Chapter 19: The ATM Dispenses a Banknote Worth 40,000 with a Beautiful Number! (Please Continue Reading!)
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By the time Jiang Tao returned to his rented room in Xiaoshahe, it was already 7:30 in the evening. He boiled a kettle of water and used his usual enamel basin, the one he normally ate from, to prepare two large packets of instant noodles.
Ring ring ring, ring ring ring—
Halfway through his noodles, a video call from Xu Li came through. While eating, Jiang Tao swiped his finger and answered the call. Xu Li appeared on the screen, dressed in pink pajamas.
“Honey, how’s my sister-in-law doing?” she asked with concern.
On his way home, Jiang Tao had briefly updated her on the situation at the hospital. “Early-stage cervical cancer. Luckily, it was caught early, so the chances of a cure are high.”
“Ah! She’s such a good person, how could this happen…”
“Darling, I’ll send you some money later. Tomorrow, take our moms and your sister to get a checkup.”
“Okay, I’ll listen to you.”
After He Fang’s situation, Xu Li wasn’t stingy about money this time and readily agreed to get the checkups done.
Jiang Tao continued, “Also, honey, they should have the HPV nine-valent vaccine there, right? You and our moms should get that too.”
“Ah? That’s kind of expensive…”
The checkup wouldn’t cost much, but the nine-valent vaccine—three doses—was around five to six thousand per person. For four people, that’s nearly 20,000 yuan!
Hearing Jiang Tao insist on this, Xu Li felt touched, but the family was already deeply in debt…
Xu Li said, “The vaccine can wait. Let’s get through this tough time first.”
Jiang Tao replied, “Don’t worry about the money, I’ll figure something out.”
Xu Li said, “I’ll take mom and the others for the checkup tomorrow. If everything’s fine, we can wait a year or two before the vaccine.”
Jiang Tao fell silent. At the root of it, it was still about money. If only they had tens of thousands in savings, would they be worrying about a few thousand for the vaccine?
In that moment, Jiang Tao felt the weight of his poverty more than ever, and his desire to make money grew even stronger. For 99.99% of ordinary people’s troubles, money was the core issue.
“Finish your meal quickly and get some rest,” Xu Li said warmly before hanging up, worried about his hard work.
After ending the video call, Jiang Tao transferred 20,000 yuan to Xu Li’s account.
Slurp slurp slurp~
After the transfer, he finished the noodles in his enamel basin, drank all the soup, and belched contentedly.
Satisfied, he pulled a cigarette from the pack and lit it.
As he exhaled smoke, Jiang Tao glanced at his phone—it was just past 8 p.m.
[Next intelligence update in 3 hours 57 minutes, please wait patiently…]
Seeing the countdown, Jiang Tao took his basin outside to the communal water tap to wash it.
After cleaning the basin, he boiled another kettle of water, washed his face, soaked his feet, and lay down to listen to an audiobook to pass the time.
Time flew quickly until midnight, ushering in a new day.
Eagerly, Jiang Tao opened the system to check today’s intelligence.
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[Today’s Intelligence]: Yesterday, you took a taxi past the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China branch on Longxiang Street in Huilongguan and acquired the following information—
Outside the bank, at ATM machine number 3, there is a 1999 edition banknote with a rare serial number, valued at 40,000 yuan!
…
“A rare serial number banknote?”
Jiang Tao didn’t understand much about commemorative coins or the like. His main focus was on the “valued at 40,000 yuan” part.
“So this means there’s a banknote worth 40,000 yuan inside that ATM?”
Upon reading this, Jiang Tao was instantly wide awake.
He quickly searched on his phone to find out what a “rare serial number banknote” meant.
It wasn’t as complicated as he imagined.
Every banknote has a unique serial number, much like a person’s ID.
A rare serial number is something like 12345678—a sequential number.
Or 87654321, a reversed sequence.
Or triple repeats like 111, 222, or 333.
Or even all the same digit.
All identical digits are called “Heavenly numbers” or “Qilin numbers,” meaning all digits are the same.
In short, a banknote’s rare serial number is like a prized QQ number, a coveted phone number, or a sought-after license plate.
