"What? That thing is... an antique? No way, are you joking?"
When Zhang Xiaoyan heard her husbandās words, she felt it was ridiculous. That broken bowl, which she didnāt even care for, turned out to be an antique!
"Iām not joking! Second Uncle called me and said a buyer is willing to pay 80,000 for it. He wants me to go to his house tonight to discuss it."
"How... how much money?"
"80,000!"
"How much?"
Zhang Xiaoyanās pupils contracted, her expression of utter shock.
She worked hard, selling skewers and breakfast in Li Family Town, and only earned thirty to forty thousand a year!
The bowl her son casually picked up, the one she almost threw away, is worth 80,000!
"80,000! Yes, 80,000! That buyer offered 80,000!"
"Honey, our familyās luck is turning around this year. Weāve just gotten past the New Year and already made 80,000!"
On the other end of the phone, Jiang He was equally excited.
Working hard in a factory, he only earned fifty to sixty thousand in a year. This bowl was the equivalent of a year and a halfās work!
"Then why hesitate! Tell Second Uncle weāre selling, quickly sell it, what if he changes his mind?"
"Yes, Iāve already told Second Uncle to go ahead and sell it, we really donāt understand these things."
"Oh, thatās good..."
The couple continued chatting for a bit over the phone.
After hanging up, Zhang Xiaoyan felt truly happy and excited, just like her husband Jiang He said!
80,000 is certainly a huge sum for their family!
Just like that, they inexplicably earned an extra 80,000.
"Second Uncle..."
Snapping back to reality from the surprise of getting this unexpected fortune.
Zhang Xiaoyan knew they needed to thank one more person besides the heavens.
And that person is the childās Second Uncle!
If it werenāt for the childās Second Uncleās discerning eye for antiques, the family wouldnāt have had the chance to earn that money.
Time flew and it was evening.
As the Spring Festival holiday ended, routines gradually returned to normal, and Jiang Heās substitute work also concluded.
Getting off work at 6 PM, he was home before 6:30.
Unusually, he took a bath, changed into clean clothes, and then, along with Zhang Xiaoyan, headed to his parentsā house.
The parentsā home was as lively as ever.
The whole family, along with Uncle Sun from Beijing, was there, as if it was still New Year.
After a sumptuous dinner, Zhang Xiaoyan and Xu Li chatted with their mother-in-law.
Jiang Tao took his elder brother home and took out the bowl he had put away earlier in the day.
"This is it, my friend said heād buy it for 80,000. If you want to sell, he can put down the deposit now."
Jiang Tao didnāt fuss with his elder brother; he was straightforward and didnāt seek a cut.
They were family, no need for such things.
If heād been greedy, he could have taken the bowl and sold it himself, pocketing it, and no one would question him.
"Sell it! Weāre clueless about this. If heās offering money, then weāll sell!"
Jiang He didnāt hesitate to decide to sell, worried the buyer might change his mind.
Not to mention 80,000, even 8,000 or 800 would be a sale!
A disregarded bowl in their yard going for 80,000.
Such a stroke of luck falling on them is too good to refuse!
"Alright, then Iāll inform him itās sold."
Jiang Tao nodded with a smile, then initiated a video call with Zhang Bo in front of his brother.
Zhang Bo examined the blue and white bowl a few more times through the screen, eventually confirming the deal, transferring a 10,000 deposit to Jiang Tao, finalizing the sale.
Jiang Tao accepted the deposit without any fuss, and before he could pay his brother the deposit and the remaining 70,000, Jiang He stopped him.
Jiang He waved his hand, saying, "No need to give it to me, Second Uncle. Didnāt I borrow 90,000 from you for the cow farm project?
This 80,000 you hold onto, and Iāll pay you back the remaining 10,000 in a couple of months."
"Iām not in urgent need of money, brother. Just pay me whenever youāre financially comfortable."
Jiang Tao didnāt argue with his elder brother, keeping the 10,000 deposit to himself.
After handling the main business, the brothers chatted idly for another two hours.
They didnāt leave until Xu Li and the others returned from the parentsā house.
...
Time swiftly moved to the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
Over the past week, either Jiang Taoās luck ran out or Brother Tongzi had been anxious after a series of lucrative tips.
Or perhaps, the European and African economic dynamics were at play.
Of the 14 tips generated, none were money-making, just trivial information.
Even so, Jiang Tao had not been idle, staying busy with endless work daily.
The cow farm project planned to acquire 300 cows.
The farm, bought from Tian Jianming, had only 106 cows, leaving over 200 needed.
Jiang Tao, always seeking maximum profit, naturally aimed to complete the 300-cow quota.
Liu Zhiyuan and Shan Yufei became cattle traders, tasked by Jiang Tao to purchase cows at a wage of 300 per day, with additional bonuses.
Their pay was comparable to their fruit market business in Beijing; naturally, they had no objections.
As the number of cows grew, feeding and cleaning tasks increased significantly.
Jiang Tao had his younger uncle hire two more workers for the farm.
The cow farmās work proceeded methodically, waiting for maturity to reap significant profits.
Moreover, Xu Liās cousin, Xu Jiantao, finally woke up, but he was paralyzed, hemiplegic.
Heād likely spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.