Glancing quickly at the Yuan Datou coins in the jar, Jiang Tao pulled out a pre-prepared black plastic bag from his pocket and placed the jar inside.
The two brothers standing above the pit only saw Jiang Tao dig up a jar from the ground. They had no idea what was actually inside it. Although the brothers were very curious, they adhered to their second uncle's teachings: don't ask about things you shouldn't. They willingly served as their second uncle's digging tools.
"Give me a hand, you two brats. What, trying to bury me or something?" Jiang Tao jokingly scolded the two nephews standing above the pit.
"Heh heh, no way! You're our dear second uncle!" Jiang Shijie chuckled twice and reached out to pull Jiang Tao up.
"Hurry up and fill the pit back in," Jiang Tao said, brushing the dirt off his pants. Then, with a hint of concern, he added, "Keep your mouths shut about tonight's business. Don't tell anyone."
What he dug up from the ground tonight wasn't something to be talked about carelessly—loose lips could bring trouble. Jiang Tao trusted his two nephews, though. He had watched them grow up, and they weren't the type to blab. Besides, even if they were reckless, they wouldn't betray their own second uncle. And since they didn't know what was in the jar, they couldn't spill the beans even if they wanted to.
"Second Uncle, don't worry. My lips are sealed. I won't tell a soul!" Jiang Shijie said.
"Me too, me too! Second Uncle, you can trust me. Even if someone threatens to beat me to death, I won't say a word!" Jiang Shaojie chimed in, as the brothers huffed and puffed while filling the pit, earnestly reassuring Jiang Tao.
Filling the pit was much faster than digging it. In less than ten minutes, the large hole was completely filled. The three of them then turned and headed back toward the village, deliberately avoiding the village entrance's "intelligence station" and taking a small path instead.
Back in the village, near Jiang Tao's house in a small alley, just before parting ways, Jiang Tao pulled out 2,000 yuan he had prepared in advance and handed it to his older nephew.
"This is your wages, you two. Spend it wisely."
"Thank you, Second Uncle!!"
"Thank you, Second Uncle!!"
The entire operation tonight had taken just over an hour. Each brother earned 1,000 yuan, equivalent to an hourly wage of 1,000 yuan. They were thrilled—neither had ever been this rich before.
Jiang Tao reiterated solemnly, "Don't tell anyone about tonight, got it? Otherwise, you won't get to join in on good deals like this in the future."
"Got it, got it! Second Uncle, don't worry. I swear to the heavens! Even if I'm beaten to death, I won't say a word!" Jiang Shijie vowed.
"I swear too! If I spill, may I shrink 18 centimeters!" Jiang Shaojie added.
"You little punk, trying to become your brother's sister or what?" Jiang Tao laughed, playfully smacking Jiang Shaojie on the back of his head. Having used his two "tool men," Jiang Tao sent the brothers home and headed toward his own doorstep.
Pushing open the half-closed gate, he entered the courtyard. Through the large glass window on the balcony, Jiang Tao saw Xu Li, Jiang Bing, and Little Cotton Jacket sitting on the living room sofa, watching TV. The television was replaying the Spring Festival Gala, with a few robots in colorful padded jackets performing a yangko dance, twirling handkerchiefs.
After changing his shoes on the balcony, Jiang Tao carried the black plastic bag inside.
"Honey, what were you, Shijie, and Shaojie sneaking around doing tonight?" Xu Li asked curiously, eyeing Jiang Tao and the black plastic bag in his hand, her face full of intrigue. "Did you secretly buy us some delicious food to surprise us? Oh, Second Brother, you're the best!"
Jiang Bing, thinking of this possibility, sprang up from the sofa and eagerly peeked into the bag Jiang Tao was holding.
"Dirty old thing. What is this? I take back my praise," Jiang Bing said, rolling her eyes and plopping back onto the sofa when she saw there was no food, just a grimy clay jar.
"I went out to pick up some stuff. Antiques. You wouldn't understand. Keep watching TV. I'm going to study it," Jiang Tao explained with a smile, then carried the bag into a storage room used for miscellaneous items and Jiang Xue's toys.
After closing the door behind him, Jiang Tao turned on the room's light and took the clay jar out of the black plastic bag, placing it on the floor. Then, he grabbed a box of spicy noodle packets Xu Li had bought, emptied it, and set the empty box aside.
*Clatter!* With a crisp sound, Jiang Tao tilted the jar and poured all the Yuan Datou coins into the cardboard box. He examined the empty jar closely, turning it over several times. The jar had no designs or patterns, much like the pickle jars his mom used. It probably wasn't worth much. Besides, according to the intelligence, the old landlord had used it to hold silver coins and buried it underground, so it likely wasn't valuable. And now, thanks to Jiang Shaojie's shovel breaking a piece off, it was probably worth even less.
Setting the jar aside, Jiang Tao picked up one of the Yuan Datou coins from the box. Some had slight oxidation, others had faint rust marks—clearly, they were old. Jiang Tao knew nothing about antiques and had no idea how much these were worth. But he knew someone who did.
