Shen Jiaojiao picked out a few scratch-off lottery tickets that she felt were different from the rest—some had noticeably lighter patterns, making her eyes feel strained.
In total, she bought five tickets for ten yuan. Xiao Yueyue had also finished buying hers and came running over excitedly. The mother and daughter each began scratching their own tickets.
“Mom, if we win the jackpot, I want to eat roast duck.”
Xiao Yueyue swallowed her saliva. There was a roast duck shop below the hotel, and the aroma drove her crazy. She drooled every time she passed by.
“We’ll eat it even if we don’t win. A child shouldn’t spend all day thinking about hitting the jackpot. We have to rely on hard work to get rich, understand?”
Shen Jiaojiao felt the child’s mindset was a bit off and needed timely correction.
“Understood, Mom. I’ll definitely earn lots of money in the future and give it all to you.”
Xiao Yueyue nodded obediently, her whole body relaxing as she fully immersed herself in the joy of scratching the tickets. Winning or not wasn’t important—that’s what Mom said.
“Good, I’ll be waiting.”
Shen Jiaojiao smiled. She had confidence in Xiao Yueyue. The child was highly intelligent and exceptionally resilient. As long as she didn’t go down the wrong path, she would undoubtedly succeed.
Xiao Yueyue grinned and scratched two tickets, both of which read “Thank You for Your Patronage.”
“Mom, I got ‘Thank You for Your Patronage.’ What did you get?”
Xiao Yueyue leaned over to look. Shen Jiaojiao had already scratched three tickets, all of which were also “Thank You for Your Patronage.”
“Haha, Mom, you got ‘Thank You for Your Patronage’ too. We’re the same!”
Xiao Yueyue burst into laughter and continued scratching.
When Shen Jiaojiao scratched the fourth ticket, she sensed something was off. She was certain it wasn’t “Thank You for Your Patronage.” She sped up, scraping off all the ink, and revealed the grand prize.
She blinked her eyes, confirming it was indeed the grand prize.
That male celebrity’s tips really worked.
Thank him!
Shen Jiaojiao calmly tucked the lottery ticket away and continued scratching the last one, which won her a bag of laundry detergent. She chuckled and deliberately said loudly, “Yueyue, Mom won a bag of laundry detergent.”
“Wow, Mom is amazing!”
Xiao Yueyue cheered happily. She had also finished scratching all her tickets. Shen Jiaojiao thought they were all “Thank You for Your Patronage” and was about to comfort her when she saw the little girl wink at her.
Shen Jiaojiao’s mind stirred. She took Xiao Yueyue to a quiet spot, and the little girl leaned close to her ear, speaking mysteriously.
“Mom, I won the first prize.”
Xiao Yueyue pulled out her lottery ticket—sure enough, it was the first prize, worth fifty thousand yuan in cash.
Shen Jiaojiao twitched the corner of her mouth. Their luck was truly remarkable—they had just earned one hundred and fifty thousand yuan in one go.
What a windfall!
But what surprised her even more was that Xiao Yueyue could keep her composure. She was only eight years old!
Even an adult would struggle to stay calm after winning such a big prize. This child was indeed cool-headed—no wonder she had given the entire Shanghai police force headaches in her previous life.
Moreover, Shen Jiaojiao remembered that in her previous life, it was actually Xiao Yueyue who had deliberately left clues; otherwise, the police might never have caught her. She suspected the child might not have wanted to live anymore.
“Look!”
Shen Jiaojiao took out her lottery ticket and placed it in front of Xiao Yueyue.
The little girl’s eyes slowly widened, and her mouth fell open. Shen Jiaojiao winked at her triumphantly and whispered, “Let’s go claim the prize now. We’ll buy roast duck afterward.”
“Okay!”
Xiao Yueyue nodded vigorously, her big eyes shining brightly and the corners of her mouth lifted high.
Shen Jiaojiao carried her ID card and household register with her. Come to think of it, she had to thank the Xi Family. Because she hadn’t registered her marriage, she couldn’t transfer her household registration to the Xi Family, so her household registration was still under the textile factory’s collective household.After dropping out of high school, she started working at a textile factory, and her household registration was transferred to the factory’s collective household. After the textile factory went bankrupt, it was placed under the Yangcheng Personnel Bureau, so her household registration had no connection with either the Shen or Xi families. Moreover, she had already transferred her collective household registration out, waiting only to buy a house in Shanghai to settle her household directly.
