The same hard drive files that the New York Post claims came from Hunter Biden’s hard drive not only show connections between Joe Biden and the Ukraine, but also more about Hunter’s business in China. The connections between the Biden family didn’t end with that already-infamous ride-hitching on Air Force Two in 2013. Starting in 2017, Hunter was cutting shady deals worth millions — at least according to the data uncovered by the Post.

All the same caveats apply to this story as yesterday’s, of course, including the timing of the discovery of these files and especially the strange story of the laptop itself. Skepticism should abound, but consider this a thought experiment. Just how many stories based on the NYP’s claim to have Hunter Biden’s hard drive files can Twitter and Facebook spike? Let’s find out.

Hunter Biden pursued lucrative deals involving China’s largest private energy company — including one that he said would be “interesting for me and my family,” emails obtained by The Post show.

One email sent to Biden on May 13, 2017, with the subject line “Expectations,” included details of “remuneration packages” for six people involved in an unspecified business venture.

Biden was identified as “Chair / Vice Chair depending on agreement with CEFC,” an apparent reference to the former Shanghai-based conglomerate CEFC China Energy Co.

His pay was pegged at “850” and the email also noted that “Hunter has some office expectations he will elaborate.”

Be sure to read it all, even if you have to dodge the censors on social-media platforms to do it. It’s a fun read, but it’s not nearly as much of a bombshell as yesterday’s — even if one is inclined to trust that story or this one. Yesterday’s exposé was all about Joe Biden, with a so-called “smoking gun” that contradicted his denials about involving himself in Hunter’s business. The e-mails, if authenticated, would show that Joe was meeting with Burisma execs on Hunter’s behalf before intervening to get Ukraine’s chief prosecutor fired. Joe has consistently denied all of that, so if that e-mail is both real and accurate (as opposed to fake but accurate), it would be — to use Joe’s term — “a big f***ing deal.”

Today’s story, however, is all about Hunter’s business in China. In fact, even if this all turns out to be authentic, Team Biden could turn it around on their critics. All of the business described in this story took place after Joe left office, and when Joe clearly had no juice in the government on which to trade. “Hunter’s business had nothing to do with his father,” they could claim on this story, and hope people assume it to be the case with Ukraine as well. Joe was already planning another presidential run, of course, but in 2017 there wasn’t any reason to think that the Democrats would only lock in on an old white man for their next nominee, either.

The only hint that this might go up the chain to Joe is a cryptic reference to a shadow stakeholder called “the big guy”:

In addition, the email outlined a “provisional agreement” under which 80 percent of the “equity,” or shares in the new company, would be split equally among four people whose initials correspond to the sender and three recipients, with “H” apparently referring to Biden.

The deal also listed “10 Jim” and “10 held by H for the big guy?”

Neither Jim nor the “big guy” was identified further.

The NYP doesn’t extrapolate that out to Joe, and for good reason. Even if this was on the level, a scheme like this would be unlikely to involve a man who might have to fill out financial disclosures and who was already making a fetish of releasing tax returns. The “big guy” was likely someone else, if this is real in the first place.

Moreover, we’re already aware of Hunter Biden’s business efforts in China. It’s been the subject of ads from Team Trump in this cycle, mainly last year in the primaries. This might prompt some new ads on social media, assuming Twitter and Facebook have wised up about making Trump and his supporters into victims of corporate speech suppression since late yesterday. We’ll soon find out, but if this is the NYP’s first follow-up to their bombshell yesterday, that first shot might also be the last that involves Joe directly.