My Apocalypse System Arrives 10 Years Early

Chapter 260: Chapter 193: The House-Guarding Cute Pet Squad (2)

Dried daylilies could be stored and taken out to eat anytime. Whether served cold in a salad, stir-fried with meat, or stewed in a soup, they were absolutely divine.

...

Li Xiang had previously asked He Zhixiang to lease a large warehouse for him on the border of Yunnan Province and Myanmar. He Zhixiang called to say he had found three potential locations and hoped Li Xiang could come inspect them in person to choose the best one.

Li Xiang told his granny he was leaving and then set off.

Nowadays, when he traveled long distances, he basically didn’t take a car or a plane. Instead, he would turn off his phone and use Extreme Speed to run there before dawn. It was only seven or eight hundred kilometers, after all. A single sprint could cover two to three hundred kilometers. With a short break in between, three bursts of speed were enough to get him there. It was incredibly convenient.

Once he arrived, he would wait until around nine in the morning to turn his phone back on, then contact He Zhixiang to go look at the warehouses together.

In Yunnan Province, three cities were renowned as jadeite processing and trading markets: the provincial capital, Spring City, as well as Tengchong and Ruili. Both Ruili and Tengchong were on the border with Myanmar.

He Zhixiang’s coffee plantation, located in the suburbs of Baoshan, was also relatively close to these two cities. This was especially true for Tengchong, which was a county-level city administered by Baoshan.

The coffee merchant from Yunnan Province was well-connected in his hometown and the surrounding cities, and he had helped Li Xiang pick out three potential warehouses for lease.

Two were in Tengchong, and one was in Ruili.

The warehouses in Tengchong were around eight hundred and five hundred square meters, respectively, while the one in Ruili was over nine hundred square meters.

The warehouse in Ruili had better conditions, security, and surrounding amenities. After comparing all the options, Li Xiang chose the one that was over nine hundred square meters. It wasn’t exceptionally large, but it was big enough.

Then, He Zhixiang took him to see a Jade Processing Factory. There was a local factory whose owner was being forced to sell. His son had gotten addicted to gambling and racked up a huge debt, leaving the owner with no choice but to reluctantly transfer ownership of the jadeite workshop he had run for many years. It came not only with all sorts of cutting, carving, and polishing equipment but also a ready-made workforce of over thirty skilled technicians.

The factory also had a storage room, but it was quite small—only a little over fifty square meters. It could only be used for temporary storage of jadeite raw materials, semi-finished goods, and finished products.

Li Xiang conducted an on-site inspection of the factory, spoke with some of the veteran craftsmen, and watched them work. He felt their skills were decent.

While Li Xiang was busy in Yunnan Province, back at his home, his Little Aunt, Li Caihong, returned to her parents’ house with a suitcase in hand.

...

”Mom, is Xiaoxiang not home?” Li Xiang’s Little Aunt arrived to find the house empty. She left her suitcase in the living room and headed to the backyard.

Sure enough, she found her elderly mother busy in the backyard vegetable garden.

Granny Li Xiang looked up, overjoyed to see her most filial youngest daughter had returned. ”He had to go to Yunnan Province for something,” she said. ”Something about looking at a warehouse and a factory.”

Li Caihong rolled up her sleeves and came over to help her mother tend the garden. ”Xiaoxiang’s business is really getting bigger and bigger now.”

”Yes, his parents’ spirits in heaven must be so pleased,” Granny Li Xiang said with a chuckle. In the past, the mere mention of her unfortunate son and daughter-in-law would fill the old woman with sorrow. But now that her grandson was successful, and the younger generation was on a path to a better future, the grief had faded.

”I know. If my son were this capable, I’d be grinning in my sleep,” Li Caihong said with a smile. Then she added, ”Mom, is it okay if I stay here for a few days?”

”Of course! Why wouldn’t it be? You can stay as long as you like. Your nephew even saved a room just for you. Come on, come on, I’ll take you to see it. It used to be piled high with tea and red wine, but he moved all that to the shop next door.”

Li Caihong had come back for the Dragon Boat Festival earlier but hadn’t stayed overnight. She was always busy working, and life was difficult, so she never had time to come back and stay.

So, Granny Li Xiang led Li Caihong to the room. The two of them tidied up while they chatted.

”Caihong, why the sudden desire to come back and stay?” Granny Li Xiang sensed something was off. It wasn’t that she wasn’t welcome—she was happiest when her daughter came home.

Li Caihong hesitated, but finally said, ”That man is out.”

