The crackling sound of the firecracker made the atmosphere even livelier than before. Everybody on the street came over to watch. Shu Yan, standing on top of a stool, with a megaphone in hand, announced, âMany had doubted whether our raffle was real and that there wasnât really a special prize. And now, someone has finally won the special prize. Letâs congratulate this gentleman for winning the special prize -- the television.â
Everybody clapped with Shu Yan.
When the clapping stopped, Shu Yan carried on, âHonesty is very important when you run a business. I had promised a television and I meant it. And this gentleman here is extremely lucky. He bought a shirt here for his wife for her birthday and won the second prize â an electric fan. He came back with his wife today and bought more clothes and won the television today. Sir, are you Heavenâs own son?â
Bystander #1:âYeah, how could one be so lucky!â
Bystander #2: âThis boss lady is kind of funny. But with that luck, it certainly sounds like he is Heavenâs own son.â
The man, with the winning ticket still in his hand, paused from Shu Yanâs speech. Then he cracked a smile, scratched his head, and said, âIâm just lucky. Lucky.â
The woman next to him, her clothes in her hand, was so happy that her eyes were red. She grabbed her husbandâs arm and shook it back and forth. âTelevision. We won the television.â
Seeing them like that, everybody else could just be envious of them. Buying a shirt yesterday and winning the electric fan; buying another one today and winning the television. That was doubtless some luck.
Before handing them the gift, Shu Yan had the man and his wife say a few words at the front of the shop. The two rambled on a bit about how appreciative they were and left happily with the television.
âEven though the television was gone, we still have plenty of first, second, and third prizes. Donât feel discouraged. The less balloons there were, the higher the chance of winning. You will need to buy new clothes regardless; itâd be even better if you can win something.â Shu Yan worked on pumping up the excitement before she turned and saw Le leaning against the door and giving her an expressionless look.
Meeting Shu Yanâs look, Le gave her a sarcastic smile before she turned and walked back inside.
Shu Yan harrumphed. There were always those who couldnât bear to see others doing better than themselves. They only wish that everybody else fared worse than them. Those people didnât tend to go very far in life.
The merchandise from City Han from yesterday had arrived. After lunch, Shu Yan headed to the train station to pick them up. On her way, she gave Boss He a call and had him sent over another batch. Over half of her inventory was sold in the afternoon, and many of the styles that she didnât have a lot of were gone.
Shu Yan gave Zhang Huaxiu a heads up, gave her the keys to the shop, and headed over to the Zhangâs to pick up her two children. On her way, she asked Wu Xiuyue to take her kids to school the next morning. Then, after asking Jingjing to take good care of her brother, she headed out.
She only realized that there was someone else splitting the ride when she had gotten into the car. He was a friend of the driver; as such, the driver had apologized profusely. He really wasnât able to get a hold of Shu Yan, and he was only going to charge her 50% of the fees. It didnât really bother Shu Yan. There was nothing wrong with saving half of the cost.
The driverâs friend sat in the passenger seat. Even when he was sitting down one could tell he was a very tall man. He was very quiet. Only the driver would occasionally say a few things to him, which heâd just grunt an acknowledgement. The driver didnât seem to think that the man was standoffish; in fact, he seemed happy about it. They didnât look like friends, the man looked more like someone that was of a much higher status than the driver.
Only after she had gotten out of the car did Shu Yan see the manâs face. He had a crew cut hair and slightly darker skin. On his face, there was a scar spanning the distance from his temple to his chin. The suturing job wasnât great making the scar look like a centipede and the man appeared vicious. She looked away after just a quick glance; it was rude to stare.