Chapter 165: The Role Of The Friendship Boat And The Plan For Making Friends!
When Jiang Tao woke up, it was already 7:45 AM.
He was almost 1 AM when he fell asleep last night.
At most, he slept for just over 6 hours, less than 7 hours.
But after waking up, he felt full of energy.
It was as if his tired body from yesterday had been restarted.
The fatigue vanished without a trace.
“Comfortable~”
After stretching in bed, Jiang Tao threw off the quilt and got out of bed.
As usual, he first walked to the window and opened a small gap in the curtains to look downstairs.
Jiang Tao quickly found the BAIC EU5, whose golden light on the roof made it stand out like a crane among chickens in his field of vision.
And, coincidentally, his parents were walking towards the car, talking about something, preparing to drive away.
Jiang Tao’s mind moved, and he chose to collect the gold coins accumulated yesterday.
Rustle, rustle, rustle…
A sky full of gold coins turned into a small golden river, surging from the position of the BAIC EU5 downstairs towards Jiang Tao standing by the window.
【 Collected 10,000 gold coins, do you want to exchange them for 10,000 RMB cash? 】
“It would be even better if they could directly give me actual gold coins…”
Looking at the prompt on the system interface, Jiang Tao couldn’t help but mutter in his heart.
Obviously, his idea was a bit naive.
If 10,000 gold coins could materialize into real gold coins, their value would be hundreds or thousands of times greater than 10,000 RMB cash!
Clearly, the “gold coins” mentioned in the system prompt are not the same as real-world gold coins; they are two different concepts.
“Exchange!”
Without the slightest hesitation, Jiang Tao directly chose to exchange.
Buzz~
The mobile phone on the bedside table vibrated. It should have arrived.
Afterward, Jiang Tao opened the safe by the window and collected the 10,000 RMB cash accumulated by the 【 Money-Attracting Golden Toad 】.
Every day, waking up and getting 20,000 RMB without doing anything, that feeling is indescribable.
With these two stable incomes, Jiang Tao no longer feels any anxiety about money!
Buzz~
The phone vibrated again, another arrival SMS.
Jiang Tao picked up his phone and took a look.
【 Your ICBC savings card ending in XX89 has received 10,000 RMB. Your balance is 8,496,548.88 RMB! 】
Seeing the long string of balance numbers on the bank card, Jiang Tao felt a surge of secret satisfaction again.
In addition to the 20,000 earned this morning, this also included the 1 million reward from reaching the best friend level with Du Ennan last night.
This money is all his personal nest egg.
The 1 million check from Zhang Chao’s mother yesterday has not yet been deposited.
This 1 million has already been promised to Xu Li for safekeeping.
As a reward, Xu Li verbally praised Xiao Jiang twice more last night.
The 2 million fund he bought on Alipay has also turned into 2.51 million.
It’s still in his wealth management account, earning him money.
If he can earn another hundred thousand or so, Jiang Tao isn’t in a hurry to exit.
The revenue from the cattle farm hasn’t been settled yet, and the payment is in the joint account of several shareholders.
When this payment is settled, Jiang Tao can use the multiplier from the 【 Share the Fortune 】 task to multiply it.
According to the investment proportion, his profit share will be around 1.5 million to 1.7 million.
Five shareholders can provide a five-fold multiplier.
Conservatively, it’s around 8 million!
At that time, Jiang Tao’s personal assets will swell to around 20 million!
It won’t be long before he can afford a detached villa in the Walden Lake Villa Area with cash.
Shifting his gaze away from the arrival message on his phone, Jiang Tao quietly deleted the message.
It’s not that he intentionally hides his personal assets from Xu Li.
It’s just that the origin of this money is too troublesome to explain, and he doesn’t want to create unnecessary trouble.
“Right, after reaching the best friend level with Du Ennan last night, there was also a special item awarded.”
Jiang Tao suddenly remembered the task prompt when the reward was triggered last night while he was seeing Du Ennan off downstairs.
His mind moved, and he opened the 【 Warehouse 】 interface on the system panel.
Sure enough, within the backpack grid, similar to an online game, there was a super cool-looking yacht.
【 Item Name 】: Friendship Boat!
