When Jiang Tao returned to the rented room in Xiaoshanhe, it was already 7:30 PM.
Boiled a kettle of water and soaked two large packs of instant noodles in the enamel basin he usually used for meals.
Ring, ring, ring——
Halfway through a bowl of instant noodles, Xu Li's video call came through.
While eating noodles, Jiang Tao slid his finger to answer the call.
Xu Li, dressed in pink pajamas, appeared on the phone screen.
"Honey, how's sister-in-law doing?"
Xu Li's concerned voice came through the phone.
On his way back, Jiang Tao had briefly told her about the hospital situation on the phone.
"Early-stage cervical cancer, luckily discovered early, the chances of cure are high."
"Sigh! Such a good person, sister-in-law, how could this happen..."
"Wife, I'll transfer some money to you in a while. Tomorrow, you take our moms, and your sister, all of you go for a check-up."
"Sure! I'll listen to you."
With He Fang's incident, Xu Li wasn't reluctant to spend money this time and readily agreed to the check-up.
Jiang Tao continued, "Also, wife, there should be the 9-valent vaccine available on your side, right? You and our moms should get that too."
"Huh? That's a bit expensive..."
Check-ups don't cost much, but the 9-valent vaccine is five to six thousand per person for three shots!
Four people, that's nearly 20,000 bucks!
Xu Li was still touched to hear Jiang Tao urging her to get it.
It's just that the family still had a heap of debts to pay off...
Xu Li said, "There's no hurry for the 9-valent vaccine, let's wait a bit longer, until our family gets through this current crisis first."
Jiang Tao: "Don't worry about the money, I'll figure it out."
Xu Li: "Tomorrow, I'll take mom and them for the check-up first. If it's nothing serious, waiting another year or two for the shot wouldn't matter."
After hearing Xu Li's words, Jiang Tao fell silent.
In the end, it's still about money!
If he and Xu Li had a few hundred grand in savings, they wouldn't need to worry about the few grand for the 9-valent vaccine!
At this moment, Jiang Tao once again felt the weight of his poverty, and a stronger desire to make money surged!
99.99% of ordinary people's problems are financial problems!
"Hurry up and eat, then rest early."
Xu Li cared about Jiang Tao's hard work, said a couple of words, then hung up.
After ending the video call, Jiang Tao transferred 20,000 yuan to Xu Li on the phone.
Slurp, slurp, slurp~
After transferring the money, Jiang Tao finished the instant noodles in the enamel basin in a few bites and drank the soup dry, letting out a satisfied burp.
Full, he took out a cigarette from the pack and lit it.
While puffing clouds, Jiang Tao glanced at his phone, it was just past 8 PM.
[3 hours and 57 minutes until the next intelligence refresh, please be patient...]
Seeing there was still time until the intelligence refreshed, Jiang Tao took the enamel basin outside to the public sink to wash it.
After washing the enamel basin, he went back inside, boiled a kettle of water, washed his face, soaked his feet, and went to bed listening to a book to kill time.
Time quickly reached midnight, ushering in a new day.
Jiang Tao couldn't wait to open the system to check today's intelligence.
[Today's Intelligence]: Yesterday when you took a taxi past the Huilongguan Longxiang Street Industrial and Commercial Bank branch, the related intelligence was obtained——
In the bank outside, ATM #3 has a 1999 rare serial number 100-yuan note worth 40,000 yuan!
...
"Rare serial number 100-yuan note?"
Jiang Tao didn't understand much about commemorative currency or the like.
Seeing the intelligence today, his main focus was still on the words "worth 40,000 yuan"!
"Does this mean there's a 40,000 yuan note in that ATM?"
Upon seeing this intelligence, Jiang Tao was instantly no longer sleepy.
He quickly searched on his phone about what a rare serial number note was about.
It wasn't as complicated as he thought.
Every banknote has a unique serial number like a "personal ID" for a person.
As for rare serial numbers, they are like 12345678 in sequence.
Or 87654321 in reverse sequence.
Or triples like 111, 222, 333.
Even all identical numbers.
All identical is also called a seamless number, Qilin number, meaning all numbers are the same digit.
In simple terms, a banknote's rare serial number is like QQ numbers, mobile numbers, or car license plates with unique numbers.
They are loved by currency collectors.
Collectors love those unique serial numbers that make a brilliant impression, the more unique the better!
