44: Hijacked a 7000 scratch-off lottery ticket!
Chen Kai rubbed his hands together, sat on the sofa, and opened the daily intelligence system.
He felt a faint sense of excitement, wondering what good intelligence would be refreshed over the weekend.
【Today's intelligence refresh: There is a Chili Scratchcard at the lottery shop by the west gate of Qingshan Residential Complex. Head there before noon to intercept a 7,000 yuan grand prize.】
Chen Kai was stunned. A Chili Scratchcard? If he recalled correctly, he hadn't seen this kind of five-yuan scratch ticket in many years.
Unlike other scratch tickets that were flashy and required matching words or patterns, the Chili Scratchcard was simple and straightforward. If you didn't win, there would be no numbers under the scratch area; if you did win, it would directly display the amount won.
It was just 7,000 yuan... a tiny bit on the low side.
However, after scratching it, his balance would reach 35,000 again. It'd be a waste not to take advantage of it.
He lit a cigarette, pulled a tissue from the box on the coffee table, and wiped up the water stain he had accidentally spilled on the sofa while drinking.
It was electrolyte water, slightly salty.
"Little Brother, hurry up and come to bed."
"I'm a little cold. Hold me while you sleep."
A charming female voice drifted from the room, making Chen Kai shiver. He reluctantly picked up his phone and stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.
He slowly walked into the bedroom, turned off the light, lifted the quilt, and embraced Liu Yunshang, who was lying on her side.
A pair of helpless little hands automatically locked onto their target like radar.
...
...
The next morning, Chen Kai heard the clanging of cooking coming from the kitchen and woke up, rubbing his eyes.
Living at Liu Yunshang's place was just too indulgent. He picked up his phone and checked the time; it was already past ten.
He quickly changed his clothes, planning to go scratch the ticket as soon as he ate.
He walked out of the room and lit a cigarette in the living room.
"Click."
"Little Brother, are you awake?"
"Hug!"
Liu Yunshang took off her apron, walked from the kitchen to his side in her slippers, and gave him a big hug.
From the hug, it wasn't hard for Chen Kai to feel that her figure was definitely 'vacuum-packed'.
"Come eat after you finish your cigarette. You must be hungry, right? You didn't replenish your energy in time after the aerobic exercise."
Liu Yunshang curled her lips into a faint smile, struggled out of his embrace, and walked to the kitchen. She brought out two plates of love-filled sandwiches.
Thinking back to last night, Chen Kai couldn't help but want to slap his own hands.
It was one thing for his sworn brother to be greedy, but why did his hands also like stress-relief toys?
He stubbed out his cigarette, walked to the table, sat down, and ate the love-filled sandwich.
Ten minutes later, he had devoured everything, leaving only empty plates piled on the table.
He checked the time anxiously; it was already 11:10. "Sister Liu, don't clear the table yet. Go change your clothes so we can go downstairs and buy a lottery ticket."
Liu Yunshang looked up unhurriedly. "Hmm? Isn't there still time to buy the European Cup tickets tonight? Doesn't the match start at 7:00 PM?"
"Uh... the odds are a bit higher if we buy them now. Let's go now."
Chen Kai made up a random excuse and was already standing at the door, putting on his shoes.
7,000 yuan wasn't exactly a pittance; even if it was just a small scrap, it was still meat.
He wasn't so conceited that he would look down on 7,000 yuan.
"Oh? Are the odds higher? Alright then, I'll go change."
A glimmer of curiosity flashed in Liu Yunshang's eyes. She returned to her room and changed her clothes in two minutes.
If he won the bet again, it wouldn't just be a matter of good luck.
Chen Kai watched as Liu Yunshang walked out of the room, wearing a small short-sleeved shirt and denim shorts, looking quite youthful.
Liu Yunshang took the initiative to offer her hand, and they held hands as they went downstairs, heading straight to the lottery shop at the west gate of the complex.
As soon as they arrived at the lottery shop, Chen Kai saw an Old Man wearing a tank top playing the double color ball lottery.
"Old Wu, you say I've been playing the double color ball lottery for so long, shouldn't I have won by now? Why haven't I won even once?"
The Old Man leaned on the Counter of the ticket machine and asked the Lottery Shop Owner in confusion.
"That just means the grand prize is waiting for you later! After you finish these tickets, why don't you try playing something else?"
"Like the European Cup or scratch tickets. Who knows, the grand prize might just be waiting for you in one of those."
The Old Man in the tank top nodded. "That makes sense. I see others playing the lottery, and at the very least, they get half their money back. I've spent two or three thousand, and I haven't won a single yuan."
"After you finish printing these tickets, I'll scratch a few scratch tickets to change my luck."
Upon hearing this, Chen Kai immediately pulled Liu Yunshang into the shop and leaned over the scratch ticket Counter to make a selection.
There were many varieties of scratch tickets in the Counter, such as Dragon Nation Dragon, Big 7, and happy reunion.
In an inconspicuous corner, there was a stack of Chili Scratchcard tickets.
"Little Brother, weren't we going to bet on the European Cup? Why are we suddenly buying scratch tickets?"
Liu Yunshang looked at him with a strange expression.
"Didn't Sister Liu say yesterday that she had never won a scratch ticket? I was scrolling through TikTok yesterday and saw a video about a 'metaphysical' method to win big on scratch tickets, so I thought I'd bring you to experience the thrill of winning."
Chen Kai smiled faintly and made up some random nonsense.
"Really? Is there a metaphysical way to play scratch tickets? I don't believe it. My luck is terrible. I bought ten fifty-yuan tickets and didn't even win five yuan."
Liu Yunshang curled her lips, clearly looking skeptical.
"Won't we know if we try? What if it works? Owner, give me two scratch tickets."
Chen Kai called out to the owner, who was chatting with the Old Man.
He had to intercept it before noon. It was already past eleven. If he hadn't guessed wrong, the prize on the scratch ticket was originally meant for this Old Man.
"Hey! Coming!"
"Old Man, you check the winning numbers from the last round yourself. It'll refresh in five minutes. Let me get this young couple a pack of scratch tickets first."
"Alright, you go ahead. I'll see how this scratch ticket thing works too."
The Old Man and the owner walked over to Chen Kai's side almost simultaneously.
Chen Kai originally wanted to put on an act and buy a few non-winning packs first, but the Old Man who was about to win was standing right next to him, watching.
He couldn't pretend anymore, fearing that if he picked a happy reunion pack, the Old Man would ask the owner to bring out the Chili Scratchcard.
He pointed his finger at the pack of Chili Scratchcard, which was glowing faintly in the corner of the scratch ticket Counter.
"Just this one. How much is one?"
Seeing this, the owner took the whole pack out of the cabinet and placed it on the table for Chen Kai to pick which one he wanted.
"Five yuan each. But regarding this ticket... the prizes are all small change. The ticket is cheap, and the winnings aren't much, just five or ten yuan. I recommend you scratch the fifty-yuan happy reunion."
"Someone once scratched out 3,000 yuan from it. Don't you want to try? What if you're lucky and scratch out a few thousand yuan?"
The owner kindly reminded him. He only gave the advice because he saw that Liu Yunshang was a resident of the complex.
He had scratched half the pack of Chili Scratchcard himself to test the waters, and the biggest prize was only 200 yuan. The remaining half definitely had no grand prize.