45: Try scratching this one!

Chen Kai smiled faintly, feeling the intense gaze of the Old Man standing behind him, and gripped the Chili Scratchcard firmly in his hand.

"No need, let's just try scratching this one."

Seeing this, the Lottery Shop Owner simply stopped trying to persuade him; after all, he had already scratched away the biggest prize in this pack.

Based on experience, with a fifty-percent loss probability per pack, Chen Kai would likely lose a large portion of his money buying these Chili Scratchcards.

"So, can I just tear off whichever one I like?"

"Sure, here's the scraping tool for you." The Lottery Shop Owner casually took a scraper from the cabinet and placed it on the Counter.

Chen Kai nodded, casually tore off one ticket from the end, and then tore off two more from the middle.

Finally, he tore off the ticket emitting a faint glimmer, bringing the total to five tickets.

He handed the tickets to Liu Yunshang, afraid that the Old Man standing behind them might come up and snatch them away.

"Twenty-five, right? I'll pay first."

"Sure, no problem. We're all from this neighborhood; it's the same if you pay after you're done."

The Lottery Shop Owner smiled magnanimously and stood in front of the glass Counter, watching to see how much Chen Kai would actually manage to scratch out.

After paying, Chen Kai took the tickets and prepared to start scratching.

He had specifically looked up videos about scratch tickets last night, and he was shocked to discover just how many tricks were involved.

If you scratch them without paying, it's fine for small amounts, but if it's a big prize, the owner won't care if you're an old acquaintance.

If you happened to win hundreds of thousands, it would be snatched back if your own father hadn't paid for it.

"Little brother, should we play the 50-yuan ones instead? I feel like this one won't win much money."

Liu Yunshang looked at the tickets in her hand—small and dull in color—and wondered why Chen Kai wanted to scratch these.

"Hey? If you're going to play other tickets, why not give these to me? I've never played scratch tickets before, let me try a cheap one."

The Old Man standing behind them said with a chuckle.

The words had barely left his mouth before Chen Kai flatly refused.

"We haven't played scratch tickets either, so let's just try the cheap ones. What if a cheap one hits the jackpot?"

Chen Kai chuckled, placed the scratch tickets from Liu Yunshang's hand onto the Counter, and beckoned her over.

Liu Yunshang obediently walked in front of him, wearing a puzzled expression.

The next moment, Chen Kai grasped Liu Yunshang's delicate hand, embraced her from behind, and placed the scraping tool into her hand with his other.

His other hand quietly rested on her soft waist.

"Sister Liu, didn't you say you've never won a prize? Let me let you experience the joy of scratching."

Liu Yunshang giggled, her face flushing slightly, "Alright... but my luck isn't very good, so don't blame me if I don't win anything."

As she spoke, Chen Kai's large hand applied slight pressure, guiding Liu Yunshang's small hand with the scraper to reveal the first scratch ticket.

"Did I win?" Liu Yunshang asked curiously.

He scanned the scratch ticket, "No win, next one."

He pulled the scratched ticket out from the five and placed another one on top.

As Chen Kai's hand applied pressure, another scratch ticket was revealed by Liu Yunshang.

"Still no win, next one."

Chen Kai placed another one on top and scratched it open with force.

"Hey! I won!"

Liu Yunshang was clearly a bit excited, her breathing becoming slightly rapid, especially with Chen Kai holding her wrist, which felt like an electric current passing through her heart.

"How much did you win?"

"Won twenty! I told you Sister Liu's luck is actually pretty good!"

Chen Kai chuckled and handed the winning scratch ticket to the Lottery Shop Owner.

The winning area clearly showed four numbers with five yuan each.

"This is so exciting!"

"I want to keep going!"

"Alright, there are two left. Let's see if Sister Liu's luck can help me hit a big prize."

Chen Kai silently stacked the remaining two scratch tickets, with the one emitting a faint glimmer pressed to the bottom.

Liu Yunshang gripped the scraper and applied slight pressure, scratching open the fourth ticket.

"I won! I won one hundred and fifty!"

Chen Kai said excitedly; the winning area of the ticket showed five ten-yuan amounts, one thirty, one twenty, and one fifty-yuan sign.

"Ah?! Really?! I actually won one hundred and fifty! Little brother, your luck is just too good!"

It was Liu Yunshang's first time experiencing the feeling of winning a prize; although it wasn't much money, this feeling of Score a Bargain really made one's adrenaline spike.

"Oh my, Young Man, you two really have great luck. I see that for this five-yuan scratch ticket, the biggest prize is only two hundred, and you've already won one hundred and fifty."

The Lottery Shop Owner was stunned; he took the ticket and saw that it was indeed one hundred and fifty yuan.

He even started to doubt whether the two hundred yuan he had scratched was the final grand prize.

"Haha, maybe it's the beginner's luck period; almost everyone wins the first time they scratch a ticket."

Chen Kai said modestly, placing the last ticket emitting a faint glimmer under Liu Yunshang's hand.

"That's true, you always win the first time you play mahjong, and you basically always earn a little the first time you play scratch tickets."

The Lottery Shop Owner nodded in agreement, checked the time, and waved to the Old Man beside him, "Let me show you this round's double color ball lottery."

After the two left, Chen Kai's hand trembled slightly with excitement.

This was his first time winning the lottery.

He guided Liu Yunshang's delicate hand to slowly scratch open the last ticket emitting a glimmer.

The ticket had six rows in total.

The scraper passed over the first row; it was all patterns, no win.

The second row was still patterns, no win.

The third row won fifty!

He simply applied slight pressure and scratched open the last two rows together.

"I won! I won seven thousand one!"

Chen Kai pretended to shout excitedly.

"Ah?! How much did you win? seven thousand one?"

Liu Yunshang was a bit dumbfounded; she had never won a single cent in her life, and today she had actually won over seven thousand?!

"No... Little brother, your luck is just too good, right? I haven't even won seven yuan before, and with you holding my wrist while scratching, I actually won over seven thousand?!"

"Sister Liu, it's because our luck is just too good. I haven't won before either; we only won because we scratched it together. Don't you think it's because our luck is good?"

Chen Kai said with a grin, taking the opportunity to touch Liu Yunshang's cheek.

Aside from her shock, Liu Yunshang's face gradually flushed red; even though the scratch tickets were finished, she maintained the embracing posture, not breaking free, but instead burrowing into his arms.

"You stinky little brother, when did you learn to be so smooth?"

A strange look flashed in her eyes, and her resolve in her heart gradually firmed up.

"Owner, time to cash in."

Chen Kai held the beauty with one arm and raised the ticket with the other.

"What the hell?! You won seven thousand one? A total of seven thousand two hundred and seventy?"

The Lottery Shop Owner was completely dumbfounded; wasn't the biggest prize in this pack already scratched away by him?!

How could there still be a ticket worth over seven thousand?!

If he had scratched them all, wouldn't that seven thousand plus have been his?!

"Holy crap, over seven thousand?! Owner! I'll take this whole pack, I'm going to try too!"

The Old Man didn't even look at the double color ball lottery winning numbers anymore and immediately grabbed a new pack of Chili Scratchcards.