Chapter 37: Black Sesame and White Sesame Are Both Good Sesame
Su Tao readily agreed to the request.
However, for an elderly person to make such a decision, it was clear how heartless his son must have been to break his spirit.
As night fell, Su Tao fed the black and white sesame kittens, then quietly slipped out of the room. She stood in the open space, looking at her mismatched, oddly shaped houses.
They were truly an eyesore.
She took out Elder Mei’s residential area blueprints, opened the system interface, pulled up Taoyang’s 3D model, and began remodeling with a swipe of her finger.
The reception room retained the sofa, TV, and other furniture. Two vending machines for daily necessities and one for women’s products were placed against the wall.
Then, she pulled out all the single rooms, arranging four on each side, and built the second and third floors, totaling 16 single rooms. The second and third floors were entirely single rooms.
Each floor had a central corridor, with a laundry room at the end. The laundry room not only had four washing machines but also four dryers, solving the problem of drying clothes.
The fourth and fifth floors had double rooms, with three on each side, totaling 12 double rooms.
The detached units currently only had one-bedroom apartments. Following Elder Mei’s suggestion, a new floor was built. The first floor also had a reception room and vending machines.
Starting from the second floor, each floor had only four units, currently reaching up to the third floor, with eight one-bedroom apartments in total.
Both apartment buildings had their exterior walls repainted in blue and white, looking much more orderly and aesthetically pleasing—somewhat reminiscent of pre-apocalypse apartment buildings.
The entire remodeling, including the addition of public utilities, the expansion of public areas, and the construction of stairwells, cost over 50,000 federal coins.
Fortunately, it was still within her budget.
With the rooms stacked up, the open space in Taoyang increased significantly.
Su Tao then started building the canteen. Since there weren’t many tenants yet, she made it a bit smaller, with an area only as large as two double rooms.
The first floor was the ordering area, equipped with two bento coolers, two breakfast machines, two self-service drink machines, and two public refrigerators for tenants to store leftover food.
Additionally, four microwaves were available for heating food.
In the remaining space, a combination cabinet was placed with six sinks arranged in a row.
Even before the apocalypse, people used to wash their hands before and after meals.
The second floor was the dining area, accommodating 36 people simultaneously, with a public restroom for four people.
This part was quite costly—the entire renovation, furniture, and interior design amounted to over 80,000 federal coins.
Her small wallet instantly shrank to just over 10,000 federal coins.
Su Tao felt a pang of pain but was happy again at the thought of a more convenient life ahead.
The two apartment buildings and the canteen are placed in a pattern with openings on three sides, and Su Tao plans to make the open space in the middle into a small park.
But as dawn was approaching, she had to pause construction and return to get some rest.
Her room was set on the second floor of the one-bedroom apartment building. Moving the room caused no noise, and the two little kittens were still sleeping soundly in their small bed by her side.
Su Tao gently kissed the two fluffy heads, showing a blissful, contented smile, then crawled into bed and fell into a deep sleep.
*
At dawn, Taoyang’s tenants were all in shock.
“Whoa! I woke up and my room had moved to the second floor by itself!”
“So magical! But it’s really so much better than before. Our rooms are numbered now—I’ll never get lost again.”
“I love the separate floors! It reduces conflicts. I used to hate seeing those two guys in the double room; now that they’re on the third floor, it’s hard to run into them, haha.”
“Look! There’s a canteen behind the building—it’s two stories high!”
…
A large group of tenants rushed to the canteen.
“Xiao Pan? Something doesn’t feel right. Wasn’t there a single room across from me, where that short-haired girl lived?”
Mei Hongyi adjusted his glasses, squinting as he looked again and again.
Xiao Pan was a caretaker that Zhuang Wan had found. She had some previous interactions with Zhuang Wan and was a pitiful person who had lost her home and her child.
Xiao Pan, in her thirties, had an ordinary, honest appearance and simple clothing but was very responsible.
She ran outside to take a look, returning with excitement:
“Sir, you didn’t see wrong! Taoyang has completely transformed. The single and double room tenants have moved to the other apartment building. Our building is now all one-bedroom units, and we’re on the second floor.”
She pushed him to the hallway, pointing through the window to the scene below.
Mei Hongyi was stunned. Was he dreaming? Had he longed for this so much that he was now seeing his design for Taoyang become reality?
Xiao Pan exclaimed, “I thought those supernatural people who could summon storms were impressive, but compared to our boss Su’s abilities, they’re nothing.”
Mei Hongyi realized he truly was old, too reclusive, and too narrow-minded.
To think there existed someone with the power to make high-rises spring up overnight.
“Sir, you must be hungry. Let’s check out the new canteen!” Xiao Pan’s eyes sparkled.
Mei Hongyi, after recovering from his shock, couldn’t help but smile. It was wonderful. If only his wife were still here to witness this oasis in the apocalypse.
The old man’s eyes grew moist.
“Yes, let’s go eat.”
*
Su Tao woke up from hunger. When she checked the clock, it was already 2 p.m., and the black and white sesame kittens were meowing for food.
She quickly got up to play nanny.
Black Sesame, too anxious to find the bottle’s teat, bit down on her finger and began sucking. When no milk came, it let out a pitiful meow.
Su Tao laughed—Black Sesame was such an impatient little one.
Before she finished feeding, someone knocked on the door. When she opened it, Xing Shuyu stood there, out of breath.
“You—”
Xing Shuyu, blushing, said, “Are there any rooms left? One-bedroom ones. My parents saw photos of Taoyang and went crazy. If I can’t get them in, I’m as good as dead.”
Before Su Tao could respond, Xing Shuyu grabbed the bottle: “I’ll help you feed them!”
With a new nanny, Black Sesame seemed to sense something was wrong. It dodged the bottle, continuing to cry miserably.
White Sesame also refused to eat, curling up and not moving.
Xing Shuyu, failing her first attempt as a nanny, stood there frozen.
Su Tao patted her, took back the bottle, and resumed the feeding.
The two little fluffballs finally relaxed, slowly approaching to nurse.
Xing Shuyu lamented, “I’m so pitiful. My dad doesn’t love me, my mom doesn’t care, and even cats ignore me. People envy me for living in Taoyang, but they don’t know the burden I carry. Oh, Su Tao, my dear peach, please save a unit for me. I still want my parents to acknowledge me.”
Su Tao chuckled: “Go talk to Zhuang Wan.”
Taking this as an agreement, Xing Shuyu jumped with joy, giving Black Sesame a quick kiss.
Black Sesame yelped, dropped the bottle, and scrambled to climb onto Su Tao.
