Seeing the third piece of information about his mother-in-law, Jiang Tao genuinely couldn't hold it together!
What was going on?! His mother-in-law had unexpectedly gotten pregnant with a third child?
He and Xu Li had been trying every day for over a month without any results. And now, his father-in-law and mother-in-law had overtaken them in the race and gotten pregnant first?
Even though the country was now encouraging people to have more children, promoting third births… this situation was still a bit bizarre.
Having a sister-in-law or brother-in-law younger than his own daughter? It was somewhat absurd.
"An unexpected pregnancy… it's still uncertain whether my father-in-law and mother-in-law even want this child," Jiang Tao thought. "This isn't something I should be worrying about. Forget it, time to sleep."
Jiang Tao glanced at the phone on the bedside table. It was almost 1 a.m. He put the phone down, activated [Sleep Mode], turned over, hugged Xu Li, and went to sleep.
The night passed without incident.
The next morning, to "trick" a child out of 100 yuan, Jiang Tao, who usually slept in, got up unusually early. He was up before Jiang Xue went downstairs to catch the school bus.
His mom and Xu Li, who were preparing breakfast, teased that the sun must have risen in the west when they saw him.
"Dad? Why are you up so early today? No sleeping in?" Jiang Xue, playing with her "Eggplant Boss" toy on the living room sofa, stared at her dad with her big, round eyes.
"Xiao Xue, Daddy wants to discuss something with you." Jiang Tao sat on the sofa with a cheerful smile, wrapping an arm around his little girl's shoulders, his face beaming with fatherly warmth.
"What is it?" Jiang Xue tilted her head, looking at her dad with a mix of curiosity and seriousness.
Jiang Tao grinned. "Didn't Grandma give you 1,000 yuan in pocket money yesterday?"
"Yeah, so what?" Jiang Xue's big, sparkling eyes blinked as she looked at her dad, thinking to herself, *Is this old man trying to scam my pocket money again? Does he think I'm still a three-year-old?*
"Daddy's doing some business today and is a bit short on cash."
As soon as Jiang Tao said this, Jiang Xue's sparkling eyes narrowed with suspicion.
As expected! This old man was after her pocket money!
"So what?" Jiang Xue crossed her arms, eyeing Jiang Tao like a little adult sizing him up.
Jiang Tao continued, "Lend me your 1,000 yuan, and when you get back from school this afternoon, I'll pay you back 2,000."
"Lend you 1,000, and you'll pay me back 2,000?" Jiang Xue's eyes lit up at her dad's words.
"Yep!"
"Grown-ups can't lie to kids!"
"I absolutely won't lie to you!"
"If you lie, you're a big dog!"
"Alright… if I lie, I'm a big dog!"
"Then wait here! I'll go get it!"
Hearing this sweet deal, Jiang Xue hurriedly scampered off to her bedroom.
"Kids are so naive, easy to handle~" Jiang Tao watched his little girl's retreating figure, a smug grin spreading across his face.
Meanwhile, Jiang Xue rushed back to her bedroom, where her aunt was still sleeping under the covers. She opened the bedside drawer and pulled out a puppy-shaped wallet. With a quick grab, she took all the bills from the puppy's belly, closed the wallet, and shut the drawer.
Just as she was about to head out to "invest" with her dad, her gaze fell on her aunt's wallet on the bedside table. In that instant, an idea sparked in her mind.
"Auntie, Auntie, wake up! Time to get up~" Jiang Xue yanked the blanket off her aunt and started shaking her head.
"Stop it, Xiao Xue, let Auntie sleep a bit more~" Jiang Bing waved her hand, eyes still closed, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
Jiang Xue kept shaking her aunt's head, whining, "Auntie, don't sleep! I need your help with something."
"What is it?" Jiang Bing, eyes still shut, refused to get up.
In her sweet, childish voice, Jiang Xue said, "Can you lend me some money? I'll pay you back with interest tonight."
"What's that?" Jiang Bing found it amusing, finally sitting up and looking at her niece with a grin. "Lend you money? And you'll pay me back with interest?"
Jiang Xue nodded earnestly. "Yup! Auntie, do you have any money?"
"Of course! Your auntie's a rich lady now—do you know what that means?" Jiang Bing teased, then asked curiously, "What does a kid like you need to borrow money for?"
