When Jiang Tao returned to his rental apartment in Xiaoshahe, carrying a case of Maotai and a box of tea, it was already 1:30 a.m.
Although he didn't know the value of these two items, Brother System did.
According to the information provided by the intelligence system:
The tea was worth around 30,000 yuan.
A case of Feitian Maotai was worth 17,000 yuan!
Today was already the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, and the New Year was just a week away.
Jiang Tao decided to keep this case of Maotai.
The case contained exactly six bottles, perfect for giving two bottles each to his father and father-in-law during the New Year, while keeping two for himself.
At this point, the family's external debts had been completely paid off.
The savings he and Xu Li had together now exceeded 500,000 yuan.
During the New Year, indulging a bit with a couple of bottles of Maotai wasn't a big deal.
In their hometown, it was customary during the Spring Festival to give tobacco and alcohol to one's father and father-in-law.
Every year, Jiang Tao would send a pack of Liqun cigarettes costing a little over 100 yuan and a case of alcohol costing around 400 yuan.
His mother always said it was too expensive and told him to buy cheaper ones next year, even suggesting bulk liquor would do, as long as the gesture was made.
However, the situation was completely different at his in-laws' house.
Every year, he couldn't escape a few snide remarks from his mother-in-law and sister-in-law, along with some pointed looks for him to interpret.
Xu Li's cousins, who were far less attractive and had worse figures than her, had all married well.
During the holidays, those cousin-in-laws would send their father-in-law Huazi cigarettes and Maotai liquor.
Each one tried to outdo the others.
Jiang Tao simply couldn't keep up.
He and Xu Li both felt there was no need to compete with those cousin-in-laws just for the sake of appearances.
How much did they earn in a month compared to what Jiang Tao and Xu Li made?
Burdening their family of three just to gain a bit of respect from others?
That would truly be suffering for the sake of pride.
Although Jiang Tao had recently made a good amount of money through the intelligence system, he remained the same person and hadn't let it go to his head.
He had no intention of outshining those brothers-in-law during the New Year or publicly humiliating them.
At thirty years old, he had long lost the youthful bravado of "don't bully the poor youth."
This year, things would be the same as always, just as they should be.
At most, he'd slightly upgrade the quality of the tobacco and alcohol.
He'd buy a case of slightly better liquor for his father and father-in-law, something costing one or two thousand yuan would suffice.
If it was too expensive, his father wouldn't bear to drink it, which would defeat the purpose of gifting the liquor.
Jiang Tao was absolutely certain that the two bottles of Maotai he'd give his father would be too precious for him to drink and would be stored away.
They'd only be brought out for major happy occasions, like his little sister's wedding, his grandson's marriage, or his granddaughter's wedding.
His father-in-law, on the other hand, didn't care as much. Every year on the third day of the New Year, when Jiang Tao visited, his father-in-law would treat him with the Maotai he'd bought himself.
In the over seven years since Jiang Tao and Xu Li got married, he'd actually drunk quite a bit of his father-in-law's Maotai.
This year, gifting his father-in-law two bottles was only fair.
As for cigarettes, he could upgrade to Huazi.
In recent years, everyone said money was getting harder to earn.
But when the New Year came, even in the village, more and more people were gifting and smoking Huazi.
A pack of Huazi only cost around 600 yuan, which Jiang Tao could now easily afford.
As for the box of tea valued by the system at over 30,000 yuan, Jiang Tao had no intention of keeping it.
Tea at that price was far too extravagant for someone like him who rarely drank tea.
Tea costing 300 yuan per liang was already considered very good for him.
"I won't go out to work tomorrow. I'll find a place to sell the tea."
Jiang Tao crouched down and placed the case of Maotai and the box of tea under the bed.
He washed up briefly with water from the thermos, then returned to bed to sleep.
"Why do I feel like I forgot something…"
Lying back in bed, Jiang Tao stared blankly at the ceiling, feeling like he was overlooking something.
