LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 4: Ordering 500 Banquets at a Five-Star Hotel
Zhang Yi and the other two pushed three carts full of supplies back to the community.
Along the way, many neighbors saw this scene and couldn't help but start talking about it.
Zhang Yi didn't care at all now if people found out that he was stocking up on supplies.
After all, since these two green tea bitches knew about his shopping, it was impossible to keep the news a secret anymore.
If he just wanted to survive, he could sell all his assets and then go to a desolate place to build an impregnable fortress.
However, in that case, how could he take revenge on the neighbors who chopped him up alive in his previous life?
If he didn't kill all those people, the grudge in Zhang Yi's heart would never disappear.
So one of his plans for the end of the world was to stay in this community and take revenge on all those who owed him in another cruel way!
Of course, the prerequisite for this plan was that the security company had the ability to build an unbreakable shelter for him.
Otherwise, he still had to make a backup plan, which was to build an underground shelter in a desolate place.
Zhang Yi looked at the neighbors around him. They were chatting and laughing while speculating about the use of so many supplies he had bought.
He could even already picture the scene in which these neighbors tried to break into his house to snatch things when the end of the world came.
He had actually experienced all of this before.
However, he wasn't afraid yet because in this life, he would make preparations in advance.
He just wanted to make those people see the supplies but not be able to get them, and finally be so angry that they were half-dead.
Zhang Yi, Fang Yuqing, and Li Caining lived in the same apartment building.
Because Zhang Yi worked as a manager in Walmart's warehouse, neighbors often asked him to help buy discounted items.
So everyone knew Zhang Yi.
Seeing that Zhang Yi and the other two had bought so many things and brought them back, an old lady who was taking her grandson out to play came over.
She looked at the food in the carts, as well as the fresh beef and mutton, and was immediately tempted.
"Xiao Zhang, why did you bring back so many things? Are they from the warehouse on clearance?"
"With so many things, you can't use them all up. Why don't you share some with the neighbors?"
This was Aunt Lin who worked in the homeowners' association. On weekdays, relying on the little power she had in the community, she often pointed fingers at the neighbors and regarded herself as a leader.
In the past, she often asked Zhang Yi to help her buy cheap discounted goods, and she was extremely fond of taking petty advantages.
In his previous life, she also managed to get some food from Zhang Yi by making a fuss.
But when all the neighbors rushed to Zhang Yi's house to rob, instead of stopping them, she was even more energetic than the young people.
Fang Yuqing and Li Caining didn't want to mess with this woman either and quickly said, "These things were all bought by Zhang Yi. We just helped him bring them back."
Aunt Lin immediately looked at Zhang Yi and said with a smile, "Xiao Zhang, it seems these are things from your warehouse. How about sharing some with Aunt Lin?"
While she was talking, her grandson, Xiao Hu, had already climbed onto one of the shopping carts and reached out to take out a box of chocolates.
Although he was young, he had a sharp eye. That box of imported chocolates cost more than two hundred yuan in the supermarket.
Without saying a word, Zhang Yi snatched the thing back.
Then he said coldly to Aunt Lin, "Sorry, I'm keeping these for myself to eat."
Anyway, the end of the world was coming soon, and he didn't even bother to be polite now.
Aunt Lin's face suddenly changed. "You..."
Zhang Yi's not giving her, the so-called community leader, any face made her very angry.
Especially her grandson, Xiao Hu, after being pushed away by Zhang Yi, started crying and shouting even louder, demanding to eat the chocolates.
He even pointed at Zhang Yi and cursed with a look of hatred on his face, "You bad guy, give me the chocolates back! Otherwise, I'll beat you to death!"
Zhang Yi looked at him coldly and said in a deep voice, "Say one more word and I'll slap your mouth!"
Xiao Hu was frightened by Zhang Yi and burst into loud crying. He sat on the ground and started throwing a tantrum.
Aunt Lin quickly went to comfort her grandson and then angrily scolded Zhang Yi.
"How old are you? Why are you arguing with a child?"
"Isn't it just a box of chocolates? What's wrong with giving it to the child to eat?"
