153: Chapter 153 Redeeming the Prize Outside the Door

"Hard to offload doesn't mean impossible to offload. Buddy, tell me, how much can you offer?" Chen Sheng pulled out his cigarette case, lit one for himself first, and then handed one to the man.

Seeing Chen Sheng light up first, the man readily took the cigarette, lit it, took a deep drag, and then said, "Buddy, I'm really not lying to you. This denomination is a bit large, and it can't be sold to certain customer groups. The highest price I can offer is 85% of the face value."

"85%?" Chen Sheng frowned. "Isn't it supposed to be full value at the very least?"

"Buddy, who told you that?" The man was so anxious his voice rose a few notches, but he forced it back down the next second. "Buddy, if you had Seven-Star Lottery, Double Color Ball, or Super Lotto tickets, let alone full value, I could even sell them at a premium. But this is sports lottery. Spending tens of thousands on sports lottery—just those tens of thousands might not even stand up to scrutiny. Don't you think that makes sense?"

Chen Sheng forced himself to suppress the urge to nod. Come to think of it! If he put himself in the other person's shoes, it did indeed make sense. However...

"85% is too little. If I trade with you at 85%, I might as well just go inside directly. I wouldn't get much less money, and the key is I wouldn't have to bear the risk."

"Then, Buddy, what's your target price?"

"At least full value. I know you guys always sell these at a premium. Although you lose some specific customer groups, there are definitely plenty of clients who want them."

Hearing that Chen Sheng wanted full value, the man immediately waved his hands repeatedly. "Full value is absolutely impossible. I couldn't even get full value if I were the one selling it."

"Buddy, it's the same thing I said before: it depends on the lottery ticket. This isn't the kind of ticket that can be sold for full value."

"But it's still a lottery ticket, isn't it?" Chen Sheng retorted.

"Hey~ that's not how it works." The man took another deep drag of his cigarette. "Buddy, even if I take this ticket back, I can't sell it for full value either. I won't beat around the bush with you—90%. If you're willing to sell, we can continue talking; if not, then Buddy, you can look elsewhere."

Chen Sheng secretly sized up the man. Seeing that he didn't seem to be lying, Chen Sheng weighed his options for a moment, then gritted his teeth and decided to bluff one last time. "How about this, I won't beat around the bush either: 93%. I believe that even if you can't sell it for full value, you can at least get over 95% for it."

Chen Sheng patted the man's arm. "Buddy, that's enough profit."

The man immediately shook his head and refused. "Buddy, 90% is the highest price I can offer. I won't hide it from you—I can indeed sell this kind of sports lottery for around 95%, but Buddy, I also have to grease palms up and down the line. When you calculate it all, I'm just earning a bit of hard-earned money, and I still have to bear the risk."

Chen Sheng silently finished the cigarette in his hand, threw away the butt, and nodded. "Fine! 90% it is. How do we conduct the transaction here?"

"The transaction is easy. After we calculate the amount, you give me an account, and I'll transfer the money on the spot. Once you receive the money, I'll take the ticket and leave." Fearing Chen Sheng wouldn't feel at ease, the man added, "Buddy, don't worry. I've been doing this for several years; I rely on my reputation."

Chen Sheng turned his head and rolled his eyes where the man couldn't see. "This thing actually has a reputation?"

After that snarky remark, Chen Sheng naturally placed all the lottery tickets on the center console, signaling for the man to inspect them.

The man carefully checked every lottery ticket. After confirming they were correct, he couldn't help but sigh, "Good grief! Buddy, you're ruthless. Betting 170,000 on the Sea Cucumber team to lose, and even aiming for a 1:7 scoreline—you're really not afraid of losing everything."

Chen Sheng pulled another cigarette from his pocket, lit it, took a drag, and then answered leisurely, "I bought 0:5, 1:5, 0:6, 1:6, and 0:7 as well."

Once these words were out, the man immediately gave Chen Sheng a thumbs up. "Awesome~ truly, you can't judge the ocean by its volume, just as you can't judge a person by their appearance. Buddy, you're the best."

In his heart, though, he thought, "Idiot."

Just calculating 170,000 per scoreline, six sets would be 1.02 million. He just got lucky and made a bit of money. If he hadn't guessed right, damn it, he would have lost his shirt.

In an instant, the man labeled Chen Sheng as a "gambler"—a crazy gambler, at that.

Anyway, if it were him, with a million, wouldn't it be better to buy a G-Wagon and go fishing for girls at the school gate? Driving a crappy electric car worth less than 100,000, what kind of bullshit low-key act is he putting on?

