Shan Yifei arrived almost simultaneously with Liu Zhiyuan.
Both of them were not only shareholders of the cattle farm but also drawing salaries from Jiang Tao.
As soon as they heard something was up at the cattle farm, they rushed over without a second thought.
Not long after, Tian Xiaoguang, Jiang He, and a few clan brothers from the Jiang family also arrived at the cattle farm.
During the Spring Festival, news of Jiang Tao returning home in a fancy Mercedes had spread throughout the entire village.
On top of that, Jiang Tao had invested millions to take over the Tianjiazhuang cattle farm.
He had also acquired a large supermarket in Lijiazhen and handed it over to his brother Jiang He and his wife to manage.
Furthermore, he had brought his parents and younger sister to live in Beijing.
All signs pointed to one thing: Jiang Tao had made it big. He was on the rise.
The status of Jiang Tao's branch within the old Jiang clan had skyrocketed as a result.
At this moment, the clan brothers in the village were all thinking about cozying up to Jiang Tao's family.
Who knows? Maybe they could ride his coattails in the future.
So, even in the middle of the night, a single phone call from Jiang He was enough to summon four clan brothers to the cattle farm.
Seeing more than a dozen people arriving one after another at the cattle farm, Fan Debiao was completely dumbfounded.
They were exposed!
Tonight's plan had definitely been exposed!
There was no other way to explain the situation!
All the large lights in the cattle farm were turned on.
The place was lit up as bright as day!
Each person held a high-powered flashlight, patrolling and inspecting the farm.
About a kilometer away from the cattle farm, by the roadside.
On a large articulated truck.
A few people stared at the gradually illuminated night sky in the direction of the cattle farm, exchanging glances.
"Damn it, could that old bastard Fan Debiao have betrayed us?!"
"We're not being played by that old geezer, are we?!"
"Son of a b*tch!"
The men on the truck grumbled and cursed.
It was clear that tonight's operation was a no-go.
Cursing under their breaths, they started the truck and left.
…
Beijing, Baigezhuang New Village Community.
Jiang Tao looked at the updates from his brother-in-law in the group chat, confirming everything was fine.
Only then did he let out a sigh of relief.
He instructed Liu Zhiyuan to have someone install surveillance equipment at the cattle farm tomorrow.
They needed to ensure the farm was monitored at all times.
Oh, and one more thing—fire that guy named Fan Debiao!
That traitor was trying to stab him in the back. There was no way he could stay!
The hiring process at the cattle farm was pretty casual—no labor contracts, just verbal agreements on wages and benefits.
Forget about expecting any severance like N+1.
If they wanted you to work, you worked. If not, you were out the door.
After dealing with the cattle farm situation, Jiang Tao was about to head back to his room to sleep.
Suddenly, two bright blue notifications appeared on his retina.
[Export qualifications for 466 U.S. beef companies to China will expire today, and China has not renewed them.]
[Due to policy impacts, the price of domestic live cattle will reach the expected target of 24.8 yuan today. You can start selling!]
"The market I've been waiting for a month has finally arrived!"
Seeing the two notifications flash across his retina, Jiang Tao excitedly clenched his fist!
A month ago, he had received intelligence related to the rise in beef prices.
After waiting patiently for over a month, the time for harvest had finally come!
If this project went smoothly, he would benefit from the [Shared Prosperity] mission's bonus.
Back when he gathered five people, he secured a fivefold reward!
This was undoubtedly another massive windfall!
The total investment in the Tianjiazhuang cattle farm project was 3.18 million yuan.
Of that, Liu Zhiyuan, Shan Yifei, his brother Jiang He, his sister Jiang Bing, and his father-in-law Xu Wencheng each contributed 200,000 yuan.
The five of them together invested 1 million yuan.
The remaining 2.18 million yuan came from Jiang Tao.
The average purchase price for the 300 head of cattle was around 15 yuan per jin.
Now, the price had risen to 24.8 yuan per jin.
Jiang Tao pulled out his phone and opened the calculator, doing a rough estimate.
2,180,000 ÷ 15 × 24.8 = 3,604,266.6666.
Rounded up, that's 3.6 million yuan!
Subtracting the 2.18 million yuan cost.
The project's profit was 1.42 million yuan!
Multiplied by the fivefold [Shared Prosperity] bonus.
Jiang Tao's final profit from this project would be 7.1 million yuan!
From deciding to take on this project during the Spring Festival to catching this wave of policy-driven market conditions.
The whole process took just over a month.
An investment of 2.18 million yuan had turned into 7.1 million yuan, with a net profit of 4.92 million yuan!
With the recovered funds, Jiang Tao's personal wealth would officially break the 10-million-yuan mark!
He was one step closer to buying a villa!
