After finishing the work, it was already noon.
Jiang Tao took Liu Zhiyuan and the other two to a small restaurant in the urban village.
Each person ordered a dish, two meat and two vegetarian, and they also asked for two bottles of Baijiu Er.
Jiang Tao smiled and called out to the young guys:
"This afternoon, everyone take a good rest. Tomorrow we'll continue hauling goods; the day after tomorrow, we should be able to start shipping out."
The chubby Liu Zhiyuan chuckled and said:
"I hope to make a little profit with Brother Jiang this time, so I can have some extra cash for the New Year."
"Brother Jiang, is this thing reliable? I'm still feeling quite worried and nervous."
Shan Yufei also invested 50,000 yuan, but he didn't have as much confidence as Jiang Tao.
"Relax, would I invest 250,000 if it wasn't reliable? You guys just wait to make some money and have a good New Year!"
Jiang Tao cheerfully handed out cigarettes to the group, still confident in the intelligence system's information.
Liu Zhiyuan and Shan Yufei dared to invest 50,000 each because they saw Jiang Tao invest 250,000 and made up their minds.
After chatting and laughing for a bit, the owner quickly served the dishes and drinks they ordered.
Since they didn't have to work in the afternoon, the four of them shared the two bottles of liquor.
After eating and drinking to their hearts' content, Jiang Tao took the initiative to pay the bill.
When they walked out of the restaurant, it was already past 3 p.m.
Whenever Jiang Tao drank, he didn't want to do anything, just wanted to take a nap.
He declined Liu Zhiyuan and the others' suggestion to play a card game and walked home alone.
Passing by a hardware store in the urban village, Jiang Tao went in to buy a new shovel and a headlamp.
He remembered the intelligence about Daughter Red Wine refreshed at dawn today.
However, it wasn't convenient to work in broad daylight, so he had to wait until it was dark to try digging it up.
After buying the shovel and headlamp, Jiang Tao placed the tools in the small yard and went straight home to sleep.
He slept until after 7 p.m., awakened by a video call from his wife, Xu Li.
The couple talked on video call for over an hour before hanging up.
"8:20, just have a little something to eat to replenish energy and then I can take action!"
Seeing that it was completely dark outside, Jiang Tao got up and went downstairs.
He went to a small street restaurant and had a plate of fried pancakes with meat and a bowl of dough drop soup.
After filling himself and warming up, Jiang Tao sauntered to the single courtyard he just rented today.
He took out a key from his pocket to open the gate, then bolted it again from inside.
Entering the yard, Jiang Tao's eyes went towards the west wall base.
In his view, a one-meter square area near the west wall base was faintly glowing.
Based on previous treasure-hunting experiences, ten jars of 20-year-old Daughter Red should be buried under that glowing area!
"Just not sure how deep it's buried."
"Hopefully, I can dig it up tonight; otherwise, it'll be hard to explain if Xiao Liu and others see it tomorrow."
"Time is tight and the task is heavy, need to act quickly now!"
After finishing a cigarette and stomping out the butt, Jiang Tao picked up the shovel and walked towards the glowing area.
Fortunately, this year's weather was much warmer than previous years, and the ground wasn't frozen.
Combined with the snow from a few days ago, the digging area was a bit damp, making it easier to dig.
Jiang Tao grunted and dug for over an hour, making a one meter by one meter pit, 30 centimeters deep.
And so, he dug for a while and rested for a while.
After continuously digging for more than three hours, he had dug over a meter deep.
The temperature was seven to eight degrees below zero at night; Jiang Tao's clothes were almost soaked, and his forehead was sweating.
Exhausted, really exhausted!
Digging a pit like this was much more tiring than driving a whole day to haul goods!
But thinking about the 200,000 worth Daughter Red buried below, no matter how hard or tiring it was, it was worth it!
How many years would it take to earn 200,000 just by hauling goods?
Thump!
Suddenly, when the shovel struck downward, it made a thumping sound, different from before.
"It's hollow below! I probably found the place!"
Hearing the different sound, joy appeared on Jiang Tao's face, and he dug more vigorously!
Sure enough, after digging for another ten minutes, a concrete slab resembling floor tiles appeared at the bottom of the pit.
Jiang Tao carefully pried the concrete slab open with the shovel, revealing ten neatly arranged jars of wine!
Obviously, the tenant who hid the wine was also an expert, not directly burying it in the soil.
Instead, a mini wine cellar was built below the soil layer.
The small wine cellar was bordered with a circle of neat stones, with a thick wooden plank laid at the bottom and covered with a concrete slab.
The ten jars of Daughter Red were placed in this environment for gradual fermentation.
If directly buried in the soil, these ten jars of Daughter Red would have a 100% chance of spoilage!
Putting down the shovel, Jiang Tao carefully lifted a jar of wine out of the pit.
The jar of wine weighed about 2 catties.
The label on it was already rotten and damaged, but the wine jar and the seal were still intact.
As the saying goes, good wine needs proper storage.
This wine, aged for 20 years, supposedly has good quality!
The intelligence system's valuation was 200,000, which converts to 20,000 per jar!
Compared to foreign wines that cost tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands per bottle, this price isn't too outrageous.
Seeing that the time was already close to midnight, Jiang Tao didn't bother to examine further, he first took out the remaining nine jars from the pit.
Then he spent another dozen minutes refilling the pit.
Luckily, there was a lot of accumulated snow near the west wall base after the recent snowfall.
After restoring the site to its original state and covering it with a layer of snow, there were no visible signs of disturbance.
Carrying two jars at a time, Jiang Tao made five trips back and forth, sneaking all ten jars of Daughter Red back to his rental house.
After finishing everything, Jiang Tao took off his muddy clothes and collapsed exhausted on the bed.
Tonight, digging for hours was the dirtiest and toughest job he did this year.
But thinking about the value of those ten jars of Daughter Red, Jiang Tao felt both tired and delighted!
200,000!
This was the biggest unexpectedly acquired fortune in his half a lifetime!
Lying on the bed, resting for about 10 minutes,
Jiang Tao picked up his phone and took a glance, realizing it was 12:05 a.m.!
"New intelligence refreshed, let's see what today's updates are!"
Without further thought, Jiang Tao opened the intelligence system to view details.
[Today's Intelligence]: Working together with Zhang Chao today, you obtained the following intelligence—
Zhang Chao is currently in a massage parlor in Xiaoshanhe Urban Village planning a transaction involving money and prostitution with a woman.
In 5 minutes, the vice squad will be there for a raid!
...
"That Zhang Chao really has bad luck!"
"If it wasn't for me, that kid would be spending New Year's in detention."
Seeing the new intel, Jiang Tao was slightly disappointed.
He preferred money-related information!
But disappointment aside, Jiang Tao still found Zhang Chao's phone number and dialed it.