Chapter 154: Parents’ Long-held Wish And The 400,000 Grand Prize!
Building 89, Bai Ge Zhuang New Village.
On the hardwood plank bed in the master bedroom of room 101.
Sun Xiao Bao’s thin body was curled up in his quilt, sweating from the pain.
That kind of bone-chilling pain was relentlessly tormenting his will.
But he gritted his teeth and endured, the pain pump attached to him completely disregarded.
One of these pain pumps he was wearing cost over 800 yuan and could generally only be used for 3-4 days.
Now, this one was used up, and Sun Xiao Bao knew his time was short.
So he didn’t bring himself to replace it, not wanting to waste more money.
It wasn’t that he was stingy or valued money more than his life, but rather a habit of frugality cultivated over many years.
The grief of losing his wife, his son, and his grandson—he had experienced too much pain in the human world and had grown accustomed to it.
This physical pain was something he could just grit his teeth through; once accustomed, it wouldn’t hurt.
800 yuan, how much good food and toys could that buy for the child of the Jiang family?
While enduring the pain, scenes of his time with Jiang Tao’s family suddenly flashed through Sun Xiao Bao’s mind.
During the Spring Festival, when he was alone in his cold, desolate room, staring at his terminal illness notice.
Jiang Tao’s invitation to visit his hometown was like a warm spring breeze, dispelling the coldness and loneliness in his heart.
When he received Jiang Tao’s call, his first instinct was not to trouble Jiang Tao and to refuse.
But then he thought, he was a dying man, why not feel the warmth of the human world once more before he left?
Thus, he accepted Jiang Tao’s invitation and was arranged to be picked up by a special car to Jiang Family Village.
Jiang Tao’s parents also welcomed him warmly, preparing various local specialty dishes for him every day.
Jiang Wen took him around every day, taking him to chat and play chess with Jiang Tianming next door.
He was taken fishing, and to the nearby activity center to practice Tai Chi.
Although they hadn’t known each other long, Sun Xiao Bao was touched by the sincerity of Jiang Tao’s family and became best friends with them.
After spending half a month in Jiang Family Village, he then invited Jiang Wen and Tian Xiaomei to the Capital City.
As a native who had lived in the Capital City for over sixty years.
It was also during this opportunity to be a guide for his two friends that he toured the Capital City for the first time.
His life, over sixty short years, had been filled with hardship for over sixty years.
This past month before his death was the happiest and most joyful period of his life.
Even if he died tomorrow, he would have no regrets!
Thinking of those happy times, the pain seemed to lessen, not as intense as it had been.
Gradually, drowsiness set in, and Sun Xiao Bao’s furrowed brow relaxed.
His breathing also gradually became deeper, and he finally fell asleep.
……
Inside the residential complex, outside the window of room 101 in Building 79.
After Jiang Tao put Old Sun into sleep mode, he quietly left.
Activating sleep mode didn’t require being in the same room; it could be done within a certain range.
Spending 66 yuan to help Old Sun alleviate his pain and let him sleep peacefully for a night was quite worthwhile.
In the dim light, Jiang Tao’s shadow stretched long. When he got back into the car, he didn’t drive away immediately.
He first opened a gap in the window, lit a cigarette, and continued to refresh the remaining two pieces of intelligence for the night.
Today’s Intelligence 02:
You had contact with your father, Jiang Wen, yesterday and obtained related intelligence—
Jiang Wen and his wife, Tian Xiaomei, have always longed to own their own restaurant.
But they had to bury this desire in their hearts for your career.
……
“……”
Seeing the second piece of intelligence for the day, Jiang Tao took a deep drag of his cigarette, his expression complex.
He had never asked his parents what they wanted to do or what they desired.
He had only unilaterally thought that providing for his parents, arranging leisurely work for them, and paying them high salaries was filial.
So, Mom and Dad also had their own dreams.
“Opening a restaurant…”
“Once the Eight Treasure Pickles company is set up and running smoothly, I’ll open a restaurant for you two elders to play with.”
Jiang Tao smiled with relief, flicking ash out the window.
