Clang!!!
A loud bang!
An irregularly shaped stone fell from the sky and smashed into the windshield of a 4.2-meter truck.
The stone punched through the glass and landed on the chaotic dashboard inside the vehicle.
"What the hell..."
Inside the truck.
Jiang Tao, who was calculating how much interest he would need to borrow 80,000 yuan from an online platform, was startled by the sudden loud noise!
Still shaken, he looked at the windshield shattered like a spider web.
Then he looked at the fist-sized stone on the dashboard.
Jiang Tao felt completely at a loss!
Which bastard tossed a stone at my truck!
He slammed the door open with a bang and got out of the truck.
Jiang Tao looked around angrily, searching for the culprit.
But after scanning around, there wasn't a single person within a 50-meter radius!
Unable to find anyone, Jiang Tao looked up at the overcast sky over Beijing.
"Could it be that the stone actually fell from the sky?"
"Damn, when you're down on your luck, even drinking water gets caught in your teeth!"
Replacing a windshield would cost at least four or five hundred yuan.
That's a day or two of unpaid work gone!
Just when Jiang Tao was most short of money, destiny dealt him another heavy blow!
Today is already the eighth day of the lunar month, only a little over twenty days before the New Year.
As the Spring Festival approached, Jiang Tao became more anxious by the day.
This year, he was more afraid of the New Year than a fattened pig.
For those who earned money, going home for the Spring Festival is a celebration.
But for someone like him, who hasn't made money and carries a mountain of debt,
it's like going home to face a trial.
Toda alone, Jiang Tao received four calls from creditors.
He still owed more than 20,000 yuan to builders for construction work.
There were over 10,000 yuan still unsettled for the renovation work.
He also owed more than 20,000 yuan for decoration materials.
The installation of air energy and floor heating at home cost another over 20,000 yuan!
Altogether, the debts exceeded 80,000 yuan!
As the lunar month came in with year-end approaching, creditors seemed to have conspired to start pressing for repayment.
Owing money and repaying debt is only natural.
One can't blame them for pressing, but oneself for not earning money.
"Sigh, why has this year been so hard!"
Staring at the broken windshield, Jiang Tao sighed helplessly.
Initially, Jiang Tao and his wife Xu Li planned to work hard this year and pay off all debts.
Even though earning money by taking jobs in Beijing wasn't as stable as drawing a salary from a factory.
He could still manage to earn over ten thousand monthly on average in a year.
If nothing unexpected happened, saving seven to eight thousand a year with frugality wasn't difficult.
But, the unexpected did happen without exception.
In July this year, Jiang Tao slipped on a night walk.
He felt nothing that night, thinking it was just a sprain and would be fine after resting one night.
But, waking up the next day, he found pain so intense he couldn't get out of bed.
At the hospital, he found out he had a quite severe patellar ligament strain.
Not wanting to cripple, he had to undergo surgery immediately.
Being thirty years old, in his prime, naturally, he spent the money to save his leg.
That surgery cost over 20,000, and after medical insurance, still over 10,000 out of pocket.
It takes a hundred days for bones and muscles to recover.
For a 'freelancer' like Jiang Tao, who took jobs by the day, it was a fatal blow.
Over a hundred days of no income, yet expenditures continued, leading to negative earnings!
Resting at home until October, his leg hadn't yet fully recovered,
He hurried out from his old town to take jobs again.
On the first return day, the first job unfinished, another mishap occurred.
His five-year battle partner broke down, the gearbox completely wrecked!
No money earned, and another over seven thousand spent to replace the gearbox assembly.
In November, his daughter Jiang Xue caught a cold, developed a fever, and coughed up pneumonia.
She spent half a month in the city children's hospital and the expenses spiraled into thousands more.
As the end approaches, after paying for family insurance this month, Jiang Tao has less than 5,000 left.
Then just now, there was a snap, a stone from the sky shattered the windshield!
These misfortunes lined up one after another.
Even atheist Jiang Tao felt inclined to hail a monk to see if he had offended some spirit this year.
Back in the truck, Jiang Tao's eyes fell on the fist-sized stone on the dashboard.
Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.
Could this possibly be a meteorite?
If it was a meteorite, having seen its fall, it would be a "witnessed meteorite"!
The price of a "witnessed meteorite" is higher than that of an ordinary meteorite!
Furthermore, this stone is large enough!
It could potentially sell for millions, or even tens of millions!
In that case, a calamity from the sky could turn into sudden fortune!
He could instantly pay off all those debts!
Spare himself decades of hard work!
"Gulp!"
The more Jiang Tao contemplated, the more thrilled he became, swallowing audibly.
He first pulled out his phone and snapped a few photos, documenting the scene.
After taking pictures, he recorded several videos.
"Ancestors bless me! Let me strike it rich once, I'm begging!"
Jiang Tao, with hands joined, first bowed towards the air, then carefully reached for the irregularly shaped stone.
At the moment his fingers touched the stone, there was a zhila sound, and a tingling sensation spread all over him!
Simultaneously, the stone vanished with a swish.
The air in front of Jiang Tao suddenly rippled like water.
A bright blue virtual panel appeared before his eyes.
[Would you like to immediately bind with the Daily Intelligence System?]
Seeing the panel's cue, Jiang Tao was utterly stunned!
System?
Daily Intelligence System?
Being an old reader of a famous online literature site, Jiang Tao was naturally familiar with this stuff.
Was this an illusion?
A false spiritual state?
I haven't even eaten any mushrooms!
Jiang Tao closed his eyes tightly, then reopened them with a swish.
The deep blue panel remained, now with a countdown.
[Would you like to immediately bind with the Daily Intelligence System? Countdown: 10, 9, 8...]
"Bind, bind! Bind it now!"
Seeing "Brother Tongzi" starting the countdown without a word,
Jiang Tao made a decisive choice to bind!
Whether it's true or false, illusion or reality, just bind it first!
[Daily Intelligence System binding in progress, please wait...]
[Progress 1%...5%...17%...]
Gazing at that continually shifting progress bar, Jiang Tao held his breath, refusing to avert his eyes even for a moment.
Thinking that soon he too would become a system-wielding super-powered person...
His heart could not stay calm!
[Daily Intelligence System binding successful!]
[Host]: Jiang Tao (30 years old)
[System Level 1]: At this level, one intelligence is unlocked daily.
[Today's Intelligence 01]: Today, at the Red Star Second-hand Furniture Market's west gate, you received related intelligence—
In the third trash bin from left to right on the right side of the west gate of the wholesale market,
there's an iced red tea bottle cap that can scan for an iPhone15!
"A bottle cap that can win an iPhone15?"
Seeing the intelligence content for today, Jiang Tao's eyes lit up.
Aren't those drink bottle cap prize claims all scams?
Aside from peel-and-win 'Get another bottle' ones.
Jiang Tao didn't even bother with bottle caps with QR codes.
The couple of cents from scanning aren't worth the data cost, pure waste of time!
Now, the system actually informed him there's an iced red tea bottle cap in a trash bin that can scan for an iPhone15!
Ah Hong, are you for real?