The first time Jiang Tao met He Jing was when he sold that Longines watch.
The second time was when he went to the entrance of the Hongxing Second-Hand Wholesale Market to find Ma Dongmei.
The third time was when she visited Ma Dongmei, and Old Lü treated them to a meal.
Today marked their fourth meeting, which, come to think of it, felt like quite a fateful coincidence.
The four pieces of intelligence triggered by the system were, to varying degrees, connected to He Jing or involved her in some way.
As if sensing Jiang Tao's gaze, He Jing turned her head and spotted him.
However, today, her role was that of a host hired by Wanxiang Hui to liven up the atmosphere.
It was her working hours now.
So, she only gave Jiang Tao a symbolic wave and a smile, nodding as a greeting.
Jiang Tao responded with a smile and a wave back.
Then he walked toward a temporary service desk near the stage, where two female mall employees in black suits were standing.
"Hello, sir. How can we assist you?" The two staff members greeted Jiang Tao with smiles.
He Jing, who was adjusting equipment on stage, noticed Jiang Tao's movements, her gaze tinged with surprise.
Big Brother Jiang couldn't be here to participate in the lucky draw, could he??
As the host of today's draw, He Jing naturally knew that the qualification for this area's lucky draw required spending at least 100,000 yuan for one entry.
In her mind, whether Jiang Tao could even earn 100,000 yuan in a year was questionable.
Surely he wouldn't spend a year's income here just to participate in a lucky draw, right?
"Hello, these are my purchase receipts. I can redeem them for lucky draw entries here, right?"
Jiang Tao handed the receipts from his shopping at Laofengxiang to the two staff members.
One of them entered the receipt numbers into the computer to verify, then looked at Jiang Tao and said, "Hello, sir. Based on our lucky draw rules, you're eligible for 3 premium draw entries and 6 regular draw entries!"
As she spoke, the other staff member waved to He Jing on stage, signaling that they had a customer.
It seemed Jiang Tao was the first customer at Wanxiang Hui today to spend over 100,000 yuan and come to the premium draw area.
After the staff whispered something to He Jing, her face lit up with surprise as she approached Jiang Tao.
Three premium draws and six regular draws.
That meant Big Brother Jiang had spent 360,000 yuan in one go at this mall??
She had completely misjudged him!
Big Brother Jiang was actually quite capable!
"Hello, sir. I'm He Jing, the host for Wanxiang Hui today."
"During the lucky draw, would it be okay if I invited you to interact a bit?"
After her initial shock, He Jing gave Jiang Tao a playful wink, pretending they didn't know each other.
Her role today was as the hired host for Wanxiang Hui, and Jiang Tao was a customer.
If they acted too familiar without restraint, it'd be easy for others to mistake them for shills hired by the mall.
"Of course. How should I cooperate?"
Catching the meaning in He Jing's eyes, Jiang Tao smiled and went along with her work.
This kind of public play-acting, putting on a performance, added a unique bit of fun to ordinary life.
"Thank you for your cooperation! It's simple—after you draw, we'll go up on stage together, and I'll assist you with scratching the tickets. Sound good?"
He Jing smiled sweetly as she briefly explained today's interactive segment.
This segment was added on the fly to boost the atmosphere and wasn't mandatory.
Customers could refuse if they weren't comfortable.
"Of course."
Faced with a request from his fellow townsfolk, Jiang Tao naturally couldn't refuse and nodded in agreement to cooperate.
"Thank you, sir~ I wish you luck in winning our grand prize today!"
Having successfully invited her first guest, He Jing beamed and offered her blessings.
"Here's hoping~"
Hearing He Jing's blessing, Jiang Tao laughed.
What would He Jing's reaction be when she saw him actually win the first prize?
After some polite small talk, He Jing guided Jiang Tao to the draw area and swiftly returned to her role as host.
"Ladies and gentlemen, today's first customer at Wanxiang Hui to spend over 100,000 yuan is a very charming gentleman…"
With He Jing's lively hosting style and her sweet appearance, the lucky draw event gained a lot of vibrancy.
The crowd watching was easily double the size of yesterday's, and the atmosphere was far more lively.
Led by He Jing, Jiang Tao arrived at the large glass draw box in the lucky draw area.
Feeling the gazes of hundreds of onlookers, Jiang Tao couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of nervousness.
In his thirty-plus years, he'd never experienced being watched by so many people.
Taking a few deep breaths, his gaze turned to the glass draw box.
Inside the massive box, countless lottery tickets the size of bank cards were scattered chaotically, numbering in the tens of thousands at least.
The odds of drawing the one grand prize ticket among tens of thousands were daunting.
A one-in-tens-of-thousands chance—you'd need some serious luck to pull it off.
Holding his breath and focusing, Jiang Tao soon noticed a change in the draw box.
A spot slightly to the lower left emitted a faint golden glow.
"Found it!"
Seeing that familiar golden light, Jiang Tao's heart leaped with joy.
He'd successfully locked onto the grand prize ticket!
Under the curious and expectant gazes of He Jing and the surrounding onlookers, Jiang Tao drew three tickets from the draw box in succession.
Then, led by He Jing, he went to the regular draw area and completed six consecutive draws.
After finishing all nine draws, Jiang Tao followed He Jing back to the small stage nearby.
At this moment, the atmosphere was buzzing, with everyone curious about what Jiang Tao would win with his nine draws.
"Now, it's time to witness a miracle. Let's wait and see what prizes this gentleman will reveal."
"I have a strong feeling that this gentleman might just scratch out our grand prize today!"
Before scratching the tickets, He Jing added another layer of "blessing buff" for Jiang Tao.
Jiang Tao started with the regular draw tickets.
The tickets were simple—just scratch off the silver-gray coating to reveal the prize.
Taking a small gold-finger-shaped scraper from He Jing, Jiang Tao scratched open the first regular ticket.
"This gentleman's luck is incredible! His first ticket is a fourth-prize winner!"
"Congratulations, sir, on winning a 500-yuan Wanxiang Hui shopping card!"
He Jing took the fourth-prize ticket from Jiang Tao and showed it to the audience.
Soon, a staff member came on stage and handed the 500-yuan shopping card to Jiang Tao.
A fourth prize didn't cause much of a stir.
Jiang Tao scratched the second ticket—no prize, just a pack of tissues.
The third ticket was another "thank you for participating," earning him yet another pack of tissues.
The fourth, fifth, and sixth tickets were all "thank you for participating," prompting a wave of sympathetic murmurs from the audience.
In truth, getting a 500-yuan shopping card from six regular draws was already pretty lucky.
Most participants in the draw ended up with "thank you for participating" and a pack of tissues.
Even 100-yuan shopping cards were rare.