Returning to hometown to farm: The apocalypse system arrived ten years earlier?

Chapter 345 Countdown to the Apocalypse - The Week Before

Several years have passed in the blink of an eye, and it is now the week before the end of the world.

The Candle Dragon Radio Telescope has been damaged several times, and Li Xiang has gone up to repair it several times. The Black Mist Starfield is already "within reach," and the "Heavenly Dog Devouring the Sun" will take place in at most a week.

The timeline is consistent with that of the previous life.

Although Li Xiang made many efforts to ensure that people around the world were far better prepared than in his previous life, he could not change the direction and speed of the solar system's movement, nor could he prevent the vast black fog star field from "approaching".

This "approach" is relative. From Earth's perspective, it's like the Black Mist Starfield spreading out and engulfing the solar system. But from the perspective of the Black Mist Starfield, it's like a pebble (the solar system) hurtling towards us and crashing into a lake (the Black Mist Starfield).

Regardless of which side he was on, Li Xiang was as insignificant as an ant, lacking the ability to change the course of events; he could not alter the outcome.

In the past few years, there have been sporadic attacks on Earth by alien beasts. These were beast eggs floating on the outer edge of the Black Mist Starfield, as well as wandering alien beasts. Fortunately, these outer beast eggs or alien beasts were not very powerful. Many of them were abandoned or driven out of the Black Mist Starfield, which also gave the countries of Earth an opportunity to train their troops. Although they caused some disturbances, they were eventually successfully killed.

The country has also conducted numerous exercises in various forms, including the "Polar Night - Natural Disaster Joint Defense" series of exercises, the "Eternal Night Defense Line" large-scale joint military-civilian exercise, the "Cold Wave - Beast Tide Response" multinational collaborative exercise, the "Dawn Operation" comprehensive doomsday survival exercise, and the "Black Shield Project" underground city defense stress test, among others.

Some are city-wide drills, some are nationwide unified drills, and some are international cooperative drills. Of course, within cities, individual streets and communities also frequently organize drills, but these mainly focus on hiding, evacuation, distribution of supplies, fire fighting, and first aid.

The exercise was just an exercise; without actually experiencing the harsh conditions of a post-apocalyptic world, everyone remained uneasy.

……

In Lijia Village, the houses on the surface are long gone; everyone has moved to the underground city.

However, the weather has gotten colder year by year in recent years, leading to the deaths of many elderly people with underlying health conditions.

In Lijia Village alone, more than ten elderly people have passed away, and one year as many as eight of them died at once, including Grandma San.

Some of them were indeed very old. Even with the elixirs Li Xiang provided, they couldn't persevere and eventually succumbed to exhaustion. It was an unavoidable situation.

The conditions in Lijia Village are considered relatively good; in other countries and regions, the elderly population has decreased sharply.

However, dying in peacetime is not necessarily a bad thing.

For some countries, a sharp decline in the elderly population means a significant reduction in the pressure on elderly care. Of course, for others, the world is already in its apocalypse, everyone is relying on their own abilities and accepting their fate, and the elderly care system has long since collapsed. There is also much chaos and unrest, but Li Xiang can't control that much; overall, it's much better than his previous life.

Third Aunt was Li Xiang's grandmother's best friend in the village, practically like a sister, so Li Xiang's grandmother was heartbroken for a long time. Fortunately, now everyone lives in the underground city, and several of Li Xiang's aunts have moved in to keep the old lady company, along with Li Xiang's maternal grandparents, Jiang Cai'er's maternal grandparents... all sorts of relatives live together, making it lively and cheerful, which has greatly improved Li Xiang's grandmother's mood.

People from all around have moved to the underground city, each with their own place to live. Before, they were all from the countryside and lived scattered around, but now that they've all "snailed down" in the underground city, it's actually more lively.

Every household has stockpiled ample supplies, especially rice, flour, cooking oil, salt, pickled vegetables, preserved mustard greens, instant noodles, canned fruit, and compressed biscuits. In addition, there are some commonly used medicines, bandages, plasters, iodine, and rubbing alcohol.

When times are tough, it's good to stock up on food and medicine at home in case of emergencies. Even though there are hospitals, supermarkets, and restaurants in the underground city, it's still reassuring to have more supplies at home.

As for "Li's Breathing Method and Body Techniques," almost everyone had a copy, and many people carried it with them every day, practicing whenever they had the chance. The closer the end times got, the more diligently everyone practiced it.

Guns are still prohibited, but a militia has been organized. Anyone who joins can participate in training exercises and live-fire shooting.

...Some of the more valuable plants from Li Xiang's backyard were also transplanted to the underground farm. These included peach trees, gourds, chili pepper trees, golden bamboo, and wintersweet...

