM.

It had been an exhausting day, and Zhou Yang really didn't want to move. He simply took out a portion of the fried noodles he had made that morning to make do for dinner.

The next day, Zhou Yang woke up early and caught the morning high-speed train to Baiji.

He met with the agent at the real estate agency.

However, because the landlord wasn't a local and had bought the property purely for investment, they weren't present and had fully authorized the real estate agency to handle it.

The two of them went to see the apartment together.

After seeing it, Zhou Yang was very satisfied with the layout and the floor. He then stated that he wanted to do some simple renovations and modifications at his own expense.

The agent immediately called the landlord to communicate.

The landlord thought he was just going to do some simple painting or flooring and wouldn't have to pay for it themselves, so they naturally had no objections.

Both parties hit it off immediately and signed a one-year contract. Zhou Yang even prepaid six months' rent.

After getting the keys and seeing off the agent, Zhou Yang called a designer from a renovation company and arranged to meet at the rental apartment.

Once the designer arrived and saw the apartment, Zhou Yang confirmed the renovation style and the areas that needed significant modification in detail.

The style was minimalist, with all walls using the most eco-friendly latex paint. The apartment would have a layout of three bedrooms, one living room, one kitchen, and two bathrooms, but the balcony had to be large, as he planned to use it for growing vegetables later.

The entire house, inside and out, needed the best soundproofing and insulation. Security doors and window bars were essential, but an additional layer of explosion-proof doors had to be installed, and all glass had to be replaced with bulletproof glass—preferably double-layered—with privacy film. The curtains needed to be not only blackout but also have an insulating layer. All drainpipes, ventilation ducts, and window gaps also had to be treated to ensure no air leaks or back-odors.

Although the designer felt these renovation requirements were somewhat nitpicky, they immediately dropped any objections after Zhou Yang said he could pay extra.

However, since Zhou Yang requested the work be finished in just one month, the extra cost was substantial. But this was money that couldn't be saved. Zhou Yang gritted his teeth and agreed, readily paying a 300,000-yuan deposit, with the rest to be paid after the final inspection.

After confirming with the designer that the blueprints could be drawn today and construction could begin, Zhou Yang left the renovation keys with the designer and took the high-speed train back.

When he got home, it was just after 5 PM.

With nothing to do for the moment, Zhou Yang went to the fresh food supermarket at the entrance of the community and bought a lot of groceries.

He planned to take advantage of his free time to prepare more food and store it in his space. In the future days without water or electricity, he wouldn't be able to cook even if he wanted to.

Zhou Yang first made himself a simple portion of fried rice to fill his stomach, then began his major project for the evening—

Rendering lard! And then making Lard cracklings!

Lard mixed with rice and Lard cracklings in stir-fries were incredibly fragrant. Nothing sold outside could compare to homemade.

He first took out all the ceramic jars, washed them thoroughly, wiped them down briefly, and turned them upside down to drain.

Then he took out the Leaf fat he had just bought, washed it, and cut it into small pieces, filling four large basins. Looking at the amount, he estimated it would take several pots to render.

After blanching the basins of Leaf fat, he could officially start rendering the lard.

He put the blanched fat into a pot with a bowl of fresh water and simmered it slowly over medium-low heat. Once the water evaporated, the fat quickly began to release lard.

When it was almost done, Zhou Yang took a dry ceramic jar, added a spoonful of salt, and ladled the lard into it. Once the fat in the pot had shrunk by more than half and not much lard was left to be rendered, Zhou Yang used a spatula to press down on the fat to ensure it had all turned into cracklings before turning off the heat.

This time, instead of using a metal ladle, he placed a filter mesh over the ceramic jar and poured the lard directly in, then poured the filtered Lard cracklings into another basin to drain the oil.

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