After my divorce at thirty, I developed an intelligence network.

Gong Yuelong heard Widow Qin calling from outside the door:

"Brother Gong! Old Niu, stop slouching! Get the vegetables ready, hurry up!"

Upon hearing this, he pushed open the door and went out. The old square table in the courtyard was already set up.

In the middle was a large bowl containing the pork stew with tofu that he had brought back. Widow Qin even added three more dishes: a plate of scrambled eggs, a dish of pickled vegetable shreds with scallions, and a plate of fried fish.

Old Niu muttered to himself, "Good heavens, Sister Qin, this commotion today... is it New Year's?"

Upon hearing this, Widow Qin smiled, her eyes sparkling with affection, and looked at Gong Yuelong: "Isn't it because someone sponsored the high-quality goods?"

Old Niu chuckled. Men just love a tough guy. He pulled out a transparent plastic liquor flask from under the table, which contained at least half a jin of bulk liquor.

He said in a hoarse voice, "The wine is mine. I can drink it even without food, but if there's food... I'll drink it even more."

Widow Qin chuckled, dragged over a stool, and sat down first: "Uncle Niu, you're absolutely right! Your drinking habit is the best in our neighborhood, I'm impressed!"

Old Niu didn't respond. He took the wine pot, unscrewed the lid, and filled a chipped glass in front of him.

He drinks three times a day without fail. He can have pickled vegetables with his breakfast and drink on his own for dinner, even if there are no dishes. He is a well-known heavy drinker in this courtyard.

Gong Yuelong sighed inwardly.

This old ox must be living a very hard life, burdened with too heavy a load, and unable to find any other way out.

I eat spicy food three times a day, not for the taste, but for that momentary dizziness.

Good wine or bad wine, it's all the same to him—it's the essence of grain, and also a soup to forget worries.

But seeing him getting thinner and thinner, it wasn't drinking; he was burning the midnight oil.

"Uncle Niu, drink slowly, there's still plenty of food." He picked up his cup, gestured to Old Niu, and took a sip.

After a few sips of wine, the atmosphere became lively, and Old Niu was telling Widow Qin jokes about the construction site.

Gong Yuelong ate quietly, finding it quite delicious.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Gong Yuelong got up to tidy up, but Widow Qin gently stopped him.

"Please sit down. I'll clean up the dishes in a bit."

She worked quickly and efficiently, already starting to gather the empty plates.

The strong liquor was potent, and Old Niu drank the most.

"Uncle Niu, why don't you go back inside and lie down for a while?" Gong Yuelong leaned over, wanting to help him up.

Old Niu waved his hand, "It's nothing... just sobering up... I'll be fine." He swayed and walked towards his little hut.

Widow Qin watched the old ox's hunched back disappear behind the door, shook her head gently, and turned to go into her own room.

A moment later, she brought out an enamel mug, walked over to Gong Yuelong, and handed it to him.

"Here you go. This is freshly brewed strong tea; it'll help cleanse your palate and relieve your fatigue."

Gong Yuelong thanked him and accepted it.

He watched Qin the widow bustling about again and understood that in this courtyard, Old Niu was taciturn and only cared about his own drink, but when something really happened, he would really step up.

And this usually quick-witted Widow Qin is thoughtful and has warm hands.

After cleaning up the dishes, Widow Qin sat down, as if mentioning it casually:

"The sun has been scorching hot these past few days, and the construction site is like a sauna. Don't overwork yourself; getting heatstroke will only make things worse."

She paused, "I overheard the owner of the building materials store next door chatting today, saying that the western suburbs..."

The newly planned startup park seems to be making quite a splash; the construction fences are already up... If you have some free time, don't just focus on one or two places; take a walk around, and you might stumble upon some more suitable odd jobs.

Gong Yuelong held the jar of bitter tea and sipped it slowly.

He could tell that this wasn't just polite talk.

"Okay, I've got it, Sister Qin. It's hot, I'll be careful. As for the western suburbs... I'll go check on them when I have some free time."