For him, opening a restaurant for his parents was not a big deal.
With a thought, he continued to refresh the third piece.
Today’s Intelligence 03:
You went shopping at Jingkelong outside the residential complex yesterday and obtained related intelligence—
Among the sixth prizes in Jingkelong Supermarket’s lucky draw event, there is a scratch card with a prize of 400,000!
Note 1: There are 8 hours and 58 minutes remaining until this scratch card is claimed.
……
“A scratch card worth 400,000 yuan!”
Seeing the third piece of intelligence for the day, Jiang Tao’s eyes lit up.
His fingers holding the cigarette trembled involuntarily!
A scratch card with a prize of 400,000 yuan.
Even after paying 20% income tax, he would still receive 320,000 yuan!
This was undoubtedly another piece of extremely valuable intelligence!
Moreover, it was simple to execute and easy to cash out.
He took out his mobile phone and checked the time displayed on the screen.
It was already 0:19 AM.
This meant that the 400,000 yuan scratch card would be bought by someone else around 9:17 AM tomorrow.
He had to complete the lucky draw before this time.
Jingkelong Supermarket opened at 8:30 AM, so time was not excessively tight.
“I can’t sleep in tomorrow morning. I need to get that scratch card as soon as possible.”
He flicked the cigarette butt out the car window and started the car towards his own building.
It was already past 0:40 AM when he returned home.
His parents and wife and children were still sound asleep, and no one noticed Jiang Tao had left.
He took off his clothes and hung them on the hanger by the door, then went to bed.
The next morning.
After breakfast, Jiang Tao gave his parents leave, telling them not to go to the company for the time being.
Jiang Tao then used the excuse of buying cigarettes to go downstairs and drove directly to Jingkelong Supermarket.
At this time, around 8 or 9 AM, there weren’t too many customers shopping at the supermarket.
There were no queues at the checkout counters.
In the lucky draw area, there were only a few customers here and there participating in the draw, unlike the long lines yesterday afternoon.
Jiang Tao pushed a shopping cart at the supermarket entrance and went in.
With the principle of a quick victory, he directly took two cases of Wuliangye from the alcoholic drinks section, spending over 4,000 yuan.
The total checkout cost was over 4,500 yuan, earning him 23 lucky draw opportunities.
“Thank you for your strong support of Jingkelong Supermarket, sir. You have earned 23 lucky draw opportunities.”
The female staff member in charge of the lucky draw was Zhang Limei, a junior manager at the supermarket.
Zhang Limei recognized Jiang Tao as the lucky customer who had won an electric scooter yesterday.
Seeing an old customer returning to repurchase, Zhang Limei’s smile was exceptionally warm.
“Thank you, can I draw now?”
Jiang Tao took out his phone and checked; it was already 9:05 AM.
There were 12 minutes left until the high-value scratch card was claimed.
Time was quite sufficient.
He now only needed to win a sixth prize to get that prize ticket.
“Of course! You can draw now!”
Zhang Limei said with a smile and immediately brought the lucky draw box to Jiang Tao.
Jiang Tao didn’t waste any more time with Zhang Limei; he directly reached into the lucky draw box and grabbed a stack.
After counting out 23 prize tickets, he put the excess ones back.
Seeing Jiang Tao’s generous and unrestrained way of drawing, Zhang Limei was astonished.
With the prize tickets in hand, Jiang Tao began scratching without a word.
This time, he wasn’t aiming for a first or second prize, or any big prizes.
He just wanted to win a sixth prize!
The first prize was only a 5,000 yuan supermarket shopping card.
But the sixth prize included a scratch card worth 400,000 yuan!
Jiang Tao knew which was more important!
The first ticket was a seventh prize, a bag of salt.
The second ticket was also a seventh prize, another bag of salt.
The third ticket, the fourth ticket, the fifth ticket…
Jiang Tao quickly scratched all 23 prize tickets in his hand.
One first prize, one second prize, one third prize, three fourth prizes, six fifth prizes, and eleven seventh prizes!
