7:30 PM.
A table full of delicious, aromatic dishes was served.
This wasn't Du Ennan's first time visiting the family as a guest. She had already become familiar with Jiang's parents, losing any sense of restraint.
Moreover, she was now Jiang Xue's godmother, so everyone treated her like family.
The group laughed and chatted freely, creating a warm and harmonious atmosphere.
"Xiao Du, when's your due date? It must be soon, right?"
Mother Tian Xiaomei glanced at Du Ennan's pregnant belly, bulging under her maternity dress like a small basketball, and asked with a smile.
"Yeah, it's close. The due date is April 10th, so about 20 days left until I can 'unload.'"
"You don't realize how tough it is to be a mom until you are one. This little one has been giving me quite a hard time," Du Ennan said, gently rubbing her belly. Though she complained, her face radiated maternal warmth, brimming with happiness.
Xu Li, sitting nearby, chuckled, "Nan Nan, I've already claimed the godmother role, and I'm not taking no for an answer."
Du Ennan laughed, "Even if you wanted to back out, I wouldn't let you! My kid's got the prettiest godmother locked in."
Jiang Xue, curious, piped up from the side, "Godmother, is it a little brother or sister in your tummy?"
"We'll only know when they're born. It's a 50-50 chance," Du Ennan replied.
Though she had ways to find out the baby's gender, she didn't see the need. This was her late husband's posthumous child, and whether it was a boy or a girl, it would be their only child. She had no intention of remarrying, and all her love and attention would be devoted to this child.
The meal was filled with joy, with conversation flowing from the baby to daily life and occasionally touching on work matters.
"By the way, Ennan, this afternoon we went to Black Bull BBQ for their buffet," Jiang Tao said, looking at Du Ennan. "For a place like Black Bull BBQ, what's their daily revenue? And their profit margin? Have you ever looked into it?"
It was a casual question, more out of curiosity than anything else. Useful information would be a bonus, but he wasn't expecting much.
"You're asking the right person. I've actually talked about this with Miss Tian, the owner of Black Bull BBQ," Du Ennan said, setting down her chopsticks and looking at Jiang Tao.
"Black Bull BBQ serves around 800 to 1,000 customers daily, with an average spend of about 300 yuan per person. That puts their daily revenue between 240,000 and 300,000 yuan. After deducting labor and rent, their net profit margin is about 35%."
Jiang Tao did a quick mental calculation.
Based on the minimum revenue of 240,000 yuan, a 35% profit margin meant they were earning around 84,000 yuan per day.
This figure was somewhat surprising to him. For such a large establishment, their earning potential wasn't as impressive as he'd imagined.
His [Wealth-Attraction Toad] and [Beiqi EU5] alone could generate 20,000 yuan in pure profit daily, equivalent to a quarter of Black Bull BBQ's profits.
And if he triggered a single high-value piece of intelligence, the returns would far surpass what Black Bull BBQ could achieve!
*There's no harm without comparison. The system is still the real MVP!*
Jiang Tao decided to keep his focus on the daily intelligence system moving forward. Developing real-world businesses was just a side hustle, something to keep himself and those around him occupied.
Life was about staying active—ceaseless activity, ceaseless hustle.
Being idle all day wasn't a good thing either.
As Jiang Tao and Du Ennan discussed the buffet business, Jiang Wen and Tian Xiaomei occasionally chimed in with questions about opening a restaurant, looking quite interested.
Jiang Tao and Jiang Bing exchanged knowing smiles. It seemed their parents were still set on the idea of opening a BBQ restaurant.
The dinner stretched from just past 7 PM to around 8:30 PM.
Afterward, Mother and Xu Li cleared the table, loading the dishes into the kitchen's dishwasher.
With the dishwasher, their workload was much lighter.
Once the dishes were sorted, Mother washed some fruit and prepared a fruit platter—durian, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, apples, bananas, you name it.
Now, Jiang Tao's family had achieved "fruit freedom." They could buy whatever they wanted without worrying about the price.
Xu Li loved durian but used to only splurge on a small piece once a month. Now, even if she ate it every day, Jiang Tao could easily afford it.
They chatted casually while eating fruit, the atmosphere lively and pleasant.
Around 9:30 PM, Du Ennan's driver arrived to pick her up.
Jiang Tao and Xu Li walked her downstairs.
"Another delightful dinner. Lily, Jiang Tao, thank you," Du Ennan said, brushing back her hair, tousled by the evening breeze, as she stood beside a black Maybach, smiling gratefully at Jiang Tao and Xu Li.
She had truly enjoyed the evening.
The food wasn't the point—it was the atmosphere and the experience that mattered.
Xu Li playfully scolded, "Why are you being so formal with us? Stop with the polite talk!"
"Hehe, you're right. You guys are my best friends, no question about it," Du Ennan said with a gentle smile, feeling incredibly fortunate to have friends like Jiang Tao and Xu Li.
