Chapter 69: If I’m Crippled, I’ll Retire in Taoyang, and You Can Take Care of Me by the Bedside
In the end, Su Tao was still coerced into buying something similar to a bulletproof vest.
The material was quite special. Ordinary sharp objects couldn’t cut through it, and it had a certain toughness. It was somewhat like a non-Newtonian fluid, becoming even harder when struck.
“Wearing this is equivalent to having the ‘Stone Skin’ ability. As long as it’s not an explosion or a fatal blow from an evolved zombie, you’ll basically be fine. Plus, we have a special offer right now—the last piece is only 120,000 federal credits plus 10,000 contribution points!”
Su Tao immediately wanted to take off the vest.
Shi Zijin pressed her down with one hand while using his communicator to pay with the other.
He ended up just carrying her out of the weapons trading center.
Sitting in the car on the way back, Su Tao felt like she had experienced a baptism of money and decadence.
She asked Shi Zijin, “Do you still have money left?”
Driving, Shi Zijin kept his eyes on the road: “I’m not at the point where I need you to support me. Stop worrying.”
Su Tao held onto her “new clothes” with concern:
“It cost so many contribution points. What if you end up missing an arm or a leg again and don’t have enough points for treatment?”
Shi Zijin was speechless: “Can’t you think positively for once?”
“I’m just saying ‘what if.’ If they don’t treat you, won’t you really end up crippled?”
Shi Zijin replied dismissively, “If I’m crippled, I’ll retire in Taoyang, and you can take care of me by the bedside.”
Su Tao seriously considered it: “That’s not impossible. Don’t worry, I won’t kick you out even if you’re old and crippled and can’t pay rent.”
Shi Zijin floored the gas pedal.
The next day, Su Tao began enduring Teacher Shi’s hellish training.
At 7:30 a.m., she was dragged to the shooting range, starting from the very basics like holding a gun and proper stance.
By the end of the morning, Su Tao practically crawled back. She hastily ate lunch and then worked with Zhuang Wan for an hour to finalize the tenant for Unit 002, a one-bedroom apartment.
Zhuang Wan was very pleased with the new tenant: “The couple are both educated and work with information and code. Especially the man—he was a university professor before the apocalypse.”
Su Tao perked up: “That’s great. Get them settled in as soon as possible.”
The sooner the rent came in, the better—her account only had a few thousand left, and she was practically broke.
After wrapping things up, Su Tao quickly returned to her room to feed her pets.
To her surprise, Black Sesame had somehow fished out her four evolved zombie crystal cores and was rolling them around the floor like toys.
Su Tao quickly gathered them up and scolded the kitten, “These are very valuable! Not toys, okay? Don’t play with them again.”
Black Sesame meowed, tilting its head, its eyes occasionally flashing with a strange light.
Su Tao didn’t think much of it. She found a box, packed the crystal cores securely, placed a heavy object on top, and hid them back in the closet.
After resting for about half an hour, Teacher Shi called her again for training.
Su Tao dragged herself up, asking Guan Zining to take her to the training ground.
On the way, seeing her miserable expression, Guan Zining felt a bit sorry for her and couldn’t help but say, “With how you are now, you still want to go on missions? Taoyang is treating you well. What’s so bad about staying there? Why push yourself so hard?”
Despite her words, Guan Zining still handed her something.
Su Tao, weakly opening it, found a tube of ointment.
“You’ll definitely get blisters. This works really well. I don’t even use it for myself. It’s for you.”
Su Tao didn’t hesitate to accept it, smiling, “Thank you, Zining. Next time Grandma Cen brings me good food, I’ll share half with you.”
Guan Zining huffed but didn’t refuse.
Su Tao trained until 10 p.m.
The moment Shi Zijin called it off, she sprawled out on the training ground, completely unbothered by her image.
Shi Zijin reached out to pull her up, but she didn’t move, “Let me lie here for a bit. My feet are numb, my shoulders don’t feel like mine, and my wrists might be broken. I’m done for.”
“Get up. I’ll carry you.”
Suddenly, Su Tao’s numb feet and sore legs seemed fine. She sprang up and climbed onto his back: “Let’s go.”
The scene left everyone at the training ground stunned.
Even more shocking was that their Major General Shi didn’t throw her off but actually carried her into the car.
When Su Tao finally made it back to her room, she didn’t even have the energy to feed her pets before falling asleep.
When Su Tao woke up in the morning, her whole body was sore. Even Xue Dao seemed to know she was exhausted. The dog lay quietly in the pet room with the kittens, side by side, not making a sound or causing trouble.
Seeing this, Su Tao’s heart ached. She quickly prepared their meals, even cutting some meat to mix into their food.
After two more days of intense training, she finally got a rest day.
The new tenants of the two-bedroom Unit 002 had successfully moved in, and the 80,000 federal credits in rent restored much of Su Tao’s finances.
That very evening, Su Tao expanded and renovated two more two-bedroom units and even completed the construction of Apartment Building No. 3.
Building No. 3 was connected to Building No. 2, with a small terrace in between, furnished with tables and chairs for afternoon tea and casual chats.
There was no lobby in Building No. 3. The first floor led directly into Unit 001, a two-bedroom apartment. Each floor could only accommodate two units, so with four two-bedroom units, the building could only be two stories high.
After completing all this construction, Su Tao was back down to just over 10,000 federal credits in her pocket.
The next day, before heading to training, she urged Zhuang Wan to quickly rent out the newly built units.
Her goal was to save a sum of money before her trip—first, to purchase enough supplies for the journey, and second, to prepare for emergencies.
Who knew if hidden missions would require money? It felt safer to have a bit saved up.
Su Tao kept up a cycle of three days of intense training followed by a rest day for half a month, and finally, there were results.
When she accurately took down the last target, Shi Zijin was immensely pleased and gave her a nod of approval, “Your firearm skills have basically met the standard. You’ve learned faster than I expected.”
Su Tao was a bit stunned. She looked at her scarred hands and took a deep breath—so she could do it after all.
From not being able to aim at a 10-meter target at first, she could now hit a 200-meter target with ease.
“Go back and get a good rest. The first batch of crystal-powered weapons from Changjing has arrived. Come with me to pick them up tomorrow afternoon.”
Su Tao hadn’t expected it so soon and asked, “Is it also a pistol?”
After all, that was the only weapon she knew how to use for now.
Shi Zijin nodded, “Yes, but it’s much better than the one you’ve been practicing with. It doesn’t need bullets, has almost no recoil, and most importantly, it’s extremely effective against evolved zombies.”
Su Tao couldn’t help but feel a surge of anticipation.
As soon as she returned to Taoyang that evening, Su Tao received a hefty rent payment of 400,000 credits. She was so overjoyed that she felt fireworks going off in her heart—her exhaustion and soreness instantly disappeared.
On the other hand, sales agent Zhuang Wan was utterly worn out:
“On the 17th of this month, I had just rented out one unit. On the 18th, you brought me two more. I finally got those rented, and then on the 24th, you threw five more at me. I only just managed to rent them all out by the end of the month. Recently, there’s been a wild rumor outside that Taoyang is going through a massive expansion, recruiting tenants left and right. People are signing up like crazy—my email is completely overloaded. Honestly, I’m struggling to keep up.”
Su Tao thought for a moment and said:
“You’ve really worked hard lately. How about I bring Rong Rong over to help you? I’m about to head out soon, and with nearly a hundred tenants now, it’s definitely time to get you some help.”
