Chapter 87: Busy Farming in the Last Days

Aug 16 2023

Immediately, only Ji Cha and Liang Jincheng were left in the room.

“It’s just cooked, still hot,” Ji Cha divided the food into portions and handed them out. Liang Jincheng stood beside him and helped him. He no longer looked like the person who could make people shiver without saying a word, but more like a completely different person.

Liang Jincheng hugged Ji Cha from behind and buried his head deep in his neck, taking a deep breath.

“I didn’t take a shower last night,” Ji Cha tried to push him away, but Liang Jincheng didn’t want to let go.

“I’ll be busy for the next few days, and I might not be able to come back at night,” Liang Jincheng said.

Ji Cha understood, “It’s the same here, the farm is also busy, but it should be better than here.”

“Stay here tonight,” Liang Jincheng’s lips brushed against Ji Cha’s neck, and his body became hot. “I can’t sleep well without seeing you.”

Although his body had been strengthened to the point where he could be energetic with less than five hours of sleep a day, he still said such words to act cute.

Ji Cha fell for it, “Okay, that’s fine. The distance from here to home is not that far anyway. But, are we going to live in this apartment?”

The security here was good, but Ji Cha still felt that it lacked vitality and had even been home to zombies, making it even more gloomy.

“For now, the office is here, but we won’t live where Cheng Feng used to live. Another brand new place that nobody has lived in is being prepared,” Liang Jincheng said.

“Okay,” Ji Cha nodded with relief.

He brought some toiletries with him and moved in from that evening. On the surface, there was also a legitimate reason, after all, the farm he was in charge of was not a small place, so he needed proper protection.

And as time passed, those high-ranking officials who were under pressure from Liang Jincheng also figured out that as long as Ji Cha was around, Liang Jincheng’s temper wouldn’t be so bad. As a result, they became smarter and came to report their work when Ji Cha was present.

As May went by, the weather began to show signs of summer.

The dried pickled vegetables that had been prepared earlier were ready to be stored. Ji Cha calculated that there were still four piglets that could be produced in May, so he informed the canteen to make a dish of pickled vegetables and braised pork belly.

Even before the food was served, the fragrance of the meal had already wafted from the cafeteria’s kitchen, arousing the appetites of many and making some members of the newly approved team, who hadn’t eaten anything decent for almost a year, unable to walk properly.

“When it was peaceful before, I loved to eat preserved vegetable pork belly. It’s also good for stir-frying bitter melon. Just a few pieces and you can eat it with a bowl of rice.”

“Exactly, this flavor makes me want to go in and eat right now.”

The people outside were drooling, and the cooks inside were also feeling uncomfortable, wishing they could start serving the food right away so they could taste it too.

Moreover, this meal was especially abundant because it was the first one, and there was rare prosperity as piglets had recently been bred. When it was time for the meal, the people who came running in almost crushed the cafeteria. If they hadn’t prepared and estimated beforehand, those who came last would definitely not be able to get anything.

Although there were rumors outside that S City’s base was well-equipped, few believed it at first. However, gradually they could not bear the hunger and feared of being bullied by other gangs, so they began to come and try their luck, only to find out that it was really a treasure trove.

Although ordinary members had some complaints about other parts of the base after entering for so long, they had no objections to the farm and factory. Especially the farm, which worked hard to provide food for the people in the base, almost desperately. Everyone could see this.

Not to mention that the salary and treatment in the farm were generous. Those who could work in the farm had three times more opportunities than other base jobs. As a result, everyone’s impression of the farm was even better.

However, it was unexpected that there would be some unpleasantness in the farm at the end of May, which had been relatively conflict-free. The policies related to the distribution of milk were temporary, and the farm would conduct regular spot checks. If the other party no longer met the qualifications to receive milk, it would be canceled at any time. This resulted in two families being screened out.

These two families were very unhappy. After questioning the farm side without success, they privately complained to many people that the farm was unfair to them, and that all families with children were eligible. Why were they removed and replaced by others?

As more people spoke up, the rumor naturally spread wider. Within two days, it had reached the ears of Ji Cha, who was immediately displeased.