“Is this gentleman a winner’s body!”
“How lucky can he be!”
“I’ve lived a long time and this is the first time I’ve seen someone win so much!”
“This luck is truly a bit heaven-defying!”
Zhang Limei and the others witnessed Jiang Tao’s entire drawing process, all astonished.
If they weren’t supermarket employees themselves, they would suspect Jiang Tao was a paid actor hired by the supermarket!
The other customers who were drawing nearby, seeing Jiang Tao’s incredible luck, wanted to go back and buy more things and draw a few more times!
In such a short time, so many big prizes had been revealed; it looked like the winning rate was very high today!
Some just watched, but some took action, and a few who had just left the supermarket turned back inside!
……
Jiang Tao looked at the pile of scratched prize tickets and found not a single sixth prize, leaving him speechless!
So many unwanted prizes, and not a single one he wanted; was this luck good or bad?
“Congratulations, sir! You are truly too lucky today!”
“You are the third person to win our event’s first prize. Could we trouble you to take a photo with us for our promotion?”
“Don’t worry, if you don’t want to show your face, we have cartoon masks prepared for you.”
While Jiang Tao was stunned, Zhang Limei approached him with an eager expression, offering congratulations and requesting cooperation.
Jiang Tao didn’t answer Zhang Limei immediately. He anxiously took out his phone and checked the time.
It was already 9:15 AM.
There were only 2 minutes left until the 400,000 yuan scratch card was claimed!
It was too late for him to return to the supermarket to buy more things and then come back to draw!
“I can cooperate with your promotion, but beautiful lady…”
Jiang Tao had a sudden inspiration and looked at Zhang Limei, saying:
“Can I exchange a fifth prize ticket for a sixth prize item?”
“I quite enjoy playing scratch cards, and I think my luck is pretty good today.”
Jiang Tao’s reason was impeccable.
He had won so many big prizes early in the morning, and everyone present could see he was lucky today!
“Of course!”
Zhang Limei readily agreed.
Exchanging a low-tier prize ticket for a high-tier prize was not allowed.
But if one used a high-tier prize ticket for a low-tier prize, they could exchange as much as they wanted!
The fifth prize Jiang Tao won was a choice between a bag of flour or an equivalent price of rice, worth 30 yuan.
The sixth prize was just a scratch card worth 10 yuan, so exchanging was fine.
“Young man! I’ll trade with you! Will you trade with me!”
Suddenly, a plump auntie carrying a canvas shopping bag came from the side.
The auntie, holding a sixth prize scratch card she had just scratched, squeezed next to Jiang Tao and asked to trade with him.
“Can we trade?”
Jiang Tao looked at Zhang Limei for confirmation.
Before Zhang Limei could answer, the auntie said:
“Yes, yes! Of course! The supermarket hasn’t stipulated that customers can’t exchange prize tickets! Young lady, am I right?”
“There are no such regulations.”
Zhang Limei didn’t want to argue with the auntie over such a small matter, so she turned a blind eye.
“Here you go, young man! You want a sixth prize, right! Auntie wishes you a big win!”
The auntie said, eagerly handing her prize ticket to Jiang Tao, wanting to exchange it for a fifth prize ticket.
“Borrow your good words!”
Seeing only one minute left, Jiang Tao didn’t waste any more time with the auntie. After exchanging prize tickets with her, he hurried to the prize redemption area.
The sixth prize redemption area had a table with over a dozen different types of scratch cards, each worth 10 yuan.
With time running short, Jiang Tao handed the sixth prize ticket he exchanged from the auntie to the staff member and quickly began searching for the target scratch card.
Soon, Jiang Tao found a scratch card glowing with a dark golden light from a stack of scratch cards and took it directly!
“Buddy, I’ll take one too.”
The moment Jiang Tao tore off the scratch card containing the big prize, a middle-aged man took the stack of scratch cards from his hand.
The man tore off one right next to where Jiang Tao had just torn.
Seeing this, Jiang Tao’s heart tightened.
It was exactly 9:17 AM.