From the day that mysterious stone smashed through the truck's windshield to now, only about two months had passed.
From being 80,000 yuan in debt to now having a net worth of over 10 million yuan plus three properties in Beijing.
Life was truly getting better, with more and more to look forward to!
He went to the balcony, opened the window, and smoked a cigarette to calm his excitement.
Only then did Jiang Tao return to the bedroom.
He climbed into bed, hugged Xu Li, activated [Deep Sleep Mode], and went to sleep!
The next morning at 7:30.
When Jiang Tao woke up, the space beside him was empty—Xu Li had already gotten up.
He sat up, stretched lazily, and instantly felt his muscles come alive.
Last night, he went to bed after 1 a.m., getting just six and a half hours of sleep.
That was definitely less than the standard sleep requirement.
But with the powerful assistance of [Deep Sleep Mode].
Even with less sleep, he felt fully energized and clear-headed.
"Honey~ come wash your hands and eat."
The bedroom door opened a crack, and Xu Li, wearing a checkered apron, called out to Jiang Tao with a cheerful smile.
"Coming."
Waking up every day to his wife's warmth filled Jiang Tao's life with sweetness.
He changed into the clothes Xu Li had laid out for him, walked out of the bedroom, washed his hands, and sat down at the dining table for breakfast.
Over breakfast, the family of four chatted about the renovation of Building 89.
His parents, frugal their whole lives, thought a simple renovation would suffice—spending too much was wasteful.
But Jiang Tao and Xu Li had different ideas.
It didn't need to be luxurious, but it should at least be a refined renovation.
His parents were only in their early sixties, with many years ahead of them.
A proper renovation would make their home more comfortable.
In the end, his parents couldn't resist Jiang Tao and Xu Li and agreed to the refined renovation plan.
After breakfast, his parents headed out to the processing plant to pickle a new batch of Eight-Treasure Pickles.
After repeated practice, they had mastered the secret recipe Jiang Tao taught them.
While their skills weren't quite as good as Jiang Tao's, they were close enough.
With the boost from the [Delicious Pickle Jar], the food processing plant basically ran itself without Jiang Tao's involvement.
As the general manager, he was completely hands-off.
Though they kept an office for him there, he had barely visited.
"Huh, honey, you're not rushing out today?"
After carefully wiping down the kitchen stove and walls, Xu Li stepped out and saw Jiang Tao sitting on the living room sofa, looking at his phone. She asked curiously.
"Come here, I've got something to tell you."
Jiang Tao waved her over while setting his phone down on the coffee table.
The phone screen showed a trending news post on Weibo that Jiang Tao had just been reading.
The news was about the intelligence he received last night: China hadn't renewed export agreements for hundreds of U.S. beef companies.
In the comments section below the news, domestic cattle farmers were ecstatic, practically in tears of gratitude!
With the import beef channel cut off, the domestic beef industry, which had been in a slump for years, finally saw a glimmer of hope.
"What's up? All secretive."
Xu Li giggled, walking over and sitting down close to Jiang Tao.
"We're pretty settled here in Beijing now."
"Isn't it about time we invited your parents to come to Beijing for a few days, to see our home?"
Jiang Tao smiled, wrapping an arm around Xu Li's slender waist.
"Invite my parents to Beijing?"
Xu Li's face lit up with excitement, but then she hesitated, "Won't that be too much trouble? Will it affect your work?"
"A little, but not much."
Jiang Tao laughed, "I'll leave the car with you. You can take them around during the day, show them the sights, and we'll all get together for dinner in the evening."
"You're the best, honey! I've been wanting to invite my parents to Beijing for a while!"
"But I was worried it'd interfere with your work, so I didn't say anything. You're really my man~"
Xu Li excitedly planted several kisses on Jiang Tao's face, practically bouncing with joy.
Though her mother hadn't always been fond of Jiang Tao as a son-in-law.
She was absolutely devoted to Xu Li, her eldest daughter, far more than to her younger sister.
Xu Li wanting to invite her parents to Beijing for a trip was only natural.
With Jiang Tao's approval and full support, Xu Li immediately grabbed her phone and called her mom.
"Mom~ my husband says we're inviting you to Beijing for a trip. Tell Dad to take a few days of annual leave and come have fun."
"Food, drinks, fun—we'll take care of everything, all planned out."
"Hehe, my husband said to go all out, eat and play to your heart's content."
"My husband…"
Xu Li already had max favorability with her mom.
Naturally, she wouldn't miss this chance to boost Jiang Tao's image in her mom's eyes.
Every sentence was "my husband," racking up a ton of goodwill for him.
The mother and daughter talked on the phone almost every day, starting with at least an hour.
Seeing that Xu Li wouldn't finish the call anytime soon, Jiang Tao pointed to the door to let her know he was heading out, grabbed the car keys from the coffee table, and left.
