10: Chapter 10 The slap in the face came too fast, like a tornado.

Brother Cannon's assistant had already counted out six 'Good Luck Streak' tickets and handed them over, saying with a smile, "Handsome, you're quite particular. For the sake of your rules, I have to make sure it adds up to 100 bucks for you."

The livestream chat went wild again—

【This bro's sense of property rights is amazing! Ten thousand times better than those freeloaders!】

【Support the handsome guy! Accounts should be settled clearly!】

【Brother Cannon, just take it, otherwise you'll look stingy!】

Brother Cannon was amused and stuffed the 100 yuan into his pocket. "Alright, I'll listen to you."

He turned to the camera and tilted his chin. "Did you see that, family? This is how you handle things. Much better than those people just looking for a free meal!"

As soon as the deal was settled, Zhang Fan laid out the 20 scratch-offs on the table: 14 green 'Chinese New Year' and 6 red 'Good Luck Streak' tickets, clearly separated. He picked up a plastic scraper, his fingertips trembling slightly—the one with the tail number 33 that the system mentioned was hidden as the 6th 'Chinese New Year' ticket.

"I'll scratch the 'Chinese New Year' ones first." He looked up and smiled at Brother Cannon, catching a glimpse of the chat still spamming 【Good luck, handsome guy】 out of the corner of his eye, making his cheeks feel a bit hot.

Brother Cannon simply pushed his own scratch-offs aside and shoved his phone in front of Zhang Fan, the camera firmly locked onto the row of lottery tickets. "Watch closely, family! Today we're going to see the luck of this handsome guy in the suit!"

Zhang Fan took a deep breath and picked up the first five 'Chinese New Year' tickets. As the scraper moved across the coating, the words 'Thank you for participating' appeared repeatedly; he didn't even see a small five-yuan prize.

Boos gradually began to rise in the livestream—

【Hahaha, as expected, he's just as unlucky as Brother Cannon.】

【I told you this series was a trap. Even a handsome guy can't save it.】

【Brother Cannon, hurry up and say 'I knew it'.】

Brother Cannon crossed his arms and curled his lip at the camera. "See that, family? It's not that I'm bad at this, it's that there are no big prizes in 'Chinese New Year' at all! Take my word for it, avoid this one! Whoever buys it is getting scammed!"

The livestream chat followed suit with the jeering—

【Hahaha, Brother Cannon finally found an excuse.】

【Handsome guy, stop scratching those. Change to a different kind.】

【I knew the new ones wouldn't have any good stuff. Just as I thought!】

Zhang Fan didn't respond, his fingertips pinching the sixth ticket. This one was slightly thinner than the others with slightly curled corners; it was exactly the one with tail number 33.

He took a deep breath, and as the scraper slowly descended, his heart actually tightened—the system had never been wrong, but when the moment of truth arrived, he couldn't help but worry.

The green coating was scratched away, first revealing the three golden characters for 'Chinese New Year', followed by a glittering gold ingot pattern, and finally, a row of red numbers slowly took shape—5, 0, 0, 0, 0.

"I won!" Zhang Fan stood up abruptly, slapping the lottery ticket onto the table with a 'thwack', his voice cracking. "Fifty thousand! I really won fifty thousand!"

The phone in Brother Cannon's hand clattered against the corner of the table. His eyes went wide as he snatched the ticket and waved it at the camera. "Look closely, family! Red background, gold characters! Fifty thousand! This isn't a script, damn it! He really won!"

The livestream instantly exploded like fireworks—

【Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap! Am I seeing this right? It's really the 50,000 grand prize!】

【Does Brother Cannon's face hurt? He just said to avoid it and then a big prize comes out!】

【Hahaha, face-slapping comes as fast as a tornado!】

【This luck is insane! Does wearing a suit come with a built-in Lucky Koi buff?】

【Where are the people who said it was rigged? Can you act out this reaction?】

【Does the handsome guy need any followers? I can eat, sleep, and cheer 666!】

The comments in the livestream were scrolling like an atomic bomb explosion—

"Brother, your luck..." Brother Cannon slapped Zhang Fan's shoulder with such force he almost knocked him back into his seat. "It's incredible! I scratched dozens and only won two hundred, and you hit fifty thousand on your sixth?"