Jiang Xue puffed up her chest proudly. "To do business, of course~"
"Pfft!" Jiang Bing couldn't hold back a laugh at her niece's words.
Jiang Xue put her hands on her hips, her little face full of seriousness. "Auntie, why are you laughing? I'm serious! You think I'm lying? Kids don't lie!"
"Hahaha, alright, alright. Tell Auntie, what business are you doing?"
"It's a secret for now!"
"How much do you need to borrow?"
"1,000!"
"Pfft!" Jiang Bing burst out laughing again at the amount.
"What kind of big business are you planning?"
"It's a secret."
"Fine, Auntie will lend it to you." Jiang Bing didn't care about a few hundred or thousand yuan. She pulled a stack of bills from her wallet without counting and handed it to Jiang Xue. "Go play with it."
She never expected the money back. Among her nieces and nephews, Jiang Bing loved Jiang Xue the most. Plus, they often slept in the same bed, so she treated Jiang Xue like her own daughter.
"Hehe, thanks, Auntie! I'll pay you back with interest tonight. That's the least I can do for business integrity~" With her "financing" secured, Jiang Xue ran out to "invest" with her dad.
"Dad~ Here! This is all my money! I'm very optimistic about you! You've got to work hard today!" Jiang Xue handed her dad a stack of bills.
"Where'd you get all this money?" Jiang Tao looked at the wad of cash, feeling both amused and exasperated. There had to be at least three or four thousand yuan!
"You don't need to worry about that, Dad. Just take it and use it!" Jiang Xue said. "This is your daughter's support for you~ Just remember to pay me back with interest tonight, like you promised."
Seeing his little girl act so clever, Jiang Tao felt like he'd been outsmarted but couldn't help smiling happily. *Such a sharp mind for making money at such a young age—she's got potential!*
Not bad, not bad!
As for the interest on a few thousand yuan, Jiang Tao didn't mind. Besides, the money wasn't going to someone else—it was his little girl who'd "scammed" him, so he wasn't upset.
"Haha, alright, let me count how much you've got here. I'll pay you back with interest tonight." Jiang Tao chuckled as he counted the bills. There was 3,800 yuan in total!
Among them, one bill glowed with a faint golden light in his vision. Clearly, this was the special item mentioned in the system's intelligence.
"What are you two doing over there?" Xu Li, noticing them counting money, came over curiously.
Jiang Xue's face beamed with pride. "Dad said he needed 1,000 yuan for business, so I lent him my pocket money!"
Her little face was full of pride.
"Giggle, is that so? Our Xiao Xue is such a sensible good girl." Xu Li laughed at her daughter's words, giving Jiang Tao a playful, flirtatious eye-roll. She knew right away this was a trick to scam a kid's pocket money.
Jiang Tao winked at Xu Li, raising his eyebrows, signaling her to play along.
"It's about time. We should head downstairs," Xu Li said, smiling and holding out her hand to Jiang Xue.
"Yup! Dad, you've got to work hard! Go for it!" Jiang Xue cheered her dad on with a grin, took her mom's hand, and the two walked toward the door, chatting and laughing.
Seeing his mom busy serving food, Jiang Tao slipped back to the bedroom and pulled the faintly glowing 100-yuan bill from the stack. To anyone else, it was just 100 yuan, but to him, it was extraordinary.
**[System Notification: Host has obtained a special item. Bind and activate its properties now?]**
"Yes!" Jiang Tao skillfully pulled a needle from behind his phone case, pricked his finger, and used the blood to bind and activate the bill.
**[Special item successfully bound and activated. Random attribute granted.]**
After seeing the system panel's notification, Jiang Tao looked at the 100-yuan bill in his hand again.
**[Item Name]: Money Begets Money**
**[Attribute]: Endless Generation**
**[Effect]: Can split into 100 new bills daily.**
**[Note]: The split bills are 100% genuine and safe to use.**
"This really is money that makes money!" Jiang Tao's eyes lit up at the bill's name and attribute. Splitting into 100 bills a day meant 10,000 yuan daily!
Following the Wealth-Attracting Golden Toad and the Beiqi EU5, he now had another [Money Begets Money]. Even if he did nothing, he'd have a net income of 30,000 yuan a day!
