Zombie Apocalypse: Creation

Chapter 298: Chapter 298: Deficits

"This is the most red I have ever seen. How did it become this negative?" Xiaoyun asked curiously.

"Well, Mr.Genius here wondering where everything went. I thought you would know the consequences of your spending."

Yuqi ignored Xiaoyun's question as she continued working on her paper, clearly irradiated by Xiaoyun's tone as she already knew what was in the document.

"But I thought I made it up the missing inventory. Didn't I just make a warehouse full of food? How is the missing gap this big? I——"

"Just read the spending... Also that is nowhere near enough when you consider our population now."

As Xiaoyun read the document more and more, he finally realized what was causing the food gap shortage.

"Li Miao's troops took several tons of food this month, and Han Bang's troops also took several tons of food this month. How the hell did soldiers in Luoping take over hundreds of tons of food?"

"Because we're feeding fifty thousand soldiers. That's why I told you not to expand any further."

Yuqi grumpily put her paper down and looked at Xiaoyun's face with a frown.

"If you expand any further, you might as well give this co-mayor job to someone else. I can't just make food out of thin air like you."

Hearing the sudden serious tone from her, Xiaoyun finally backed down as he moved closer to her seat.

"I promise you, I won't expand any further... Darling, please, I need you."

Seeing his plead, Yuqi's heart softened a little as Xiaoyun gently wrapped his arm around her.

"Fine... But you have to compensate for these deficits. The only solution I have is either to reduce the number of soldiers or to start sending people to different cities."

"I can't reduce the number of recruits... Fine, I'll reduce it by a few thousand."

Yuqi rolled her eyes as she pushed Xiaoyun away.

"A few thousand is not going to cut it... Have you thought maybe we have too many people in Luoping?"

"Hm? What do you mean by that?" Xiaoyun asked as he lifted Yuqi onto his lap.

"Well, we have over 150,000 people in Luoping alone. If we expand more commercial and industrial areas, Luoping could support 100,000 people at most.

And if we consider that only less than 10% of the land is used by farmers since most of the land here is forests or the soil is too poor, then there's a loss every time we transport food from Qijing to Luoping.

So, I was thinking we should send the extra population to Qijing since they always said they don't have enough workers there, and we don't have enough jobs here for everyone."

Yuqi waited silently as Xiaoyun thought deeply for a second. But he nodded in agreement in the end.

"You're right. We definitely have too big a population at this point. Unless we start building vertically, we're going to run out of space." Xiaoyun murmured as he looked at the map.

Almost the entire forest surrounding Luoping was gone, and now hills surrounded all three sides, blocking their expansion.

"But Qijing can't support that many people. We can send at most 10,000 people there since there are already 20,000 people living there."

"How about Qingyuan?" Yuqi curiously asked.

"A few days ago, Han Bang came back and told me the city itself was already overpopulated, and when I asked Renqin, he confirmed that the population of Qingyuan was around 100,000.

Not to mention, Zhen Ti has been constantly trying to offload the population issue by sending people to nearby cities out to look for food."

"I guess everywhere is having a food shortage..." Yuqi murmured.

"Yeah... It has been two years since the apocalypse. At this point, most of the city's food is either eaten or rotten."

The two looked out the window, as neither of them could think of a solution to address the severe upcoming food shortage.

"Babe... have you felt the days have been getting colder?" Yuqi suddenly asked.

"Yeah... I mean, it's still December, right in the middle of winter. Obviously, it's going to be cold no matter what."

"No, I mean, like it's much colder than last year. Look, everyone on the street is wearing a full puffer jacket and gloves. Last year, people only needed to wear a sweatshirt."

Yuqi pointed as people walked past the administrative building outside, all wearing full winter clothes as the cold, strong wind blew past them.

"You sure? Don't people wear this every year? Just because we are in the south doesn't mean it's not cold. Have you ever heard of the dry cold and wet cold?"

"Yeah, I know... But I can't imagine what it is like in the Northwest. It must be freezing there."

"It's always cold in the North. I'm sure they have their way of dealing with it. In the worst-case scenario, they probably start heading south for warmer areas."

As the two chit-chat, Yuqi gently rested her head on Xiaoyun's chest.

"You're so warm, babe..."

"You too, darling... I love you so much."

"I love you too..."

As Xiaoyun's hand began slowly moving underneath Yuqi's clothes, her face blushed, but she didn't ask him to stop.

But suddenly, a voice across from the two appeared in the room.

"Ahem, we're still here, you know. You don't have to rub it in front of our face like that."

Shuli pointed as she and Wuli both sat across from the two, both working on end-of-the-year reports.

"Yeah, do you really have to do it in front of us? Shouldn't you guys be working on solving the food issue? Do you guys always do this kind of stuff in the office?" Wuli curiously asked.

"Maybe... Ahem, Wuli, how do you like your new job?" Xiaoyun asked curiously as he shifted the topics.

"Kind of boring. All I have been doing is walking around to gather reports and then writing more reports for different reports... I kind of want to go back to the military——"

"That's not happening. You are staying here until you give birth. The military is too dangerous for your baby, Wuli."

Shuli quickly interrupted Wuli before she could finish talking, staring dead into her eyes as if she was not giving Wuli any other options.

"Okay, okay. I'm just giving my opinion. Geez, you care more about my baby than the baby's dad. Maybe I should have my kid call you dad instead."

Hearing Wuli's joke, Shuli blushed. But she didn't argue back, looking over to Xiaoyun as if she wanted him to say something.

"Shuli is right. Wuli, you have to start thinking about your health. You know you aren't as physically fit as before."

"I know. I just miss my comrades," Wuli murmured as she looked down at the table.

"If you want, I can have them visit——"

"Hell no! I don't want them to see me like this," Wuli yelled, embarrassed about her big belly.

"What? There's nothing wrong with being pregnant. I know several female soldiers who have to take a leave after their husbands become pregnant. There's nothing with that." Yuqi decided to speak up.

"I-I just don't want to, okay?"

Seeing the atmosphere getting a little awkward, Xiaoyun gently puts Yuqi back down in her seat.

"Ahem, let's get back to work now. We still have a lot of work to do."

---

In the end, Xiaoyun decided to set up a permanent base in Guangzhou, similar to the one in Qingyuan.

However, it was going to be a long process, as many people were reluctant to sign up for the move until Xiaoyun began offering incentives to move back to the city.

Along with the people moving to Guangzhou, he also prepared Lingang's brigade and six majors to accompany them.

"Lingang, I need to fully clear Guangzhou with not a single zombie in sight. Can you do this?"

"Yes, sir!" Lingang excitedly replied.

"Good... And make sure you have scouts on Foshan and Dongguan. We'll clear that city after the new year."

"Yes, sir."

---

Since Wuli was temporarily retiring from the military, everyone was both surprised and unsurprised when she selected Ningjing as her temporary replacement.

It was a surprise as Ningjing only had enough to become a Major, not a Lieutenant colonel. Not to mention, she was only promoted to captain not long ago alongside her husband Mingxu.

But it wasn't surprising since Wuli's brigade served as more of Xiaoyun's brigade, and being the only female Lieutenant colonel, it wasn't too offputting for her to select one of her own.

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Still, some of the pre-existing Major was a little upset as it felt like nepotism. But after a fight that broke off in private between Ningjing and a few of the Majors, not a single person questioned the choice again.

Besides that, with the food deficits beginning to go back down slowly, Xiaoyun could finally have a relaxing new year as he instated a three-day mandatory holiday for all government jobs.