In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed since Jiang Tao's family of five arrived in Beijing.
Jiang Xue officially enrolled in Aidi International Kindergarten, becoming a new student in Class 2 of K4.
From a small village kindergarten, she made a giant leap into an elite international kindergarten like Aidi.
For the first few days, Jiang Xue struggled to adapt.
She cried every day, refusing to go to school, wanting to go back home and missing her old friends from her previous class.
Under Jiang Yi's patient care and guidance, it took less than a week for Jiang Xue to settle into her new class and make many new friends.
Although her academic performance still lagged significantly behind the other kids in her class, Jiang Xue had one trait in common with her father, Jiang Tao: a big heart.
The little girl didn't stress about her grades at all. She played happily every day and came home chattering nonstop.
One day, she made a new friend; the next, she gained a "little follower." She was gradually forgetting her old friends back home.
Moreover, children's learning and imitation abilities are remarkably strong.
In the unique learning environment and atmosphere of Aidi International Kindergarten, Jiang Xue's progress was so rapid that it surprised even Jiang Tao.
Despite starting with zero foundation in English, barely able to recognize the 26 letters of the alphabet, Jiang Xue's spoken English surpassed her father's in just ten days at Aidi.
When the little girl came home speaking "bird language" (English), Jiang Tao got a headache and had to plead with her to speak Chinese.
After graduating from college, aside from occasionally watching Hollywood blockbusters, Jiang Tao had barely used English in his daily life.
The knowledge he'd learned in school had mostly been "returned" to his teachers.
Xu Li, on the other hand, felt no pressure.
She remained a stay-at-home mom, just as she had been before.
While helping Jiang Xue with her studies, she was also learning and improving every day, growing alongside her daughter.
In the half-month since arriving in Beijing, Xu Li had familiarized herself with the supermarkets and shops around their neighborhood and had taken up the responsibility of grocery shopping and cooking again.
When everyone else left the house during the day, she stayed home, washing clothes and cleaning.
She also followed KEEP's exercise courses, practicing yoga and doing fitness routines.
Xu Li, who already had a great figure, became even fitter and healthier due to her workouts.
As she put it, she endured the pain of exercise so that "Old Jiang" could enjoy the doubled benefits of her toned physique without lifting a finger.
Jiang Tao's parents and Old Sun had explored nearly all of Beijing's famous attractions.
Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Bird's Nest, the Water Cube, the Summer Palace, the Old Summer Palace, Fragrant Hills, the Great Wall at Badaling, and so on…
They left their footprints and took commemorative photos at every site.
From their hometown of Jiangjiazhuang to Beijing, the month of joyful time together had brought Jiang Tao's family of five and Old Sun closer.
Jiang Xue even recognized Old Sun as her "god-grandfather."
In the past half-month, Jiang Tao had also entered a "working mode."
Though he wasn't actually working, he had to put on a show.
He couldn't just stay home doing nothing all day.
Every morning around 8 a.m., he'd leave the house and drive to Panjiayuan to wander around.
By 5 p.m., he'd "get off work" and head home.
However, Jiang Tao's luck hadn't been great recently.
Despite patrolling Panjiayuan with high intensity every day, he hadn't triggered any information related to "finding treasures."
Fortunately, the daily 10,000 yuan from the Wealth-Beckoning Golden Toad ensured his basic living expenses, so Jiang Tao wasn't worried.
Back when he worked himself to the bone, he earned only seven or eight thousand yuan a month.
Now, without doing anything, he had a guaranteed income of 300,000 yuan a month—a life that was more than just a little better.
With a monthly income of 300,000 yuan, what was there to worry about?
This income was more than enough to maintain their current high standard of living.
Three hundred thousand yuan a month in pocket money? He couldn't even spend it all!
Although he hadn't obtained any valuable information recently, Jiang Tao wasn't entirely without income.
The autographed card from Director Jiaozi, which he'd obtained from a DouTian package, had successfully sold for 98,000 yuan.
The 100,000 yuan reward for reporting a fugitive to the Ping County police station had also gone through the approval process.
He had his brother-in-law back home collect the reward and gave him 30,000 yuan as a "service fee."
Additionally, the cattle farm project had been fully set up.
Liu Zhiyuan and Shan Yufei had acquired another 200 head of cattle from nearby counties, bringing the total to 300.
All that was left was to wait for the right time to sell and profit.
When that happened, Jiang Tao would earn five times the multiplied returns.
On top of that, he still had two pieces of important information he hadn't acted on yet.
One was about a Mercedes-Benz GLS "return one, compensate three" case.
The other was about Zhang Chao's background.
Regarding the Mercedes-Benz case, since he knew Du Ennan was busy with work recently, Jiang Tao hadn't rushed to bother him.
He had solid evidence for this matter, so there was no hurry.
As for Zhang Chao's issue, Jiang Tao hadn't found the right moment to bring it up with his friend.
If handled well, these two pieces of information could bring in millions in revenue.
