Qiao Qiao was furious! "Chen Yang, you little bastard! I'm naturally beautiful! If I just waved my hand, there would be a line of men wanting to marry me stretching from one side of the river to the other! It's just that I don't even look at any of them! And you dare to look down on me! I...I...I can't tolerate this anymore!!"
When Aze and Mutou came out after paying the bill, I was already cornered by Qiaoqiao. I grabbed her wrist tightly to stop her from hitting me again, and then, watching Aze and Mutou walk out, I angrily said, "You two bastards! You've gone mad! Look what you've done!"
Aze's eyes darted around, and he spread his hands: "Please, you said it... and now you're the one who twisted Qiaoqiao's hand... But I really have to say something fair!" Aze had a righteous expression on his face, and said indignantly: "Our Qiaoqiao is such a good girl! Beautiful and generous, sexy and passionate, born with a fiery heart, the kind of girl with an overly high revolutionary spirit! Her revolutionary enthusiasm is so high that she shouts 'Fire at me!' all day long, she's fearless and sees enemies everywhere, and if I don't keep an eye on her for a moment, she'll be climbing on the roof and tearing off the tiles—such a good girl! Such an excellent girl..." "If you put her in front of me, any man would be begging and pleading, wouldn't he? Even if he didn't shower her with sweet words, he'd at least show some fearless, hard-working spirit. He'd face any difficulty, and if there weren't any, he'd create them! He'd fight to the death to win her heart! Only you could do that! Chen Yang! How dare you speak so arrogantly to our Miss Qiao! You treat such a precious gem like dirt! Don't even mention Miss Qiao wanting to slap you! I, on behalf of all men in the world, express my utmost indignation at your behavior! You can't treat a precious gem like this!"
After Aze finished speaking in one breath, I was stunned. While he was catching his breath, I blurted out, "Damn! She likes women!"
"That's Miss Qiao's own business!" Aze immediately continued to criticize me mercilessly: "Who she likes is her business! But your behavior of not treasuring her is a waste of her talent, that's your problem! Don't always emphasize objective reasons! You need to pay attention to your own subjective errors in understanding! Chen Yang!"
"I..." I was so choked that I couldn't catch my breath for a moment, and finally I burst out cursing, "You two bastards who can't speak human language!"
After saying that, he let go of Qiaoqiao.
Qiaoqiao and I played around for a while and she was probably tired. She rolled her eyes at me but didn't come over to pinch me. She just stood there panting.
After a while, Qiaoqiao finally caught her breath, glared at me, and gritted her teeth, saying, "Chen Yang, you little bastard, when I see you again, I'll kick you to death!"
Aze, standing nearby, immediately chimed in, "Young Master Qiao, why aren't you playing today?"
"Tch! Kick him today? Dream on!" Miss Qiao rolled her eyes with a flirtatious grin. Gritting her teeth, she said disdainfully, "I'm not wearing underwear today. If I kick him, he'll just be taking advantage of me!"
"..."
The three of us men immediately looked at each other, speechless. After we'd had our fill of commotion, we finally got into the car to rest. We each lit a cigarette, and after a while, Aze and Mu Tou sensed something was off, so they quickly made an excuse to go check if the new newspapers had arrived at the morning newsstand, leaving Qiao Qiao and me in the car.
The two, who had been getting along quite well, suddenly felt the atmosphere become somewhat awkward. Qiao Qiao's eyes still held a hint of annoyance, but it seemed to contain more resentment than anything else.
"Chen Yang!" she suddenly said, "Tell me... do you really look down on me that much?"
I was speechless. After thinking for a moment, I said with a bitter face, "Don't listen to Aze and the others' nonsense..."
"Fine! I won't listen to what Aze and the others say, I'll only listen to what you say!" Miss Qiao stared into my eyes: "I'm asking you, is marrying me really that terrible? Damn, there are plenty of men who fawn over me every day! None of them have spoken so badly of me! Only you, Chen Yang!"
I chuckled: "Hey, Miss, what's the point of arguing about this?"
Unfortunately, I forgot one thing.
Most women in the world are like this... Women are very complex creatures.
If a man flirts with them, they will accuse him of being lecherous and despicable. But if a man ignores them, they will complain that he is blind to their good looks.
