The Post-Apocalyptic Big Farm Owner

Chapter 39: The Nine-Man Security Team

The next morning. Li Ba instructed Da Fang and Xiao Fang to take the twenty or so jin of bean sprouts they’d soaked the night before to the farmers’ market to hawk. He set the price at two jin of grain coupons per jin to gauge sales. He also gave them an extra thousand jin of grain coupons and told the two brothers to go to the market to buy jade—as much as they could get. If the grain coupons ran out, they could come back for more. After breakfast, not long after Da Fang and Xiao Fang had left, Shitou and Feng Xiaoyang arrived with their men. Combined, the two teams totaled nine injured mercenaries. Most had lost an arm. Reportedly, they’d been accidentally clawed by zombies during a fight; to prevent infection, their comrades had severed their arms on the spot to save their lives. Two were lame. Another had his entire right lower leg severed—he was the most severely injured of the group. However, all nine were incredibly tough—clearly seasoned veterans of the battlefield. They brought their own weapons and gear, mostly ******. Two were equipped with Type 56 semi-automatic rifles. Standing in a row, they radiated a menacing aura and were quite intimidating. “Old Li, I’ve brought the men to you.” Shitou said with a smile. “Four of my brothers and five from Shitou’s crew—they’re all top-notch.” Feng Xiaoyang gave a subtle nod. Immediately, a dark-skinned man stepped forward from among the nine and declared loudly, “Li Ge, starting today, you’re our boss. Just give the word, and we’ll go through fire and water—we brothers won’t even bat an eye!” “Good, good.” Li Ba was very pleased. On the spot, he offered generous compensation: a fixed monthly salary of 100 jin in grain coupons for each person. In addition, they’d receive three meals a day and a pack of cigarettes every other day. If business at the supply store was good, there would also be a bonus at the end of the month. “Those perks… even I’m a little jealous!” Shitou remarked half-jokingly, then turned and shouted at the nine men, “Brothers, since Boss Li is treating us so generously, you must do your utmost to help him shoulder his burdens. If you run into trouble you can’t handle, just mention the names of the Guyan Mercenary Corps and the Wind God Mercenary Corps. If any blind fools get in your way, go ahead and teach them a lesson—I’ll take full responsibility for everything, along with Feng Shao!” “Yes, sir,” the nine men replied in unison. After giving their instructions, Shitou and Feng Xiaoyang left. They still had a group of brothers to support, so they had to head out of the city every day to search for supplies. For the nine-man security squad, Li Ba selected a captain—the man who had previously pledged his loyalty. His name was Zhao Hongyun; he had suffered a severe injury to his left leg, which made walking somewhat difficult, causing him to limp. However, according to Feng Xiaoyang, Zhao Hongyun was actually his senior in the martial arts. His hand-to-hand combat skills had once ranked second in the entire Wind God Mercenary Corps, second only to Feng Xiaoyang himself. “Old Zhao, the supply store won’t open for another two days. There’s nothing to do for now, so you and the guys don’t have to stand around—go find a place to rest!” Li Ba tossed them a pack of cigarettes. Zhao Hongyun caught it and happily handed out cigarettes to his brothers. But not a single one of them rested; they stood on either side of the storefront, faithfully fulfilling their duties. Seeing this, Li Ba said nothing more. These nine men had once been elite fighters in the mercenary corps; now, though injured and disabled, they feared nothing more than being looked down upon—not the hardship or exhaustion. If he insisted they rest, it might actually make them feel resentful. Back to the Villa. Early in the morning, Yan'er was watering the vegetables in the yard. At her feet, a puppy with a round, plump belly was wandering about. As soon as it saw Li Ba approaching, the little guy immediately took off, tumbling and scrambling toward him. It shook its head and wagged its tail, looking incredibly affectionate. “You little rascal, you’re full of energy!” Li Ba scooped the puppy up in one swift motion. The little guy’s four legs kicked wildly in the air, but that didn’t dampen his enthusiasm for Li Ba; he stuck out his pink tongue to lick Li Ba’s hand, looking every bit the fawning sycophant. “Uncle, Xiao Heihei has a name—could you please not swear at him?” Yan'er pouted, clearly displeased that Li Ba had called her pet a “little bastard.” “Oh, Uncle was wrong. I’ll correct myself. Xiao Heihei, right…? Damn it, you little bastard, you’ve been sneaking my watermelon again!” Li Ba spotted watermelon seeds around the puppy’s mouth and immediately couldn’t help but curse again. This time, Yan'er didn’t stop him. Feeling a bit embarrassed, she explained that when she’d tried to feed Xiao Heihei some rice that morning, he’d refused to eat it. The little guy had slipped straight into Li Ba’s room, crawled under the bed, and refused to come out. From there, he’d been wreaking havoc on Li Ba’s giant mutant watermelon. “You little brat, if you dare steal my melons again, I’ll skin you and throw you in the dog meat stew—believe it or not!” Li Ba warned menacingly. The little pup, oblivious to the threat, continued to kick its little legs, wagging its tail and sticking out its tongue at him, putting on a show of flattery. In reality, Li Ba was just bluffing. Ever since learning of the power and loyalty of mutant dogs, he’d decided to raise this little pup with great care. It could have as much Spatial Spirit