【 Item Description 】: Collect 10 Friendship Boats to synthesize a luxurious yacht that never capsizes and can materialize.
“Luxurious yacht!”
Seeing the prompt on the system interface, Jiang Tao couldn’t help but swallow excitedly.
Poor people play with cars, rich people play with watches, and at a higher level, it’s private jets and luxurious yachts!
Many well-known tycoons worldwide own their own yachts.
Like Microsoft founder Bill Gates’ “Octopus.”
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ “Koru.”
The cost of these luxury yachts is often hundreds of millions of US dollars, equivalent to two to three billion RMB!
The annual maintenance cost alone is tens of millions, and ordinary wealthy individuals truly cannot afford it!
“10 Friendship Boats, at least need to make 10 close friends. To collect them is not an easy task…”
Seeing the conditions for exchanging 【 Friendship Boat 】, Jiang Tao gave a wry smile, feeling that the difficulty of this task was not small.
So far, he has only obtained one under inexplicable circumstances.
However, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
As long as he starts to intentionally promote this matter and work towards it, there will be a day when it’s completed.
Creak~
The bedroom door was suddenly pushed open from the outside, and Xu Li’s figure appeared at the doorway.
“Husband, you’re awake. The bread is almost ready. Come out quickly and wash up to eat.”
Xu Li stood at the door, smiling brightly like peach blossoms in spring.
“Okay.”
Jiang Tao’s mind moved, he closed the panel in front of him, turned around, and started putting on the clothes Xu Li had prepared for him on the bed.
Dressed neatly, Jiang Tao first went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face, then sat down at the dining table.
He looked somewhat mischievously at his third sister, who was sitting opposite him and devouring bread.
“Third sister, did you sleep well last night?”
“Yes, yes, I slept well. What’s wrong?”
When asked about sleeping last night, Jiang Bing’s expression became slightly unnatural.
“It’s nothing, I was just asking casually.”
“Right, you can take a taxi to Cui Village yourself later. Your sister-in-law and I have something to do this morning.”
“Oh.”
Jiang Bing didn’t ask what it was. Anyway, her second brother was very busy and rarely seen, so she was used to it.
After breakfast.
Jiang Bing took a ride-sharing car to work.
Jiang Tao and Xu Li also went downstairs together and drove to the nearest ICBC branch to their residential area.
With the help of the counter staff, Jiang Tao deposited the 1 million check that Zhang Chao’s mother had given him yesterday into Xu Li’s account.
With the additional 1 million deposited today, Xu Li’s total deposit officially reached 3.86 million!
And this does not include the 600,000 she had previously lent to Jiang Tao for investing in the cattle farm!
If the profit share from the cattle farm comes down, her deposit amount will exceed the 5 million mark!
She can almost afford to buy a house in the capital city with cash!
Of course, she doesn’t need to worry about buying a house in the capital city now.
In Old Sun’s will, Jiang Tao’s family of three was allocated three houses and 1 million in deposits.
Currently, Jiang Tao, Xu Li, and Jiang Xue each own a fully paid-off property.
The family of three has been in the capital for only a month.
They have already received resources that others would struggle a lifetime to obtain.
Xu Li’s greatest joy now is watching the balance in her bank card increase.
This makes her happy, and also makes her feel secure and content.
Money can make a man stand taller.
It can also give women a greater sense of security.
Jiang Tao and Xu Li have been married for many years, and they are truly open with each other.
He knows Xu Li is not someone who spends money carelessly, so he trusts her completely with managing their finances.
Ring ring ring—
Just as the two finished their business at the bank and stepped out, the mobile phone in Jiang Tao’s pocket suddenly rang.
He took out his phone and saw the caller ID was “Director An.”
Seeing this name, Jiang Tao’s eyebrows shot up, and his heart filled with joy.
An Menglin contacting him proactively suggested that there had been progress with the four genetically mutated blueberry potted plants.
“Hello, Director An, good morning.”
“Yes, yes, but I’m not at the greenhouse right now. It will take about 20 minutes to get there.”
“Okay, fine, see you later.”
Jiang Tao and An Menglin spoke briefly on the phone and hung up.
Ring ring ring—
At the same time, Xu Li’s phone also rang.
