Chapter 73: Busy Farming in the Last Days

Jul 19 2023

The chaos after the end of the world brings not unity and courage, but more suspicion and doubt due to the loss of inherent security.

Liang Jincheng’s foot stepped on the slightly damp ground, and he immediately received the fierce gaze from the opposite person.

“Are you the only one in the car?” The leader was a middle-aged man with a shrewd and savvy face, but his hair was already half white, highlighting his age.

Under the suspicious gaze, Liang Jincheng lifted his chin and didn’t answer the question directly. Instead, he asked, “Are you guys from the nearby base?”

As soon as these words came out, the other party became even more alert. Several young people behind the white-haired man couldn’t help but pull out their weapons and aim at Liang Jincheng.

“Be careful, go and search.” The white-haired man gave the order, and he was sure that Liang Jincheng wouldn’t make any reckless moves under the barrel of a gun. So his men relaxed, leaving only two people who were cautious and watching Liang Jincheng while the other eight people entered the car one by one.

Thinking that there must be Liang Jincheng’s accomplices in the car, they were surprised to find that the car was empty.

“Boss, there’s no one here.” One person rushed out of the car and whispered, but he was startled by what he saw in front of him before he could finish his sentence.

Liang Jincheng, who had been restrained in front, had now grabbed the white-haired man, and the other two men had been knocked down. The situation instantly changed, and the atmosphere also immediately shifted.

However, this was not the end. They wanted to rush out of the car to subdue Liang Jincheng, but suddenly several ghostly figures appeared in the empty car compartment, and with a few clicks and clacks, they confiscated all the weapons in their hands and immediately kicked them down.

Now they knew they had provoked the wrong people. Even though Liang Jincheng did not intend to take their lives, they answered all his questions in order to save their own lives.

“It’s a small base with just over 300 people. We rely on scavenging from nearby villages that are abandoned,” the white-haired man said, quickly changing his tone when he saw Liang Jincheng’s expression change.

At S city base.

Ji Cha had regained his composure and thrown himself back into work. Keeping busy helped him distract himself from worrying about Liang Jincheng.

Zhao Tiankuo had been promoted earlier in the year and was now a semi-important official, but he couldn’t put on airs in front of Ji Cha. He spoke and acted just as he had when he was a lowly soldier.

“How many chickens do you have that are ready for sale?” Zhao Tiankuo asked.

“Chickens?” Ji Cha knew the number and selling time for all sorts of livestock. “I just sent a batch to the cafeteria. There aren’t many ready for sale right now, and I need to save some for the next batch. I’ve calculated everything. Why, do you need some?”

Based on current production ratios, they could only provide the cafeteria with around 200 chickens each month. That may sound like a lot, but it averages out to only about nine chickens a day. Keep in mind that this was one of the meat dishes served every day at a base of 10,000 people. The cafeteria had to come up with various ways to prepare the chicken just to make it stretch, using every last drop of broth to make tofu or stewing vegetables with it to impart some meat flavor.

As of now, it seems that the base is really tight on meat. However, Ji Cha is relatively optimistic about this. Once the piglets are grown, a few can be sent to the market every month, in addition to rabbit, chicken, and lamb meat, which should be enough for everyone’s daily meals. Not to mention that fish farming is also in his plan.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

When Zhao Tiankuo was asked by Ji Cha, he replied a bit embarrassedly, “It’s not that I want it, but the higher-ups said that the cafeteria doesn’t make much profit and the food tastes bland. They want you to send five chickens over separately for a week. It’s about 20 chickens a month, can you do it?”

Ji Cha frowned, “I can barely squeeze out 200 chickens a month here, how can I manage to send 20 chickens over there? I already sent two separately for a week before, and now they want five. Won’t the others complain?”

Only with Zhao Tiankuo did Ji Cha express his true feelings. Zhao Tiankuo smiled, “I know it’s like this, but isn’t there anything we can do? We are all just following orders from the higher-ups.”

The “higher-ups” refers to the current overall leader of the S base, who was already a high-ranking official before the apocalypse and is not old, only fifty this year. He has been lucky enough to avoid hardships so far and now lives a stable life in the base. He has been constantly asking for various vegetables and meats from Ji Cha’s side, without considering the need for future breeding. Ji Cha is already quite annoyed, and this latest request conveyed by Zhao Tiankuo has made him even more upset.

