Chapter 68: Earned 400 Yuan From A Meal!
Gurgle gurgle gurgle—
The grumbling of his stomach pulled Jiang Tao back to reality from the ecstasy of obtaining four gold bars.
He took out his mobile phone to check the time; it was already past 2 PM.
After having breakfast early in the morning, he went to the river to pick up stones, and then went to the second-hand car wholesale market to buy a car.
He had been busy until now and hadn’t even had a bite of lunch.
“First, I’ll go eat. After eating, I’ll go to the gold shop to check the recycling price.”
Jiang Tao carefully put the four gold bars close to his body and drove his newly purchased old Audi A6 towards Huilongguan.
He found a Northeastern small restaurant in Huilongguan that was not closed for lunch.
One portion of Stewed Chicken with Mushrooms, one portion of Boiled Sliced Pork in Hot Chili Oil, served with a large bowl of Rice.
Looking at the steaming hot dishes in front of him, Jiang Tao couldn’t help but feel a sense of emotion.
Life is getting better!
He used to work jobs delivering goods around the Hongxing Second-hand Furniture Wholesale Market.
Every day at noon, he would either have Fried Flatbread or Noodles, and his lunch budget wouldn’t exceed 15 yuan.
Today’s meal, just one portion of Stewed Chicken with Mushrooms, was 39 yuan.
Adding another portion of Boiled Sliced Pork in Hot Chili Oil for 48 yuan, Rice for 3 yuan, and Sour Plum Drink for 10 yuan.
Today’s meal, exactly 100 yuan, was almost equal to Jiang Tao’s food expenses for the entire past week.
Of course, his earning ability now is incomparable, more than several hundred times better than before!
A 100 yuan lunch is not considered extravagant; life will only get better in the future!
After a few moments of reflection, Jiang Tao began to eat heartily.
The chicken meat in the Stewed Chicken with Mushrooms was tender and springy, the mushrooms were fragrant and delicious, and the wide noodles were also well-flavored.
The Boiled Sliced Pork in Hot Chili Oil was numbing, spicy, fragrant, and also a dish Jiang Tao loved to eat.
Full and satisfied, Jiang Tao finished the last sip of Sour Plum Drink from his bottle, got up, and went to the service desk to settle the bill.
“Hello, Mister. Your table came to exactly 100 yuan. Please keep your invoice.”
“You can scan the QR code on our invoice with WeChat to participate in a lucky draw.”
The cashier, a young woman, handed Jiang Tao a machine-printed invoice from their shop with a smile.
“This invoice can also be used for a lucky draw?”
Jiang Tao, who rarely visited such formal restaurants, didn’t know that eating a meal could also involve a lucky draw.
He usually only ate out in places like Xiao Shahe Urban Village and had never seen such invoices before.
“Yes, Mister, it’s very simple, just use WeChat’s scan function.”
“This is a year-end feedback activity from the Capital City Tax Bureau. The chance of winning is very high.”
“Some win 5 or 8 yuan, others win tens or even a hundred yuan.”
“Someone even scanned and won over 50 yuan recently.”
The cashier, a young woman, was very talkative and explained the invoice scan lottery activity to Jiang Tao with a smile.
“Really? Then I’ll give it a try.”
Jiang Tao first paid 100 yuan for his meal, then opened WeChat’s “Scan” function and scanned the QR code on the invoice.
Ding!
The scan was completed, and a festive red interface appeared.
“I actually won a prize!”
Seeing “500 yuan” displayed in large characters on the winning interface, Jiang Tao was delighted.
Wow, spent 100, won 500.
Earning 400 yuan from a meal!
While feeling happy, the image of the two “Heluo Stones” in his pocket quickly appeared in Jiang Tao’s mind.
“Could it be that this lucky win of 500 yuan is also thanks to the Heluo Stones?”
“The ‘Luck Value +3’ attribute of the Heluo Stones doesn’t seem like much, but it’s quite useful!”
“Mister, how much did you win?”
