Chapter 164: New Intelligence: Black Ox Barbecue’s Annual Card And Secret Recipe Barbecue Sauce!
It was 7:30 PM.
A table full of delicious dishes, complete with vibrant colors, aroma, and exquisite taste, was served.
Du Ennan wasn’t a first-time guest at their home; she was already familiar with Jiang’s Dad and Mom and felt at ease.
Furthermore, as Jiang Xue’s godmother, she wasn’t treated as an outsider.
Everyone chatted and laughed, speaking freely, creating a harmonious atmosphere.
“Little Du, when is your due date? It seems like it’s coming up soon.”
Old Mother Tian Xiaomei looked at Du Ennan’s belly, which was as round as a small ball under her maternity dress, and asked with a smile.
“It’s coming soon, the due date is April 10th. I’ll be delivering in about 20 days.”
“You don’t know the hardships of motherhood until you become one; this little one has really put me through a lot.”
Du Ennan gently stroked her belly with one hand. Although she complained verbally, her face was radiant with maternal glow, full of happiness.
Xu Li said with a smile from the side, “Nannan, I’ve already booked myself as your godmother, and I’m not taking back my offer.”
Du Ennan also smiled, “Even if I wanted to take back my offer, I wouldn’t agree! My child has claimed you as their beautiful godmother.”
Jiang Xue asked curiously from the side, “Godmother, is it a younger brother or a younger sister in your belly?”
“We’ll only know when the baby is born; there’s a 50/50 chance.”
Although Du Ennan had ways to find out the baby’s gender, there was no need.
This was the posthumous child of her husband, and whether it was a boy or a girl, it would be her and her husband’s only child.
She would not remarry in this lifetime, dedicating all her thoughts and love to this child.
The meal was filled with joy, and the conversation quickly shifted from children to daily life, occasionally touching upon work matters.
“By the way, Ennan, we went to the Black Ox Barbecue in your area this afternoon for the buffet.”
“For a place the size of Black Ox Barbecue, what is its daily revenue? What’s its profit margin? Have you looked into it?”
Jiang Tao looked at Du Ennan and asked curiously, though he was just asking casually.
It would be great to get some useful information, but it didn’t matter if he didn’t.
“You’ve asked the right person. I’ve discussed some aspects of this with Manager Tian, the boss of Black Ox Barbecue.”
Du Ennan put down her chopsticks and looked at Jiang Tao, saying:
“Black Ox Barbecue serves an average of 800 to 1000 customers daily, with each person spending around 300 yuan.”
“Daily revenue is between 240,000 and 300,000 yuan. After deducting labor and rent, the net profit is around 35%.”
Jiang Tao silently did some calculations in his mind.
Based on the minimum revenue of 240,000 yuan.
With a 35% net profit, they could earn about 84,000 yuan per day.
This result was somewhat beyond his expectations.
For such a large establishment, its earning potential wasn’t as exorbitant as he had imagined.
The Money-Attracting Golden Toad and the BAIC EU5 could bring him 20,000 yuan in pure profit each day.
That was about a quarter of the profit of Black Ox Barbecue.
Simply triggering a higher-value piece of intelligence would yield far more than Black Ox Barbecue could!
There’s no harm without comparison; as expected, System Brother is more powerful!
The focus going forward should still be on the Daily Intelligence System!
Developing the real economy is just a secondary pursuit.
It’s just something to keep myself and those around me occupied.
Life is about effort; life is endless, and so is the effort.
Doing nothing every day isn’t a good thing either.
When he heard Jiang Tao and Du Ennan discussing the barbecue buffet.
Jiang Wen and Tian Xiaomei also chimed in occasionally, asking questions about opening a store, appearing very interested.
Jiang Tao and Jiang Bing smiled without speaking, seemingly the old couple were still quite persistent about opening a barbecue restaurant.
The meal lasted from a little past 7 PM until around 8:30 PM.
Mom and Xu Li put all the dishes and chopsticks into the dishwasher in the kitchen.
With the dishwasher, the two of them were also much more relaxed.
After tidying up the dishes, Mom washed some fruits and arranged them into a fruit platter.
Durian, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, apples, bananas – all kinds of fruits were available.
Now, Jiang Tao’s family had achieved fruit freedom; they could buy whatever fruit they wanted without worrying about the price.
Xu Li loved durian and used to only afford to buy it once a month, and just a small segment at that.