Zhang Fan's knuckles were white from gripping the ticket. His previous worry had turned into pure ecstasy, and he couldn't help but hop once or twice. "I didn't expect it to go so smoothly either!"

"I have to admit defeat!" Brother Cannon bowed toward the camera. "I'll take the loss today! You scratching the rest?"

"Yes!" Zhang Fan picked up the seventh 'Chinese New Year' ticket, but his heart was pounding—if he won again, Brother Cannon would probably really get suspicious.

Fortunately, the remaining 8 'Chinese New Year' tickets were all blanks; not even another five-yuan prize appeared. However, among the 6 'Good Luck Streak' tickets, one won 50 yuan, which was a pleasant surprise.

"Seems I'm not some divine being, I just got lucky this time." Zhang Fan breathed a sigh of relief and set the winning 50,000 and 50 yuan tickets aside.

Brother Cannon was bowing to the camera. "Sorry, family, I spoke too soon. 'Chinese New Year' is actually alright; it really does give out big prizes!"

Brother Cannon's assistant suddenly leaned in and whispered something in his ear. Brother Cannon's eyes lit up, and he shouted at the camera, "Family! Thanks to this brother today, our livestream has blown up! We just received 11 Carnivals! That's 16,500 yuan after conversion! I have to treat this brother to a meal!"

Zhang Fan was stunned. He didn't understand what a 'Carnival' was; he just felt the streamer's enthusiasm was a bit overwhelming.

"No, it's fine, I still have to go redeem the prize..."

"No rush to redeem it!" Brother Cannon waved a large hand, his two-hundred-and-fifty-pound frame standing by the door like a mountain of flesh. "Don't go! Today is on me. The best seafood restaurant in Jiang City, my treat! Just to soak up some of your luck!"

The livestream chat went crazy again—

【Brother Cannon, don't keep him all to yourself! I want to crash the meal too!】

【Post the address! I'll ride my bike there right now!】

【Handsome guy, don't agree! Brother Cannon will eat you out of house and home!】

Zhang Fan originally wanted to refuse, but seeing the eagerness in Brother Cannon's eyes, he changed his mind: a big influencer with tens of millions of fans wouldn't be after his small amount of money. He might as well go.

"Alright, then I'll trouble you." Zhang Fan smiled and carefully folded the lottery ticket, placing it in his inner pocket. Sunlight streamed through the lottery station window, hitting his suit and shining brightly.

Brother Cannon was even more delighted upon hearing this. He slung an arm around Zhang Fan's shoulder and led him out, his voice loud enough to shatter glass. "Wait for us, family! I'm taking the Lucky King to eat. I'll keep the livestream going. Whoever sends a Carnival, I'll drink three bottles of beer on behalf of the handsome guy!"

In a private room at the seafood restaurant, Brother Cannon ordered a table full of dishes, with lobsters and abalones piled up like small hills.

Neither of them actually ate much, but they drank beer heavily. After six bottles each, they both started talking non-stop.

Fueled by the alcohol, Zhang Fan rambled about many things—the grievance of being pushed down the stairs, the anger of being fired, and the embarrassment of picking up the necklace. By the end, he even forgot what he was saying.

When he opened his eyes again, Zhang Fan found himself lying on a hotel bed. Outside the window, the sky was pitch black.

He sat up abruptly and felt his inner jacket pocket; the cash and the winning lottery ticket were both there, and the discarded scratch-offs in his backpack were all accounted for.

"How did I get back?" He breathed a sigh of relief, rubbing his aching temples, unable to remember anything that happened after the drinking.

The wall clock pointed to 10:30; new information was about to refresh. Zhang Fan stared at his phone screen, calculating in his mind: what would the system bring this time? A new way to make money, or some other surprise?

He licked his dry lips as a slight, alcohol-tinged anticipation slowly crept into his heart.