"The first floor has the living room, kitchen, dining room, a storage room, a bathroom, and two maid’s rooms."
Hollis then led lody Sumrs upstairs.
"On the second floor, the previous owner set up four bedrooms. Two have terraces and could be used as master bedrooms. The other two have balconies, which you could use as children’s rooms or a room for the elderly. There’s a lounge in the middle, with a small partitioned-off space for a tea room."
"The third floor has one large room with a terrace and three rooms with balconies. Just like the second floor, they all have en-suite bathrooms. You could use them as guest rooms, making it convenient if you have visitors staying over. Or, if you don’t need this many rooms, you can renovate. We’d suggest converting a few of the bedrooms into walk-in closets or storage rooms."
Hollis explained, "The previous owner designed it for three generations to live together—more than a dozen people in total. That’s why there are so many bedrooms, with many of the functional rooms located in the basent."
Hollis led lody Sumrs down from the third floor to the basent, where he continued his introduction.
"The basent is the highlight of this house. The garage has a two-car bay—it’s very spacious and can fit two SUVs at the sa ti."
"There’s also an indoor underground swimming pool. It’s a very clever design, equipped with an automatic cleaning system, and changing the water is also very convenient."
"As for the remaining four spaces, the previous owner had planned to turn them into a study, a private theater, a reception room, and a gym. However, they decided to move abroad before finishing the renovations. The wiring and all that has already been laid, so if you’re interested, you can contact a renovation company and start work right away."
"There’s also a separate bathroom in the corner, which is very convenient."
lody Sumrs followed Hollis from the top floor to the bottom, growing more and more satisfied with what she saw. She nodded and said, "Alright, I’ll take it!"
A study, a private theater, a reception room, a gym—lody Sumrs had no use for any of them. In her eyes, they were just four large storage rooms perfect for stockpiling supplies. And the swimming pool? It would be just right as a water reservoir.
Hollis was overjoyed. He hadn’t expected to close a deal on a villa at a ti like this. "I’ll take you to sign the contract right now!"
lody Sumrs returned to the sales office with Hollis from property managent, signed the contract, and paid in full with a direct transfer.
Things moved quickly during the slow sales season. Since there was no need to apply for a loan, the process was simple, and lody Sumrs completed the paperwork in no ti.
After getting the keys to the villa, lody Sumrs brought a bag of fruit to the property managent office.
"Hello, I’m the new owner of Villa B16."
"Hello, ma’am!" The staffer at the property managent office heard she was a resident of the villa area, and their smile beca a bit more genuine.
lody Sumrs set down the fruit and asked with a smile, "I just bought my house and would like to do so renovations. I was wondering if you could recomnd a reliable renovation company to ?"
The employee imdiately found a business card and handed it to lody Sumrs. "Yes, yes, of course. Call the number on this card. They’re a professional renovation team, and many of the villa owners here have used them."
After thanking the employee, lody Sumrs called the renovation company.
lody Sumrs gave them her address, and the people from the renovation company arrived quickly.
A man in work clothes got out of a car and greeted lody Sumrs enthusiastically. "Hello, I’m the manager of the renovation team. What can I do for you?"
lody Sumrs laid out her requirents one by one:
"I need to raise the height of the periter walls, enclose both the front and back yards, and add a roof over them."
"The walls need to be reinforced—add steel plates inside. Make them strong enough that a car couldn’t crash through. Then, install an electric fence."
"Leave space on the roof to install solar panels. Turn the back garden into a sunroom, and the glass needs to be riot-proof."
The renovation manager was taken aback after hearing lody Sumrs’s description. "Enclose both the front and back yards? Property managent probably won’t approve that, will they?"
"I’ve already cleared it with property managent. You just worry about the construction." ’As long as no hoowners complained, they would turn a blind eye to these things. And for now, none of lody’s neighbors had moved in.’
’The people who could afford a villa here weren’t buying it out of necessity; they were wealthy investors. These people owned multiple properties. By the ti the apocalypse hit and they rembered they had a house here, lody’s modifications would be long finished.’
"Sigh, it’s a sha to enclose such a beautiful yard." The renovation manager said with so regret, looking at the well-designed garden.
lody Sumrs just smiled. She thought to herself, ’If I don’t enclose it, there’s no guarantee this beautiful house will still be mine after the cataclysm begins.’
lody Sumrs thought for a mont then added, "Leave a large basin in the backyard and install a water filtration and purification system. The villa’s electricity consumption will be very high after I move in, and I also want to install central air conditioning in the yard. I’ll need you to re-inspect the entire electrical system and see if we need to upgrade the power capacity."
The renovation manager was left completely dumbfounded. He muttered, "I really don’t get you rich people..."
But in the end, it was the client’s request. The manager didn’t try to persuade her further and imdiately started making calls to draw up plans, schedule workers, and order materials.
A short while later, two more vehicles arrived. A few workers got out and gathered around the manager to discuss the design and how to begin construction.
lody Sumrs thought for a mont, then went to find Hollis, the sales agent who had helped her earlier.
"Hollis, here’s the thing. My yard is being renovated right now, but my family and I can’t co over until tomorrow. I was hoping you could help supervise for the day. I’ll give you a red envelope to compensate you for your ti."
Hollis quickly replied, "No problem, Miss Sumrs. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely keep a close eye on things for you."
Selling this villa had earned Hollis a huge commission, so he was very grateful to lody Sumrs. Besides, no one was looking at properties right now anyway, so he was more than happy to supervise the renovations for a day.
With Hollis keeping an eye on things, lody Sumrs drove the small truck back to the rental center, exchanged it for a large one, and went straight to a cattle cooperative.
An employee at the cattle cooperative helped lody Sumrs load the eight cattle she had ordered the day before. Then, lody drove the truck to a deserted area and sent the cattle directly into her space.
[Cattle received. Total: 8.]
[The cattle have been placed in the pasture.]
After the cattle were settled, lody Sumrs wasted no ti. She drove directly to a wholesale market. The house was ready; it was ti to start stockpiling supplies!
*
The high temperatures at the start of the apocalypse would cause severe water shortages, so lody Sumrs first drove to a mineral water bottling plant.
She lied, claiming she was opening a farmhouse restaurant, and ordered two hundred cases of mineral water and one hundred large jugs of bottled water from the sales manager.
As she transported the water into her space, the usually silent Space System expressed its shock:
[Host, why are you buying so much water? The Arcadian Stream is the best water there is—it’s completely natural, unpolluted, and inexhaustible.]
The mory of thirst during the period of high temperatures and drought was still fresh in her mind. lody Sumrs replied, "I was originally planning to go to another supplier and stock up on more, but since you put it that way, I’ll just stick with this."
However, after a mont’s thought, lody Sumrs still bought several distillation kits, just in case.
After buying the water, it was ti for food. lody Sumrs drove to the largest local food wholesale market.
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