Chapter 91: Lottery Ticket
"Customer!" a voice slowly rang out. "Wake up!"
Qi Xia slowly opened his eyes and found himself still sitting in the taxi, which was now speeding down the highway.
He sat up groggily and immediately glanced at the cerulean sky, utterly stunned, unable to contain himself.
"What's wrong with you, customer?" the voice beside him continued to ask.
Qi Xia ignored him, instead reaching out to touch his own shoulder. There was no wound.
He quickly rolled down the car window.
A sweet, refreshing scent directly and unapologetically flooded his nostrils, whipping against his face with the unique roar of high-speed travel.
It was fresh air.
It was a cool breeze.
"I escaped?!" He couldn't help but let out a loud shout, his face brimming with irrepressible joy.
Could this taxi be the key to breaking through the situation?
It was like the "Boat of the Styx," capable of freely carrying people in and out of that bizarre "Land of the End." And this woman named "Xu Liunian" was like Charon, the ferryman of the Styx, responsible for transporting those who boarded to and from the mortal world...
Qi Xia turned his head and froze inadvertently. Where was Xu Liunian?
Beside him sat a burly man wearing sunglasses. Due to his profession, his skin was tanned a dark, shiny black from ultraviolet rays.
"Customer, why are you so jumpy?" the big man asked, looking at Qi Xia with some fear. "You're not on drugs, are you?"
"You... I..." Qi Xia felt like he had seen this big man before, but on second thought, he had no memory of it. "Where are we going?"
"Don't scare me, customer," the taxi driver said, looking tough but still swallowing nervously. "Weren't you the one who wanted a ride to Jinan? We've already driven over three hundred kilometers. Don't go losing your memory on me."
The big man pointed at the fare meter in front, which had already climbed to over nine hundred yuan.
"What?!" Qi Xia looked in shock at the road signs overhead, confirming that the car was indeed about to enter Jinan.
He instantly recalled everything—he had indeed seen this big man before.
Because the day before the earthquake, he had taken this very ride, resolutely heading to Jinan.
"I've gone back to the day before?" Qi Xia reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. After a glance, his face immediately showed confusion. "September 27th... indeed the day before the 'earthquake'... What's going on?"
Thinking of this, he quickly felt for the pocket on his chest, where a small piece of paper was tucked.
"Good... it's still there."
"Customer... what exactly is wrong with you..." The driver had no idea what to do and could only fumble for his phone in his pocket, his thumb hovering over the emergency call button.
"Driver, I said it's a round trip for two thousand yuan, and I'll pay you every cent," Qi Xia suddenly began to feel relieved. Although he didn't know what had happened, it seemed everything was starting over.
"Really?" The driver relaxed a bit when he saw Qi Xia acting more normal. "You were so jumpy, I thought you were on drugs..."
"No, I just had a terrible nightmare," Qi Xia said, leaving the window open and letting the September wind blow in, feeling immensely relieved. "Luckily, I've woken up now."
"Ah, do young people like staying up late?" the driver said in a very experienced tone. "If you don't sleep at night and sleep all day, how can you have good dreams?"
"You're right, driver," Qi Xia replied absently.
For Qi Xia, he now had a second chance.
Although the earthquake would come at noon tomorrow, his immediate priority was to get the money, since today was the "deadline."
About an hour later, the taxi finally arrived in Jinan city.
The driver tactfully turned on the navigation and headed for Erhuan East Road in Lixia District.
"Kid... this place you're going to..." the driver said, looking closely at the navigation, "It seems to be the provincial lottery center?"
"Just drive, driver," Qi Xia said, closing his eyes again to rest.
Soon, the car stopped at the entrance of the lottery center. Qi Xia took out a thousand yuan from his pocket and handed it to the driver. "Driver, please wait for me here. If you'd rather return empty, I have no objections."
"Hey, of course I'll wait for you here."
Qi Xia headed to the lobby of the lottery center, where a staff member was already waiting for him.
"Mr. Qi, right?"
"Yes, it's me." Qi Xia nodded.
"I've been waiting for you for a while. Please, this way." The staff member gestured to Qi Xia and led him into the lobby. After a few steps, he patiently explained, "The lottery claim process has been simplified now. A staff member will verify the authenticity of your ticket, and then we'll issue you a bank check on the spot. Please wait a moment."
"I'm in a hurry. Please speed it up," Qi Xia nodded, following the staff member to the lottery verification area.
"Um... could you hand me the ticket?" the staff member said.
Qi Xia took the crumpled piece of paper from his chest pocket and handed it to the staff member, who then passed it to the inspector inside the booth.
The inspector took it very seriously and immediately began verifying its authenticity.
"Prize is 1.9 million yuan. Please wait," the inspector said, pulling out an instrument to scan the numbers on the ticket.
Qi Xia stood quietly to the side, which puzzled the staff member who had guided him in. "Mr. Qi, you don't look very happy?"
"Happy?"
"Yes, you've won nearly two million yuan. You should be happy."
"Maybe," Qi Xia nodded.
"Ah, let me tell you, a few days ago, someone won one million yuan. Even though it was August, they came in wearing a down jacket and a big mask. In this day and age, who still treats a million like a big deal?" The staff member laughed heartily at his own joke, but Qi Xia showed no reaction, making the scene quite awkward.
"How much longer?" Qi Xia asked.
"Uh... don't rush..." The staff member waved his hand. "There have been cases of fake lottery ticket scams recently, so we have to check carefully."
"What do you mean?" Qi Xia was startled, looking at him.
"Oh? Don't misunderstand..." The staff member quickly forced a smile. "I'm not saying your ticket is fake. Mr. Qi doesn't seem like the type to commit fraud."
Qi Xia didn't reply and continued waiting.
Before long, the inspector put away the instrument, revealing a smile. "Verification complete. The ticket is genuine. You can issue the check now."
Qi Xia sneered inwardly.
Of course the ticket was genuine.
This winning ticket worth 1.9 million yuan was bought with 2 million yuan in cash—it was a real winning ticket.
Although he would have to pay 380,000 yuan in taxes, the remaining money would be "clean."
Turning the ill-gotten 2 million yuan into legitimate income—this was one of the simplest methods.
"Congratulations, Mr. Qi..." the staff member continued to smile obsequiously. "I'll have someone issue the check right away. Would you like to make a donation?"
"Donation? Is it mandatory?" Qi Xia asked.
"No, not at all. It's just that most lottery winners choose to donate."
"Since it's not mandatory, I won't donate a single cent."