After a scream, Zhang Tianxing’s face turned red, utterly embarrassed.
A real man, a true gentleman, shouldn't cry out in pain. He quickly signaled to the proprietress that he was fine.
However, misfortune struck amidst his joy. Zhang Tianxing reached into his pocket and froze.
The ten yuan bill was gone. It had somehow fallen out.
Zhang Tianxing was dumbfounded. Could anything be more absurd?
Seeing his expression, the proprietress frowned and asked, "Young man, pay up. We don't do credit here. Don't tell me you have no money. If that's the case, I'll have to call your parents."
Hearing this, Zhang Tianxing looked troubled and said, "Proprietress, how about this? I'll take the lottery ticket first, and I'll bring the money to you later."
"No way. The drawing is about to happen. If you don't win, you won't pay, will you? I've seen your type before," the proprietress said bluntly. The world is full of all sorts of people, and a lottery ticket shop is a small business. If everyone acted like Zhang Tianxing, she wouldn't be able to keep her shop open.
Just then, a delicate hand placed a brand new ten-yuan bill on the counter.
A melodious, magnetic female voice rang out: "I'll pay for this. Please give the lottery ticket to this young man."
Zhang Tianxing turned his head. It was as if a fairy had descended from heaven. Even the legendary Lin Daiyu might not have been this beautiful.
A stunningly attractive woman with fair skin, beautiful features, and a superb figure stood beside Zhang Tianxing.
"Oh, that's great! Thank you. What's your phone number? I'll pay you back later."
A drop of kindness deserves a gushing spring in return, especially since this was the first step for Zhang Tianxing towards the pinnacle of his life. If this lottery ticket won, his starting point would be entirely different.
The beautiful woman looked at Zhang Tianxing. "Are you alright? I was the driver earlier. You should come with me to the hospital for a check-up."
Hearing this, Zhang Tianxing breathed a sigh of relief. So that was it.
There's no love or hate in this world without reason. Now he was at ease, no longer worried about this beauty coveting his kidneys. After all, Zhang Tianxing didn't feel he had many advantages. Besides being young, having healthy physical assets, and being good-looking, he didn't have much else.
"I'm fine. No need to go to the hospital. I'll just go home and rest."
With that, Zhang Tianxing gritted his teeth and moved a few times. It seemed alright; his body wasn't seriously injured, just a slight limp when walking.
Seeing this, the beautiful woman said, "In that case, where do you live? I'll give you a ride."
After thanking her, Zhang Tianxing got into the woman's car. It was an old Santana 2000. In those days, there weren't many cars in the entire county, let alone sedans.
The elegant beauty scribbled something on a piece of paper, tore it off, and handed it to Zhang Tianxing. "Young man, my name is Yan Ruyu. This is my phone number and pager. If you feel unwell, contact me. I'll be in Yangcheng for the next few days."
Hearing Yan Ruyu call him "young man," Zhang Tianxing felt a bit disgruntled. Was he really that young? Well, he wouldn't argue. He'd let his future actions speak for themselves.
"I'm fine. It's just that I'm young. Anyone else you hit like this might have lost half their life."
Hearing Zhang Tianxing's complaint, Yan Ruyu didn't speak, but it was clear she looked a little unhappy.
"However, it takes two to tango. We both share responsibility for this accident. I wasn't paying attention when I ran, and you didn't see me while you were driving."
Yan Ruyu stuck out her tongue and pointed to the car phone beside her. "I was on the phone just now and got distracted. Fortunately, nothing serious happened."
Soon, they arrived at Zhang Tianxing's residence, a block of dormitories in Yangcheng.
"I'm here. Thank you, beautiful sister!" No matter if there was any story between them, Zhang Tianxing's policy towards beautiful women was always to be sweet-tongued to get what he wanted.
Yan Ruyu smiled, her body trembling slightly, and waved at Zhang Tianxing. "Call me if you need anything. I won't abandon you." With that, she pressed the accelerator, and the Santana 2000 sped away.
A curious neighbor, Aunt Zhang, asked, "Xiao Xing, who was that girl who brought you back? She's so beautiful. By the way, how did it feel to ride in a car like that?"
Zhang Tianxing rubbed his nose and said with a smile, "Oh, Aunt Zhang, that was Lei Feng. Seeing that I was having trouble walking, she did a good deed and brought me home." He then walked towards his house.
He had been careless. It seemed he would become the center of attention for the next couple of days. "Kept by a sugar mama" right after graduating from high school... He wondered if his mother would die of anger if she heard about it.
He truly admired these neighbors; they were good people, but their tongues were incredibly sharp. Forget it. Trying to change their environment was a thankless task. He should focus on finding a way to choose his own environment. That would be more time and energy efficient.
He returned to his long-lost home. The dilapidated house still exuded the warmth of home. His parents weren't around; they had gone to work overtime and wouldn't be back until past ten at night. He thought about how hard his parents worked to earn money. In his previous life, he had been a useless fool...
Zhang Tianxing picked up a notebook and started writing. Opportunities for the next twenty years. This time, Zhang Tianxing intended to be a pig lying in the path of the wind, seeing if the wave of reform could carry him to victory.
After writing for a while, Zhang Tianxing smacked his lips. "To make a long story short, no matter what you do, it requires capital." It seemed all the stories from before were lies. Starting from scratch was just a legend. It all depended on how he obtained his first pot of gold.
He finally waited until the exciting 9:15 AM, and Zhang Tianxing turned on the TV. It was time to see if he was a dragon or a snake. If he succeeded, it would be mansions and models. If not, he'd have to think about setting up a street stall. Regardless, he couldn't let his family pay for his university tuition; he had to earn it himself. He had been reborn a bit late. If only he had been reborn ten years earlier, he could have come up with a brilliant idea and become a rich second-generation. That would have been much easier.
Alas, since he couldn't be born into wealth, he had to work hard himself. Lost in his thoughts, the numbers for the Double Color Ball lottery were announced.
The first number was 21. A hit!
The second number was 5. Another hit!
The third number was 28. He was rich! It was a hit, a hit!
Zhang Tianxing excitedly slapped his thigh. It seemed he was destined to be a millionaire today.
The fourth number appeared: 8. Hahaha. It was meant to be, he was so happy.
The fifth number appeared: 11. The chosen one, that's me! Yay!
The sixth number appeared: it was 2. Zhang Tianxing was stunned. How could it be 2? This was unscientific.
The seventh number appeared: 23. This was ridiculous... After all that excitement, it was only a second prize. Where was his grand prize? He had already planned how to use tens of millions of dollars; he was just waiting for the funds to arrive. And now this? He had only won five second prizes, not five grand prizes!