Chapter 65: River Stone with Luck Value +3? Even Brother Tongzi Is Using Played-Out Memes!

While video chatting, Jiang Tao casually transferred 52,000 to Xu Li.

Xu Li was super happy tonight, in an absolutely great mood.

First, the lottery ticket worth over 30,000 that was lost got found.

Then, the pearl her husband got while eating at a restaurant sold for another 120,000!

With these two incomes put together, their little family pulled in a total of 150,000 today!

"Hey hubby, can I run something by you?"

"Mm, go ahead."

"We’ve got some money on hand now, should we pay off the renovation and the air conditioning first?"

"Oh, that? I already paid, used the money from selling tangerines."

"Really! Why didn’t you say earlier! Lucky I asked, or I’d have paid again."

"I only did it today, was going to tell you tonight anyway..."

"So now, all the money in my hand is mine?"

"Yep, all yours."

Looking at his silly wife’s money-grubber face, Jiang Tao couldn’t help but chuckle.

He’d never worried that Xu Li would spend recklessly with the money he gave her.

From his years of knowing Xu Li, she’d most likely just transfer the money into a fixed deposit at the bank and not spend even a dime carelessly.

The couple chatted back and forth for over two hours.

They only hung up when Jiang Xue got sleepy, and Xu Li reluctantly went to take her to wash up.

After finishing the call with Xu Li, Jiang Tao leaned against the bedhead and scrolled through Moments for a while.

Zhang Bo, that guy, wasn’t lying; this morning he really did post a Moments about the pearl.

Besides the pearl, he’d also posted some old coins, paper currency, stamps, and other collectibles.

There was even a 2013 used Audi A6 for sale.

The stuff for sale was pretty wild and all over the place.

Jiang Tao had zero knowledge of antiques and collectibles and had no intention of getting into that scene.

He always practiced a "look but don’t buy" rule.

His aim was simply to let Brother Tongzi trigger intel in this area.

Xu Li had taken her mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and daughter Jiang Xue out all day today.

She’d posted a photo at lunch with everyone eating together.

Sister-in-law Xu Sha posted a pic of her manicure.

Lü Qian’s photo was of him and Ma Dongmei climbing the Great Wall together.

If you didn’t check his ID, you’d never guess this big brother was already 71 years old!

After checking out today’s Moments, Jiang Tao opened KwaiDou for a bit of aesthetic improvement training.

Soon, it was midnight.

Jiang Tao closed his phone, plugged in the charger, and activated his link with Brother Tongzi.

[Today’s Intel 01]:

Yesterday you sold a pearl at Boya Auction House and received related intel—

Near where Boya Auction House’s boss Zhang Long was fishing on the Chaobai River in Tongzhou, there are two River Stones that can bring luck!

[Note]: Carrying a River Stone increases Luck Value by +3!

[Today’s Intel 02]:

You browsed Zhang Bo’s Moments yesterday and got the following info—

Inside each of the four doors of the Audi A6 Zhang Bo is selling, there’s a 100g gold bar from Bank of China.

The total value of the four gold bars is 275,280 yuan!

[Note]: The gold bars were placed there by the third (now deceased) owner of the car, and now have no owner.

...

"River Stone..."

"Brother Tongzi, you’ve changed. Now even you are playing around with old memes?"

Seeing "River Stone" mentioned in the first bit of intel, Jiang Tao was a little speechless.

But...

Since Brother Tongzi says those two River Stones add +3 Luck Value,

these River Stones must be something special. It’s definitely worth checking out the Chaobai River tomorrow!

Better believe it than not.

Worst case, I just lose some time.

After reading the first piece of intel, Jiang Tao’s eyes moved to the second one.

The huge sum of 275,280 instantly caught his attention.

"275,280! Two hundred seventy-five grand!"

"Brother Tongzi, just keep the tips like this coming! Awesome!"

This tip worth 270,000 was one of the highest-value ones Jiang Tao had gotten since tying to the intel system.

Though it couldn’t match the value of the tangerines, it was way easier to act on.

All he needed to do was buy the used Audi A6 from Zhang Bo, take apart the four doors, and get the four gold bars!

"What kind of person puts this stuff in their car doors? Is there some special meaning behind it..."

Couldn’t figure it out, so Jiang Tao didn’t bother wasting the brain cells.

He picked up his phone, found Zhang Bo in WeChat contacts, jumped to his Moments, and soon found the Audi A6 up for sale.

Classic black exterior, registered in 2012, driven 100,000 km, all maintenance at 4S stores, no accidents.

No mention of the specific price.

But as long as it’s less than 270,000, I’m making money!

Jiang Tao didn’t know a lot about used cars, but a 100,000 km old Audi shouldn’t be that expensive.

Gotta get both those River Stones and Zhang Bo’s old Audi!

Jiang Tao actually did need a car for getting around.

His 4.2-meter goods truck was fine for haulage, but using it to visit relatives during New Year would be embarrassing.

This old Audi would do for now as a stopgap.

Once he had more money, he’d think about swapping for another car.

After analyzing both intel tips, Jiang Tao glanced at his phone—already almost half past midnight.

He’d already showered, so he just went straight to bed!

The hotel room was way warmer and more comfortable than his doghouse apartment.

This 198 spent tonight was totally worth it!

The next morning at 7, Jiang Tao was woken by his preset phone alarm.

He got up, washed his face, brushed his teeth, got dressed neatly, and went downstairs to check out.

Then he went to the nearby Qingfu Bun Shop for a basket of buns and a bowl of wonton soup.

After filling up, it was only just half past seven.

At this hour, guys like Zhang Bo with rich nightlives definitely wouldn’t be up yet.

Jiang Tao didn’t rush to contact Zhang Bo, and instead hailed a cab straight to the Chaobai River Tongzhou section.

Sitting in the taxi, he checked the first intel about the "River Stone."

A virtual 3D Beijing map appeared on Jiang Tao’s retina.

On the map, two tiny dots—one red, one green—kept blinking on and off, and in his ear he could hear a beeping sound.

"Alright, driver, here’s good, pull over."

In about half an hour, as the ride got close to the blinking dots, Jiang Tao directed the driver to pull over.

"You sure you want to get off here? There’s literally nothing around,"

The driver was a bit puzzled seeing the spot Jiang Tao had picked.

"Yeah, my friend’s fishing nearby, I’m going to hang out with him."

Jiang Tao just made up a reason, paid on the ride app, and got out.

The moment he stepped out, a cold wind blew right down the back of his neck.

Jiang Tao hunched his shoulders and jammed his hands into his down jacket pockets.

There really was absolutely nothing around here—just the road, and below it the Chaobai River passing through Beijing into Ji Bei.

There was just a one-meter-high guardrail at the roadside; Jiang Tao hopped over it and jogged down to the riverbank.

Even from a distance, you could see the ice had been drilled into a crazy chessboard of round holes—ice fishermen must’ve made them with power drills.

It was just after 8 AM, and there were already seven or eight fishermen on the ice.

Jiang Tao followed the "navigation map" in his vision and walked along the riverbank for about ten minutes.

Beep beep beep beep—

The beeping in his ear grew louder and louder.

He was getting extremely close to those River Stones.