After returning home, Yu Xia could not resist taking out the lottery ticket and looking at it again and again. Then she suddenly remembered something and quickly opened her phone to search through the previous lottery results, confirming that this was indeed the special draw date she remembered.
“Xiao Tao,” she asked softly, “do you think this could…”
【The system does not interfere with probability-based events in the real world.】
【However, based on an analysis of the Host’s memory accuracy, the probability of its reliability is relatively high.】
Yu Xia locked the lottery ticket in a drawer and lay down on the bed, intending to rest for a while, but no matter how she tried, she could not fall asleep. She tossed and turned as her mind had already begun planning how to use the money. First, she would buy seeds and chicks, then upgrade the storage area, and she also needed to prepare a set of solar equipment.
Suddenly, the sound of the door opening came from outside.
“Xia Xia? Mom and Dad are home!”
The familiar voice instantly froze Yu Xia in place. Her heart felt as though an invisible hand had seized it tightly. It was her mother’s voice, so clear and so real.
Yu Xia hurriedly got out of bed, staggering slightly in her haste. The footsteps outside drew closer and closer, and she could clearly hear the key turning in the lock. Tears immediately streamed down her face. In her previous life, her parents had never returned after that business trip. Once the apocalypse broke out, communications were cut off, and she had not even been able to hear her parents’ final voices.
“Xia Xia? Why aren’t you opening the door?” Her mother’s voice came through the door, accompanied by a gentle knock.
Yu Xia stumbled toward the entrance, her fingers trembling so badly that she could barely grip the doorknob. The moment the door opened, the familiar figures of her parents appeared before her. Her mother was still wearing that beige trench coat, while her father was carrying the black suitcase he always took on business trips. Everything was exactly the same as the last time they had left in her memories.
“Dad… Mom…” Her throat felt as though something were lodged in it, and tears blurred her vision. She wanted to throw herself into their arms, but her legs felt as heavy as lead.
Yu Xia’s mother was frightened by her daughter’s deathly pale face. “Oh my goodness! Xia Xia, what happened?” She hurried forward and placed a warm palm against Yu Xia’s forehead.
That simple touch became the final straw for Yu Xia. Like a drowning person clutching at a piece of driftwood, she threw her arms tightly around her mother and burst into tears. “You’re back… You really came back… I thought… I thought you would never…”
Yu Xia’s father put down his suitcase and gently patted his daughter’s trembling back with his broad palm. “Did you have a nightmare? Didn’t we tell you we’d hurry back today?”
Yu Xia desperately shook her head in her mother’s arms, her tears soaking through her mother’s clothes. She greedily breathed in the familiar scents of her parents, her mother’s faint perfume and the pinewood scent on her father. During the countless nights after the apocalypse, those scents had existed only in her dreams.
“I… I dreamed that you never came back…” she sobbed, using the closest explanation to the truth that she could think of. “The communications were cut off… people were dying everywhere… I couldn’t find you…”
Yu Xia’s mother wiped the tears from her daughter’s face with heartache. “Silly girl, dreams are the opposite of reality. Look, we’re both perfectly fine, aren’t we?” She held Yu Xia’s face in her hands and examined her carefully. “How did you lose so much weight? Haven’t you been eating properly?”
Yu Xia’s father had already walked toward the kitchen. “Dad will make your favorite sweet and sour ribs. You definitely haven’t been eating well these past few days while we were away.”
Watching her parents bustle around the house, Yu Xia leaned against the doorframe, crying and laughing at the same time. This time was different. She silently swore to herself that with the space and her experience, she would never let history repeat itself. Once the time was right, she would tell her parents everything, and then… the whole family would survive together, safe and sound.
Early the next morning, just as dawn was beginning to break, Yu Xia opened her eyes. She quietly got out of bed, careful not to wake her sleeping parents. After washing up, she cautiously opened the drawer and took out the lottery ticket, her fingertips trembling slightly with nervousness.
“Xiao Tao, what time is it now?” she asked in her mind.
【Current time: 6:15 a.m.】
【The prize redemption counter at the lottery center opens at 8:30 a.m.】
Yu Xia tucked the lottery ticket safely against her body and decided to eat breakfast first. As she passed through the living room, she saw a note her mother had left on the dining table.
“Xia Xia, Mom and Dad went to the company to take care of some work. We’ll be back soon. There’s milk and bread in the refrigerator.”
Seeing the familiar handwriting, Yu Xia’s nose stung. She quickly finished breakfast and left the house at 7:30 a.m.
The early autumn morning breeze carried a faint chill, and Yu Xia pulled her coat tighter around herself. She deliberately chose not to ride a shared bicycle, instead walking to the lottery center because she needed the twenty-minute journey to calm her pounding heart.
“Xiao Tao, help me check the prize redemption process.”