The prize collection point was inside the stadium, piled high with mountains of prizes. Many people came to collect laundry detergent. Shen Jiaojiao stood to the side, waiting until everyone had finished before presenting her two grand prizes.
The staff member initially glanced casually, already reaching out to grab the laundry detergent, but his hand suddenly froze mid-air, his expression changing dramatically, his eyes fixed in place.
“Grand Prize?”
Shen Jiaojiao smiled and nodded. “I want cash, and please don’t announce it. There are no men in my family, just the two of us women. If people find out, it could be dangerous.”
The staff member finally caught his breath, swallowed hard, and looked Shen Jiaojiao and her daughter up and down. A flash of admiration crossed his eyes—this mother was too young and beautiful.
“Is your husband not home?”
He couldn’t help but blurt it out.
“He’s dead.”
Shen Jiaojiao’s expression was blank. To the staff member, she seemed overwhelmed with grief, her heart as cold as ashes.
“I’m sorry.”
The staff member was deeply remorseful. He shouldn’t have stabbed this poor woman in the heart again.
“There’s also a first prize, totaling one hundred and fifty thousand yuan,” Shen Jiaojiao reminded him to hurry up.
The staff member had only looked at one lottery ticket and hadn’t yet checked the one underneath. After all, in his view, winning the grand prize was a stroke of luck that came once in a hundred years—how could she possibly win the first prize too?
But seeing the two grand prize lottery tickets in his hand, the staff member felt a tsunami of shock surge inside him. How could there be such a lucky person in the world?
His sympathy for Shen Jiaojiao vanished instantly.
Winning one hundred and fifty thousand yuan in one go—what did it matter if a man was dead? The truly pitiful one was him. His monthly salary was only six hundred yuan. Even if he didn’t eat or drink for a year, he’d only save seven thousand yuan. It would take him twenty years to earn one hundred and fifty thousand yuan.
It was simply tragic!
A total of fifteen stacks of brand-new banknotes, still bound with the bank’s paper strips, were piled on the table like a small mountain. Shen Jiaojiao packed them all into a bag, which felt heavy in her hand.
As Shen Jiaojiao hailed a taxi, a joyful announcement blared from the loudspeaker: “Five minutes ago, a Ms. Shen won the grand prize and the first prize, taking home one hundred and fifty thousand yuan in cash! Comrades, the odds of winning are incredibly high, and the prizes on stage are waiting for you!”
Everyone’s eyes widened in disbelief. Winning one hundred and fifty thousand yuan in one go—who was this god of wealth?
The enthusiasm of the lottery buyers soared to unprecedented heights. Almost everyone emptied their pockets, and some even spent an entire month’s salary. Naturally, the results were disappointing.
Shen Jiaojiao went to the bank and deposited all one hundred and fifty thousand yuan. A week after crossing over, she now had assets totaling two hundred and thirty-three thousand yuan, enough to buy a very nice house in Shanghai.
The entire city was speculating about who Ms. Shen, the winner of one hundred and fifty thousand yuan, was. Even the restaurant Shen Jiaojiao frequented was discussing it, but no one knew it was her. Three days had passed since she transferred money to Shen’s father, and in two more days, he would discover the truth.
Shen Jiaojiao hadn’t been idle these past two days. She had sent several letters to the Education Bureau, containing photos of Wang Jianjun and Xi Zihua, along with their names and the schools they attended.As for Xi Shuhua’s Public Second Generation suitor, she also sent many photos there, with Xi Zihua circled in each picture, along with a special note identifying him as Xi Shuhua’s direct paternal cousin.
“Xi Shuhua knows all about Xi Zihua’s affairs, but the whole family helped cover it up, even arranging a marriage for Xi Zihua with an innocent woman as a cover.”
Shen Jiaojiao didn’t write with her left hand; she wasn’t afraid of the Xi Family recognizing her handwriting. She sent the letters today, and they would likely arrive in about two or three days. By then, she would already be in Shanghai.
Shanghai is so big; the Xi Family definitely wouldn’t be able to find her. What was there to fear?