I Hoard Supplies and Raise a Child in the Wasteland World by Drawing Cards (GL) - Chapter 6
After that, Lin Ran knocked on the door of apartment 1104, and a woman answered.
Lin Ran immediately explained why she was there. The woman frowned and said, “My son needs to study after we finish dinner. How can you renovate like this? Don’t you know you’re affecting my son’s studies?”
“You’re absolutely right. I’m really sorry about that. This is a small token of my apology; please accept it. Besides today, we’ll be done in two days. Could you please bear with us? I’m truly in a hurry, or else I wouldn’t have bothered everyone like this,” Lin Ran said nicely as she handed over the box of snacks.
Wang Wen saw that the snacks in Lin Ran’s hand weren’t cheap; she had seen them at the supermarket before, and they cost at least a hundred yuan. Lin Ran’s attitude was also sincere. The renovation was going to be done in two days anyway, and an extra hour or so of noise was a fair trade for a box of snacks.
“Alright, I’ll take it. But please finish up as soon as possible. We can be understanding for a day or two, but not for long,” Wang Wen said as she accepted the snacks.
“Don’t worry. I signed a contract with the renovation company, and they have to finish by the day after tomorrow afternoon. I promise we won’t bother you for too long,” Lin Ran explained with a smile.
“Alright, alright, then I’ll take this.”
“Please do. I’ll be on my way now,” Lin Ran said a few more kind words before turning to go downstairs.
When she got back, Lin Zhong had also returned. Seeing that the workers were still there, he immediately got angry. “Lin Ran, what time is it and you’re still renovating? Tell them to leave! If they bother someone, they’re going to come over and complain!”
“Don’t worry. I already talked to all the neighbors around us and they agreed to let them work until 7:30 p.m.,” Lin Ran said, sitting on the sofa, feeling a bit tired.
“Couldn’t you have just waited until tomorrow? I can’t believe you. You’re so stubborn,” Lin Zhong said. He hadn’t eaten yet, and seeing Lin Ran just sitting there without making dinner made him even angrier.
“And why didn’t you cook dinner?” Lin Zhong asked.
“I’m a little tired and didn’t feel like it. I’m going out to eat later,” Lin Ran replied calmly. She was becoming more and more impatient with Lin Zhong.
“What about me? And what kind of crap did you buy now? Lin Ran, with all this stuff you’ve been doing these past few days, have you even been to work?” Lin Zhong asked in a fit of rage. He felt his daughter was becoming more and more rebellious.
“I have. I told you, what I’m doing now is far more important than work. You’ll understand in a few days,” Lin Ran said, scrolling through her phone, trying to find a place that sold cold-weather clothing.
Lin Zhong was still mumbling about something next to her, but Lin Ran wasn’t listening. She thought about where she could get some cold-weather clothing. Finally, she opened WeChat and found the person who sold her the crossbows.
Lin Ran: Hi, I’m the person who bought the crossbows from you this afternoon. Do you have any cold-weather clothing?
A Selling Outdoor Supplies: I really don’t have any. But miss, you said you’re just doing wilderness survival. Your current gear is already more than enough.
Lin Ran: Okay, thanks anyway.
She had wanted to ask the owner if he could get her a gun, but to avoid trouble, Lin Ran decided not to. Even if she did ask, a normal person wouldn’t dare to sell something like that.
Lin Zhong continued to grumble for a while, but seeing that Lin Ran was ignoring him and he was getting hungry, he went to the kitchen to cook for himself.
Lin Ran looked at her bedroom. The workers were still welding the steel plates on the balcony and were about to install the bomb-proof glass.
She waited for another hour, and fortunately, no one came to complain. There were a few questions in the group chat, though.
At 7:30 p.m. sharp, the workers left for the day, and Lin Ran also decided to go out to a hotel. Lin Zhong asked angrily, “Where are you going now? Do you think money just falls from the sky? That’s not how you spend money…”
Lin Ran ignored him, grabbed her phone, and left. As she closed the security door, she could still faintly hear Lin Zhong’s angry shouts.
Lin Ran didn’t pay him any mind and took a taxi back to the hotel. She planned to have a good meal and go to bed early. Once the apocalypse started, she wouldn’t have so much time to rest. Her wisdom tooth felt a little better but was still a bit sore. She would have to go for an IV drip in the morning, or the inflammation could become a big problem after the apocalypse.
For the next two days, Lin Ran would go for her IV drip and then either supervise the construction or search all over Jiangbei for cold-weather clothing. But the only things she could find were slightly thicker down jackets, so she bought a few sets. It was better than nothing.
Time quickly came to the fifth day. Lin Ran went for her last IV drip in the morning, had the private hospital doctor do one last check-up, got some more anti-inflammatory medicine, and then returned to her apartment.
