Chapter 95: Delighted to Win the First Prize

I won! I won!

Boss, hurry up and open the door, I want to claim the prize!

Early in the morning, everyone was crowded outside the Old Farmer Life Supermarket queuing to buy vegetables, but a black-clothed old man with disheveled hair was vigorously pounding the rolling gate of Li Hongbing's Lottery Store outside Twin Grove Market. Behind him followed several middle-aged men and women, who looked like his family.

Most of the people in the queue had already picked up yesterday's lottery tickets, and hearing that the old man had won, they curiously gathered around. 'Sir, how much did you win?'

'Not much?' the old man hastily shoved the ticket in his hand into his pocket, covered his hands tightly, and at the same time gave a wary look at the onlooking crowd. His family also stood in front of him, urging everyone to disperse.

'My dad is winning for the first time, so he's a bit excited. Actually it's not a big prize, just a few dozen yuan. Everyone, please disperse!'

'A few dozen yuan is not bad; you can have two good meals. Congratulations! Congratulations!'

'Thanks, everyone please disperse.'

Upon hearing that the old man had only won a small prize, everyone dispersed regretfully.

Today the Old Farmer Life Supermarket still offered store-wide 40% off, and everyone's first choice was still to queue there.

Meanwhile, the Old Hundreds Life Supermarket here has been opening as usual these past few days but receiving little business.

People are pragmatic, only caring about immediate benefits. Even if they are members of the Old Hundreds Life Supermarket and often enjoy various perks, when faced with a more tempting offer they will unhesitatingly betray it.

Chen Yang, however, takes it in stride. After all, they haven't provided members with high-quality service, so it's normal that they can't retain customers without price discounts.

Seeing someone go to Li Hongbing's Lottery Store to claim a prize, he had his employees move a few stools over there.

'Sir, the lottery store opens at eight. Please sit down and rest for a while.'

'Young man, you're a good person!' The old man recognized Chen Yang as the one who gave him the lottery ticket, excitedly shook his hand, and said, 'Thank you!'

'No need to be polite.' Chen Yang smiled: 'I should be thanking you for often coming to patronize our store.'

'Young man, rest assured, I'll buy vegetables from your store from now on.' The old man spoke to Chen Yang while looking expectantly at the still-closed lottery store door.

Chen Yang checked the time; it was only half past seven. He then had Du Yue'e call Li Hongbing to urge him to come open the door sooner.

Based on Chen Yang's intuition, the old man's lottery ticket certainly wasn't a small prize. A few dozen yuan couldn't cause such excitement, nor would he bring a bunch of family members as bodyguards.

Chen Yang felt this could be turned into a story, and he wanted to promote the supermarket and lottery store again.

Li Hongbing arrived quickly; hearing that Chen Yang had urged him, he came directly by taxi with his wife.

As soon as the couple appeared, the spectators who had previously dispersed immediately gathered again.

Worried about an accident, Chen Yang quickly summoned several strong young employees to maintain order at the scene.

Li Hongbing skillfully opened the computer and lottery terminal, then took the ticket from the black-clothed old man's hand for verification. Soon his emotions also became excited.

'Sir, you've won the first prize, the prize money is……' Li Hongbing carefully examined the numbers on the terminal, excitedly saying, 'Eighty-five thousand yuan! Congratulations!'

'Damn, I knew it was a big prize. Old man, you're not being honest!'

'Eighty-five thousand yuan! Even if I ate and drank nothing, I'd have to save for over ten years. Sir, your luck is truly great!'

'It's not that the sir is lucky. These lottery tickets were bought by the boss of the Old Hundreds Life Supermarket; he's the one who's really lucky!'

'What luck does the boss have? The prize money ultimately still ends up in the sir's hands!'

'Right, then the sir should give half to the boss, shouldn't he?'

'How could that be? Half of eighty-five thousand is forty-two thousand five hundred; who would give that away?'

The black-clothed old man immediately gave Chen Yang a wary look, and his family also surrounded Li Hongbing, fearing that Li Hongbing would give the prize money to Chen Yang.

Chen Yang found their nervousness both laughable and exasperating; he soothed the black-clothed old man, saying, 'Sir, since the ticket was given to you, the prize money is yours. I won't take a share.'

'Really?' The black-clothed old man relaxed a bit but still kept a hint of wariness toward Chen Yang. Meanwhile, his family began urging Li Hongbing to claim the prize quickly, since the more onlookers there were, the less safe it felt for them.

'Sorry, this ticket's prize amount is too large; you need to go to the city's Lottery Center to claim it.' Although Li Hongbing was displeased with the black-clothed old man and his family's behavior, he proactively returned the ticket to them and also told them the exact address and detailed procedure for the Lottery Center.

After receiving the ticket, the black-clothed old man immediately left with his family by vehicle, fearing someone would rob his ticket. Once they left, everyone else also took out their own tickets to find Li Hongbing to claim prizes.

However, everyone's luck wasn't as good as the black-clothed old man's. After Li Hongbing finished redeeming all the tickets, only a few dozen small prizes appeared—ten yuan, twenty yuan, the highest being fifty yuan.

Nevertheless, everyone was still quite happy, and they all expressed gratitude to Chen Yang.

Chen Yang, meanwhile, was not idle; he immediately had people make two banners from red silk.

One read: 'Warmly congratulating this site on winning one first-prize ticket, total prize money eighty-five thousand yuan.'

The other read: 'For customers who spend over ten yuan in this store, give a lottery ticket with a chance to win the first prize.'

The two banners were hung beneath the signs of the lottery store and supermarket, immediately attracting a crowd of onlookers. The people who had been queuing at the Old Farmer Supermarket without having bought vegetables all rushed over to the Old Hundreds Supermarket side to queue.

With those who had already won helping to promote it, everyone wanted to come and share in the Old Hundreds Supermarket's good fortune.

'Damn, do our lottery tickets never win?' Meng Bin watched as the people queuing on his side all left, fuming with rage, and he unleashed another tirade at the store manager.

'Boss, our lottery tickets were bought in the neighboring community; even if someone went to claim a prize, nobody would know!'

'Then quickly send someone to ask; if there's a big winner, have them call me right away.'

'Okay, I'll go myself!' The store manager didn't dare delay, directly calling a taxi to go to the lottery store where tickets were bought yesterday to inquire.

Five minutes later, Meng Bin received the other party's call, being told the lottery store hadn't opened for business yet. He immediately broke down.

'Damn, what lousy store did you find? It's already this late and still not open. File a complaint against him!'

'Boss, they wrote that they open at ten o'clock; it's only a few minutes away…'

……

'Boss, I looked around, and there's nobody waiting to claim a prize nearby.'

……

Meng Bin watched as the vegetables in Chen Yang's Supermarket sold fewer and fewer, suddenly feeling it was necessary to change his subordinate.

The current store manager is practically a jinx incarnate. Just like sending out a thousand lottery tickets, Chen Yang's could win an eighty-five-thousand-yuan grand prize, while his gave out not even a single hair's worth. This is absolutely outrageous!