Chapter 1 Digging a Fish Pond

*Clang!*

Li Tianran dug with his hoe, then used lime to draw conspicuous lines along the edge of where he planned to dig the fish pond.

After marking out the area and position, Li Tianran nodded.

Digging a fish pond was a daunting task, and the current situation on the farm wasn't suitable for hiring someone to do it.

So, after a moment's consideration, Li Tianran decided to go out and borrow an excavator himself.

Although there were large pieces of equipment for sale in the mall, Li Tianran didn't want to spend his points on something like that yet.

Judging from the current situation, money was sure to depreciate rapidly.

But points wouldn't.

So, Li Tianran wouldn't spend points on anything he could buy with money.

...

A moment later, he drove to a large courtyard in the town.

Jumping out of the car, Li Tianran walked straight to the gate and knocked.

*Bang, bang, bang!*

The loud knocking was heard by the people living in the courtyard, followed by a rough, impatient voice: "Who is it?"

"It's me, Li Tianran! Open the door! It's urgent!"

Li Tianran shouted at the top of his lungs.

Li Tianran's farm was located in the suburbs not far from the town. It had been run by two generations, so he was considered an old resident here, and the people in the town were very familiar with him.

Hearing his words, the gate of the courtyard was quickly opened.

A middle-aged man, about six-foot-three, stood in the doorway, holding a half-meter-long steel pipe in his hand, with a face full of blue stubble, looking a little haggard.

His name was Yang Baolin, a small construction contractor. He had several large pieces of equipment, including the excavator Li Tianran wanted to use.

Lao Yang frowned when he saw Li Tianran and asked, "It's you... what's the matter?"

"Lao Yang, I want to rent your excavator for a few days. How about eight hundred a day?" Li Tianran smiled.

Before the Cataclysm, this price wouldn't have been high, but after the Cataclysm, since most people were barely able to feed themselves, who had time to find Lao Yang for work?

He had been idle at home for a week without any income.

Under these circumstances, it was normal for Li Tianran to take the opportunity to lower the price.

You couldn't say he was cunning; you could only say that in the apocalypse, everyone had to think of themselves first!

Lao Yang raised his eyebrows when he heard this. He was indeed short of money to buy food lately, but...

"You can rent the excavator, but I don't want money." Lao Yang waved his hand and said, "I want food!"

Lao Yang wasn't stupid. In the current situation, it was difficult to buy food even with money.

Although the higher-ups were trying their best to allocate food, it was to no avail since there was a global food shortage.

Lao Yang had snapped up a batch of dried noodles at the supermarket some time ago, but it was only enough to eat for a month, and he had to make plans early.

"You have a farm, so you must have a lot of grain in storage..." Lao Yang looked at Li Tianran, his eyes shining. "How about this, you rent it for one day and give me ten *jin* of rice?"

Li Tianran couldn't help but laugh.

Sure enough, no businessman is without guile.

Now, food prices were soaring. Just last night, the price of rice had risen to 180 *yuan* per *jin*, and it was still a limited purchase, with each household only allowed to buy one *jin* per day.

"Lao Yang, you're really asking for a king's ransom!" Li Tianran laughed. Although he wasn't short of food, he certainly couldn't let others know that he wasn't short of food!

Lao Yang's face was also a little hot. He knew that the price he was asking was a bit high, but there was no way around it. To survive, you had to be a little thick-skinned!

"Don't say I don't have rice, even if I did, I wouldn't be able to give you that much." Li Tianran said in a deep voice, "I still have some frozen meat and white flour at home. I'll rent it for one day and give you three *jin* of white flour and half a *jin* of frozen meat!"

"I want ten *jin*. You're cutting it down too much..." Lao Yang complained, grumbling a little unwillingly.

Li Tianran looked at Lao Yang's expression and immediately knew that he should be firm at this time. "Lao Yang, do you understand what time it is now? The excavator will rust if you leave it at home. Besides, the price I'm offering isn't low. You should know how difficult it is to buy food now!"

Lao Yang's expression changed several times as he looked at Li Tianran back and forth.

"I won't raise the price any further. If you're not willing... then I'll turn around and leave! At worst, I'll take a trip to the city. You're not the only one with an excavator. I believe I'll find someone who's willing to accept this price."

