Chapter 120: I Consider You a Good Friend Too, That’s Why I Care About You
Zhong Gaoyi casually made up a lie, saying, “I have something to do on the tenth, so I came early.”
Su Tao didn’t think much of it and happily welcomed him inside.
“Dr. Zhong, you came at the perfect time. Please take a look at Xuedao—it injured its leg.”
Zhong Gaoyi wasn’t particularly concerned about the dog’s injury. Instead, he focused on the bandage on her head and asked,
“Boss Su, are you okay? Do you need me to check on you?”
Su Tao was just about to wave her hand and say no.
But before she could, Shi Zijin directly said to Zhong Gaoyi,
“Left hand joint, right wrist, ankle, forehead, back of the head—check all of them.”
In the end, both Su Tao and Xuedao ended up in Dr. Zhong’s clinic.
When they came out, all the minor pains she had were completely gone.
Xuedao could even run in circles around her again.
Zhong Gaoyi couldn’t help but remind her,
“Boss Su, even though these are just minor injuries, you can’t ignore them. It’s hot out, and infections could be troublesome.”
Shi Zijin looked down at her. “Did you hear that?”
Su Tao quickly nodded. “I heard, I heard.”
Zhong Gaoyi glanced around. “By the way, Boss Su, where’s that batch of medical equipment you brought before?”
Su Tao replied, “It’s piled up in the reception room of the office building next door. I haven’t had time to organize it. I’ll get it set up before your clinic hours tomorrow.”
She had been busy with the construction of Panliu Mountain recently and had neglected the clinic. It looked like she’d have to pull an all-nighter to set up the medical equipment room and emergency room.
As they left the clinic, Su Tao saw Chen Xi rushing toward them.
Su Tao called out, “Chen Xi? Why are you running so fast? Be careful.”
Chen Xi slowed down and said sheepishly, “I heard someone say Uncle Zhong was here. I haven’t seen him in so long, so…”
Su Tao smiled. “Go ahead then.”
After Chen Xi ran off, Su Tao turned to Shi Zijin and said,
“Chen Xi really likes Dr. Zhong. I heard from Zhuang Wan that every time Dr. Zhong comes, he gives her private lessons and even brings her some books on surgery. Do you think he wants to take her as a disciple?”
Shi Zijin calmly replied, “Maybe he wants to adopt her as a daughter.”
Su Tao was stunned. “That can’t be… Zhuang Wan might fight him for that.”
Shi Zijin looked at her youthful face, thought for a moment that this wasn’t a topic suitable for a young girl, and changed the subject.
“Take me to see Black Sesame.”
Su Tao was successfully distracted. “Oh right, let me find it. Ever since it awakened its ability, it loves running around. It can’t stand being locked up at home, scratching at the door every morning, so I let it out to play.”
She pulled up the surveillance cameras and found Black Sesame near Building Two.
At the same time, she also saw the shattered first-floor window and part of the collapsed wall from last night’s explosion.
Damn it. After setting up the clinic, she’d have to repair the walls tonight too. When she caught those responsible, she’d make sure they knew what real cruelty was.
When they reached Building Two, Su Tao called out, and Black Sesame darted in through the broken window.
It rubbed against Su Tao first, then noticed an old acquaintance nearby and flopped onto Shi Zijin’s military boots, rolling over to expose its belly for scratches.
Shi Zijin picked it up, looked it over, and said to Su Tao,
“It has a special psychic ability called ‘Reconnaissance.’ Not only can it share its vision with others, but also its hearing, smell, and touch. Plus, any area it has scouted gets ‘stored’ as visual maps that can be accessed at any time, just like a reconnaissance soldier sending back intel from the front lines.”
“You can think of it as a mobile surveillance camera with no range limitations, and it can completely hide itself in the dark.”
Shi Zijin paused, then added,
“It’s perfect for the military. Its powerful scouting ability would be a great asset to the troops.”
Su Tao blinked. “That’s true. With me, this ability is kind of useless.”
With her system, she already had full control over Taoyang and Panliu Mountain—there was no need for Black Sesame to scout anything.
But for soldiers who had to venture into dangerous territories, a powerful ‘scout’ was invaluable.
