*Ding-a-ling-ling—*
The next morning at 7:30 AM.
Jiang Tao was woken up by the sound of his phone ringing.
Groggily picking up the phone, he saw the caller ID displaying the name "Third Bro."
Swiping to answer and placing the phone by the bedside, Jiang Tao closed his eyes, intending to linger in bed a bit longer.
From the other end of the call came Jiang Bing's voice, brimming with excitement as if he'd been injected with adrenaline.
"Second Bro! Can you believe it? Our Ultraman hair clips sold out in a single day!"
"I can."
"A total of 10,248 pieces, all sold out, not a single one left!"
"Good job."
"We're amazing! We made a fortune, Second Bro!!"
"Yeah, awesome."
"Hey, Second Bro, your reaction's way too calm! Show some excitement!"
"How much do you want?"
"Tch! So boring! I'm done talking to you; I've got to arrange shipping. Over 4,000 orders—insane! Hanging up now!"
"Wait, don't hang up yet. When will the money hit the account?"
Jiang Tao opened his eyes, sat up in bed, and asked the question he cared about most.
Jiang Bing replied, "Hard to say. Could be five or six days if it's quick, or half a month if it's slow."
"Alright, alright. Keep it for now, and when it all comes through, send me my share. Is the shipping fee covered? If not, I can transfer you some money."
"It's covered, it's covered. Don't worry about it, Second Bro. Just wait for your share! The only pity is we probably won't get much before the New Year."
"No worries. It won't stop me from giving you a big red envelope for the New Year."
"Hehe, thanks, Second Bro! You're my real brother!"
"Isn't that obvious? Alright, go do your thing. Hanging up."
After ending the call with Third Bro, Jiang Tao stretched lazily. Just as he was about to get dressed and out of bed, another call came in.
*Ding-a-ling-ling—*
The caller ID showed "Wifey."
Jiang Tao raised an eyebrow. Had his silly wife finally remembered to share the good news about winning the lottery?
"Hey, honey, calling so early in the morning—got some good news to—"
"Waaah, honey, I'm so sorry! I—I lost yesterday's lottery ticket, waaah…"
"I was so careless, so stupid. Yell at me, please, waaah…"
Before Jiang Tao could finish his sentence, Xu Li's sobbing voice came through the phone.
"Honey, don't cry, don't cry. It's just a lottery ticket. If it's lost, it's lost. It's not a big deal."
Hearing Xu Li's cries, Jiang Tao's thoughts about the lottery vanished, and he hurried to comfort her.
"Honey, just scold me a little. If you don't, I'll feel even worse."
"That was 30,000 yuan… enough for a year's worth of pocket money for our family."
It was clear Xu Li was genuinely heartbroken and guilt-ridden.
She hadn't slept all night.
At three or four in the morning, she'd taken a flashlight and retraced the route she'd ridden the previous day, searching for the ticket.
Naturally, she hadn't found it.
Overwhelmed with guilt, she finally called Jiang Tao to confess her mistake.
Xu Li had no idea her husband had already bound himself to a legendary system, raking in buckets of money with its help.
In her mind, her husband was still the hardworking driver pulling in a monthly salary of seven or eight thousand yuan.
The recent windfall was just a stroke of luck, but once it passed, they'd return to their normal life.
Thirty thousand yuan was nearly a third of Jiang Tao's annual income!
Xu Li felt like she'd caused a catastrophe, unforgivable.
"It's okay, it's just 30,000 yuan. If it's gone, we'll earn it back. The world's big, but my wife is bigger!"
"Oh, honey, there's some good news I haven't had the chance to tell you."
"Third Bro and I…"
To ease Xu Li's guilt over losing the lottery ticket, Jiang Tao forcibly shifted the conversation.
He confessed to Xu Li about his and Jiang Bing's collaboration in selling Ultraman hair clips.
When Xu Li heard that the siblings had sold over 200,000 yuan worth of hair clips in just two days, with Jiang Tao's share being over 100,000 yuan, the incredible news did lift her spirits a tiny bit.
The call lasted over half an hour before Jiang Tao finally managed to cheer Xu Li up.
After hanging up, he called his mom, asking her to take their daughter, Jiang Xue, to her place for the day so Xu Li could rest.
With the New Year approaching, the old lady wasn't working and was happy to look after her granddaughter.
With his wife and daughter sorted, Jiang Tao glanced at his phone. It was already 8:30 AM.
"Sigh, what's meant to be will be, and what's not, you can't force."
"Thirty thousand yuan, gone just like that!"
Though Jiang Tao felt a pang of regret over the 30,000 yuan, he was more concerned for his wife.
What was done was done; no amount of complaints or regrets would change it.
He could only console himself by pretending they'd never won.
"This pack of tea leaves is also worth 30,000. It'll make up for the loss…"
Jiang Tao grabbed the tea leaves Sun Xiaobao had given him the previous day, packed them into a shopping bag, and headed out.
While eating breakfast at a shop in the urban village, Jiang Tao chatted with Wang Lianming on WeChat, asking for Director Tang Yonghua's phone number.
About ten minutes later, as Jiang Tao finished his breakfast, Wang Lianming sent him Tang Yonghua's number.
"138****"
Jiang Tao copied and pasted the number into his contacts, saving it as "Director Tang Yonghua."
Having obtained information about Tang Yonghua the previous night, Jiang Tao had already planned how to use it to help Wang Lianming and his wife.
So, Jiang Tao typed out a message on his phone and sent it directly to Tang Yonghua.
…
9:00 AM.
Beijing, Jishuitan Hospital, Oncology Department Director's Office.
Tang Yonghua had just finished the morning meeting and made rounds with several attending doctors before returning to his office.
*Ding-dong!*
As he sat down at his desk, his phone pinged with a notification for a new message.
Tang Yonghua didn't rush to check it. He took a few sips of tea from the cup on his desk before leisurely pulling out his phone.
"Director Tang, you don't want the BMW X5 matter to be known, do you?"
*Thud!!!*
Upon reading the message from an unknown number, the teacup slipped from Tang Yonghua's hand, crashing onto the desk with a loud thud!
His body stiffened, his palms grew sweaty, and beads of perspiration formed on his forehead.
His heartbeat thundered like a drum, his heart rate spiking to 150 or 160.
His wide eyes were filled with fear and unease.
His mind replayed past mistakes over and over.
A wave of regret surged like a tide, engulfing him entirely.
His once-flushed face turned pale, his lips trembling slightly.
There was no doubt—if the BMW X5 matter was reported to the hospital's disciplinary committee, Tang Yonghua's tenure as director would be over, and his career would be dead!
Tang Yonghua and the supplier were in a mutual benefit arrangement.
He was certain the supplier hadn't betrayed him.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
With trembling fingers, Tang Yonghua typed a reply and sent it.
After the initial panic, he realized that since the other party had contacted him first, they likely weren't aiming to destroy him.
After exchanging seven or eight messages with the mysterious person, Tang Yonghua's tense expression relaxed slightly, and the weight on his heart finally eased.
He deleted the entire chat history before opening the work software on his computer and searching for He Fang's name.