Chapter Ninety-One: New Plans, Part Two

Sunnyside had already finished reading the instructions and was starting to install it. “Where did you buy this?”

Tao Ming was sweating so hard it was beading off her face. She lifted the hem of her short sleeve to wipe herself down as she said, “I have a high school classmate who’s working on a rural assistance program. One of the villages happened to be doing this. I stayed there for a few days to learn it properly, and bought some while I was at it.”

Seeing a stretch of Tao Ming’s bare stomach, Sunnyside’s face darkened. He glanced around to make sure no one else was nearby, then handed her a towel. “Watch your image.”

Tao Ming took the towel and kept wiping. “There’s no one else here!”

Sunnyside thought to himself that in fact, before she lifted her shirt, there had been two men hiding in the trees. They had enough sense to run quickly, or else he would have punished them harshly.

The two brothers who had been assigned to protect Tao Ming and had been hiding in the trees were now exchanging frightened glances.

“Did we run fast enough just now? I didn’t see a thing,” one said.

“Who could have guessed the young madam would suddenly lift her shirt?” said the other.

“Did you see?”

“I saw nothing! Don’t drag me into this!”

...

Sunnyside was extremely handy. Tao Ming opened a parasol and stood nearby giving directions, and before long the installation was complete.

Looking at the solar panels covering less than a third of the roof, Sunnyside asked, “What can this little bit do?”

Tao Ming gave a sheepish smile. “I only wanted to charge little things like tablets, phones, and emergency lamps. I didn’t bring that many.”

Sunnyside carried Tao Ming down from the roof, brought the reserved wiring into the house, and plugged in the laptop charger. After waiting a moment, he opened the laptop and sighed with feeling, “It’s been so long since I’ve touched my little wife!”

Tao Ming left him with, “I’m going to wash up,” and went into the bathroom.

She took a cold shower and changed clothes. Feeling refreshed all over, she came out to see Sunnyside focused and busily tapping away.

She tiptoed behind him and peeked over his shoulder. On the screen were the names of many films and television dramas. Curious, she asked, “What are you doing?”

Sunnyside smiled. “I’m thinking about what kind of film and television works would be suitable.”

Tao Ming pointed at the fantasy and martial-arts titles. “These should work.”

Sunnyside agreed. “We can start with these. Once time goes by, we can slowly add some trendy idol dramas every day and subtly change everyone’s way of life.”

Tao Ming lowered her head and sniffed. Sunnyside didn’t have even a trace of sweat on him. They had just spent time together on the roof, so she asked in surprise, “Why aren’t you sweating?”

Sunnyside smiled. “When your strength reaches level five of the day rank, the surrounding temperature will have so little effect on you that it can be ignored.”

Tao Ming pursed her lips. “I was thinking of installing air conditioning in the mall, but it looks like that won’t be necessary.”

Sunnyside reached out and pulled Tao Ming onto his lap. “Air conditioning should still be installed. After all, most people aren’t very strong.”

Tao Ming touched his hand and asked, “Then can you feel my body temperature?”

Sunnyside quietly slipped his left hand under the hem of her short sleeve and buried his face in the crook of her neck. “Not only can I feel your temperature, I can smell your natural scent. I can even tell exactly how you feel to the touch each day.”

Tao Ming rubbed her left arm with her right hand and said in confusion, “I don’t feel any different!”

By now Sunnyside had secretly moved his left hand upward. Tao Ming grabbed it at once. “Sneaky. You almost got away with it.”

He still wanted to try a little harder, but Tao Ming rose and went to the other side of the table to sit down. Pulling out paper and pen, she said, “I’ll draw a floor plan first and make a rough layout. That way, when we go looking for storefronts on the street, we won’t be completely lost.”

After sketching for a while, Tao Ming thought of the bathroom issue and looked up. “Is there a sewer here? If we install a toilet, where does the wastewater go?”

Sunnyside shook his head. “Not the kind of sewer you mean.”

After a pause, he added, “The mall needs a large plot of land, and power is complicated in the imperial capital’s center. Land use is a problem in itself. Better to put it on one edge of the capital. Whether we renovate an existing place or build anew, it would be much easier.”

“Would anyone go there if we put it there?”

Sunnyside walked behind Tao Ming, found a sheet of white paper, picked up a pen, and drew a square. “The imperial capital covers more than ten thousand hectares, about the size of the city proper of Lotus Shovel. The total number of people living inside the city is less than one hundred thousand, and most of them are wealthy. More ordinary people live within ten li of the imperial capital, so they can come into the city every day to make a living, and the burden is lighter.”

Then he drew a tiny square in the upper right corner of the larger one. “Northeast of the imperial capital is Mount Li Ning. People often go there in spring to enjoy the scenery and hunt birds, so the northeast gate sees a great deal of traffic. If the mall is built here, it certainly won’t lack footfall.”

Tao Ming stared at the small square. “Such a good location must already be occupied.”

Sunnyside smiled. “Naturally. But you don’t need to worry. That area is basically controlled by the Qin and Sunnyside families.”

Only then did Tao Ming remember that both the Qin and Sunnyside families were masters at making money.

Sunnyside leaned close to her ear and said, “Why not use that piece of land as your betrothal gift? Come marry me sooner, all right?”

Tao Ming laughed. “I’d definitely have to do an on-site inspection first!”

“Wife, you don’t trust me! I’m heartbroken!”

Sunnyside began shamelessly acting up again.

Tao Ming blinked. “Do you know what’s stronger than a marriage?”

“What is it?”

“Of course, comrades who have fought in the same trench!”

Sunnyside pouted. “I don’t want to be comrades!”

Tao Ming hooked her arm around his neck from behind and kissed him, then smiled. “I mean that only two people with the same interests can stand tightly together. So from now on, everything we do, we do together.”

Sunnyside gave a wicked grin. “As if I could do it alone anyway.”

Tao Ming let him go, feeling utterly powerless. “Can’t you be serious for once?”

“Wife, the moment I see you, I can’t control myself.”

Tao Ming dodged his approaching face and said irritably, “Then we shouldn’t stay together. It affects work efficiency.”

Sunnyside immediately returned to his seat. “Men and women working together, no tiredness in the labor. Let’s get started.”

Tao Ming smiled and picked up her pen, ready to continue planning, when a soft voice came from the bedroom: “Mommy! Mommy!”

Fine. Little Loudspeaker was awake. Nothing else would get done now.

Tao Ming put away the paper and pen and went into the bedroom. Both Soft and Sticky had woken up. Seeing her, they said, “Mommy, we’re hungry.”

It hadn’t seemed like much before, but now that they said it, Tao Ming felt hungry too. She called out, “We’re all hungry.”

Sunnyside finished typing a line, closed the laptop, and came over. “You don’t even call me husband anymore!”

Soft immediately said, “Husband, I’m hungry!”

Tao Ming tapped Soft on the forehead. “That’s my husband. You should call him Daddy!”

Soft opened her mouth and said aggrievedly, “Th-then... then you should find me a husband!”

Tao Ming laughed out loud at that. Sunnyside picked up the two little ones and headed for the bathroom.

Leaning against the doorframe, Tao Ming watched him wash the children and asked, “Where are we eating?”

“Someone will bring it soon.”

Tao Ming hummed in acknowledgment. Sunnyside glanced at her and said, “Go change your clothes.”