Apocalypse Chapter 2: Blueprints

Chapter 2: Blueprints

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

After finishing breakfast, Jiang Rong dropped off Jiang Xiaoheng at the daycare. The daycare was on the way to Jiang Rong’s workplace, just a ten-minute drive away. Normally, Jiang Rong would leave half an hour early to drop his son off at daycare and pick him up on the way home from work. Today, after watching Jiang Xiaoheng’s figure disappear at the daycare gate, Jiang Rong didn’t follow his usual route to work. Instead, he turned the car towards the south of the city.

Building a house was a tedious process, and he couldn’t do it alone. The first step in building a house was to have a set of standard blueprints. With the blueprints, he could hire qualified construction teams. If he were an outsider, just finding someone to draw blueprints would have been a challenge. Fortunately, he wasn’t alone in this.

An hour and a half later, Jiang Rong arrived at the agreed-upon location. It was a coffee shop in the south of the city, which was not busy due to construction work outside the entrance. When Jiang Rong entered, someone was already waiting for him.

Seeing Jiang Rong enter, the person stood up and walked towards him with wide strides. He was Jiang Rong’s childhood friend Chu Qiang, who worked at the third engineering bureau of City C and knew more people in the construction industry than Jiang Rong. When Jiang Rong thought about building a house, Chu Qiang was the first person who came to mind.

Chu Qiang was tall and burly, with a deep and loud voice from years of working on construction sites. “Was the road difficult to navigate? This section is under construction for the subway. I was worried you might not find the place.”

Jiang Rong scrutinized Chu Qiang carefully, his eyes slightly reddened. After the crisis in his previous life, he had lost contact with Chu Qiang. Now, seeing him again, Jiang Rong felt a sense of reunion after a long separation.

Looking at Jiang Rong’s suddenly reddened eyes, Chu Qiang looked at him with suspicion, “Are you okay?”

Early in the morning, Chu Qiang received a call from his childhood friend, saying that he wanted to build a sturdy house in their hometown, meeting civil defense standards. At that time, he had many questions, but Jiang Rong just told him not to ask and reminded him to reinforce his house and stock up on supplies. Out of respect and trust for his friend, he didn’t pry further.

Jiang Rong grinned awkwardly, “I’m fine. Is the person here?”

Chu Qiang patted Jiang Rong’s shoulder, “Yes, I’ve arranged for you to meet an engineer from the Civil Defense Design Institute. He’s good and professional. Once we have the blueprints, I’ll start the construction for you, ensuring speed and quality.”

Jiang Rong gratefully patted Chu Qiang’s shoulder, “Thanks, buddy.”

Chu Qiang had taken time off work to meet Jiang Rong. His construction site was just outside. After introducing Jiang Rong to the person he arranged, he left the café.

The researcher Chu Qiang found was named Li Bin, a refined man in his forties. He spoke and acted methodically, with meticulous thinking. At first sight, Jiang Rong knew he was the person he needed. After exchanging a few pleasantries with Li Bin, Jiang Rong got straight to the point, “Mr. Li, I want to build a sturdy house.”

As a research institute for civil defense projects, Li Bin’s designed houses were all sturdy. Li Bin smiled and opened his computer, “How big do you want the house to be? Can it be as sturdy as a civil defense basement?”

Although Jiang Rong was not a civil engineering professional, he was not completely unfamiliar with construction. “Can it be even sturdier than a basement?”

Li Bin probably understood what Jiang Rong meant, “No problem. Tell me your requirements first. I’ll sketch a draft, and if it doesn’t work, we can adjust it.”

Jiang Rong had a house in his hometown that sheltered them for a year in the previous life. This time, he wanted to build a house in his hometown properly. “My family’s foundation is four hundred square meters, twenty meters in length and width each. I want to build three floors, with one for living and the two below for storage. If possible, the walls should be thicker, and the ceiling higher.”

Li Bin was a good engineer who could fully meet customer needs. He calmly said, “For residential use, we typically use C30 concrete, but we can use C50. The exterior walls are usually 24 cm thick; we can make them 48 cm thick. We’ll also double the amount of C25 steel bars inside. Civil defense basements are generally no less than 3.6 meters high. How many meters do you need?”

After a moment of thought, Jiang Rong replied, “Can we use even higher-grade concrete? And can the basement ceiling height be raised to six meters? It would be better if the foundation could be deeper.”

Li Bin smiled, “Alright, but I must remind you, Mr. Jiang, to pay attention to your budget, or it might easily exceed.”

Listening to Jiang Rong’s requirements, lines appeared on the screen. Li Bin outlined the contours of the foundation, and with a slight movement of the mouse on the software, the flat layout was transformed into a three-dimensional model.

The current 3D model looked like a bare rectangular prism, seemingly uninspiring. However, it was facing a seasoned building engineer and an experienced interior designer.