Seeing that he had taken her words to heart, Widow Qin smiled and said, "That's exactly right. For people like us who have no connections or resources, isn't it through listening more, observing more, and running around more that we can manage to scrape together a little food from the cracks in the rocks?"

As if remembering something, she added, "Old Niu...sigh, he really wore himself out. Don't be like him."

"No," Gong Yuelong replied briefly. He glanced at the profile of Widow Qin, outlined by the lamplight, which was somewhat alluring.

"Sister Qin, you should rest more. It's such a hot day, cooking and cleaning must be hard work." He rarely said that extra word.

Upon hearing this, Widow Qin's lips curved slightly. She didn't say anything more, only waving her hand: "Alright, everyone should get some rest. You'll be covered in sweat again tomorrow."

She turned and went inside, the curtain falling.

He placed the enamel mug on the windowsill and then turned and went back to his small room.

Gong Yuelong returned to his small room, and without turning on the lights, he sat down on the wooden bed, relying on the dim light coming through the window, which was divided into squares by the neighboring building.

Widow Qin's words still echoed in my ears—"Go around in circles."

That's true. Gong Yuelong knew it. For the vast majority of people like him, and even like Widow Qin, struggling to survive at the bottom of society, this was the most effective survival rule.

Visiting one more construction site and asking one more foreman might mean earning one more meal.

He understood this principle, and he had always done it this way before the system appeared.

but……

He closed his eyes; the debt book held over four million. It felt heavy.

Walking around and exploring can earn you some hard-earned money. But after deducting food and other expenses, how much is left?

Even if he worked his butt off, spending a whole month on the construction site without a break, he'd only make a measly ten thousand yuan at most.

120,000 a year, 1.2 million in ten years... not including interest, and not including any unforeseen events that may occur during this period.

By the time he pays off his debts using this method, his daughter Duoduo will probably have graduated from university, gotten married, and started a family.

And Gong Yuelong, the best years of his life, will be completely wasted in this endless, futile labor, like ants moving mountains.

The phrase "walk more and wander more" alone cannot move the mountain on his head.

What he needs is not a steady stream of income, but leverage, a fulcrum that can move huge resources, and growth that is ten times, a hundred times, or even a thousand times more efficient.

Time passed quickly, and the intelligence system update was completed.

[Intelligence: Ten tons of steel bars are urgently available for sale on the Gold Coast.]

Are you in a hurry to make a move?

Based on his many years of experience in the construction industry, he knew that materials on construction sites, especially bulk commodities like steel bars and cement, were crucial.

One possibility is that the construction company overreported the quantity of steel bars when submitting the application materials, resulting in more steel bars on the books than actually delivered to the construction site.

The extra void materials need to be monetized at some point.

By selling quickly at a low price during the middle of a project or before a certain settlement point, the cash can end up in the pockets of certain individuals.

This is the most common method, with relatively low risk and stable returns.

Another possibility is that they need to quickly recover some cash to tide them over.

However, in such cases, the focus is usually not solely on the steel bars, and the commotion can be much greater.

There's an even more direct one—someone with authority simply wants to use their position to manipulate the entry and exit of materials for personal gain.

Taking advantage of regulatory loopholes, they secretly smuggled out a batch of goods, sold them at a low price, and pocketed the money.

Regardless of the method, the core is monetization—quickly turning public property into real money in private pockets.

The eagerness to sell and the low price are precisely the most typical characteristics of this operation—prioritizing speed over profit and safety first.

"The project manager's methods of seeking personal gain..." Gong Yuelong coldly ticked off this possibility in his mind.

He was very familiar with this approach. When he was a general contractor, many of his project managers and material handlers had similar ideas, but he was strict and they were mostly stopped.

Unexpectedly, I have fallen to such a low point that I have to resort to such underhanded tactics as spying on others in order to find a way to turn things around.

Thinking of this, he sneered.

What an irony this world is.

"Hurry to make a move..." he muttered to himself again.

Tomorrow, I need to go to the Gold Coast to have a proper meeting with that person who's in such a hurry to sell, and with that batch of steel bars that's priced too low.