【For winnings exceeding 100,000 yuan, you must go to the municipal lottery center.】
【Required: identification card, winning lottery ticket, and bank card.】
【It is recommended to conceal your face.】
Yu Xia nodded and took the mask and baseball cap she had prepared from her bag. As she turned the final corner, the blue sign of the lottery center came clearly into view. To her surprise, more than a dozen people were already waiting outside.
“Why are there so many people…” she muttered softly as she quietly took her place at the end of the line.
The middle-aged man in front of her turned around and struck up a conversation. “Little girl, are you here to collect your prize too? I won 200 yuan. What about you?”
Yu Xia instinctively touched the lottery ticket in her pocket and answered vaguely, “Something like that…”
At last, 8:30 a.m. arrived, and the staff opened the doors. Yu Xia slowly moved forward with the line, her heartbeat growing faster with every step. By the time it was finally her turn, her palms were already drenched in sweat.
“Hello, I’m here to claim my prize.” She did her best to keep her voice steady as she handed over the lottery ticket and identification card.
The staff member scanned the ticket with a machine and suddenly widened his eyes. “Wow! A 5D straight bet with five identical numbers, five times! What incredible luck, young lady!”
Yu Xia felt as though the air around her had frozen, as everyone’s eyes instantly focused on her. She forced herself to remain calm and nodded before signing the prize redemption form according to procedure. When a text message arrived on her phone notifying her that 50 million yuan had been deposited into her account, her legs nearly gave out beneath her.
After leaving the lottery center, Yu Xia turned into an empty alley and finally crouched down, taking several deep breaths. She pulled out her phone and stared at the balance of 50,000,800 yuan displayed in her banking app, tears uncontrollably welling up in her eyes.
“Thank goodness… Now I have the starting capital…” She wiped away her tears and immediately opened her notes app to begin carrying out the purchasing plan she had made the previous night.
Her first stop was the agricultural market. Yu Xia’s steps grew lighter and lighter as she walked, with the sunlight falling across her body as though gilding her brand-new future.
Yu Xia was crouching in a corner of the agricultural market, haggling with an elderly farmer selling free-range chickens, when her phone suddenly began vibrating wildly in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw the word “Mom” flashing across the screen.
“Hello, Mom?” She answered the call while gesturing for the elderly farmer to continue placing the chicks into the cages.
“Xia Xia, where are you?” Her mother’s voice carried a hint of confusion. “People from the renovation company have arrived at the house. They said you were the one who arranged for them to come?”
Yu Xia slapped her forehead. She had completely forgotten about it! She had been so excited when she left that morning, with nothing but her purchasing plans on her mind, that she had completely forgotten about the renovation company’s scheduled visit.
“Ah, right! I’m the one who arranged it!” She quickly stood up as the chicks in the cage chirped in protest. “Mom, let them in first. I’ll be home right away!”
After hanging up, Yu Xia hurriedly paid for the chicks, grabbed the two cages containing a total of twenty little chickens, and rushed out of the market. The fluffy little creatures fluttered restlessly inside their cages, drawing curious glances from passersby.
“Taxi!” she called breathlessly as she flagged down a car. She carefully placed the chicken cages in the back seat. “Driver, Tianze Garden, please hurry!”
Along the way, Yu Xia kept checking the time. The seeds, tools, and other supplies she had purchased that morning had already been delivered into the space in separate batches. As soon as the car stopped at the entrance of the residential community, she tossed a hundred-yuan bill to the driver. “Keep the change!”
Then she grabbed the chicken cages and ran toward home. After making sure no one was watching, Yu Xia turned into an alley. When she emerged again, the chirping little chickens in her hands had completely disappeared.
The moment she reached the villa, she heard an intense discussion coming from inside. When she pushed open the door, she saw three men in work clothes standing in the living room with her parents, gesturing as they discussed the plans, while several design drawings were spread across the floor.
Yu Xia hurried over. “Master Zhang, let’s get started!”
The renovation team leader was a middle-aged man in his forties. He pushed up his glasses. “Ms. Yu, you called yesterday and said you wanted to have the doors and windows reinforced!”
“That’s right!” Yu Xia immediately got into the discussion. “The walls need to be raised to three meters, with anti-theft spikes installed along the top. Every window needs to be replaced with bulletproof-grade glass, and the main entrance needs to be fitted with two security doors…”
Her parents were left speechless by what they were hearing. Her father could not help interrupting. “Xia Xia, are you planning to open a bank or something?”
Yu Xia bit her lip. She still had not figured out how to explain the coming apocalypse to her parents. Just then, an idea struck her.
“Dad, Mom, I had a really terrifying dream last night… I dreamed that Uncle Yu came to drag me to the hospital to have my blood drawn again… I was scared…”
She deliberately put on a pitiful expression, and sure enough, her mother immediately softened.
“Oh, poor child. She’s already this frightened, so just let her have it done the way she wants.”
Although her father frowned, he no longer objected.