29: Chapter 29 Congratulations on winning the first prize!
"1499?" Zhang Fan frowned, tapping his fingers on the shelf. "I might as well pay a little more and buy Moutai; at least it's famous. 1400. If you'll sell it for that, I'll take a bottle to test my luck. If not, forget it."
He knew in his heart that the lady definitely still had profit margin; otherwise, she wouldn't have relented so quickly.
"1400?" The lady's face stiffened. Her fingers calculated quickly under the counter—the cost price was 1388, so selling at 1400 would indeed earn 12 yuan. Although it was little, it was better than having it sit on her hands. She had just been saddled with ten cases by her husband's cousin-in-law yesterday and was worrying about where to stack them.
However, she said aloud, "Give me 1420. My cost price is already 1400. If I sell it to you for 1400, I won't make a single cent. Look at my rent and utility bills..."
"Then forget it." Zhang Fan made a move to turn away, but the corner of his eye caught the lady secretly gritting her teeth.
"Hey, wait!" The lady hurriedly called him back. "Fine, fine. Let's count it as a lucky start for today. 1400 it is! But you must never tell anyone else this price, or I won't be able to do business!"
"Don't worry!" Zhang Fan laughed readily, took out his phone, and scanned the code to pay. "Pack it up for me."
The lady nimbly wrapped the wine bottle in a plastic bag. As she handed it over, she didn't forget to mutter, "This wine has a 100% winning rate. At the very least, you'll win a small sample bottle. You won't lose out!"
"Oh, by the way, sister," Zhang Fan took the bag and pointed to the bottle on the far left of the shelf. "Can you swap this one for me? I want the one on the far left. The packaging on this one is a bit crumpled."
"It's the same wine; the packaging doesn't matter." The lady mumbled, but she still complied and swapped it for the bottle on the far left. "Young people today, so particular."
Zhang Fan chuckled to himself—this was the bottle the system mentioned, so he couldn't afford to swap the wrong one.
"By the way, if I really win the first prize, where do I redeem it?" He asked casually while carrying the wine bag.
"There's a Blue and White Porcelain flagship store on Jiangcheng Road. Just take the bottle and the shopping receipt, and you'll need the full set." The lady waved her hand. "Go on, good luck winning the big prize!"
After leaving the supermarket, Zhang Fan hailed a taxi and gave the address on Jiangcheng Road.
The car hadn't driven far when he couldn't help himself and pulled the wine bottle out of the bag.
"Mate, that's good wine." The driver glanced in the rearview mirror and joked, "Drinking a bottle first thing in the morning?"
"I'm not drinking it; I'm going to redeem a prize." Zhang Fan said without looking up, while unscrewing the bottle cap. Sure enough, a small QR code was stuck to the inside of the cap, the ink clear and looking quite fresh.
The driver let out a snort: "I thought it was something else. These kinds of lucky draws are all scams. You actually believe it? If you don't win, you've wasted your trip."
"They say it's a 100% winning rate; at worst, I'll get a small bottle." Zhang Fan didn't say much more, his eyes fixed tightly on the area he had scratched off.
The driver watched his serious expression in the rearview mirror and curled his lip.
It's hard to persuade someone who's determined to walk into a trap.
He shook his head and muttered to himself: These fanciful young people who haven't been beaten down by life always think pies can fall from the sky. Spending 1400 on a bottle of cheap wine and expecting to win 20,000? He deserves to be cheated. When he can't redeem the prize later, he'll be crying.
Zhang Fan didn't know the driver was bad-mouthing him.
His palms were sweating as he gripped his phone. He took a deep breath: "Hoo..." Only then did he open WeChat's scanner and aim the camera at the QR code inside the bottle cap. With a soft "ding," the page popped up.
[Congratulations on winning a first prize! The prize is 20,000 yuan. Please present valid proof to redeem it at the Blue and White Porcelain flagship store.]
"I won!"
Zhang Fan stared at the screen, so excited he almost threw his phone. Although the system had already given him confirmation, seeing these words with his own eyes, the wild joy was still uncontrollable, and his voice cracked.
