Chapter 175: Jiang Yi’s Favorability Increases, Meteorite Obtained!
It was 12:13 PM.
The Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon slowly entered the B2 parking lot of Wanxiang Hui.
Jiang Tao found an empty spot, parked the car, and got out with Jiang Yi.
They took the elevator from the underground parking lot directly to the fifth-floor food court and headed straight for the entrance of the Meizhou Dongpo restaurant.
Jiang Tao had already booked a private room and ordered food and drinks there.
After confirming their identity at the service desk, he and Jiang Yi were led by a waiter into a very exquisitely decorated private room.
They waited for about ten minutes.
At 12:23 PM, seven minutes before the scheduled time, the door of the private room was knocked on from the outside.
Han Mei dared not delay and arrived a few minutes early for the appointment.
Seeing Jiang Yi sitting with Jiang Tao, Han Mei’s mind was filled with complex thoughts; it seemed impossible to control Jiang Yi any longer.
She could no longer force her to comply.
On the way, Han Mei had thought of many, many things, her mind racing.
She thought about how Jiang Tao would use her leverage to force her, how he would threaten her.
But the situation she imagined did not occur.
Jiang Tao’s attitude towards Han Mei was very gentle, and he didn’t mention that matter at all, as if it had never happened.
At first, Han Mei was a bit reserved, and of course, more so nervous and scared.
But gradually, feeling that Jiang Tao had no ill intentions towards her, her tensed nerves relaxed quite a bit.
It was also Jiang Yi’s first time dining at the same table as Han Mei.
Coupled with the tense relationship between them recently, they hadn’t been getting along harmoniously.
In the beginning, she didn’t say much and appeared quite reserved.
Gradually, under Jiang Tao’s guidance, Han Mei and Jiang Yi’s moods relaxed considerably.
Overall, the atmosphere of the meal that noon was quite harmonious.
Jiang Tao said nothing, but Han Mei knew what she had to do from now on.
It wasn’t about treating Jiang Yi like a precious treasure, but she absolutely, absolutely couldn’t suppress or target her anymore!
The meal lasted from half-past twelve in the afternoon until a little past one in the afternoon, about forty minutes in total, less than an hour.
Jiang Yi had class at 2 PM.
After the meal, Jiang Tao drove her to the entrance of Aidi Kindergarten in the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon.
“Jiang Tao, thank you for today’s matter. You spent a lot for my sake. I should be treating you to this meal.”
As Jiang Yi was about to get out of the car, she looked at him with a gentle gaze and expressed her gratitude again.
【 Jiang Yi’s favorability towards you has increased by 5 points, now at 79 points. （ Good friends ）】
【 Keep up the good work! Jiang Yi’s friendship with you has increased to 80 points! 】
“80 points, just 10 more and it’s done!”
Seeing Jiang Yi’s friendship with him increase to 80, Jiang Tao was secretly delighted; his morning’s work hadn’t been in vain.
The meal was worth the price!
Jiang Tao snapped back to reality and said with a smile:
“Don’t worry about it, it’s just a meal, it’s the same who treats. You can treat me back another day.”
Jiang Yi also smiled and said, “Yes, I owe you another meal.”
“Don’t you have class? Time is running out, you should go.”
“Ah! Oh, okay, I really have to go, bye~”
Hearing Jiang Tao’s reminder, Jiang Yi waved goodbye to him with a flustered expression and ran towards the school gate.
After watching Jiang Yi enter, Jiang Tao returned to the car and drove away.
“What should I do this afternoon…”
“Right, I should go to Wumei and buy some ingredients for making barbecue sauce!”
“In the next few days, I’ll start training my parents and teach them how to make barbecue sauce.”
“The only troublesome thing now is that I can’t teach my parents during the raw material selection stage.”
“Also, get Jiang Jiaqi to quickly register the name and patent for this product.”
Jiang Tao drove, contemplating the matter of the delicious barbecue sauce in his mind.
In about half an hour, he drove to the largest Wumei supermarket in Huilongguan.
However, the situation wasn’t very good.
He spent more than half an hour picking through the vegetable section and only managed to select less than 20 catties of tomatoes.