"Buddy, your purchase amount here is 170,000, the odds are 1:10, and the winning amount is 1.7 million. At 90%, that's 1.53 million. If that's okay with you, please provide a receiving account, and I'll arrange the transfer right now."

"No problem." Chen Sheng fished out his usual bank card and handed it to the man. "Just transfer it to this card."

The man took the bank card and handed the lottery tickets back to Chen Sheng. "Buddy, keep the tickets for now. I'll go arrange the transfer."

Chen Sheng took the tickets and gestured for him to go ahead.

The man nodded, then took the bank card and got straight out of the car.

Walking to a spot about twenty or thirty meters away from Chen Sheng, the man took out his phone and started contacting the client.

After waiting for about half an hour, Chen Sheng, inside the car, received a notification of a 150,000 deposit.

Soon after, another notification sounded for a 200,000 deposit.

Immediately following that was another notification for a 100,000 deposit.

It wasn't until the balance showed 1.53 million... that the notifications finally stopped.

However, just then, his phone rang.

It was a call from customer service at the bank.

A large number of large deposits in a short period of time directly triggered the risk control system. The Staff Member specifically called to warn him that the account had been placed under regulatory supervision and would be temporarily limited. If the account was legitimate, he should bring his ID to the branch where the account was opened to lift the restrictions.

"WTF!" Seeing the man return, Chen Sheng immediately complained, "Buddy, you're screwing me over, aren't you? All these fragmented, multiple large transfers in such a short time triggered the bank's risk control. My account is restricted now, damn it."

The man, having gotten back into the car, quickly bowed with hands clasped. "Buddy, I'm sorry, please bear with me. The client couldn't pull out all the funds at once, so I have to trouble you to go to the bank and lift the restrictions."

"But rest assured, Buddy, I encounter this kind of thing often. As long as you bring your ID to the bank counter and explain the situation, it'll be fine. It's no big deal."

"Alright! I didn't say it was a big deal, just a bit annoying." Chen Sheng handed the lottery tickets back over. "Here are the tickets. We're square."

The man took the lottery tickets, solemnly took out a sealed bag, put the tickets inside, and then tucked the bag into his fanny pack. "Buddy, I'm usually here in the afternoon. If you have any business like this in the future, come here in the afternoon. There's a road sign outside the prize redemption center; just stand there for a while, and I guarantee I'll appear in no time."

"Fine! If luck is on my side, we'll work together again."

"Alright then, Buddy, see you around!"

The man was quite old-school; when saying goodbye, he cupped his hands in a salute to Chen Sheng before walking quickly out of the parking lot.

After sending the man off, Chen Sheng quickly pulled the car door shut and locked it.

And then... "YES! YES! YES! YES..."

Inside the car, Chen Sheng celebrated wildly. Outside the car, the vehicle swayed from time to time.

This continued for over ten minutes. After venting... no, after finishing his celebration, Chen Sheng sat in the driver's seat with a straight face, adjusted his collar in the rearview mirror, and then stepped on the gas, driving to the nearby China Construction Bank.

Taking a number, waiting for his number... An hour later, Chen Sheng sat at the service window, listening speechlessly to the Staff Member's inquiry, "Hello, sir. We have detected multiple large fund inflows into your account recently. May I ask what the source of these funds is?"

"Project payment."

"May I ask, is this money being transferred from a company or is it a personal collection?"

"Personal."

"May I ask, is your engineering work of a company nature or a personal nature?"

"What does it matter to you what nature it is? Is that something a bank should be worrying about?" Of course, this was Chen Sheng's internal complaint; in reality, Chen Sheng still had to honestly answer all the Staff Member's questions.

No choice! The big five banks—the five heavyweights—really couldn't be messed with. But looking at it from another angle, other banks, especially local ones, weren't safe either. In short, it was very annoying.

What was even more annoying was that the Staff Member had learned the "carrot and stick" approach. After asking a series of questions, the bank card's permissions were lifted. At the same time, because the deposit exceeded one million, Chen Sheng's original regular savings card was upgraded to a Gold Card. The only benefit was that the daily transfer limit was increased from 50,000 to 200,000; otherwise, it was completely useless.

Coming out of the bank, Chen Sheng let out a long breath and rubbed his face vigorously, then lit another cigarette to soothe his worries, which finally suppressed that sense of annoyance. After finishing the cigarette, Chen Sheng pulled himself together and started another day of searching for a storefront.