CH 9

It's not yet eleven o'clock.

Jiang Muyun drove the car outside the park and randomly found a small restaurant, opting to have lunch at an off-peak time.

While having the meal, Jiang Muyun checked and found that within this light industrial park, there were a total of three relatively large shoe factories.

One of them primarily manufactures children's shoes, so she can disregard that one.

The remaining two factories both have production lines for waterproof hiking boots.

Jiang Muyun first visited the factory that specializes in professional-grade running shoes among its main products.

She was in luck. This factory is a domestic OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) for a well-known foreign brand.

Jiang Muyun tried on a pair of their waterproof hiking boots and found that they were indeed of excellent quality, comfortable to wear, and they even had boots specifically designed for polar expeditions.

The price is also quite impressive.

Jiang Muyun was forced to visit the other factory and take a tour before ultimately returning to this one.

She took out her phone’s calculator and calculated her footwear budget along with the leftover budget for clothing and bedding. In the end, she made the final decision to order five pairs of polar expedition boots, one hundred pairs of insulated and thick waterproof hiking boots, and two hundred pairs of highly breathable sports shoes.

After placing the order, Jiang Muyun went to the adjacent sock factory to take a moment and calm down.

Compared to the price of shoes, the socks priced at a few cents each seemed much more adorable.

Jiang Muyun directly purchased around 20,000 pairs of regular socks, also depleting the sock factory's inventory of thick winter cotton socks.

Similar to the clothing factory, orders for bulk shipments from the sock factory are also typically measured by weight rather than by the number of pieces.

In the end, Jiang Muyun pondered for a moment and decided to order a considerable quantity of thigh-high stockings as well.

Sometimes stockings are not necessarily worn as fashion statements.

Wearing them to protect against mosquitoes and other insects during their peak activity can be quite effective. Only those who have tried it will truly know its effectiveness.

The sock factory accepted the order and assured Jiang Muyun that the delivery would be made right to her doorstep by the following day.

Taking care of one's feet is important, but one should not neglect their hands either.

Ordinary gloves may not be very useful, but in a post-apocalyptic world, the most practical ones would be various types of industrial safety gloves.

Jiang Muyun placed an order at the industrial safety equipment factory for fifty pairs of latex gloves, fifty pairs of welding gloves, two hundred pairs of canvas gloves, and two hundred pairs of cotton gloves.

Additionally, Jiang Muyun directly ordered one thousand sets of disposable protective suits.

Although Jiang Muyun had already purchased gas masks, she found them to be too conspicuous when worn in public. Unless absolutely necessary, she preferred to be more discreet about her preparations.

Therefore, Jiang Muyun bought five boxes of N99 masks, with each box containing one thousand masks, providing her with sufficient protection during the rampant outbreak of the epidemic.

Protective goggles and ear muffs may seem inconspicuous, but when the sky is filled with flying sand, their true value becomes apparent. Jiang Muyun purchased fifty of each to ensure she had these precious items when needed.

Jiang Muyun also purchased fifty pairs of acid and alkali-resistant safety shoes.

Jiang Muyun also bought fifty sets of separate raincoats and rain pants for better protection against rain.

In the post-apocalyptic world, there are only two types of rain. One is highly corrosive acid rain, while the other is relentless heavy rain that can last for months.

Most of the time, these two types of rain occur simultaneously and seamlessly.

So, although Jiang Muyun already has the three-proof windbreaker, raincoats and pants are also indispensable.

The industrial safety equipment factory is different from other manufacturers in that their products are standardized.

This industrial safety equipment factory has a large scale and a high inventory, so Jiang Muyun's requested items can be shipped on the same day.

After giving it some thought, Jiang Muyun decided not to opt for the convenience of having the items delivered the next day, as she did with the sock factory. Instead, she made arrangements with the manufacturers to have the delivery scheduled for the same afternoon.

The small warehouse she rented in South City is different from the one in West City.

In West City, the surroundings are filled with small warehouses and the constant traffic of vehicles. It becomes difficult to distinguish whose goods are being transported in and out due to the constant movement.

However, in South City, there are several industrial parks built in the vicinity, but there are not many small warehouses available for rent to the public. Most of the warehouses are larger ones intended for factory use.

