Chapter 73: Playing Along and Showing Off Acting Skills!

The first time Jiang Tao met He Jing was when he was selling that Longines watch.

The second time was when he went to the entrance of Red Star Second-hand Wholesale Market to look for Ma Dongmei.

The next was when she came to visit Ma Dongmei earlier, that time when Old Lü treated everyone to dinner.

Today is the fourth time they’ve met. You could say it’s fate.

All four times the intelligence system was triggered, more or less, were related to He Jing, or at least involved her.

As if she felt Jiang Tao’s gaze on her, He Jing turned her head and saw him too.

But today, she was at Wanxianghui in her role as the host hired to liven up the atmosphere.

This was already her work time.

So she just gave Jiang Tao a symbolic wave and a friendly nod and smile—her way of saying hello.

Jiang Tao smiled and waved back in response to He Jing’s greeting.

Then he walked toward a pair of female mall employees in black suits standing behind a makeshift service desk next to the stage.

"Hello sir, how can we help you?"

The two attendants greeted Jiang Tao with smiles as soon as they saw him.

He Jing, who was busy testing equipment onstage, also noticed Jiang Tao’s movements and looked at him with a bit of surprise.

Is Brother Jiang really here for the lottery?

As the lottery host today, He Jing of course knew that at this area, you had to spend ¥100,000 to get a single lottery chance.

In her mind, Jiang Tao might not even earn ¥100,000 a year.

Could he really be spending a whole year’s salary here just to enter the lottery?

"Hi, here’s my purchase receipt. I can redeem it here for lottery chances, right?"

Jiang Tao handed his Lion’s Jewelry (Lao Fengxiang) receipt straight to the two staff members.

One of them entered the receipt number into the computer, checked it quickly, then looked at Jiang Tao and said:

"Hello sir, according to our lottery rules, you qualify for three advanced lottery chances and six normal lottery chances!"

At the same time, the other attendant waved toward He Jing on the stage and told her, "Here’s a customer!"

Looks like Jiang Tao was the first Wanxianghui customer to spend ¥100,000 today and come to the advanced lottery area.

The staff whispered a few things to He Jing, who arrived at Jiang Tao’s side with an astonished look on her face.

Three advanced draws, six normal draws.

So Brother Jiang spent ¥360,000 here all at once??

I really misjudged him!

Brother Jiang is actually pretty impressive!

"Hello sir, I’m He Jing, today’s host at Wanxianghui."

"Could I invite you to join in for a little interaction during the drawing?"

After her surprise, He Jing playfully winked at Jiang Tao, pretending they didn’t know each other.

Her job today was to host at Wanxianghui, while Jiang Tao was just a customer.

If they acted chummy and familiar, it’d be too easy for people to think the mall had brought in ringers.

"Of course, how should I cooperate?"

Jiang Tao picked up on He Jing’s signal and smiled, playing along with her.

This kind of public small-time acting has its own fun in everyday life.

"Thank you for cooperating! It’s simple—after you finish your draws, join me onstage and I’ll help you scratch your tickets. Sound good?"

He Jing gave Jiang Tao a sweet smile and quickly explained the day’s interactive segment.

This bit had just been temporarily added today, just to hype up the scene—it wasn’t mandatory.

If customers didn’t want to, they could simply decline.

"Of course,"

Faced with his hometown friend’s request, Jiang Tao couldn’t really refuse, so he nodded and agreed to help her out.

"Thank you, sir~ I wish you luck drawing our grand prize today!"

Having secured her first guest, He Jing cheerfully sent her best wishes.

"From your lips to heaven’s ears~"

Jiang Tao grinned at He Jing’s blessing.

If I really do draw the first prize, how will He Jing react?

After a few pleasantries, He Jing guided Jiang Tao to the lottery area and snapped back into host mode.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our first guest to spend ¥100,000 at Wanxianghui today is a very charming handsome guy..."

He Jing’s lively hosting and sweet looks really injected some energy into today’s lottery event.

The crowd watching was obviously at least double yesterday’s, and the atmosphere was much more festive.

With He Jing leading, Jiang Tao arrived at the massive glass lottery box at the drawing station.

Feeling more than a hundred pairs of eyes on him, Jiang Tao couldn’t help but feel a little nervous.

In his thirty-plus years, he’d never been the center of attention like this.

Taking a few deep breaths, he turned his gaze to the glass lottery box.

Inside that huge box, stacks of bank card-sized lottery tickets lay in chaos—there had to be tens of thousands at least.

To pull out the one and only grand prize among tens of thousands? That was a tall order.

With odds of one in ten thousand, unless your ancestors are burning incense, you’re not winning.

Holding his breath and focusing, Jiang Tao soon saw a change in the lottery box.

Off to the lower left, something gave off a dark golden glow.

"Found it!"

Seeing that familiar golden shimmer, Jiang Tao’s heart leapt.

He’d locked onto the grand prize ticket!

With He Jing and the row of rubberneckers watching in anticipation,

Jiang Tao drew three tickets in quick succession from the lottery box.

After that, with He Jing leading, he went to the regular lottery area for six more draws.

After all nine draws, Jiang Tao and He Jing headed back to the small stage together.

At this moment, the crowd’s curiosity was at its peak, everyone excited to see what prizes Jiang Tao would get with his nine shots.

"Now comes the miracle moment! Let’s see what this handsome man can win off these tickets!"

"I have a strong feeling our handsome guest today might just win the big prize!"

Before scratching, He Jing layered on more blessing to boost Jiang Tao’s luck.

Jiang Tao started with the regular tickets.

The rules were simple: just scratch off the silver-gray coating.

He accepted a cute gold-finger-shaped scratch tool from He Jing and scratched his first regular ticket.

"Our handsome fellow is really lucky—first ticket and it’s a fourth prize!"

"Congratulations! You’ve won a ¥500 Wanxianghui shopping card!"

He Jing took the winning ticket from Jiang Tao and held it up for the crowd to see.

Soon, a staffer hopped onstage to hand Jiang Tao the ¥500 shopping card.

Fourth prize wasn’t much of a big deal though, so the crowd didn’t react much.

Jiang Tao scratched his second ticket; nothing this time—just a pack of tissues as consolation.

The third—another "thanks for participating", another pack of tissues,

Fourth, fifth, sixth, all the same: "thanks for participating." The crowd groaned in sympathy.

Actually, getting a ¥500 shopping card out of six chances was already pretty lucky.

Among the customers joining in, the vast majority just get a "thanks for participating" and a pack of tissues.

Even those who win a ¥100 shopping card are rare.