Better believe it exists rather than not!
Finding a bottle cap by the trash bin won't cost me anything.
At most, it's just a waste of a few minutes.
What if it's real? That could be an iPhone!
That's at least a few thousand yuan!
Jiang Tao immediately pushed open the car door and got out, wobbling toward the trash bins at the west gate.
"Hey? Someone got here before me!"
From a distance, Jiang Tao saw an old man in a green military coat standing next to a row of trash bins, picking things out.
Upon seeing this, Jiang Tao suddenly felt tense.
Hopefully, the old man won't snatch the "opportunity" right from under his nose!
Quickening his pace, Jiang Tao saw a pile of cardboard, plastic sheets, and discarded bottles by the old man's feet.
The old man noticed Jiang Tao's approach, stopped what he was doing, and looked at him cautiously.
"Haha, don't look at me like that, old man. I'm not here to compete with you, just to have a smoke."
Jiang Tao laughed, explaining, as he reached into his pocket and handed the old man a cigarette.
A single cigarette was enough to put the old man at ease, and his gaze toward Jiang Tao softened considerably.
"You keep at your work, old man. When I was throwing out the trash earlier, I accidentally tossed my water bottle along with it. I'm just looking for it."
"If I find it, great. If not, no worries."
Jiang Tao smoked as he walked over to the third green trash bin, counting from the left.
Taking a deep breath and mentally preparing himself, he started rummaging!
Fortunately, these trash bins were relatively clean; there was no food waste or bad smell.
The bins mostly contained dust, cardboard scraps, and bits of wood—just bottles and cans.
"An iced tea bottle cap..."
Jiang Tao rummaged through the trash bin for seven to eight minutes.
When he found some sellable scraps, he'd toss them at the feet of the old man next to him.
As a result, the scrap-collecting old man's impression of him improved even more.
During the entire search, Jiang Tao found three iced tea bottles.
Of them, two were regular small bottles, and one was a 1-liter large bottle.
Jiang Tao twisted the caps off all three bottles, pocketed them, and left the bottles for the old man collecting scraps.
After about ten minutes, Jiang Tao thoroughly searched the third trash bin, ensuring no bottle was left behind.
By a stroke of luck, he actually found an unwanted stainless steel water bottle in the trash bin!
"Found it! I'm off, old man! Keep busy, and may fortune come your way!"
Jiang Tao retrieved the water bottle from the trash bin, waved goodbye to the scrap-collecting old man with a cheerful grin, and briskly walked to where he parked his car.
"What happened to your car window, Jiang Tao?"
When Jiang Tao returned to his car, a slightly chubby man, about 1.7 meters tall and in his forties, was standing in front of it, inspecting the damage.
The man's name was Wang Lianming, a fellow villager of Jiang Tao and also the one who introduced him to the trade.
"Just my luck. A pebble kicked up by a car shattered it earlier. I chased after the car but didn't catch up."
Jiang Tao casually made up an excuse to brush it off; naturally, he couldn't divulge the Daily Intelligence System to outsiders.
"You've had quite the unlucky year! Did you see the license plate of that car?"
"It sped off too quickly; I couldn't see it clearly."
"That's bad news, then. The cameras around this market are just for show; they're useless!"
"Darn it, of all the bad luck, I had to run into this! Another wasted day!"
"Keep your chin up, brother. As the saying goes, 'Misfortune may be a blessing in disguise.' I feel like your luck is about to change!"
"Haha, thanks for your kind words, Brother Wang! Hope this bad luck shifts soon!"
Jiang Tao thought to himself that Brother Wang might be right, misfortune truly might be a blessing in disguise!
Who would've thought that the heavens would drop a Daily Intelligence System, landing right on his car!
A cracked car window in exchange for a system—what a worthwhile trade!
"Oh wow, it's snowing! Let's head out; it's getting late, and the market's about to close~"
"See you tomorrow, Jiang Tao! I'm heading off!"
After saying this, Wang Lianming jogged over to his truck, started it up, and drove off.
Jiang Tao looked up at the sky; after being overcast all day, Beijing finally welcomed its first snow of the year.
"A timely snow promises a good harvest! A sign of great luck! Hope this marks the start of some financial fortune for me, too!"
Reflecting with a smile, Jiang Tao pulled out his cellphone to check the time.