Of course, the farm cannot achieve absolute fairness, and many policies can only be implemented in a relatively fair environment. What does it mean to use these rules that have been communicated in advance for argument’s sake?

On that day, he drafted a notice to reiterate the milk policy, which benefits only newborn babies who have not yet been weaned. They are always a group in society that needs special care and attention, so it is not a controversial issue. The notice also directly listed several families who took advantage of the policy and violated the rules on the blacklist of purchasing milk, which deterred some people who like to use chaos to achieve their goals. After that, the matter was considered settled, and no one mentioned it again.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

A few months after Cheng Feng’s death, the differences in the base had begun to emerge. Under the leadership of Liang Jincheng, everything became more well-planned, and the size of the periphery of the base almost doubled. In addition to the original central area, the farm has now expanded to the safety zone on the periphery.

The base continues to attract people, and in order to maintain its stability, the farm must also increase its scale exponentially, at least to the point where it can feed the existing population of the base and still have a surplus.

As a result, it is already very clear who will be elected as the leader in the upcoming national vote in early August, and the position of the highest commander in the base belongs to Liang Jincheng.

Liang Jincheng and Ji Cha have different roles; although the farm only focuses on food, because of the stable output of products such as rabbit fur, chicken feathers, and duck feathers in recent months, it also has some connections with textile work.

However, Ji Cha does not know much about this area, and there are more professional personnel outside, so he is only involved in material handover and some procurement quantity determinations.

Currently, Ji Cha is mainly involved in fisheries and aquaculture.

He had previously discovered mutated fish, which are now the focus of Ji Cha’s observation and research. However, the fish pond area has never been considered very safe, and there has been no manpower available to build a new one.

Ji Cha was busy all day and only had time to return to the factory building for dinner. Now he and Liang Jincheng mostly live in the apartment area. Ji Cha probably only spends two days a week living in the factory building. But as long as he has free time, he will come back for dinner.

The weather at the end of July had already started to get hot, especially after the apocalypse, the weather seemed to be more extreme. The daytime temperature had already reached 37-38 degrees Celsius, making it very difficult to endure.

There are quite a few elderly people in the base, two of whom have all their children at home and do not usually work. After meeting Ji Cha’s grandmother, they occasionally come over to chat.

In the courtyard on a summer night, a plate of mosquito-repellent incense was lit, and a few elderly people sat in chairs with fans, gently swaying. This scene made Ji Cha feel as if he had returned to a very ordinary village night before the end of the world.

Even the topics discussed by the elderly were very down-to-earth.

“How old is Boss Ji this year?”

“Twenty-two years old, twenty-three in nominal age.”

“That’s still young, no need to rush. Hey, isn’t Captain Liang older than Boss Ji?”

“Jin Cheng, yes, he’s twenty-six this year.”

Ji Cha stood nearby, charging his electric scooter, and heard them discussing this, so he pricked up his ears and listened carefully.

“Then he should find a partner, right?” the old lady raised her voice, “Captain Liang has such good conditions, we should find someone good for him.”

Grandma Ji nodded in agreement, “Jin Cheng does have good conditions, but he wouldn’t like ordinary people.”

Nowadays, there is no one else like Liang Jincheng in the base with his status, who wouldn’t want to pair up with him?

“Hey, you guys are all family, any news from Captain Liang’s side? Let me tell you, there are a few girls who are not bad, what kind of girl does Captain Liang like?”

“He likes girls with short hair, good looks, round eyes, and doesn’t have to have very fair skin,” Grandma Ji said confidently.

Ji Cha felt uncomfortable listening to this on the side, why were they actually introducing others to Liang Jincheng?

“Grandma,” he walked out of the darkness and interrupted them, “why are you talking about this? Jin Cheng knows what he wants.”

Grandma Ji looked at him and smiled without saying a word. It was the other two elderly people who were interested in Ji Cha and pulled him aside to ask, “Boss Ji, what kind of girl do you like? Grandma can find one for you?”

Ji Cha was embarrassed, but Grandma Ji smiled and took the hands of her old friends off Ji Cha, “Alright, don’t bother, both Cha Cha and Jin Cheng already have partners, no need to worry about this.”

Grandmother’s words left Ji Cha stunned. He realized that she had known it a while ago.