”Which man?” Granny Li Xiang was taken aback.

Li Caihong said, ”The one who went to prison...”

”Ah!” Granny Li Xiang was shocked. ”Weren’t he sentenced to twenty years?” she asked, bewildered. ”The time’s not up yet, is it?”

”He probably got his sentence reduced.”

”Someone like him can get his sentence reduced? After all the terrible things he did!” Granny Li Xiang fumed. That bastard had ruined her daughter’s entire life. He had truly made her suffer.

For so many years, a mother and son alone, who knew how much they had struggled.

Li Caihong said faintly, ”I heard the others who went in with him got out a long time ago. They had their sentences reduced by four years, while he only got three.”

”So he’s out, and now he’s harassing you again, is that it? Didn’t you two divorce long ago? If he comes again, call the police!” Granny Li Xiang said with a frown.

”Mom, calling the police is useless. They just give him a warning. Then that shameless man comes right back asking me for money. He even caused a scene at my job. I wasn’t happy working there anyway, so I took some time off to come here and hide for a few days,” Li Caihong said, full of grievance.

”Then stay here for a few days. No, from now on, you should live here. I’m sure your nephew won’t have any objections,” Granny Li Xiang said.

”Okay.” And with that, Li Caihong settled in.

With her Little Aunt staying, the house didn’t feel so empty anymore.

Unexpectedly, the very next day, while Li Caihong was helping her mother in the backyard, a man barged in.

Li Caihong’s face turned pale with horror. ”How did you follow me here?” she cried. ”Watch out, or my nephew will beat you up!”

It was none other than her ex-husband, Zhu Chuanlei.

But Li Xiang wasn’t home, leaving only her and her mother. She couldn’t help but feel a surge of anxiety.

”Caihong, ’a single day as a couple brings a hundred days of grace.’ Our child is already so grown up. Are you really going to stand by and watch me starve to death?” Zhu Chuanlei said with a shameless, sycophantic grin.

Granny Li Xiang shot back, ”My daughter divorced you! Get out of here right now! You’re not welcome in our home!”

”Old woman, I’m out of prison now, and I’ve turned over a new leaf. You see, Caihong hasn’t remarried. It’s not good for her to live like a widow. How about she and I get back together?”

Li Caihong cursed, ”In your dreams! You think I’m still some naive little girl you can fool? Get lost!”

”I can get lost, sure. Give me five hundred!” Zhu Chuanlei said nonchalantly, holding out his hand for money.

Li Caihong was furious. This wasn’t about five hundred yuan. It would be five hundred today, three hundred the day after tomorrow, and he would keep coming back for more. Since this guy got out of prison, he had already forced money from her several times, making her already tight finances even worse.

”You get out of here! If you don’t leave now, I’ll call for help! There are plenty of security guards next door!” Granny Li Xiang shouted. Then, she yelled at the top of her lungs, ”Help! Help! There’s a robber in here stealing things!”

”Ugh, you old hag...” Zhu Chuanlei’s eyes narrowed. His violent nature surfacing, he started to move forward to strike her. Li Caihong jumped in front of him and was shoved to the ground.

Just as he was about to make his move, ”WOOF WOOF~” In the distance, a dog charged over like a flash of lightning. With a fierce pounce, it knocked Zhu Chuanlei to the ground, clamping its jaws on his arm and refusing to let go.

It was, of course, Er Huang.

”You damn dog, you dare bite me? You got a death wish?” Zhu Chuanlei swung his free hand to hit Er Huang, but the dog released its bite and dodged away in a flash.

Zhu Chuanlei had just scrambled to his feet and hadn’t even regained his balance when three small cats flashed past him like lightning, one after another, on either side of his legs.

”Ah!”

Zhu Chuanlei cried out in pain. He looked down and saw several bloody scratches on both his legs, all from the cats’ claws.

”You damn kittens!”

He cursed and was about to chase after the cats when a loud, piercing ”COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!” came from the sky behind him. A strong gust of wind hit him. Zhu Chuanlei turned to look and—holy shit!—a huge, majestic rooster was descending from the sky. He quickly raised his hands to protect his face but still got a vicious scratch on his head from the rooster. He reached up and his hand came away covered in blood.

Luckily, with his years of experience in brawls, he knew it was just a superficial wound.

He wanted to chase the rooster, but with a flap of its wings, it flew up into the tall persimmon tree.

At the same time, two small goslings charged forward ferociously, their long necks outstretched. They honked loudly, their hard, serrated beaks glinting with a metallic sheen as they aimed to attack his crotch.