Chapter 423: Chapter 198: Substitute Saint Body, a Courtyard with 1,000% Appreciation Rate, and Sunglasses!

Ring ring ring——

After Jiang Tao got home, he slept all the way till six or seven in the evening, only to be woken up by a ringtone from his phone.

Still dazed, he blinked his eyes and picked up his phone to take a look.

The caller ID showed the name "Wifey."

"Hey, wifey."

"I’m at... I’m at... Oh, I’m at home."

Jiang Tao was still half-asleep at this point.

It took him a while to realize he was actually at his own place.

"Outdoor barbecue?"

"Alright, I’ll go wash my face, be right over."

"Oh yeah, Third Sis is over there, right? Tell her to drive over and pick me up."

"I drank at noon, so I’ll skip driving."

"Mm, bye bye."

After hanging up, Jiang Tao rubbed his face, then rolled out of bed. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

He quickly freshened up in the bathroom, then headed straight out, taking the elevator downstairs.

He waited downstairs for about three minutes before a black Mercedes GLS pulled up in front of him.

The driver’s window lowered, revealing a fair face with a bit of a cyberpunk vibe from the sunglasses.

"Seco..."

"Third Sis, are you nuts, wearing sunglasses this late at night?"

"You idiot! Get in the car! I shouldn’t have even come to pick you up!"

As soon as Jiang Bing heard her second brother, her smile disappeared, and "Second Brother" instantly turned into "idiot."

Jiang Tao opened the door and got in, saying, "Didn’t you wear sunglasses the last time you rear-ended someone too?"

"Can you not bring up old stuff, seriously!"

"I don’t wear ’em when I’m driving! I just put them on after parking, okay!"

"These are my new sunglasses, I wanted you to see if they look cool! You have zero appreciation, I swear!"

Jiang Bing pouted, looking all wronged, snorted, and drove off before Jiang Tao even finished buckling his seatbelt.

"Lemme see—hey, these sunglasses are actually kinda nice... Huh, they seem to suit me."

Not the least bit ashamed, Jiang Tao grabbed the sunglasses box Jiang Bing left on the center console and put them on his own face.

He lowered the sun visor on the passenger side, looked at himself in the mirror, and couldn’t help but praise.

"Damn, so handsome!"

"Ugh~"

"You’re not a kid anymore, can you stop being so narcissistic? And you call that handsome."

Jiang Bing, who was driving, rolled her eyes and mercilessly jabbed back.

"Third Sis, I get why you’re still single now. Standards way too high!"

"If your own brother isn’t handsome in your eyes, then seriously, there aren’t many dudes on earth who’d make the cut. You better go find an alien."

"Who says everyone’s gotta find someone, anyway? Being in a couple is a pain, so much easier to fly solo."

"Do yourself a favor and don’t let Mom and Dad hear that, or you’ll send ’em both to the hospital."

"..."

The siblings chatted idly, and soon arrived at the gates of Jiang’s Food Factory by car.

Right then, the factory gate was wide open, with people in the yard chatting and laughing, each busy with their tasks.

Father-in-law Xu Wencheng was at the grill, holding a palm fan in one hand, tending to the skewers.

Jiang Jianjun and his wife were threading marinated lamb from a stainless steel bowl onto skewers.

Mother-in-law and Xu Li were laying out store-bought ready-to-eat dishes and cold plates on a big table.

Jiang Jiaqi and Xu Sha were busy setting out stools.

Mom and Dad were cracking jokes with Old Lü and Ma Dongmei.

Jiang Tao even spotted He Jing, whom he hadn’t seen in ages, bending over by the sink washing fruit.

The whole yard was buzzing with life.

"Xiao Tao’s here."

"Uncle Tao is here!"

"Brother-in-law!"

"Honey~"

Everyone noticed Jiang Tao coming and greeted him one after another with a smile.

No doubt, this whole group managed to gather today entirely because of Jiang Tao.

Everyone present was either family or good friends, no outsiders here.

Before headed home for Qingming Festival break, getting together for a barbecue with friends really hit the spot.

Jiang Tao greeted everyone with a grin and quickly blended into the group.

"Brother Lü and Dongmei are here too, haven’t seen you two in a while, both look radiant! Looking good!"

"Hah, you little brat."

Lü Qian broke out in a deep laugh, his old wrinkles stretching wide as soon as Jiang Tao called Ma Dongmei "sister-in-law."

"Brother Jiang, long time no see, hope you’ve been well. Here, have a peach."

He Jing walked up holding a bowl full of washed peaches and greeted Jiang Tao with a big smile, then handed him one from the bowl.

"Thanks, He Jing, I’ve been good. How about you, over at the school?"

Jiang Tao didn’t stand on ceremony, grinned his hello, and took the peach from her hand.

[Ding! He Jing felt really happy seeing you, friendship points increased by 2. Current level: 71 points (close friends)!]

While chatting with He Jing, a pop-up suddenly flashed across Jiang Tao’s retina.

The system informed him his friendship level with He Jing had jumped up.

And, he’d just gained 2 points at once!

This extra 2 points made Jiang Tao happy, but also a bit surprised and puzzled.

He didn’t do anything special, just said hi and got points?

And it’s actually 2 points this time!

Nice, not bad at all!

No idea why it went up, though.

But Jiang Tao was pretty pleased with the outcome!

"Mm-hmm, things are nice at school too."

When He Jing chatted with Jiang Tao, her eyes kept sneaking glances at Xu Li nearby.

For some reason she got this guilty feeling, like she’d just stolen something.

She knew perfectly well that crushing on a married man was wrong.

But still, she could never suppress the way she felt about Jiang Tao deep down.

Every time she simply saw him, her mood just lit up instantly.

Whenever something annoyed her in life, just sending him a few everyday texts on WeChat would make her feel better.