There were more onions, but still limited, weighing in at only 31 catties after weighing.
Shallots were even scarcer, with only a mere 9 catties.
Fortunately, garlic was used in the smallest proportion in the delicious barbecue sauce, so it was barely enough!
Other ingredients, such as butter, chili powder, sea salt, pepper, apple cider vinegar, sugar, and yellow mustard sauce, were not so strictly required.
But any brand wouldn’t do.
These ingredients also had to be purchased strictly according to the brands mentioned in the recipe provided by System Brother.
Even though condiments of the same price from different brands tasted roughly the same, the barbecue sauce made from them tasted very different.
With so many different brands of condiments randomly combined, the difficulty of stealing the secret recipe increased hundreds of times!
After buying the ingredients, he pushed a full shopping cart of supplies back to the underground parking lot and loaded everything into the trunk.
Subsequently, Jiang Tao went to a nearby Yonghui, a Hema, and a RT-Mart.
One wasn’t enough, so he increased the quantity, spreading the love around to more stores.
After a large shopping spree, Jiang Tao spent nearly 10,000 yuan.
He did manage to purchase enough raw materials for several days.
This first batch of materials would serve as “teaching materials” for his parents to practice with.
Around 6 PM, Jiang Tao drove to the food factory.
At this time of day, Jiang Jiaqi had usually already gotten off work and gone home, and the food factory would be locked up.
Today, her parents had just arrived, and she was there helping them arrange the bedding and such.
With the help of Jiang Jiaqi and her parents, Jiang Tao unloaded the large pile of supplies from the trunk onto a wooden pallet on the floor of the operation room.
After unloading the car, he went to visit the dormitories of Jiang Jianjun and Yang Wenyan.
The dormitory had a bunk bed frame left by the previous tenant, which could accommodate two people.
Some of the bedding was brought by Jiang Jianjun and Yang Wenyan.
Another part was bought by Jiang Jiaqi for them that afternoon.
After chatting with the family of three for a while, Jiang Tao drove towards the Xiao Shahe Urban Village.
He still hadn’t obtained the meteorite worth 880,000 yuan in the mud pit.
He was somewhat uneasy.
Getting it sooner would mean it was securely in his possession.
After parking the car at the village entrance, Jiang Tao first went to the Pang Dongdong Supermarket in the urban village and bought a set of cheap work clothes and a pair of high-top rubber shoes.
He changed out of his new clothes.
He couldn’t bear to get his current outfit, which Xu Li had spent over 5,000 yuan on, dirty, as he was about to go into the mud pit.
A set of work clothes and a pair of rubber shoes cost only a little over 200 yuan in total; if they got dirty, he could just throw them away without any heartache.
Around 7 PM, the sky had already darkened, and Jiang Tao arrived at the mud pit again.
In his field of vision, near the center of the mud pit, a faint blue light was shooting straight up from the bottom of the pit into the sky.
When he observed it during the day, the marker wasn’t as obvious, but at night, it was very conspicuous.
Seizing the opportunity while no one around was paying attention to him, Jiang Tao jogged down the curb and rushed to the bottom of the pit.
In the dim light, Jiang Tao walked through the mud pit, stepping carefully.
“Damn it, I’m already a millionaire now, and I still have to do this dirty, strenuous work myself.”
As he walked towards the blue light pillar, Jiang Tao muttered to himself, feeling very unwilling.
If his nephew and younger nephew were here, he could have assigned this dirty, strenuous work to them.
He was a hundred percent confident in his two nephews.
Splash, splash, splash…
“Hiss, it’s really cold.”
It was only the end of March, not yet April.
In the capital city, the temperature in the early morning and evening was only around four or five degrees Celsius.
Although the ice had melted, his hands and feet felt a chill as he stepped into the mud pit with rubber shoes on.
But for 880,000 yuan, Jiang Tao could endure this little hardship.
Splash, splash, splash…
After walking through the mud for about three minutes, Jiang Tao finally reached the location marked by System Brother, next to the blue light pillar.
