Chapter 103: If I Survive, I Will Devote My Life to Taoyang
“So what do we do now?”
Wu Zhen sighed, exhausted. “We wait. Hold out until the zombies leave on their own.”
His wife stared at the trembling security door, panic creeping into her voice.
“This door won’t last long…”
In her arms, their son burst into frightened sobs.
Just then, Wu Zhen’s communicator rang.
Hearing the sound, his wife clutched at it like a lifeline.
“Pick up! Maybe the Jiang family remembered you after all!”
Wu Zhen didn’t have any hope, but when he saw the caller ID, he froze for a moment before answering.
“Miss Su?”
On the other end, Su Tao could hear zombie roars and human screams in the background. She frowned deeply.
“Things sound bad on your end. How are you holding up?”
Wu Zhen said bitterly, “We’re trapped at home. No immediate danger for now, but I can only hope our door holds out long enough.”
Su Tao regretted not sending someone to pick him up sooner.
Wu Zhen’s tone was filled with resignation, as if he were saying his final words.
“Miss Su, I’m afraid I won’t be able to keep my promise this time. I sincerely apologize. Also, could you pass a message to Uncle Mei for me? Tell him… I was wrong. I should have listened to him earlier.”
Su Tao cut him off. “You’re not dead yet. Stop talking like this. Besides, you already promised me you’d come to Taoyang. That means you’re one of mine now. Your life is mine too. I’ll figure something out. What you need to do now is stay alive—hold out as long as you can, until someone comes to rescue you. Do you hear me?”
Wu Zhen was stunned into silence.
Su Tao continued, “Taoyang needs you. The people here need you. You have to hold on.”
Wu Zhen covered his face, took a deep breath, wiped his tears away fiercely, and said with determination, “Miss Su, if I survive this and make it to Taoyang, I will dedicate my entire life to serving it.”
Su Tao hung up and immediately called Ma Dapao.
He picked up right away.
“Boss Su, yesterday the supply station was attacked by zombies. A lot of people died—my god, I was lucky to escape! I had already found people for you, but when I went back, two of them were dead! I have to find replacements. You’re not in a rush, right? If not, give me a few more days.”
Su Tao asked, “I’m not rushing for that. Are you safe right now?”
Ma Dapao whined, “I have no idea. I paid a hefty sum last night to save my own skin and I’m hiding in an underground shelter. I don’t know what’s happening outside.”
“There’s a shelter under the supply station?”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s huge—can fit about two thousand people. You can get in if you pay money or bring supplies.”
Su Tao acknowledged this information and then asked, “Put that hiring job on hold for now. I have something urgent—do you know many mercenary teams?”
Hearing this, Ma Dapao’s tone immediately turned smug.
“Of course! I know a lot of them from the Changjing Base. Their captains are all top-tier elites—true warlords of the apocalypse.”
Su Tao asked, “How do they usually take jobs? What’s the typical payment?”
“They take both official base assignments and private commissions. The usual payments are cash or supplies, sometimes contribution points or rare goods.”
Su Tao thought for a moment. “Then post a mission for me—rescue people from Shou’an Base and escort them to Dongyang. I’ll send you the address. As for the payment, let them name their price, but prioritize supplies.”
Money was out of the question—she only had 60,000 left, and that was reserved for expanding housing.
Ma Dapao hesitated. “Is this mission urgent?”
“Yes. Lives are at stake.”
Ma Dapao scratched his head. “Boss Su, with zombies running rampant right now, not many teams will dare to take it.”
“Then increase the payment. Offer food, cooking oil, fuel, water, and rare snacks, drinks, or liquor—whatever they want. Someone will take it.”
Ma Dapao nearly stammered. “Y-you’re serious?”
This Boss Su was loaded. A real golden goose.
Su Tao’s tone turned cold. “I’ll pay generously, but I expect efficiency. The people must be rescued within a week.”
“Boss Su, don’t worry! I’ll find a strong mercenary team for you and give you an answer by noon tomorrow!”
Su Tao felt slightly relieved and added, “Once you’re done, head to Panliu Mountain as soon as possible. It’s safe there, with available rooms and food.”
Ma Dapao was flattered. “Thank you! I’ll make sure the job gets done well, or else I won’t have the face to freeload off you.”
Just as she hung up, Su Tao received a message from Pei Dong, “We found Xiaqing. She turned into a zombie. I killed her.”
“She had a will sewn into her military cap, written by someone on her behalf.”
“One of her final wishes was that if she died, she wanted someone to take her ashes to Taoyang’s office building and let her sit there for a while.”
“Tao, I’m counting on you.”
Su Tao put down the communicator, her chest feeling unbearably tight. She rubbed her face hard, trying to shake off the emotions.
Zhuang Wan, seeing her state, felt bad about pushing the issue of the housing situation. Instead, she sighed and said, “I cleared a shelf in the exhibition room. We can place Xiaqing’s military cap there.”
Su Tao nodded. “The new rooms are done—two single rooms, a one-bedroom apartment, and a two-bedroom apartment. Prioritize them for soldiers and their families.”
She had built them before coming to the office. Now she only had a few thousand left.
Just a little longer. If she could hold out until the beginning of next month, she would get all the June rent renewals at once.
By her estimate, that would be over 500,000 federal credits.
Zhuang Wan quickly agreed, then suddenly remembered something. “Our first batch of vegetables sold out on the first day. Qian Lin did the accounting—the profit is quite impressive. Do you want to check it out?”
Su Tao perked up instantly.
Right now, only money could make her happy!
The numbers shocked her. In just half a month, the farm had already generated 80,000 federal credits!
And this was just the starting profit.
Qian Lin wiped the sweat off her forehead and shook her head. “Even with this production, it’s still not enough. I checked the reports—one-fifth of our tenants didn’t even manage to buy anything. Ideally, we should expand our farmland.”
Su Tao wanted to expand too, but Taoyang’s land was already maxed out.
She suspected that if she wanted to expand Taoyang, she would need to personally survey the surrounding areas and acquire evolved zombie crystal cores to do so.
But with zombies raging outside, she wasn’t daring enough to go out right now. On top of that, she had no leads on the necessary crystal cores.
For now, Su Tao could only reassure, “Let’s keep production as is for now. Prioritize those tenants who missed out last time.”
Qian Lin sensed Su Tao’s dilemma and didn’t press the issue. Instead, she spoke with enthusiasm,
“Boss, I’ve transferred this month’s revenue to you. Next month, our plantation’s target is 200,000.”
[+80,000 Federal Credits]
Seeing the deposit notification on her communicator, Su Tao instantly felt recharged, as if every cell in her body had been revitalized.
