Chapter 345: Su Jianming’s Breakdown
Li Ronglian and Su Jianming were in the middle of a heated argument when the communicator suddenly rang.
Both were so furious that neither of them paid attention.
But after a while, the communicator rang again—over and over. Finally, Su Jianming couldn’t stand it anymore. He kicked Li Ronglian hard, knocking her to the ground, then stomped off to answer the call. “Who is it?!”
“Su Jianming! Ever since you lost your job, you’ve gotten bolder, huh?”
Su Jianming shuddered, and his attitude shifted 180 degrees. Suddenly, he was both fearful and respectful.
“Minister Gong! I’m sorry, I’m sorry—I didn’t hear the call just now. What can I do for you?”
Minister Gong was the highest-ranking official in the Engineering Department. Back then, Su Jianming had even wanted to introduce Su Tao to Minister Gong’s son—if they could become in-laws, Su Jianming’s career would surely skyrocket.
But Minister Gong had rejected the proposal, probably because he didn’t think much of Su Tao, who was just a young girl at the time.
Since then, he hadn’t had much contact with Minister Gong. Now that he had been laid off for so long, why was the minister calling him?
Was this about re-employment? Was the company rehiring old employees?
Su Jianming suddenly perked up. After all, West District Three was about to undergo major reconstruction—they’d surely need experienced engineers to support the work in Taoyang.
He listened intently, full of anticipation.
But what he heard next shattered his hopes.
“When you were still employed, you didn’t achieve anything significant. Out of consideration for your large family, the organization granted you a 60-square-meter welfare apartment. But now you’ve been laid off for a while, and your children are already independent. The organization has decided to reclaim your apartment and allocate it to employees who are making real contributions. But don’t worry—we’ll provide you with some compensation.”
“W-What?”
Minister Gong’s patience was wearing thin.
He had always despised Su Jianming for his groveling and the shameful act of trying to sell his daughter to climb the social ladder.
And now, with District Chief Xie personally ordering that Su Jianming’s family be evicted, it was clear that Su Jianming had caused serious trouble—serious enough to alert the higher-ups.
A person like Su Jianming was nothing but a liability, and the sooner he was dealt with, the better.
Minister Gong’s tone grew colder. “I heard your daughter is doing well in Xindu. Why don’t you just move there? In two weeks, someone will come to reclaim the apartment. If you leave anything behind, we’ll dispose of it as we see fit.”
Without waiting for a response, he hung up.
Su Jianming slumped onto the floor, dazed and speechless.
It wasn’t until he heard Tangdou’s frightened cries—“Grandma, why is there blood? Grandma!”—that he snapped out of it.
Turning around, he saw Li Ronglian still lying on the floor. She hadn’t moved since he kicked her. Her head had hit the sharp corner of the wall, and a pool of dark red blood was spreading beneath her.
Struck by terror, Su Jianming stumbled to check her breathing.
She was still alive!
With trembling hands, he managed to call for emergency help. Only after watching the doctors wheel Li Ronglian into surgery did his legs finally give out, and he collapsed at the entrance.
If she didn’t survive… would he be considered a murderer?
Tangdou, already scared out of her wits, didn’t even cry or scream when she saw him fall. Her small face was pale, and she stood frozen in fear.
Suddenly, Su Jianming jerked upright. He grabbed Tangdou’s hand in a vice-like grip, his face twisted with rage.
“If anyone asks, you say your grandma fell by herself! Otherwise, I’ll throw you out to the zombies—let those monsters tear your belly open, drink your blood, and eat your guts!”
Tangdou trembled uncontrollably, her mouth open in silent terror.
His grip tightened painfully on her hand, a cruel warning not to disobey him.
She was in agony and fear, but she dared not resist.
*
Early the next morning, Su Tao arrived at the office for a meeting with District Chief Xie and a group of engineers.
When she entered the conference room, she recognized a few familiar faces—probably old colleagues of Su Jianming who had visited their home before.
The engineers, in turn, eyed her with a mix of suspicion and curiosity.
Su Tao had no interest in acknowledging them. She simply signaled District Chief Xie to start the meeting.
After nearly three hours, they had finalized most of the construction plans. Su Tao also received two rough engineering blueprints—one for residential buildings and one for commercial spaces. From now on, every district in Dongyang would follow these standardized designs.
But there was a problem.
The scale of the project was massive.
West District Three alone covered more than 50,000 square meters, with countless buildings needing reconstruction.
And future districts would only be larger, with even more buildings to construct.
Was there any automated system that could speed up the process—like uploading blueprints and having the buildings construct themselves?
If not, she’d probably die of exhaustion before the city was rebuilt.
As soon as the thought crossed her mind, the system chimed with a long-lost notification:
[Host may activate the Autonomous Fast-Build Mode. Once activated, you can select an area on the map and upload blueprints to complete construction automatically within a specified time frame. This feature requires only 20 Level-1 crystals per month. Would you like to activate it?]
Su Tao gasped. Twenty crystals a month was no small cost…
But the feature was too tempting to pass up. Clenching her teeth, she confirmed:
“Activate it!”
[Congratulations, Host! Autonomous Fast-Build Mode is now active. You can select areas on the map and upload blueprints. Construction times will vary based on project size. Please be patient.]
Just as she was about to test the feature on Xiao Wenyu’s empty lot, District Chief Xie suddenly spoke up.
“Ms. Su, there’s something I thought you should know—about your mother, Li Ronglian.”
Su Tao froze. “What happened?”
“She fell yesterday and hit her head. Although the doctors saved her life, they say she may never wake up.”
“A vegetative state?”
“That’s the current diagnosis.”
Su Tao was surprised but felt no sadness—just a hollow indifference.
Li Ronglian had always favored Jiang Jinwei. If anyone should feel heartbroken, it ought to be her beloved daughter—not Su Tao.
“How did you know?” she asked, her tone sharp with suspicion.
District Chief Xie smiled faintly, his expression just a little too eager to please.
“I happened to hear about it. After your father was laid off, he’s been drinking, causing trouble, and occupying a welfare apartment. I thought it was unfair to our hardworking engineers, so I mentioned it to Minister Gong. I’ve been following up on the matter ever since—and that’s how I learned about her accident.”
