When Jiang Tao was lying in bed asleep, the space in the room suddenly rippled like the surface of water.
A protective shield-like layer, invisible to the naked eye, around Xu Li burst with a soft *pop*, like a soap bubble breaking.
The exact same thing happened in the room where Jiang Tao's parents were sleeping.
But no one was aware of it.
The next morning, when Jiang Tao woke up, Xu Li was no longer by his side.
Neatly folded on the edge of the bed were a pair of black casual pants and a brown two-piece sweater.
*Creak~*
The door was gently pushed open a crack, and Jiang Xue, already dressed in her school uniform, came in as usual to wake Jiang Tao.
"Dad, get up quick~ The sun's shining on your butt~"
Jiang Tao pretended to be weak and said, "I want to get up too, but I'm out of energy. I need a kiss from the princess to recharge me."
Jiang Xue, with her hands behind her back, walked to the bed and said mischievously, "A princess's kiss requires a roast duck in exchange, you know~"
Jiang Tao couldn't help but laugh. "Are you the Roast Duck Princess? Don't you ever get tired of eating roast duck every day?"
"You're the Roast Duck Daddy! You're the big duck."
"Uh…"
Old Jiang's face darkened at his little cotton-padded jacket's words.
How did he end up getting himself tangled in this!
"Be good, you can't just say things like that in the future."
"Daddy's a proper man, not some duck."
Jiang Xue tilted her head and said, "What's wrong? Little ducks are cute!"
Jiang Tao, while getting dressed, replied, "They are cute, but Daddy wants to be a swan."
"Pfft, Mom's the swan, and you're the toad~ *Bleh bleh bleh~*"
Jiang Xue made a face at Jiang Tao and turned to run, but Old Jiang grabbed her in one swift move.
"You better explain yourself—who's the toad~"
"You are, you are~"
"Honey~ That's enough, you two. The school bus is almost downstairs. Come eat breakfast."
Xu Li, standing at the door, shook her head helplessly as she watched the playful father and daughter.
These two were more childish than the other.
After some playful banter, Jiang Tao finished dressing and walked out of the room to sit at the dining table.
"Huh, where are Grandpa and Grandma?"
Not seeing his parents, Jiang Tao glanced toward their room and asked.
"Dad and Mom went out early to the morning market. They said they'd stop by the vegetable market to check if there are any stalls for rent."
Xu Li placed two bowls of golden millet pumpkin porridge on the table, smiling as she spoke.
Jiang Tao chuckled, "They're pretty proactive."
*Click~*
Just as Jiang Tao finished speaking, the sound of a key turning in the lock came from the door.
The door opened, and his parents walked in, carrying a vegetable basket.
"Mom, Dad, you're back just in time. Wash your hands and let's eat."
Hearing their return, Xu Li called out to them and served their portions of breakfast.
After washing their hands, the family sat down together at the table to eat breakfast.
"Son, this morning your mom and I went to the market near the neighborhood. There are still a few vacant stalls."
"But those little prefab houses have monthly rents ranging from 3,000 to 5,000 yuan. That's a bit expensive, don't you think?"
Jiang Wen, having visited the vegetable market, had some complaints about the rent.
Jiang Tao picked up a piece of pickled cucumber from the eight-treasure pickle dish with his chopsticks and said:
"It's not too expensive. So many vendors are renting stalls there, which means the foot traffic is good and worth the price."
Jiang Tao had accompanied Xu Li to the vegetable market outside the neighborhood before.
It wasn't very large, covering an area of about 20 to 30 mu (roughly 3-5 acres).
The buildings along the two main roads were all steel-structured prefab houses, with pretty basic facilities.
The market had vendors selling vegetables, meat, various noodles, pastries, loose liquor, and more—a wide variety of businesses.
Thanks to the foot traffic from Baigezhuang New Village, business was decent for most vendors, so the rent naturally wasn't cheap.
In this day and age, every industry is fiercely competitive. If you don't do it, someone else will.
Jiang Wen asked with some concern, "Should we think it over a bit more…"
"No need to think it over, Dad. I'm sure this will work out!"
"You and Mom should go rent a stall this morning. We'll renovate it properly."
Jiang Tao didn't give his parents a chance to hesitate and made the decision on the spot.
He knew that his parents, like his uncle, were cautious by nature.
They'd lived carefully their whole lives, always worrying about failure or loss before doing anything.
When push came to shove, they'd often get cold feet, wanting to back out or give up.