She took out her phone and saw it was Du Ennan calling.
“Hello, Nannan…”
“Of course you can! What kind of question is that?”
“No need, no need, I’ll just take a taxi myself.”
“It’s okay, why are you being so polite with me? Really, no need.”
“I’m not some pampered rich girl, how could I be so delicate!”
After answering the call, Xu Li chatted with Du Ennan for about five or six minutes before hanging up and said to Jiang Tao:
“Husband, Nannan isn’t feeling well today and is taking time off from work. She asked me to go over and chat with her.”
“Is that so…”
Hearing Xu Li’s words, Jiang Tao thought of Du Ennan’s WeChat Moments post from past midnight last night.
She probably couldn’t sleep well due to insomnia!
Xu Li said, “Who were you just on the phone with? Is there something important? If you’re busy, you go ahead. I’ll take a ride-sharing car.”
“A director from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences. How about you accompany me to Cui Village first, and then I’ll drop you off?”
Xu Li’s driving skills were passable late at night when there were few cars.
But on busy roads during the day, Jiang Tao was a bit worried.
“Don’t bother with such trouble, I’ll take a taxi myself.”
“You go and do your thing. I’ll be fine, I’m not a three-year-old.”
Xu Li chuckled, kissed Jiang Tao on the cheek, and pushed him towards the door.
“Alright then. Call me when you get there.”
“Okay! I got it~”
Seeing this, Jiang Tao stopped wasting time with Xu Li and drove away.
For gatherings between best friends like Xu Li and Du Ennan, he, as a man, would only be a bystander and couldn’t contribute much.
Therefore, every time Du Ennan invited Xu Li, Jiang Tao would proactively avoid the situation and go about his own business.
At 10:18 AM.
When Jiang Tao drove to the entrance of the greenhouse he had contracted in Cui Village, he saw An Menglin’s red Qashqai already there.
He got out of the car, strode towards the entrance of the greenhouse, and pushed the door open to enter.
“Good morning, Manager Jiang.”
“Good morning, Boss Jiang~”
The workers busy inside the shed greeted Jiang Tao respectfully when they saw him.
Having worked there for more than half a month, they genuinely liked Jiang Tao, their employer.
When working elsewhere, bosses always acted superior.
They would often bark orders at them and treat them like beasts of burden.
But working for Jiang Tao, they felt respected.
Since they started getting busy, Jiang Tao would often ask Du Jun to take them to restaurants to reward them.
The workers genuinely put in their effort when working for Jiang Tao, never needing supervision and never slacking off.
“Thank you for your hard work, everyone.”
After greeting them with a smile, Jiang Tao walked directly to the temporary office with its door open.
“Manager Jiang, you’re here.”
“I’m sorry to have kept Director An waiting.”
“No, no, I just arrived less than three minutes ago.”
After exchanging pleasantries, Jiang Tao and An Menglin began discussing the four genetically mutated blueberry trees.
“Mr. Jiang, the four genetically mutated blueberry plants from your company are indeed very special, and our institute’s leaders are very interested. However, regarding the price…”
“Is there any room for further negotiation?”
An Menglin looked at Jiang Tao, thinking of further negotiating the price.
After all, ordinary blueberry plants cost only a few yuan each.
Now Jiang Tao was asking for 200,000 yuan per plant.
The price difference was tens of thousands of times!
Even though the Academy of Agricultural Sciences had considerable funds, spending seven to eight hundred thousand yuan on four blueberry plants would require a significant decision.
“Director An, the price offered to you is truly the lowest.”
“If this variety of blueberry can be popularized, its economic value cannot be simply measured in money.”
Jiang Tao believed that the System Brother’s estimated price must have a basis, so he held firm on the price.
He wasn’t short of seven to eight hundred thousand yuan at the moment.
Even if the negotiation with the Academy of Agricultural Sciences didn’t work out this time, he could still negotiate with other units and sell to the highest bidder.
Seeing Jiang Tao’s firm attitude, An Menglin gave up the idea of bargaining.
In fact, her budget had already been approved, but she just wanted to test Jiang Tao.
Since the price couldn’t be negotiated, she had to purchase at the current price.