Now, even if she ate it every day, Jiang Tao could still afford to support her.
They ate fruit and chatted idly, the atmosphere lively and pleasant.
Around 9:30 PM, Du Ennan’s family driver came to pick her up.
Jiang Tao and Xu Li escorted her downstairs.
“Another pleasant gathering. Lili, Jiang Tao, thank you.”
Beside a black Maybach, Du Ennan gently smoothed her hair, which had been ruffled by the evening breeze, and thanked Jiang Tao and Xu Li with a smile.
She was very happy with the gathering tonight.
What they ate wasn’t important; what mattered was the atmosphere and the experience.
Xu Li said playfully, “Why are you being so polite with us? You’re saying such distant things.”
“Hehe, that’s true. You are my best friends, without a doubt.”
Du Ennan smiled gently, feeling incredibly fortunate to have made friends like Jiang Tao and Xu Li.
From childhood to adulthood, she had lived a life of material abundance under her parents’ protection, wanting for nothing.
Her parents would buy her anything she wanted, and she would get whatever she desired very quickly.
In terms of material possessions, she was extremely wealthy.
However, on a spiritual level, she was impoverished.
She didn’t even have one true friend.
Most of those so-called friends were only friends with her because of her family background.
Their sole purpose was to gain various benefits from her.
Du Ennan could clearly sense that kind of utilitarian motive.
Jiang Tao and Xu Li’s financial situation was much worse than many of her friends’.
However, when interacting with them, Du Ennan felt no hint of utilitarianism, only sincerity.
Moreover, she and Xu Li got along well in many aspects and could talk about anything.
Although they hadn’t known each other for long, Xu Li had already become Du Ennan’s absolute best friend, her close confidante!
Love me, love my dog; her good impression of Jiang Tao had also increased significantly.
【Ding! Congratulations, your friendship with Du Ennan has reached 90 points, becoming close friends.】
【Congratulations on receiving 1 Friendship Boat and 999,999 yuan in cash rewards!】
Suddenly, a brilliant blue system interface flickered into existence, displaying two notification messages.
Seeing the notification messages on the system interface, Jiang Tao felt a surge of smug satisfaction!
Although he didn’t know what a “Friendship Boat” was, the cash reward that followed was real!
999,999, just one yuan short of 1 million!
This reward came without warning, too suddenly, like pie falling from the sky!
*Buzz~~~*
Feeling his mobile phone vibrate in his pocket, Jiang Tao thought that the cash reward from the system must have arrived!
Another 1 million in his account!
Adding to the 1 million check and the watch and gold chain given by Zhang Chao’s mother yesterday.
Plus the income from the blueberry potted plant and the earnings from selling cattle at the farm.
Adding all incomes together, Jiang Tao’s conservatively estimated income for today alone was over 3 million yuan!
Although such situations weren’t common, having one occasionally was a pleasant surprise.
“After becoming close friends with Du Ennan, I received a reward of 1 million. What about others…”
“If I become close friends with others, can I also receive the same amount of reward?”
Staring intently at the notification messages on the system panel.
Jiang Tao’s thoughts began to wander.
If making one friend could bring in a cash reward of 1 million yuan.
It seemed like a good way to get rich?
As the saying goes, the more friends you have, the easier the road. Making more friends isn’t a bad thing.
If he could trigger a reward like today’s again, that would be even better!
“It’s worth a try!”
Jiang Tao secretly made up his mind.
He had quite a few friends around him.
Zhang Chao, Liu Zhiyuan, Shan Yufei, as well as Wang Lianming and his sister-in-law He Fang.
Thinking of Wang Lianming and He Fang.
Jiang Tao had been in contact with them recently.
He Fang’s surgery was successful, and she had already been discharged from the hospital and had returned to her hometown to recuperate.
The large house in their hometown would undoubtedly have better conditions than their small apartment in the Capital City, making it more conducive to her recovery.
“I wonder how this ‘friendship value’ is calculated.”
“I’ve known Brother Wang and Xiao Liu for so many years, yet my relationship with Du Ennan isn’t as close?”
“I don’t understand, I don’t understand. I’ll figure it out slowly.”
Unable to figure out the pattern for now, Jiang Tao was too lazy to think about it.
He would find out by trying.
While Jiang Tao was contemplating how to make more friends in the future, Du Ennan and Xu Li chatted for a bit longer before they reluctantly said goodbye.
After watching Du Ennan’s Maybach disappear into the night.