Lin Ran’s bedroom was now completely new. Because she paid extra, the renovation company sent more workers. Not only were all six sides of her room welded firmly to the building’s structure, but the glass on her balcony was also replaced with bomb-proof glass. The room even had new flooring, fresh plaster, and a new coat of paint. The custom closets and bed were restored to their original state.
The foreman explained to Lin Ran with a smile, “Miss Lin, your room has been completely finished according to your instructions. All six sides are securely welded to the building, and the glass on your balcony has been replaced with bomb-proof glass. Even the windows have been upgraded to bomb-proof quality. You can see our solar panels; they’re on both sides of the window, but the view from the front is still wide open. The water recycling system you asked for has also been installed. I’ll show you how to use it.”
The foreman politely explained to Lin Ran how to switch between the city’s power grid and the solar panels and how to use the water recycling system in the bathroom.
Lin Ran glanced at the bathroom and saw a large water tank had been installed next to the water heater. It held a lot of water and didn’t seem to take up much space.
After that, the foreman had the professional who installed the door explain how to use the bomb-proof door.
“Miss Lin, this bomb-proof door requires a three-step process to open. The first is an infrared scan of your eyes, the second is your fingerprint, and the third is a key. The door will only open when all three are verified. The door is bomb-proof, so even if someone tries to blow it up from the outside, it won’t open. You don’t have to worry about that,” the door installer explained to Lin Ran.
“Okay. I need to reset the administrator. How do I do that?” The current administrator was the installer, and Lin Ran didn’t want to take any risks. She would reset the administrators for both bomb-proof doors once everyone was gone.
“I’ll teach you. We’ll go through it twice slowly to make sure you learn it right away.”
The installer was very patient, teaching Lin Ran the steps to reset the administrator one by one. Lin Ran remembered everything and even recorded a video on her phone.
At that moment, the workers outside were putting the finishing touches on everything. All that was left was to finish the front door, and a few workers were rushing to get that done.
Lin Ran looked at her room and felt a little relieved. Even though she hadn’t turned the entire house into a fortress, the safety of her room was at least guaranteed.
Lin Ran looked at the door installation, figuring it would be finished soon. She then remembered the surveillance cameras. Lin Ran recalled that in the original book, there was still electricity and internet in the beginning of the apocalypse. The power grid only went down about a month after the outbreak. This meant that if she installed surveillance cameras in the building now, they would still work for about a month.
Thinking of this, Lin Ran immediately asked the foreman outside, “Can your company install surveillance cameras?”
The foreman smiled and said, “Of course we can. As you’ve seen, we’re professionals when it comes to home renovation.”
“I’m talking about surveillance for the entire building, and I want them to be linked in parallel. If one camera fails, the others will still work,” Lin Ran said calmly, looking at the foreman.
The foreman’s mouth dropped open. He didn’t expect Lin Ran to go to such lengths. But she was definitely a generous money tree. “Miss Lin, I don’t think your complex’s management will agree to you installing cameras throughout the entire building.”
“Just install two at the elevator entrance on each floor, and one in the fire escape. It won’t get in anyone’s way. I’ll handle the complex management. You just install them. They need to be fully installed by this afternoon. This includes a few cameras on both sides of the main entrance of our building. Also, all cameras need to have night vision,” Lin Ran said calmly.
If he weren’t getting paid, the foreman would have cursed Lin Ran for being paranoid. She had already made her room into a fortress, and now she wanted to install surveillance cameras throughout the entire building.
But the foreman still smiled at Lin Ran. “Miss Lin, here’s the thing: I’ll call the company first to ask about the price.”
The foreman spoke with the company for a while and then came back to Lin Ran. “I just consulted with the company. The labor and cost of one camera is 300 yuan. According to your request, that’s three cameras per floor for 21 floors: two at the elevator and one in the fire escape. Then you want four cameras on the exterior of the first floor. And then there’s all the wiring and linking the surveillance to your computer. The total cost is 50,000 yuan, but because you’re in a hurry, we’ll have to send more workers, which will be an additional 50,000 yuan. The total is 100,000 yuan. Is that acceptable to you?”
“Yes,” Lin Ran said with a quick nod.
“We also need payment before we can place the order. Is that acceptable? If not, I can talk to the company again,” the foreman said with a good attitude.
“No, that would be a waste of time. It’s the same account as last time, right? I’ll transfer the money now,” Lin Ran said as she started using her phone.
“Yes. Once your payment is received, our people will deliver the materials at noon and start the installation this afternoon.”
Lin Ran nodded. “I’ve already paid. You need to be fast and get all this done before the afternoon.”
“Don’t worry, Miss Lin. I guarantee you’ll be satisfied,” the foreman said with a smile. He had just gotten another deal, and they all came with a commission.