An Menglin looked at Jiang Tao and said, “Then it will be at Manager Jiang’s price. Please draft the contract. I need to take it back for processing.”
“Okay, Director An, please wait a moment.”
Jiang Tao nodded with a smile and turned to Jiang Bing, who was processing orders on the computer:
“Vice President Jiang, please prepare the transaction contract for these four blueberry plants.”
In front of outsiders, Jiang Tao always gave his third sister face and addressed her by her title.
“Okay, Manager Jiang.”
Jiang Bing had been listening to their conversation with her ears pricked. Hearing that the deal was made, she felt a surge of joy in her heart.
Four blueberry plants sold for a high price of 800,000!
It was simply unbelievable!
Second brother’s eyes were truly like fiery eyes!
To be able to pick out 4 such valuable plants from 100,000 pots!
Incredible!
In less than 5 minutes, Jiang Bing drafted a simplified transaction contract.
She had studied accounting in college, and besides managing accounts, she could also draft various contracts.
The printed contract was in duplicate.
Jiang Tao and An Menglin were the Party A and Party B, respectively.
They signed where required, stamped where required, and pressed their fingerprints where required.
The unit was a shell company established by Jiang Bing for her online store.
Four genetically mutated blueberry plants at 200,000 each.
The total value was 800,000 RMB.
However…
Government units like An Menglin’s were not as prompt with payments as individuals.
The 800,000 RMB payment would be disbursed in four installments over four months to Jiang Tao.
Although it was a bit troublesome, Jiang Tao readily agreed.
He didn’t have any projects that urgently required money at the moment, so four months was acceptable!
This deal was now concluded.
After discussing business matters, An Menglin did not linger any longer.
After bidding farewell to Jiang Tao, she drove away with the four genetically mutated blueberry potted plants.
“Second brother! Someone actually bought such expensive blueberry trees!”
After watching An Menglin drive away, Jiang Bing’s face finally revealed a look of surprise!
With An Menglin present just now, although she was very happy and excited, she had to maintain a composed demeanor.
After all, if others saw her ecstatic expression, they might assume she was being ripped off.
Jiang Tao said, “It’s fake, that person was a plant I arranged.”
“Do you think I’m stupid! I never said I wanted a cut! I know your little schemes!”
Jiang Bing walked up and punched Jiang Tao’s arm, giving him a huge eye-roll.
“Ouch! Little Hammer Sister, be gentle.”
“You dare call me Little Hammer! Let’s see!”
“…”
The eccentric siblings, laughing and joking, returned to the shed and instantly switched back to a normal state.
Currently, the sales of blueberry potted plants have entered the final sprint stage.
The blueberry potted plants stored in the shed are decreasing in large quantities every day at a visible rate.
In exchange are the balances in Jiang Bing’s dealer account.
This blueberry potted plant project, with an investment of 800,000 RMB, is expected to bring Jiang Tao a net profit of approximately 1 million to 1.2 million RMB.
Jiang Bing, as a partner, will also receive a commission of nearly 300,000 RMB.
This collaboration between the siblings is another win-win situation.
Back in the shed, Jiang Bing continued to process the orders received from the merchant backend.
Jiang Tao sat on a chair nearby, scrolling through his mobile phone, his gaze sweeping across his WeChat contacts.
“Best Friend…”
“How can I improve friendship and develop more best friends?”
After reaching the best friend level with Du Ennan last night, he received a huge reward of 999,999.
Moreover, the instructions for using the 【 Friendship Boat 】 clearly reminded him to make more friends in the future.
After all, it requires collecting 10 【 Friendship Boats 】 to exchange for a real luxury yacht.
Ring ring ring—
While Jiang Tao was contemplating how to make friends, the phone in his hand suddenly rang.
He saw the caller ID was “Zhang Chao.”
Jiang Tao’s lips curved into a smile.
After some time together, the relationship between Jiang Tao and Zhang Chao had also become closer.
Moreover, Jiang Tao had helped him “recognize his ancestors and return to his clan” and helped his family reunite this time.
The bond between the two brothers had grown even stronger.
“Hello, Chaozi.”
Jiang Tao answered the phone and greeted Zhang Chao on the other end with a smile.
“Your sister-in-law went to visit her friend, so it might not be convenient.”
