3: Chapter 3 The Grand Prize is in Hand

It was not only the grand prize, but it also confirmed that he truly possessed the legendary system.

"Hahaha~" Chen Sheng couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The laughter attracted the attention of the boss who was slacking off nearby. "Yo! Handsome Guy, looking at how happy you are, did you win a prize?"

"Yes! I won a second prize."

"What? A second prize?" The boss jumped up from his chair with a 'whoosh', rushed out from behind the counter, and leaned over to the table. When he followed Chen Sheng's finger and confirmed that Chen Sheng had really won 200,000, he said in a somewhat sour tone, "It really is a second prize. If I had known, I would have scratched this half stack of lottery tickets myself."

Some lottery shop owners would never touch lottery tickets themselves, while others played even more crazily than the customers. The owner of this lottery shop clearly belonged to the latter category.

Seeing the boss looking as if he was about to beat his chest and stamp his feet in frustration, Chen Sheng instinctively moved the lottery ticket on the table towards himself and said with a smile, "Luck, just luck! I didn't expect to win a grand prize today either."

The boss curled his lips and muttered something that Chen Sheng didn't hear clearly, then returned to his seat on his own. However, his eyes kept glancing at the counter from time to time, likely thinking about whether there might be another grand prize inside.

Of course, none of this had anything to do with Chen Sheng. He quickly finished scratching the remaining four lottery tickets. Aside from the one with the 200,000 grand prize, he had won a total of 120 yuan.

Following custom, Chen Sheng first bought a pack of Hard Chunghwa cigarettes at the nearby convenience store, then returned to the lottery shop. He handed the cigarettes and the lottery ticket to the boss and said, "Boss, share in some of the good luck."

They say cigarettes build bridges and alcohol paves the way. The boss's originally straight face immediately changed into a smile after accepting the cigarettes. "Handsome Guy, then thank you."

"120, scanning the code or cash?"

"Let's scan the code!" Chen Sheng opened the green bubble and brought up the payment code to show the boss.

As the notification sound for the funds arriving played, Chen Sheng confirmed he had received the transfer from the boss. He picked up the 200,000 lottery ticket, cupped his hands in a salute to the boss, "Boss, see you later," and quickly left the lottery shop.

However, just after he left, a man about the same age as the boss walked into the shop.

"Old Wang, let me tell you, I stepped in dog shit as soon as I went out today. I calculated it with my fingers, and today I'm definitely going to win a grand prize. It's that same 'Lucky Tenfold' from yesterday. Scratching the others is useless, today I'm going to buy them all out."

Hearing the man's shouting, the boss's originally sour face turned a kaleidoscope of colors.

Mockery, pity, sympathy...

Thinking about how he had told this man to buy the remaining 'Lucky Tenfold' tickets yesterday, but he insisted on saving them for today, even euphemistically calling it saving 'fortune'—as a result, while saving them, the grand prize that was originally within reach became someone else's.

Sure enough! Some people just don't have the fate to win prizes.

"Heh heh! They're sold out." The boss said to the man in a strange tone, "Old Li, last night I told you to buy the remaining 'Lucky Tenfold' tickets, but you refused. And guess what happened?"

"What happened?" the man asked instinctively, following the boss's lead.

"Just a moment ago, a young man bought all the remaining 'Lucky Tenfold' tickets, and it turned out to be a second prize. 200,000, ah... tsk tsk!"

Clearly, the boss also knew how to infuriate people.

While speaking, he didn't forget to hold up two fingers and wave them continuously in front of the man.

"What?" The man's eyes widened, his voice raised, and with an expression of disbelief, he asked tremblingly, "Old Wang, you aren't joking with me, are you?"

"Joking?" The boss laughed disdainfully. "Heh, believe it or not."

The boss seemed to suddenly remember, "He left just before you arrived! Oh, right, I even took a photo just now. Let me find it and show you."

