10: Chapter 10 Third Prize in Hand

Jiang Chen stared at the screen, his eyes slowly lighting up.

king of gems.

The 25th card.

Serial Number: BSZW-240317-025.

He checked it three times, etching every character into his mind.

He took a deep breath, put down his phone, and lay back on the bed.

Moonlight from outside leaked through the cracks of the old curtains, painting a faint white line on the floor.

He rolled over and slowly closed his eyes.

...

At 7:30 the next morning, Jiang Chen was woken up by his alarm.

Outside, the sky was already bright. Sunlight leaked through the gaps in the curtains, drawing slender spots of light on the floor.

He rolled out of bed, washed up, and changed his clothes.

Before leaving, he took another look at the intelligence on his phone.

After confirming he wouldn't remember it wrong, he headed out.

The school's back gate wasn't far from his rental room, about a seven or eight-minute walk.

The red sign of Juxian Supermarket was particularly eye-catching in the sunlight; right next to it was the 'Good Luck' lottery shop.

The shop wasn't large, about ten square meters, with a faded banner hanging at the entrance: 'Congratulations to a customer of this station for winning the second prize in the Union Lotto!'

When Jiang Chen arrived, the lottery shop had just opened.

The rolling shutter door was pulled halfway up, and the owner was inside organizing things.

He was an uncle in his fifties, wearing faded blue work clothes, with graying hair and the characteristic fatigue of someone who woke up early.

Jiang Chen stood at the door and waited for a moment.

"Young man, buying lottery tickets?" The owner looked up at him.

"Yeah." Jiang Chen nodded and walked in.

The lottery shop was tiny. One wall was covered in various trend charts—Union Lotto, Super Lotto, 3D—the dense numbers were dizzying to look at.

The other side was a glass counter, filled with various Scratch-off tickets.

Five yuan, ten yuan, twenty yuan; they were colorful and neatly stacked.

The owner was currently restocking the counter.

He was holding a whole unopened pack of Scratch-offs. The cover was printed with the four large characters 'king of gems' on a deep blue package, featuring a sparkling diamond pattern.

Jiang Chen's heart skipped a beat.

"Boss, is this a new arrival?" He pointed at the pack of Scratch-offs.

"Yes, just delivered yesterday."

The owner put the pack down and started arranging them in the counter. "king of gems sells quite well, ten yuan a piece."

Jiang Chen walked over, looking at the pack of Scratch-offs.

The entire pack was unopened, still sealed in plastic film.

Through the transparent packaging, he could see the stacks of lottery tickets inside, deep blue surfaces neatly aligned.

"Boss, can I pick a few from this pack myself?" Jiang Chen asked.

"Pick them yourself?" The owner paused for a moment. "Sure, it hasn't been opened yet anyway, go ahead."

He handed the pack of tickets to Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen took it and tore open the plastic film.

A stack of brand-new lottery tickets was revealed, their deep blue surfaces glinting slightly under the lights.

He pretended to flip through them casually, his gaze quickly scanning the edge of each one.

The serial number was printed on the bottom right corner of the ticket; the font wasn't large, but it was clear enough.

BSZW-240317-001, 002, 003...

He flipped quickly, as if he were truly picking at random.

The owner watched from the side, not thinking much of it, and continued organizing other tickets.

Jiang Chen flipped page by page.

010, 011, 012...

When he reached around the 20th ticket, his movements slowed down.

023, 024.

His finger stopped.

The 25th ticket.

The number in the bottom right corner was unmistakable: BSZW-240317-025.

This was it.

Jiang Chen's heart skipped a beat, but his face showed no sign of anything unusual.

He pulled this one out and then casually picked another ten.

The 20th to 24th, and the 26th to 30th, totaling 11 tickets.

"I'll take these."

He handed the remaining tickets back to the owner, holding the stack he had chosen in his hand.

The owner took them and glanced at the tickets in his hand: "Finished picking? Just these 11?"

"Yes."

The owner took them and counted: "11 tickets, 110 yuan."

