Chapter 3 Buying a House, Launching the Renovation Plan
The first thing Meng Ci did after leaving the company was not to buy supplies but to look at houses.
Surviving in the post-apocalyptic world required a fortress-like residence to find safety in a dog-eat-dog environment.
When Meng Ci turned eighteen, five hundred million yuan was directly transferred to his account.
Apart from initially transferring two million yuan each to Li Shanyang and the other two, he hadn't spent much else, which was enough for his initial actions.
After meeting with the reliable real estate agent arranged by Liang Xiu, Meng Ci bought a villa first.
It had two floors above ground, a basement, and an outside courtyard, though the wall around it was only a little over one meter high.
This villa complex was located on a hill and later became the gathering place for the main characters in the post-apocalyptic era.
Now, every inch of land was precious, costing fifteen thousand yuan per square meter, so Meng Ci paid more than one hundred million yuan in full.
He asked the agent to help contact a construction team to first demolish and rebuild the walls, making them fifty centimeters thick and three meters high, plus another meter of electric fencing and spikes.
All the glass on the exterior of the house would be replaced with bulletproof and explosion-proof glass, and the front door would be upgraded to the highest security level.
A new drainage system would be designed to ensure that even if there were a once-in-a-century downpour, the house wouldn't flood.
He demanded completion within twenty days, and money was not an issue.
Although the agent didn't understand and thought it looked unattractive, he figured this client, who could spend over one hundred million yuan without batting an eye, must be a rich second-generation fool.
He decided not to say anything and follow all the requirements, hoping for a good tip.
Coincidentally, this real estate agency also handled business in the neighborhood where the main characters lived—Jin Shang Jia Yuan. So Meng Ci asked him to take him to see the houses there.
Meng Ci wanted a unit in a building with seventeen floors, currently occupied by only half its capacity.
Without hesitation, he chose the seventeenth floor.
There were six units on each floor, with two elevators. The two units on the east and west sides had already been sold.
On the north and south sides, there were two units each. Meng Ci chose the north side, where he could see the neighborhood below.
He originally wanted to buy both units on this side but was told by the agent that one of them had been sold just a few days ago.
So Meng Ci bought one unit, a three-bedroom, two-living room, two-bathroom apartment, for more than ten million yuan.
The windows and doors were replaced with bulletproof and explosion-proof ones.
He also had the agent arrange for protective grilles to be welded outside the windows and bulletproof glass installed on the balcony outside the living room.
Similarly, protective grilles were added outside, using the densest type, claiming he planned to keep cats.
As for the interior decoration, he wanted it done like an ordinary family's home.
Of the three bedrooms, he would only renovate one for himself to live in, leaving the other two for future use.
Meng Ci gave the agent a five-thousand-yuan tip and asked him to supervise the construction team to complete the work within fifteen days, assuring him that money was not an issue.
The agent, pleased with the money, promised to ensure timely completion.
Suddenly, Meng Ci remembered Li Xiaoya.
In the book, Meng Ci bought her an apartment here, which is why they came to celebrate before the torrential rainstorm.
Meng Ci certainly wouldn't buy her an apartment this time, but if they didn't come, he couldn't exact his revenge.
So Meng Ci proposed renting another apartment for a month.
Normally, it was impossible to rent an apartment for just one month, but because Meng Ci had bought a villa and an apartment, the agent discussed it with his boss, and they signed the contract.
Meng Ci took a photo of the top-floor purchase contract, deliberately hiding the floor number.
He removed Li Xiaoya from his blacklist and sent the photo to her.
"Ya Ya, didn't you say you wanted to buy an apartment in this neighborhood? I've already bought one."
"But the agent said it will take a few days to hand over the keys. When the time comes, I'll have them mail the keys directly to you."
As soon as the message was sent, Li Xiaoya called.
"Brother, are you serious? Did you really buy me an apartment?"
The girl's voice was light and melodious. If it weren't for the fact that she was the first to suggest pushing Meng Ci off the balcony to reduce food consumption in the book, it would be easy to believe she was a kind and innocent girl.
"Of course it's true. When has your brother ever lied to you?"
"But I'm quite busy with my studies this month, so I don't have time to pick out furniture for you."
"The money I gave you before should still be there. Go ahead and choose the furniture you like, and I'll give you more later."
"Okay, thank you, Brother." After hanging up, Li Xiaoya happily threw herself into Liu Jie's arms, who was standing opposite her.
"Jie Ge, Brother really bought me an apartment. I'm so happy."
Li Xiaoya felt embarrassed after a moment and stepped back from Liu Jie's embrace.
"Jie Ge, I'm sorry. I was just too excited."
Liu Jie curled his fingers slightly and shook his head. "It's okay. I'm your brother. You can do anything you want with me."
Li Xiaoya looked at Liu Jie shyly, then shook her head in distress. "No, Jie Ge."
"He likes you. If I get too close to you, he'll be upset."
As she spoke, a tear rolled down Li Xiaoya's cheek.
Liu Jie quickly reached out to wipe away her tears and held her tenderly in his arms.
"Xiaoya, I only see Meng Ci as a younger brother, and he sees me as an older brother."
"Don't overthink it."
"Or I can find the right time to talk things through with him."
Li Xiaoya also wrapped her arms around Liu Jie's waist and shook her head. "Don't, Jie Ge."
"If you explain it, he will definitely be hurt. I don't want to see him upset."
Liu Jie sighed helplessly. "Xiaoya, you're just too kind."
"Sometimes, you need to think more about yourself."
Meng Ci had no idea what was happening here. After arranging everything, it was already past four in the afternoon.
Meng Ci found another real estate agency, saying he wanted to rent a few warehouses.
The only requirements were that they should be as remote as possible and cover as much area as possible.
Fortunately, this agency had resources. There were three consecutive warehouses on the outskirts available for rent at a cheap price.
Meng Ci checked the location; it wasn't far from several wholesale markets.
He rented all the warehouses but only for one month.
Since these warehouses would otherwise sit unused, the agency was happy to rent them out for a month. The contract was quickly finalized, and Meng Ci successfully obtained the keys.
After handling the major tasks, Meng Ci felt extremely hungry on his way back.
Meng Ci now lived near the school in a two-bedroom apartment.
Being in a school district, there were many dining options nearby, including a small alley filled with various snacks.
Meng Ci entered a restaurant and ordered a braised eggplant rice bowl.
When the meal arrived, it tasted excellent.
Braised eggplant was Meng Ci's favorite dish, so he asked the owner to prepare a hundred boxed lunches of braised eggplant tomorrow.
His excuse was that the class teacher wanted to reward the students from two classes for their hard work during their senior year.
He then asked the owner to buy a hundred passion fruit drinks from the nearby beverage shop.
Each braised eggplant rice bowl cost twelve yuan, and each passion fruit drink cost seven yuan, totaling nineteen hundred yuan. Meng Ci added a hundred yuan as a tip.
He paid a thousand yuan deposit and then went home.
Sitting at the table, Meng Ci started searching online for wholesale suppliers and what preparations were needed for extreme challenges.
He refined yesterday's list and planned to start shopping tomorrow.