Apocalypse Chapter 5: HSBC Logistics Park

Chapter 5: HSBC Logistics Park

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

The next day, Jiang Rong drove to the logistics park in City D. He remembered in the past when he watched the end of the world, after the protagonist was reincarnated, he embarked on a path of dominating the world. They possessed superpowers or financial power, had personal spaces, and had endless strength. Stockpiling goods only required a light touch of the hand on the shelves, and everything on the shelves could be stored in the space.

At this moment, Jiang Rong also wished to have such superpowers. Unfortunately, he was not a supernatural person, had no space, and no great strength. As an ordinary person, he could only stockpile necessary supplies like an ant before the Great Crisis arrived. For example, now, he had to go to the logistics park in the northern part of City D to rent a warehouse that could stockpile goods for himself.

As a city at the same latitude as City C, the economy of City D, although not comparable to City C, was also a well-known prefecture-level city. The transportation in City D was especially outstanding within the country. There were several highways and high-speed railways crossing City D, among which the northern highway was particularly busy as it connected many important cities in the country.

The HSBC Logistics Park that Jiang Rong was going to was not far from the exit of the western highway in City D.

The reason for choosing the warehouse here was, firstly, the convenient transportation here, making it easy to transport goods from all directions. Secondly, the logistics park had supporting logistics and security systems. In the future, as long as he informed the staff of the logistics park when transporting goods, the logistics park would arrange vehicles and personnel to assist. If the goods were lost, the logistics park would also compensate. Thirdly, his goods would not attract attention in a place like the logistics park.

Of course, there was another important reason for choosing the warehouse here: next to the HSBC Logistics Park was the largest comprehensive wholesale market in the country. The goods he stocked up could be directly stored here, saving a lot of time and effort.

The logistics park was filled with trucks coming and going, and workers loading and unloading goods could be seen everywhere. After surveying the surroundings, Jiang Rong headed straight to the comprehensive building of the logistics park. Soon, he met the administrator in charge of renting warehouses.

After explaining his intentions, the administrator led Jiang Rong towards the warehouse of the logistics park. As they walked, he introduced, “Warehouses in the logistics park start at 100 square meters. How many square meters do you want to rent?”

The warehouses in the logistics park were standardized, with each warehouse occupying at least ten thousand square meters. Jiang Rong originally planned to rent eight hundred square meters, according to the layout of his house’s two underground floors. But after seeing the shelves in the logistics park with his own eyes, he changed his mind, “I want to rent three hundred square meters first. Are there any warehouses for rent with shelves?”

There were two types of warehouses in the logistics park: one type without shelves for storing containers; the other type came with shelves provided by the logistics park, and the owner could store goods on them. With a three hundred square meter warehouse and six-story high shelves, if utilized properly, a lot of things could be stored. Moreover, he didn’t plan to wait until the warehouse was full before moving things. As soon as the house was built, he would move some of the goods first.

After walking around the logistics park, Jiang Rong chose a relatively clean warehouse and rented three hundred square meters of it. In order to attract customers, the logistics park offered discounts for new renters. Originally, renting a warehouse with shelves required 20 per square meter, but after the discount, Jiang Rong rented it for three months at a price of 18 per square meter.

After renting the warehouse, it was only two thirty in the afternoon, and there was still time to take a walk in the wholesale market. Today’s main purpose was not to buy things, but to familiarize himself with the wholesale market and find out where the things he needed were located.

Before Jiang Rong could leave the logistics park, his stomach growled. Only then did he realize that he had forgotten to have lunch.

There were many small restaurants outside the logistics park specifically providing meals for truck drivers, as the drivers’ schedules were unpredictable, so most of the restaurants were open 24 hours a day. Jiang Rong scanned around and spotted a lamb restaurant.

Outside the lamb restaurant was a large iron pot, in which creamy white lamb soup was bubbling. Large pieces of lamb bones could be vaguely seen at the bottom of the pot, and the boss was scooping out the stewed lamb from the pot. The delicious smell of lamb meat permeated through Jiang Rong’s nostrils and into his lungs. By the time Jiang Rong realized it, he was already sitting at a small table in the lamb soup shop, “Boss, give me a big bowl of lamb soup.”

The boss drawled, “Okay~ A big bowl of lamb soup~”

It was still not warm enough in March, so drinking a bowl of lamb soup warmed both the stomach and the body. Just as Jiang Rong was staring at the price list on the wall, two customers who ordered lamb soup entered the shop. Both customers had dark skin, obviously long-haul truck drivers.

The two of them ordered two bowls of lamb soup and a few pancakes. After sitting down, the shorter one sighed, “It’s going to be scorching hot tomorrow. The highest temperature in March is over thirty degrees. I wonder how hot it will be this summer.”

The taller one agreed, “The weather has been getting more and more unusual in recent years. There was no rain for several months in our hometown last year, and the crops all withered. I wonder how it will be this year.”