It was already 5:30 in the afternoon, and darkness was about to fall.
Generally, at this time, business wraps up for the day.
"Let's head home! Traffic's about to get bad!"
Jiang Tao resisted the urge to scan and see his prize immediately, briskly made his way to his beloved car, started it up, and drove off.
Even though the car window was shattered, the visibility was somewhat affected, but it was still possible to see the road and the cars clearly.
Jiang Tao had driven this road from the Red Star Second-hand Furniture Market to Xiaoshanhe Urban Village thousands of times over the past five or six years, so he was very familiar with it.
It took 20 minutes to drive to the open area at the entrance of Xiaoshanhe Village, and snow began to accumulate on the ground.
The snowflakes falling from the sky became larger, turning the world into a vast expanse of white.
Jiang Tao got out of the car facing the wind and snow, and walked briskly towards the village.
The shoes made a light crunching sound on the snowy ground, mirroring Jiang Tao's current mood.
"Off work, Xiao Jiang~"
"Xiao Jiang's off work~"
"Sister Wang isn't closing her stall yet, she's so dedicated!"
"It's snowing, Sister Li, and you're still here hustling!"
Jiang Tao had rented a house here in Xiaoshanhe for over six years and knew many of the street vendors, often greeting them when passing.
He bought a pancake from the village's bun shop.
From a deli, he bought 15 yuan worth of pig head meat and some small cold dishes.
Then at Pang Dongdong Supermarket, he bought two bags of instant noodles, two packs of Hongli cigarettes, a bottle of Bainiu Er, plus 8 yuan worth of five-spice peanuts.
After a big shopping spree, Jiang Tao carried his big bags and small bags through the maze-like alleys of the urban village for five minutes.
Finally, he arrived in front of a rather old-looking two-story barracks building.
Jiang Tao took out the access card from his pocket, swiped it, and entered the small building.
He lived in room 205 on the second floor, on the shady side.
The room on the shady side was dark and damp, rarely seeing sunlight throughout the year.
The only advantage was that the rent was 300 yuan cheaper per month than the sunny side.
Jiang Tao was rarely at home during the day, mostly working at the wholesale market.
For him, the rental house was just a place to sleep, indifferent whether it was sunny or shady.
The 300 yuan saved monthly on rent was enough for him to buy two packs of cigarettes for half a month.
He took out the key, unlocked the door, and turned on the light in the room.
Jiang Tao's room was only about 10 square meters.
The room contained a single bed for sleeping, and a small second-hand wardrobe he had found at the second-hand market.
Also, there was a computer desk given by a neighbor who returned to Beijing, which had become his dining table.
The furnishings in the room were so simple as to be almost rudimentary.
He entered, closed the door, and tossed the bunch of plastic bags he was carrying onto the dining table.
With a nervous look, Jiang Tao pulled out three red tea bottle caps he had fished out of the trash bin from his pocket.
"If I could win an Apple phone, I could sell it for some money."
"Heaven bless, I hope it's true!"
Jiang Tao first took a soapbox to the public sink on the second floor to wash his hands clean, and also cleaned the three bottle caps in the process.
After washing his hands and the bottle caps, Jiang Tao returned to his room and locked the door from inside.
He took out his phone to scan the code!
Ding!
The first cap had nothing.
Ding!
The second was a voucher for opening QQ Green Diamond.
Only the last one was left, and Jiang Tao's expression turned serious.
"I've bought the meat, bought the wine, everything's prepared for celebration, please don't let it be for nothing..."
His eyes were tensely focused on the last bottle cap.
Jiang Tao took a deep breath before aiming his phone's camera at the QR code inside the cap to scan.
Ding!
[Congratulations, you've won an iPhone 15!]
"I won! I won! Damn it!!!"
Seeing the winning screen on his phone, Jiang Tao shot up from his chair, excitedly punching the air a few times!
From childhood to now, the most Jiang Tao had ever won was 10 yuan in the lottery.
Other than that, he hadn't won anything worth more than 10 yuan.
Today, he scanned a bottle cap and won an iPhone 15!
It felt just like a dream!
Jiang Tao rubbed his face vigorously to make sure he wasn't dreaming, then his eyes turned back to the phone screen.
The winning phone screen was still there.
Everything was real!
After the excitement, Jiang Tao followed the instructions on the winning page to fill out his name, phone number, and delivery address.