After remotely directing his younger sister to handle 10,000 Ultraman hair clips, Jiang Tao finished his breakfast.
He scanned the QR code to pay the bill, lit a cigarette, and stepped outside.
Strolling leisurely, he arrived at the entrance of a lottery shop in the urban village.
It was just past 8 a.m., and the lottery shop was empty, with no customers in sight.
The shop owner was alone behind the counter, anxiously talking on the phone.
"Brother Wang, I've been trying my best to find it for you."
"I've asked over a dozen peers, and the biggest win these days was only two or three thousand."
"Smaller amounts, maybe a few more tickets, would that work?"
"Alright, alright, I'll keep looking for you."
"I'll get it done as soon as possible, got it, got it!"
Hanging up the phone, Liu Feng muttered with a hint of frustration, "A prize worth tens of thousands? That's not so easy to come by."
Liu Feng had been running this lottery shop in the urban village for nearly 10 years.
He remembered clearly that the biggest prize ever won here was just 40,000 yuan.
That was from an old regular who spent over 800 yuan on a combination bet and got lucky with a dozen third-place wins.
As for second-place prizes with higher amounts? Not a single one.
First-place prizes? Don't even think about it.
In the whole of Beijing, only a handful of first-place wins happened each year.
This time, a small-time contractor who often bought tickets from Liu Feng asked him to find a lottery ticket or scratch-off with a prize of around 70,000 to 80,000 yuan.
Liu Feng had contacted seven or eight peers, but none had found a winning ticket with such a large prize.
If it came to it, he'd have to go to the lottery center and wait for lucky winners to show up to claim their prizes!
Turning his head, Liu Feng saw a rather handsome man push open the door and walk up to the counter in a few steps.
"Boss, do you buy winning lottery tickets here?"
Last night, the intelligence system had provided clear information.
Liu Feng urgently needed a winning ticket worth around 70,000 yuan.
So, Jiang Tao didn't waste words with Liu Feng and got straight to the point, stating his purpose.
"I do, I do! Brother, how much did you win?"
Hearing Jiang Tao's words, Liu Feng's face lit up with excitement.
Wasn't this like someone delivering a pillow just as he was feeling sleepy?
Jiang Tao, still direct, said, "68,996 yuan, a random second-place Double Color Ball ticket. If you want it, I'll sell it to you at face value."
Hearing this, Liu Feng immediately realized the man standing before him knew what he was doing!
"Can I take a look at the ticket?"
"Sure."
Jiang Tao reached into the inner pocket of his puffer jacket, pulled out a wallet, and handed over the lottery ticket, which was set to expire today, to Liu Feng.
Seeing the date on the ticket, Liu Feng's pupils shrank as he looked at Jiang Tao in shock. "Brother, you're really calm! Today's the last day to claim it!"
As a professional lottery ticket vendor, Liu Feng was naturally very sensitive to redemption deadlines.
The first thing he checked when he got the ticket was the purchase date and the draw date.
Seeing that Jiang Tao's ticket was expiring today, Liu Feng was genuinely impressed by his composure!
If it were him, he'd have happily gone to claim the prize the next day. Who could wait two months?
"Yeah, today's the last day to redeem. I'm in a hurry."
"Boss, give me a straight answer. If you don't want it, I'll check with someone else. If no one takes it, I'll go redeem it myself."
Jiang Tao's expression was calm, exuding confidence.
"Wait a sec, let me check the ticket's authenticity!"
As Liu Feng spoke, he placed Jiang Tao's ticket into his redemption machine to verify it.
The moment the ticket was scanned, a cheerful jingle and applause filled the room.
The ticket machine's screen lit up with bold text—
*Congratulations! You've won a second-place prize of 68,996 yuan. Please visit the Lottery Center at No. 4 Xizhimenwai South Road, Xicheng District, to claim your prize!*
Seeing the message on the redemption machine's display, Liu Feng swallowed hard, his excitement palpable!
This ticket had actually won a second-place prize!
"Brother, you know that prizes above 3,000 yuan require paying…"
"Give me the ticket back. I'll go ask someone else."
Jiang Tao didn't let Liu Feng finish, reaching out for the ticket.
"No, no, no! Brother, hold on a sec. Let me call my buddy real quick—he's pretty interested in what you've got."
As Liu Feng spoke, he hurriedly dialed the number of Brother Wang, the same person he'd spoken to earlier.
He briefly explained the prize amount of Jiang Tao's winning ticket and its expiration date.
Although Brother Wang wasn't thrilled about the ticket expiring today, it was probably the closest he'd get to the prize amount he was looking for in the short term!
The two muttered back and forth for a while before finally deciding to take Jiang Tao's ticket!
After hanging up with Brother Wang, Liu Feng turned to Jiang Tao and said, "Brother, just like you said, whatever you won, I'll pay you to buy it back."
Having finally found a ticket worth over 70,000 yuan, Liu Feng wasn't about to let Jiang Tao walk away so easily.
"Alright, Alipay or WeChat?"
Jiang Tao didn't feel like bothering with it anymore.
If he went to redeem it himself, he'd have to take an hour-long subway ride and pay a 20% unexpected income tax—effort for no real gain.
Selling the ticket to Liu Feng would save him time and effort, plus he'd pocket an extra 16,000 yuan!
"Alipay! I don't have that much cash on WeChat."
As Liu Feng spoke, he pulled out his phone, opened Alipay, and promptly transferred 68,996 yuan to Jiang Tao!
Selling the lottery ticket went much smoother than Jiang Tao had expected!
With the transaction complete, Jiang Tao spent 10 yuan to randomly buy five more Double Color Ball tickets before leaving with them.
"What kind of insane luck is this? A second-place prize!"
Watching Jiang Tao walk away, Liu Feng glanced back at the redemption machine's total—68,996 yuan!
Even as a lottery shop owner who'd been in the business for over a decade, he found it unbelievable.
To ensure everything was perfect with no mistakes, Liu Feng called Brother Wang again to report the progress.
Brother Wang was also straightforward, immediately transferring 73,000 yuan to Liu Feng.
The 68,996 was for the ticket, and the extra was a reward for his efforts.
In just a few days, Liu Feng had earned an extra 3,000 yuan.
For him, this was the best possible outcome.
…
Leaving the lottery shop, Jiang Tao felt refreshed and invigorated.
Both of his plans for the day had been perfectly executed.
One saved him 16,000 yuan.
The other would net him a fortune of over 100,000 yuan in the coming days!
With this in mind, Jiang Tao treated himself to a lavish lunch at a restaurant.
He ordered three dishes and a soup for himself, enjoying a hearty meal.
After eating his fill, Jiang Tao hopped on a bus to wander around.
He roamed until past 6 p.m.
When Liu Zhiyuan and the others finished their work and closed their stalls, the group gathered at the "Wangcai Restaurant" for a meal together.