His older brother, Jiang He, had the same personality.
This stemmed from a lifetime of poverty, a mindset shaped by scarcity.
A life of hardship had long worn down their edges, eroding their ambition.
All that remained was a resigned acceptance of mediocrity.
Working a steady job, earning a little pocket money, not aiming for wealth or grandeur—just stability.
Starting a business?
That was something for capable people.
For someone like them, trying to do business like others would likely lead to silent failure.
They'd probably lose years of savings in the process.
Especially at Jiang Wen's age, he didn't dare take risks anymore.
So, Jiang Tao needed to push them forward, to make decisions for them.
"Alright then! If you say we do it, we'll do it! Your mom and I can still contribute a bit."
Seeing his son's confident expression, Jiang Wen didn't want to dampen his enthusiasm with pessimism.
They chatted casually while eating breakfast.
After breakfast, Xu Li took Jiang Xue downstairs to catch the school bus.
Jiang Tao transferred 50,000 yuan to his father's phone as startup funds, and they split up to take action.
His parents were tasked with securing a stall at the vegetable market.
Jiang Tao, meanwhile, drove toward Longzeyuan.
He was planning to discuss the eight-treasure pickle recipe with Jiang Yi today.
Halfway there, Jiang Tao pulled over to an open area to park.
After parking, he got out and retrieved the 100,000 yuan in cash he'd obtained the previous night, bringing it into the car.
Looking at the neatly bundled 100,000 yuan, Jiang Tao found his heart surprisingly calm.
No ripples at all!
As he earned more money, his threshold for excitement kept rising.
100,000 yuan no longer thrilled him.
He casually tossed the 100,000 yuan into the glove compartment in front of the passenger seat.
Jiang Tao cracked the car window open slightly, lit a cigarette, and then, with a thought, pulled up the first piece of intelligence that had refreshed last night for another look.
**[Today's Intelligence 01]:**
You had contact with your neighbor Qi Jinxiong yesterday, obtaining related intelligence—
Qi Jinxiong, in collusion with foreign entities, stole highly confidential company data worth 30 million.
Report this to the company's security department for a 300,000 yuan cash reward!
Security Department Head's Reporting Hotline: 139XXXX8876.
**[Note:]** 3 hours and 17 minutes remain until the data is leaked.
Mentally rehearsing what to say when he made the call, Jiang Tao took a deep breath and dialed the security department head's number.
…
About four kilometers from Baigezhuang New Village, in an industrial park, inside the Jingxin Fishery Feed Processing Plant.
Dong Qiang, the head of the security department, was leisurely sipping tea in his office, idly glancing at the surveillance monitors.
His mind, however, was entirely occupied with thoughts of the scantily clad KTV singers from the previous night.
*Ring ring ring—*
The phone on his desk suddenly rang.
Dong Qiang picked it up and saw it was an unfamiliar local number.
The number was clean, not marked as spam or delivery.
After hesitating for two seconds, he swiped to answer.
"Hello, who's this?"
"Yes, I'm Dong Qiang."
"What!"
"…"
The call lasted 3 minutes and 27 seconds.
When Dong Qiang took the phone away from his ear, beads of sweat had formed on his forehead despite the winter chill.
"Damn it, that old bastard Qi Jinxiong, eating from both sides!"
Cursing loudly, Dong Qiang didn't dare delay and hurried toward the general manager's office.
The information he'd just received was critical.
If true, it could cause losses in the billions for Jingxin Feed Plant, no exaggeration!
*Knock knock knock—*
At the general manager's door, Dong Qiang knocked nervously.
Hearing a voice from inside, he hurriedly pushed the door open.
"What's wrong, Section Chief Dong?"
Seeing the panic on Dong Qiang's face, General Manager Qi Dongqiang's expression grew serious.
Dong Qiang closed the door behind him, strode to Qi Dongqiang's desk, lowered his voice, and said gravely:
"General Qi, I just got a call saying that Qi Jinxiong, the head of our lab, stole the company's eel feed formula."
"What!"
Qi Dongqiang couldn't stay seated after hearing Dong Qiang's report. He shot up from his chair!
Jingxin Fishery Feed Processing Plant was a company integrating R&D and sales of fish feed.
Established for over a decade, it held dozens of patented technologies and sold products both domestically and internationally.
The factory's annual sales exceeded 300 million yuan, making it a strong player in the industrial park.
Among its assets, the eel feed formula was by far the most valuable and critical.