"Right! The lottery ticket I asked Xu Li to buy yesterday had its draw, and she hasn't called to share the good news?"
Suddenly, Jiang Tao remembered.
Yesterday, he had asked Xu Li to buy a lottery ticket based on Sun Na's numbers, and that draw should have happened last night.
With that thought, Jiang Tao rolled out of bed again and sat at the desk.
He first opened his WeChat conversation with Xu Li and copied the numbers from the 100-yuan lottery ticket she had sent him onto a piece of paper.
Then, he opened the browser on his phone and checked the results from last night's draw.
"Red balls: 2, 4, 11, 12, 23, 25; blue ball: 6…"
Comparing the results on his phone to the numbers he'd written down, Jiang Tao checked the lottery ticket.
First set: No red balls matched, blue ball not matched, prize: 0.
Second set: One red ball matched, blue ball not matched, prize: 0.
Third set: Three red balls matched, blue ball not matched, prize: 0.
Fourth set: Two red balls matched, blue ball not matched, prize: 0.
Final set: Five red balls matched, blue ball not matched, prize: 3,000 yuan!
"We won! Why didn't my silly wife call to tell me the good news?"
"Could it be… she lost the ticket?"
"Pfft, pfft, pfft, what am I saying with this jinxed mouth?"
"My silly wife may be a bit clueless sometimes, but she's still very reliable."
"She wouldn't make such a basic mistake!"
Although he said Xu Li wouldn't make such a low-level error, Jiang Tao felt a bit uneasy.
Under normal circumstances, Xu Li would have called him immediately to share the good news after winning, but she hadn't.
That was a bit unusual.
As for the likelihood of losing a lottery ticket…
Just a couple of days ago, Jiang Tao himself had found a lost lottery ticket and sold it for over 70,000 yuan.
"I must be overthinking it. Forget it, go to sleep, go to sleep."
"I'll wait for Xu Li to call me about it. No need to pester her."
With a bit of doubt lingering, Jiang Tao climbed back into bed and slipped under the covers to sleep.
…
Jiangzhuang Village, Jiang Tao's home.
"Where is it? Where did it go…"
"That's 30,000 yuan, sob, sob, sob."
"How could I make such a huge mistake!"
"It's not here, not here, not here, still not here…"
On the big bed where Xu Li and Jiang Tao slept, a pile of clothes was now scattered.
Xu Li was frantically searching through the pockets of each piece of clothing for the lottery ticket she had bought yesterday.
Just as Jiang Tao had feared, Xu Li had really lost the lottery ticket!!
Although she hadn't worn any of these clothes today, she didn't overlook them.
What if it was in there?
In her panic, Xu Li wasn't thinking about whether it made logical sense.
She had already searched every possible place.
The house looked worse than if a thief had broken in.
The ticket had indeed won!
Last night during the draw, Sun Na had called Xu Li to share her joy and regret!
If she had listened to Xu Li back then, Sun Na could have made an extra 27,000 yuan!
Her own ticket only won 3,000 yuan, while her best friend, who copied her numbers, won 30,000.
And back then, her best friend had even urged her to bet 10 times more, but she didn't listen.
Just like that, she missed out on a big win, and Sun Na was completely devastated!
However, being friends with Xu Li for over a decade, Sun Na wouldn't let something like this create a rift between them.
She just teased Xu Li to treat her to a big meal, and Xu Li readily agreed.
But… extreme joy turned to sorrow.
Xu Li had torn apart the pockets of her down jacket and still couldn't find the lottery ticket she had bought that day.
Then she started rummaging through the house, turning everything upside down.
In the middle of the night, she even called her mother to ask if she had accidentally left it at her place.
She kept searching until one or two in the morning, but still couldn't find the ticket. Xu Li sat on the floor, utterly dejected.
Lottery tickets are special items sold anonymously.
If it's lost, it's lost—there's no way to replace it.
The thought of losing 30,000 yuan made Xu Li burst into tears.
30,000 yuan was an enormous sum for their little family!
In her entire life, she had never lost so much money!