*Ding-a-ling-ling—*
Just after splitting the money, Jiang Tao's phone rang.
He picked up the phone and saw it was a video call from his wife, Xu Li.
"Brother Jiang, you chat with Sister-in-law. We're heading out."
"Let's go, let's go! Head to my place and keep playing Fight the Landlord!"
"See ya, Brother Jiang. We won't disturb your romantic time with Sister-in-law~"
Liu Zhiyuan and the other two were quite tactful, quickly getting up to say their goodbyes.
"Then I won't see you out. Don't play too late—work starts early tomorrow morning~"
Jiang Tao stood to see them off while sliding his finger to answer the call.
The phone screen flickered, and Xu Li appeared, wearing a fluffy light pink pajama set.
"Honey, have you eaten? Quick, tell me, how much money did you guys make these past couple of days!"
On the other end of the call, Xu Li looked eager and impatient.
Two hundred thousand yuan was, for their small family, an absolute fortune!
"Didn't I borrow fifty thousand yuan from you a couple of days ago?"
"Mr. Jiang, let me correct you—it was fifty-six thousand yuan!"
"Oh, right, fifty-six thousand. Didn't I say I'd pay you back double? That amount is already included in today's two hundred thousand."
"Oh! I get it! So, back then, you already predicted that the price of tangeriness would go up, so you borrowed money from me to stock up on them?"
"Wow, I didn't expect my silly little wife to be so sharp today!"
"Pfft, who said I'm silly? I'm sharp as a tack most of the time, okay? It's just that when I married you, I was dazzled by your good looks."
"Haha, is this your indirect way of calling me handsome?"
"Not indirect at all—I'm straight-up praising you! My husband is the handsomest, makes good money, and takes care of the family. Oh no…"
As Xu Li spoke, her expression suddenly changed.
"What's wrong?"
Jiang Tao was baffled by her reaction. Why was this woman acting so jumpy today?
"Honey, do you know about the impossible triangle for men?"
"What impossible three-legs? Don't you mean three legs?"
"Oh, come on, not legs or feet—it's a triangle, a triangle shape!"
"What does that mean…"
Jiang Tao glanced down at his crotch. Isn't it all the same thing?
"There's a psychological rule that says a man can't have all three: being handsome, rich, and faithful."
"Honey, you're so handsome, and lately, you've been making so much money. You've already got two of the three. Are you going to turn bad now that you have money?"
"What kind of nonsense is this? Does our little bit of money even count as being rich? Your husband only qualifies for handsome and faithful."
Jiang Tao couldn't help but laugh at Xu Li's talk of the "impossible triangle for men."
But, come to think of it…
The "impossible triangle for men" and the saying "men turn bad when they have money" did seem somewhat related.
The couple chatted on the phone for another hour and a half until Jiang Xue got sleepy and needed to bathe and go to bed. Only then did Xu Li reluctantly hang up.
After ending the video call with Xu Li, Jiang Tao picked up a small mirror on the table.
He gazed at the face reflected in it—no longer youthful, with a stubbly, slightly weathered look.
Objectively speaking, he was indeed a bit handsome.
This face was the greatest hidden wealth his rural parents had given him.
Relatives and friends all said Jiang Tao was lucky to marry such a beautiful wife like Xu Li, as if his ancestors' graves were smoking with good fortune.
But the truth was, it was Xu Li who had pursued Jiang Tao.
Of course, it was also true that she didn't have to try very hard to win him over.
Jiang Tao and Xu Li were probably what people call love at first sight.
From school uniforms to wedding dresses, after all these years, they only had eyes for each other and their little bundle of love.
In the eyes of their many relatives and friends, they were the epitome of a model couple.
After indulging in a bit of narcissism in front of the mirror, Jiang Tao put it down.
He picked up his phone and opened Alipay to check his balance: 245,897.66 yuan!
Jiang Tao first used his phone to repay the 160,000 yuan he borrowed today, leaving a balance of 85,897.66 yuan!
