The moment Du Hangwu appeared, the atmosphere in the main hall became heavy, and the Lu family members, who had been on the verge of cheering moments before, fell completely silent.

The Liu family, though outwardly calm, harbored deep resentment toward Du Hangwu for pushing one of their own the previous day.

As for Du Hangwu, his gaze was one of disbelief. A man who had been at death’s door just the night before was now standing before him, alive and well. It was as if he had seen a ghost. Yet, he had been watching the Lu family closely all night and hadn’t noticed any unusual activity. Could it be that the Lu family had practiced some kind of dark arts?…

In the modern world, Gu Xingzhao was on her way to print promotional flyers for her supermarket’s upcoming sale. After checking her bank account balance, she felt as though she could hardly breathe.

At first, she hadn’t worried much about the 40% tax rate because she had some savings and her daily expenses were low. A few dollars here and there didn’t seem like a big deal. But as the value of the items she sent increased, so did the costs, and her bank account balance started dwindling. Yesterday alone, nearly three hundred yuan was deducted for taxes. Then there was the medication for Liu Xiangbai, which she had to buy at an exorbitant price from the system’s mall because it wasn’t available at the pharmacy.

The last time the Lu family was in danger, she had activated a lightning and thunder skill to protect them, which left her with a debt of 66,666 yuan. When she saw that amount, she wanted to flip the system over—it was such a scam! Now, with less than five thousand yuan left in her account, she was starting to feel anxious.

This was the first time Gu Xingzhao had organized a pre-holiday event at her supermarket, and she was nervous about it potentially being a financial disaster. She had gone through several plans, recalculating everything dozens of times before finally deciding to print the promotional flyers.

That afternoon, she hired a few university students who were home for the holidays to work part-time at her supermarket, helping to distribute flyers while she focused on organizing the store. She moved the TV upstairs, set up a raffle box, and arranged various prizes.

During the event, any customer who spent 59.9 yuan or more would receive a dozen eggs. In addition to discounts on products, she also set up three raffle boxes based on different spending amounts—999 yuan, 599 yuan, and 399 yuan. Each box contained different colored ping pong balls corresponding to different prizes.

The prizes ranged from non-stick pans, rice cookers, and fans that the uncles and aunts would like, to curling irons, smartphones, and Bluetooth earphones for the younger crowd. She even considered the children, providing some toys as well.

Aunt Wang, who saw Gu Xingzhao bustling around preparing everything, couldn’t help but worry for her. “Aren’t you afraid of losing money with all these prizes?”

She fretted that if someone won the grand prize too early, no one else would be interested in participating, and the promotion would fail. What if people thought it was all a scam?

Gu Xingzhao gave a mysterious smile. “Don’t worry, Auntie. I have a plan.”

The fruit stand owner next door, who was about to close up shop, overheard their conversation and sneered. Only fools would fall for such promotions—they were all scams. Those prizes might look good, but you’d never actually win them. People in this town weren’t that easy to fool.

He thought the young woman was naive and would soon find herself out of business.…

The next day, Gu Xingzhao opened her store early. Since it was her first time running a promotion and she was offering significant discounts, many regular customers showed up, but very few were there for the raffle.

The fruit stand owner took the opportunity to chat with her customers, saying that the supermarket’s raffle was just a trick to fool people and that very few would even qualify to participate.

Aunt Wang, watching from next door, grew increasingly worried. Running a supermarket that big wasn’t easy, and she feared Gu Xingshao might lose money. Around noon, Aunt Wang visited the supermarket again to persuade Gu Xingshao to either end the promotion or shorten its duration. She was concerned that customers would take advantage of the discounts, buy products at a lower price, and walk away with free eggs, causing the supermarket to lose money.

But Gu Xingzhao smiled confidently. “It’s okay, Auntie. I’m selling everything at wholesale prices, so I won’t lose money. Plus, I have a plan. By tomorrow at the latest, I’m sure more people will come. Just wait and see.”

Aunt Wang was half-convinced, half-skeptical, but she left a bowl of dumplings for Gu Xingzhao before heading out.

Around 3:00 PM, a mother and her child bought over a thousand yuan worth of New Year’s goods and let the child draw a raffle ticket. The moment the child drew a red ping pong ball, the crowd erupted.“Oh my god, kiddo! You’re amazing!”

“Red! That’s the first prize!”

“You just spent a thousand yuan and won a refrigerator! That’s an incredible deal!”

The mother, overjoyed, lifted her child and kissed him several times. The onlookers cast envious glances their way, and those who had been hesitant rushed into the supermarket, afraid that someone else would snatch up the grand prize.

In this small town, where information spread slowly and technology was relatively limited, winning a refrigerator in a raffle was a huge deal for the residents. And with so many prizes up for grabs, who wouldn’t want to try their luck?

By 8:00 PM that night, the store was still bustling with customers, and Gu Xingzhao was overwhelmed with how much money she had made. She realized she would need to hire a couple of temporary workers the next day to keep up with the demand.

Just as she was thinking about this, Aunt Wang came over, beaming with pride, and brought her son along. “Xiao Gu, I see your business is booming, and you could probably use some help. I thought I’d have Xiao Ting come over and lend a hand starting tomorrow. What do you think?”

Gu Xingzhao was taken aback and looked at Lin Ting, whom she hadn’t seen in six months. “Isn’t it a bad idea? Xiao Ting is in his final year of high school and has his college entrance exams coming up. Shouldn’t he be studying at home?”

Aunt Wang laughed. “It’s fine. He won an award at the beginning of the year, and he’s just waiting for the guaranteed admission.”

Gu Xingzhao still felt it wasn’t a good idea. The college entrance exams were important, and if anything went wrong… wouldn’t that be a huge problem?

But Lin Ting, who wore thick blue plastic-rimmed glasses, spoke up. “Even if I don’t get guaranteed admission, I can still pass the exams.”

His voice had deepened, losing the brightness and childishness it once had, and he sounded reliable.

Gu Xingzhao gave him a thumbs up. “Wow, a top student! Alright, you can come work for me tomorrow, and I’ll pay you.”

Aunt Wang quickly waved her hand. “No need to pay him. I’m just worried he’ll get bored at home, so I asked him to help out. We’re all family here; no need to talk about money.”

Lin Ting nodded in agreement. “I don’t need to be paid.”

Gu Xingzhao smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “Okay then, but I’ll give you a big red envelope for the New Year!”

Lin Ting blushed shyly.

“Okay.”…

That night, Gu Xingzhao tallied up the day’s earnings. After deducting the cost of goods, utilities, and part-time employee wages, as well as paying the actor she had hired, she had made about three thousand yuan.

She squinted her eyes, feeling optimistic. It was a good start, and if she kept it up, she might make five thousand yuan before the New Year.

Just then, the doorbell rang, and when she opened the door, she found Lin Ting standing outside with a bowl. “Sis, I made dumplings. Are you hungry?”