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

"Waiter, the bill, please!"

Jiang Chen leaned back in a sofa booth at a high-end local cuisine restaurant and let out a satisfied burp.

This was the first time in three years that he dared to step into a place where the average cost per person exceeded 300 yuan.

The braised pork was fatty but not greasy, and the crab roe tofu was so fresh it made his eyebrows fall off. Every bite felt like compensation for his three years of eating instant noodles.

Outside the window, Shanghai at the end of November was already chilly, and pedestrians were wrapped tightly in their coats and hurrying along.

He was only wearing a thin sweatshirt, but he felt warm all over.

The balance of over 120,000 yuan in his bank card is his thickest "cotton-padded coat".

He took out his phone and skillfully scanned the code to pay the 888 yuan meal fee.

Looking at the deduction information, he felt no heartache, but rather a morbid pleasure.

Just then, a video call from my younger sister, Jiang Ling, popped up.

Jiang Chen answered the call with a smile, and his younger sister's youthful face immediately appeared on the screen.

"Bro! Where are you? The background looks so high-class!"

Jiang Ling's voice was full of curiosity.

"I just finished having dinner with friends."

Jiang Chen turned the camera around so she could see the restaurant's environment.

"You're really living the high life now. By the way, bro, my parents and I received the clothes you bought! They were so expensive! Look at those tags, I don't even dare to cut them off!"

As she spoke, Jiang Ling turned the camera to the side, where her mother was holding the Canada Goose down jacket worth two thousand yuan, looking at it over and over, her face showing both joy and heartache.

Jiang Chen felt a warmth in his heart and said with a smile:

"Mom, wear these quickly, they've gotten colder in Shanghai, it must be cold at home too."

"It's a bit cold, but this outfit is just too..."

Before her mother could finish speaking, the video camera shook slightly, seemingly indicating that Jiang Ling had taken her phone to the balcony.

Then, Jiang Chen saw a scene that instantly turned his eyes red.

On the balcony, there was a large red plastic basin, about half the height of a person, filled with clothes, and next to it was a washboard.

The mother was bending over, laboriously dipping her hands into the cold, foamy water, scrubbing the mud-stained work clothes of the father.

In late November, even in the south, the water is already icy cold.

He could clearly see that his mother's hands were red and swollen from the cold, like two bloated carrots, with fine cracks all over the back of her hands.

Those chilblains he'd seen since childhood have returned this year as expected, and are even more severe than in previous years.

Jiang Chen's heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by a large hand, the pain making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

"Mom! Where's the washing machine? Why are you washing by hand again!"

His voice unconsciously rose eight octaves.

His mother was startled and quickly pulled her hands out of the water, wiped them on her apron, and smiled somewhat embarrassedly.

"Hey, that old machine broke down last week, it won't turn. Your dad had someone take a look and said it would cost several hundred to fix, which isn't worth it, so he said we'll just leave it like this for now and deal with it when you come back for the New Year."

Let's talk about it after the New Year?

"Stop washing! Mom! Stop washing now! Do you hear me?!"

Jiang Chen was practically roaring.

"Why are you yelling like that, kid..."

His mother was terribly frightened.

Jiang Chen took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his emotions and softening his tone.

"Mom, I'm not angry at you. What I mean is, what era are we living in? How can we let you suffer like this? Leave this to me, you don't need to worry about it."

"You're going to waste money again..."

"Mom, listen to me!"

Jiang Chen said firmly, then made an excuse, "I have something to do here, I'll hang up now."

After hanging up the video call, Jiang Chen immediately hailed a taxi and headed straight for Nanjing Road, Shanghai's most bustling street, rushing into the largest electronics mall.

The mall was blasting warmth, and it was filled with a dazzling array of the latest home appliances, exuding a modern and technological feel.

Jiang Chen walked straight to the washing machine section.

A saleswoman in a business suit and with exquisite makeup lazily approached Jiang Chen and sized him up.

