I couldn't take it anymore; when I went home for Chinese New Year, the family genealogy book ha

"Brother Chen! The last batch of goods just loaded! 153,721 orders, not a single one missing!"

Li Qiang's voice burst out from the walkie-talkie, his throat already hoarse.

Jiang Chen stood at the window on the second floor of the logistics park, watching more than a dozen delivery trucks line up below and drive out of the gate one by one.

Three days.

For three whole days and three nights.

More than 400 villagers, along with five socialites from the provincial capital, worked in shifts, keeping the machines running even when people were resting, and managed to pack and ship all 150,000 orders.

The warehouse, which had been piled high with cardboard boxes, was emptied, leaving only scattered pieces of bubble wrap and bits of tape on the ground.

The air was still filled with the sweet aroma of strawberry jam and the dry smell of corrugated cardboard.

Jiang Chen took out his phone and opened the background apps.

The revenue figures are skyrocketing – the pre-sales of strawberry jam, vegetable gift boxes, and local pork have already exceeded 200 million yuan in just three days.

Just then, the system notification sounded on time.

[Ding! Host's spending has triggered the cashback mechanism. Cashback amount: 18 billion yuan. Already credited to your account.]

Jiang Chen looked at the string of numbers and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

Chu Tiankuo wanted to starve him to death by cutting off his supply.

The results of it?

The supply disruption forced everyone to buy online, which in turn fueled a viral spread, leading to a surge in orders and triggering a system-wide cashback program.

After a series of moves, he not only didn't lose money, but actually made a fortune.

He put his phone back in his pocket and picked up the walkie-talkie on the table and pressed a button.

"Big Gou."

"arrive!"

"Notify the whole village that we will meet at the cultural square at 10:00 AM tomorrow for the profit-sharing meeting."

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the walkie-talkie, and then Wang Dagou's voice burst out with undisguised elation.

"Received! Notify them immediately! Brother Chen, how much will be sent this time?"

"Open the vault and take out twenty million in cash. Then take out the remaining gold bars from last time and put them in the red cloth bag."

"Gold bars?! Brother Chen, are you talking about real gold bars?"

"nonsense."

Jiang Chen turned off the walkie-talkie.

The next morning, the winter sun shone brightly, a rare treat.

Hundreds of villagers had gathered early in the morning at the cultural square.

In the very center of the square, several long tables were pushed together, on which neatly stacked bundles of hundred-yuan bills were laid out. Each bundle was sealed with pink paper strips, each containing 100,000 yuan, and dozens of bundles were piled up into a small mountain.

Next to the cash were seven or eight tightly sealed red cloth bags.

The bag wasn't big, but it looked very heavy—the table legs were bent slightly under its weight.

"Holy crap, what's that?" someone asked, pointing at the red cloth bag.

"It looks like gold."

"Gold? Really? Last time they gave out gold bars was at the year-end conference, and now they're giving them out again?"

"Why do you care so much? Anyway, if Brother Chen says it'll be auspicious, then it'll be auspicious!"

A buzz of discussion filled the square.

Jiang Chen, wearing his signature military overcoat and cloth shoes, walked up the steps to the side of the square.

He took the megaphone from Wang Dagou and cleared his throat.

"Quiet."

Hundreds of people immediately shut up.

"Enough with the small talk. As you all know, our village's pig-slaughtering feast became a nationwide sensation a few days ago, and our online store received 150,000 orders. That money was earned by the entire village together."

Jiang Chen glanced at the sea of ​​heads below.

"Our village has a simple rule—whoever puts in the most effort gets paid the most. This year's bumper harvest means not only cash, but also gold!"

The moment the last three words were uttered, it was as if a bomb had been dropped on the square.

"Gold giveaway?!"

"Did I hear that right?"

"I've farmed for most of my life, and I've only ever seen people handing out gold bars on TV!"

Before the commotion had subsided, Jiang Chen had already lowered his head and opened the roster in his hand.

He looked up and his gaze precisely locked onto one person in the crowd.

"Jiang Shitou! Come up here!"

The crowd automatically parted to make way.

Jiang Shitou, standing in the back row, was stunned for a moment when he heard his name called. Then, rubbing his calloused hands together, he grinned foolishly.