Jiang Tao and Xu Li turned and walked towards the stairwell entrance.
They returned home around 10 PM, and Jiang Xue was already getting sleepy.
Xu Li first took her to the bathroom to wash up.
Jiang Bing was also staying over tonight.
Just like when they were in their hometown, she and Jiang Xue would share a room.
The family took turns washing up, with Jiang Tao being the last one.
By the time he finished, it was past 11:30 PM.
As usual, he spent another hour on the Second Child Plan.
Exhausted, Xu Li quickly fell asleep.
Jiang Tao casually enabled her 『Sleep Mode』 before opening the interface of the Intelligence System to check today’s intelligence.
【Today’s Intelligence 01】:
You dined at Black Ox Barbecue yesterday and obtained relevant intelligence—
Follow the Black Ox Barbecue WeChat official account and participate in a lucky draw between 00:43:10 AM and 00:43:15 AM.
You can obtain a Black Ox Barbecue annual card worth 90,000 yuan!
……
“A Black Ox Barbecue annual card worth 90,000 yuan?”
Seeing the first piece of intelligence refreshed today, Jiang Tao’s eyes immediately lit up.
Although compared to the gold bars worth over 3.6 million yuan previously hidden in the villa.
A Black Ox Barbecue annual card worth 90,000 yuan was insignificant.
However, it was still 90,000 yuan.
Many people worked hard for a whole year and might not earn that much.
Even a small gain is a gain; it should still be collected!
“A lucky draw through the official account, can you really win a big prize?”
Jiang Tao murmured to himself, picked up his mobile phone from the bedside table, and started searching for the Black Ox Barbecue official account on WeChat.
When they dined there yesterday, the waiter had also informed Jiang Tao and the others about the lucky draw.
By following the Black Ox Barbecue official account, for every 300 points, one could participate in a lucky draw.
Points were earned through consumption, with 1 yuan corresponding to 1 point.
After finding the Black Ox Barbecue official account, Jiang Tao chose to log in using his mobile phone number.
Upon successful login, he found he had 918 points, allowing him to participate in three lucky draws.
“You must draw between 00:43:10 AM and 00:43:15 AM to win.”
“Only a 5-second window, don’t miss it!”
To be safe, Jiang Tao set an alarm for 00:41 AM and another for 00:42 AM on his phone.
The 5-second window would pass in an instant.
Missing these 5 seconds meant missing out on a buffet annual card worth over 90,000 yuan.
Being cautious was necessary.
After setting the alarms, Jiang Tao continued to browse the next piece of intelligence.
【Today’s Intelligence 02】:
You dined at Black Ox Barbecue yesterday and obtained relevant intelligence—
Black Ox Barbecue’s secret barbecue sauce is a special recipe.
This recipe can significantly improve its quality after being analyzed and optimized by the system!
……
“Black Ox Barbecue’s special secret recipe for barbecue sauce?”
Seeing the second piece of intelligence today, Jiang Tao’s eyes lit up again!
The last recipe he obtained that could be analyzed and optimized was the secret recipe for Eight Treasure Pickles passed down in Jiang Yi’s family.
After being analyzed and optimized by System Brother, its quality improved again.
The Eight Treasure Pickles made from it tasted even better.
This time, another piece of intelligence related to barbecue sauce appeared.
The quality of Black Ox Barbecue’s sauce was already quite good.
If it were further analyzed and optimized by System Brother…
Imagine the results!
“If I then open a barbecue buffet using this barbecue sauce, the business will definitely be more popular than Black Ox Barbecue!”
“Furthermore, even if this barbecue sauce is produced and sold as a standalone product, its future prospects are very objective!”
“The problem is, how can I get my hands on their recipe?”
“Since it’s their secret recipe, they definitely won’t leak it easily.”
“Analyzing the finished barbecue sauce directly should also make it difficult to reverse-engineer the production process.”
“If it could be reverse-engineered so easily, it wouldn’t be called a secret recipe.”
“Go there and buy it? I don’t know if they’ll sell it? What price will they ask?”
Various thoughts raced through Jiang Tao’s mind.
He would definitely not give up on Black Ox Barbecue’s secret barbecue sauce recipe; he had to get it.
Even if it cost some money, it didn’t matter.
200,000? 300,000? 500,000?
As long as the other party didn’t make an outrageous demand, and the price didn’t exceed 1 million yuan, Jiang Tao could accept it.