Still… Su Tao had selfish reasons. She really couldn’t bear to send Black Sesame into the army. It was just a little cat, pampered by her since birth, never exposed to the dangers of the outside world.
She couldn’t let it go.
Shi Zijin didn’t say anything more. He simply scratched Black Sesame’s chin before handing it back to Su Tao.
Su Tao kissed it on the forehead before setting it down to play.
“It’s getting late. I’ll watch you go upstairs—go on.”
Under the moonlight, the evening breeze brushed past.
Su Tao looked at him, noticing the faint weariness in his figure, and couldn’t help but ask,
“When this mission is over, how long will you get to rest?”
Shi Zijin shook his head. “Hard to say. A month, a week, maybe even just a day.”
Su Tao couldn’t hold it in. “Aren’t you really tired?”
Shi Zijin countered, “You spend all day worrying about Taoyang, handling every little problem—someone loses something, you care. A tenant goes missing or gets hurt, you’re the most concerned. Aren’t you tired?”
Su Tao sighed. “It’s just that I see you constantly out there, always on the move, never stopping, always facing the most dangerous situations. I worry about you. I care.”
Shi Zijin’s gaze deepened. “Why do you care about me?”
Su Tao froze for a moment, then quickly retorted, “Then why did you rush back the moment you heard I was injured? Why did you insist on seeing me with your own eyes, no matter the cost?”
She lifted her chin. “Hmm? Why aren’t you answering?”
“Because we’re friends,” Shi Zijin answered seriously.
The corners of Su Tao’s mouth slowly fell. “Right… I consider you a good friend too, that’s why I care about you. Not just you—I also care about Cen Lao Er.”
She yawned. “I’m going upstairs. No need to wake me up when you leave tomorrow—I’m sleeping in.”
Shi Zijin watched her figure disappear into the stairwell.
In his heart, he softly said, Goodnight. Goodbye.
Su Tao opened the door to her room and flopped onto her big bed, rolling over with White Sesame in her arms.
Forget it—no man could ever be as satisfying as infrastructure development.
Just then, her communicator suddenly rang. Seeing that it was Gu Mingchi calling, Su Tao answered, put it on speaker, and casually tossed it aside before lying back down.
“Boss Gu, just get to the point. Your business partner is not in the mood for small talk.”
Gu Mingchi didn’t really know why he had called in the first place. After a long pause, he forced out a question:
“How’s the old man doing lately?”
“He’s doing great. The caretaker says he eats well, sleeps well, and even sings loudly in the afternoon.”
“Good. That’s all.”
Su Tao waited for him to hang up. She spaced out while waiting, and when she finally picked up the communicator again, she realized ten minutes had passed, yet Gu Mingchi still hadn’t ended the call.
“…Anything else?”
The call immediately disconnected.
Su Tao was baffled but couldn’t be bothered to think too much about it. She sat up, opened her system, and got to work.
She pinpointed the clinic on her map and started construction. First, she expanded the original consultation room to add a single-person emergency room and moved the necessary medical equipment inside.
The emergency room was equipped with two single beds and two storage cabinets for emergency medicine.
It would be great if she could get her hands on a supply of medicine. Right now, Taoyang had nothing.
Next, she built a new floor above the consultation room, accessible by a spiral staircase, to store additional medical equipment.
Opening her window, she looked toward the clinic with satisfaction—it was starting to resemble a real hospital.
After finishing the clinic, she moved on to repairing the entire first floor of Building Two. By the time she was done, it was basically restored to its original state.
Checking the time, she saw it was only a little past eleven. She decided to build a few more two-bedroom apartments.
That afternoon, a batch of new tenants had moved in, earning her another 198,000 Federation Credits.
Now, her total savings had reached a record high of 880,000 Credits.
She went all in and built seven more two-bedroom apartments, bringing her balance back down to 660,000—still a solid amount.
Once those seven units were rented out, she would gain another 560,000 in income, instantly pushing her savings past one million.
If everything went smoothly, her total number of tenants would reach 150.
And if Panliu Mountain kept growing at this pace, hitting 200 tenants wouldn’t be a problem.
That would trigger her next system upgrade!
