Chapter 7: The Lottery Strikes

  As the economy developed, the welfare lottery craze swept across China, and our city was no exception. Now, for the first time, scratch-off tickets are being sold to the public, and there are pre-sale ticket booths all over the streets, just waiting for the National Day holiday to officially start selling lottery tickets. Big trucks pulled in one car after another, bringing all sorts of home appliances, making people's eyes dazzle with excitement. And because of the temptation of profit, many people were eager to try their luck. My parents also wanted to give it a shot, but I thought to myself: Mom and Dad, you don't have this kind of fortune. In your past life, one of you scratched off a small electric rice cooker, and the other got a bag of laundry detergent. Anyway, big-ticket items like cars and major home appliances were not meant for you. But I, your daughter, have been reborn, so maybe I can create a surprise for you. And at that time, people nearby were selling snacks on the street and made a small profit too.

  As National Day is approaching, I said to my dad and mom: "Dad and Mom, there are many scratch-off lottery pre-sale points on the street. At that time, there will definitely be many people coming to buy scratch-off lottery tickets. Our house is located here, why not sell some small food? Especially five-spice tea eggs and sweet corn."

  Mom stroked my head and said, "Right, this idea is not bad, but baby is really a little glutton, you thought of all this. Let's do it, old man, tomorrow we'll go to the market to buy eggs, and then boil a pot, also to satisfy the little glutton's craving."

  "Dad said, 'Okay, it's also a good opportunity to let your mom see if I have the skills to open a snack shop. I'll cook, but at home we only have salt, white sugar, Sichuan pepper, soy sauce, and we still need to buy star anise, cinnamon, parsley, cooking wine, chili peppers, and light soy sauce.'"

  It was soon October 1st, and my dad and mom got up early to take a walk around the street. As expected, it was crowded with people, and my dad and mom held my hands tightly, as it would be easy to get lost in the crowd. I had gotten lost on October 2nd of last year, although it wasn't far from home, but at that time, I was really scared to tears. Fortunately, I knew to stand still and not follow anyone who called me, even if they said they were my parents. Coincidentally, the place where I got lost had sold out its first batch of scratch-off lottery tickets early in the morning, and one of them had won a Santana car. Many people gathered around to watch the commotion, hoping to be as lucky. Later, someone mentioned that a little girl had gotten lost from her dad and mom and was crying sadly there. My dad and mom finally found me, and my mom was so anxious that she cried, hugging me tightly, afraid of losing me again. This memory is deeply etched in my mind, as I have always been directionally challenged, even getting lost on the university campus. If I remember correctly, it was the fifth scratch-off lottery ticket sales point, and I felt like heaven was helping me. Tomorrow, I will definitely bring my dad and mom to scratch off the first batch of tickets early in the morning, win the Santana car, sell it, and then we can hope for a solution to our foreign debt and funding for my dad's small eatery. Haha, just thinking about it makes me smile.

  My mom saw me smiling foolishly and said, "Baby, what are you daydreaming about? Are you thinking of buying a scratch-off lottery ticket to try your luck?" I shook my head and said, "No, Dad and Mom, we'll come back tomorrow morning to buy some. Today, let's just take a look around, my luck has always been good."

  Dad smiled and said, "Yes, yes, yes, you're quite lucky, often picking up one or two cents, a little money enthusiast with a bit of cleverness." The next morning, I urged Dad and Mom to get up early and take me to the street to buy scratch-offs. They were both very curious why I wanted to go so early, but they couldn't resist my persistence and took me out anyway. I pulled them straight to the fifth pre-sale location, smiled at the lottery ticket vendor auntie and said, "Auntie, we want three scratch-offs, that's six bucks."

  Auntie smiled and said: "What a lovely little girl! You're the first customers of mine today, here are three."

  I took it from my aunt's hand, I was so excited, and wanted to give one to my dad and mom each. They smiled and said no need, just scratch it myself, and my aunt even praised me for being sensible. So I started scratching, my hands were a bit shaking, the first one, expecting to win immediately, but it was "thank you for your patronage", the second one didn't have anything either, could only expect the third one now, did my memory go wrong? Shaking and trembling, I scratched the third one, and indeed, on top of it was written a Santana 2000, I was so excited, almost jumped up, showed it to my mom, my dad and mom thought I had at most scratched off something small like washing powder or soap, took over the scratch-off ticket to look, who knew it was actually a Santana 2000. Told my dad: "Husband, quick look, did I see wrong? Is it really a small car? Am I hallucinating?"

  Dad quickly took over and looked at it several times, saying: "Wife, you didn't see wrong, it's really a small car, our baby is really the lucky star of our family, with such good luck." Then we asked Auntie how to redeem the prize, Auntie said let us leave our name, address, home phone number, and someone will contact us tomorrow, then bring the scratch-off ticket and ID card to collect the prize. Taking advantage of the fact that there were not many people on the street, I urged my parents to hurry back home, and then we could come out later to sell tea eggs and sweet corn.