That's 900,000 yuan a month, just lying around! For daily expenses, even his whole family spending freely couldn't use it all up.
"Not bad, not bad. Welcome to the family!" Jiang Tao brought the 100-yuan bill to his lips and gave it a kiss. This was another "cash cow" helping him make money.
"But where should I keep it…" Jiang Tao scanned the room for a suitable spot but found nowhere ideal.
**[Ding! System detects host's storage needs. Spend 10,000 yuan to unlock one inventory slot?]**
**[After unlocking, system items can be stored in the inventory.]**
A blue system interface popped up with two notifications.
"Inventory slot?" Jiang Tao's eyes brightened at the system's prompt. 10,000 yuan for one slot wasn't too expensive!
"Unlock it!"
**[Processing payment, please wait…]**
**[Payment successful. Congratulations, you've unlocked one inventory slot!]**
A blue virtual panel appeared before Jiang Tao, displaying a high-tech, one-cubic-decimeter storage slot, like something from a video game. He could store and retrieve system-related items at will.
Jiang Tao placed [Money Begets Money] into the slot, and it worked perfectly!
"Interesting!" His eyes lit up after testing the inventory's effect.
**[Spend 100,000 yuan to unlock a second inventory slot?]**
"The price spiked that much?!" Jiang Tao was speechless at the tenfold increase for the second slot.
"Yes, unlock it!" Though pricey, he gritted his teeth and unlocked it, then stored the Wealth-Attracting Golden Toad from the safe in it. This was safer and saved the hassle of opening the safe daily.
**[Spend 1,000,000 yuan to unlock a third inventory slot?]**
"No…" Seeing the third slot's price jump to a million, Jiang Tao was dumbfounded and silently declined. He didn't have an urgent need for more slots right now.
"Son, breakfast is ready!"
"Coming!" Hearing his mom's voice from outside, Jiang Tao closed the system interface with a thought and left the room.
Early in the morning, he'd secured the special item mentioned in the intelligence. In great spirits, his appetite grew too.
After breakfast, Xu Li and his mom cleared the plates and loaded them into the dishwasher. Jiang Tao and Xu Li headed out as usual, walking toward Building 62, where her parents lived.
On the way, Jiang Tao hesitated several times, unsure whether to mention his mother-in-law's pregnancy to Xu Li. If her parents didn't want the child, supplements like folic acid or vitamins weren't necessary. But if they did want it, neglecting those could affect the baby's development.
"Honey, why do I feel like you have something to say?" Xu Li, holding his right arm, looked at him curiously. After years together, they couldn't hide their thoughts from each other.
Jiang Tao thought for a moment and said, "Wife, these past couple of days, I've noticed your mom's star of joy is shining. Seems like something happy is coming."
"What? What kind of happy thing could my mom have? You jerk, are you teasing my mom?" Xu Li wrinkled her nose and playfully punched his arm.
Jiang Tao chuckled. "Don't believe me? I studied face-reading with my master for two or three years. Your mom's face these past few days definitely shows something joyful."
Xu Li asked, "Like what?"
"Maybe giving you a little brother or sister?"
"You jerk! You're definitely teasing my mom! She's over 50—how could she possibly…" Xu Li stopped mid-sentence, stunned.
She did know someone over 50 who was pregnant! Jiang Tao had told her his uncle's partner, Tian Mingrong, also in her fifties, was pregnant with his uncle's child. They were likely getting married this year because of it.
"Honey, you're not joking, are you?" After thinking of Tian Mingrong and her uncle, Xu Li started to believe Jiang Tao a bit.
Theoretically, the odds of a woman in her fifties or sixties getting pregnant were low, but not zero!
Jiang Tao's face turned serious. "Based on her face, it's likely true. But to be certain, it'd need a more scientific check."
"My mom and dad…" Xu Li, now mentally accepting the idea, was at a loss for words. She and Jiang Tao had been trying for a month with no results, and now her mom might be pregnant with a third child?
"Honey, if it's true, what do we do?" Xu Li looked at Jiang Tao, her emotions mixed.
Jiang Tao replied calmly, "It depends on what your parents want. Whatever they decide, I'll respect it."
"Yeah, I think so too." Xu Li quickly came around. With their family's current situation, even a third child wouldn't be a big burden.
Chatting as they walked, they soon arrived outside her parents' home.