Chapter 315: Where Is My Million-dollar Prize???
As business continued to grow.
At this point, the number of employees at Jiang’s Food Factory had expanded from just a handful to over 20.
Moreover, all these 20-plus people were Jiang Tao’s own relatives from Jiang Family Village, whom he had asked Jiang Wen to recruit.
Food and lodging were provided, along with the five insurances and one fund in the Capital City. After deductions for insurance, they took home around five thousand yuan.
The salary for ordinary workers at Jiang’s Food Factory was not eye-catching in a big city like the Capital City.
However, for the villagers who came from Jiang Family Village, it was a very rare and good job.
Most of those who came from the village were Jiang Tao’s uncles, aunts, and other relatives connected to his family through distant ties.
Among them, not a single one had even finished high school.
They had lived and worked hard for most of their lives, struggling at the bottom of society.
They were construction laborers, sweatshop workers, kitchen assistants in restaurants, cleaners…
They lacked education and skills, doing jobs that were tough, tiring, dirty, and paid very little.
The work at Jiang’s Food Factory was both easy and clean, and it paid well.
Everyone felt grateful towards Jiang Tao, their young boss,
and they cherished this hard-won good job immensely, working diligently.
Even when Jiang Tao and Jiang Wen, father and son, were not at the factory, no one slacked off.
After all, they had been brought from the village from far away, provided with food and drink, and given such a high salary.
To not work hard would be a betrayal of their conscience!
Jiang Wen and Jiang Tao, father and son, treated everyone with sincerity, and the workers reciprocated with their own genuineness.
The father and son had now become celebrities in Jiang Family Village, with their reputation in the village growing day by day.
When Jiang Wen was in the village, people visited him daily, and everyone treated him with utmost respect.
At the factory, everyone also held him in high regard and affection.
Jiang Wen truly never expected that in his old age, he would be able to bask in so much reflected glory from his son.
Breakfast concluded in a pleasant atmosphere of eating and chatting.
Jiang Wen and Tian Xiaomei, filled with excitement, went out to negotiate the rental of a store with an agent.
If nothing unexpected happened, they would rent that store today.
After filling his stomach, Jiang Tao leisurely went downstairs and met Jia Guilin, who had been waiting for him.
“Good morning, boss.”
Upon seeing Jiang Tao come downstairs, Jia Guilin respectfully greeted him.
Jia Guilin genuinely liked and respected his boss, who was kind and incredibly generous.
Jiang Tao truly treated him like family, not an outsider.
Jia Guilin had only been with Jiang Tao for a few days, and hadn’t even received his first month’s salary yet.
The allowance for food, drinks, and tips that Jiang Tao had given him already amounted to several thousand yuan!
Jia Guilin’s wife said he had struck it lucky and met his benefactor.
“Morning, did you buy the things, Old Jia?”
Jiang Tao cut to the chase, directly discussing business with Old Jia.
Although a million yuan was not a huge sum to him now, it was still a considerable income and would further enrich his nest egg.
Jia Guilin reported truthfully:
“I bought them all, boss. A total of 3 packs and about ten loose tickets.
As per your instructions, I bought them all.
It cost 3120 yuan in total, and the remaining…”
“You can keep the rest for your food expenses for now. Ask me for more when you’re done.”
Jiang Tao waved his hand, generously giving Old Jia the remaining amount, which was over a thousand and less than two thousand yuan.
“Thank you, boss! The items are in the car.”
Jia Guilin nodded respectfully, his eyes full of gratitude towards Jiang Tao.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Jiang Tao said with a smile and opened the rear door of the G-wagon to get in.
Indeed.
On the back seat lay a thick stack of scratch cards with the slogan “So close, so beautiful, weekend to Hebei.”
The slogan for Hebei had indeed become quite popular.
“Boss, where are we going?”
After getting into the car and fastening his seatbelt, Jia Guilin asked Jiang Tao about his itinerary.
“Let’s go to the ICBC bank branch in Longze first.”
Jiang Tao casually instructed Old Jia and then eagerly began searching through the stack of scratch cards for the special one that could win the grand prize.
He first flipped through all the loose tickets, but the glowing one wasn’t among them.
Then, he opened all three unopened packs one by one to check, but the result was still the same.
“What’s going on? Why aren’t any of them here?”
Jiang Tao frowned slightly, wondering in his mind where the mistake had occurred.
“Old Jia, are you sure you bought all of this type of scratch card from the store?”
Jiang Tao put down the scratch cards in his hand and looked at Jia Guilin, who was driving, and asked.
“Yes, boss. I bought all the remaining ones and packed them up.”