“I’m with Third Sister.”
“What else? Selling things, unlike you, Mr. Zhang the rich young master.”
“Haha, okay, okay, if you’re treating, of course I’ll go. I must give you this face.”
“Alright, then it’s settled.”
After a brief conversation on the phone, Jiang Tao hung up casually.
Jiang Bing turned her head from the computer screen to look at Jiang Tao: “Who was it, second brother?”
Jiang Tao smiled and said, “Zhang Chao just called and said he’s treating us to lunch today. Do you want to go?”
“Yes! Absolutely. Zhang Chao is a rich man now, we must thoroughly fleece him!”
Upon hearing that Zhang Chao was treating, Jiang Bing’s face showed an expression of sharpening knives for slaughtering a pig.
Jiang Tao chuckled, “You need to behave yourself then, don’t scare him off.”
“Am I that scary! I’m such a gentle little sweet girl, how could I be scary? Charming, perhaps!”
Jiang Bing rolled her eyes at her second brother, feeling speechless.
“By the way, Third Sister, what do you think…”
“Stop! I think you being with Zhang Chao would be more suitable than me being with him!”
Jiang Bing interrupted Jiang Tao before he could finish his sentence.
“What kind of nonsense is that!”
Jiang Tao was amused by his third sister’s words, but seeing her lack of enthusiasm for Zhang Chao, he didn’t say anything more.
After some idle chat, Jiang Bing continued her work.
Jiang Tao, meanwhile, continued to ponder how to develop more best friends.
Developing one best friend yielded a reward of 1 million.
This was indeed an endeavor worth attempting.
“Teacher Jiang…”
“If Teacher Jiang works hard, she should also be able to develop into a best friend, right?”
Scrolling to Jiang Yi in his contact list, Jiang Tao remembered something.
When he lent money to Jiang Yi some time ago, the system had indicated that Jiang Yi’s favorability towards him had increased significantly.
“Favorability” should be related to “friendship value.”
Theoretically, the higher the favorability, the higher the corresponding friendship value should be.
Besides Zhang Chao, Jiang Yi, there’s also Liu Zhiyuan, Shan Yufei, He Jing, Wang Lianming, He Fang, Lu Qian, Uncle Lu…
Jiang Tao mentally calculated the friends he had a good relationship with.
This would give him a direction to strive for in the future.
To improve friendship, one must do something.
More contact and interaction in the future is the simplest and most effective method.
Even the best of friends, if not contacted for years, their relationship will gradually fade.
While enhancing friendships with friends, he could also receive certain rewards.
For Jiang Tao, this was a matter with very high cost-effectiveness.
Time quickly passed to twelve o’clock noon.
Jiang Tao drove Jiang Bing to a restaurant called Sheng Baiwei in Huilongguan to meet Zhang Chao’s invitation.
This restaurant was an old establishment that had been in business for over forty years.
It specialized in authentic Beijing cuisine.
The consumption was not high, with an average of less than 300 RMB per person.
But the taste was good, and it was a very famous internet-celebrity restaurant in the Huilongguan area.
It was packed with customers every noon.
It is said that one usually needs to book a table two or three days in advance.
Zhang Chao was able to book a private room here because his father was good friends with the owner of Sheng Baiwei.
Upon entering, Jiang Tao and Jiang Bing informed the waiter of Zhang Chao’s name and the room number.
The waiter led them to the second floor and to room 206 before turning to go downstairs.
Knock knock knock—
Jiang Tao knocked on the door and heard footsteps from inside.
The next second, the door creaked open, and Zhang Chao appeared at the doorway with a beaming smile.
“Brother Jiang, Xiao Bing, you’re here! Please come in!”
Zhang Chao looked at the Jiang Tao and Jiang Bing siblings with a cheerful smile, his expression as sincere as could be.
He was genuinely grateful to Jiang Tao, his elder brother.
Without Jiang Tao, where would he have the opportunity to eat here now?
He used to drive a truck everywhere, going to markets, and for lunch, it was either noodles or fried flatbread.
He wouldn’t eat at a restaurant more than once a month.
Now that he has reunited with his biological parents.
Even if he does nothing in the future, he will have 100,000 RMB in pocket money each month.
