Chapter 203: The Usb Drive Ran Into My Pocket By Itself!
Today is the first day of the Qingming Festival holiday.
Some are on their way home, while others are out traveling.
The service area was crowded and bustling.
Jiang Tao searched for a while before finding an empty spot to park his truck.
After parking, he took his two nephews straight to the spot where he, his father-in-law, and his father had been smoking yesterday.
That spot was easy to find, just not too far to the left of the public restrooms.
When the three of them arrived, Jiang Tao saw several workers wearing reflective yellow vests noisily trimming grass and pruning trees with trimmers.
A chubby man was gesturing and talking to one of them, who kept nodding and bowing.
“It looks like that chubby guy is in charge.”
After observing the situation, Jiang Tao quickly made a judgment and walked towards the chubby man.
“Lao Liu, saw off those hairy walnut trees over there and dig out the roots too.”
“The new ornamental five-needle pines are already on their way and will arrive tomorrow.”
“And tear up that lawn and replace it with new grass.”
“Also…”
“Got it, Manager Niu. I’ll arrange for someone to saw down the trees and dig out the roots immediately.”
As he got closer, Jiang Tao’s heart tightened upon hearing the tasks the chubby man assigned to the worker.
He raised his hand to check the watch on his wrist; it was already 10:38 AM.
There were only twenty-some minutes left before the mutated hairy walnut tree mentioned in the intelligence was felled.
Fortunately, the road was smooth today; if there had been a bit more traffic, he wouldn’t have made it in time.
After the chubby man finished giving instructions to the worker, he turned and walked away.
Jiang Tao then stepped forward to approach the worker who seemed to be a team leader or a minor supervisor.
“Elder Brother, hello, are you the person in charge here?”
The man looked to be in his forties, so it wasn’t out of line for Jiang Tao to call him Elder Brother.
The man pointed towards the receding figure of the chubby man and told Jiang Tao:
“I’m not in charge, I just work here. The one who just left is the leader.”
Jiang Tao pointed to a few hairy walnut trees nearby and asked with a smile:
“It doesn’t matter. When I was smoking earlier, I heard you talking about cutting down these hairy walnut trees?”
The man nodded: “Yes, the leader bought new tree species that will arrive tomorrow, and these will all be cut down.”
“Elder Brother, have a cigarette. May I know your surname?”
Jiang Tao first took a pack of Da Tian Ye cigarettes from his pocket, put one in his mouth, and then offered the entire pack to the man.
“My surname is Ma, Ma Qingsheng.”
Seeing the Da Tian Ye cigarettes Jiang Tao offered, Ma Qingsheng’s impression of him instantly improved.
He was also a smoker of decades, so he naturally knew that a pack of Da Tian Ye cost over a hundred RMB, several dozen more expensive than Huazi.
After Ma Qingsheng took a cigarette from Jiang Tao, Jiang Tao withdrew his hand, his intention being clear.
It was like a tacit understanding between veteran smokers.
After taking a cigarette for himself, Ma Qingsheng smoothly put the rest of the pack into his shirt pocket.
Seeing that Ma Qingsheng had accepted his offer, Jiang Tao then said with a smile:
“It’s like this, Elder Brother. Since you’re cutting down these trees anyway, can I buy one to take home and plant for fun?”
Jiang Tao emphasized the word “buy,” clearly stating his position first.
He wanted to buy the tree, not get it for free.
“Buy a tree?”
Ma Qingsheng looked at Jiang Tao with some confusion upon hearing his words.
His expression seemed to say, “Why are you buying a tree from me? Why not go to a nursery to buy one?”
“It’s just a coincidence! You were going to cut it down, and I happened to want to buy one.”
“So, Brother Ma, help me dig out that tree, and I can load it onto my own vehicle. You don’t need to worry about transportation.”
“After it’s done, I’ll give you 3,000 RMB, and you can treat everyone to a meal or something.”
While saying the last few sentences, Jiang Tao lowered his voice to a decibel that only he and the man could hear.
“3,000?”
Ma Qingsheng’s heart was deeply moved by Jiang Tao’s offer!
Treating his workers to a meal would cost at most four or five hundred RMB, and he could personally profit over 2,000!
Moreover, Manager Niu had specifically ordered these trees to be cut down and given him discretion on how to handle them.
Whether he threw them away as garbage after cutting them down or sold them to Jiang Tao for profit, it was his decision.
Free 3,000 RMB falling into his lap – why not take it!
Seeing that Ma Qingsheng seemed tempted, Jiang Tao continued:
“Don’t worry, Brother Ma! Only you and I will know about this. If anyone asks, just say I helped you dispose of the garbage.”