This was largely due to the high economic value of eels, which could sell for over 100 yuan per jin (0.5 kg).
The feed developed by Jingxin not only shortened the eel farming cycle but also effectively removed the fishy, earthy taste from eels.
This feed sold for over 30,000 yuan per ton.
This single feed product alone generated annual sales of around 100 million yuan!
The feed's high price and massive sales were due to its excellent results, which farmers loved.
Another key reason was that only Jingxin had this feed; no one else did.
The formula was extremely complex, involving the precise proportions of dozens of trace elements.
Even a slight imbalance in the proportions would significantly reduce the final product's effectiveness.
Farmers had no choice but to buy from Jingxin.
If the formula were leaked and replicated by other feed companies, it would be a devastating blow to Jingxin!
This was a serious matter that couldn't be taken lightly.
Better to believe it's true than dismiss it!
Qi Dongqiang recalled that Qi Jinxiong had just asked for a day off yesterday, saying he'd rest today.
If it were someone else, it wouldn't raise suspicion.
But in all his years at the company, this was the first time Qi Jinxiong had actively requested leave!
Thinking back to yesterday's scene when Qi Jinxiong asked for leave, the more Qi Dongqiang thought about it, the more something felt off.
Qi Jinxiong had been shifty-eyed and slightly nervous in his tone.
At the time, Qi Dongqiang didn't think much of it, but now, in context, it seemed highly likely that Qi Jinxiong had indeed stolen the company's secrets!
As for how the informant knew, he didn't have time to dig into that.
The most urgent task was to detain Qi Jinxiong and secure the formula in his possession!
"Qi Jinxiong, you bastard! How dare you stab me in the back!"
Furious, Qi Dongqiang grabbed his phone and called Captain Wu of the Pingchang District Economic Crime Investigation Team.
Jingxin dealt with many confidential formulas and occasionally attended meetings with the district's economic crime team.
Over time, Qi Dongqiang had built a decent relationship with them.
"Captain Wu…"
Once the call connected, Qi Dongqiang concisely explained the situation to Captain Wu, emphasizing the massive losses the leak could cause.
He also provided Qi Jinxiong's details and current home address.
…
Inside the Pingchang District Economic Crime Investigation Team's office, Wu Xiangnan hung up the phone with a mix of excitement and gravity on his face.
"What's up, Captain Wu? Another big case?"
A young, spirited female officer who'd recently joined, sitting across from Wu Xiangnan, asked excitedly.
"Just now, Qi Dongqiang, the general manager of Jingxin Fishery Feed Processing Plant, said their lab head is suspected of stealing company secrets."
"This case is urgent, Xiao Li. Go notify the operations team to head to Baigezhuang New Village immediately for an arrest!"
"Yes, Captain Wu!"
Xiao Li responded and rushed out the door.
At 9:27 AM, four police cars sped out of the Pingchang District Economic Crime Investigation Team's compound, heading straight for Baigezhuang New Village.
At 9:49 AM, the team entered Qi Jinxiong's home and apprehended him as he was about to leave.
They found suspicious documents and a small USB drive in his briefcase.
Qi Dongqiang brought researchers from the factory's lab to the investigation team's office for verification.
They confirmed that the documents in Qi Jinxiong's briefcase were indeed the stolen confidential formula.
Through questioning, they learned that Qi Jinxiong had arranged to meet a buyer at 11:00 AM at the Baodi Hotel in Bei Qijia to conduct the transaction.
Since both parties didn't fully trust each other, he'd only received a 100,000 yuan deposit and hadn't yet handed over the data.
Hearing that the data hadn't been leaked, Qi Dongqiang and his team finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But they weren't going to let Qi Jinxiong off easily—they would pursue legal action to the fullest to set an example.
When Qi Dongqiang, Dong Qiang, and a few researchers left the investigation team's office, it was already past 11:00 AM.
Learning the interrogation results, Qi Dongqiang's anxious heart finally settled.
"Dong Qiang, although this matter has been contained, your security department can't escape responsibility."
"Go back and immediately hold a full safety meeting."
"Also, strengthen and upgrade your security measures. Give me a detailed plan."
"I don't want this to happen again."
"And your 3,000 yuan bonus for this month is revoked."
"Yes, General Qi!"
Facing Qi Dongqiang's punishment, Dong Qiang didn't dare protest.
He was still shaken.
If Qi Jinxiong had leaked that formula, losing a 3,000 yuan bonus would've been the least of his worries.
Getting fired would've been the lighter punishment!