“I’ll take a look here first. Help me tell them that five chickens a week might not be possible, but three is still doable.”

As far as it stands, the base is really tight on meat. However, Ji Cha is relatively optimistic about this. Once the piglets grow up, they can be sent out steadily every month, plus rabbit meat, chicken meat, and lamb, which should be enough for everyone’s daily meals. Not to mention that raising fish is also on his schedule.

The words were spoken like this, but the next day, Zhao Tiankuo brought back bad news again. The other side was asking for five more.

Ji Cha was at a loss for words. “Five more? If I had fifty, I would have stuffed them over there and made it all peaceful!”

Zhao Tiankuo was startled by his sudden outburst. In his impression, Ji Cha was always a person with a gentle temperament. Why was he so angry today?

Grandma on the side reminded Zhao Tiankuo slowly, “Jincheng hasn’t come back yet.”

Ji Cha took a deep breath and calmed down the anxiety and impatience brought about by the absence of Liang Jincheng. He stood up and said, “Take me to see the leader. I’ll talk to him myself.”

Zhao Tiankuo also didn’t want to deal with this hot potato, so he arranged this meeting between Ji Cha and the leader in the middle.

The head of the base was named Cheng Feng, who came to S City from Beijing. Although his resume was impressive, he was someone who had never really experienced any real hardships. The people with status and position in the base lived in the relatively safest area. The apartment building was newly built, and there were many green spaces inside. When Ji Cha stepped into the apartment area and saw the scenery inside, people walking back and forth with ordinary clothes and smiles on their faces, he seemed to think he had returned to the world before the end of the world.

This place was high above and truly isolated from the world.

Ji Cha walked into a small building under the guidance of the guards. Cheng Feng was already waiting for him inside.

However, before seeing Cheng Feng, Ji Cha caught a glimpse of a figure out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head to see a young but mature-looking girl in the distance.

The girl was familiar to him. He had seen her before among the kidnapped girls in the black market. The girl had also spotted him and recognized him. Their gazes met briefly before quickly turning away.

Before Ji Cha could express his doubts, Cheng Feng greeted him with a hearty laugh, “Xiao Ji, I’ve been wanting to meet you. Today I finally found the opportunity. Come on in, let’s talk.”

Cheng Feng’s smooth talk couldn’t stop Ji Cha from getting straight to the point.

“General Cheng, the demand you requested from the farm cannot be met at the moment.”

“I heard the same from Xiao Zhao, but I think even without the conditions, we should overcome difficulties. If you can give me twenty out of two hundred chickens per month, what about the remaining one hundred and eighty?”

“That leaves only one hundred and eighty left.” Ji Cha stood his ground, “I understand your demand, but if you can wait for a couple of months, I can give you fifty per month. But at the moment, it’s impossible.”

Cheng Feng’s eyes lit up, “Fifty?”

“Yes,” Ji Cha nodded, “most of the chicks are still in their early stages. If they are all released at once, there will be a gap. But if you can wait a little longer, I can give you five per week.”

“Didn’t you say fifty earlier?”

“That was just an example.” Ji Cha acted stingy.

Cheng Feng laughed heartily, “Okay, I’ll wait another month for you. Don’t change your mind when the time comes.”

“I won’t. I’ve already noted it down in my notebook.” Ji Cha breathed a sigh of relief.

He did not expect Cheng Feng to be so easy to talk to, and when he left, he felt a bit unreal. When he walked out of the apartment building, the security guards left him and let him walk by himself. Just as Ji Cha was riding his electric scooter, he was stopped by a voice from behind, “Boss Ji.”

He turned around and saw the young girl he had seen before. “Are you leaving too? Can I give you a ride?” It was quite far from anywhere around here, and it was really tiring to walk.

The young girl was no longer as naive and shy as she was when Ji Cha last saw her. She sat on Ji Cha’s electric scooter casually and hugged his waist with both hands. “Boss Ji, what are you doing here? Did Cheng Feng ask you to come?”

Although her voice was low, it could not stop her boldness in calling Cheng Feng’s name. Ji Cha even vaguely heard a little contempt for Cheng Feng in her tone.

At that time, the girl who was rescued with a face full of fear had undergone a complete transformation in just a few months, as if she had become a different person.

For a moment, the discomfort of being suddenly hugged was overwhelmed by the doubts in Ji Cha’s heart.

Thandar: So, the final boss is Cheng Feng?