Chapter 7

Apparently, Phoenix Conglomerate was as willing to make a quick sale as I was to make a quick buy. Within the two hours I had said, everything was signed, sealed, and delivered and I could move into the ranch that day.

As happy as that made me… and it made me extremely happy… there were still a few things back in the city that I had to do first.

Jenny drove me back to my old apartment, which I found out today that I owned (who knew?!?) to be able to sort some things out. I opened the door to my home and took out of my space only what I needed.

Sitting down on the floor, I looked at my notes and pens. Time to get to work.

I had over an hour to come up with the next steps and I needed to write them down before I forgot them… because let's face it… that happens a lot.

I took out the paper entitled 'Steps to Surviving the End of the World'

#1. Let them die…simple, easy, and not likely to be forgotten.

#2. Set yourself up for success.

1. Buy a farm… I took my highlighter and crossed that off the list. Done and done!

2. Buy seeds and pantry items…would do that tomorrow.

3. Buy livestock… might still have to hold off on that one.

The first two steps were pretty much accomplished, or would slowly be accomplished over the next few months. Sometimes I forget that I was not in the apocalypse. I still felt the urgency that all the supplies had to be gathered that day or there was no way to get them ever again.

I could do step 2.2 slowly… and maybe if I told myself that enough times, I would begin to believe it.

Ok, now onto the steps that I came up with in the car:

#3. Sell your old place… pretty straightforward. No point in keeping the apartment if I had the ranch, and the money would help with supplies. I'll contact Jenny in the morning and see what she can do.

#4. Move into the ranch

1. Build a fence… keep in mind that everything electronic is going to go, so what other options were there?

2. Make sure fields and barns are able to hold animals… no point in buying them if they aren't going to stay put.

a. How many animals can each field/barn hold?

b. How many different types of animals can I get?

c. Don't forget fish! I have three ponds and a river. I can have fish!

I paused in my writing. I had never actually considered getting fish before, but I remembered that ponds were a great way of raising your own so why not try?

#5. Organize pantry… maybe I should have written pantries….eek!!!!!! So happy!

#6. Fill up the pantries… let's face it, this was going to be the best part of it all!

#7. Learn more about EMPs… because I had never heard about them in my first life and only saw the aftermath in my second… I needed to prepare for it, and knowledge was key.

#8. Gather guns and weapons… you would think that this one was for defending myself against the zombies, but it was really for the humans. Refer to step one if you have questions.

And there you had it, my eight-step program for surviving the end of the world.

I was sure that as I thought of things, there would be more steps added, but for right now, I was happy with this.

I put my pens and paper back into my space and took out the bed and sheets. I will admit that it did look weird to have a bed in the middle of the living room, but hopefully, my body would be more appreciative of a soft bed to sleep on. I was still feeling the aches and pains from last night.

I went to sleep feeling more confident than I had before. Settling the ranch issue has really relieved a lot of stress.

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"Sir." A knock on the door of Wang Chao's study caused him to look up from the latest stock reports.

"Enter," he said, putting the reports to the side and watching as the door opened.

"Sir," said Liu Wei as he walked into the study with a file folder in his hand. "I have received confirmation that the Blood Moon base has been sold this morning. Here is the sale agreement and all relevant documentation on the issue."

"It sold already?" Ask Wang Chao surprised. He thought that it would take a while for that piece of land to be bought simply because it was so massive and out of the way.

"Yes. I had given the listing to Urban Paradise first, and apparently, they had a buyer looking for a property like that. She put in an offer before even entering the house."

"How much did you sell it for?"

"$5 million, Sir."

"5 million and there were no issues? Who is the person?"

Liu Wei opened the folder in his hand and looked at the contract. "A Li Dai Lu. 22 years old, single, no parents or immediate family, but a holder of Li Industries. It looks like she is a holder in name only, collecting the dividends but not having any actual power. Her cousin took over the business when her parents died four years ago. They don't have much to do with each other."

"She paid for it in cash?" Asked Wang Chao, trying to figure something out in his head.

"No, she put down 20% and took out a loan from our bank for the remaining amount, a total of $4,000,000."

"So she didn't pay for it in cash? Does she not have the money?"

"Yes, Sir. Her records are showing that she has $10.4 Billion in total assets with us, and $8.9 Billion is in cash."

"So why didn't she pay everything all at once? Any business professional would avoid the interest payments. What is the length of time for the loan?"

"She asked for 25 years."

"Look into it," Wang Chao said. He didn't know what was wrong, but he had a feeling that something wasn't right.

"Of course, Sir," said Liu Wei as he turned around to leave the study.

"Leave her information."

"Of course, Sir," his assistant said and turned around to deliver the file.

Anyone that bought that property would be under suspicion. A ranch like that was incredibly rare, so what would a second-generation rich girl know about or even want a working ranch? Did she have a connection with Blood Moon?

Liu Wei would make sure to dive deeper into things. If Wang Chao was interested enough that he wanted to look over that contract, he would give his boss everything he could on the girl and the situation.