Ring ring—
Just as Jiang Tao stepped out, his phone rang.
He pulled it out and saw the caller ID: "Brother-in-law."
"Hey, brother-in-law."
Jiang Tao answered casually, greeting his brother-in-law.
"Xiaotao, a buyer came today wanting to buy 10 head of cattle. We settled on a price of 24.8 yuan. Should we sell?"
Tian Xiaoguang's voice came through, tinged with excitement.
The cattle at the farm had been bought at an average price of 15 yuan per jin. Selling at 24.8 yuan meant a profit of nearly 10 yuan per jin!
Ten head of cattle, roughly 6,000 jin, would bring in a 60,000-yuan profit!
Even after deducting feed and labor costs, the profit was substantial!
"Sell! Go ahead and sell! If someone offers 25 yuan, we sell."
Jiang Tao didn't hesitate, giving his approval decisively.
He had actually been about to call his brother-in-law to tell him it was time to "unload" the cattle.
But his brother-in-law beat him to it.
"Got it! I'll sell them!"
Tian Xiaoguang's voice was filled with excitement.
Honestly, the past month had been stressful for him.
His nephew had invested over 3 million yuan in the Tianjiazhuang cattle farm project. What if…
Now, seeing his nephew had bet right and hit a major market wave, he was thrilled for him.
They chatted a bit more before hanging up.
After the call, Jiang Tao took the elevator downstairs and drove straight to the Longquan Cemetery in Nanxingshou.
At 8:45 a.m., Jiang Tao arrived at the cemetery entrance.
He spent over 300 yuan on a large bouquet of flowers and some fruits for the memorial.
After parking in the cemetery's public lot, he walked for about ten minutes to Old Sun's tombstone.
"Old Sun, bet you didn't expect me to visit again."
"Today's intel was triggered by paying respects to you. Looks like our bond isn't over yet."
"Alright, here's the flowers. Wishing you happiness over there. I'm off to make some money."
Jiang Tao placed the flowers and fruit basket in front of Sun Xiaobao's grave.
Then, with a thought, a 5D holographic map appeared on his retina.
The map marked his current location with a green dot and the target item with a red dot.
The two points were only 50 meters apart—easy to find.
Jiang Tao glanced around. Early in the morning, he was the only one in the cemetery paying respects.
He slipped behind Old Sun's tombstone, darting into a row of cypress trees.
He quickly passed through the grove and arrived at an artificial river beside it.
This river, about 10 meters wide, was designed according to feng shui principles for the cemetery.
Feng shui, feng shui—wind and water.
The most expensive plots in Longquan Cemetery cost millions.
Beyond the luxurious tombstones, the appeal was the feng shui layout.
Of course, calling it a "river" was a bit generous.
It was more like a "canal."
It was early spring in March, and the ice in the river had long melted.
The riverbed was visibly filled with mud and rotten branches, the water murky and neglected.
Clearly, this feng shui river was more for show than maintenance.
[No other observation devices or observers nearby. Would you like to spend 6,666 yuan to retrieve the target item immediately?]
Looking at the notification on his retina and the murky water and mud in the river…
Jiang Tao decisively chose to pay to retrieve the item.
On a cold day like this, he had no interest in jumping into a mud pit to fish for an axe.
Who knew how deep or shallow those axes were buried? He hadn't brought any retrieval tools anyway.
He had come today planning to pay to retrieve the axes.
After all, a 1,000-gram golden axe was worth at least 700,000 to 800,000 yuan!
The 6,000 yuan was nothing.
[Payment successful. Retrieving item. Please prepare to receive!]
Splash~
Suddenly, a splash came from the canal in front of him!
Two beams of light—one gold, one silver—shot up from beneath the water!
Jiang Tao instinctively reached out with both hands to catch them.
The two beams zipped into his hands.
They were heavy—the gold and silver axes mentioned in the intel!
Without taking a close look, Jiang Tao stuffed both axes into his pockets.
The 1,000-gram golden axe was about the size of his palm.
Tucked into his pocket, it only showed a slight outline, not too noticeable.
Jiang Tao turned back the way he came, hurriedly passing through the grove and returning to Old Sun's grave.
He glanced around, confirming no other visitors or mourners were nearby.
He retraced his steps back to his car.
Once inside, he let out a long breath. The mission had gone smoothly!
He pulled the two axes from his pocket.
The silver axe wasn't worth much—1,000 grams, maybe 7,000 or 8,000 yuan, just enough to cover the retrieval cost.
The golden axe, though, was a different story!
"Judging by its color, it's at least 99.9% pure gold."
Jiang Tao had dealt with plenty of gold recently. He wasn't an expert, but he was halfway there.
"Its design isn't exactly appealing. With gold prices strong lately, I'll sell it."