If he hadn’t intervened, this 400,000 yuan scratch card would likely have belonged to this stranger!
“Hey, aren’t you Master Zhao.”
The more Jiang Tao looked at the man, the more familiar he seemed.
Suddenly, he remembered; wasn’t this Zhao Huuhu, the small contractor who was renovating his stall at the vegetable market!
“Boss Jiang! It’s you! I thought you looked familiar just now, but I wasn’t sure. It really is you!”
Zhao Huuhu also recognized Jiang Tao and greeted him with a smile.
Jiang Tao smiled and asked, “How is the renovation progress at the stall?”
Zhao Huuhu laughed heartily, “I estimate it will be finished around 3 PM this afternoon. You can come over and inspect it then.”
“Okay, thank you, Boss Zhao. If there’s any more work in the future, we’ll cooperate again.”
“Alright! Then I wish Boss Jiang prosperous business too!”
While chatting with Jiang Tao, Zhao Huuhu scratched the film off the scratch card in his hand with his fingernail; it was a blank, and he casually threw it away.
“Boss Jiang, you’re busy. I’m here to buy some things and need to get back to work.”
“Okay, Master Zhao, take care.”
To avoid causing a commotion, Jiang Tao did not scratch the prize on the spot. Instead, he casually put the scratch card he had obtained into his pocket.
The supermarket’s event conditions were very lenient, with no restrictions.
Customers who won a sixth prize scratch card could scratch it on-site or take it home to scratch privately; it was up to the customer, and the supermarket would not interfere.
Subsequently, led by Zhang Limei, Jiang Tao collected his remaining prizes.
A supermarket shopping card worth 5,000 yuan.
And an electric scooter worth around 3,000 yuan.
He had already won one yesterday, and having more at home was useless.
Jiang Tao directly negotiated an 80% cash-out with Zhang Limei, receiving 2,400 yuan in cash.
Then there were the third, fourth, fifth, and seventh prizes.
The shopping cart Jiang Tao was pushing originally contained only two cases of alcohol, but it was now filled with prizes, resulting in a grand lucky draw haul!
His luck was indeed quite heaven-defying!
The value of the Heluo Stone continued to increase.
After redeeming his prizes, Jiang Tao pushed the shopping cart out of the supermarket amidst the envious gazes of Zhang Limei, other supermarket staff, and over a dozen onlookers.
After going out, he made three trips to load all the items from the shopping cart into the trunk of his Mercedes-Benz GLS.
The previously empty trunk, large enough for a person to sleep in, was now crammed with the two cases of alcohol Jiang Tao bought and the various prizes he had won.
Jiang Tao decided not to go to the leased greenhouse today; he planned to take a day off for himself.
In the afternoon, he would go with Xu Li to visit Old Sun again and see if he had any last requests.
Ring, ring—
As Jiang Tao was lost in thought, he had just sat down in the car and hadn’t even fastened his seatbelt when his phone rang in his pocket.
He pulled out his phone and saw “Third Sister” displayed as the caller ID.
Jiang Tao swiped to answer the call.
“Hello, Second Brother, what time is it? You’re not coming to pick me up. I have some huge good news to tell you!”
The moment the call connected, Jiang Bing’s excited voice came from the other end.
“What good news?”
Jiang Tao took out his cigarette case from his pocket, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it, looking interested.
Actually, when he saw Third Sister’s call, he had a vague idea of what it was about.
According to the intelligence provided by System Brother, the market trend for blueberry potted plants should be coming.
Jiang Bing’s tone was excited: “Second Brother, just look at today’s trending searches, and you’ll know what’s going on!”
Jiang Tao smiled and said, “I’m not looking. Are you going to tell me or not? If not, I’m hanging up.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you! I’m really impressed with you!”
“Our family’s blueberry potted plants are trending!”
“And they’ve even surpassed Wang Feng, who announced his new album release on Weibo last night, directly topping the trending list!”
“Second Brother, do you know how many we sold last night?”
“You won’t guess, you absolutely won’t guess!”
On the other end of the phone, Jiang Bing became more and more excited.
