Chapter 15: The Little Canteen
The military thought there was a whole group behind Taoyang, or perhaps even an organization?
Su Tao chuckled internally but kept a straight face.
“I hope you don’t mind. I really do find living in Taoyang quite comfortable. Just treat me as an ordinary tenant.”
Since things had been laid out this way, Su Tao couldn’t make things difficult for Xing Shuyu. But after a quick thought, she asked:
“You said you’re with the military. Do you know Shi Zijin?”
“Major General Shi? Of course.” Not only did she know him, but he was also her grandfather’s trusted aide, secretly being groomed as Dongyang’s successor.
Originally, her grandfather had intended to train her and a few other cousins, but after realizing none of them were promising, he shifted his focus to Shi Zijin.
And to be fair, Shi Zijin truly had the best overall capabilities and the deepest loyalty to Dongyang.
Su Tao nodded inwardly. Judging by the tone, Xing Shuyu was either Shi Zijin’s colleague or subordinate.
That put her at ease. She trusted Shi Zijin, and naturally, she’d view Xing Shuyu as a good person too.
She just wondered when Shi Zijin would return—it had already been three days without any news since he left for a mission.
She couldn’t help but worry. A job that involved risking one’s life was nerve-wracking.
Su Tao had planned to wait until Shi Ziyue finished school to ask if there was any news about her brother. But before she could ask, Shi Ziyue held up her communicator:
“Sister Taozi, our Taoyang is famous now~ Everyone’s calling it the ‘Peach Blossom Spring!’”
Su Tao’s eyes landed on the bold headline:
“After a Life of Wandering, I Found a Home in Taoyang.”
Below was a photo of Fan Chuanhui sitting at the dining table in the living room, holding a steaming bun with his breakfast in front of him.
In the background, you could vaguely see a clean and new sofa, a large-screen TV, a fully stocked breakfast machine, and tenants chatting and laughing together.
Whether it was the heartwarming writing or the striking contrast of the clean, prosperous life in the photo, the comments below had exceeded 100,000.
Su Tao realized that this article must have spread far beyond Dongyang—after all, Dongyang only had a population of 50,000.
Shi Ziyue excitedly waved her phone:
“Even the neighboring Yuncang Base and the other five major bases 500 kilometers away know about Taoyang. I heard a huge group of people packed their bags overnight and headed here!”
Su Tao’s head spun. Even if they came, she didn’t have enough rooms. If they all crowded at her doorstep, she’d have to handle the chaos.
Help!
She checked the visitor records through the smart system and found that in just two days, over 2,000 people had visited.
After today, that number would probably surge even more.
Su Tao clutched her chest, then instinctively held onto her little savings.
She had finally saved up more than 74,000 federal credits, and now she’d have to bleed out funds for expansion. She had wanted to save up to 100,000 before upgrading to Level 3.
But first things first—she needed more rooms. With so many people coming, she’d better have some vacant spaces ready.
Gritting her teeth, she expanded by adding five single rooms and five double rooms. After fully furnishing them, the total cost came to 33,500 federal credits.
Now, the total room count reached 24, with a capacity to accommodate 36 people.
Su Tao started worrying about potential fire hazards, earthquakes, and other emergencies now that more people were around. She considered buying an alarm system.
She also thought about installing surveillance cameras in public areas, adding a few more speakers, and even setting up a broadcast room—improvements that would significantly enhance safety.
Her ideas were ambitious, but after searching the system shop for half a day, she couldn’t find any of these safety facilities.
[Host, the above items are available in the hidden store. To unlock and purchase them, you need to trigger and complete hidden tasks.]
There were hidden tasks too? Well, fine. She had no choice but to post house rules at every corner of the corridors, ensuring they were visible everywhere. For now, she’d have to rely on the tenants’ sense of responsibility.
She shifted her focus to what she could buy.
With more people, food consumption increased too. Su Tao bought another breakfast machine and, after some thought, added two bento cold cabinets.
Each cold cabinet cost 1,500 Federation coins. The food inside could stay fresh for four days, with a restocking cost of 300 coins. Each cabinet held ten bentos, with a selling price of 60 coins per bento.
There was a wide variety of bentos—rice bowls with different toppings, noodle soups, stir-fried dishes—all kinds of meals that Su Tao, a countryside girl born after the apocalypse, had never seen before.
Now, she wouldn’t need to go out to buy food or trouble tenants to bring meals for her—everything was delicious and convenient.
However, placing all these machines made the living room quite crowded. Pulling out a chair at the dining table became difficult.
Feeling uncomfortable with the cramped space, Su Tao decided to open up a single room, knocking down all four walls to convert it into a public area instead of renting it out.
She restructured the expanded public space. The right side near the entrance became a reception area with sofas and stools for casual chats.
On the left, she set up dining tables and the food machines, essentially creating a small canteen.
After the setup, her total assets stood at over 36,000 Federation coins—not bad. At least she still had some savings for emergencies.
Taking a final look at her handiwork, Su Tao went to bed, fully satisfied.
The next morning, Su Tao woke up to a lively buzz outside. After a quick wash, she stepped out of her room and saw everyone sitting in the small canteen, eating and chatting.
When they noticed her, they greeted her warmly.
“Good morning, Landlady Su! This place transformed overnight. I showed my friends, and they were super jealous, asking if we still have rooms available.”
“Yeah, I’ve never lived in a place with a canteen before. Boss Su, this place is heaven!”
…
Even Xing Shuyu was casually taking photos everywhere. She smiled at Su Tao and said:
“This bento cabinet is so convenient. I’ve already snatched up five portions to take back to my family. Look, I just bought them, and everyone else rushed over to grab the rest.”
Su Tao took a look—oh my gosh! The two cold cabinets, holding twenty bentos in total, were completely sold out.
The burly man, Meng Xiaobo, who had grabbed the most bentos, scratched his head and chuckled. His girlfriend rolled her eyes and explained:
“Xiaobo eats a lot. His appetite is as big as three regular people’s combined. Sorry, everyone. It’s like feeding a pig at home—what can we do?”
Her comment made everyone burst into laughter.
Shi Ziyue, who had been sleeping in her room, heard the noise. She rubbed her sleepy eyes and walked out, mouth agape at the transformed living room:
“Sister Taozi, if you keep this up, you’ll erode my brother’s sense of duty. He’ll start thinking that going on missions is for fools and that staying home is way more comfortable.”
Su Tao pinched her cheek:
“You just don’t want to go to school, right? By the way, when is your brother coming back? It’s been days.”
“He got back last night, but he’s injured. He’s lying in a recovery pod now.”