"Otherwise, just give him a box of chocolates. Consider it as if I bought it. I'll give you the money later. As if I want to take advantage of you!"
Zhang Yi just curled his lips.
Nowadays, mobile payments were so convenient that paying was extremely easy.
Her saying that she would give the money later was clearly just an attempt to renege on the debt.
"I said it's for me to eat. If you want to eat, go buy it at the supermarket yourself!"
Zhang Yi sneered and then called Fang Yuqing and Li Caining to leave.
As soon as they left, Aunt Lin's angry shouts came from behind.
Zhang Yi turned a deaf ear to it.
Aunt Lin's son and daughter-in-law worked outside, and she was the only one at home taking care of her grandson.
On weekdays, the old lady only bought enough vegetables for one day.
So after the end of the world came, their family's supplies would run out first.
In the past, Zhang Yi had been soft-hearted and helped them.
But in this life, without Zhang Yi's help, it would be a miracle if this immoral old lady and her naughty grandson Xiao Hu could survive for ten days.
Zhang Yi didn't want to argue with the dead.
It wasn't that he was cruel, but when that day came, it would be extremely difficult for everyone to take care of themselves.
The lives and deaths of others naturally came after his own.
After pushing the three carts of supplies back home, Zhang Yi asked the two women to leave.
"Zhang Yi, don't forget to treat us to a meal!" Fang Yuqing winked playfully at Zhang Yi.
However, when Zhang Yi saw that, he just felt a wave of nausea in his heart.
He just gave a perfunctory response.
The two women had originally planned to stay and look for clues that Zhang Yi was a hidden rich second-generation heir.
But seeing that Zhang Yi didn't seem to have the mood to entertain them, they had no choice but to leave first.
After they left, Zhang Yi opened his alien space and put all the things into it.
He was going to observe whether there would be any changes to these supplies in the space.
After finishing all this, it was already very late.
Zhang Yi didn't rush to rest. Instead, he took out paper and a pen and carefully planned the preparatory work for the next month.
Although he was usually lazy, in order to survive, people could always tap into their full potential.
"If I want to live comfortably in the end of the world, I first need to solve the food problem. This is easy to deal with."
"Besides the things I buy on a daily basis, I can get the rest from the warehouse. But I can't be hasty about this. I need to do some investigations first."
"And I should collect them a few days before the end of the world to avoid attracting others' attention. If I get caught, I definitely won't be able to survive in prison for a few days."
Zhang Yi wrote the word "Food" on the notebook and put a tick behind it.
"Then there's heating."
"After the end of the world, the energy supply will be extremely scarce, and air conditioners will soon become unusable."
"Then, we have to use the simplest method. A fireplace is the top choice!"
The principle of a fireplace is similar to that of a heated kang, both using primitive methods to keep warm.
In Europe, where the winter temperature is particularly low, people use this way to get through the long, cold winters.
"In that case, I need to renovate the house again and it's best to add an insulation layer."
When it came to renovation, Zhang Yi thought of how his house had been broken into in his previous life, and his heart tightened.
"I also need to turn my house into an impregnable steel fortress."
"First of all, thick steel plates or alloy materials should be installed all over the place. At least it should be able to withstand ordinary explosions."
After the end of the world came, people would do anything to survive, so he had to be fully prepared.
He couldn't joke about his own life safety. Zhang Yi had already tasted the taste of death once and definitely didn't want to experience it a second time.
The problem of the safe house was also easy to solve.
There were security companies in Tianhai City that specialized in providing security services for the wealthy and powerful.
Among them, there was the service of building safe rooms.
Zhang Yi remembered that in his previous life, he had read the news that a top tycoon abroad had built a super fortress that could even withstand attacks from small nuclear weapons.
"Then, there are medicines. I must prevent myself from getting sick and having no way to treat it."
"There are many common medicines in Walmart's warehouse that can treat minor illnesses like colds and fevers. But that's far from enough."
"The Cambrian storm will last at least several decades, so I need to be fully prepared."
Fortunately, Zhang Yi had relatively good connections in Tianhai City.