Growing up, she had lived a privileged life under her parents' protection, never wanting for anything material. Whatever she desired, she got quickly.
Materially, she was beyond wealthy.
But emotionally, she was lacking.
She didn't have a single true friend.
Most of her so-called friends only approached her because of her family background, their motives always centered on what they could gain from her.
She could sense their ulterior motives clearly.
Jiang Tao and Xu Li were far less wealthy than many of her other friends, but when she was with them, she felt no trace of opportunism—just sincerity.
She and Xu Li clicked on so many levels and always had plenty to talk about. Though they hadn't known each other long, Xu Li had already become Du Ennan's absolute best friend, her closest confidante!
By extension, her fondness for Jiang Tao had grown significantly as well.
**[Ding! Congratulations, your friendship with Du Ennan has reached 90 points, achieving Best Friend status.]**
**[Congratulations, you have received 1 Friendship Boat and a cash reward of 999,999 yuan!]**
Suddenly, a bright blue system interface popped up, displaying two notification messages.
Seeing the system's prompt, Jiang Tao felt a surge of excitement!
He had no idea what a "Friendship Boat" was, but that cash reward was real money!
999,999 yuan—just one yuan shy of a million!
The reward came out of nowhere, like a pie falling from the sky!
*Buzz~~~*
Feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket, Jiang Tao figured it was the system's cash reward hitting his account!
Another million in the bank!
Combined with the million-yuan check and the watch and gold chain Zhang Chao's mother had given him today, plus the income from the blueberry plants and the cattle ranch, Jiang Tao's total earnings for the day were conservatively estimated at over 3 million yuan!
While days like this weren't common, an occasional windfall like this was a pleasant surprise.
"Becoming best friends with Du Ennan got me a million. What about others…?"
"Could I get the same reward for becoming best friends with someone else?"
Staring at the system panel's notification, Jiang Tao's mind began to wander.
If making one best friend could net him a million yuan, that seemed like a pretty good way to make money.
As the saying goes, the more friends you have, the easier your path. Making more friends wasn't a bad idea.
If he could trigger another reward like today's, that would be even better!
"It's worth a shot!"
Jiang Tao made up his mind.
He had a decent number of friends: Zhang Chao, Liu Zhiyuan, Shan Yufei, Wang Lianming, and his sister-in-law He Fang.
Speaking of Wang Lianming and He Fang, Jiang Tao had been in touch with them recently.
He Fang's surgery had been successful, and she had been discharged from the hospital. She was now recovering at her hometown, where their spacious house offered much better conditions than their tiny apartment in the city, aiding her recovery.
"How is this friendship value calculated?"
"I've known Brother Wang and Xiao Liu for years. Could my bond with them really be weaker than with Du Ennan?"
"I don't get it. I'll just have to figure it out slowly."
Unable to discern the pattern behind the friendship system, Jiang Tao decided not to dwell on it.
He'd find out by experimenting.
While Jiang Tao pondered how to make more friends, Du Ennan and Xu Li chatted a bit more before reluctantly saying their goodbyes.
They watched Du Ennan's Maybach disappear into the night.
Jiang Tao and Xu Li then turned and headed back to the building.
By the time they got home, it was around 10 PM. Jiang Xue was already sleepy.
Xu Li took her to the bathroom to wash up.
Jiang Bing decided to stay the night, sleeping in the same room as Jiang Xue, just like back in their hometown.
The family took turns washing up, with Jiang Tao, as usual, going last.
By the time he finished, it was past 11:30 PM.
As usual, he spent about an hour on their "second child plan."
Exhausted, Xu Li quickly fell asleep.
Jiang Tao activated [Sleep Mode] for her before opening the intelligence system's interface to check today's intelligence.
**[Daily Intelligence 01]:**
You dined at Black Bull BBQ yesterday, obtaining related intelligence—
Follow Black Bull BBQ's WeChat public account and participate in their lucky draw between 12:43:10 AM and 12:43:15 AM.
You can win a Black Bull BBQ annual pass worth 90,000 yuan!
…
"A Black Bull BBQ annual pass worth 90,000 yuan?"
Seeing the first piece of intelligence for the day, Jiang Tao's eyes lit up.
Compared to the gold bars worth over 3.6 million yuan hidden in the villa from a previous intelligence tip, a 90,000-yuan annual pass was peanuts.
But 90,000 yuan was still 90,000 yuan.
Many people worked hard for a year and didn't earn that much.
A small win was still a win, and he wasn't about to let it slip!
"A lucky draw on their public account? Can I actually win a big prize?"
Jiang Tao muttered softly, grabbing his phone from the nightstand and searching for Black Bull BBQ's WeChat account.
During yesterday's meal, the server had mentioned the lucky draw. By following their public account, every 300 points earned through spending (1 yuan = 1 point) granted one chance to participate.