With the Eight Treasure Pickles as a reference, this barbecue sauce would definitely not be inferior!
Even if he spent eight or nine hundred thousand to buy their recipe, he could recoup the investment within a year, perhaps even in just six months.
After that, it would be pure profit!
This project was definitely worth trying.
“I’ll ask Du Ennan about it tomorrow; she seems to have a good relationship with the boss of Black Ox Barbecue.”
“Let’s look at the next one first…”
Setting aside the barbecue sauce secret recipe for now.
Jiang Tao’s mind moved, and he continued to read the last piece of intelligence for the day.
【Today’s Intelligence 03】:
You had contact with Jiang Bing yesterday and obtained relevant intelligence—
When you enabled 『Sleep Mode』 for Jiang Bing, she was engaged in some handicraft.
Tomorrow morning at 7 AM, she will experience the ultimate social death moment of her life.
……
“Third sister is really something…”
Seeing the last piece of intelligence, Jiang Tao held his forehead in exasperation.
He was quite speechless about his third sister’s peculiar habit.
What should he do now?
Should he ignore her? They were both adults now.
Even though they were siblings, they had to maintain propriety.
If he ignored her, she would experience the ultimate social death moment of her life.
He also bore some responsibility for this matter.
It was he who enabled 『Sleep Mode』 for her.
Through this incident with his third sister, Jiang Tao gained a clearer understanding of the effect of 『Sleep Mode』.
Its sleep-inducing effect was comparable to hypnosis; it was simply an Insomnia Buster!
After struggling with the decision for a while.
Jiang Tao eventually put on his pajamas and got out of bed, preparing to salvage some dignity for his third sister.
He pushed open the bedroom door, walked to the door of the room shared by his third sister and Jiang Xue, and pushed it open.
The room was completely dark, and he could only see the outlines of two people, one large and one small, lying in bed.
Jiang Tao fumbled his way to the bedside, pulled a quilt over the larger outline, and then turned to leave.
Returning to his own bedroom, he lay down on the bed.
Jiang Tao browsed his Moments while waiting for 00:43 AM to arrive.
“Huh, it’s so late, and Du Ennan is still awake?”
Seeing a post Du Ennan had made just a minute ago in her Moments, Jiang Tao was slightly surprised.
【Others fall asleep as soon as they hit the pillow, but I start contemplating life! Has my brain been set to night active mode!!!】
From the three exclamation marks at the end of her post, Jiang Tao could sense her helplessness and despair.
It seemed Du Ennan was suffering from insomnia.
Moreover, Du Ennan wasn’t the only one on Moments suffering from insomnia; He Jing was also on the list.
【The moon doesn’t sleep, neither do I. I’m a baldy baby!】
Looking at his two friends on Moments who were troubled by insomnia.
Jiang Tao’s idea of opening a guesthouse themed around “sleep” became even stronger.
『Sleep Mode』 didn’t require him to enter other people’s rooms to activate it.
As long as he was within a certain range, he could spend 66 yuan to activate this mode for others, helping them fall asleep quickly.
Furthermore, after sleeping in a deep sleep state and waking up, the feeling of being refreshed was much better than normal sleep.
This mode significantly improved sleep quality!
Especially for those who suffered from insomnia or severe insomnia.
This mode was simply like a “miracle cure”!
Moreover, the method of activating 『Sleep Mode』 was very discreet, and others wouldn’t notice at all.
The only troublesome part was that 『Sleep Mode』 had to be activated by Jiang Tao himself.
This meant that if Jiang Tao wanted to open such a guesthouse, he would have to be highly bound to the guesthouse himself.
Without him, the guesthouse couldn’t operate!
“Forget it, forget it. You can’t make all the money in the world. I won’t get involved in this track.”
The thought of him having to manage the shop every day made Jiang Tao abandon the idea instantly.
It wasn’t worth sacrificing his freedom to earn this little bit of money.
There would be plenty of opportunities and ways to make money in the future.
A single high-value piece of intelligence could be worth a year of his hard work running a business.
Time passed quickly as he browsed his Moments and let his mind wander.
*Ring ring ring—*
The first alarm set on his phone rang, and Jiang Tao quickly exited his Moments.
He found the Black Ox Barbecue official account and clicked on it, then clicked on the lucky draw interface.
Afterward, Jiang Tao looked at the Green Water Ghost watch on his wrist and began to wait for the “lucky moment” to arrive.