He was shirtless, with the red headband from the pig-slaughtering competition still tied around his head, and he jogged up the steps.

"Chen...Brother Chen, what do you need me for?"

Jiang Chen patted his thick, wall-like shoulder and turned to face the crowd below.

"Shi Tou won first place in the pig slaughtering competition, single-handedly holding down a 300-pound fat pig. For the past two months, he's been moving goods at the logistics park, always the first to arrive and the last to leave, carrying more boxes than anyone else."

He paused.

"A bonus of 200,000 yuan in cash. Plus—three jin of gold bars!"

"Buzz—!"

The noise from the square almost blew off the sunshade overhead.

Wang Dagou chuckled, picked up a red cloth bag from the table, and threw it directly into Jiang Shitou's arms.

The red cloth bag landed heavily in Jiang Shitou's arms.

Jiang Shitou lowered his head and carefully opened the bag with his rough, sandpaper-like hands.

A golden light shone through the bag.

Three small gold bricks were neatly stacked, shining brightly in the sunlight.

Jiang Shitou's hands trembled.

He almost dropped it; the gold brick clattered inside the bag.

"Chen... Brother Chen..." Jiang Shitou's voice started to stutter, even more so than usual.

"This, this is too much. I... I just want a red tractor. This gold... I dare not take it."

He pushed the red cloth bag towards Jiang Chen, his face turning bright red.

Jiang Chen pushed the cloth bag back and pressed it against Jiang Shitou's chest.

"Take it!"

His voice wasn't loud, but everyone in the square could hear him clearly.

"Jiangjia Village doesn't mistreat honest people. Every stone deserves its share, not a penny less. As long as everyone is willing to work hard, everyone will earn gold in the future!"

Jiang Shitou stood on the stage, holding the red cloth bag, his lips trembling, unable to utter a single word.

He took one last deep sniff, turned his head away, and quickly rubbed the corner of his eye with his elbow.

There was a moment of silence below.

Then, cheers erupted like a volcanic eruption.

"good!!!"

"Stone is awesome!"

"Brother Chen is awesome!"

Applause, cheers, and whistles blended together.

Several women standing in the last row were so moved that they kept wiping away tears.

Jiang Mancang stood in the crowd, a rare, almost imperceptible smile appearing on his dark, silent old face. He looked down at his calloused hands, then up at the golden cloth bag on the stage, and silently clenched his fists.

At the outermost edge of the square, Zhao Na and her socialite friends stood next to a McLaren, stunned by the scene before them.

Zhao Na had half a steamed bun in her mouth and swallowed it subconsciously.

"I've seen countless business award ceremonies in the provincial capital, like the Golden Tripod Award, the Person of the Year Award..."

She wiped the crumbs from the corner of her mouth, her voice so soft it sounded like she was talking to herself.

"Nothing in the countryside has ever had a dividend distribution meeting where gold bars are handed out. It's so exciting to watch."

A girl next to her nodded, her eyes even a little red: "Now I understand why Qingqing was willing to stay here."

On stage, Jiang Chen continued reading the list.

"Jiang Mancang! Bonus of 150,000!"

"Spicy Flower! Prize money of 120,000!"

"Fang Cui! The prize money is 80,000!"

"Jiang Youfu! A bonus of 100,000! Plus—a voucher for five jin of pig's head meat, redeemable anytime at the cafeteria!"

Jiang Youfu burst out laughing from below, his bald head gleaming in the sunlight.

One name after another was called out, and bundle after bundle of cash was taken away. Red cloth bags disappeared from the table one by one, and were put into those rough, dark, calloused hands.

The dividend distribution meeting lasted until 2 p.m.

When the last payment was made, the table on the stage was empty.

But the eyes of the hundreds of people in the audience were more than ten times brighter than in the morning.

Jiang Chen put away the megaphone and was about to go down the steps when his phone vibrated in his pocket.

He glanced down at it.

It was a WeChat voice message from my great-grandfather, Jiang Wanshan.

The old man's actions were still as clumsy as ever. The voice message was only three seconds long, but its content made Jiang Chen stop in his tracks.

"Brother Chen, I'll be waiting for you at the ancestral hall. Something's up."