“Alright! Which one do you want? I’ll have someone dig it out for you!”
Ma Qingsheng looked at Jiang Tao, unable to resist the temptation of 3,000 RMB.
This 3,000 RMB was like free money; how many times could he wash his feet with it?
If it’s free, take it; if you take it, it’s still free!
“Brother Ma is straightforward. I only want that one! Please have your guys dig it out carefully; I want to be able to transplant it successfully.”
Jiang Tao turned and pointed to the mutated hairy walnut tree that was emitting a faint golden light in his vision, and instructed Ma Qingsheng.
“Okay! No problem. Boss, don’t worry. We are professional landscapers, and the trees we dig out are guaranteed to survive transplanting.”
“I’ll go arrange it for you!”
Ma Qingsheng then strode towards the workers, whispering a few words to them.
The workers put down their lawn mowers and shears, each picked up a shovel, and began to dig out the trees.
The mutated hairy walnut tree was less than 10 centimeters in diameter, and its root system wasn’t particularly developed.
In less than twenty minutes, the workers had dug a pit about 1.5 meters deep.
Working together, they lifted the mutated hairy walnut tree that Jiang Tao had pointed out from the pit.
Then, under Ma Qingsheng’s direction, they directly loaded it onto the 4.2-meter truck he had driven.
Jiang Tao immediately transferred 3,000 RMB to Ma Qingsheng via WeChat.
This transaction was now complete.
“Second Uncle, you spent 3,000 RMB on this thing?”
“We have plenty of walnut trees in our village. If you wanted one, you just had to tell me, and I could get you one for free.”
Jiang Shaojie looked at the hairy walnut tree on the truck with soil still attached to its roots and felt his Second Uncle had overpaid.
Jiang Tao chuckled: “You don’t know anything, kid. Do you think your uncle would make a losing business deal?”
“Just you wait and see, this walnut tree will earn me back a hundred or even a thousand times the money I spent on it in the future.”
“A hundred or a thousand times? When will that ever happen!”
Jiang Shaojie quickly did some mental calculations.
100 times 3,000 RMB would be 300,000.
1,000 times would be a whopping 3 million!
How many walnuts would he need to sell to earn 3 million!
However, his Second Uncle didn’t seem like someone who would brag without reason.
Could this tree bear golden walnuts or something!
Jiang Shijie asked: “Second Uncle, what are we doing now? Going home?”
“Are you missing your girlfriend, kid?”
After teasing his elder nephew with a smile, Jiang Tao said:
“You two brothers stay here and watch the truck and the tree for me. I have something to take care of and need to leave for a bit.”
After instructing his two nephews, Jiang Tao took a bunch of yellow chrysanthemums from the truck bed and turned to walk away.
After Jiang Tao walked away, Jiang Shaojie nudged his brother’s arm and whispered:
“Brother, do you think Second Uncle is going to meet another woman behind Auntie’s back and with us here?”
Jiang Shijie glared at his brother: “Don’t talk nonsense. Second Uncle isn’t that kind of person.”
Jiang Shaojie said: “Then why is he carrying flowers?”
“What the hell… Who sends chrysanthemums on a date with a woman! You idiot!”
As he spoke, Jiang Shijie flicked his brother’s forehead.
Jiang Tao was unaware that the brothers were gossiping about him.
He was fully focused on the augmented reality map displayed on his retina.
Approximately 300 meters from his current location, a quail egg-sized yellow dot was blinking continuously.
Jiang Tao deliberately parked his truck far from the zombie car mentioned in the intelligence, which also made it convenient for him to do things.
In the time it took to smoke a cigarette, Jiang Tao walked to the vicinity of the zombie car mentioned in the intelligence.
This car was a white Volkswagen Bora with a license plate from Hebei province.
A thick layer of dust had accumulated on the car.
The car roof looked like a restroom for birds, covered in various white and yellow droppings.
The car windows were so covered in dust that the interior was completely obscured.
A clear zone surrounded this car.
The parking spaces on both sides were empty; no one wanted to park next to it.
Jiang Tao stepped forward and placed the bunch of chrysanthemums he was holding on the outside of the Bora’s windshield.
“I don’t know if you are male or female, old or young, but I hope you get a good rebirth in your next life.”
“And thank you for your Bitcoin.”
Jiang Tao muttered these words silently to himself.
As soon as he finished speaking, he felt as if his right trouser pocket had been touched.
He abruptly looked down at his pocket and felt something new inside.
He reached inside and his hand touched something cold.
When he pulled it out, he saw a stainless steel foldable USB drive, about the size of a middle finger!