Jiang Rong sighed silently at their words. In fact, in the past few years, the climate across the country had become particularly abnormal. Clearly, it was the rainy season, but not a drop of rain fell. Clearly, it was in a desert area, but it poured rain. With so many abnormal situations, people complained a lot, but there was nothing they could do.

He remembered in his previous life, a few months before the Great Crisis, it didn’t rain a single drop in City C. After the crisis, temperatures in several surrounding provinces didn’t drop below forty degrees for three or four consecutive months, and even the main roads melted. Many ordinary people who barely survived couldn’t withstand the climate change…

Just as Jiang Rong was lost in thought, a large bowl of lamb soup, soup and all, appeared in front of him. The boss wiped his hands with a smile, “Just cooked, be careful, it’s hot. By the way, our lamb soup can be paired with pancakes, do you want sweet or salty?”

Jiang Rong raised two fingers, “Two sweet ones.” Life was already bitter enough; he wanted a little more sweetness.

The lamb soup from the boss’s place was particularly authentic. After finishing a big bowl of lamb soup, Jiang Rong unexpectedly sweated. At the moment he put down the big bowl, he thought of the indigestible bran cakes from his previous life. He decided to add various cooked dishes to his stockpiling list.

After vacuum-packing the cooked meat and storing it in the cold storage, it could be taken out and thawed when needed. Although the taste wasn’t as good as freshly made, it was a delicacy that ordinary people couldn’t taste after the crisis.

After finishing the lamb soup, Jiang Rong rented a shared bike and rode to the wholesale market. As the largest comprehensive wholesale market in the country, it would take at least half a day to walk around. Even with a shared bike, it would still take one or two hours to circle around the wholesale market.

An hour and a half later, Jiang Rong roughly understood the situation of the wholesale market. From north to south, the wholesale market was divided into four areas: seafood, grains and oils, fruits, and vegetables. The goods inside were abundant, and there was nothing he couldn’t think of, and nothing he couldn’t buy.

Previously, he thought he would need to contact local distributors for things like canned goods, but during his stroll, he discovered several shops specializing in canned goods.

It was an unexpected joy.

After wandering around the wholesale market, Jiang Rong felt confident. He had a feeling that he could fill the warehouse in less than three months, as long as he had half a month’s time. Now he just hoped that the house could be built soon, so he could move things into it earlier.

As he was about to return, the phone rang again. This time, it wasn’t Jiang Xiaoheng or Chu Qiang, but his colleague Duan Jie. ¹

Seeing Duan Jie’s name flashing on the screen, Jiang Rong’s eyes showed a hint of impatience. Duan Jie was a new intern, sweet and cute. Plus, she was meticulous in her work and had a sweet mouth, so the seniors took good care of her.

After the crisis broke out, there weren’t many colleagues who survived, and Duan Jie was one of them. She couldn’t contact her family and had no relatives in the big city. Jiang Rong felt sorry for her as she was a girl, fearing that she might encounter danger alone, so he took her to the peaceful base.

Duan Jie was sweet-talking, and she kept Jiang Rong and his son happy all the way, not missing out on any benefits she deserved. After arriving at the base, she quickly climbed up to become the girlfriend of a high-level supernatural being, taking advantage of her youth and beauty.

Living in a big house and enjoying a good life, Duan Jie not only didn’t help Jiang Rong and his son, but also plotted against them. Knowing that the base’s methods towards mutant pets were rough and cruel, she deceived Jiang Rong into signing a contract to lease out Lele. Later, when Lele was seriously injured, she couldn’t escape the connection.

Seeing Duan Jie’s name again, Jiang Rong felt nothing but disgust. He skillfully ignored the call, but the phone kept ringing persistently, as if it wouldn’t stop until Jiang Rong answered it.

Jiang Rong irritably opened the car window, letting the cool breeze blow into the car, gradually calming his mind. After a moment of silence, Jiang Rong calmed down. Duan Jie hadn’t managed to climb up to a supernatural being in this life yet, and he still had a choice.

After answering the call, Duan Jie’s tearful voice came through, “Jiang Rong, what should I do? The client is not satisfied with my design and wants me to redo it, but I just can’t do it…”

Jiang Rong’s gaze turned icy. In the past, when he heard Duan Jie asking for help, he would drop everything and go to the company to help her with her design. Now thinking about it, his behavior was stupid, wasting his own time and energy, and raising a white-eyed wolf.

But people always had to pay the price for their blindness. He had been foolish in his previous life, but he couldn’t continue to be foolish in this life. So he said slowly, “Stop crying, crying won’t solve the problem. Communicate more with the client and understand their needs. I believe in your abilities, you can do this job well, keep going.”

Without waiting for Duan Jie to continue sobbing, he hung up the phone. His abilities were limited, and he didn’t want any connection with those people and things that had caused him trouble in his previous life.

 

 

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