Apocalyptic Flood: Sexy Beauty Neighbor's Midnight Plea for Food Chapter 1096 - 443: Li Qinghua’s Paper Mill

The moment beauty and anti-aging came up, the girls' interest spiked right away.

The chat on this subject exploded and kept flowing without pause.

In the midst of it, Ding Yan pondered that Yang Mei's ice power could, once strengthened, chill her cells and reduce the rate of cell turnover.

This approach would postpone aging considerably, turning her into a genuine 'frozen-age beauty.'

Song Wen's wood-based ability, thanks to its regenerative traits, could mend and rejuvenate worn-out cells too, offering the potential to preserve youth and prolong life.

This revelation left the pair fidgety—they hadn't thought about it from this angle before.

What woman wouldn't yield to the allure of timeless youth?

Yang Mei, being the eldest among them and deeply fixated on her looks, felt this pull especially strong.

She was quite a bit older than Liang Yuan, and that fact made her insecure in this regard.

Thus, holding back the years would motivate her to try her best.

Though Song Wen wasn't fretting over her age yet, her days as a live streamer had ingrained a constant worry about her appearance.

Hearing Ding Yan's breakdown, she buzzed with thrill for a good while, growing more convinced that her power was utterly amazing.

Dong Yan, however, remained unmoved; at nineteen, not quite twenty, discussions on aging and staying young seemed dull to her.

She was still in the prime of her teen years.

Liang Yuan watched their talk veer off course, a blend of fun and exasperation washing over him.

He glanced at the clock and cut in on their chatter: 'Come on, it's time for the gathering at Sunshine District.'

'During this outing, I must cover the Genetic Species, Floating Island, and updates from Guangfu with the group.'

'Plus, the folks I've returned with should join our Yangshan Shelter without delay.'

Once the agenda was mentioned, Ding Yan and Yang Mei ceased talking, hastily packing up and proceeding to Sunshine District as a unit.

These days, Sunshine District's boundaries had stretched out impressively, and the mutated sunflowers within had scaled up their growth too.

Several wooden and bamboo structures rising three to four stories tall had sprung up in Sunshine District, establishing it as Yangshan's command hub.

Yang Mei pointed out: 'Old Ma and his crew built every one of these structures. Don't let the wood fool you; interiors feature [Silence Runes] from the research institute etched on walls and floors. The noise isolation is top-notch.'

'Silence Runes?' Liang Yuan expressed surprise: 'A fresh discovery in runes?'

'Indeed, Professor Li Hanzhong derived it from slaughterhouse rune advancements.'

'These days, they're installed across numerous buildings.'

Liang Yuan felt gratified; during his time away, Yangshan's progress hadn't slowed but surged forward with fresh ideas.

'Sunshine District's structures serve key roles, like the Yangshan admin hub, inspection office, patrol station, agriculture bureau, construction unit...'

'An expert in administration helped draft the overall layout.'

'Plus, they've reserved a Leader's Residence just for you, ideal for conducting meetings and managing Yangshan affairs here.'

Liang Yuan was taken aback, unaware that his brief absence had led Yang Mei and the team to organize Yangshan's framework so efficiently.

'Hey, what's going on over there?'

As they neared the Sunshine House, Liang Yuan spotted a long line of folks at a minor entrance on the building's left flank.

Song Wen noticed and grinned, 'The third batch of Mutated Sunflowers has yielded seeds; they're all queuing to purchase them.'

Liang Yuan was stunned: 'The third harvest came so swiftly?'

Song Wen affirmed with a nod, 'We used premium selected seeds for the second planting, and this quick-blooming, seed-bearing lot stems from those choices.'

'These third-batch seeds sprout fast and produce abundantly; a single sunflower yields five to six pounds.'

'Right now, Meishan and nearby areas are kicking off the fourth planting cycle with these seeds.'

Liang Yuan beamed with joy, thrilled at having light-generating mutated sunflowers amid the endless downpour outside.

'Are they grabbing them for personal planting?'

Yang Mei chuckled then, 'Absolutely for home gardens; households are eager to sow a few, valued for illumination, moisture control, and warmth.'

'Mutated Sunflowers are now an everyday essential.'

'As a result, the solar panels once ignored in our mall are completely gone.'

'There's even a diving squad now, plunging into depths to salvage drowned street lamps and such, hoping to recover those panels.'

Liang Yuan was floored: 'Diving treasure hunters?'

Ding Yan clarified nearby, 'It's a hot new trend.'

'With Yangshan thriving, resources and goods fall under communal assets, and exotic beast hunts are scarce. One clever soul realized the floods might hide valuable pre-cataclysm items below.'