Seeing Jiang Tao’s excited expression, the cashier asked curiously.
“Good luck, I won 500.”
Jiang Tao turned his phone screen towards the cashier and said with a smile.
“500! Mister, you truly have good luck! This promotion has been running for several months, and this is the first time I’ve seen someone win 500!”
The cashier couldn’t help but show an envious expression upon seeing the winning interface and the amount on Jiang Tao’s phone.
The few other waitresses nearby, hearing their conversation, also looked at Jiang Tao with envy.
After Jiang Tao left, the small restaurant erupted in gossip, with the waitresses and the auntie cleaner discussing the event animatedly.
Back in his old Audi A6, Jiang Tao couldn’t help but take out the two “Heluo Stones” from his pocket to examine them again.
Initially, he had only intended to “fool” Xu Li with these items to explain his recent streak of good luck.
However, after today’s miraculous experiences of finding a wallet, getting a free ride, and even earning 400 yuan from a meal.
Jiang Tao had to re-evaluate the significance of these two “Heluo Stones.”
The performance of the attribute “Luck Value +3” far exceeded Jiang Tao’s expectations.
“From now on, I’ll call you Lucky Stones!”
“When I have time, I’ll find a jewelry maker to see if I can have you made into jewelry to carry with me.”
“The flat one is suitable for a pendant, and the round one could also be made into a bracelet.”
Carefully examining the two “Heluo Stones,” Jiang Tao quickly came up with a plan.
He would keep the pendant for himself, and the bracelet would be for Xu Li.
Although the value of the lucky events triggered by the “Heluo Stones” was not high.
It was still nice to have some small surprises in life.
“Oh, right, they also gave me a receipt for the gas. I haven’t scanned for a prize yet!”
Jiang Tao suddenly remembered that the gas station had also given him a receipt when he filled up earlier.
He lifted the armrest box and found the receipt.
In the upper left corner, there was indeed a QR code for a prize-scanning activity.
Ding!
“88 yuan!”
While this prize wasn’t as surprising as the 500 yuan from the restaurant.
It was clear that 88 yuan was also a substantial amount.
If everyone could scan and win large prizes like 88 or 500 yuan.
The Capital City Tax Bureau would have gone bankrupt long ago.
The repeated experiments made Jiang Tao place even more importance on the effect of the “Heluo Stones.”
He even thought that even without System Brother, he could live a good life with just these two “Heluo Stones”!
In just one day, he found 66 yuan on the riverbank, saved nearly 100 yuan on taxi fares, won 500 yuan from a meal, and won 88 yuan from refueling.
In total, the unexpected windfall amounted to a staggering 754 yuan, almost as much as he would earn from two days of work at the wholesale market!
Jiang Tao felt that these two Heluo Stones could be passed down as heirlooms for generations!
After smoking a cigarette in the car to calm his excited emotions, Jiang Tao carefully put the heirlooms back into his pocket.
“I’ll find a gold shop to ask about the price. If the price is right, I’ll sell them; if not, I’ll keep them.”
With a plan in mind, Jiang Tao started the car and drove towards the city center.
After driving around for about ten minutes, Jiang Tao arrived near a mall called Wanxiang Hui in the vicinity of Xisanqi.
He drove the car directly into the mall’s underground parking lot.
Wanxiang Hui, which had opened just over a year ago, was a large mall on the North Fifth Ring Road.
The building covered an area of approximately 130,000 square meters, with 4 underground levels and 7 above-ground levels, partially 8 levels, for a total construction area of 129,000 square meters.
It offered a one-stop solution for dining, entertainment, and shopping.
Jiang Tao occasionally received orders to deliver goods to Wanxiang Hui.
He knew that on the first floor of Wanxiang Hui, there were not only Zhou Dafu but also Lao Feng Xiang.
Banks also offered gold buy-back services, but it required a prior phone reservation and all relevant documentation.
Jiang Tao had no documentation for these four gold bars, so he could only try to sell them at a gold shop.