  Back home, my dad and mom were indeed planning to sell the small car, but who would they sell it to? That was a problem. My mom suggested finding Uncle, after all, he was good at driving, maybe he had some connections. As soon as she said that, my mom called Auntie.

  Auntie agreed immediately and revealed that just a few days ago, someone wanted to buy a Santana, asking for a better quality one through Uncle. Once the car was in hand, Uncle would come take a look, and if it was good, he could sell it quickly. Even if it wasn't good, Uncle would still try his best to help us get a good price.

  My mom and dad were thrilled when they heard this. My dad's face lit up with excitement as he said: "Baby, what do you want to eat for lunch today? Dad will treat you." I listed some dishes, and my dad said no problem.

  So my dad went out to sell snacks first, and around 9 o'clock, my mom and I took over selling five-spice tea eggs and sweet corn. The sales of the sweet corn were surprisingly good, and we sold out before 11 o'clock. I told my mom: "Mom, you can go home and cook some more corn now, I'll stay here and sell the tea eggs, they're 50 cents each."

  At first, my mom was worried, but she couldn't resist my repeated requests. In the end, she reminded me not to wander off and to take care of the money box before heading home.

  Watching people come and go, I truly feel that childhood is carefree and innocent, people are kind and simple-hearted. Unlike after the 21st century when people became indifferent, each person sweeps the snow in front of their own door, and even when an old man falls down, they don't dare to help him up, fearing being taken advantage of by scoundrels. Feeling more and more grateful for the benefits of rebirth, he shouted out: "Selling tea leaf eggs, fragrant and big tea leaf eggs! Come take a look, come smell them, absolutely unforgettable, lingering on your lips and teeth, value for money."

  An old man walked over, wearing a red traditional Chinese tunic with a standing collar and symmetrical front opening. The edges of the collar and the front opening were trimmed with colored piping. There were two pieces of fabric on the front that weren't pleated or tucked in, and seven grape-shaped buttons were sewn onto the front opening. The back was made up of two pieces of fabric sewn together at the seam, with two sleeves attached to the shoulders, which had shoulder pads inside. The sides of the garment had open seams with slits, and he wore a jade pendant around his neck. He looked very spirited and energetic, truly showing that age had not diminished him - it was clear that even in his youth, he was no ordinary person. I quickly smiled and said: "Old sir, do you want to buy some tea eggs? My family's tea eggs are very affordable and delicious, all made by my dad last night, absolutely not stale goods. Do you want to try one? If it doesn't taste good, you don't have to pay." I thought to myself: He definitely won't care about the few dollars, even if it doesn't taste good, he'll still pay up.

  The old man said: "Girl is very clever, then give the old man six."

  I smiled and said, "Alright, that's 3 yuan in total." As I quickly packed the items into two bags and handed them to the old man. Just as he was about to pay, a boy around my age walked over, with bright eyes and white teeth, his face radiant like jade, exceptionally handsome. I was immediately stunned, wondering how someone could be so good-looking, and thinking that when he grew up, he might become a famous star. Just then, the boy slightly furrowed his brow and said, "Grandpa, you're eating this unhygienic stuff again. How can these street stalls be any good? You even bought six of them, be careful or grandma will scold you when she gets home."

  I was furious when I heard that, and I despised the tea eggs my dad worked so hard to make. Just now I thought you were a bit infatuated with me, but it turns out you're just wasting your good looks. "Little brother, how do you know these tea eggs are unsanitary? Without investigation, there's no right to speak, haven't you heard of 'listen extensively and then you'll be enlightened, believe partially and you'll be benighted'? The little boy didn't show any anger on his face, but said seriously: "Who is your little brother, don't randomly claim a relationship. Even if these tea eggs are sanitary, they're not nutritious, things that aren't nutritious shouldn't be eaten, it's harmful to the body."

  I didn't get angry, thinking to myself: "Sister is reborn, you can't be bigger than me no matter how big you are." I smiled and said, "According to what you say, if there's no benefit, then don't do it. If people only act on their own desires, then they're no different from animals, without any thoughts or ideas."

  The little boy shook his head and said: "Only women and children are difficult to raise, the ancients were indeed not deceiving me."

  I picked it up and said, "Then aren't you born of a woman and raised by a woman? Isn't that even harder to raise?" The little boy wanted to say more, but the old man said, "Rui'er, you don't usually talk like this, today you've been provoked by the girl." The little boy realized he was being different from usual, felt a bit rude, and didn't say anything else.

  Old Master said: "Girl, you can call me Master Ding. We will definitely meet again in the future. This is my grandson Xuan Yuan Rui. What's your name, girl?"

  "I stuttered and said, 'Grandpa Ding, my name is Nan Xiao.' Grandpa Ding smiled and took Xuan Yuan with him as they left. I waved goodbye to them and continued shouting to sell tea eggs, hoping to sell more. Of course, in the end, I still had to wait for mom to call me back home for dinner."