The sight of Jiang Chen wearing a 300-yuan hoodie and ordinary jeans instantly cooled the enthusiasm in her eyes by a third.

"Sir, would you like to take a look around?"

The sales assistant's tone carried a subtle hint of perfunctoriness.

Jiang Chen was too lazy to argue with her, and pointed to a row of front-loading washing machines, asking, "Which of these is a washer-dryer combo? I want the one with the largest capacity and the most complete functions."

The sales assistant was taken aback, seemingly not expecting this seemingly ordinary young man to ask such a question.

She pointed to a high-end-looking silver-gray machine in the corner, her tone remaining calm.

"This is our flagship model, imported directly from Germany. It's a 10kg washer-dryer combo with features like smart detergent dispensing, sterilization and mite removal, and air washing... all the functions are listed here, you can check them yourself. The price is 4,500 yuan."

After she finished speaking, she stood to the side with her arms crossed, clearly not believing that Jiang Chen had any intention of buying.

In her view, most of these young people are here to "broaden their horizons," asking about the most expensive items and then turning around to buy the cheaper ones online.

She was even prepared to respond to Jiang Chen's next questions like "It's too expensive" and "Is there a discount?"

However, Jiang Chen only glanced at the feature description and saw the words "down jacket washing" and "steam garment care" before decisively saying, "This is it. Issue the order and ship it to another city; I need the fastest logistics."

"what?"

The sales assistant was completely bewildered and wondered if she had misheard.

"Sir, are you sure? This is...?"

"I'm sure."

Jiang Chen interrupted her impatiently, "Get an invoice, then tell me how to pay."

He didn't want to wait a second longer; he just wanted the machine to appear on his old home's balcony immediately.

"Oh...oh! Okay, okay! This way, sir!"

The sales assistant's attitude did a complete 180-degree turn, and the smile on her face instantly became incredibly warm and sincere.

She quickly filled out the form and respectfully handed over a QR code.

"Sir, you can simply scan this code to pay! We'll arrange expedited shipping for you immediately, and it should arrive within three days!"

Jiang Chen took out his phone, scanned the QR code with a blank expression.

[Ding! Payment successful!]

Almost simultaneously, that familiar mechanical voice exploded in my mind!

【Ding! 】

[A large expenditure to address a core pain point was detected because the host is a direct blood relative (mother)!]

[Spent amount: 4500 yuan!]

[Consumer Behavior Analysis: To alleviate his mother's suffering from hand-washing clothes in winter, the host, given the choice, unhesitatingly selected the highest-value item, demonstrating extremely high filial piety and a strong desire to fulfill his duty!]

[Filial piety bonus triggered! Lucky critical hit during the new player benefit period!]

[Based on comprehensive assessment, a 10x bonus has been triggered!]

[Rebate calculation in progress... 4500 yuan x 10 = 45000 yuan!]

[Rebates are being distributed...]

"Buzzing—"

The vibration of her phone made the saleswoman think there was a problem with the payment, and she nervously leaned over.

Jiang Chen simply opened the text message sent by the bank.

【尊敬的客户，您的尾号xxxx帐户于11月26日16:10存入人民币45000.00元，当前帐户余额169927.80元。】

Looking at the string of numbers, Jiang Chen finally managed a smile that suggested he was in complete control.

He put away his phone, nodded to the still-shocked sales assistant, and turned to leave.

Stepping out of the warm, spring-like shopping mall, the cold wind blowing on his face made him feel incredibly clear-headed.

He took out his phone and dialed his mother's number.

"Hello, Chenchen?"

"Mom, I have something to tell you. Our company had good sales last month, so we held an annual party with a lucky draw. I was lucky enough to win the grand prize."

"The grand prize? What's that?" the mother asked curiously.

Jiang Chen looked at the huge GG sign in the mall, his voice not loud, but full of unprecedented confidence.

"I had a German-imported washing machine with a dryer function shipped directly to my home. It should arrive in about three days."

"Remember to receive the goods."