Collectors love these unique numbers because they stand out and are more valuable the more distinctive they are.
After a brief research, Jiang Tao’s sleepiness vanished entirely.
The ATM was right outside, and anyone could withdraw money from it.
To avoid losing the chance, he had to rush there and grab that rare serial number banknote!
If someone else took it while he was asleep, he wouldn’t even have a place to cry.
“Good thing this time it’s not about rummaging through trash!”
Jiang Tao hadn’t even taken off his clothes. He simply threw on his usual black cotton jacket he wore for deliveries and stepped outside.
After a few steps, he returned to his room, rummaged through his secondhand wardrobe for a black knit cap, and put on a disposable mask.
Fully geared up, only his eyes were visible.
Those who knew would understand he was heading to the ATM to withdraw money; those who didn’t might think he was about to rob a bank!
Tonight, Jiang Tao hadn’t been drinking and could drive himself, saving the cost of a taxi.
He got into his own truck and drove toward the Industrial and Commercial Bank on Longxiang Street.
Having worked odd jobs around Huilongguan for over six years, he was practically a living map of the area.
He could find any address without navigation.
In 17 minutes, Jiang Tao drove his 4.2-meter truck to the vicinity of the bank on Longxiang Street.
Just past midnight, the street was deserted without a single pedestrian.
Only the occasional taxi driving nighttime shifts passed by.
Jiang Tao parked on the curb right in front of the bank, got out, and headed to the ATMs outside.
“ATM number 3…”
He saw three ATMs lined up outside the bank.
The middle one emitted a faint golden glow, clearly different from the other two.
“Good thing the intelligence system has this hint feature; otherwise, who would’ve thought the middle one is number 3?”
Jiang Tao muttered to himself, feeling a bit speechless, then approached the ATM and swiped his card to enter.
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Over the years, with electronic payments becoming more convenient, Jiang Tao rarely came to bank ATMs to withdraw cash.
After some fiddling, he inserted his card and checked his balance.
After paying off over 80,000 yuan in debt yesterday and transferring 20,000 yuan to Xu Li, he only had 7,652.67 yuan left.
“So that means I can withdraw at most 76 bills?”
After checking the balance, he proceeded to withdraw 7,600 yuan.
Click, click, click—
The ATM whirred and soon dispensed a stack of bills.
Jiang Tao took them and began flipping through the serial numbers, searching for the rare number mentioned in the intelligence.
However…
Among the 76 bills, he found no rare serial number.
Except for a few sequential numbers, the rest were random.
His first attempt failed, but Jiang Tao wasn’t discouraged.
He deposited the 76 bills back into the ATM and withdrew again.
Fortunately, the ATM managed withdrawal and deposit from different cash cassettes separately.
This meant he wouldn’t get the same bills back after depositing.
So, after depositing, the next withdrawal would be fresh new bills.
“Still nothing…”
“Last chance! God of Wealth, please bless me, I have to get it!”
Apparently, the daily withdrawal limit was about 20,000 yuan.
After two withdrawals, Jiang Tao had only one attempt left.
This time, he could only withdraw 4,800 yuan—48 bills.
If he didn’t find the rare note among these 48, things would get complicated.
He’d have to do an interbank transfer, then withdraw from another bank.
To avoid all that hassle, he had to get that 40,000-yuan rare serial number banknote tonight!
Buzz buzz buzz—
The ATM dispensed 4,800 yuan.
Jiang Tao took the money and examined each bill carefully.
Suddenly, a faintly glowing banknote caught his eye.
His gaze locked on its serial number.
DZ44444444!
All 4’s—an all-identical digit number!
“Got it!”
Jiang Tao kissed the all-4’s banknote gently, then carefully placed it into a notebook he had brought just for this purpose.
A 100-yuan denomination valued at over 40,000 yuan—that’s a 400-fold profit!
After securing the money, Jiang Tao deposited the remaining 4,700 yuan back into the ATM.
With the rare serial number banknote in hand, Jiang Tao made a swift exit, driving back to the village in Xiaoshahe.