Hearing Jiang Tao’s words, Jia Guilin’s heart skipped a beat, and he immediately became nervous.
He also quickly reviewed his experience of buying the lottery tickets in his mind.
He wondered if he had made any mistakes and failed to complete what the boss had instructed him to do.
“That’s strange…”
Although Jiang Tao hadn’t known Jia Guilin for long, he trusted his character implicitly,
knowing he wouldn’t be disingenuous about something like this.
Furthermore, he had no idea that there was a ticket among these that could win a grand prize.
And it was impossible for him to precisely pick out the winning ticket from this pile!
He had the System Brother’s hint, but Jia Guilin didn’t.
Therefore, Jiang Tao was more inclined to suspect that Jia Guilin had made a mistake when buying the scratch cards, rather than believing there was a problem with Jia Guilin himself.
Jiang Tao pondered for a moment and then asked:
“Old Jia, did anything happen when you went to buy the scratch cards? Or, was anyone else also buying at the same time?”
“No, I went there before 8 o’clock. After the boss opened the store, I was the first one in.”
While driving, Jia Guilin truthfully reported his lottery ticket purchasing process to Jiang Tao.
Jiang Tao continued to ask, “Are you sure you bought all types of lottery tickets like these?”
“That…”
Jia Guilin wasn’t entirely sure.
After all, he wasn’t the owner of the lottery shop, just a customer.
“I told the boss I wanted all of them and asked him to give them all to me, and then the boss gave me these.”
As Jia Guilin answered Jiang Tao’s questions,
he secretly blamed himself for not being more diligent and cautious in his work, not doing the best job.
Since the boss had instructed him to buy all the scratch cards of the same type,
he should have checked carefully for any omissions at the time.
“Old Jia, let’s go to that lottery shop again.”
Jiang Tao made a swift decision and asked Old Jia to change course and head to the lottery shop where he had bought the scratch cards.
He hadn’t managed to buy that 1 million yuan scratch card, so it was likely still at the shop.
It was probably missed in some corner.
Or perhaps it was hidden under other types of scratch cards.
“Okay, boss!”
Jia Guilin agreed with a nod and, at a suitable intersection, made a U-turn, heading back to the lottery shop he had visited just that morning.
9:43 AM.
The Mercedes-Benz G-wagon arrived at the entrance of a small commercial street behind the back door of Wangfu Teahouse.
This street was a single lane in each direction and not very wide, with no planned parking spaces along the road.
Jia Guilin found a temporary parking spot near the entrance and parked the car.
Jiang Tao asked him to stay in the car to watch it, while he got out alone and walked towards the lottery shop mentioned in the intelligence.
In the morning, business at the lottery shop was average.
When Jiang Tao entered, there was only a man, appearing to be in his forties, standing next to a trend chart hanging on the wall.
However, his gaze occasionally flickered towards the woman sitting behind the counter inside.
The woman also appeared to be in her forties, with a slightly plump and voluptuous figure. She wore a pair of purple-framed glasses on her fair and round face.
She was wearing a yellow and white floral dress that revealed a large expanse of fair skin at the chest, giving her a rather charming appearance.
Seeing this, Jiang Tao chuckled inwardly, realizing the man inside wasn’t studying numbers but the boss lady!
“Handsome guy, do you want to buy tickets?”
Qiu Lizhen’s eyes lit up when she saw Jiang Tao enter.
With her manicured right middle finger, she adjusted her glasses, trying to get a clearer look at Jiang Tao.
“Huh? You are, you are that handsome guy from Supermarket Fa who acted bravely yesterday!”
The moment Qiu Lizhen recognized Jiang Tao’s face, she leaped up from her seat, looking at him with surprised delight.
“It really is you, handsome guy! I even watched your live stream last night, followed you, and sent you some small gifts!”
“Handsome guy, you’re amazing, you’re the best, I give you a thumbs up!”
“In such a dangerous situation yesterday, a group of men only thought about saving themselves, but you dared to step in. You’re a real man!”
After recognizing Jiang Tao, Qiu Lizhen launched into a barrage of praise, her attitude becoming even more enthusiastic!
“Uh, sister, you flatter me. I just did what I thought was right; it’s nothing worth mentioning.”
Jiang Tao hadn’t expected to meet one of his fans while buying scratch cards, and he smiled humbly, waving his hand.
“See, handsome guy, I’m not kidding. I really sent you gifts yesterday. I’m a true fan.”
As she spoke, Qiu Lizhen opened her phone, tapped on the Kuaidou app, and showed Jiang Tao her consumption record.
Good heavens.
One wouldn’t know if they didn’t look.
