Du Ennan and Xu Li hit it off as if they were long-lost friends.
To be honest, today was only their third time meeting in person.
Yet, they chatted and laughed like close sisters who had known each other for years, with endless topics to discuss.
Their conversation shifted from pregnancy to children, and soon landed on Jiang Xue.
"Lili, I really adore Little Xue. How about letting her be my goddaughter?"
"When my baby is born, we'll have her call you godmother."
Du Ennan held Xu Li's hand in one hand and Jiang Xue's in the other, her face beaming with genuine sincerity.
"Little Xue, do you like Auntie? Would you like to be Auntie's daughter?"
Xu Li and Jiang Xue both turned to Jiang Tao, the head of the family, as such matters required his approval.
"Jiang Tao, what do you think?"
Du Ennan could tell that Jiang Tao was the decision-maker in the family and smiled as she directed the question to him.
"Of course, it's fine. Little Xue, call her Godmother, and let Godmother Du give you a red envelope."
Jiang Tao laughed heartily, readily agreeing to Du Ennan's proposal.
More friends mean more opportunities, especially when it's someone like Du Ennan, who comes from a wealthy and influential family.
Of course, Jiang Tao's decision to let his daughter recognize Du Ennan as her godmother wasn't driven by a desire to climb the social ladder.
From the moment they met, Du Ennan had given Jiang Tao a good impression—she was someone worth building a deep friendship with.
By forming a godparent relationship, it would strengthen the bond between them, which would benefit not only Jiang Tao and Xu Li but also their daughter, Jiang Xue, in the future.
To put it bluntly, without the help of "System Bro," Jiang Tao would still be driving a delivery truck at the wholesale market.
He wouldn't have had the chance to connect with someone of Du Ennan's caliber.
Now that she was proactively offering to form a closer bond, what reason did he have to refuse?
"Godmother~"
With her father's approval, Jiang Xue called Du Ennan "Godmother" in a clear, crisp voice.
"Yes! Good, my good girl! My dear daughter."
This was the first time Du Ennan had been called "Mom," and her face lit up with an aunt-like smile, her heart brimming with joy.
"I didn't have time to buy you a proper gift, so I'll give you a shopping card for now."
"In the future, have your parents bring you to my place often. Besides shopping for clothes, you can buy toys, watch movies, or do whatever you like."
As she spoke, Du Ennan reached into the pocket of her maternity dress and pulled out a card, handing it to Jiang Xue.
Jiang Tao took one look and recognized it immediately—wow, it was the same Supreme VIP card Old Du had given him before!
He remembered clearly that this card was used for gifting important business partners and influential figures.
Each card had a fixed value of 300,000 yuan!
In other words, by gaining a godmother, Jiang Xue had just earned 300,000 yuan!
Back when he was broke, Jiang Tao always thought making money was tough.
Now that he had money, he didn't even need to try—money just kept jumping into his pocket!
This feeling was pretty great!
"Can I take it?"
Jiang Xue didn't immediately accept the card but looked to Jiang Tao for his approval.
"Of course you can. It's a gift from your godmother—don't let it go to waste."
Jiang Tao wasn't about to be overly polite with Du Ennan. Who passes up a freebie?
Of course, that's just how he phrased it. When Du Ennan's child is born, he, as the honorary godfather, would need to give an equally generous gift to his goddaughter.
"Thank you, Godmother~"
Jiang Xue thanked Du Ennan before taking the card, her face glowing with an innocent smile.
"Oh, Little Xue is such a good girl~"
Du Ennan smiled and said, "From now on, we're family."
"When you're not at school on weekends, have your mom bring you to Godmother's house to play."
"Godmother will buy you fun toys, pretty clothes, and have the nanny make you delicious food."
It was clear that Du Ennan genuinely adored Jiang Xue. Her affection was heartfelt, not just for show.
Seeing his daughter gain another person who cared for her and a godmother who liked her so much, Jiang Tao was happy for her.
Time passed quickly as they chatted in the office.
Soon, it was time to get off work.
Originally, Jiang Tao had planned to take Du Ennan out to a restaurant for dinner as a gesture of thanks.
The lucky star, though discovered with System Bro's hint, was a gift from Du Ennan after all.
Without Du Ennan giving Jiang Xue that Bonnie Rabbit, the lucky star might have been bought by someone else.
However, Du Ennan wasn't interested in dining out and suggested eating at home instead.
Having grown tired of fancy restaurants, she preferred the warm, cozy family dinner they'd had last time.
So, the group of four headed downstairs, got into Jiang Tao's car, and returned to Baigezhuang Community.
They stopped by the Jingkelong supermarket outside the community to buy vegetables, fruits, and meat.
When Jiang Tao's parents got off work, they, along with Xu Li, went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
Du Ennan stayed upstairs, helping Jiang Xue arrange the pile of stuffed toys she'd brought home that day.
The small room instantly transformed into a fairytale kingdom, filled with dozens of adorable new companions.
While the family was cooking, Jiang Tao took the opportunity to drive his Beiqi EU5 around for a bit.
He had to earn his daily 10,000 yuan first.
Money that's basically free? You don't say no to that!