For most women, the only acceptable condition is: I am a stunning beauty loved by all! I only allow those stinky men to be infatuated with me, but I look down on them!
If it were the other way around, those stinky men would dare look down on me! Damn it, that would be unacceptable!!
Especially in the minds of many beautiful women who always have a high opinion of themselves, this law can be simplified into one sentence:
I may look down on you, but you absolutely cannot look down on me!
Applying this to Qiaoqiao means: Whether she marries me or not is another matter; but how dare I look down on her... that's simply intolerable!
"Miss, I give up, okay?" I said dejectedly, "I was ashamed of myself for not being good enough for you, is that alright now?"
"Don't even think about making excuses!!" Qiao Qiao was still furious, her face pale, and she wouldn't give up no matter what: "I'm asking you, Chen Yang! Tell me the truth! Why won't you marry me?"
"Damn it, it's because you don't like men, you like women!" I snapped.
"That's my business! We're talking about you now! It's your problem! If I were to like men again... damn it, with a girl like me willing to give myself to you, wouldn't you be so happy you couldn't sleep at night?! Just wait and see!"
Seeing Qiaoqiao's arrogant and domineering manner, I couldn't help but chuckle again.
"Stop laughing!" Qiao Qiao snapped, her voice sharp and demanding. "Stop laughing! Be serious! Why am I so worthless in your eyes? Why do you look down on me like this? I just can't swallow this!"
"It's nothing, Qiaoqiao." I was driven crazy by this girl, and I was already regretting it to the core. Why did I have to tell that troublemaker, Aze, what Li Wenjing said?! I still patiently explained to Qiaoqiao, "It's because we're good friends, buddies! Our friendship will last forever, until the end of the world, you'll always be my buddy!"
Qiao Qiao's face flushed red with anger. She gritted her teeth, thought for a moment, and continued relentlessly, "Then let me ask you again... um... if it were the end of the world right now! If there were only the two of us left in the whole world, and if we didn't unite, humanity would perish... and you still wouldn't want me?"
I... I curse Aze's ancestors for eighteen generations!
Suppressing the urge to yell, I patiently explained to Qiaoqiao.
"If the world really ends, and only the two of us are left in the world, even if we unite, we can't save humanity from extinction. Because anthropologically speaking, even if we have children, we won't be able to find other humans to reproduce with... We can't let our children unite, can we? That's incest, and even if they have offspring, they'll be deformed... In short, the extinction of humanity is inevitable, so..."
As I said this, I glanced up at Qiao Qiao, but I didn't notice that Miss Qiao was already so angry that her index finger was trembling, her body was shaking, and she was gritting her teeth and saying in a trembling voice, "Chen Yang! I...I...I'm not done with you yet!"
I felt a chill run down my spine and shivered.
After a while, Aze and Mutou returned, actually carrying a newspaper. However, when I took a look, I realized it wasn't from that morning; it was a newspaper from yesterday that they had picked up from somewhere.
It was still quite cold outside in the early hours of the morning, after all, it was winter. The four of us squeezed into the car, closed the doors and windows, and turned on the air conditioning. Qiaoqiao continued to smoke heavily to vent her anger, and Aze and Mutou didn't dare to provoke her. I, on the other hand, had moved to the back seat earlier and sat down to read the newspaper by the light from inside the car.
I'm not planning to go home. It's almost morning anyway, so I might as well just wander around outside until it's time to go to work. That would save me a lot of trouble.
Suddenly, a few lines of text on the newspaper caught my eye. It was a news item in the middle of the social section, and it prominently displayed the winning numbers for this week's welfare lottery!
I immediately remembered the lottery numbers I bought a few days ago, and after calculating the time, it should have been yesterday's draw! Things have been so chaotic these past two days that I almost forgot!
I quickly glanced at the number...
Aze and Mutou noticed me sitting there lost in thought. I was holding a newspaper in my hand, and my expression was rather strange. My eyes... were clearly unfocused.
She gently nudged me, and I snapped out of my daze. I took a deep breath, feeling my heart pounding and my body trembling uncontrollably.
"Chen Yang, what's wrong?" Aze frowned, glanced at the newspaper in my hand, which was folded right over the lottery numbers, and couldn't help but laugh, "What's wrong? Are you dreaming of getting rich?"