Jiang Tao saw that the gifts this sister had sent him amounted to over 2000 yuan.
She was definitely a loyal fan!
“I believe you, I believe you. Sister, you look like an honest person. Thank you for your support and kindness.”
Jiang Tao found himself both amused and a little speechless by the actions of this sister, who spoke with a genuine Beijing accent.
The man beside them, seeing Qiu Lizhen’s enthusiasm for Jiang Tao, felt incredibly envious!
He had been coming here to watch the game… no, to buy lottery tickets for years, but he had never received such treatment!
Comparing oneself to others truly was infuriating!
Being handsome was indeed a great advantage!
“Jiang, since you and I are so fated, I won’t take any money from you today.”
“Whatever you want to bet on, and how much you want to bet, we’ll do it.”
“I, Qiu Lizhen, admire men like you who dare to act in the face of danger!”
Qiu Lizhen’s straightforwardness made Jiang Tao feel overwhelmed. He quickly waved his hand with a smile and said:
“No need to be so polite, sister. It’s not easy for you to run a business. I was just looking around.”
“Hey! Little brother, don’t be so formal with me!”
“Don’t look at my small shop; I don’t earn much per month.”
“To tell you the truth, I don’t live off this. I just keep myself occupied.”
“I own five apartments in Chaoyang District, and the rent I collect each month is enough for me to live quite comfortably.”
Qiu Lizhen said with a smile, looking at Jiang Tao. The more she looked, the more handsome she found this young man.
She usually didn’t flaunt her wealth or how many properties she owned.
Displaying her strength in front of Jiang Tao was only intended to gain more of his attention and favor.
“…”
Hearing Qiu Lizhen’s words, Jiang Tao was once again speechless.
Beijing truly had hidden talents; one could never underestimate anyone!
The owner of such a small lottery shop was also a “landlady” who owned several properties.
And they were in Chaoyang District!
The property prices in this area meant that each apartment cost at least several million, or even tens of millions.
“Haha, sister, since you’re so capable, I won’t be polite then.”
“I was just browsing casually, feeling a whim to buy a scratch card for fun.”
Jiang Tao hadn’t intended to buy any lottery tickets.
Those things weren’t about probability; they were about statistics!
“Alright, little brother, you browse freely. If you want to play with any, I’ll give you a few packs!”
Qiu Lizhen clearly had a naturally friendly personality.
In less than three minutes of meeting, her address for Jiang Tao had changed from “handsome guy,” to “Jiang-er,” and then to “little brother.”
The man beside them, who had been studying the game, knew they had just met.
Those who didn’t know would have thought they had years of deep friendship.
“Sister, do you have the ‘So close, so beautiful, weekend to Hebei’ scratch cards here?”
“My hometown is Hebei, and I want to buy some to support my hometown’s welfare initiatives.”
Jiang Tao glanced at the display window, which held dozens of scratch cards of various denominations.
However, the “So close, so beautiful, weekend to Hebei” that he wanted to buy was nowhere to be seen.
“Oh, several people have been looking for this today.”
“Little brother, you’ve come at an unlucky time today. I only have about ten left.”
“This morning, a man came and bought all three full packs and over a dozen loose tickets from me.”
Hearing that Jiang Tao was also looking for the “So close, so beautiful, weekend to Hebei” scratch cards, Qiu Lizhen became puzzled.
Usually, a specific type of lottery ticket would only attract many buyers if it had won a prize of two to three hundred thousand yuan and made headlines.
Seeing others win, buyers would think they could win too.
What if, right?
If a single draw of Double Color Ball or similar games suddenly produced a grand prize of over a hundred million yuan, it would also stimulate sales.
“So close, so beautiful, weekend to Hebei” was just a niche local lottery in Hebei.
It was only sold in a few provinces in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Henan, and Shanxi, with a total issuance of only four to five hundred million.
Moreover, this type of scratch card hadn’t produced any major prizes recently, and sales had been generally average.
“There are still over ten left?”
Hearing Qiu Lizhen’s words, Jiang Tao’s eyes lit up. Indeed, the problem lay here.
Qiu Lizhen noticed that the man who had been studying the game by the trend chart earlier had left without her realizing it, and now it was just her and Jiang Tao in the shop.
She leaned closer to Jiang Tao and whispered:
“Little brother, I’ll tell you the truth. That batch of tickets is almost sold out, and no big prize of even 100 yuan has appeared yet.”
“I reckon that the remaining ten-odd tickets most likely contain a big prize, so I’ve kept them for myself, planning to scratch them today.”
“Since you want to buy that kind of ticket, I’ll give them to you!”