As he spoke, the lottery shop owner picked up his phone, opened his photo album, found the photo of Chen Sheng's winning ticket from just a moment ago, and handed it to the man.

The man took the phone and looked at the photo inside, seeing the winning numbers on the lottery ticket and the corresponding prize amount below.

"Ah..."

The man clutched his chest with one hand, revealing a pained expression.

"Old Li, what's wrong?" The boss quickly ran out from behind the counter and helped the man to a nearby chair to sit down.

"I'm telling you, Old Li, don't scare me. This is just a small shop of mine..."

Before the boss could finish, the man slapped himself across the face with a 'smack', and the boss's voice came to an abrupt halt.

"Smack~" The man, still not satisfied, slapped himself on the other side. Only then did he say with red eyes and gritted teeth, "F*ck, why did I try to save those few hundred bucks back then? I hang around this shop every day, why didn't I know to come earlier today? Why didn't I know to buy it yesterday? I..."

"It's over, he's gone crazy!" Seeing the man rambling incoherently, the boss shook his head and returned to the counter.

How should I put it!

He had seen this kind of situation after missing out on a grand prize many times before. As long as the person was okay, they would eventually recover one day.

Thinking again of Chen Sheng, who had just left, the boss couldn't help but make another sour remark, "What a guy with dog-shit luck."

As for the guy with the dog-shit luck that the boss was talking about, Chen Sheng had already started driving towards the prize redemption center.

If the lottery prize amount is within 10,000, it can be redeemed directly at the local lottery shop. If the amount exceeds 10,000, one needs to take the relevant documents and go to the prize redemption center in the provincial capital city.

As the provincial capital of Shu Province, Shu City naturally has a lottery prize redemption center.

Along the way, Chen Sheng's imagination ran wild. For a moment, he thought about whether he needed to buy a mask or a face covering on the way to prevent his personal information from leaking. Then he felt that masks and face coverings weren't safe enough, and it would be best to just wear a mascot suit.

Until the vehicle drove to the prize redemption center...

Alright! The hour hand had just passed one o'clock, and the prize redemption center was on lunch break.

Chen Sheng touched his pocket containing the lottery ticket, fearing that he might accidentally lose the ticket while eating. In the end, he gritted his teeth and simply hunkered down in the car, waiting for a full hour.

One hour later.

Shu City Welfare Lottery Prize Redemption Center.

The lobby had just opened for the afternoon, and it was empty inside. Scanning the area, there was only one diligent cleaning lady sweeping up.

Chen Sheng put on the mask he had dug out from the car, then pushed the door open and walked in. Looking around, he found the service windows. Since no one was handling business, Chen Sheng randomly picked a window and sat down.

The female Staff Member inside the service window saw Chen Sheng sit down and asked politely, "Sir, hello, what business do you need to handle?"

"I'm here to redeem a prize." Chen Sheng took out the lottery ticket that had won 200,000 from his pocket and handed it through the window according to the Staff Member's instructions.

"Please wait a moment!" After the Staff Member verified the authenticity of the lottery ticket, she handed out a form, "Sir, please fill out the form."

Chen Sheng filled in his personal ID number, bank card, and other information according to the regulations, then handed it back to the Staff Member along with his documents.

While operating the computer to input and verify the information, the Staff Member proficiently explained, "Sir, the prize amount you won here is 200,000. After deducting 20% personal income tax, the total is 160,000. The prize money will be deposited into your designated bank account within 7 working days. If there are no issues here, please sign the redemption form."

After Chen Sheng checked the information on the redemption form and confirmed it was correct, he picked up the gel pen nearby and boldly wrote the two characters "Chen Sheng".

He handed the redemption form back to the Staff Member, and after she confirmed it was correct, she said the closing remarks, "Sir, your prize redemption is now complete. Thank you for your contribution to the welfare cause, and good luck!"

"..." Hearing this, Chen Sheng was stunned for a moment and asked instinctively, "That's it?"

...