When the minute hand reached 00:43 and the second hand jumped to 10 seconds, Jiang Tao decisively clicked the draw button on his phone screen!
*Swish swish swish—*
The pointer on the lucky draw page spun and then displayed the words 【Thank you for participating】!
“Damn! I didn’t win!”
One lucky draw took 2 seconds, and only 3 seconds remained!
Without any hesitation, Jiang Tao quickly clicked to draw again!
*Swish swish swish—*
The pointer on the lucky draw page spun again.
【Congratulations on winning a Black Ox Barbecue annual card!】
“Phew! Finally got you!”
Seeing the notification message on his phone screen, Jiang Tao’s anxious heart finally settled back into his chest!
He clicked on the details of the “Black Ox Barbecue Annual Card” to take a look.
Holding the Black Ox Barbecue annual card and dining at Black Ox Barbecue allowed for one free meal service per day.
The card was for single use only and could not be shared with others.
The annual card Jiang Tao drew had not yet been personally authenticated.
By simply entering his phone number and identification information, he could complete the final steps of authentication and activation.
Jiang Tao wasn’t very interested in this annual card.
Eating at a buffet occasionally was fine, but eating there every day was something he really couldn’t stand!
Immediately, Jiang Tao opened Xianyu, preparing to list it for sale.
He first typed “Black Ox Barbecue Annual Card” into the search bar.
Upon searching, he found some, and not just one, but seven or eight of them!
It seemed there were quite a few lucky winners like him who had drawn the annual card.
Moreover, these cards had all been sold!
The prices ranged between 55,000 and 58,000 yuan.
Jiang Tao didn’t know if these were real transaction records, seller-driven hype, or merchant buybacks.
He couldn’t verify any of that.
“55,000… that’s acceptable! It’s about a 50% discount.”
“If this fell into the hands of a foodie, eating a big meal at a 50% discount every day would be very cost-effective.”
“I’ll list it for 58,000 first and see! Every extra 3,000 yuan is 3,000 yuan!”
After a brief check, Jiang Tao, like the sellers he found, posted a resale message.
The selling price was 58,000 yuan, non-negotiable.
After listing it for sale, Jiang Tao put down his phone and turned to hug Xu Li.
He spent another 66 yuan to activate 『Sleep Mode』 for himself as well.
Time to sleep!
……
It was 7 AM the next morning.
Xu Li opened the door to the room where Jiang Bing and Jiang Xue were sleeping and stepped inside.
Seeing his aunt and daughter sleeping soundly, one horizontally and one vertically, Xu Li smiled.
“Little Bing, Little Xue, time to get up~”
“The school bus will be here soon downstairs.”
Xu Li walked to the bedside, pinched each of their noses with one hand, and started waking them up.
Soon, Jiang Bing and Jiang Xue were both awake.
“Mom, how many more days until Sunday? School is so tiring~”
Jiang Xue sat up from her quilt, pouting as she mumbled.
The little one always disliked going to school five days a week, truly a night owl who struggled to wake up.
“Second Sister-in-law, I don’t start work until 9 AM. Let me sleep for another hour. You don’t need to save breakfast for me; just eat by yourselves.”
Jiang Bing was even lazier than Jiang Xue. She rolled over and was about to go back to sleep.
Suddenly, she felt something amiss and her body trembled, her eyes snapping open instantly!
Seeing that she was still covered by a quilt, Jiang Bing’s heart, which had almost leaped into her throat, settled back into her chest.
However, her facial expression was still a mix of colors, strange and tinged with intense embarrassment!
Careless!
How did I… last night…
How did I suddenly fall asleep!
Fortunately, I was covered by a quilt.
Otherwise, if Second Sister-in-law had seen, it would have been the ultimate social death scenario!
“Skipping breakfast isn’t good; it can lead to gallstones.”
“If you want to sleep, you can sleep for another half hour. Your second brother hasn’t woken up yet either. I’ll wake you up later.”
“Little Xue, hurry up and get dressed. The school bus will be here in half an hour.”
“Ahhh! Why can adults sleep in, but children can’t~”
Although Jiang Xue complained verbally and was unhappy.
Her actions of getting dressed were not at all delayed, and she quickly put on her school uniform.
Xu Li skillfully tied Jiang Xue’s hair into a bun at the dressing table, and the mother and daughter left the room, chatting and laughing.
After watching them leave, Jiang Bing no longer cared about sleeping in and quickly began to clean up.