"Maybe swing by Panjiayuan too, see if I can trigger some antique-related intel."
"I've been there plenty of times and haven't triggered a single antique intel. That's not normal!"
"Maybe it's saving up for a big one!"
After admiring the golden axe, Jiang Tao opened the glove compartment in front of the passenger seat.
He grabbed a few tissues from the box inside, wrapped the golden axe tightly, and tossed it in.
Ring ring~
Just as Jiang Tao was about to drive off, the car's phone rang.
Seeing the string of "8s" and the name on the caller ID.
Jiang Tao raised an eyebrow, his heart leaping with joy!
Wang Minglong!
Zhang Chao's biological father was calling!
It had been over half a month since Jiang Tao mailed Zhang Chao's hair to Wang Minglong.
He had been wondering why Wang Minglong hadn't contacted him yet!
The intel from the system was 100% reliable—Zhang Chao was definitely Wang Minglong's son!
Was Zhang Chao's dad calling to send him money?
Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Jiang Tao touched the screen to answer the call.
"You're Jiang Tao. Where's the owner of the hair you sent me?"
The moment the call connected, a somewhat commanding voice came through.
"Mr. Wang, you've already verified the DNA?"
Hearing Wang Minglong's words, Jiang Tao's heart settled back into place.
He was also happy for Zhang Chao.
From a struggling nobody at the bottom of society to the son of a billionaire.
From a miserable worker to a dazzling second-generation rich kid.
How many years of struggle did that save?
Honestly, even Jiang Tao was a bit jealous of Zhang Chao's luck!
"Yes, it's been preliminarily verified, but we need to confirm again."
"And this time, I want to collect the sample in person."
Wang Minglong, on the other end, wasn't swept away by the news of finding his son. He remained rational and cautious.
In this day and age, scams were rampant. Better safe than sorry.
"No problem! Mr. Wang, give me an address, and I'll bring him over now."
Jiang Tao fully understood Wang Minglong's caution.
After all, with his wealth and status, people lining up to claim him as their father could probably circle Beijing's Third Ring Road.
Jiang Tao had actually hit the nail on the head.
After Wang Minglong posted his missing child notice, hundreds of people called the number listed every day!
All of them were crying and begging to be his child.
There were men, women, old, and young.
Some were older than Wang Minglong, claiming the police had messed up their household registration.
Some were teenagers, saying they had growth-stunting conditions.
Some were even more absurd, with the wrong gender.
Wang Minglong's hefty reward for finding his child had attracted women claiming they'd changed genders for "special reasons."
In short, over the years since the reward was posted, thousands had tried to claim Wang Minglong as their father!
Every day, hundreds sent hair samples, hoping to strike it rich.
At worst, they'd lose some hair and shipping fees.
But if it worked, they'd skyrocket to success!
So, the number of hair samples Wang Minglong received for testing was staggering!
The hair Jiang Tao had sent from Zhang Chao had only been tested ten minutes ago.
When Wang Minglong saw the results, he couldn't help but feel excited.
After all these years, there was finally a sample with a 99.99% match!
That match rate basically confirmed it was his biological child!
But to be safe, he needed to collect a sample in person and test it again.
What if someone had colluded with an insider at his company to get his hair and sent it for testing?
While unlikely, it wasn't impossible!
That's why he was calling Jiang Tao now.
After confirming the time and place to meet, Jiang Tao and Wang Minglong hung up.
Immediately, he dialed Zhang Chao's number.
…
"Crisp and sweet Yantai apples, don't miss out as you pass by! Try before you buy, no charge if they're not delicious~"
At the Shahe Market.
Zhang Chao sat on a plastic stool by his truck, bored and smoking a cigarette.
A handheld speaker on the pile of apples played a looping sales pitch.
He'd been at the stall since 6 a.m., and now it was 9 a.m.
He'd only made about 200 yuan.
After subtracting the cost of the goods, his profit was less than 50 yuan!
A full day at the market would probably net him 200 yuan at most.
"Sigh!"
"If only I hadn't blown all my money over the years and saved up instead."
"Before the New Year, I could've joined Jiang Tao selling oranges and made a fortune."
"After the New Year, I could've joined him in the cattle farm!"
"Now, Liu Zhiyuan and Shan Yifei are in a different world from me."
"Both of them made big money following Jiang Tao."
Thinking of his two buddies who used to sell fruit with him, now soaring thanks to Jiang Tao.
Zhang Chao's heart was a mix of emotions.
Jiang Tao had given him two chances, but he hadn't seized either.
In the end, he could only watch his good friends make it big.
Ring ring—
His phone suddenly rang.
He pulled it out and saw the caller ID: "Mom."
Seeing the name, Zhang Chao felt a pang of unease for no reason.