Chapter 181: Bewitchment
Lian Sha’s original plan was to get close to Shi Zijin by joining the Pioneer Army’s recruitment drive.
But unexpectedly, she wasn’t selected!
She had already bewitched everyone she could—so how could she still fail?
She even specifically asked for the reason, but the staff only gave her vague responses.
When she tried applying for a military logistics position instead, she was rejected again.
It felt as if someone was deliberately targeting her.
She began to suspect that Shi Zijin himself had personally removed her from consideration.
This man… was overly cautious.
She had been in Dongyang for more than half a month, waiting for the Pioneer Army to set out, yet she hadn’t even caught a glimpse of Shi Zijin.
With no other choice, she settled for the next best thing—finding out where he lived.
She refused to believe that he never went home.
But after investigating, she discovered that Shi Zijin’s residence was quite unique. It was a place called Taoyang, which was rather famous in Dongyang.
And not just anyone could live there—residency required an application and approval before one could qualify.
So she submitted two applications to stay in Taoyang, but both sank into the sea without a trace.
Upon inquiry, she learned that to have a higher chance of approval, one needed an introduction from an acquaintance.
Lian Sha was momentarily dumbfounded.
She had only been in Dongyang for a short time—where would she find acquaintances?
After much effort, she finally found someone useful—Chen Shaoyuan, the head of the logistics department.
She had overheard him bragging in a conversation, mentioning that he once saved a young boy who was now in Taoyang—a favorite of Taoyang’s owner.
Using a bit of her special ability, Lian Sha easily bewitched Chen, and the next day, he agreed to introduce her.
Chen Shaoyuan looked at her with infatuation and said,
“Let me introduce you—this is Lin Fangzhi, the person I mentioned who is close to Boss Su. And this is Meng An, a supervisor in Taoyang.”
Lin Fangzhi and Meng An were indifferent at first, thinking they’d just listen briefly and report back to Su Tao. After all, whether someone could live in Taoyang ultimately depended on the boss.
But before the conversation even started, a melodious tune floated through the air.
Meng Xiaobo’s mind instantly went blank, his pupils dilating.
Lin Fangzhi sensed that something was off, but his rationality only lasted three or four seconds before he, too, fell into a daze.
Lian Sha gently parted her lips, her alluring voice whispering into their ears:
“Remember, my name is Lian Man, not Lian Sha. You will recommend me to live in Taoyang—this must succeed. You must not fail. You must not betray me. And you must report everything to me immediately.”
*
On her first day at work, Meng Qian was exceptionally dedicated. After familiarizing herself with her duties, she hurried to urge Su Tao about the new housing units for August.
Zhuang Wan nagged from the side:
“Boss, it’s already the tenth, and there’s not a single vacant unit. How about arranging a new batch in the next couple of days? That way, Qianqian can also get familiar with the move-in procedures and process.”
The overworked Su Tao sighed,
“I’ll do my best. Once I finish building the third floor of Taohua Tower, I’ll start preparing the new housing.”
Meng Qian’s eyes lit up with anticipation.
Su Tao waved them off, “Alright, you guys should get going. It’s the end of the workday, right? You’re really blocking me on purpose at this hour, aren’t you?”
Newbie employee Meng Qian felt a little embarrassed.
Zhuang Wan, however, remained unfazed—she had done this countless times and had developed a thick skin:
“Of course not, just a coincidence.”
“Yeah, right. Let’s go eat. Where’s Fangzhi? Still not back? He’s been gone all afternoon.”
Just as she finished speaking, they heard the sound of an engine downstairs. The two had returned.
“What did Minister Chen want with you guys? Talked all afternoon?” Su Tao asked.
Lin Fangzhi still looked a little dazed. All afternoon? He felt like only ten minutes had passed.
Meng Xiaobo, clueless as always, said, “Not much, just that Minister Chen wanted Fangzhi to recommend someone to live in Taoyang.”
Su Tao understood. This kind of request was pretty common—employees and tenants of Taoyang were often approached by friends and family for recommendations. It wasn’t surprising.
So she didn’t ask further, figuring they’d follow the usual process. If the applicant passed the review, they’d be approved.
That night, Su Tao went about her usual routine of training her cat. It left her so exhausted that she finally lost patience and locked Black Sesame back in its cage for discipline.
“Listen up, you little troublemaker. I’ll let you out, but if I catch you wandering outside Taoyang again, I’m done with you. I’m not joking. It’s too dangerous out there. With your tiny limbs, forget zombies—even an ordinary person with a mousetrap could catch you.”
Black Sesame clung to the cage, wailing loudly while scurrying around inside, shaking the cage so violently that it clanged against the ground.
White Sesame was so frightened that it hid under Xuedao’s belly, not daring to peek out.
But Su Tao was determined to teach Black Sesame a lesson this time. No matter how much it howled, she didn’t open the cage.
By 1 AM, Black Sesame finally quieted down, curling into a pathetic little ball in the cage, letting out soft whimpers.
Even when she opened a can of food for it, it refused to eat.
Seeing this, Su Tao felt guilty—her eyes even started to sting.
Maybe it’ll be fine tomorrow. It just needs to get used to it. She tried to reassure herself.
Taking one last look at the small, pitiful black furball in the cage, she clenched her teeth and returned to her room.
Since she couldn’t sleep anyway, she pulled an all-nighter and finished building the third and fourth floors of Taohua Tower in one go.
The structure covered about the same area as Taoli Tower—over 500 square meters.
The first floor was a vegetable sales hall. Upon entering, the left side was lined with counters, allowing three lines of people to purchase vegetables.
Behind the counters was an entire wall of refrigerated storage units.
Tenants could place their orders at the counter, make their payment, and then receive their vegetables.
Deeper inside, there was a small door leading to a storage room. Freshly harvested vegetables from the plantation were first brought here for initial processing before being transferred to the refrigerated display units for sale.
This storage room also had a separate door directly connected to the plantation—super convenient.
With this sales hall, not only would it be easier for tenants to buy groceries, but it would also make work smoother for Qian Lin and the others. They no longer had to cram into a small building with all the produce.
Taking the access gate inside and swiping an entry card, one could take the elevator to the second floor—a full-fledged office area.
Its layout was similar to Taoli Tower, with restrooms, meeting rooms, shared workstations, a break room, and more.
Qian Lin and Wu Zhen’s private offices were also on this floor.
The third floor followed the same layout but had one small difference—exiting the elevator and turning right, one could push open a glass door to access a massive outdoor terrace, over 50 square meters in size.
It was furnished with outdoor tea tables and chairs.
This area was meant for Wu Zhen’s leisure—he could grow plants and flowers to his heart’s content.
As for the fourth floor, half of it was used for storage, housing seeds, tools, and other supplies. The other half was additional office space.
The storage section even had a private elevator that went straight down to the small storage room on the first floor.
Altogether, the project cost her over 620,000 federal credits—another massive expense, just like Taoli Tower.
But the results were excellent.
Su Tao did a final check, made some optimizations to the details, and nodded in satisfaction.
It looked like Qian Lin and the others could move in as soon as the sun came up.
Just as she had that thought, the first light of dawn broke across the sky.
Another night of hard work.