【 Do you want to spend 6,666 yuan to retrieve the target item buried here? 】
“…”
Since he was already there, Jiang Tao didn’t immediately spend money to retrieve the item.
What if the meteorite wasn’t buried very deep and he could just reach for it?
Wouldn’t that save him over 6,000 yuan!
With this thought, Jiang Tao bent down and reached his hand into the mud in the pit.
After searching for about ten minutes, he found nothing.
In the end, he reluctantly chose to spend 6,666 yuan to retrieve the item.
【 Detected other observers in the vicinity, retrieval failed, please try again later. 】
“Damn it, who’s so eager to watch the show…”
Jiang Tao looked towards the bank; he was now sixty to seventy meters away from the bank.
Plus, it was already evening, and visibility was poor, so he couldn’t see anyone on the bank.
Similarly, if anyone on the bank looked into the mud pit, they probably wouldn’t be able to see him clearly either.
But System Brother indicated there were observers, so he couldn’t retrieve the item.
He had no choice but to wait patiently.
He first pulled his feet out of the mud pit and found a relatively dry spot to stand.
【 Detected other observers in the vicinity, retrieval failed, please try again later. 】
“Who the hell has nothing better to do than stare over here? Why aren’t they going home for dinner this late!”
At this moment, Jiang Tao experienced what it felt like for time to pass slowly.
He hadn’t even eaten dinner yet for this meteorite.
Today, he truly experienced what it was like to be hungry and cold!
【 Please try again later… 】
【 Please try again later… 】
In just five minutes, Jiang Tao tried no less than a hundred times.
Finally, on the 101st attempt, with a splash, a black stone about the size of a palm, shaped somewhat like a heart, emerged from the water.
Jiang Tao reached out and caught the stone.
This was clearly the meteorite mentioned in today’s intelligence, originating from the asteroid belt region between Jupiter and Mars.
It was black, rough to the touch, and looked quite ordinary.
“You little thing like this is worth 880,000 yuan?”
Jiang Tao held the meteorite up to his eyes and examined it closely but couldn’t make anything of it.
He put the meteorite in his pocket and started to retrace his steps.
Under the night sky, pedestrians hurried along the riverbank, and no one paid any attention to his actions as a stranger.
After Jiang Tao came ashore and returned to where he parked his car at the village entrance, it was already a little past 7 PM.
He quickly changed out of his work clothes and rubber shoes, putting on his neat and presentable casual wear again.
He took out the meteorite from the work clothes pocket and put it in a wooden box.
He didn’t plan to keep this thing. He’d take some time tomorrow to go to Panjiayuan and see if Zhang Bo’s family would buy it.
With the meteorite dealt with, Jiang Tao drove home, and it was already a little past 7:30 PM.
He had already called Xu Li and the others in advance, telling them not to wait for him for dinner and to just leave some food for him.
“Husband, you’re back. You’re so late today, you must be tired. The rice is being kept warm in the pot, I’ll heat up the dishes for you.”
As soon as Jiang Tao returned home, Xu Li busied herself heating up the pre-reserved stir-fried dishes for him using the microwave.
In less than 10 minutes, Xu Li placed a dish of fish-flavored shredded pork, a small portion of beef, and a small portion of boiled fish on the table in front of Jiang Tao.
“It smells so good! This boiled fish looks like it was made by my wife’s skillful hands.”
Jiang Tao said with a smile, praising her, and then picked up a piece of sliced fish and put it in his mouth.
Numbing, spicy, fresh, and fragrant.
It was incredibly delicious!
Xu Li’s culinary skills were definitely the biggest obstacle on Jiang Tao’s weight loss journey.
“Hehe, when I saved food for you, I specifically left about half of the fish for you. I love you, don’t I?”
Xu Li sat in the chair opposite Jiang Tao, resting her elbows on the dining table, looking at Jiang Tao with a sweet smile.
Looking at the man she loved the most, eating the food she made, and listening to his praise for her.
Xu Li felt both happy and accomplished.
Her mother always said that to win a man’s heart, you had to win his stomach.
Xu Li, influenced by her mother Du Yongmei since childhood, had learned excellent culinary skills.