This was the foundation of Jiang Tao's confidence in facing life calmly.
Since no valuable information had come up recently, Jiang Tao began to reconsider an idea.
Should he spend 1 million yuan to upgrade his daily intelligence system to level 3?
After completing the "Carry on the Family Line" task, his personal savings had reached over 1 million yuan.
Plus, the profits from the Ultraman hair clip and the Flying Pig popcorn bucket had mostly been settled.
Even after splitting the profits 50-50 with Xu Li, Jiang Tao had earned six or seven hundred thousand yuan.
His personal savings now amounted to nearly 2 million yuan in cash.
Whether to upgrade was entirely up to him—his funds were more than sufficient.
In Xiaoshahe, in the old tenement building where Lü Qian lived, inside the room Jiang Tao used to rent…
Jiang Tao sat on the bed, smoking a cigarette, and finally decided to spend 1 million yuan to upgrade the system.
After all, he'd have to upgrade eventually—better sooner than later to reap the benefits!
He didn't have any suitable investment projects at the moment.
With nearly 2 million yuan sitting in his savings, he had nowhere to spend it.
One extra piece of daily intelligence meant one more opportunity.
If luck was on his side, a single piece of information could recoup the cost!
[Would you like to spend 1 million yuan to upgrade the system immediately?]
"Yes!"
[Deducting payment, please wait…]
[Payment successful, system upgrading, estimated completion in 4 hours…]
Jiang Tao glanced at the time on his phone—it was already 6 p.m.
The system upgrade would be complete around 10 p.m.
Tomorrow, he'd get one extra piece of intelligence.
He couldn't help but feel a little excited!
*Ding-a-ling-ling—*
Just as Jiang Tao finished upgrading the system, his phone rang.
The screen displayed the name "Foot Massage Chao."
Jiang Tao swiped to answer.
"Hey, Zhang Chao."
"If you're treating, I've got time."
"Haha, cool, I'm actually in Xiaoshahe right now."
"Alright, we'll talk when we meet."
After a brief conversation, Jiang Tao hung up, got up, and headed downstairs.
"Yo! Little Jiang, it's been a while! I thought you were staying back home!"
"Where you headed? Come to my place for dinner, let's have a few drinks, the three of us!"
As soon as Jiang Tao went downstairs, he ran into Old Lü and Ma Dongmei, who were returning from grocery shopping.
Old Lü's face was beaming with a brilliant smile, clearly indicating some progress with Ma Dongmei.
Ma Dongmei smiled at Jiang Tao, making a few gentle hand gestures that left him completely confused.
Old Lü chuckled and translated, "Dongmei says she's happy to see you, our little hometown buddy, again."
Jiang Tao grinned back, "I stayed back home a bit longer for the New Year to spend time with family. Looks like things are going well for you and Aunt Ma, Lü Bro."
Lü Qian laughed, "Hahaha, thanks to you, kid, I got together with Little Mei."
"Little Jiang, no way you're leaving today. The three of us are gonna have a good drink."
"Sorry, Lü Bro, bad timing today."
"I just made plans to eat with a hometown friend. Let's do it another day when I'm free."
"Oh, you've got plans? Alright then, we'll catch up another time."
"Cool, I'm off then."
Jiang Tao waved goodbye to Lü Qian and strode off.
He stopped by Fat Dongdong Supermarket and bought two bottles of century-old Niulanshan Erguotou for over 100 yuan each.
He also grabbed some braised meat and other cooked foods.
Carrying bags of snacks and drinks, Jiang Tao headed toward the tenement building where Zhang Chao rented.
In less than five minutes on foot, Jiang Tao arrived at the building.
He climbed the dark staircase to Zhang Chao's place.
"Brother Jiang, why'd you bring so much stuff?"
"I already prepared the drinks and food. You're too polite."
Seeing Jiang Tao with bags of food, Zhang Chao quickly welcomed him inside.
"No need for formalities between us bros. Eating well and drinking well is the goal."
Jiang Tao chuckled, placing the drinks and food on the small round table in the middle of the rental.
Zhang Chao's place was similar to Jiang Tao's old room.
It was just over ten square meters, with only an empty bed and a small fabric wardrobe he'd bought.
The small table was used for eating and playing cards.
The two sat across from each other at the table.
Each with a glass and a pair of chopsticks, they dug in.
After downing a bottle while chatting, Zhang Chao started opening up.
"Brother Jiang, from now on, I'm a lone soul. Even if I die, I'll be a wandering ghost."
"Whoa, what's with the nonsense? When you called me earlier, I could tell something was off."
"Don't be so down. Tell your bro what happened. I'll give you some advice. There's no hurdle in this world you can't overcome."
Jiang Tao munched on peanuts, poured Zhang Chao another drink, and offered some comforting words with a smile.
"Heh, Brother Jiang, they say don't air dirty laundry, but I don't see you as an outsider, and I'm not afraid of you laughing at me."
