Chapter 50: Xu Li: My husband is the most invincible and handsome man in the world! (Happy New Year~)

Jingle, jingle—

At 6:00 AM, before Jiang Tao's preset alarm could even ring, his phone started buzzing.

He picked up the phone and checked the screen. The caller ID displayed a nickname: "Number Three."

Jiang Tao swiped the screen and answered the call, "Hello, little sis."

"Second Brother!! We're exploding! The orders are exploding! Your Ultraman hair clips are completely blowing up! Oh my god, guess how many pieces we sold last night alone!"

The moment the call connected, Jiang Jiang's hyperactive voice—resembling that of a television home-shopping host—blasted from the earpiece.

In the background, the constant *ding-dong* notification chimes of the customer service workstation rang endlessly.

"Oh."

Jiang Tao gave a very lukewarm, single-syllable response, sitting up in bed with sleepy eyes.

"What do you mean 'oh'? Second Brother, do you even know you're about to strike it rich?!"

"How on earth did you know this hair clip was going to go viral?!"

"Oh my goodness, you have no idea how crazy popular it is right now!!"

On the other end of the line, Jiang Jiang's intense excitement formed a sharp contrast with Jiang Tao's calm demeanor.

Jiang Tao's lips twitched slightly, feeling that his little sister could be a bit of a goofball sometimes.

If he hadn't known it would go viral, would he have stockpiled 10,000 units in one go?

"Number Three, just handle the shipping however you see fit. If you can't keep up with the workload, hire a few temporary workers to help out."

"Deduct the labor and courier costs from the total sales revenue. As for the remaining profit, you take twenty percent, and I'll take eighty."

Jiang Tao rubbed his eyes. Naturally, he wasn't going to let his younger sister do all that heavy lifting for nothing.

"Second Brother, are you serious?!"

"You really are my dear, wonderful second brother! Mwah, mwah, mwah~~~"

Hearing that she would get twenty percent of the profits, Jiang Jiang felt so happy she was practically ready to take flight right where she stood!

This Ultraman hair clip that was selling like wildfire had a wholesale cost of only six yuan per piece and retailed at 19.8 yuan.

Selling just a single piece yielded a gross profit of 13.8 yuan.

Subtracting labor wages, packaging fees, and courier charges left the net profit.

Jiang Jiang had been in the e-commerce industry for over six years. Though she almost never needed to stock up inventory most of the time, she would occasionally hoard some stock when she stumbled upon hot-selling items.

Mass purchasing allowed her to secure a more favorable wholesale price, thereby yielding higher profits.

Jiang Jiang was also on good terms with several courier companies in Yu County, enabling her to secure shipping rates cheaper than what ordinary people could get.

With a monthly shipping volume exceeding 2,000 pieces, the unit price could drop as low as three yuan per order.

Customers buying the Ultraman hair clips ordered anywhere from one piece to a dozen, and some even placed bulk orders of 100 pieces in a single go.

Based on Jiang Jiang's estimations, the total shipment would likely hit around 3,000 orders, meaning a shipping budget of 10,000 yuan would definitely be more than enough.

As for packaging, this particular Ultraman hair clip only required the smallest possible size, costing less than thirty fen per package.

Staring at the workstation all through the night, Jiang Jiang had already calculated the margins of this Ultraman hair clip batch inside and out.

Based on her years of e-commerce experience, the net profit from this batch of Ultraman hair clips could reach around 125,000 yuan!

Taking twenty percent of that meant she would pocket 25,000 yuan—equivalent to four or five months of her usual earnings!

No wonder she was so ecstatic.

Moreover, because the Ultraman hair clips in her shop suddenly exploded in sales, Jiang Jiang's online store was ushered into a massive wave of traffic.

It even drove up the sales of all the other products in her store along with it!

Even if Jiang Tao hadn't given her twenty percent of the profit, she still would have ridden a major wave of success thanks to him!

"Second Brother, you are simply a genius!"

"Right now, every single Ultraman hair clip across the entire internet is right here with us; even the original manufacturer is completely out of stock."

"Good thing you urged me yesterday. The goods have already arrived at the Pingxian Logistics Park, and I'm going to pick them up right now."

"If we had waited even one more day, the manufacturer probably wouldn't have been willing to let us have this batch."

On the other end of the line, Jiang Jiang, who hadn't slept a wink, showed no signs of fatigue as she excitedly shared her joy.

It was rare in life to encounter a product that exploded in sales.

