*Clang!!!*
A deafening crash!
An irregularly shaped stone fell from the sky, smashing into the windshield of a 4.2-meter cargo truck.
The stone pierced straight through the glass, landing on the cluttered dashboard inside the truck.
"What the hell…!"
Inside the truck.
Jiang Tao, who was holding his phone, calculating how much interest he'd owe on an 80,000-yuan loan from a certain online platform, was startled by the sudden noise!
Still shaken, he looked at the windshield, now cracked into a spider web pattern.
Then he glanced at the fist-sized stone on the dashboard.
Jiang Tao was utterly dumbfounded!
Which bastard threw a stone and smashed my truck!
With a *bang*, he shoved the door open and got out.
Fuming, Jiang Tao scanned the surroundings, searching for the culprit.
But after looking around, there wasn't a single soul within a 50-meter radius!
Finding no one, Jiang Tao looked up at the overcast sky above the capital city.
"Could that stone have fallen from the sky?"
"Damn it, when your luck's down, even drinking water gets stuck in your teeth!"
Replacing a windshield would cost at least four or five hundred yuan.
Another day or two of work, wasted!
At a time when Jiang Tao was already strapped for cash, the heavens dealt him another brutal blow!
Today was already the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, with the New Year just over twenty days away.
As the Spring Festival approached, Jiang Tao grew more anxious by the day.
This year, he was more terrified of the New Year than a pig slated for slaughter.
For those who made money, going home for the New Year was a celebration.
But for someone like him, who hadn't earned anything and was drowning in debt…
Going home was like facing a tribulation.
Throughout the day, Jiang Tao had received four calls from creditors demanding payment.
He still owed over 20,000 yuan to the construction team that built his house.
The renovation crew was still waiting for over 10,000 yuan in unpaid wages.
He also owed more than 20,000 yuan for decorative materials.
Installing air energy and underfloor heating at home had cost another 20,000 yuan or so!
All told, his debts totaled over 80,000 yuan!
As the lunar month progressed and the year-end loomed, his creditors seemed to have coordinated their efforts to hound him.
Paying back debts was only right and proper.
He couldn't blame them for chasing him; he could only blame himself for not making money.
"Sigh, why is this year so damn tough!"
Looking at the shattered windshield, Jiang Tao let out a helpless sigh.
Originally, he and his wife, Xu Li, had planned to work hard this year and clear their debts no matter what.
Though Jiang Tao's gig work in the capital wasn't as stable as a factory job, he could still average over 10,000 yuan a month.
Barring any surprises, if the couple scrimped and saved, putting away 70,000 or 80,000 yuan in a year wasn't impossible.
But, as luck would have it, an accident happened.
In July this year, Jiang Tao took a tumble while walking at night.
That night, he didn't feel much, thinking he'd just pulled a muscle and would recover after a night's rest.
But when he woke up the next day, the pain was so bad he couldn't get out of bed.
A hospital visit revealed a severe patellar ligament injury.
To avoid becoming crippled, he needed immediate surgery.
At just 30 years old and in his prime, Jiang Tao naturally chose to spend the money to save his leg.
The surgery cost over 20,000 yuan, and after insurance, he still had to pay over 10,000 out of pocket.
A ligament injury takes a hundred days to heal.
For a "freelancer" like Jiang Tao, who relied on gig work, this was a devastating blow.
Over a hundred days with no income, yet expenses kept piling up—a straight path to negative income!
He stayed home recovering until October, his leg still not fully healed.
Desperate, Jiang Tao rushed back from his hometown to resume gig work and earn money.
On his first day back, before he could even complete his first job, another disaster struck.
His trusty "old partner" of five years, his truck, broke down—the transmission was completely shot!
No money earned, and he had to fork out over 7,000 yuan to replace the transmission assembly.
In November, his daughter, Jiang Xue, caught a cold that turned into pneumonia.
She spent over half a month in the children's hospital in their hometown city, racking up several thousand yuan in medical bills.
As the year-end approached, after paying the family's medical insurance premiums, Jiang Tao had less than 5,000 yuan left in his hands.
And just now, *crack*! A stone fell from the sky and shattered his truck's windshield!
One misfortune after another, piling up relentlessly.
Even Jiang Tao, who never believed in gods or Buddhas, was tempted to find a high monk to check if he was cursed by the Year of the Tai Sui.
Back inside the truck, Jiang Tao's gaze fell on the fist-sized stone on the dashboard.
A sudden thought struck him.
Could this be a meteorite?
If it was a meteorite, and he had witnessed its fall, it would be a "witnessed meteorite"!
"Witnessed meteorites" fetched higher prices than ordinary ones!
Plus, this stone was decently sized!
It could sell for hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions!
If that happened, this disaster from the sky would turn into a windfall from the heavens!
His debts could be paid off instantly!
And he could shave decades off his struggle!
*Gulp!*
The more Jiang Tao thought about it, the more excited he got, swallowing hard.
He first pulled out his phone and snapped several photos to preserve the scene.
After the photos, he recorded a few videos.
"Ancestors, please bless me! Let me strike it rich just this once! I'm begging you!"
Jiang Tao clasped his hands together, bowing to the void, before carefully reaching for the irregularly shaped stone.
The moment his fingers touched the stone, *zzt*! A tingling sensation coursed through his body!
At the same time, the stone vanished with a *whoosh*.
The air in front of Jiang Tao rippled like the surface of water.
A bright blue virtual panel appeared before his eyes.
**[Would you like to bind the Daily Intelligence System immediately?]**
Staring at the prompt on the panel, Jiang Tao was stunned!
A system?
A Daily Intelligence System?
As a longtime reader of Qidian Chinese Network, Jiang Tao was no stranger to this concept.
A hallucination?
Some kind of trance?
He hadn't eaten any mushrooms!
Jiang Tao squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them with a *whoosh*.
The blue panel was still there, now starting a countdown.
**[Would you like to bind the Daily Intelligence System immediately? Countdown: 10, 9, 8…]**
"Bind it! Bind it! Bind it now, damn it!"
Seeing the system start a countdown without warning, Jiang Tao made a snap decision.
Bind it!
Real or fake, illusion or reality, bind it first and figure it out later!
**[Daily Intelligence System binding initiated, please wait…]**
**[Progress: 1%… 5%… 17%…]**
Watching the progress bar change on the panel, Jiang Tao held his breath, his eyes glued to it.
The thought of becoming one of those overpowered protagonists with a system…
His heart couldn't calm down!
**[Daily Intelligence System binding successful!]**
**[Host]: Jiang Tao (30 years old)**
**[System Level 1]: This level unlocks 1 piece of intelligence per day.**
**[Today's Intelligence 01]: While working at the west gate of the Hongxing Secondhand Furniture Wholesale Market today, you receive the following intelligence—**
**Inside the third trash can from the left on the right side of the west gate of the wholesale market, there is an Ice Tea bottle cap that can be scanned to win an iPhone 15!**
"A bottle cap that can win an iPhone 15?"
Reading today's intelligence, Jiang Tao's eyes lit up.
Weren't those scannable bottle cap prizes usually scams?
Except for the "another bottle" kind of rewards.
Jiang Tao usually couldn't be bothered to scan QR codes on bottle caps.
Scanning for a dime or two wasn't even worth the data cost—pure waste of time!
But now, the system was telling him there was an Ice Tea bottle cap in a trash can that could win an iPhone 15!
Are you for real, Ice Tea?
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Dear readers,
If you happen to notice any errors, typos, or inconsistencies in the text, please don't hesitate to leave a comment. Your feedback is greatly appreciated and will help me improve the story. Together, we can make it as polished and enjoyable as possible!
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