At this moment, his emotions were completely genuine, not acted at all—this was 20,000 yuan, a sum he hadn't even dared to imagine back when he had to calculate every penny for meal money!
"You won?" The driver saw his excitement in the rearview mirror, his tone laced with disbelief.
"I won! First prize! 20,000 yuan!" Zhang Fan's voice was shaking as he held the phone up for the driver to see.
"Holy crap!" The driver slammed on the brakes, almost rear-ending the car in front.
He turned his head, eyes wide, looking at the text, his face full of disbelief. "You really won? Just like that... you won?"
The man who had just called it a scam was now even more excited than Zhang Fan. "Where did you buy this wine? I'm going to get a couple of bottles too! Maybe I can win too!"
Zhang Fan was amused by him: "It's at Xiaoxia Supermarket right outside Central Hospital."
While they were talking, the car had already arrived at Jiangcheng Road.
The rolling shutter door of the flagship store was only pulled up half a meter. A young lady in an apricot-colored down jacket was squatting at the entrance, using a key to open the side door lock.
She wore a low ponytail with a pearl hair clip at the ends. When she looked up at the sound of the car, her eyelashes were still frosted with a bit of cold mist.
"Driver, how much?" Zhang Fan hurriedly took out money to pay the fare.
"No, no, I can't take this money!" The driver waved his hand, his eyes fixed straight on the flagship store. "Mate, your luck is insane! I'll wait here for you to watch you redeem the prize and soak up some of your good luck!"
Zhang Fan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He pushed open the car door and walked toward the young lady. "Hello! I won the first prize. Can I redeem it now?"
The young lady was startled, and the keys in her hand clattered to the ground.
She bent down to pick them up, patted the dust off the hem of her down jacket, and walked over quickly to take the phone and shopping receipt from Zhang Fan. She swiped on the screen for a while and then checked it against the number on the receipt again.
Suddenly, she screamed: "Ah! Sir! You really won the first prize! 20,000 yuan in cash!"
Her voice was high-pitched and bright, causing people at the nearby breakfast stall to look over.
The taxi driver's cigarette dropped onto his lap with a "plop." He slammed open the car door and rushed over. "Holy crap! You really won? 20,000 yuan?"
He recalled the whole process of Zhang Fan unwrapping the wine and winning in his car, and he felt completely numb—the wine was unwrapped in his car, and the prize was scanned in his car, so how could he really have won the first prize? Was the winning rate of this wine really that high?
"Sir, are you okay?" The young lady was startled by him.
The middle-aged driver ignored her, staring fixedly at the trademark on the wine bottle, as if he wanted to carve the words "Blue and White Porcelain" into his eyes. He suddenly slapped his thigh: "No, I have to find a place to buy a few bottles immediately! Maybe I can win a first prize too!"
After saying this, he didn't even care about the fare (actually, Zhang Fan had already paid it). He jumped into the taxi and sped off, a trail of black smoke billowing from the back of the car. Judging by the direction, he was heading toward the hospital—he was likely trying to find Xiaoxia Supermarket to buy the wine.
The young lady watched the taxi speeding away, laughing until she couldn't straighten up. "That driver is so funny."
She turned around and made a "please" gesture to Zhang Fan. "Sir, please come in. I'll process your prize redemption immediately. I need you to provide your ID card, and we'll just register your information."
Zhang Fan followed her into the store. The flagship store was decorated in an antique style. The shelves were filled with various wines in Blue and White Porcelain bottles, and the lights shining on them made them look as if they were covered in a layer of mist.
"You'll have to wait a moment. I'll call the manager. He has to be here to process the payment." The young lady walked quickly into the back office.
Before long, the manager arrived. The redemption went very smoothly, and the 20,000 yuan was in hand.
Zhang Fan walked out of the flagship store with the money in his pocket, the sun shining warmly on him. He touched the cash in his pocket; not only had the hospital deposit and the money for the new phone been recovered, but he had also earned quite a bit extra.
He looked up at the sky; the clouds were light and the breeze was gentle, and even the air carried a hint of sweetness.
As for that driver who was still rushing off to buy wine...
Zhang Fan smiled, turned around, and signaled to stop a taxi.
Some people's luck is not something you can envy.
And his luck was just beginning.