Jiang Tao had once again successfully predicted the market trend for blueberry potted plants.
Jiang Bing was now completely convinced of his foresight and precise product selection ability!
Even though she had been in e-commerce for several years.
Compared to her Second Brother, who had just entered the industry, she was a complete novice!
Was this the terrifying talent of an e-commerce newcomer?
Could Second Brother have been a god of online shopping in his past life?
Jiang Tao grumbled, “If you knew I wouldn’t guess, why ask me to guess? What were you thinking?”
“Hehe, just to add some fun! Second Brother, find a place to sit down securely.”
“You’ll be astonished when you hear the number I’m about to report!”
Jiang Tao impatiently said, “Alright, alright, hurry up and announce it. I don’t have time to chat nonsense here.”
“How can this be nonsense! This is our business!”
“If you don’t say it now, I’m hanging up.”
“Fine, fine, I’ll say it, I’ll say it! From midnight last night until I called you just now, we sold a total of 2,489 pots!”
“After deducting the store’s promotional coupons for full reduction, we sold a total of 54,758!”
“And the sales volume is still increasing!”
“It’s possible we might even sell 10,000 pots today!”
“Second Brother, you’re like Zhuge Liang reborn; your market judgment is too accurate!”
On the other end of the phone, Jiang Bing became more and more excited, and finally didn’t forget to praise her Second Brother.
This wave of massive traffic was successfully handled by the siblings!
Originally, Jiang Bing thought it would take at least a month to sell the 100,000 blueberry potted plants in the greenhouse.
It seemed this time would be significantly advanced!
If she could sell the blueberry potted plants earlier, she could take up her position as Vice President at the food factory sooner.
“Third Sister, I have some matters to attend to in the next few days, so I won’t be able to pick you up. Take a taxi to Cui Village yourself.”
“I’m also giving you full responsibility for the blueberry potted plant sales.”
“If you need more manpower, just say the word, and I’ll hire more for you.”
After listening to Third Sister’s sales report, Jiang Tao, for the first time, spoke with unusual seriousness about the subsequent work arrangements.
“Uh, what’s wrong, Second Brother? Did something happen?”
Jiang Bing also sensed something unusual from her Second Brother’s tone, and her voice was no longer as cheerful.
Jiang Tao’s tone was heavy:
“My master has been diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer. He doesn’t have much time. I’ll be handling my master’s affairs with Mom and Dad during this period.”
“What! Uncle Sun… he… how could this happen?”
On the other end of the phone, Jiang Bing was equally shocked upon hearing about Sun Xiao Bao, finding it hard to accept the news.
Jiang Tao sighed, “Alas, it’s fate. I’ll have to go for now. You’ll have to handle things for the next few days.”
“Okay, Second Brother. Don’t worry about Cui Village; I’ll handle it. If there’s anything I’m unsure about, I’ll call you.”
“Alright, and also…”
Jiang Tao spoke with Third Sister on the phone for another five or six minutes before hanging up.
He started the car and returned to the residential complex.
Jiang Tao opened the trunk and carried all the prizes he had won at the supermarket upstairs.
Xu Li, seeing her husband leave empty-handed and return with so much, was also astonished.
After hearing about his lucky draw that morning, she called him an emperor of luck.
The first prize, a supermarket stored value card worth 4,999 yuan, had already paid for itself!
The rest of the prizes were essentially freebies!
“I still have one scratch card I haven’t scratched yet. I need my wife’s lucky hands to uncover more gold coins.”
Jiang Tao said with a smile, pulling out the final scratch card from his pocket with one hand and taking Xu Li’s hand with the other.
Xu Li had also been feeling down last night due to Old Sun’s situation.
Jiang Tao thought he would cheer her up, so he prepared this little surprise.
His nest egg was now close to 5 million.
He didn’t mind using a 400,000 yuan scratch card to make his wife happy.
“Okay!”
Upon hearing Jiang Tao’s words, Xu Li’s beautiful eyes sparkled with excitement and anticipation, a joyous expression on her face.