'That sparked organized groups plunging into waters for goodies, evolving into full-fledged undersea treasure squads.'

'Recently, some Water Attribute Superpower Users unearthed a submerged solar farm in the dev zone, hauling back batteries and striking it rich.'

'That crew didn't just lease a store in the mall; they claimed prime land and erected a home.'

'It drew tons of Yangshan residents into the hunting crews.'

'Soon, underwater scavenging boomed everywhere.'

Liang Yuan absorbed Ding Yan's rundown and chuckled involuntarily.

Yangshan's transformations were accelerating daily.

His mere days away had birthed so many inventive developments.

Stepping into Sunshine District revealed its vast expansion.

Over half lay within caverns, and outdoors, a massive awning blocked the rains, ballooning the space threefold.

Sunflowers dotted the area, bathing Sunshine District in cozy, radiant light.

The timber edifices interlocked cleverly, each marked with its Yangshan department label.

Folks bustled about, immersed in their tasks.

Liang Yuan's eye caught a young woman hurrying past, arms laden with a hefty pile of sheets.

Spotting the documents she carried, Liang Yuan hailed her at once: 'Hold up.'

The girl had been stealing glances at Liang Yuan, and his call startled her into joyful haste, whirling around with eager tension: 'Mr. Liang, were you summoning me?'

Liang Yuan offered a warm smile and nod, inquiring: 'What's that you're holding?'

'Huh? This?' She peered at her stack and replied promptly, 'Granny Li tasked me with sorting these for the Agriculture Department—reports on this year's farm outputs from the plantation and Meishan, prepped for the session.'

Song Wen chimed in: 'Brother Liang, this is Xiao Min, our plantation helper and Granny Li's aide.'

Liang Yuan chuckled, 'Relax, I'm not prying into the content; I'm wondering about the paper's origin.'

With that, he lifted the ashen-white sheets from Xiao Min's grasp.

The stock felt sturdy, roughly double the heft of standard A4, with a coarse feel and straw bits embedded visibly.

Yet Liang Yuan brimmed with wonder and glee, querying: 'This... did we craft it ourselves?'

Next to him, Dong Yan tittered, 'Brother Liang, the Lingyun Slope mill whipped this up.'

'Mill?'

'Yep, near the Mulberry Grove—Li Qinghua and pals launched it.'

'It's small-scale for now, fueled by fire bamboo foliage and mulberry leaves. They're churning out fine paperwork plus varieties, but orders far exceed output.'

Liang Yuan was baffled; how did a space ability wielder like Li Qinghua pivot to factory work?

'Wasn't he on patrol duty?'

Ding Yan elaborated: 'He stepped down.'

'What?'

Liang Yuan reeled and pressed for details.

Ding Yan shared: 'Patrols grew quiet; we've cleared most local threats, leaving just the monthly tides as danger.'

'Yangshan's forces can crush those tides effortlessly now.'

'He chose to leave his captain post and set up the mill at Lingyun Slope.'

'Chatting with Zhou Qingming and Sister Wan later, I learned his kin ran a mill pre-apocalypse, and he saw paper's vital role in Yangshan's tomorrow, so he dove in.'

'Oh, he's attending the meeting; his Qinghua Paper Mill ranks among Yangshan's key workshops now.'

Liang Yuan stood speechless, then erupted in laughter.

'A space power user skipping ability drills for factory life...'

Ding Yan grinned: 'I like it; if he's got the skills for business, better to use them.'

'Running the mill hasn't halted his power training.'

'Actually, the financial independence lets him focus more on honing his gifts.'

'It shows Yangshan's energy pulses through all corners.'

'We desperately need paper too, or we'd run out for essentials like hygiene.'

Liang Yuan laughed heartily; paper's a daily must-have, no doubt.

'Still, pity they manage only this coarse grade—no soft tissues or rolls yet,' Song Wen noted with a sigh.

Liang Yuan wondered aloud, 'What's stopping the finer types?'

'Tech and equipment fall short,' Song Wen admitted with a shrug.

Liang Yuan mused inwardly that his system could supply tissues and even pads, so no real concern there.

All the same, Li Qinghua's output worked well for notes and files.

Deeper inside, Liang Yuan encountered more innovations.

Beyond paper, vendors hawked self-made soy sauce and bean curd.

Probing further, he learned these sprang from Meishan's rich mutated soybean crop.

In essence, Yangshan advanced at breakneck speed, so much so that Liang Yuan's short hiatus evoked a burst of springtime vigor.

Beaming faces abounded.

Grins brimming with life's fresh optimism.