I gave a mysterious smile: "Wrong! It wasn't a dream of getting rich... it was actually getting rich."
Then I rolled up the newspaper, let out a long breath, and slowly said, "Brothers and sisters! I really won the lottery! One first prize, two second prizes... a total of eight million six hundred thousand!"
Seeing my ecstatic expression, Aze showed no joy whatsoever. Instead, he gave Mu Tou a serious look, and Mu Tou, looking worried, turned to Qiao Qiao and asked earnestly, "Hey, did you accidentally hurt Xiao Wu's head just now?"
Part One: In the Martial World, Unable to Control One's Own Fate, Chapter Eighty-Two: Good Character, But There's No Way Around It
No matter how much they laughed at me, I just held the newspaper and carefully checked the winning numbers, looking completely relaxed.
Aze looked a little surprised, glanced at me a couple of times, and probably realized that I really wasn't joking. He hesitated for a moment and asked, "Gangwu, you didn't actually win the lottery, did you?"
"Why not?" I replied casually, then put down the newspaper and looked at my three good friends: "I really won the lottery."
Then came a gasp of surprise. Qiaoqiao temporarily put aside her sulking with me, and the group of guys shamelessly demanded that I treat them to dinner. I checked the time and pointed to the sky outside: "It's not even morning yet, what do you want to eat?"
Although I appeared calm on the surface... in reality, I was secretly turbulent!
I couldn't help but be excited; winning the lottery has a special meaning for me!
First of all, winning the prize once again proves the ring's effectiveness! This is also the only time I've used the ring since receiving the measuring device! Now it seems the effect is already very obvious!
I won the lottery, and in the days following the purchase, I did not use the ring again and experienced no side effects.
The key now is: if I can remain normal after receiving the huge bonus and nothing unlucky happens again, then my method of using the ring can be considered completely correct!
Aze and the others were curious and puzzled by my outward composure, while Qiaoqiao maliciously thought that I was so happy that I had gone mad, and at the same time, I arrogantly declared that if I did go mad, she would be happy to take over my two little beauties, Yandi and Amei.
As for this female hooligan who argued with me today, I simply rolled my eyes at her.
I immediately drove home. Since it was still before 5 a.m., I only left a few male and female hooligans in the car downstairs and firmly refused Aze and Qiaoqiao's request to come upstairs with me.
Damn it, they think I can't guess what they're up to! They just want to take a look at my two little beauties in their pre-sleep outfits! Dream on!
After I got home, I found the lottery tickets I had put away in my room, and then after thinking for a moment, I went over and knocked on the door of the girl next door.
After a rustling sound inside, Yan Di responded softly, came over and opened the door, carefully hiding her head behind the crack. Her face flushed, she asked, "What?"
It was early morning, and the light was still dim. Yan Di was wearing a set of pajamas, which surprisingly featured a cartoon bear pattern. The pajamas were a one-piece style, with a short hem that revealed a section of her fair legs, her delicate figure faintly visible. The girl's face was flushed, and her eyes held a hint of shyness and sleepiness. She was wrapped in a blanket.
To be honest, I was stunned for a moment before I came to my senses. Yan Di lowered his eyelids and said, "Brother Xiao Wu, what's wrong? Are you hungry? I'll get up and make you something to eat in a bit."
"No." I couldn't help but reach out and hug her. Yan Di was startled and subconsciously glanced back. The room was warm with the air conditioning on, and A Mei was sprawled out on the bed, drooling without any regard for her image. I hugged Yan Di and kissed her forehead first: "Baby, we're about to have money."
After I finished speaking, I said in a low voice, "Don't go to work today. Stay home and wait for me. I'll be back for lunch. Um... also, go out and buy some groceries this morning."
Then I asked Yan Di to take out A Mei's lottery ticket.
The lottery ticket I gave Amei last time, the little money-grubber has been keeping it in her room, under the glass shelf. She's fast asleep right now, so I won't wake her. Anyway, it'll be a surprise for her when I get the money back.
Yan Di seemed a little confused, perhaps not understanding why I knocked on her door and woke her up so early in the morning to give her these instructions. However, this girl usually obeys me almost everything, so I didn't say much, and she never asked, obediently agreeing.
