Chapter 138: Gu Mingchi, Whose Side Are You On?
Zhuang Wan was momentarily stunned, not understanding what Su Tao meant.
Su Tao smiled, “It’s an employee benefit. The apartment will be free for your family of three to live in.”
She continued, “I’ve actually been wanting to give you a raise for a while. Your workload is massive, you don’t even have proper rest days, and you’re practically working 30 days a month. Instead of a salary raise, I’m giving you this housing benefit while keeping your salary the same. Is that okay?”
There was another reason behind Su Tao’s decision—Zhuang Wan was a single mother with two children, and her monthly salary wasn’t enough to cover rent. She had been living off her savings, which were actually the compensation money from her husband and brother’s passing.
Su Tao wanted her to save that rent money and have some financial security for the future.
Zhuang Wan was sharp and immediately understood Su Tao’s intentions. Her eyes turned red, and the next second, she burst into tears.
“Tao, thank you. Honestly, if it weren’t for you, I might have ended up looking for a man to rely on. And I know… in this world, I wouldn’t be looking for a husband—I’d be looking for a lover, a sugar daddy, a protector. None of them would marry me. And what kind of man would still be taking lovers in the apocalypse? How many of them could truly be kind?”
“You saved me. If it weren’t for you, I don’t even want to imagine what kind of situation I’d be in now. Chen Xi and Chen Yang would have suffered with me. You’ve already done so much for us. I don’t deserve this house. I can’t accept it for free… I just can’t…”
Su Tao gently pulled her into a hug and reassured her:
“It’s not exactly free. You still have to work your heart out for Taoyang, you know? Besides, even if you don’t think about yourself, think about Chen Xi and Chen Yang. They’re still young, and there will be plenty of expenses in the future.”
But Zhuang Wan still shook her head firmly. “It’s already hard enough for me to raise them to this point. If they need money later, they’ll have to earn it themselves.”
Su Tao tried to convince her for ages, but seeing how determined she was, she finally gave up.
Instead, she decided to raise Zhuang Wan’s salary to 30,000 credits per month—though, truthfully, it was still less financially beneficial than the free housing she originally intended.
Zhuang Wan felt the salary increase was too high, but she also feared that rejecting it again would truly disappoint Su Tao’s good intentions.
Seeing that Zhuang Wan finally agreed, Su Tao smiled and said, “I’m giving you half a day off to move. Go ahead.”
Thinking about her new home, Zhuang Wan felt thrilled. She thanked Su Tao once more, grabbed her bag, called Chen Xi and Chen Yang, and excitedly ran to Building 4.
The moment they saw the beautiful, well-designed apartment with three separate bedrooms, the three of them were overjoyed.
Chen Xi, now a young girl, had been longing for her own space. The moment she saw her new room, she screamed in delight and rushed inside.
Inside, she found a soft, cozy bed, an independent bookshelf, a study desk with a chair, and even a large wardrobe all to herself.
She ran out excitedly and asked Zhuang Wan, “Mom, are we really going to live here from now on?”
Zhuang Wan nodded gently, smiling at her daughter.
Chen Xi, as happy as a little bird, ran around the entire apartment, exclaiming, “This is amazing! Mom, I love this home so much! I want to live here forever, live in Taoyang forever, and even have my future children live here too!”
Zhuang Wan, in a serious tone, said, “Then you need to study hard with Dr. Zhong. In the future, become a good doctor in Taoyang. And most importantly, you must be grateful to Sister Tao. Without her, we wouldn’t have such a nice home. Understand?”
Chen Xi’s face was full of smiles, and she nodded enthusiastically.
Just as Su Tao sent off Zhuang Wan, Qi Yunlan came to find her.
Qi Yunlan had actually been waiting all morning and immediately handed Su Tao a list of candidates.
Su Tao carefully scanned the list and was surprised to recognize several names—they were Taoyang’s tenants!
Qi Yunlan explained:
“Meng Xiaobo probably told you last night—he’s a great fit. Having him as our security guard will be a strong deterrent.”
“This Wu Yanfeng is also one of our tenants. She’s the widow of a military martyr—her entire family was lost in the war, and she’s the only one left. She personally came to me, saying she wanted to find work. She’s calm and reliable, and she previously worked in police records for criminal investigations. She’d be perfect for monitoring our security cameras, so I agreed.”
“Then we have two others you may not know—He Han and Liang Yongyuan. They’re also our tenants. The private factories and companies they worked for are on the verge of shutting down, so when they heard we were hiring, they applied. They’re both good people.”
“The remaining candidates are external hires.”
Su Tao didn’t hesitate and waved her hand decisively:
“Approve them all. Get them on board as soon as possible.”
She was still worried about Old Station stirring up trouble, so the sooner surveillance started, the better.
Su Tao’s concerns were spot on.
Over at Old Station, Tan Yong was furious after hearing the latest news from Panliu Mountain—he was practically fuming with rage.
Qu Jingyun sneered in disgust, “They’re giving a 10% discount to all Old Station customers? And even handing out free water? They’re using such obvious tricks just to steal our customers! They’re absolutely shameless!”
She continued, “Is that woman Su really that stupid, or is she just a reckless fool who doesn’t know what she’s up against? She should at least find out how deep Old Station’s roots go before trying to challenge us. We could send a few ability users to infiltrate and destroy that pathetic little settlement of hers in no time.”
Tan Yong’s expression darkened, and he called over a subordinate.
“Send a few people to disguise themselves as merchants and infiltrate their base. I want to see for myself whether their so-called high benefits, good environment, discounts, and free water are real.”
Qu Jingyun disagreed, “Brother Yong, that’s too much effort. Why not just send a few strong ability users to wipe them out? We take what’s valuable and destroy the rest.”
Tan Yong didn’t respond immediately.
He remembered Gu Mingchi’s warning and, after calming down, realized that they shouldn’t act too rashly.
Even a small enemy was still an enemy—it was best to gather intel first.
However, just thinking about Gu Mingchi made him furious.
He couldn’t believe their friendship was strained because of some woman!
Damn it! Whose side was Gu Mingchi even on?!
Feeling suspicious, Tan Yong called Gu Mingchi directly.
“Gu bro, we haven’t talked in a week. I can’t hold it in anymore, so let me just ask you straight—are we still partners or not?”
Gu Mingchi’s voice was calm. “Yes, we are. But I don’t want to start a fight with Panliu Mountain. It’s unnecessary and offers no real benefit. I hope you understand that.”
The mere mention of Panliu Mountain was like a spark in a barrel of gunpowder—Tan Yong exploded on the spot.
“Are you f*cking kidding me?! Panliu Mountain is openly declaring war on us! They announced that ALL Old Station customers get a 10% discount AND a free bottle of water! That’s blatant provocation! If I don’t crush them, I’m not a man!”
“Gu Mingchi, let me lay it out for you—I’m going to send ability users in soon. I’ll wipe out Panliu Mountain and capture that little b*tch Su Tao alive. You know the ability users under my command. For them, this will be nothing more than child’s play.”
“If you’re my brother, you’ll pretend this never happened. Don’t warn her. If you don’t want to work with me anymore, fine—do whatever the hell you want. Hell, you can even go defend her settlement for all I care!”