Furthermore, this USB drive was emitting a faint golden light in his vision.
Clearly, this USB drive was the one mentioned in System Brother’s intelligence!
On the way, Jiang Tao had been worrying about how he would discreetly obtain the USB drive in broad daylight.
To his surprise, before he could even act, the USB drive had moved into his pocket on its own!
“Thanks!”
Jiang Tao looked at the zombie car and said his thanks sincerely before turning to leave.
Passing by the entrance of the service area’s main hall, Jiang Tao bought six pure meat donkey burgers from the food stalls outside.
He also paid an extra 10 RMB for each, asking the owner to add more meat, turning them into “plus” edition donkey burgers.
Although the donkey burgers in B Prefecture weren’t as authentic as those in B Ding, they still tasted pretty good.
The buns were grilled golden and crispy on the outside, and the donkey meat inside was stewed until tender and flavorful.
At around 30 RMB per burger, they were worth the price.
After buying the burgers, he went into the convenience store in the service area and bought several bottles of Red Bull and Dongfang Shuye Tea.
He definitely wouldn’t make it home for lunch today, so he’d just grab something quick outside.
“Second Uncle, you’re back!”
“Second Uncle.”
The two brothers saw their Second Uncle carrying bags and packages and quickly went to help him.
Jiang Tao smiled: “Let’s just have a quick bite for lunch, and tonight I’ll take you two to Bai Yulan for a big meal.”
“Bai Yulan! I’ve never been to such a fancy restaurant in my life! Second Uncle, can I take pictures when we go?”
“I want to take lots of pictures to show off at school when I start!”
Upon hearing they were going to Bai Yulan, Jiang Shaojie became instantly excited.
“Take as many as you want. Doesn’t your aunt have a DJI P3? You can borrow it from her and shoot a vlog.”
Jiang Tao said with a smile, while distributing the extra-large donkey burgers from the bag to the brothers.
“Wow, it’s donkey burgers! So much meat! I’m going to take pictures first!”
After receiving the donkey burgers, Jiang Shaojie took out his phone and snapped several photos.
The three of them chatted idly while devouring the donkey burgers and Dongfang Shuye Tea in their hands.
Full and satisfied, Jiang Tao drove, and the three of them began their return journey.
The return trip wasn’t as smooth as the outbound journey.
They drove stop-and-go the whole way, and a journey that originally took just over 2 hours stretched to over three!
Fortunately, he had his nephews to chat with, and he had also gotten enough sleep in “Sleep Mode” last night.
Jiang Tao didn’t feel drowsy while driving.
By the time the three of them drove back to Jiang Family Village, it was already past 4 PM.
Jiang Tao’s house was locked; Xu Li had taken Jiang Xue to her mother’s home and wouldn’t be back until evening.
After Jiang Tao opened the door, the three of them carried the mutated hairy walnut tree into the courtyard together.
He then directed the brothers to dig a hole near the west wall of the courtyard and replant the tree.
Following the method instructed by Ma Qingsheng, he fertilized and watered it.
“You two brothers worked hard with me all day. This is your salary.”
After planting the tree, Jiang Tao happily took out two handfuls of money from his pocket and gave them to his elder and younger nephews, respectively.
Ever since obtaining that “Money-Making Money,” Jiang Tao had been receiving 10,000 RMB in cash daily, so he wasn’t short on cash.
“Hehe, thanks, Second Uncle!”
“Thanks, Second Uncle!”
The brothers didn’t stand on ceremony with Jiang Tao, thanked him, and took the money.
Jiang Shaojie felt the thickness of the cash in his hand and estimated that it was at least 3,000 RMB.
He had just gone out with his Second Uncle for a trip and hadn’t done much, yet he received this “salary.”
His Second Uncle was truly something!
“Gather at my place around 6 PM to hang out.”
Jiang Tao said, waving his hand to signal the brothers could leave.
“Goodbye, Second Uncle!”
“Goodbye, Second Uncle!”
The brothers waved goodbye to Jiang Tao with excitement and ran out.
After seeing the brothers off, Jiang Tao returned to the living room and took out the Bitcoin private key from his pocket.
He didn’t know much about Bitcoin.
He only knew it was a very famous cryptocurrency worldwide.
And that it was very valuable.
In many web novels, male protagonists who were reborn would hoard Bitcoin when it was first released, waiting for its value to increase and achieve financial freedom.
Jiang Tao took out his phone and opened his browser to check the day’s Bitcoin trading price.
“752358!”
One Bitcoin could be exchanged for over 750,000 RMB.
The intelligence indicated that this USB drive contained two Bitcoins, totaling over 1.5 million.