This Ultraman hair clip would undoubtedly leave a striking, heavy stroke of color in Jiang Jiang's e-commerce career!

The siblings chatted on the phone for about ten minutes before finally hanging up.

After ending the call with Jiang Jiang, Jiang Tao went back to the WeChat group chat he had named the "Sugar Orange Squad" and asked for another day off.

With his leave requested, he found Xu Li's number and dialed it.

Xu Li hadn't gotten out of bed yet either, and her lazy, drowsy voice sounded all the more seductive.

"What is it, hubby? Missing me already, first thing in the morning~"

Without beating around the bush, Jiang Tao went straight to the point:

"Comrade Xu Li, the organization has a very important mission to entrust to you. This mission is only allowed to succeed; failure is not an option."

"What mission?"

"Didn't you say yesterday that Sun Nana won a lottery ticket at the company's annual gala? Call her today to ask what the numbers are, and then place a bet on the exact same numbers, multiplied by ten."

"Huh? Just that?"

"What do you mean, 'just that'? This is a mission assigned to you by the organization, so just go ahead and do it. I'll foot the bill; if it doesn't win, it's on me, and if it wins, it's yours."

"Really?! Don't worry, Boss, mission guaranteed to be accomplished!"

Hearing that she didn't have to spend a single penny of her own money and would still keep the winnings if she struck gold, Xu Li naturally had zero objections to such a wonderful deal.

"Just place a ten-fold bet, no more, no less. Did you understand?"

Xu Li asked, "What does 'place a bet' mean?"

With a helpless tone, Jiang Tao explained, "What I mean is, whatever numbers are on Sun Nana's lottery ticket, you copy them exactly."

"How do I bet? Who bets on whom?"

Jiang Tao: "..."

"Hahaha~ Silly hubby, I'm just teasing you! With someone as brilliant as me, how could I possibly not know how to buy a lottery ticket? I've bought them before, you know!"

"Oh? You've bought them before?"

Having known Xu Li for so many years, Jiang Tao had never known that she had ever purchased lottery tickets.

"Yeah, a few days ago, I bought a ticket for every single draw, wishing upon every star and moon that I could win the first-prize jackpot."

"That way, our family wouldn't just be able to pay off our external debts, but you wouldn't have to run around driving cargo day in and day out, braving the early mornings and late nights year-round."

"With some capital, we could start a small business of our own, and the whole family could happily be together every single day."

"Whenever I think of that kind of life, I wake up smiling even in my dreams."

"Too bad... I didn't even win a single five-yuan prize!"

"Dammit! There must have been a fix!"

On the other end of the line, Xu Li indignantly recounted past experiences she had never shared with Jiang Tao before.

Hearing this, Jiang Tao's throat tightened, and his eye sockets turned slightly red.

In the past, aside from hauling cargo from dawn till dusk every day, Jiang Tao had also pinned his hopes of turning his life around on a tiny two-yuan lottery ticket.

Sadly, all of them merely served as contributions to the welfare lottery system.

With the New Year approaching, he knew all too well the pressure and anxiety of being burdened with heavy debts.

Beneath Xu Li's daily cheerful and bubbly exterior, she had actually harbored such anxiety all along.

"Silly wife, the good days for our family are not far away now. Next year, I will definitely let you live the life you've always wanted."

Jiang Tao smiled with a sense of release, making a promise to Xu Li on the other end of the phone.

Xu Li and their daughter Jiang Xue had always been his greatest sources of motivation to strive and fight forward!

"By the way, wife, I've earned a bit more from selling sugar oranges these past couple of days. I'll send you some pocket money in a moment."

"Thank you, hubby! My hubby is the absolute best, greatest, wonderful husband in the whole wide world~"

Hearing that pocket money was coming her way, Xu Li's sweet, coquettish tone practically coaxed Jiang Tao's soul right back through the phone.

The couple chatted for another dozen minutes before hanging up.

As soon as the call ended, Jiang Tao transferred 52,000 yuan to Xu Li.

Xu Li replied with a sticker of a little girl kissing a little boy wildly.

Right after that, she sent a text: 'My hubby is the most invincible and handsome man in the universe!'

Looking at his silly wife's goofy antics, the corners of Jiang Tao's lips curled upward with inner satisfaction.

Following that, Jiang Tao sent a 100-yuan red envelope with the note: "Activity Expenses."

As for the matter of placing the mirrored lottery bets, Jiang Tao left it entirely in Xu Li's capable hands.