Chapter 51: Has It Really Been So Long That You Don’t Recognize Me?
Su Tao didn’t expect that even before dinner, tenants were already complaining in the group chat that there was no more ice cream.
She checked the system, and sure enough, it was empty. She quickly restocked with a single click.
The ice cream machine had a pretty good profit margin—selling out once earned a net profit of 1,200 Federal Coins.
Right after restocking, Zhuang Wan suddenly transferred 400 Federal Coins to her. Su Tao immediately understood—it was to pay for the ice creams she had given Chen Xi and Chen Yang earlier that day.
She couldn’t help but chuckle. She didn’t refuse the money but sent a message to ask:
“Jian Kaiyu got injured and couldn’t return with Shi Zijin, so he won’t be able to help. We can’t delay treating Chen Xi’s face any longer. Have you made up your mind?”
Thinking about it made Zhuang Wan feel terrible, “I know. Of course, we need to treat it. But aren’t we on bad terms with the Eastern District right now? The healer with the surname Zhong is probably under Gu Mingchi’s influence.”
Su Tao seemed completely unconcerned, “It’s just a one-sided grudge on their part. We don’t have any issues with them. We’ll pay, and pay well—do you think Zhong would turn down money?”
Zhuang Wan’s mouth twitched, “You really don’t care at all about Gu Mingchi smearing our reputation. But what if he refuses?”
“How would you know Gu Mingchi will refuse if you don’t try? They’re businesspeople, and we’re potential clients. There’s no reason for them to turn us away. Tonight, write a treatment request letter and find someone to deliver it to the Eastern District tomorrow. Don’t hesitate to spend the money.”
Zhuang Wan was left speechless. It did make sense, but she still felt that Gu Mingchi wouldn’t be so easy to deal with.
Forget it—she might as well write the letter first. Desperate times called for desperate measures.
*
In the middle of the night, night owl Su Tao and her two cats showed up at Central Park to get to work.
Su Tao held the blueprint and started building wildly in the system interface.
The fountain wasn’t a simple round shape—it was an irregular rounded rectangle with corners. Each of the four corners had water jets, spraying towards the center.
There were handrails and stairs on both sides of the fountain, making it easy for everyone to get in and swim. It was essentially a combination of a pool and a fountain.
Waterproof lights were installed underwater, keeping the fountain bright and dazzling even at night.
She placed lounge chairs on both sides of the fountain, allowing swimmers to lie down and soak up the sun. She even added a pavilion in the bottom right corner, perfect for relaxing and chatting in the shade.
After finishing the fountain, Su Tao’s little savings were down to just over 30,000 Federal Coins.
Additionally, the fountain required a monthly payment of 6,000 Federal Coins for water and sanitation fees. The system would handle water changes and disinfection every three days.
After a final check of the details, Su Tao was very satisfied. She could control the fountain’s on and off functions directly from the system.
When she turned on the four-cornered fountain, Su Tao immediately felt the surrounding temperature drop significantly. The cool night breeze was incredibly refreshing.
The two furry little cats were by the pool, scooping up water with their tiny paws to drink.
Returning to the apartment building, Su Tao hurriedly decorated the only two-bedroom apartment available.
The two-bedroom, one-living room apartment had a total area of 120 square meters, with an independent kitchen, living room, balcony, bathroom, and two bedrooms with a walk-in closet—the most spacious and well-equipped of all the available layouts.
Considering that Cen Tianjiao’s mother was older and had limited mobility, Su Tao swapped her own room with the two-bedroom apartment, placing it on the first floor of Building 2.
Su Tao remembered that the aunt liked to cook, so she set up the kitchen with pre-apocalyptic standards, including stove, oven, microwave, and all necessary appliances.
Both bedrooms had excellent natural lighting, furnished with double beds, with the larger bedroom reserved for the aunt. The bay window had a small tea table, perfect for enjoying tea and the view.
The walk-in closet featured floor-to-ceiling storage cabinets, maximizing storage capacity.
The other rooms were decorated with the same high standards as the one-bedroom apartments.
The entire renovation cost 12,000 Federal Coins, and the system set the seasonal rent at 80,000 Federal Coins, with a maximum occupancy of four people.
If Cen Tianjiao found a partner, they could move in directly, and with the rent split per person, the cost-effectiveness was quite high.
Su Tao couldn’t help but think that if she ever had a partner and children, this would be the perfect apartment layout to move into.
Her thoughts wandered off for a moment.
*
The next day, when Zhuang Wan saw the newly renovated two-bedroom apartment, she was so envious that her eyes practically turned green. She started calculating in her mind—once Chen Xi and Chen Yang grew up a bit, they’d need to sleep in separate rooms, and it might be time to move to a bigger house.
She couldn’t help but ask, “Boss, will we have three-bedroom, one-living room or three-bedroom, two-living room apartment types in the future?”
Su Tao thought for a moment and said, “There should be. Are you planning to move when the kids are a bit older?”
When the system upgraded to level 5, it would unlock blueprints for larger apartments, including three-bedroom, two-living room and four-bedroom, two-living room options.
Zhuang Wan nodded, “After all, with two kids, they can’t share a room during their teenage years. If new units become available, please reserve one for me!”
Su Tao smiled bitterly inside. Reaching level 5 alone would cost 1 million Federal Coins for the upgrade, plus the requirement of housing 200 tenants.
It was going to be extremely difficult.
Just then, Su Tao’s communicator suddenly rang. On the other end, Shi Zijin’s voice came through, filled with laughter, “We’re back. Look down.”
Su Tao ran to the floor-to-ceiling window in the office and looked down. She saw a group of people in military uniforms.
Her memory flashed back to that midnight when they first met, the night Shi Zijin left home.
Su Tao realized he had really been gone for a long time this time.
Zhuang Wan noticed them too and, delighted, stood up and hurried downstairs to greet them.
Su Tao followed closely behind. From a distance, she saw Shi Zijin. Just as she was about to run over, she suddenly felt a strange aura.
She stopped in her tracks, sensing that the person who returned didn’t quite match the Shi Zijin in her memory.
His face looked a bit pale, but Su Tao convinced herself he might just be overtired.
His figure seemed a bit ethereal, and Su Tao thought it might just be her imagination or the strong sunlight.
His demeanor had a colder, darker edge, and Su Tao wondered if he had been through something difficult and just hadn’t adjusted his mindset yet.
Ultimately, she decided not to go over.
Shi Zijin saw her standing there and looked up.
Their eyes met. His phoenix-shaped eyes still held a familiar warmth, helping Su Tao shake off her doubts. She shook her head, realizing she might have been overthinking.
“You’re back? Do you want to eat first or take a bath?” She tried her best to sound normal.
Cen Tianjiao, being big and rough with thick nerves, didn’t notice anything unusual. He shouted:
“Let’s get some water first! It’s getting hotter by the day, and we almost turned into dried fish on the way back.”
Su Tao didn’t respond, her eyes fixed on Shi Zijin, examining him left and right, top to bottom, as if she wanted to see through him.
Her intense gaze was too adorable, and Shi Zijin couldn’t hold back. He burst out laughing:
“It’s only been a while, and you don’t recognize me anymore?”
Su Tao had never seen him laugh like this before—as bright and sunny as today’s blazing sun, without a trace of the earlier gloom.
She was stunned for a moment, then smiled along with him.
Turns out, she really had been overthinking.
Hmm, I wonder what’s up with his changes.