Chapter 91: Lottery Ticket
"Customer!" A voice slowly rang out, "Wake up!"
Qi Xia slowly opened his eyes and found that he was still sitting in the taxi, now speeding along the highway.
He sat up dazedly and immediately glanced at the azure sky, completely stunned beyond control.
"What's wrong, customer?" The voice beside him asked again.
Qi Xia ignored him, instead reaching out to touch his shoulder. No wound.
He hurriedly rolled down the window.
A sweet, pure fragrance directly and forcefully rushed into his nostrils, carrying the unique sound of high-speed travel as it wildly whipped against his face.
It was fresh air.
It was a cool breeze.
"I escaped?!" He couldn't help but shout, a barely suppressed joy on his face.
Was this taxi the key to breaking the situation?
It was like a "River Styx Boat," able to freely bring people in and out of that bizarre "Zhongyan Land," and this woman named "Xu Liunian" was like the ferryman of the Styx, "Charon," responsible for transporting those who boarded back to the world of the living...
Qi Xia turned his head and, in a moment of carelessness, froze. Where was Xu Liunian?
Beside him was a big man wearing sunglasses. Due to his profession, his skin was burned dark and shiny by ultraviolet rays.
"What's with all the fuss, customer?" The big man looked 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 upon careful thought, he had no memory of it. "Where are we going?"
"Customer, don't scare me." The taxi driver looked rough and tough, but he still nervously swallowed his saliva, "Weren't you the one who wanted to take a taxi 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 racked up over nine hundred yuan.
"What?!" Qi Xia looked in shock at the road signs above, realizing 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 car to Jinan without hesitation.
"I went back to the day before?" Qi Xia reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. After a quick glance, he immediately wore a puzzled expression, "September twenty-seventh... It really is the day before the 'earthquake'... What's going on?"
Thinking this, he hurriedly touched the pocket on his chest. There was a small piece of paper there.
"Good... It's still here."
"Customer... what's wrong with you..." The driver had no idea what to do anymore. He fumbled for his phone in his pocket, his thumb constantly hovering over the emergency call button.
"Driver, the agreed fare of two thousand yuan for the round trip, I'll give you every cent." Qi Xia suddenly began to relax. Although he didn't know what had happened, everything seemed to be starting over.
"Really?" Seeing Qi Xia act a bit more normal, the driver also eased his vigilance a little, "You young people are so jumpy, I thought you were on drugs..."
"No, I just had a very terrible nightmare." Qi Xia kept the window open, constantly letting in the September wind, feeling incredibly refreshed, "Good thing I'm awake now."
"Hey, do young people all like staying up late?" The driver said in a very seasoned tone, "Not sleeping at night, sleeping soundly during the day—how can you have good dreams like that?"
"You're right, driver." Qi Xia answered casually.
For Qi Xia, he now had a second chance.
Although the earthquake would come at noon tomorrow, the current priority was to get the money, since today was the "final deadline."
After about another hour, the taxi finally arrived in Jinan city.
The driver sensibly turned on the navigation, heading for Lixia District, East Second Ring Road.
"Young man... the place you're going to..." The driver carefully looked at the navigation, "Is it the provincial lottery center?"
"Just drive, driver." Qi Xia began to close his eyes and rest again.
Before long, the car stopped at the entrance of the lottery center. Qi Xia decisively counted out a thousand yuan from his pocket and handed it to the driver: "Driver, please wait here for me. If you're willing to go back empty, I have no objections."
"Don't say that... I'll definitely wait for you here."
Qi Xia walked to the downstairs of the lottery center, where a staff member was already waiting for him.
"Mr. Qi, right?"
"That's me." Qi Xia nodded.
"I've been waiting for you for a long time. This way, please." The staff member waved at Qi Xia and led him into the lobby. After walking a few steps, he patiently explained, "The lottery claim process has been simplified now. A staff member will verify the authenticity of your lottery ticket, and then we'll issue a bank check on the spot. Please wait a moment."
"I'm in a hurry. Please make it quick." Qi Xia nodded and followed the staff to the lottery verification area.
"Um... could you give me the lottery 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 checking its authenticity.
"The prize is one million nine hundred thousand. Please wait a moment." The inspector took out an instrument and scanned the numbers on the ticket.
Qi Xia stood quietly to the side, which made the staff member who had led him in a bit confused: "Mr. Qi, you don't seem very happy?"
"Happy?"
"Yeah, winning nearly two million in prize money, you should be happy."
"Perhaps." Qi Xia nodded.
"Hey, let me tell you, a few days ago, someone won one million. Even though it was August, that person came in a down jacket and a big mask. In today's society, who still treats a million like a big deal?" The staff member laughed heartily at his own joke, but when he looked at Qi Xia, there was no reaction at all, making the scene quite awkward.
"How much longer?" Qi Xia asked.
"Uh... don't worry..." The staff member waved his hand, "Recently, there have been frequent cases of fraud with fake lottery tickets, so we have to check carefully."
"What do you mean?" Qi Xia froze, looking at the other person.
"Huh? Don't misunderstand..." The staff member quickly smiled apologetically, "I'm not saying the ticket you brought is fake. Mr. Qi doesn't look like the type to commit fraud."
Qi Xia didn't reply and continued to wait.
After not long, the inspector put away the instrument and showed a smile: "Verification complete. The ticket is fine. A check can be issued."
Qi Xia sneered inwardly.
Of course the ticket was fine.
This winning ticket worth one million nine hundred thousand had been bought by him for two million in cash. It was a genuine winning ticket.
Although he had to pay three hundred and eighty thousand in taxes, the remaining money would be "clean."
Turning the two million he had obtained through fraud into legitimate funds—this was one of the simplest methods.
"Congratulations, Mr. Qi..." The staff member continued to smile apologetically, "I'll arrange for someone to issue your check. Would you like to make a donation?"
"Donation? Is it mandatory?" Qi Xia asked.
"No, it's just that most lottery winners donate."
"Since it's not mandatory, I won't donate a single cent."