*Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle—*
The protesting sounds from his stomach pulled Jiang Tao back to reality from the ecstasy of acquiring four gold bars.
He took out his phone to check the time. It was already past 2 p.m.
After eating breakfast early in the morning, he had gone to the riverbank to pick up stones and then to the second-hand car wholesale market to buy a car.
Busy all day, he hadn't even had a bite of lunch.
"Let's go eat first, then head to a gold shop to check the recycling price."
Jiang Tao carefully tucked the four gold bars close to his body, got into his newly bought old Audi A6, and drove toward Huilongguan.
In Huilongguan, he found a small Northeastern restaurant that didn't close in the afternoon.
One serving of braised chicken with mushrooms, one serving of boiled spicy pork slices, and a big bowl of rice.
Looking at the steaming hot food in front of him, Jiang Tao couldn't help but feel a bit emotional.
Life was getting better!
Back when he was working at the Hongxing second-hand furniture wholesale market, his lunch every day was either fried pancakes or noodles, with a budget of no more than 15 yuan.
Today's meal, just the braised chicken with mushrooms alone cost 39 yuan.
Add to that a 48-yuan boiled spicy pork slices, 3 yuan for the rice, and 10 yuan for a plum juice.
This meal came to exactly 100 yuan, almost equivalent to Jiang Tao's food expenses for an entire week in the past.
Of course, his earning ability now was on a completely different level—hundreds of times better than before!
A 100-yuan lunch wasn't exactly extravagant, and his days would only get better from here!
After a moment of reflection, Jiang Tao dug into his meal.
The chicken in the braised chicken with mushrooms was tender and springy, the mushrooms were fresh and fragrant, and the wide glass noodles had fully absorbed the flavor.
The boiled spicy pork slices were spicy, numbing, and savory—another dish Jiang Tao loved.
After eating his fill and finishing the last sip of plum juice from the bottle, Jiang Tao got up to settle the bill at the counter.
"Hello, sir, your table comes to exactly 100 yuan. Here's your receipt, please keep it."
"You can scan the QR code on our receipt with WeChat to participate in a lucky draw."
The cashier girl handed Jiang Tao a machine-printed receipt from their restaurant with a smile.
"This receipt can be used for a lucky draw?"
Jiang Tao rarely came to proper restaurants like this, so he genuinely didn't know you could win something from a meal.
Usually, he'd eat at small eateries in the Xiaoshahe urban village, where receipts weren't even a thing.
"Yes, sir, it's very simple. Just open WeChat's scan function."
"This is a year-end feedback event by the Beijing Tax Bureau. The winning rate is pretty high."
"Prizes range from as little as 5 or 8 yuan to as much as tens or even hundreds of yuan."
"Someone even won over 50 yuan earlier."
The cashier girl was quite talkative, smiling as she explained the receipt scanning event to Jiang Tao.
"Really? Let me give it a try."
Jiang Tao first scanned to pay the 100-yuan meal bill, then opened WeChat's "Scan" function to scan the QR code on the receipt.
*Ding!*
Scanning complete, a festive red interface popped up.
"You can really win something!"
Seeing the big "500 yuan" displayed on the winning interface, Jiang Tao was thrilled.
Good grief, spending 100 yuan and winning 500 yuan.
He earned 400 yuan from a meal!
While feeling delighted, Jiang Tao's mind quickly flashed to the two "river stones" in his pocket.
"Could it be that this lucky 500-yuan win is also thanks to the river stones?"
"The +3 luck attribute on the river stones doesn't seem like much, but it's pretty effective!"
"Sir, how much did you win?"
Seeing the excited expression on Jiang Tao's face, the cashier girl asked curiously.
"Pretty good luck, I won 500."
Jiang Tao turned his phone screen toward the cashier girl, smiling as he spoke.
"500! Sir, you're really on a lucky streak! This event has been running for months, and this is the first time I've seen someone win 500!"
The cashier girl saw the winning interface and amount on Jiang Tao's phone, her face showing an envious expression.
The other waitstaff nearby overheard their conversation, and their gazes toward Jiang Tao were filled with envy.
As soon as Jiang Tao left, the small restaurant erupted into chatter, with the waitstaff and cleaning aunties gossiping excitedly.
Back in his old Audi A6, Jiang Tao couldn't help but take out the two "river stones" from his pocket to look at them again.
Originally, he had only planned to use them to "fool" Xu Li, to explain why he'd been so lucky lately.
But after today's miraculous experiences—finding a wallet, getting a free ride, and earning 400 yuan from a meal—Jiang Tao had to reassess the significance of these two "river stones."
The [+3 Luck] attribute's performance far exceeded his expectations.
"From now on, I'll call you Lucky Stones!"
"When I have time, I'll ask a jeweler if they can turn you into jewelry to carry around."
"The flat one would make a great pendant, and the round one could be a bracelet."
After carefully examining the two "river stones," Jiang Tao quickly came up with a plan.
He'd keep the pendant for himself and give the bracelet to Xu Li.
Although the lucky events triggered by the "river stones" weren't of high value, having more small surprises in life wasn't bad at all.
"Oh, right, the gas station gave me a receipt too, and I haven't scanned it for the draw!"
Jiang Tao suddenly remembered that when he filled up gas earlier, the station had also given him a receipt.
He opened the center console and found the receipt.
Sure enough, there was a QR code in the top left corner for the lucky draw.
*Ding!*
"88 yuan!"
This time, it wasn't as exciting as the 500 yuan from the restaurant, but 88 yuan was still a significant amount.
If everyone could win big prizes like 88 or 500 yuan, the Beijing Tax Bureau would've gone bankrupt long ago.
These repeated tests made Jiang Tao value the effects of the "river stones" even more.
He even thought that, even without the system, with just these two "river stones," he could live a pretty good life!
In just one day, he had picked up 66 yuan at the riverbank, saved nearly 100 yuan on taxi fares, won 500 yuan from eating, and 88 yuan from fueling up.
All these unexpected gains added up to a whopping 654 yuan, almost equivalent to two days of work at the wholesale market!
Jiang Tao felt that these two river stones could practically be passed down as family heirlooms for generations!
He smoked a cigarette in the car to calm his excitement, then carefully tucked the heirlooms back into his pocket.
"I'll find a gold shop to check the price. If it's good, I'll sell; if not, I'll keep them."
With a plan in mind, Jiang Tao started the car and drove toward the city.
After driving around for a dozen minutes, Jiang Tao arrived near a mall called Wanxianghui, near Xisanqi.
He drove straight into the mall's underground parking lot.
Wanxianghui had been open for just over a year and was a relatively large mall on the north side of the Fifth Ring Road.
The building covered about 130,000 square meters, with four underground floors, seven above-ground floors, and some parts eight floors, with a total construction area of 129,000 square meters.
It was a one-stop destination for dining, entertainment, and shopping.
Jiang Tao occasionally took delivery orders to Wanxianghui, so he knew there were not only Chow Tai Fook but also Lao Feng Xiang jewelry stores on the first floor.
Banks also offered gold buyback services, but they required booking in advance and bringing relevant certificates.
Jiang Tao's four gold bars had no certificates, so he could only try his luck at the gold shops to see if he could sell them.