After all, as a warehouse manager, he also knew some staff working in hospital warehouses.
As long as he could offer enough money, he could get any medicine.
After these problems were solved, Zhang Yi tapped the ballpoint pen in his hand on the notebook.
"Next, there's only one last problem left to solve."
His gaze became sharp.
"That's weapons!"
When the end of the world came, human nature would be lost, and battles for seizing supplies could be seen everywhere.
Human lives were as worthless as grass. If one wanted to survive, one must possess sufficient force.
Zhang Yi wasn't a martial arts master, but even the best martial artist is afraid of a kitchen knife.
As long as the weapons he prepared were strong enough, he didn't need to worry about this problem.
"Cleaving axes, crowbars, and splitting axes are easy to get."
"Crossbows, air guns, and compound bows also have channels to obtain."
"But the most powerful one is, of course, the American-style quick draw. In China, the only way to get this thing is through the black market."
"Going abroad to get it? That's not realistic either. I'm not familiar with the place outside, and it would take many days to go back and forth. I don't have a foreign gun license, and I can't go to a gun store to buy it either."
Zhang Yi touched his chin. He hadn't figured out how to solve this problem yet.
However, he still had one month left. As long as he was willing to spend money, there should be a way to get it done.
He spent three hours formulating a perfect plan and then took a comfortable hot bath before lying on his cozy bed and falling asleep.
...
The next morning, Zhang Yi got up from the bed.
He didn't sleep very well that night and woke up several times because of nightmares.
When he woke up and found that he was still lying on the warm and comfortable big bed at home, he finally let out a long sigh of relief.
The end-of-the-world period had caused great harm to his mind.
In order to avoid repeating the same mistakes, Zhang Yi became even more determined to make foolproof preparations!
After getting up, Zhang Yi made himself breakfast.
Then he opened the alien space and checked the changes of the supplies he had put in there.
To his delight, the meat, fruits, and vegetables that had been put in for a night hadn't changed at all.
It was hard to tell the difference in the meat in a short time, but fruits and vegetables usually didn't stay fresh after a night.
However, after being put into the alien space, those fruits and vegetables were just as fresh as when they were bought yesterday.
"My alien space is independent of this world, and perhaps the rules of time change are also different."
"It's possible that the flow of time is slower or even stationary. This is really great news!"
"This way, I can put all kinds of things in it without hesitation."
However, when Zhang Yi checked the several fish he had put in, he found that they were all dead.
After they died, they still looked lifelike and didn't go bad.
Zhang Yi touched his chin and understood some more rules for using the alien space.
"Living things can't be put in, or even if they are put in, they can't survive for a long time. It seems that my idea of living in it myself isn't very practical."
This wasn't a big problem either. The alien space was all white and empty, which was far less comfortable than Zhang Yi's own home.
As long as he could put things in it, that was okay.
With this thought, many things came to Zhang Yi's mind.
Since fresh meat, vegetables, and fruits could be preserved, what about cooked meals?
Although Zhang Yi could cook by himself, after all, there was still a big gap compared to professional chefs.
If he had to cook by himself in the future, he would get tired of it sooner or later.
So Zhang Yi immediately made a phone call to Hongfu Tianxia, the largest five-star hotel in Tianhai City.
This hotel also offered takeout, and the taste of their dishes was first-class. Zhang Yi loved their food very much.
"Hello, this is Hongfu Tianxia Hotel. How can I help you?"
Zhang Yi immediately said, "I'm going to invite guests at home and hold a running banquet for three days and three nights. So I need to reserve 500 tables of meals!"
The person on the other end of the phone was also shocked.
500 tables of meals would take them a long time to prepare even if they did it.
Moreover, they were a five-star hotel, and the cheapest banquet table cost three to four thousand yuan.
For 500 tables, that would be more than one million yuan!
The waiter didn't dare to make a decision on his own and quickly said, "Please wait a moment. I'll go and ask our manager."
After a while, another person picked up the phone.
"Hello, sir. I'm Chen Dingfang, the manager of Hongfu Hotel. May I ask your name?"