The warehouse that Jiang Muyun found could be considered the most inconspicuous among the short-term rental warehouses. Even so, there is still a residential area not far from the warehouse.

Since Jiang Muyun has purchased a large and diverse amount of items in South City, it is not feasible for the warehouse to only receive goods without any outgoing shipments.

Jiang Muyun doesn't want to take any risks.

So she chose to make several more trips to the small warehouse when she had nothing to do, driving her van and creating the false impression of transporting goods back and forth.

The next major hoarding destination is a household products factory.

In South City, this entire light industrial park has only one household products factory, which practically monopolizes the production of household goods in the entire city. The scale of this factory can be imagined.

For such a large-scale factory, the quantity of goods that Jiang Muyun requires may seem insignificant. Therefore, she still needs to queue and wait for her turn to receive the shipments.

After all, when it comes to household products, given the option, Jiang Muyun still prefers to use products manufactured by reputable large-scale factories.

However, the advantage is that this factory has a large scale, sufficient inventory, and a stable shipment volume, with very few urgent large orders.

Therefore, for new customers like Jiang Muyun, the factory's shipping speed is only determined by the loading speed, and the wait time is not long.

Jiang Muyun placed an order for 50,000 disposable underwear first.

In her previous life, without the necessary conditions, Jiang Muyun went from drinking cold water and running during her menstrual period to experiencing excruciating pain every month, wishing she could end it all. It took her only two years to reach that point.

In this lifetime, it is crucial to pay attention to menstrual hygiene!

Next are the tampons and sanitary pads, which are calculated by box and come in various sizes.

Jiang Muyun adheres to the principle of buying more rather than less and carefully manages her budget to stay within the upper limit.

Even if she cannot use them all in three lifetimes, she can still use them for trading with others.

Products like sanitary pads have become rare luxury items in the post-apocalyptic world.

Even the most extravagant and desire-driven capitalist would not allocate limited resources to produce sanitary pads.

Which base can produce enough toilet paper to use?

There is also petroleum jelly (Vaseline) and baby cream.

Baby cream is a product that Jiang Muyun has been using since childhood. It is affordable, effective, and has a pleasant scent.

The specification is 100 mL per bottle, with 24 bottles per box. Jiang Muyun purchased 50 boxes at once.

In the situation of prolonged drought for several years in the post-apocalyptic world, even if Jiang Muyun manages to store enough drinking water, her skin would still crack due to the dry air, and this cannot be avoided no matter how much water she drinks.

Of course, frostbite cream also needs to be prepared.

And there are toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, shampoo, body wash, laundry detergent, disinfectant, and other cleaning products. Jiang Muyun bought them all in the largest packaging available, with the standard of being enough for her to use for three lifetimes.

After all, compared to the price with branded packaging, the factory's offer is unbelievably cheap.

Then there are tissues.

This cheap and inconspicuous necessity of life.

You don't realize its significance in normal times, but when you go a whole day without tissue, you'll understand its importance.

Buy! Buy in bundles!

Jiang Muyun never wants to experience that unspeakable and indescribable pain again!

Tissues have been purchased, and wet wipes are also essential.

In a dry and water-deprived environment, the concept of handwashing has become an unattainable luxury for ordinary people. Unfortunately, in a post-apocalyptic world where various diseases are rampant, it becomes even more crucial for people to maintain cleanliness and hygiene.

Based on Jiang Muyun's self-awareness, even if she could transport an entire reservoir of water into her space, she would not be willing to use water as extravagantly as before the apocalypse, let alone use it for personal hygiene in front of others. Therefore, in addition to disposable gloves, wet wipes are also necessary.

Just buy the cheapest ones with simple ingredients.

And also get some medicated oil and mosquito repellent.

In the early stages of the apocalypse, before the insects mutated, these items could still be very effective.

As for more powerful insect repellents like Realgar, Jiang Muyun will have to purchase them along with other medications when she goes to buy drugs.

Jiang Muyun also bought several boxes of prickly heat powder, a summer essential.

Considering Jiang Muyun's age, by the time she started remembering memories, air conditioning had already become widely used in China. Therefore, prickly heat powder is just a vague childhood memory for her.