When she had nothing to do at home, she would research recipes or watch cooking videos.
Hard work pays off.
Through years of accumulation, Xu Li’s culinary skills had now reached a very high level.
“My wife really spoils me. This is what a real wife is like.”
Jiang Tao smiled and gave Xu Li a thumbs-up, then picked up a piece of boiled beef and chewed it.
“This is Dad’s specialty.”
“Mhmm! You guessed right, Dad’s boiled beef is as good as that served in five-star hotels.”
“If he opened a restaurant with Mom, they’d definitely make money.”
Xu Li also praised Jiang Dad’s cooking skills greatly.
“Have you guys eaten yet?”
“Mhmm, Mom and Dad said they were going to the food factory to see Brother Jianjun and Sister-in-law Wenyan, so I waited at home for my husband.”
“Did Xiao Xue go to Teacher Jiang’s place again today?”
“Mhmm, Teacher Jiang made dumplings for her today. Your daughter is really favored at Teacher Jiang’s house; she gets whatever she wants to eat.”
“Wow, that’s quite a bit of face.”
“What about Third Sister?”
“Third Sister went to her new place to organize things. Her new house is almost ready, and she can move in anytime.”
“After she moves, let her treat us to a meal to celebrate her new home.”
“Hehe, I was thinking the same thing! Nannan told me about a very delicious private kitchen, where should we eat?”
The couple chatted back and forth, planning to have Third Sister treat them to a meal.
“By the way, husband, my parents and Shasha will be here this weekend.”
“My dad is taking 5 days of annual leave this time, plus two weekends, so he can have 9 days off in total.”
As they talked, the conversation turned to the topic of her father’s family coming to Beijing for a trip.
Jiang Tao nodded and said, “Yes, we must host them well then. By the way, have the tenants in Building 62 moved out?”
Xu Li smiled and said, “Mhmm, they finished moving everything out today. I went to check, and the hygiene was pretty good, so I returned their full deposit.”
Jiang Tao joked, “Didn’t you take a lamp to check the floors and windowsills?”
“Tsk, do you think I, your wife, am that petty! How could I do something like that!”
Xu Li gave Jiang Tao a charmingly coquettish look and a roll of her eyes. She wouldn’t do anything as detrimental to her karma as bringing a lamp to inspect for damages.
“We still have one more day tomorrow. I’ll go with you to buy some new bedding and daily necessities.”
“When your parents arrive, they can stay there first.”
“Staying at home is definitely more comfortable than staying in a hotel.”
“Mhmm! Thanks, husband~ You’re truly my good husband.”
Hearing Jiang Tao’s words, Xu Li looked at him with a smiling gaze, her heart filled with sweetness as if she had eaten honey.
Jiang Tao smiled and said, “Silly girl, your parents are my parents. Aren’t these things we should be doing? Why thank me.”
“Mhmm! My husband is truly the best man in the world, a good husband~”
Xu Li smiled sweetly at Jiang Tao, finding him more and more handsome every time she looked at him!
“Whatever you say is right.”
Jiang Tao nodded with a smile, shamelessly agreeing.
Previously, because Xu Li’s parents wanted to visit Beijing, it triggered a special event, and Jiang Tao received a 【 Filial Piety Card 】.
The Filial Piety Card would refresh with a balance of 100,000 yuan each month.
This money could only be spent on both sets of parents.
With the 【 Filial Piety Card 】 as “ammunition support,” Jiang Tao didn’t hesitate to spend money on Xu Li’s parents.
Woof woof woof, woof woof woof—
Under the table, Little Wang Cai kept circling Xu Li’s legs.
The couple unintentionally fed him some “dog food.”
Xu Li suddenly said, “By the way, husband! I have something else to tell you, you’ll find it incredible!”
“Oh? What’s so incredible?”
“This afternoon when I took our Wang Cai downstairs for a walk, Wang Cai found a ring in the green belt outside the community. I’ll show it to you!”
As Xu Li spoke, she excitedly went to the drawer on the living room coffee table, took out a small red jewelry box, and returned to the dining table.
