*Ding-a-ling-ling—*
At 6 a.m., before Jiang Tao's alarm could even go off, his phone rang first.
He picked up the phone and glanced at the caller ID, which read "Third Sis."
Jiang Tao swiped to answer: "Hey, little sis."
"Second Bro!! We've hit the jackpot! Jackpot! Your Ultraman hair clips are selling like crazy! Oh my gosh, guess how many we sold last night!"
The moment the call connected, Jiang Bing's voice burst through, as excited as a TV shopping channel host.
In the background, the *ding-dong, ding-dong* of order notifications from the Qianniu workbench echoed.
"Oh."
Jiang Tao responded with a single, calm word, sitting up on the bed with sleepy eyes.
"What do you mean, 'oh'? Second Bro, you're about to make it big, do you realize that?!"
"How did you know this hair clip would blow up?!"
"Oh my gosh, you have no idea how hot it is right now!!"
On the other end of the line, Jiang Bing's excitement and fervor stood in stark contrast to Jiang Tao's calm demeanor.
Jiang Tao's lips twitched slightly, finding his little sister a bit silly.
If he didn't know it would blow up, would he have stocked 10,000 pieces?
"Third Sis, handle the shipping arrangements. If it's too much, hire a few temps to help."
"Labor and shipping costs come out of the total sales. The remaining profit—we split it 20% for you, 80% for me."
Jiang Tao rubbed his eyes. Naturally, he wouldn't let his little sister work for free.
"Second Bro, are you serious?!"
"You're really my dearest Second Bro! *Mwah mwah mwah*~~~"
Hearing she'd get 20% of the profits, Jiang Bing was so thrilled she could practically take off on the spot!
The Ultraman hair clips that were selling like hotcakes had a cost price of just 6 yuan each and were sold for 19.8 yuan.
Each sale brought in a gross profit of 13.8 yuan.
After deducting labor, packaging, and shipping costs, the rest was pure profit.
Jiang Bing had been in the e-commerce business for over six years. While she usually didn't need to stock inventory, she would stock up on trending items.
Bulk purchasing allowed her to negotiate better wholesale prices, leading to higher profits.
Jiang Bing was well-connected with several courier services in Yu County, securing shipping rates lower than the average person's.
For monthly shipments exceeding 2,000 orders, she could get a rate of 3 yuan per order.
For the Ultraman hair clips, orders ranged from 1 piece to over 10, with some even ordering 100 pieces at once.
By Jiang Bing's estimate, the shipping volume would be around 3,000 orders, and a 10,000-yuan shipping budget would definitely suffice.
As for packaging, the Ultraman hair clips only needed the smallest packaging, costing less than 0.3 yuan per unit.
Jiang Bing had stayed up all night monitoring the Qianniu workbench, calculating the profits from the Ultraman hair clips down to the last detail.
Based on her years of e-commerce experience, the pure profit from this batch of Ultraman hair clips could reach around 125,000 yuan!
With her 20% share, that's 25,000 yuan—equivalent to four or five months of her usual profits!
No wonder she was so excited.
Moreover, because the Ultraman hair clips had suddenly gone viral, Jiang Bing's online store saw a massive surge in traffic.
This also boosted sales of her other products!
Even if Jiang Tao hadn't offered her the 20% profit share, she was already benefiting greatly from the exposure!
"Second Bro, you're practically a genius!"
"Right now, our store has cornered the market on Ultraman hair clips across the entire internet. Even the source factory is out of stock."
"Good thing you pushed hard yesterday—the goods are already at the Ping County logistics park. I'm heading over to pick them up soon."
"If we'd been a day late, the factory probably wouldn't have let us have this batch."
On the other end of the line, Jiang Bing, who hadn't slept all night, wasn't the least bit tired. She was buzzing with excitement, sharing her joy.
A product going viral like this was a rare occurrence in life.
This Ultraman hair clip was destined to be a landmark moment in Jiang Bing's e-commerce career!
The siblings chatted for about ten minutes before hanging up.
After ending the call with Jiang Bing, Jiang Tao requested a day off in the WeChat group he'd named "Tangerine Squad."
Once that was done, he dialed Xu Li's number.
Xu Li hadn't gotten up yet either, her lazy voice carrying an extra touch of allure.
"What's up, honey? Missing me this early in the morning~?"
Jiang Tao didn't beat around the bush with Xu Li and got straight to the point:
"Comrade Xu Li, the organization has an important mission for you. This mission must succeed, no failures allowed."
"What mission?"
"Didn't you say yesterday that Sun Na won a lottery ticket at the company's annual meeting? Call her today and find out the numbers, then bet 10 times those numbers."
"Huh? That's it?"
"What do you mean, 'that's it'? This is a mission from the organization. Just do it. I'll cover the cost. If you don't win, it's on me. If you win, it's yours."
"Really?! Don't worry, boss, mission accepted!"
Hearing she wouldn't have to spend a dime and any winnings would be hers, Xu Li had no objections to this sweet deal.
"Bet exactly 10 times the amount, no more, no less. Got it?"
Xu Li: "What does 'bet exactly' mean?"
Jiang Tao explained, exasperated: "'Bet exactly' means whatever numbers Sun Na's ticket has, you bet the same ones."
"How do I bet? Who's betting who?"
Jiang Tao: "…"
"Hahaha~ Silly hubby, I'm just teasing you. How could someone as brilliant as me not know how to buy a lottery ticket? I've bought them before, okay!"
"Oh? You've bought them before?"
In all the years Jiang Tao had known Xu Li, he'd never heard she'd bought lottery tickets.
"Yeah, I was buying one ticket every draw for a while, hoping against hope that I'd win the jackpot."
"That way, we could pay off our debts, and you wouldn't have to be out driving all day and night."
"With some capital, we could start a small business, and our family could be together, happy every day."
"Just thinking about that kind of life makes me smile in my dreams."
"But… I never even won 5 yuan!"
"So annoying! There's definitely some insider trickery!"
On the other end, Xu Li never even won 5 yuan!" Xu Li vented her frustrations, sharing something she'd never told Jiang Tao before.
Jiang Tao's throat tightened, and his eyes welled up slightly.
All this time, besides his early-morning-to-late-night hauling jobs, he'd also pinned his hopes of turning things around on a 2-yuan lottery ticket.
But in the end, it had all gone to the welfare fund.
With the New Year approaching and the weight of their debts, how could he not understand that pressure and anxiety?
Beneath Xu Li's usual cheerful demeanor, she'd been hiding her own worries.
"Silly wife, our good days are just around the corner. Next year, I'll make sure you live the life you want."
Jiang Tao gave a relieved smile, making a promise to Xu Li over the phone.
Xu Li and their daughter, Jiang Xue, had always been his greatest motivation to keep pushing forward!
"By the way, honey, I made some money selling tangerines these past couple of days. I'll send you some pocket money later."
"Thank you, honey! My husband is the best, best, BEST husband in the world~"
Xu Li's sweet, playful tone nearly melted Jiang Tao's heart through the phone.
The couple chatted for over ten minutes before hanging up.
After the call, Jiang Tao transferred 52,000 yuan to Xu Li.
She sent back an emoji of a little girl frantically kissing a little boy.
Then she followed up with: *"My husband is the most handsome and invincible in the world!"*
Seeing his silly wife's playful antics, Jiang Tao's lips curved into a proud smile.
Then he sent her a 100-yuan red packet labeled "activity funds."
The lottery betting task was fully entrusted to Xu Li.