Li Tianran directly dropped a harsh sentence.

"Don't, don't, don't! We're all neighbors, why say such things..." Sure enough, Lao Yang's attitude softened after Li Tianran said this. He quickly grabbed Li Tianran and said, "Deal, I'll drive the excavator out for you right away!"

Li Tianran followed Lao Yang inside, his eyes lingering on the steel pipe in Lao Yang's hand for a moment.

"The world has been too chaotic lately... my house was robbed the night before last." Lao Yang noticed Li Tianran's gaze and sighed, "If I hadn't hidden the food in advance, I'd probably be starving by now."

"Did you call the police?" Li Tianran asked.

"Call the police? There aren't enough police to go around now!" Lao Yang said with a wry smile, "Besides, I heard that it was a gang of food robbers, and they've been committing crimes like crazy near the South City recently. Many people have been robbed by them..."

"Then no one can catch them?" Li Tianran asked curiously.

The local customs in the nearby towns were still very tough. Some small gangsters from the city once came here to cause trouble and were beaten down by the residents with hoes on the spot, scaring away a dozen others.

"Who dares?" Lao Yang sighed, mysteriously made a pistol gesture to Li Tianran, and whispered, "They have guns!"

That explains it...

...

Five minutes later.

Lao Yang parked a large flatbed truck at the door and parked the excavator on the flatbed.

Li Tianran handed the keys to his truck to Lao Yang and said, "I'll leave this truck here with you as collateral. I'll take the truck back when I return the excavator."

"Okay." Lao Yang agreed readily. "I'll deliver the machine to you and get today's rent back."

Lao Yang parked Li Tianran's truck in his own courtyard, locked the gate, and stepped into the cab.

Li Tianran sat in the passenger seat and was about to close the door when a hand suddenly reached out from the side and grabbed the door!

Li Tianran was stunned, then looked over.

He saw two or three middle-aged women, around fifty years old, standing next to the door. They were wearing uniform black clothes, and a strange symbol, like a lotus flower, was embroidered on their chests with colored thread.

At this time, the leading woman put her hands together and looked at Li Tianran.

"Aunties, what... what's the matter?" Li Tianran always felt that these three people had a kind of crazy, mystical feeling, like followers of some kind of fanatical religion, so he asked with considerable vigilance.

"We are from the All Beings Self-Salvation Society." The leading woman put her hands together and said to Li Tianran.

"This... what does this Self-Salvation Society do?" Li Tianran was a little puzzled.

"Young man, do you know the truth about this disaster from the sky?" The woman did not answer Li Tianran's question, but instead leaned forward and asked mysteriously.

Li Tianran certainly knew.

But he didn't say it, and instead asked, "Do you know?"

"Of course I know! It's because people have done too much evil and angered the gods, so the gods are sending down disasters to punish the world. This disaster will not stop until all human beings are destroyed... And if you want to save yourself, you can only join our Self-Salvation Society and sincerely repent to God, and then there will be a glimmer of hope." The woman said with an incomparably pious expression.

Li Tianran felt a little interested and asked, "Then are there any conditions for joining your Self-Salvation Society?"

"Our Self-Salvation Society members implement a membership level system!" The woman said with a look of charlatanism, "We use the names of animals to divide the levels. Pay 30,000 and you can become a pure sheep! Pay 80,000 and you can become a loyal pig! Pay 150,000 and you can become a devout dog! Pay 300,000 and you can become a spotless eagle! The higher the level, the closer you are to God, and the greater the chance of being saved!"

"You choose what you want to be," the woman said.

Li Tianran suddenly laughed when he heard this, and flicked a coin into the woman's palm with his thumb.

"If I can, I just want to be... a rice bucket now! Carefree!"

The woman was stunned, her face ugly. "You dare to disrespect God?"

"Auntie, spend more time learning brainwashing and deception before you come out to fool people. Your skills can't even fool a donkey in the production team!" Li Tianran shook his head and closed the door directly.

Lao Yang stepped on the accelerator, and the flatbed truck roared away, leaving only the three women looking at each other in dismay.

"Those who do not believe in God will be eternally cast into hell." The woman who had just spoken to Li Tianran watched the flatbed truck drive away, and said in a low voice with venomous eyes, "You are the lowest... maggot!"