After more than an hour of video chatting with his wife and child, the family of three was buzzing with excitement over the news of winning a prize.
Once the video call ended, Jiang Tao finally started preparing dinner for the evening. Living alone in Beijing as a drifter, he was pretty casual about his daily necessities—food, clothing, shelter, and transport. He made do with whatever was convenient.
He cooked a pack of instant noodles in an electric pot, adding a fried egg. Once the noodles were ready, he poured them into a retro-style yellow enamel basin he usually used for meals. He grabbed a pancake that had been kept warm on the radiator and added a dollop of chili sauce. Simple and quick, dinner was ready—time to dig in!
After slurping down the noodles and broth, Jiang Tao headed to the communal sink outside to wash the pot and dishes. Full and satisfied, he returned to his room, flopped onto the bed, and started listening to an audiobook.
Jiang Tao rarely went out unless absolutely necessary. His routine after work was predictable: a video call with his wife and kid, followed by dinner. After eating, he'd stay in, listening to audiobooks, reading novels, or scrolling through short videos on his phone. He didn't have many other hobbies—he was a total homebody.
Around midnight, while listening to his audiobook, Jiang Tao suddenly had an urge to check his Daily Intelligence System.
**[Time until the next intelligence refresh: 00:06:51!]**
Seeing that the next piece of intel would refresh in just over six minutes, Jiang Tao could no longer focus on the audiobook. His mind raced, speculating about what the next piece of information might be. Would it be another prize-winning tip like the first one? Or maybe it would reveal the winning numbers for the Double Color Ball lottery's grand prize! He stared unblinkingly at the countdown timer on the virtual panel for over six minutes.
When the countdown finally hit six zeros, the new intelligence refreshed!
**[Today's Intelligence]:** This afternoon, while passing through the Villagers' Square in Xiaoshahe Urban Village, you received the following intel—
Inside the lining of a light green women's down jacket in the first trash bin on the west side of the Villagers' Square, there is a Longines Mini DolceVita women's watch worth 13,300 yuan!
Seeing the latest intel, which once again involved a trash bin, Jiang Tao couldn't help but chuckle wryly. Was this system obsessed with trash bins or what?
But when he read about the women's watch worth over 10,000 yuan, his heart skipped a beat! "I've got to check it out now! Can't wait—what if someone else snags it first!"
With that thought, Jiang Tao immediately started getting dressed. He threw on a stained, long military-style coat, a trapper hat with ear flaps, cotton gloves, and grabbed a flashlight. Fully geared up, he pushed open the door, descended the stairs of his tenement building, and stepped outside.
*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~*
Snowflakes swirled in the air.
The snow in Beijing had been falling since evening, and by midnight, it had accumulated to about six or seven centimeters on the ground. Jiang Tao's heavy work boots crunched through the snow, leaving a trail of footprints.
Trekking through the snow, one deep step at a time, Jiang Tao reached the Villagers' Activity Square in Xiaoshahe Village, located on the west side, after about eight minutes. His gaze instantly locked onto the four trash bins on the west side of the square.
Striding forward purposefully, Jiang Tao startled a few stray cats rummaging through the bins. They meowed and scampered off. "The first trash bin—is it the first one from the left or the right?" he muttered. "Whatever, I'll start with the right!"
With only a few bins to check and no one else around, Jiang Tao wasn't in a rush. He put on a pair of work gloves and began digging through the rightmost bin. From top to bottom, it was filled with all sorts of junk—tattered clothes, broken jars, bricks, and tiles. He reached the bottom but found no sign of the light green women's down jacket mentioned in the intel.
"Next one!"
Undeterred by the failure of the first bin, Jiang Tao moved to the next. He cleared away express delivery boxes, torn plastic bags, and a pile of leaves. "There it is!"
After moving aside a black delivery bag, the beam of his flashlight caught a glimpse of green! Jiang Tao quickly pulled out a light green, women's down jacket from the bin. This had to be the one mentioned in the intel!
But…
He rummaged through the two outer pockets and one inner pocket—no watch! This outcome had Jiang Tao sweating bullets! "This doesn't make sense. The intelligence system shouldn't be wrong!"
He opened the system again, carefully rereading the intel word by word. This time, he noticed that the watch was described as being *inside the lining* of the down jacket! "The lining?"
This time, Jiang Tao didn't just check the pockets. His hands moved along the hem of the jacket, feeling for anything unusual. Sure enough, he found something! There was a subtle bulge near the left corner of the jacket!
"That's gotta be the watch!"
The thought of the watch's value sent a surge of excitement through him. Over 10,000 yuan! Who would throw away something like that? Thank goodness his own wife wasn't that wasteful!
He checked the three pockets again, finding no holes his hands could fit through. With no suitable tools on hand, Jiang Tao decided to stuff the down jacket inside his military coat and take it home.
By the time he returned to his rental, it was past 12:30 AM. Normally, Jiang Tao would've been fast asleep, dreaming of "Zhou Gong's daughter" by now. But tonight, he was wide awake, buzzing with energy!
Once inside, he shed his military coat, pulled out the green down jacket, and grabbed a pair of scissors from a drawer. *Snip, snip, snip…* Without hesitation, he cut open the lining near the bulge. Reaching inside, he pulled out a square-dialed women's watch with a red crocodile leather strap—small and exquisitely crafted.
The watch looked brand new, barely different from one fresh off the shelf! The hands were ticking normally, and the time matched his phone's exactly. The watch was in perfect working order! Flipping it over, he saw the model number engraved on the back: L5.200.
At thirty years old, Jiang Tao knew next to nothing about watches—aside from the ones he used to draw on his wrist with a ballpoint pen as a kid. But the intelligence system claimed this one was worth 13,300 yuan, so it had to be legit!
"With this condition, it's gotta be at least 98% new, right? How much should I list it for on Xianyu?"
He decided to check Bilibili for videos of the same model to get a sense of its value. After watching several videos, Jiang Tao had a rough idea of the watch's worth. The Longines Mini DolceVita women's watch had an original price of 13,300 yuan. While it was a classic model, the brand's resale value wasn't great—secondhand, it would typically sell for 60-70% of the original price.
"60% of 13,300 is 7,980…"
Jiang Tao punched the numbers into his phone's calculator. A free 8,000 yuan? He'd take it! Since he hadn't spent a dime on it, there was no reason to overthink it.
He snapped several photos of the watch and listed it on his Xianyu account for 8,000 yuan. After posting, he glanced at his phone—1:30 AM! "Man, it's late! Time to sleep!"
He quickly washed up with some hot water in a basin, climbed into bed, turned on his electric blanket, and drifted off. Within ten minutes of his head hitting the pillow, he was fast asleep.