Jiang Chen took his phone out of his pocket and scanned the code to pay.

"Young man, is there some special logic to this?" the owner asked with a smile. "Picking these ones from the middle?"

Jiang Chen smiled. "Just random picking, they looked good to me."

"Alright, I wish you a big win." The owner waved his hand and went back to his own business.

Jiang Chen took the stack of tickets and walked to a small table on the side.

There was a coin on the table, kept there by the owner for customers to scratch their prizes.

He picked up the coin and gripped it in his hand; the metallic chill traveled through his fingertips.

He began to scratch.

The 20th ticket.

"Thank you for your patronage."

The 21st ticket.

"Thank you for your patronage."

The 22nd ticket.

"Ten yuan."

He won ten yuan, breaking even on one ticket.

The 23rd ticket.

"Thank you for your patronage."

The 24th ticket.

"Thank you for your patronage."

When he reached the 25th ticket, his hand paused for a moment.

On the deep blue surface, the serial number was clearly printed: BSZW-240317-025.

This was the one.

He used the coin to Scratch-off the coating.

First line: "Third Prize".

His hand had already started to tremble.

He continued scratching.

"Ten Thousand Yuan Exactly!"

The characters sparkled under the sunlight.

His pupils contracted slightly.

"king of gems"

"Third Prize"

"¥10000 Yuan"

Third Prize

On the ticket, that string of numbers was like a ball of fire, searing his eyes.

The owner was organizing the counter nearby and didn't notice him.

Jiang Chen stared at that lottery ticket for a full five seconds.

Then he took a deep breath and continued scratching the rest.

He finished scratching the 11 tickets quickly. Besides that ten thousand yuan from the 25th ticket, there were two ten-yuan prizes and one twenty-yuan prize, totaling forty yuan in small winnings.

But those were no longer important.

What mattered was...

Third prize, ten thousand yuan.

Jiang Chen held that lottery ticket, standing there motionless.

The owner finally noticed his abnormality and walked over to take a look.

With just that one look, the owner froze.

"Holy shit!"

He blurted out, his voice changing pitch, "Third prize?! Ten thousand yuan?!"

Jiang Chen looked up at the owner.

The owner's face turned beet red, his eyes bulged like copper bells, and his mouth hung open, unable to close for a long time.

"You, you, you..."

He pointed at the ticket in Jiang Chen's hand, his fingers trembling, "You... picked this yourself? The 25th one? And you won?"

Jiang Chen opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but the words were stuck in his throat; he couldn't utter a single syllable.

He could only nod.

The owner grabbed the ticket, held it up to the light, and felt the coating to confirm it wasn't a fake.

"I've run this lottery shop for over ten years, and this is the first time I've seen someone buy like this."

He shook his head. "Picking them yourself, the 25th card, ten thousand yuan... your luck is godlike!"

He handed the ticket back to Jiang Chen and took a deep breath to calm his emotions.

"Alright, let's redeem the prize."

He walked back to the counter. "A total of ten thousand and forty. Cash or transfer?"

"Transfer, please," Jiang Chen said.

"Alright, take out your phone, I'll scan you."

The owner opened a drawer, took out a QR code sign, and then operated his phone for a moment.

Jiang Chen opened his receiving code.

With a "beep"...

A line of text popped up on the phone screen: Received 10,040 yuan.

Fortunately, a single Scratch-off prize not exceeding ten thousand yuan didn't require tax deduction.

Jiang Chen stared at that line of text for several seconds.

Ten thousand and forty yuan.

Just like that... it was his?

The owner, watching his expression from the side, couldn't help but laugh: "What, first time winning something this big?"

Jiang Chen looked up and nodded.

"Normal, everyone's like that."

The owner said with a smile, "I've seen someone win fifty thousand; their legs went soft on the spot, and they sat there for ages unable to get up. You're actually quite calm."

Jiang Chen stuffed his phone into his pocket.

"Thanks, Boss."

"What's there to thank? It was your own luck."

The owner waved his hand. "Come again next time!"

Jiang Chen nodded, turned, and walked out.