Instantly, he thought of Zhang Bo from Beijing's Boya Auction House. After a few pleasant business dealings, Jiang Tao had a good impression of Zhang Bo and considered him a friend worth knowing. Plus, Jiang Tao had been "farming" Zhang Bo's WeChat Moments daily, treating him like an "experience baby." Subconsciously, he'd started seeing Zhang Bo as a close acquaintance.
If he could stumble upon another tip like the four gold bars in the second-hand Audi, he'd make a fortune again! Unfortunately, no such luck had come his way recently.
Acting on the thought, Jiang Tao took a few Yuan Datou coins, snapped photos with his phone, and sent them to Zhang Bo, asking for an appraisal.
[Brother Jiang, these Yuan Datou coins look pretty recent! They're in decent condition!] Zhang Bo replied.
[For this year's coins, the current market recycling price is about 1,100 to 1,200 each.]
Seeing Zhang Bo's reply, Jiang Tao counted all the coins in the box—exactly 205! At the highest price of 1,200 per coin, that came to 246,000 yuan, matching the intelligence report perfectly. Zhang Bo's quote seemed fair. This guy was solid!
After checking with Zhang Bo if it was a good time, Jiang Tao called him via video chat and showed him the haul from tonight. They talked for over half an hour, finalizing a deal. When Jiang Tao returned to Beijing, he'd bring the coins to Boya Auction House to trade with Zhang Bo.
To secure Jiang Tao's stock, Zhang Bo even sent a 10,000-yuan deposit via WeChat! After all, a deal involving over 240,000 yuan was no small matter. With a bit of maneuvering, Zhang Bo's side could easily make 20,000 to 30,000 yuan in profit.
As for the broken clay jar, Zhang Bo said it was worthless, especially now that it was damaged. It could be tossed out as garbage.
After ending the video call, Jiang Tao tapped to accept the 10,000-yuan deposit. With this, his cash balance finally climbed back above 10,000 yuan. Ever since spending 200,000 yuan on 10,000 Feitian Pig popcorn buckets from Wang Xiaobai, Jiang Tao had been a bit strapped for cash. This 10,000-yuan advance eased things up considerably. In a few days, once the popcorn buckets gained traction and went on sale, the real money would roll in!
*Rip, rip, rip!* Jiang Tao wrapped the spicy noodle box containing the coins with tape, securing it dozens of times to ensure it was safe. He then tucked the box into a corner of the room where shoeboxes were stored.
With the coins handled, Jiang Tao returned to the living room. He went to the bathroom, meticulously washing his hands with soap and scrubbing the dirt from under his nails. His hands had important work to do tonight—they had to stay clean and hygienic.
After washing up, Jiang Tao told Xu Li he was stepping out and headed to his dad's place to find Old Sun. After all, Old Sun was a guest he'd invited, and he couldn't let him feel neglected.
When he arrived, Jiang Tao realized he'd overthought things. According to his mom, his dad had taken Old Sun to Jiang Tianming's house next door that afternoon to play chess. One thing led to another, and the three ended up at the drinking table.
In just over a day, Old Sun and Jiang Tao's dad had hit it off splendidly, bonding like long-lost brothers and even considering becoming sworn siblings. After chatting briefly with his mom, Jiang Tao headed to Jiang Tianming's courtyard next door.
"Jiang Tao's here! Looking for your dad and your master, huh? They're inside drinking with our Old Jiang. Go join them for a couple of drinks," a middle-aged woman said with a smile, emerging from the kitchen in the east wing with a steaming plate of stir-fried vegetables.
"Happy New Year, Aunt Liu. Sorry for the trouble," Jiang Tao replied, greeting her warmly before following her into the living room.
Jiang Tianming's house was newly built two years ago, decorated in a Chinese style with redwood-colored ceilings and doorframes. They even had a redwood liquor cabinet by the entrance—though "redwood" just meant red-colored wood, not actual rosewood.
"Jiang Tao's here! Come, come, take a seat. Let's have a good drink together," Jiang Tianming said enthusiastically, standing to welcome Jiang Tao to the table.
Unable to refuse the warm invitation, Jiang Tao joined them, sharing a small cup of liquor with each of the three men, officially joining the drinking session. The three older men were close in age and shared similar life experiences. Though Sun Xiaobao was from Beijing, his life over the decades wasn't much different from that of rural folks. It was only in recent years, after his village was demolished, that he moved from a village house to an apartment in a residential complex.
The three chatted endlessly, hitting it off perfectly. Sun Xiaobao even invited Jiang Tao's dad and Jiang Tianming to visit Beijing after the New Year to explore the city together. Jiang Tao, decades younger, couldn't keep up with their topics. After a few cups of Maotai, he excused himself and headed home.
That night, Jiang Bing and Jiang Xue shared a room again. This time, Jiang Bing brought an eye mask and earplugs, thinking she'd finally get a peaceful sleep. But she underestimated the stamina of her second brother and sister-in-law, who were often apart. In the end, she had to resort to playing a "little movie" to fall asleep.