But holding such a cute little girl, looking at her cartoon pajamas, her adorable appearance was simply irresistible... I couldn't help but hug her and give her a hard peck on the lips, then gently patted Yan Di's little bottom: "Go to bed, it's still early. I'll give you a surprise when I come back at noon."
Yan Di gasped softly, a blush rising to her rosy cheeks, her eyes holding a shy yet delighted glint, her long eyelashes trembling slightly. Although our relationship was already established, we rarely interacted beyond hugging and cuddling. With this little money-grubber at home, even a simple kiss was something we had to do secretly. Yan Di was a delicate girl, and she would never dare to be intimate with me in public. My playful gesture, almost like a lover's, probably made her a little uneasy. She gave me a reproachful look, her face flushed, and shrank back into her room.
My heart was filled with joy. Although I hadn't slept all night, when I stepped out of the house, I felt like I had inexhaustible energy!
He touched the lottery tickets in his pocket and thought: The happiness of my whole family depends on you!
Qiaoqiao, Aze, and Mutou insisted on going with me to receive the award, out of curiosity, of course. You might only experience something like this once in a lifetime. We'd only had a late-night snack a short while before the three of them insisted on finding a very expensive Cantonese dim sum restaurant, and the meal ended up costing nearly a thousand yuan…
These bastards! They drank seven or eight bowls of shark fin congee. Of the basket of crab roe buns I ordered, I only ate two; the rest were untouched…
In the words of that beast Aze: "Crab roe buns? Too cheap! A dozen yuan each, a few and you're full! At most, they're only a few dozen yuan, too cheap for you! Shark fin porridge is better, a hundred yuan for a small bowl, you can drink three or five bowls and still stuff yourself!"
We stayed at this Cantonese dim sum restaurant until 9 a.m., then I called the office to ask for a day off. There wasn't much to do today. The main thing was dealing with that old man, Lao Fu, whom I picked up from the airport yesterday. But the old guy was drunk last night, and he probably won't be up until noon. As for the specifics of the business, I couldn't worry about too much. Ning Yan would handle that.
The person who answered my call was Ning Yan. She sounded much better on the phone, and her tone was very cheerful.
At 10:00 AM, our two cars drove straight to the Welfare Lottery Center!
The welfare lottery center isn't actually very big; it's a building from the 1990s, and you have to climb a very steep ramp to get there. I always felt a deep sense of respect for this place.
For no other reason than... just think about it, this place can create several millionaires every month!
Just this one feature alone is incredibly impressive!
We parked the car below and walked uphill. The slope was about thirty or fifty meters long and very steep. I always felt that the slope was perfectly placed here.
Isn't that right? If you can climb this slope and then come out again, your value will instantly increase a hundredfold! Like a carp leaping over the dragon gate!
I entered the welfare lottery center and explained my purpose to the receptionist. The person was very professional and friendly, offering many words of congratulations, and then glancing at me with their eyes. At the time, I didn't understand what they meant, but it wasn't until years later that I realized they were waiting for me to "show my appreciation."
Generally speaking, those who come to these places to claim their prizes are big winners! Smaller prizes can be claimed directly at smaller lottery outlets. But big winners usually give away a generous "lucky money" or "gift" when they collect their winnings.
Although people here don't dare to accept red envelopes, who doesn't bring three or five cartons of good cigarettes when they come to receive prizes? If you say a few words of congratulations, they can usually slip you a couple of packs of Zhonghua cigarettes.
Seeing that I came empty-handed and hadn't offered any thanks, their enthusiasm immediately dropped several notches.
The four of us waited in the reception room for a while, and then two staff members came in. One of them turned out to be an old acquaintance!
An older man, who seemed to be in a leadership position, gave me a familiar face, but at first I didn't recognize him. Then it suddenly dawned on me—the last time I bought one of those instant lottery tickets on the street, this was the same man who handled the transaction when I won…
When this guy saw me, he was stunned.
I think that's pretty normal. I guess it's because of the last time I bought dozens of lottery tickets and won every single one – that kind of miraculous thing is something this guy has probably never seen in all his years in the business; it's unprecedented. He only paused for a moment, then immediately recognized me!
The guy's eyes glazed over for a moment, and he almost fainted. Then he steadied himself against the wall, looked me up and down, and finally let out a sigh of relief: "...It's you again!"