Add to that the 200,000 yuan he transferred to Xu Li today, and the couple now had over 300,000 yuan in their hands!
In just ten or so days, their family's finances had gone from negative 80,000 yuan to over 300,000 yuan!
Relying on the various intelligence provided by the system, Jiang Tao had earned over 400,000 yuan, averaging over 40,000 yuan a day!
On top of that, he still had about 200,000 yuan worth of Nianghong wine under his bed that hadn't been cashed in yet—a significant asset!
"System Bro is the real MVP! Without System Bro, I'd have to slave away for five or six years to earn this much!"
"Now it only took 11 days! That's five or six years less of struggle!"
With this thought, Jiang Tao opened the main interface of the Daily Intelligence System with a mental command.
**[Host]:** Jiang Tao (30 years old)
**[System Level 1]:** This level unlocks 1 piece of intelligence per day.
**[Note: Ma Dongmei has just secured a train ticket for 4 a.m. on January 20. After leaving Beijing this time, she will not return!]**
The more Jiang Tao looked at System Bro's interface, the more he found it handsome and charming.
*Whoosh!*
As if shy from Jiang Tao's gaze, System Bro abruptly closed its own interface.
Jiang Tao: "…"
"Right now, just one piece of intelligence a day has let me earn this much money in just ten or so days."
"If I could unlock two, three pieces…"
"If I could refresh multiple pieces of intelligence at once every day, wouldn't I make money even faster?"
Looking at the system's current level, still only Level 1, Jiang Tao felt a strong urge to upgrade System Bro.
"Once I get my share of the tangerines money tomorrow, I'll upgrade System Bro!"
"I'll have to upgrade it sooner or later anyway."
"Now that the family's debts are cleared, and there's no urgent need for money, the cash sitting in my hands won't earn much on its own."
"Investing 100,000 yuan in the intelligence system to get one more piece of intelligence a day is totally worth it!"
Though Jiang Tao understood the logic, spending 100,000 yuan at once to upgrade the system still made his heart ache a little.
"Also, tomorrow I need to make time to visit the Hongxing Wholesale Market to check on Grandpa Landlord's love story."
"I can't let his lovebird really take that train and leave for good."
While checking the system's main interface, Jiang Tao had also noticed the notification about Ma Dongmei.
Ma Dongmei was leaving Beijing the morning after tomorrow, so Jiang Tao only had tomorrow to make things happen. Success or failure hinged on this.
While mentally planning tomorrow's tasks, Jiang Tao quickly washed up and slipped into bed.
Tonight, he didn't feel like listening to audiobooks. Instead, he opened the KuaiDou app.
He watched some videos of attractive girls to refine his aesthetic taste.
After his aesthetic training session, Jiang Tao opened WeChat to check his Moments.
Jiang Tao had few WeChat friends—only about 150, all real-life relatives and friends.
The first Moment was from his sister-in-law, Xu Sha, posting about her mall trip today.
**[Another wonderful day, and I'm in a great mood~]**
Below the caption was a nine-photo grid.
She wore a light gray wool coat, a cream-colored base layer, and knee-high boots.
His sister-in-law looked stylish and pretty, with a ton of likes below.
The second Moment was from Xu Li, sharing a photo of Jiang Xue in her new clothes.
The third was from Wang Lianming, posting a photo of his family of four at the hospital.
The fourth was from Master Tian, the owner of the auto repair shop where Jiang Tao used to fix cars, advertising a second-hand car for sale.
The fifth, the sixth…
Jiang Tao scrolled through until he reached the last post of the day.
Then he opened the "Family Love" WeChat group to check the group chat.
The first message was from Xu Li, sharing the photo of Jiang Xue in her new clothes.
Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle, and Aunt all commented, praising how pretty she looked.
His cousins sent a string of emojis.
With a few little ones in the "Family Love" group, it was quite lively.
Time always seems to fly when you're on your phone.
Soon, it was midnight.
With a thought, Jiang Tao opened the intelligence system to check the latest refreshed intelligence.