Spring water and mutant food and fruit as it wanted. However, there was one thing: he had to train the little guy to follow the rules; otherwise, it would be hard to discipline him later on. Seeing how affectionate the little one was toward him, he couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly. He pulled out a bottle of Spatial Spirit Spring; the little one sniffed the air a few times, then immediately rushed over and began drinking in big gulps. Seeing that Uncle Li wasn’t angry, Yan'er breathed a sigh of relief. She stepped forward, slipped her arm through Li Ba’s, and showed him the results of her efforts over the past few days. The vegetables planted in the flower bed were thriving under the little girl’s careful tending. “Not bad! Li Ba couldn’t stop praising her. He then set to work, fencing off a section of the yard to raise chickens, ducks, and geese. Seven chickens, two large white geese, and eleven plump ducks. These were the live poultry Li Ba had brought back from the village yesterday. If they were raised for breeding rather than slaughter, the flock would be substantial within a year at most. He also entrusted the task of feeding the poultry to Yan'er. Li Ba instructed her to give them plenty of water and a little less food over the next few days. All the water used to irrigate the vegetables had been mixed with the Spirit Spring. He believed that drinking it over the long term would improve the poultry’s constitution. After giving these instructions, Li Ba headed out, intending to make another trip to that small village to pack up and bring back all the remaining useful supplies. Knowing the way well, Li Ba drove his farm tricycle out of the city and arrived at the usual spot. After parking, he continued on foot, climbing over the barbed-wire fence of the safe zone. He had a smooth journey, encountering no zombies along the way, and arrived at the small village. It took him two hours to collect all the remaining useful supplies from the village. It was ten o’clock. Li Ba had already driven his tricycle, loaded with supplies, to the outskirts of the settlement. From a distance, he spotted Luo Jianguo standing at the city gate, waving at him. “Cousin!” Li Ba rolled down his window and greeted Luo Jianguo with a grin. He had long since established a familial connection with Luo Jianguo, so the term “cousin” carried a warm, affectionate tone. Luo Jianguo walked over with a broad smile, glanced at the cargo area, and praised him: “You left the city at eight and were back before ten, and you’ve hauled a whole cartload of supplies… Cousin, you really are something!” Li Ba glanced around, feigning an air of mystery, then lowered his voice and replied, “I got lucky yesterday. Not far south of the safe zone, I stumbled upon a small village that the survivors hadn’t raided yet… I loaded up three whole truckloads of supplies. Here’s what’s left—I got up early this morning to haul it back.” At this point, he added, “I picked up some local specialties for your wife and my niece, and I’m just waiting for a chance to drop them off!” Luo Jianguo smiled and said, “That’s very thoughtful of you, very thoughtful.” Then he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Li Ba. The paper was folded into a neat square. When Li Ba unfolded it, his eyes lit up. Though it looked like an ordinary piece of paper, it bore the official seal of the settlement—it was the supply store’s business license. “Cousin, you’re a real lifesaver for me!” Li Ba was overjoyed. His supply store was fully prepared and ready to go—all he needed was this piece of paper! “Since you called me ‘cousin,’ I, Old Luo, will make sure everything gets taken care of for you!” After saying this, Luo Jianguo glanced around. Seeing no one nearby, he lowered his voice and added, “Running a supply store is all about having a complete inventory. If you’re missing anything, just let me know. At the Supply Management Office… your cousin here still has some clout!” Li Ba’s eyes lit up upon hearing this. He had overlooked one thing—and it was a major source of wealth. This “cousin” standing before him was the Deputy Director of the Settlement’s Supply Management Office, in charge of outer-city affairs. Every day, he handled countless supplies from the refugees; if he were to cut him a deal at a low price, Li Ba would make a huge profit. Moreover, although his official rank wasn’t particularly high, he held considerable authority. He surely had connections with all the bigwigs and small-time bosses across the settlement’s departments, boasting an extremely wide network of contacts. With him pulling strings, Li Ba was confident he could get his hands on even the settlement’s most scarce supplies. “Cousin, can you get your hands on this?” Li Ba gestured with his hand to form a gun. Luo Jianguo narrowed his eyes and replied calmly, “The higher-ups keep a tight rein on these things—they’re hard to come by. But a dozen or so shouldn’t be a problem.” Li Ba was overjoyed and asked, “What about bullets?” “I’ve got a fellow villager over at the Quartermaster’s Office. As for bullets… I should be able to get eight or ten boxes a day!” “What about crystal cores?” “Low-level crystal cores—as many as you want. First-level ones are a bit trickier, and anything above that? Forget it!” Li Ba asked about several types of scarce supplies in quick succession, and Luo Jianguo had connections for all of them. He didn’t say much more, simply tossing out a line to Luo Jianguo: “Cousin—my dear cousin—let’s go to your place tonight and talk this over in detail!” “Alright, I’ll have my wife prepare a few extra appetizers to go with the drinks.” Luo Jianguo nodded with a smile.