Natural Disaster Strikes: I Stockpiled Billions and Carved My Way Through the Apocalypse

"What are you hiding for?" Mu Jiuyue called out to Old Hou, "Are you alright?"

"No, no." Old Hou was so embarrassed that he could hardly keep his face up. He stammered, "I'm sorry, September, I know I was wrong."

“People can’t teach people, but they can learn from experience.” Mu Jiuyue said calmly, “It’s good. It’s better to learn to use your brain now that the apocalypse has just begun and people haven’t reached the point of cannibalism. It’s much better than learning to protect yourself after the harsh winter when resources are so scarce that people have to exchange their own children to eat.”

Old Hou's face turned bright red with embarrassment.

He simply stood in front of Mu Jiuyue, bowed his head and admitted his mistake: "I really know I was wrong. I promise I will listen to you in everything from now on. I will never say another word to a woman again!"

"There's no need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Not all women in this apocalypse are bad, but it's always good to be vigilant." Seeing that Old Hou was going to overreact, Mu Jiuyue immediately said, "There are also many women who are independent and self-reliant, who don't depend on men, and who would rather freeze or starve to death than be servile. Don't generalize. As our ancestors said, 'When poor, cultivate your own virtue; when rich, help others.' We're poor right now, and although we have some resources, we're not qualified to save the world."

"Yes, yes, I understand, I understand." Old Hou nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, quickly stating, "We only have enough to feed ourselves, where would we get surplus to help others?"

Mu Jiuyue: "..."

Alright, once bitten, twice shy. Old Hou will most likely avoid women like the plague for a while to come.

"I'm hungry, is there anything to eat?" Mu Jiuyue asked, trying to distract Lao Hou.

"Yes, yes, yes, I stewed some soybeans and pig's trotters for you to nourish yourself." Old Hou immediately perked up: "I'm planning to build a few more stoves to ward off the cold, and to keep warm when the harsh winter comes. I think the interior of the cave can be modified a bit more. Let's reinforce that spring pool at the back and add an insulation layer so it won't freeze in the cold. And these vegetables, I guess they won't survive the winter, so let's harvest them and hydroponically grow them all..."

"Okay, do whatever you want." Mu Jiuyue knew that Lao Hou was deliberately giving her work to do, afraid that she would abandon him, so she simply agreed to everything.

Old Hou then happily went off to do his work.

After eating and drinking her fill, Mu Jiuyue just wanted to lie down comfortably.

However, he hadn't been lying down for long when Wei Lie called: "Are you free? Come over for a bit."

"Mm." Mu Jiuyue stretched and walked over with her umbrella.

On Wei Lie's desk were all sorts of electronic components, things she couldn't understand.

"what's up?"

"Those dozen or so teachers on the opposite hilltop secretly contacted me," Wei Lie said with a smile. "The first thing they did was tip us off, saying that Duan Qi and Shen Qing have joined forces and plan to take out Li Hu and his gang tomorrow, as a way of showing their loyalty to us. The second thing is that those teachers are all from private high schools, some teaching Chinese, some math, some physics, some chemistry, and some geography. But that's secondary. The important thing is that they all have master's degrees or higher, and some of them who teach physics and chemistry even have doctorates. They want to cooperate with us."

"How can we cooperate?" Mu Jiuyue asked in return, "We don't have any children here, and no one needs to go to school. Even I, with the lowest level of education, have graduated from high school."

“We’re considering long-term development,” Wei Lie said with a smile. “The men under my command are all under thirty. Even after the apocalypse ends, they’ll only be forty-five. Do you think they’ll want to settle down and have children then?”

Mu Jiuyue: "So you want to stock up on educational resources in advance?"

Wei Lie smiled and said, "They entrusted their lives to me, so naturally I have to be responsible for them. Otherwise, why would they risk their lives for me?"

Mu Jiuyue gave Wei Lie a thumbs up.

Look at this scale; it's clear that not just anyone can be a boss.

A boss who treats his subordinates like human beings is the kind of boss who wins people's hearts.

“I just calculated it. With my supplies, supporting a few more people is no big deal.” Wei Lie pulled out a list and showed it to Mu Jiuyue: “Now it’s the apocalypse, so naturally we can’t pay wages like before. Being able to eat and drink our fill and stay warm is the biggest benefit we can get. Look, if one person eats three catties of rice a day, that’s 87600 catties over eighty years. Fifteen people would be 1314000 catties, or 657 tons.”

"This number is quite auspicious," Mu Jiuyue said. "The amount of grain you have stored here is more than this, not to mention the supplies you have stored here."

“Yes,” Wei Lie said. “I don’t just take anyone, as long as they are loyal to our team.”

"Then what does this have to do with me?" Mu Jiuyue asked.

“We’re allies, so naturally I’ll consult you before recruiting.” Wei Lie smiled at Mu Jiuyue. “You’re my most important partner. I won’t recruit people you don’t like. After all, what difference does it make who I recruit?”

Mu Jiuyue's heart trembled violently as if an earthquake had struck.

She finally understood why Wei Lie's more than one hundred men were all so loyal to him.

It's so rare to find a boss who knows how to respect people!

In ancient times, this would definitely be considered a lord!

“Look, these are the academic reports those teachers have published before. I had Secretary Cao review them, and they’re all of high quality. This private high school is quite capable, recruiting such a group of teachers. If the apocalypse hadn’t come so suddenly, and the school board members hadn’t only cared about escaping and abandoned them, they wouldn’t have followed the group here to seek survival,” Wei Lie said. “I don’t deny that these people have opportunistic ideas. But then again, a good bird chooses a good tree to perch on, and a good minister chooses a good lord to serve. Who can say that these dozen or so people won’t be of other use in the future?”

Mu Jiuyue said nothing and gave Wei Lie a thumbs up.

"Moreover, by taking in these dozen or so teachers, the team on the opposite hill will crumble even faster. Once Li Hu's men are dead, the villagers in that village will lose their threat. As long as we maintain good relations with Duan Qi and Shen Qing, we can stabilize our uninvited neighbors. We won't be afraid of them messing with us anymore, and we can finally sleep peacefully."

"After all, once the bitter cold arrives and the water freezes over, no matter how many men we have or how many patrols we increase, we won't be able to stop their probing advances," Wei Lie said. "Although we have sufficient reserves, we should avoid unnecessary casualties if possible. Build high walls and store plenty of grain..."

"Delay declaring yourself king!" Mu Jiuyue and Wei Lie said the last sentence in unison.

Wei Lie and Mu Jiuyue high-fived: "It's settled then!"

The next day, a bloody battle broke out on the opposite hilltop.

Li Hu's dozens of men were instantly killed by Duan Qi and Shen Qing, who suddenly attacked and pushed them into the water, where they were washed away completely.

When this pledge of loyalty was presented to Wei Lie and Mu Jiuyue, Wei Lie fulfilled his promise and officially recognized them as his neighbors.