Because the Golden Thunder Bamboo grows in clumps, only a portion was transplanted, with the rest remaining on the ground. After these past few years of severe cold, even though bamboo is one of the Three Friends of Winter, most of it has frozen to death, but those that survived are all "alien species." These alien species are highly adaptable, and when they remain on the ground, Zhao Xueqing uses her "Spiritual Plant Synesthesia" to help them grow. Li Xiang has high hopes for them.

Several shops have also moved to the underground shopping plaza, and business is still booming.

"Fat baby, chubby and plump, rides a horse to Chengdu. Chengdu is so much fun! Fat baby rides a white horse, the white horse jumps high. Fat baby wields a Guan Dao (a type of halberd), wielding it with great skill. Fat baby collects copper coins, collecting many. Fat baby buys steamed buns, but there's no candy in the buns, making Fat baby cry in frustration. Little darling, do you know who Fat baby is? You know, it's our national treasure, the giant panda!"

Jiang Cai'er later gave birth to another daughter, who is only five months old now and just learning to speak. Jiang Cai'er is holding her and singing her nursery rhymes.

As for his two sons, they've already gone out to play. Under Li Xiang's tutelage, both sons possess exceptional talent and are now fifth-tier transcendents. Li Xiang doesn't need to worry about their safety for the time being. Although the younger brother, Li Zezhao, is mischievous, with his older brother, Li Yuchen, watching over him, he won't cause any trouble.

Having given birth to two sons and a daughter, Jiang Cai'er stated that she will never have any more children, and if Li Xiang wants to have more, he should find someone else.

When Jiang Cai'er said this, Li Xiang felt particularly guilty, as if Jiang Cai'er had discovered something.

However, he also felt that Jiang Cai'er might be joking, because she has been immersed in scientific research and may not have made any discoveries.

The youngest daughter's name is "Li Xinyue", and her nickname is "Yueyue".

“玥”: According to the Guangyun dictionary, “玥 means divine pearl”, which naturally expresses the expectation that she will be as bright as a pearl, and also symbolizes that she is the apple of her parents’ eye and a precious treasure.

The character "昕" (xīn) is taken from the meaning of dawn (as stated in the Shuowen Jiezi, "昕, 旦明也"). The reason for choosing this character is that when Jiang Cai'er was pregnant with her youngest daughter, her "artificial miniature sun" project made a breakthrough. By the time her daughter was born, the first prototype had been successfully developed. Now, it hangs in the farm of the underground city of Lijia Village.

As this is an initial prototype, further experiments and parameter testing are needed. Jiang Cai'er believes there is still significant room for improvement, so mass production has not yet commenced.

By her fourth year of university, she had already earned eight doctoral degrees and over ten master's degrees, achieving multidisciplinary integration and publishing over 500 high-impact papers with a cumulative impact factor exceeding 30,000. She was a true academic leader, astonishing the world. Meanwhile, most people simply graduate from university through normal means.

He is in charge of or has participated in as many as seventy or eighty research projects, and has several national key laboratories under his command, with more than three hundred researchers, all of whom are highly educated.

Now, all these laboratories have naturally been relocated to the underground city of Lijiacun. Ninety percent of the research teams have moved here, while a few people are unwilling to come for various reasons, and we do not force them.

Because some experiments are too "dangerous," the laboratories are located in the main city and 12 satellite cities, depending on the risk level. Jiang Cai'er rarely conducts experiments herself now. She mainly focuses on grasping the general direction, holding various project team meetings, listening to reports from her subordinates, and providing scientific research guidance.

In addition, she is also responsible for various unmanned equipment in the underground city, including a large number of drones, robot dogs, missiles, turrets, radar and other monitoring and defense equipment.

The drones include small quadcopters as well as large fixed-wing reconnaissance and strike drones, the kind that can carry missiles.

The two sons grew up in Tsinghua University and attended the early education program and affiliated kindergarten there, but the youngest daughter will have to study in the underground city of Lijiacun.

Lijiacun Underground City, numbered 03 among the 72 honeycomb underground city clusters in China, is already considered to be among the earlier ones, with the two preceding it being the locations of Beijing and Shanghai, respectively.

Except for a few important urban clusters, the numbering rule for other areas is from east to west and from north to south.

As for Jiang Cai'er's cultivation level, she had already broken through to the Saint Rank when her son was two years old, which is Rank 19. Later, she advanced another step and is now at Rank 20. Li Xiang has also made great progress in recent years by helping countries around the world build underground cities and underground farms, and is now at Rank 22.

(End of this chapter)