Chapter 115: Termination of Lease
Su Tao had a natural aversion to people like this. Without any courtesy, she said:
“Why is his mind always fixated on shortcuts? If he comes looking for you again, just ignore him. I’m blacklisting him and the other three.”
She then opened the system and recorded their surveillance photos into the blacklist. From now on, if the security cameras detected any of the three, they would be denied entry.
Before dinner, Ma Dapao cleaned himself up thoroughly—he even changed into a fresh set of clothes, shaved his stubble, and neatly combed his hair.
Su Tao looked him up and down and gave a nod of approval, “You look energetic, just too skinny. Eat more from now on.”
Ma Dapao scratched his head sheepishly.
“I barely had enough to eat in the past few years and ruined my stomach. Now that I want to eat, my stomach can’t handle it anymore. Sigh… Boss Su, how are we getting there? Do you need me to call for a car?”
Su Tao smiled slightly. “No need for a car. Close your eyes.”
Ma Dapao had no idea what was going on but obediently shut his eyes. In just a fleeting moment, when he opened them again, the entire scene around him had changed.
A cool fountain pool, neatly arranged apartment buildings, a grand three-story cafeteria connected to a delicate terrace…
Was he dreaming? He was utterly stunned, standing stiffly in place, afraid to move.
Su Tao patted him. “This is Taoyang. Don’t be nervous. You’ll be coming here often in the future.”
Upon hearing the news, Zhuang Wan, Qian Rongrong, Qian Lin, and others arrived, and the group introduced themselves to each other before heading to the cafeteria.
Zhuang Wan whispered to Su Tao, “You really opened a supply station over in Panliu Mountain?”
Su Tao pointed at Ma Dapao, who was still adjusting. “I even brought the person in charge to you. How could it be fake?”
Zhuang Wan was in awe. “So, you’ve been disappearing lately to start a side business? When will you take me to see it? I haven’t left Dongyang in years.”
“No problem, but Panliu Mountain isn’t as nice as Taoyang—just bare mountains. When Wu Zhen arrives, I’ll have him work on some greenery.”
Zhuang Wan’s eyes lit up. “That would be like a pre-apocalypse wellness retreat with mountains and water. My god, staying there would feel like a vacation.”
Su Tao chuckled. “Are you dreaming? A vacation? Wake up. Instead, take the chance to communicate more with Ma Dapao. He’s an outgoing guy, smooth in both speech and action, something you can learn from. But he’s not as detail-oriented or organized as you, so you can share some of your experience with him.”
Hearing the praise, Zhuang Wan happily agreed.
For Ma Dapao, that meal felt like a heavenly banquet. He was on cloud nine—not only was the food fresh and delicious, but his colleagues were also warm and welcoming. It was truly a place where he felt at home.
If not for his weak stomach, he would have wanted to get drunk and cry—celebrating not just finding a strong backer but also a place to put down roots.
After sending Ma Dapao back to Panliu Mountain, Su Tao returned to find Qian Rongrong and handed her all the personnel information for the employees there.
“Rongrong, from now on, you’ll be in charge of managing the payroll for both Taoyang and Panliu Mountain. Our team will likely keep growing, so considering your future workload, I’d like to increase your salary from 8,000 to 10,000.”
Qian Rongrong, who was entering employee data, froze for a second upon hearing this, then shook her head frantically.
“No, no, no! Not for now. Thank you, Boss Su, but really, there’s no need.”
She then turned to her mother for help. “Mom…”
Qian Lin also shook her head at Su Tao. “Boss, it’s not that we don’t appreciate it, but it’s really unnecessary right now. When Rongrong’s workload increases significantly, then it’ll be time for a raise.”
Since they both insisted, Su Tao had to drop it. She patted Rongrong’s head and smiled.
“Rongrong will be our financial manager in the future. There will be plenty to worry about.”
At the same time, Su Tao felt grateful. It was thanks to this team handling all sorts of matters that she wasn’t completely overwhelmed.
Her ultimate dream was to delegate everything, spend her days strolling around with her cats and dogs, sipping tea, and collecting rent to retire in peace.
But that was still a long way off—there were still too many things that needed her personal attention, and Taoyang and Panliu Mountain weren’t fully developed yet.
*
The next day, Su Tao received all the rent payments from last month’s tenants, totaling 540,000 Federation credits.
It was the first time she had received such a large sum, and she was a little excited. She repeatedly counted her balance. After deducting utilities, she had over 690,000 credits.
One step closer to her million-credit savings goal!
She also submitted the details of the eleven new rooms they had expanded at the end of last month to Zhuang Wan, asking her to find new tenants.
Zhuang Wan was thrilled to receive the empty room listings.
“Boss, my happiest moment each month is when you give me these. Now I can finally deal with all those people begging me for a place to rent and enjoy a few days of peace! Oh, by the way, a tenant came to request a lease termination last night.”
Su Tao was surprised. “A lease termination? Was there something they were unhappy about?”
This was the first time she had encountered a tenant wanting to leave. Usually, demand far exceeded supply, and once people moved in, they never wanted to leave.
Zhuang Wan sighed. “It’s not dissatisfaction with Taoyang. You know how the recent zombie attacks cost Dongyang a lot of soldiers? Tang Qingshu and his wife decided to transfer posts and withdraw from their lease to join the stationed military forces and fill in the gaps. That’s what they told me.”
Tang Qingshu and his wife were the military couple who had introduced Old Mei as their planner.
Su Tao was worried but had no choice. She simply said, “Tell them to be careful. If they ever need anything, Taoyang is here for them. And if they want to come back in the future, we’ll prioritize a room for them.”
Zhuang Wan nodded. “I’ll let them know. Also, I talked to Sheng Yulan yesterday—she’s happy to come work at Taoyang after graduation, but she needs approval from her school. Otherwise, she’ll be assigned to the military. Boss, should we wait for Major General Shi to return and ask him? He should be able to make the decision, right?”
“I’ll ask him. You don’t need to worry about this.”
Su Tao also wanted to keep Sheng Yulan—she was an excellent teacher. Lin Fangzhi’s oral skills had improved significantly under her guidance, and he could now say sentences longer than twenty words.
But he still wasn’t fond of speaking. He only willingly spoke a few sentences in front of her.
Su Tao left a message for Shi Zijin, getting straight to the point and asking for Sheng Yulan.
To her surprise, just three seconds later, he replied with a simple, “Okay.”
She immediately called him. “You’ve arrived in Changjing?”
Shi Zijin’s voice sounded relaxed. “Got here this morning. The research team from Changjing just took ‘Bone Wings’ away, so the mission is complete.”
Su Tao also felt relieved and said, “Finally sent them off. When are you heading back?”
“We’re leaving tonight, but we still need to collect some building materials on the way, so it will take half a month to reach Dongyang.”