"To be honest, today, I cut ties with my parents. I'm never going back home, ever…"
Before finishing his sentence, Zhang Chao slapped his hands on the table, collapsed onto it, and started sobbing.
A 28-year-old guy crying like this—what kind of grievance had he suffered?
Jiang Tao, watching Zhang Chao break down in tears so suddenly, was momentarily at a loss for words.
"It's okay, Chaozi, cry it out. It's not a crime for a man to cry. Let out your grievances, and you'll feel better."
Jiang Tao reached over, patting Zhang Chao's trembling shoulders, and sighed as he comforted him.
"Brother Jiang, it's too hard. It's just too damn hard."
Zhang Chao lifted his head, wiped the tears from his eyes haphazardly, and after pouring his heart out to Jiang Tao, he felt a bit better.
Zhang Chao's only close friends in Beijing were Liu Zhiyuan and Shan Yufei.
Those two were still back home at the cattle farm, tending to Jiang Tao's cows and waiting for the next step of the plan.
So, in Beijing, the only person Zhang Chao could call to drink with was Jiang Tao, his slightly older hometown buddy.
"What's going on, Zhang Chao? Did you hit some kind of trouble?"
"If you need money, I don't have a ton, but I can lend you 80,000 or 100,000."
Jiang Tao's tone was utterly sincere.
Others might not know Zhang Chao's true identity, but Jiang Tao did.
He wasn't worried about Zhang Chao not paying him back.
If he didn't repay, Jiang Tao could just go to Xia Hua Liangzi for free (overlord meals) and put it on Zhang Chao's tab.
Of course, that was just a joke.
Jiang Tao couldn't even keep up with the little "greedy cat" at home, so he had no energy to chase after "wild cats."
"Brother Jiang…"
Zhang Chao looked at Jiang Tao with gratitude, deeply touched.
He and Jiang Tao weren't even related, yet Jiang Tao offered to lend him money.
Not just ten or twenty thousand—eighty or a hundred thousand!
These days, even blood brothers might not lend you that much!
Though Zhang Chao didn't need to borrow money, he appreciated Jiang Tao's kindness and kept it in his heart.
Jiang Tao's image in his mind grew even taller.
"How much do you need? I'll transfer it to you."
Jiang Tao said, pulling out his phone to make the transfer.
"No, no, Brother Jiang, you've got it wrong. I didn't call you over to cry about being broke or to borrow money."
"Though, the issue did start because of money."
Zhang Chao quickly waved his hands, indicating he didn't need to borrow anything.
Jiang Tao laughed and teased, "What's the deal then? Stop beating around the bush. We've finished a whole bottle, and you still haven't gotten to the point."
"Sigh! This afternoon, my mom called me again, asking me to scrape together 80,000 yuan for my brother to buy a house in Ping County."
"I'm not gonna lie, Brother Jiang. I've made some money over the years, but I'm used to spending big. I barely save anything each year."
"I really don't have 80,000 yuan, but my mom didn't believe me. She chewed me out over the phone, saying they raised me for nothing, calling me an ungrateful wolf."
"Brother Jiang, I'm 28 this year, almost 30."
Zhang Chao patted his chest, his emotions surging:
"Sure, he's my brother, but why should I give the money I worked my ass off for to him for a house or a wedding?"
"Who the hell has ever cared about me, even a little?"
"Don't I deserve to go on dates, get married, have my own family?"
As Zhang Chao spoke, tears of grievance welled up again, spilling out like those of a big kid.
"This… your parents really didn't handle this well…"
Jiang Tao frowned slightly, not entirely approving of Zhang Chao's parents' actions.
Having come from a rural background himself, Jiang Tao understood the current rural marriage market.
A car, a house, a bride price—it easily cost five or six hundred thousand yuan.
For a family like Zhang Chao's, to put it bluntly, they'd be lucky to scrape together enough to get one son married.
His parents' actions clearly showed they'd given up on him, placing the responsibility of carrying on the family line on his younger brother.
As for why it wasn't Zhang Chao? Well, because he wasn't their biological son.
With their family's limited resources and inability to provide much support, it was every man for himself when it came to starting a family.
There was no reason to drain one son to prop up the other.
"You didn't hear how harshly my mom cursed me out."
"She went off for half an hour on the phone without repeating a single insult. She doesn't even curse that hard in the village."
"Heh, my brother called to complain that I shouldn't have upset our mom, saying I'm a failure as a son, heh, heh…"
"As if it's not him asking me to fork over money for his house. He talks a big game!"
"My dad called too, saying I'm no longer his son and to die out here and never come back."
"That's my parents, my brother!"
"This time, I've completely fallen out with them. If I can avoid going back, I really don't want to."
"Brother Jiang, I'm so jealous of you."
"You've got great parents, a great wife, and such a lively, adorable daughter."
Zhang Chao's smile was filled with bitterness as he half-jokingly mocked himself:
"Brother Jiang, do you think I might've been picked up from a dumpster by my parents? Or maybe adopted from someone else?"