After driving 10 kilometers, Jiang Tao returned to the community and stepped out of the car.
His gaze fell on the Beiqi EU5.
In his vision, a virtual azure screen appeared above the car's roof.
The screen displayed a pile of glittering gold coins.
At the same time, a notification appeared on Jiang Tao's retina:
[Your hardworking Beiqi EU5 has generated 10,000 yuan in cash today. Would you like to collect it now?]
"Yes!"
Without hesitation, Jiang Tao chose to collect the day's earnings.
Buzz~
The next second, his phone vibrated with a notification of a new transaction.
[Your ICBC savings account ending in XX89 has received a deposit of 10,000 yuan. Current balance: 1,563,368.88 yuan!]
Looking at the long string of numbers in his bank account, Jiang Tao's grin was harder to suppress than an AK's recoil!
Previously, Mercedes had paid him a lump sum of 4.48 million yuan, and he'd spent over 700,000 yuan on the car.
He'd transferred 2 million yuan to Xu Li for safekeeping, leaving him with over 1.6 million.
Today, he'd spent another 80,000 yuan on shoes and clothes for Xu Li.
The 1.5 million yuan was now his visible assets, not including the 2 million he'd invested in funds or the over 2 million he'd put into the cattle farm.
Then there was the 150,000 yuan he'd lent to Jiang Yi for medical expenses.
He hadn't told Xu Li about that loan, worried she might misunderstand.
Ding-a-ling—
As Jiang Tao pocketed his phone and prepared to head upstairs, it suddenly rang.
He pulled it out and saw, what a coincidence—it was Jiang Yi calling.
This was the first time Jiang Yi had ever called him主动.
"Hey, Teacher Jiang."
Jiang Tao swiped to answer and greeted Jiang Yi with a smile.
"Jiang Tao, thank you. An'an has completed her surgery, and it was very successful. Thank you so much."
Jiang Yi's soft, melodic voice came through the phone, gentle as a nightingale.
"That's great to hear. Wishing your niece a speedy recovery. If you need more money, just let me know."
Thinking about the high return rate on the loan for Jiang Yi's niece, Jiang Tao almost wished he could lend out his entire bank account.
"No, no, it's enough. I'm just calling to update you on An'an's condition and to thank you, not to borrow more money."
Jiang Yi, thinking Jiang Tao had misunderstood, quickly clarified before changing the subject:
"By the way, Jiang Tao, when are you free? I'd like to treat you, Little Xue, and Little Xue's mom to dinner."
"You've helped our family so much this time, and I really want to thank you properly."
"Teacher Jiang, no need for a dinner invitation. Also…"
"The 150,000 I lent you came from my personal savings."
"It's best if this stays between you, me, and your brother. Don't let my wife know, you get it."
Jiang Tao joked, "After all, it's not easy for us guys to save up some pocket money, right?"
"Oh… I see. Okay, then."
Jiang Yi hadn't expected that Jiang Tao had lent her the money behind his wife's back.
A pang of guilt welled up in her heart.
It felt as though she'd done something to betray Xu Li.
Even though Jiang Tao and Xu Li had a great marriage, some things were better left unsaid to avoid complications.
How would he explain co-renting a Patek Philippe Nautilus with Jiang Yi?
Lending her money was equally hard to justify.
One lie often leads to more lies to cover it up.
Jiang Tao just didn't want to create unnecessary trouble.
So, some things had to be kept from Xu Li.
After a brief chat, Jiang Tao hung up as he stepped into the elevator.
Inside, he saw an elderly lady holding a fluffy white Bichon Frise.
Jiang Tao didn't know much about dogs.
The only reason he recognized the breed was because he'd rescued one during the Chinese New Year back in his hometown.
The little Bichon sat quietly by the lady's leg, looking like a well-behaved little girl.
"Off work, young man?"
The elderly lady greeted Jiang Tao with a smile as he entered the elevator.
Living in the same building, they often crossed paths and were familiar with each other, even if they didn't know each other's names.
She called him "young man," and he called her "Granny."
"Yeah, just got off. Granny, you out walking the dog?"
Jiang Tao returned the smile and greeted her.
"Walking the dog? More like the dog's walking me!"
"This thing is such a hassle!"
The elderly lady didn't actually like dogs, but this one was bought by her daughter-in-law for her granddaughter.
However, the granddaughter lost interest after a week.
Her daughter-in-law, busy with work and socializing, came home late.
In the end, taking care of and walking the dog became the elderly lady's responsibility.
"Getting out and moving around is good for your health."
As Jiang Tao chatted with her, he pressed the elevator button to close the doors.
"By the way, young man, you're on the 16th floor, right? Did you hear one of your neighbors got arrested?"
The elderly lady smoothly shifted the conversation from dog-walking to gossip.
"Yeah, they're our neighbors."
Jiang Tao, the mastermind behind the arrest, nodded. How could he not know when he'd played a key role?
The elderly lady continued, "I heard he committed espionage? Sold out our country?"
"Uh…"
Jiang Tao couldn't help but chuckle at the crime she'd pinned on the neighbor.
It was clearly about stealing trade secrets—how did it turn into treason?
Rumors really do spiral out of control.
Still, he didn't bother correcting her.