After quickly understanding what a special banknote is, Jiang Tao was instantly wide awake.
The ATM machine is just outside, anyone can go and withdraw money.
To avoid trouble later, I should hurry over and get that special banknote in hand!
If someone withdraws that banknote while I'm asleep, I'd have nowhere to cry!
"At least this time I'm not digging through trash cans!"
Jiang Tao hadn't taken off his clothes yet. He put on his usual black cotton coat used for deliveries and went out the door.
After walking a few steps outside, Jiang Tao returned to his room, rummaged through a second-hand closet, found a black woolen hat, and put on a disposable mask.
Fully equipped, only his two eyes were exposed.
Those who know, know he's going to the ATM to withdraw money, those who don't might think he's going to rob it!
Tonight, Jiang Tao didn't drink, so he could drive himself, saving on a taxi fare.
He directly drove his truck towards the Industrial and Commercial Bank on Longxiang Street.
He has been doing odd jobs around Huilongguan area for more than six years, almost becoming a live map of the area.
He can find any address given to him without a GPS.
Seventeen minutes later, Jiang Tao arrived near the Industrial and Commercial Bank on Longxiang Street in his 4.2-meter truck.
A little past midnight, the street was deserted with not a single pedestrian.
Occasionally, a night-running taxi would drive past.
Jiang Tao drove directly onto the curb in front of the bank, pushed open the door, and walked towards the ATM outside the bank.
"ATM machine No. 3..."
Jiang Tao saw three ATM machines lined up outside the Industrial and Commercial Bank.
The one in the middle emitted a faint golden glow in Jiang Tao's vision, obviously different from the other two.
"Thankfully the Intelligence System has this hint function, otherwise, who the heck would think the middle one is No. 3?"
Jiang Tao complained a bit sarcastically, stepping up to the ATM entrance, swiping his bank card to enter.
In recent years, as electronic payments became more convenient, Jiang Tao rarely came to bank ATMs to withdraw cash.
He studied it for a while before inserting his bank card to first check the balance.
After repaying over 80,000 yuan of family debt yesterday and transferring 20,000 to Xu Li, he only had 7,652.67 yuan left in his account.
"So, I can withdraw a maximum of 76 bills at a time?"
After checking his bank card balance, Jiang Tao then proceeded with the withdrawal, inputting the number 7600.
The machine made some sounds and shortly a wad of cash was dispensed from the slot.
Jiang Tao took the money in hand and started flipping through the serial numbers, looking for the special banknote mentioned in the intelligence.
However...
Among the 76 bills, he didn't find any so-called special notes.
Apart from a few sequential numbers, the rest were randomly arranged!
Despite this first failure, Jiang Tao wasn't discouraged.
He operated the ATM again, depositing the 76 bills back into his bank account, and then withdrew again.
Fortunately, the ATM's withdrawal and deposit functions are separately managed, using different cash boxes.
So he wouldn't end up withdrawing the exact money he had just deposited.
This means, after depositing and withdrawing, it would still be fresh money that hadn't been withdrawn before.
"Still nothing..."
"One last chance! God of Wealth, please bless me with it!"
It seems the ATM had a daily withdrawal limit of 20,000.
After two withdrawals, Jiang Tao had only one last chance.
Moreover, the last time, he could only withdraw 4,800 yuan!
That's 48 bills!
If out of these 48 bills there wasn't the special banknote mentioned in the intelligence, things would get complicated.
Jiang Tao would have to carry out interbank transfers before withdrawing from another bank.
To avoid any delay, he must get the 40,000 yuan special banknote tonight!
Buzz buzz buzz—
The ATM dispensed another 4,800 yuan.
Jiang Tao took the money, examined each note closely.
Suddenly, a banknote emitting a faint glow caught Jiang Tao's attention.
Jiang Tao's gaze swiftly locked onto the bill's serial number.
DZ44444444!
A serial number with all 4s!
"Got it!"
Jiang Tao brought the note with the matching serial number to his lips and gave it a kiss, then carefully placed it inside a notebook he had specifically brought with him.
A 100 yuan note, worth over 40,000, that's a 400-fold profit!
After securing the special note, Jiang Tao deposited the remaining 4,700 yuan back into the ATM.
With the special banknote secured, Jiang Tao accomplished his mission and drove back the way he came to Xiaoshanhe Urban Village.