After finding the account, Jiang Tao logged in with his phone number.
Upon logging in, he saw he had 918 points, enough for three lucky draw attempts.
"I need to draw between 12:43:10 AM and 12:43:15 AM to win."
"That's only a 5-second window. I can't miss it!"
To be safe, Jiang Tao set two alarms on his phone—one for 12:41 AM and another for 12:42 AM.
Five seconds would pass in a flash.
Missing that window meant missing out on a 90,000-yuan buffet pass.
Better to be cautious.
After setting the alarms, Jiang Tao moved on to the next piece of intelligence.
**[Daily Intelligence 02]:**
You dined at Black Bull BBQ yesterday, obtaining related intelligence—
Black Bull BBQ's secret BBQ sauce is a special recipe.
After analysis and optimization by the system, its quality can be significantly improved!
…
"Black Bull BBQ's secret BBQ sauce recipe?"
Seeing the second piece of intelligence, Jiang Tao's eyes lit up again!
The last recipe he'd obtained for analysis and optimization was Jiang Yi's family's heirloom eight-treasure pickled vegetable recipe.
After the system's optimization, its quality had improved further, resulting in even better-tasting pickled vegetables.
Now, he'd received intelligence about a BBQ sauce recipe.
Black Bull BBQ's sauce was already quite good.
If the system optimized it further…
It would be incredible!
"With this sauce, I could open my own BBQ buffet, and business would surely outshine Black Bull BBQ!"
"Even if I produced and sold the sauce as a standalone product, the prospects would be impressive!"
"The problem is, how do I get their recipe?"
"It's their secret recipe, so they won't share it easily."
"Analyzing the finished sauce to reverse-engineer the recipe would likely be difficult."
"If it were that easy to crack, it wouldn't be a secret recipe."
"Go buy it? I wonder if they'd sell? And at what price?"
Jiang Tao's mind raced with ideas.
He wasn't about to give up on Black Bull BBQ's secret sauce recipe. He had to get it, even if it meant spending some money.
200,000 yuan? 300,000? 500,000?
As long as they didn't ask for an outrageous sum, he could accept up to a million yuan.
With the eight-treasure pickled vegetable recipe as a reference, this BBQ sauce was bound to be a hit!
Even if he spent 800,000 or a million to buy the recipe, he could likely recoup the cost within a year, or maybe even six months.
After that, it would be pure profit!
This project was definitely worth pursuing.
"I'll ask Du Ennan about it tomorrow. She seems to have a good relationship with Black Bull BBQ's owner."
"For now, let's check the next one…"
Putting the sauce recipe aside for the moment, Jiang Tao moved on to the final piece of intelligence.
**[Daily Intelligence 03]:**
You had contact with Jiang Bing yesterday, obtaining related intelligence—
While you activated [Sleep Mode] for Jiang Bing, she was working on a certain craft.
At 7 AM tomorrow, she will face the ultimate socially mortifying moment of her life.
…
"This girl, really…"
Seeing the last piece of intelligence, Jiang Tao facepalmed, exasperated.
He was at a loss for words about his sister's quirks.
What now?
Intervene? They were both adults, and as siblings, he had to keep some boundaries.
Ignore it? She was about to face the ultimate socially mortifying moment of her life.
And he was partly responsible since he'd activated [Sleep Mode] for her.
Through this incident with Jiang Bing, Jiang Tao gained a clearer understanding of [Sleep Mode]'s effects. Its sleep-inducing power was almost hypnotic, a true cure for insomnia!
After some hesitation, Jiang Tao slipped on his pajamas and got out of bed to save his sister some dignity.
He left the bedroom, went to Jiang Bing and Jiang Xue's room, and pushed open the door.
The room was pitch black, with only the faint outlines of two figures—one large, one small—on the bed.
Groping in the dark, Jiang Tao reached the bed and pulled a blanket over the larger figure before leaving.
Back in his bedroom, he lay down, scrolling through his social media while waiting for 12:43 AM.
"Huh, it's this late, and Du Ennan's still awake?"
Seeing a post from Du Ennan just a minute ago, Jiang Tao was slightly surprised.
**[Others fall asleep as soon as their head hits the pillow, but I start overthinking life. Is my brain set to night mode or what?!?!]**
From the three exclamation marks, Jiang Tao could sense her frustration and helplessness.
It seemed Du Ennan was struggling with insomnia.
And she wasn't the only one—He Jing was also awake, posting about her sleeplessness.
**[If the moon doesn't sleep, I don't sleep. I'm the bald little baby!]**
Seeing two friends troubled by insomnia, Jiang Tao's idea of opening a sleep-themed guesthouse grew stronger.
[Sleep Mode] didn't require him to be in the same room to activate it. As long as he was within a certain range, he could spend 66 yuan to enable it for someone, helping them fall asleep quickly.
