Jiang Tao had always been a cautious man his entire life.
Even after acquiring something as incredible as the intelligence system, he didn't immediately quit his original job.
This thing came out of nowhere—what if it suddenly disappeared?
It's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but hard to go from extravagance back to frugality!
For ordinary people on the path to financial freedom, the biggest trap is upgrading their consumption habits.
When a person's earning ability increases, they start wanting a bigger house, a better car, more expensive clothes, and fancier meals.
These things aren't inherently bad, but they should come after achieving financial freedom, not before.
If you haven't yet achieved financial freedom and blindly upgrade your consumption, chasing after indulgence, it will undoubtedly prolong the process of reaching that goal.
Even worse, when someone falls into the carefully designed consumption traps set by capitalists and becomes dominated by material desires, they're likely to miss out on "financial freedom" entirely.
They'll spend their whole life in a constant hustle.
Take world-famous boxer Mike Tyson, for example. He earned over 500 million dollars in his career but ended up bankrupt due to reckless spending.
Or Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, who once signed a billion-dollar contract and sold over 800 million records worldwide.
Yet, due to excessive spending and legal disputes, he ended up over 300 million dollars in debt!
These are real, living examples!
Moreover, Jiang Tao still had tens of thousands of yuan in debt to pay off.
In the past couple of days, he had made quite a bit of money thanks to the intelligence system.
But at most, he treated himself to a bowl of mutton soup costing a few dozen yuan or a bottle of good liquor worth around a hundred yuan.
His top priority right now was to make as much money as possible before the New Year to pay off the family's debts.
That way, they wouldn't have creditors knocking on their door, and they could enjoy a happy, carefree New Year.
During the day, Jiang Tao had been hauling goods at the Hongxing Secondhand Furniture Wholesale Market.
It wasn't until 6:30 p.m., when the market closed, that he finally called it a day.
Excluding the 29,800 yuan he found in a sofa, he earned another 400 yuan from his work that day.
Adding those two incomes together, his daily earnings officially broke past the 29,650-yuan mark!
On the drive home, Jiang Tao hummed a tune, his heart filled with joy as he thought, If I could earn 30,000 every day…
That'd be 900,000 a month, and nearly 11 million a year!
"Pfft, pfft, pfft! I've got the intelligence system, and I'm still thinking about earning a million a year? That's practically cursing myself!"
As he parked the car and got out, Jiang Tao suddenly realized his mindset was still too small.
With the intelligence system, 30,000 a day was nothing!
He'd definitely earn even more in the future!
To hell with earning a million a year!
Aiming for tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions, was more like it!
With this thought, Jiang Tao's mood instantly brightened.
On his way home, he bought a flatbread, a pound of braised pig head meat, and some cold dishes.
There was still half a bottle of ten-year-old Niulanshan liquor at home, so no need to buy more alcohol.
Back at his rented apartment, Jiang Tao munched on the flatbread with the pig head meat, sipped his liquor, and enjoyed his little life quite comfortably.
While eating, he pondered whether to tell his wife about the 30,000 yuan he found in the sofa.
How would he even explain it?
After thinking it over, he decided against it.
The iced tea bottle cap winning a phone could be chalked up to luck.
But how could he explain cash hidden in a sofa?
That'd just be asking for trouble.
Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling—
Halfway through his meal, a video call from Xu Li came through.
Jiang Tao answered the call.
The couple chatted about family matters for over an hour before hanging up.
Ding-a-ling—
No sooner had he ended the video call with his wife than another call came in.
The caller ID showed it was Brother Wang.
"Hey, Brother Wang."
Jiang Tao swiped to answer, greeting the other side with a smile.
"What? The lightbulb's out? You're not home?"
"No problem, no problem, small matter. I'll head over right now."
"Drive safely, hanging up."
After ending the call with Wang Lianming, Jiang Tao muttered to himself, got up, grabbed his black padded jacket from the hanger, and headed out.
Downstairs, Jiang Tao walked with familiarity toward the apartment rented by Wang Lianming and his wife.
Wang Lianming had just called to say their lightbulb was out, and only his wife was home.
He was out delivering goods with someone and wouldn't be back for at least another hour, so he asked Jiang Tao to go check it out.
After a five-minute walk, Jiang Tao arrived outside another tenement building.
"Little Jiang! You're here. So sorry to trouble you to come all this way."
He Fang, who had been waiting downstairs, greeted Jiang Tao with a smile.
He Fang was petite, with a round, baby-like face and a dimple on one cheek when she smiled.
No one would guess she was 37 years old and a mother of two.
Standing at 1.82 meters tall, Jiang Tao towered over her by more than a head.
It seemed He Fang had just gotten off work not long ago.
She wore a light green down jacket over a women's suit and a pair of quality-looking dress pants.
Her work makeup was still on.
To be honest, Jiang Tao sometimes envied Brother Wang's good fortune.
Aside from her short height, He Fang's looks were quite impressive.
On a scale of ten, she'd score about a seven.
After over a decade of marriage, Wang Lianming had been fattened up and balded by the years, like a pig fed by time.
Yet He Fang looked almost the same as she did in their wedding photos.
Jiang Tao smiled and said politely, "Sister-in-law, no need to be so formal with me. If you need anything, just let me know."
"Have you eaten yet, Little Jiang? If not, I can whip up some noodles for you later."
"No need, Sister-in-law, I've already eaten."
"Alright then, I won't insist."
The two chatted and laughed as they entered the building and climbed the stairs to Apartment 206.
These old tenement buildings had ceilings just over two meters high.
Jiang Tao could reach the ceiling by standing on a stool.
"Be careful, Little Jiang. I'll hold the stool for you."
As she spoke, He Fang lightly held onto Jiang Tao's legs with both hands.
"Uh…"
Her touch sent a jolt through Jiang Tao, like an electric current zipping through his body.
For a moment, he thought the ceiling wires were leaking electricity.
Cough, cough…
Jiang Tao coughed awkwardly and continued unscrewing the fixture.
Soon, he removed the broken light panel and replaced it with the new one He Fang had just bought downstairs.
Click!
He Fang flipped the switch by the door, and the room lit up brightly.
"Sister-in-law, you go ahead and cook. I won't disturb you. I'm heading back."
After replacing the light panel, Jiang Tao stepped down from the stool and said goodbye with a smile.
"You're going back already? Why don't you stay for a bit?"
He Fang looked at Jiang Tao with a warm smile and said, "Your Brother Wang will be back soon. You two love drinking together. Stay, have a couple of drinks, and I'll whip up a few dishes."
"That's too much trouble."
"What's the trouble? Just sit there and play on your phone. I'm going to change my clothes first."
"Uh…"
At the mention of He Fang changing clothes, Jiang Tao's heart skipped a few beats uncontrollably.
This sister-in-law really doesn't treat me like an outsider!
This was a one-bedroom apartment!
"Oh, right, Sister-in-law, I just remembered—I left the kettle boiling at home. I gotta go. I'll come back another day to drink with Brother Wang!"
Not wanting to risk any misunderstanding with Brother Wang, Jiang Tao quickly made an excuse and bolted.