Chapter 100: Mother-Son Photo & Liu Panpan’s Past
Su Tao froze for a moment and picked up the small photo frame, realizing that it was attached to a communicator.
The communicator was stained with blood, and its screen was completely shattered like frost patterns.
She stared at the photo for a long time and finally understood why the mother in the picture looked so familiar—wasn’t that Liu Panpan?
And the beautiful little boy beside her, around four or five years old, was her deceased son?
What a coincidence to find this here.
Su Tao put it away and rummaged through the burlap sack but didn’t find anything else particularly valuable. She handed it back to Ma Dapao.
“Just find a place at the foot of the mountain and bury it.”
Ma Dapao hesitated. “But there are still communicators in here that could be sold for some money. If you don’t want them, can I keep them?”
Su Tao shook her head. “No. I strongly advise you not to take things from the dead. Just bury them. These people were already pitiful enough in the apocalypse—who knows, they might still have family alive, hoping to retrieve some of their belongings.”
Ma Dapao finally gave up and instead rubbed his hands together, changing the topic.
“Boss Su, is that a duty station over there?”
It had been too dark last night for him to see clearly, but now that the sun was up, he finally noticed it.
Inside the duty station, there was a desk, a computer, a sofa, and even a water dispenser!
“Damn! Is this a job or a luxury lounge?”
Then, he looked around some more—there was also a fuel pump, a charging station, all brand new!
Ma Dapao immediately smelled money.
This Boss Su is loaded! And well-connected!
“Yeah, what about it?” Su Tao asked.
Ma Dapao’s eyes lit up.
“Are you setting up a supply station? Do you need staff? I think I’d be a great fit! I have a great memory—I can recognize people after just one meeting. Plus, I’ve dealt with all kinds of travelers, from big convoys to mercenary teams. I can tell the good from the bad and guarantee I’ll keep your gates secure.”
Su Tao glanced at him. “If you’re so experienced, why not stay at your old station? You could work your way up in a few years.”
Ma Dapao slapped his thigh:
“Boss Su, I won’t lie to you. I worked there for six years and I’m still just a doorman pulling in customers. The management there is a tight-knit clique—they’ve only ever accepted one outsider, Boss Gu. Anyone else trying to climb up? Impossible.”
Su Tao asked, “Are there many others like you? People who’ve been stuck at the old station for years with no way forward?”
“Plenty. Look at the four guys I brought with me—they’ve been around for six or seven years. One’s a mechanic, two can read and write, and one’s even an ability user, great at fighting. Yet here they are, still stuck taking odd jobs like corpse disposal to make extra cash.”
Su Tao thought for a moment. “Alright, help me find some workers first. I need a cook—preferably someone older who was a chef before the apocalypse. I also need two front desk girls, just decent-looking is fine. Lastly, two fast and tidy cleaners, gender doesn’t matter. All of them will get free meals and lodging, and their salaries can be discussed.”
Then she added, “If you do a good job recruiting, you can come work for me too. I won’t treat you badly.”
Ma Dapao’s eyes turned green with excitement—free food and lodging?! What kind of god-tier job was this?
Su Tao took him up the mountain by elevator and gave him a tour, “This is the front desk. There’s a room here with a double bed and a wardrobe. Next to it is a private bathroom. The two front desk girls will work in shifts, covering both day and night. This place needs to be staffed 24/7.”
Ma Dapao’s jaw dropped.
Luxury finishes!
He snapped a few photos. “Boss Su, with conditions like these, you won’t even need to pay people—some might even be willing to work for free just to live here!”
Su Tao laughed. “That’s why I need you to pick carefully. No bad habits, no scumbags.”
She then showed him the restaurant and the kitchen.
The more Ma Dapao saw, the more convinced he became—this was his chance to make it big!
Compared to the old, rundown station, once Panliu Mountain’s station opened, as long as the prices weren’t insanely high, customers would obviously flock here.
And if business boomed, as one of the founding members, his future would be unstoppable!
Ma Dapao’s blood was boiling with excitement, and he was determined to do an excellent job finding the right people.
After Su Tao finished showing him around, she let him go and quickly got to work renovating the underground garage.
The bloodstained, filthy floors were replaced with new tiles, parking spaces were re-marked, and the walls were repainted.
Finally, it was usable. This garage would be reserved for convoys passing through, making it very convenient.
At this stage, the Panliu Mountain construction was about 80% complete, with only a staff dormitory, a public restroom, and the fifth-floor living quarters left to be built.
Su Tao decided to slow things down and wait until the team was fully in place before finishing everything in one go and officially opening for business.
By the time she got back to Taoyang, it was already afternoon.
She reached into her pocket, feeling the small photo frame, hesitated for a long time, and finally knocked on Old Mei’s door.
Sure enough, it was Liu Panpan who answered.
When she saw Su Tao, she smiled and called inside, “Mr. Mei, Boss Su is here.”
“Boss Su, come in and have a seat.”
Su Tao sat down in the living room, looking around at the spotless house that Liu Panpan had tidied up. She couldn’t help but feel emotional.
If not for the apocalypse, Liu Panpan should have had a happy family—a loving husband, an adorable son…
Su Tao clutched the small photo frame in her pocket, and after a moment of hesitation, finally took it out.
“Sister Pan, is this yours?”
Liu Panpan was smiling at first, but the moment she saw the photo frame, her smile froze on her face.
Su Tao sighed inwardly. She knew it—this thing was like a sharp knife, effortlessly tearing open Liu Panpan’s wounds.
With a trembling voice, Liu Panpan took the frame with shaky hands.
“…Yes… Yes, it’s mine. Where did you find it?”
“Panliu Mountain. A very far place.”
Liu Panpan froze for a moment. Slowly, her expression shifted—from grief to shock, and finally to complete breakdown.
She covered her face and sobbed uncontrollably, “I knew it… I knew it! They lied to me! My Yan Yan wasn’t dead back then! They hid the truth and left him in that garage!”
Su Tao was stunned.
What the hell?!
Liu Panpan’s face was covered in tears as she choked out her story, “This January, I was traveling with a small group, fleeing to Dongyang. When we passed Panliu Mountain, Yan Yan was attacked by zombies and developed a high fever. I was so worried I fell sick too. When I woke up, my teammates told me Yan Yan had died.”
“But just now… I checked the back of this photo frame. There’s a hidden compartment—when you press it, it pops open to reveal Yan Yan’s usual medicine. He had congenital bone tumors. The medicine inside is already gone. Only the two of us knew about this secret. That means… when he was separated from me, he was still alive!”
“How ridiculous… I actually believed he was dead. I buried only his clothes and left. God knows how my little boy survived in that dark, cold garage all alone…”