The refreshed feeling after waking from [Sleep Mode] was far better than normal sleep, significantly improving sleep quality.
For those plagued by insomnia, especially severe cases, this mode was like a miracle drug!
And activating [Sleep Mode] was discreet—no one would notice.
The only downside was that Jiang Tao had to activate it himself.
If he opened a guesthouse, he'd be tied to it constantly.
Without him, the business wouldn't work!
"Forget it. You can't earn all the money in the world. I'll steer clear of this business."
The thought of being stuck managing a guesthouse daily made Jiang Tao abandon the idea.
It wasn't worth trading his freedom for a bit of profit.
There were plenty of other ways to make money.
A single high-value intelligence tip could match a year's worth of business earnings.
While scrolling through social media and letting his thoughts wander, time passed quickly.
*Buzz buzz buzz—*
The first alarm went off, and Jiang Tao quickly exited his social media, opened Black Bull BBQ's WeChat account, and navigated to the lucky draw page.
Glancing at the green Submariner watch on his wrist, he waited for the "lucky moment."
When the minute hand hit 12:43 and the second hand reached 10, Jiang Tao decisively tapped the draw button!
*Whoosh whoosh whoosh—*
The draw page's pointer spun, then displayed: **[Thank you for participating!]**
"Damn! Missed it!"
One draw took 2 seconds, leaving only 3 seconds!
Without hesitation, Jiang Tao tapped the draw button again!
*Whoosh whoosh whoosh—*
The pointer spun again.
**[Congratulations, you've won a Black Bull BBQ annual pass!]**
"Phew! Finally got it!"
Seeing the notification, Jiang Tao's racing heart settled back down.
He checked the details of the "Black Bull BBQ annual pass."
With the pass, he could enjoy one free meal per day at Black Bull BBQ, but it was for individual use only, not shareable.
The pass he'd won hadn't been registered yet. He just needed to input his phone number and ID to complete activation.
Jiang Tao wasn't too thrilled about the pass. Eating at a buffet occasionally was fine, but every day? He'd get sick of it!
He opened Xianyu (a secondhand marketplace) and prepared to sell it.
First, he searched for "Black Bull BBQ annual pass."
Surprisingly, there were several listings—seven or eight, in fact!
It seemed he wasn't the only lucky winner.
And these passes had sold, priced between 55,000 and 58,000 yuan.
Jiang Tao wasn't sure if these were real transactions, sellers hyping their listings, or the restaurant buying them back.
He had no way to verify.
"55,000… not bad. About a 50% discount."
"For a foodie, eating big meals at half price every day is a great deal."
"I'll list it for 58,000 and see. An extra 3,000 is 3,000!"
After a quick check, Jiang Tao followed suit, posting a listing for 58,000 yuan, non-negotiable.
After listing it, he put down his phone, hugged Xu Li, spent 66 yuan to activate [Sleep Mode] for himself, and went to sleep.
…
The next morning at 7 AM.
The door to Jiang Bing and Jiang Xue's room opened, and Xu Li stepped inside.
Seeing her sister-in-law and daughter sleeping soundly, one sprawled out and the other curled up, Xu Li smiled.
"Xiao Bing, Xiao Xue, time to get up~"
"The school bus is almost here~"
Xu Li walked to the bed, pinching their noses to wake them.
Soon, both Jiang Bing and Jiang Xue stirred.
"Mom, how many days until Sunday? School's so tiring~" Jiang Xue mumbled, sitting up in bed, pouting.
The little girl had at least five days a week where she didn't want to go to school—a true master of struggling to get up.
"Sister-in-law, I don't start work until 9. Let me sleep another hour. Don't save me breakfast; you guys eat," Jiang Bing said, lazier than Jiang Xue, rolling over to go back to sleep.
Suddenly, she froze, eyes snapping open as she realized something was off!
Seeing the blanket properly covering her, Jiang Bing's heart, which had nearly leapt to her throat, settled back down.
But her face still flushed with a mix of embarrassment and awkwardness!
*Careless!*
How had she… fallen asleep so suddenly last night?
Thankfully, she was covered by the blanket.
Otherwise, if her sister-in-law had seen, it would've been the ultimate socially mortifying moment!
"Skipping breakfast isn't good. It can lead to gallstones."
"If you want to sleep, take another half hour. Your brother's not up yet either. I'll call you later."
"Xiao Xue, hurry and get dressed. The school bus is coming in half an hour."
"Ugh! Why can adults sleep in, but kids can't~"
Though Jiang Xue grumbled, she dressed quickly, slipping into her school uniform without delay.
Xu Li deftly tied Jiang Xue's hair into a bun at the vanity, and the mother and daughter left the room, chatting and laughing.
After seeing them off, Jiang Bing abandoned her plan to sleep more and hurriedly began cleaning up.