When air conditioning fails to function, people suffer from extensive prickly heat in the scorching summer. If they want to find this magical item at home, it becomes a matter of luck.

When Jiang Muyun was leaving the household products factory, she happened to see a group of well-dressed individuals walking toward her, appearing to be involved in a big business deal.

Jiang Muyun let out a whistle of relief in her mind, grateful that she had arrived early. Otherwise, if the deal had been concluded before she arrived, she might have had to wait several more days for her goods.

As the people approached, Jiang Muyun inadvertently made eye contact with the leader among them.

The other person seemed a bit stunned, but then they smiled slightly at Jiang Muyun.

Jiang Muyun kept walking, nodding slightly in acknowledgment.

Jiang Muyun feels like the person seems somewhat familiar, but she can't remember where she has seen them before.

After trying hard for a while without remembering, she simply put the matter out of her mind.

Anyway, she was wearing a mask, and her appearance was such that she would blend into a crowd and not be easily found. Whether she knew the other person or not didn't matter, as long as the other person couldn't recognize her.

Jiang Muyun stored a portion of the textiles from the van in her space, then went to the hat factory to retrieve two hundred sun hats of hers. Afterward, she drove towards her small warehouse, and along the way, she also packed the hats and the remaining textiles into the storage space.

Upon arrival, Jiang Muyun didn't rush to get out of the car. She sat inside, enjoying the air conditioning, browsing shopping apps, and waiting for a call from the industrial safety equipment factory.

She didn't need to buy many home appliances, and the home appliance factories in South City were generally large in scale. Therefore, after leaving the household products factory, Jiang Muyun didn't directly head to the home appliance factories. Instead, she made a phone call to inquire first.

After the other party clearly stated that they would not accept small orders, she had no choice but to place an order online for the purchase.

She first purchased five air conditioners, along with fifty small humidifiers.

Air conditioners can be used in both winter and summer, but after the weather becomes extreme, the depreciation rate of air conditioners also becomes unusually high.

Currently, she has three air conditioners at home: one in the study and one each in her and her grandfather's bedrooms. They were all purchased just a few years ago.

Having endured two consecutive months of continuous operation under a scorching temperature of forty degrees Celsius and serving as heaters in temperatures as low as minus seven degrees Celsius, the air conditioners in South City have proven to be quite durable.

With her space, Jiang Muyun finds it very convenient to store and rearrange furniture. She can change rooms anytime she wants.

At that time, rotating the three air conditioners to endure the hardships should not be a problem for surviving the first year of the apocalypse.

And these five air conditioners were prepared by Jiang Muyun for her future.

Dreams are still necessary, right? What if she happens to find a sturdy and secluded mountain hollow and lives a self-sufficient life?

Ten electric blankets and ten electric heaters will come in handy during the winter season. Additionally, she has also prepared five life-saving devices: dryers and dehumidifiers, for the rainy season.

It's not about the luxury of drying clothes; it's about drying herself.

The rainy season in the apocalypse is like the combination of a prolonged rainy season and the return of the southern monsoon, cycling back and forth for several months, making it so humid that one can hardly catch their breath.

In a situation where extreme weather is a daily occurrence, these items will still be considered luxury goods in the post-apocalyptic world, reserved exclusively for the privileged and wealthy.

Although the average person may not be able to afford electricity in the post-apocalyptic world, there will always be people who can.

And these appliances, which could only have been produced before the apocalypse and have not been destroyed in the continuous series of disasters, naturally have skyrocketing prices.

She also bought ten high-pressure rice cookers.

This is mainly for the convenience of batch cooking at home.

Compared to regular rice cookers, high-pressure rice cookers can also be used for stewing dishes, and they have a faster cooking speed.

As for other miscellaneous appliances, there's no rush to buy them. The ones she currently has at home are sufficient for her needs. If she wants to buy more as backups, she can wait until the power supply is completely cut off, and then she can have as many as she wants.

After placing the order, Jiang Muyun quickly calculated and realized that, based on her purchasing plan, she still had two major parts left to prepare. Once she finished these two, her early-stage hoarding plan would be considered almost complete.