Jiang Tao woke naturally the next morning, opening his eyes just after 8 a.m. The bed beside him was empty—Xu Li was already up.
"Hiss~" Jiang Tao sat up, rubbing his lower back. The past couple of days had been exhausting, and his back was feeling a bit sore. A delicate wife at home, and even goji berries couldn't cure it! He'd need to get some Liuwei Dihuang pills pronto.
Not in a rush to get dressed, Jiang Tao mentally opened the interface of his Daily Intelligence System to check the latest intelligence that had refreshed at midnight.
**[Today's Intelligence 01]:**
When you visited your uncle Tian Xiaoguang at the Tianjiazhuang cattle farm yesterday, you obtained related intelligence—
Inside the Tianjiazhuang cattle farm, one old yellow cow has a natural bezoar weighing 1,000 grams in its body. Purchasing the cow and obtaining the bezoar could yield a profit of 1.49 million yuan!
**[Note]:** There are 0 hours and 49 minutes left before this cow is bought by another buyer.
…
Seeing the first piece of intelligence, Jiang Tao's breathing quickened. A profit of how much? 1.49 million yuan!! The four gold bars he'd acquired were worth only 270,000 yuan, not even 300,000! A 1,000-gram bezoar—two jin—could fetch a staggering 1.49 million! Was this thing more expensive than gold?
With trembling hands, Jiang Tao typed "natural bezoar" into his phone's browser for a quick search. Information about natural bezoars popped up instantly. The cattle market had been sluggish in recent years, but the price of natural bezoars had skyrocketed like a rocket! Even gold, which had surged in price this year, paled in comparison to bezoars.
From early 2023, when natural bezoars cost 570,000 yuan per kilogram, the price had soared to 1.4 million yuan per kilogram by the end of 2023—a 240% increase! In 2024, despite already being at a high price, bezoars continued their upward trend. The peak came in September 2024, when prices hit 1.6 to 1.7 million yuan per kilogram! By 2025, the upward cycle had ended, with a slight dip, but the market price still hovered around 1.5 million yuan per kilogram.
In other words, the 1,000-gram bezoar mentioned in the system's intelligence could indeed sell for the reported 1.49 million yuan! The reason for such a high price was simple: rarity. Natural bezoars were extremely scarce. Essentially, they were gallstones formed in cows—a pathological product with a very low probability of occurrence. In modern times, with increasingly mechanized farming and the near disappearance of cows in rural areas, modern cattle farms prioritized efficiency. Calves were typically slaughtered at 2 to 2.5 years old, when they weighed 500–600 kilograms, maximizing profit. But natural bezoars generally took over five years, or even a decade, to form. Plus, the chance of a cow developing gallstones was only one to two in a thousand.
With such a long formation time and low probability, no one would be foolish enough to raise cows specifically to gamble on bezoars. Those who obtained natural bezoars were as lucky as lottery winners—pure chance, not something you could force.
"Yesterday's visit to Uncle wasn't in vain. This intelligence is a game-changer!" Jiang Tao thought. "If I could get intelligence like this every day, earning 1.5 million daily… that's 45 million a month! In a year, that's 5.4 billion! In ten years…"
Of course, Jiang Tao knew he was dreaming. Even with his River Stone boosting his luck, it was impossible to get such high-value intelligence daily. Noticing the note that only about an hour remained before the cow was bought, Jiang Tao didn't rush. He sat up, slowly got dressed, and mentally flipped to the second piece of intelligence.
**[Today's Intelligence 02]:**
While waiting to watch a movie with your family at Dadi Cinema yesterday, you visited the merchandise sales area and obtained related intelligence—
Among the *Nezha: Havoc in the Sea* Doutian bags on the sales shelf, one contains a personally signed card by Director Jiaozi. This signed card is worth 98,000 yuan!
**[Note]:** There are 3 minutes and 10 seconds left before this card is purchased!
…
"Three minutes!!" Jiang Tao exclaimed. "Damn, sleeping in today cost me big time!!!"
Seeing that only three minutes remained before the signed card was sold, Jiang Tao was speechless. His house was over 5 kilometers from Dadi Cinema in Ping County—even a plane wouldn't get him there in time!
"Think, think! There's got to be a way!" he muttered. "Right, call the cinema staff! I can ask them to reserve all the bags at the sales area for me!"
With that, Jiang Tao quickly opened a delivery app on his phone, found the number for Dadi Cinema in Ping County, and dialed.
*Beep, beep, beep…*
As the seconds ticked by, no one picked up the cinema's listed number. Jiang Tao glanced anxiously at the system interface's countdown. Now, just over two minutes remained before the signed card was sold. Was he really going to watch a 98,000-yuan Doutian bag slip away?
Regret gnawed at him—he should've checked the intelligence last night! Staring at the countdown, his mind raced, fingers instinctively swiping his phone.
What to do, what to do, what to do…
Suddenly, his swiping stopped. He quickly scrolled back up, locking his gaze on a WeChat Moments post his sister-in-law Xu Sha had shared just a minute ago. The first photo in the post was all too familiar—it was the entrance to Dadi Cinema, where he'd been yesterday!