She opened the jewelry box, revealing a silvery-white ring with a diamond about the size of a grain of Xiaomi.
“Husband, do you think this ring is a real diamond ring or a toy bought online?”
Xu Li said, handing the diamond ring to Jiang Tao for him to examine.
“It’s probably real, right?”
Although Jiang Tao didn’t know about diamond rings, he understood the value of Wang Cai’s 【 Wang Cai 】 attribute.
Wang Cai had never brought home any junk before.
Xu Li said, “Why don’t you take it to Zhang Bo to have a look when you have time.”
“Mhmm, it just so happens that I plan to go see him to discuss some matters.”
“Good job, Wang Cai! Here’s some meat as a reward. Keep up the good work!”
Jiang Tao said, picking up some shredded meat from the fish-flavored shredded pork and tossing it to Wang Cai.
Woof woof woof, woof woof woof—
After receiving the reward from his male owner, Little Wang Cai wagged his tail even faster.
After rewarding Wang Cai, Jiang Tao continued to eat.
Xu Li chattered opposite him, sharing her day and interesting encounters.
The couple talked and laughed, a feeling called happiness lingering in their hearts.
After Jiang Tao was full, Xu Li cleared the bowls and chopsticks and carried them into the kitchen.
Knock knock knock—
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
“Who is it?”
Jiang Tao got up and walked to the door, asking.
Both his parents had keys to the door and would open it themselves when they came home.
The door opened, and it turned out to be Third Sister.
Jiang Tao had been jogging every night recently, so the task of driving to Jiang Yi’s place to pick up Jiang Xue fell to Xu Li.
Jiang Bing always volunteered to be her second sister-in-law’s driver.
However…
After the car accident last night, she now had some phobia and resistance to driving.
“Second Brother.”
Jiang Bing greeted Jiang Tao with low spirits and squeezed into the house, leaning against his body.
As Jiang Tao closed the door, he teased Third Sister with a smile:
“Third Sister, why do you look like a frosted eggplant today? Why are you so listless.”
“Sigh, I was lectured by Mom again tonight.”
“Second Brother, I don’t think the car accident left me with any psychological trauma; it’s Mom who’s left me with a huge shadow.”
Jiang Bing walked to the sofa in the living room and slumped onto it, looking dejected.
“Mom just has that nagging personality. It’s been so many years, you know this.”
“Let her talk, don’t take it to heart. Who can guarantee they’ll never have an accident after driving for so long?”
“Are you going to pick up Xiao Xue with your sister-in-law later? Here’s the car key, drive it with confidence.”
“Xiao Xue’s godmother’s car is also fully insured.”
Jiang Tao encouraged her with a smile, tossing the car key from the coffee table onto Jiang Bing’s clasped legs, and tempted her with a smile:
“You haven’t driven a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon before, have you? It’s a rare opportunity, don’t miss it.”
“The legendary Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon!”
Jiang Bing wasn’t very interested at first, but when she heard it was a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon, she immediately became interested!
Anyone who loves cars, regardless of gender, can’t resist the temptation of the G-Wagon!
Only a very, very small number of people in this life get to drive a G-Wagon.
Now that such a great opportunity was before her, Jiang Bing naturally wouldn’t miss it.
“Hehe, I’ll drive! Driver Xiao Bing will safely bring your beloved daughter back.”
Jiang Bing chuckled, reached out, and picked up the car key from her lap. Thinking of the majestic and imposing appearance of the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon, her hands itched.
After Xu Li put the bowls and chopsticks into the dishwasher and came out of the kitchen, Jiang Bing impatiently grabbed her and they went downstairs to pick up Jiang Xue.
Jiang Tao sat on the sofa and browsed his phone, scrolling through his Moments.
After resting for about half an hour, he felt that his stomach was no longer full.
He then changed into his sportswear and stepped onto the 【 Body-Strengthening Treadmill 】.
Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish—
The treadmill belt began to spin with a swishing sound.
Jiang Tao first stepped on the horizontal bars on both sides of the treadmill to adjust the speed and incline.
Speed 10km/h + incline 3%.
After adjusting the settings, tonight’s workout officially began!