The two professionals looked at the screen eagerly. Two hours later, the bare rectangular prism had turned into a house with its own world inside.

At first glance, this house appeared to be an ordinary rural house. The top was flat and covered with solar panels. Through the virtual solar panels and top layer, the layout of the ground floor was displayed.

When Jiang Rong worked before, he often laughed at the quirky layouts of his clients’ homes. Now that he had the opportunity to design his own house, how could he give up? The nearly four hundred square meters of interior space was enough for him to unleash his creativity.

Seeing the formed layout, Li Bin couldn’t stop praising, “Mr. Jiang, if I ever need to build a house in my hometown, can I ask you to design it?”

Jiang Rong felt a bitter taste in his heart. After the Great Crisis, where would there be another chance to design houses? Facing Li Bin’s sincere eyes, Jiang Rong said seriously, “Sure, Mr. Li, if you ever need my help in the future, feel free to find me.”

Through one floor slab, the layout of the ground floor and the two floors below appeared. Typically, civil defense projects would use walls as support, but Jiang Rong said the two basement floors were for storage. So, Li Bin opted for a floor slab with additional reinforcement instead of walls and pillars.

The entire façade of the house had only two doors, one large and one small. The large one opened on the southwest side of the first floor, allowing vehicles to drive directly into the two basement floors. The small one opened on the south side, leading directly to Jiang Rong’s living room.

The entire house, including electrical equipment, was estimated to cost twelve million, with the main structure alone costing ten million. Li Bin said that this kind of sturdy house could rival a military fortress, and that’s exactly what Jiang Rong needed.

In the previous life, mutants lived in such houses, made of reinforced concrete with triple-layer bulletproof glass on the windows. As long as the windows were closed, mutant animals and plants couldn’t get in.

Jiang Rong also wanted to live in such a house. His three years of experience surviving in the ruins told him that he needed sunlight, rain, and to see the blue sky and green trees. Even if the sun became glaring and the plants turned fierce. Compared to endless darkness, he longed to see the blue sky and white clouds.

Now, the house belonging to him and his son was already on the screen. If everything went well, he would be able to meet it soon.

Jiang Rong gazed eagerly at the 3D model, wishing the house on the screen could appear in front of him now. He asked eagerly, “Mr. Li, when is the earliest the blueprints can be ready?”

Li Bin pushed his glasses up on his nose, “Generally, it takes about a month to produce a set of blueprints. If we want to be more thorough, we’ll also need to go to the construction site for on-site measurements…”

Jiang Rong frowned, “Mr. Li, can it be faster? The water and electricity systems for my house don’t need to be that complicated. Rest assured, I won’t skimp on the design fee.”

Li Bin pondered for a moment, “Mr. Jiang, you’re also in the industry, and Mr. Chu recommended you. Here’s the deal, I’ll be frank with you. I can have the blueprints ready for your house in a week.”

Jiang Rong breathed a sigh of relief, “Thank you, Mr. Li.”

Li Bin considered, “If the schedule is tight, I’ll prioritize the excavation plan first, and you can start digging.”

At this moment, there was a knock on the private room door, and Chu Qiang entered, “Have you two finished your discussion? It’s lunchtime. Let’s have a meal together?”

Li Bin packed up his computer, “No, I have to go back to work on the blueprints. Let’s have a meal together next time.”

After seeing Li Bin off, Chu Qiang pulled Jiang Rong, “Let’s go, let’s grab a meal. Speaking of which, it’s your birthday today. There’s a nice restaurant in the south of the city. Come on, let’s go celebrate your birthday.”

Jiang Rong smiled, just as he was about to say something, his phone rang. Taking out his phone, he saw it was a call from Xiao Zhou, the real estate agent.

As soon as he answered the phone, he heard Xiao Zhou’s urgent voice, “Mr. Jiang, our boss really likes your two houses. Our boss sincerely wants to buy them. Two houses for twenty million. What do you think? Are you free this afternoon? If you are, we can sign the contract, and the payment can be made as soon as the contract is signed.”

Jiang Rong replied, “Alright, but I’m not home right now. I’ll go later. I’ll call you when I arrive.”

After hanging up the phone, Chu Qiang widened his eyes in astonishment, “Jiang Rong, what’s going on with you? Have you been cheated? How come you’re selling your houses?”

Jiang Rong said seriously, “Do you trust me? If you do, don’t ask. Go back to our hometown and reinforce your house, stock up on supplies.”

Chu Qiang sneered, “What’s going on? Is it the end of the world? Giving up on life?”

Jiang Rong: … What humanity would face in three months was much more terrifying than the end of the world.

 

 

This Title is available for faster chapter releases through paid Patreon membership. Any proceeds go to keeping the website running. Check it out HERE.