Chapter 1: Winning the Lottery After Dealing with a Scumbag

“Hello, I want to report someone engaging in x x prostitution. The address is Rujun Hotel, Room 406. I’ll send you the recording, video, and photos right away. Okay, goodbye.”

Standing at the fire escape, Liu Xinghe hung up the phone. Her fingers clenched tightly around the bouquet she was holding—made of scratch-off tickets and lottery numbers. The stems at the base had already been crushed into splinters in her grip. Her bloodshot eyes fixed coldly on the room number not far away.

She had worked overtime to finish a martial arts job, then rushed thousands of miles from the film set just to surprise her boyfriend and spend Valentine’s Day with him. She had even prepared a special bouquet for the occasion.

And what did she get in return? A green hat. How lovely.

Cheating? Renting a hotel room? Chasing thrills? Fine, let’s make it more exciting—she’d send them off to enjoy themselves behind prison bars.

To hell with Valentine’s Day. What bad luck.

Liu Xinghe edited the report and evidence on her phone and sent it all to the police.

The police arrived quickly. Eight minutes later, they entered Room 406 with the hotel manager.

The people, the evidence, the drugs—every element was all too complete.

The couple was caught in the act and taken away along with everything in the room.

Through a crack, Liu Xinghe glimpsed the filthy scene inside—along with something disturbingly mushroom-shaped.

Seeing it for the first time, she nearly wanted to stab her eyes out. Her vision felt poisoned.

Disgusting. Revolting. A nauseating mix of emotions. Thankfully, she had always been conservative and focused on her career. And yet this trash had the audacity to fool around? Absolutely pathetic.

Tch. Just as the internet said: a man who looks tall and strong might actually be a bean sprout underneath.

Turns out the netizens never lied.

The police took him away. Soon after, a friend from the station told her that the scumbag would be detained for fifteen days, fined 5,000 yuan, and might even have contracted an STD.

Her only reaction: serves him right. She sent a breakup text, updated her social media with the breakup status, and, hugging her bouquet, happily headed to the Western restaurant.

The candlelight dinner she had reserved? She would eat it all by herself. Double the servings, double the joy.

After a hearty meal, she returned home. Sitting on the sofa, she placed the bouquet—originally meant for that bastard—on her lap, pulled out the ten lottery tickets tucked inside, and carefully stacked up the twenty scratch-offs.

It was just about time for the lottery draw, so she grabbed the remote, turned on the TV, and switched to the channel.

“Why scratch them later? To hell with the scumbag.”

As the host began announcing the winning numbers, she happily scratched away at the tickets.

When she finished the last one, she froze. An enormous surprise hit her. She brought the card closer, her muttered words trembling.

“One… one million?”

She rubbed her eyes and stared again. Yes—¥1,000,000 clearly printed in the revealed area, with the matching symbols lined up.

She pinched her thigh. “Ouch.” Not a dream.

Yes, she had won a million!

At the same time, the lottery numbers announced on TV sounded strangely familiar. She looked up sharply, snatched the stack of tickets beside her, flipped through them—and then leapt up with a scream.

“Ahhhhhh!”

Fortune had finally turned.

Twenty million! A full twenty million!

Thank goodness she hadn’t given those tickets to that piece of trash. She would’ve died of heartbreak.

Her heart pounding wildly, she crouched down, giggling stupidly as she checked the scratch-off and lottery tickets again and again. Together, they totaled 21 million.

Heavens. At the “old” age of twenty-five, she was about to start early retirement?

Indeed, the scumbag had cursed her luck. Once she cut him off, fortune came flooding in.

Who cared about men? All she could think about was how to spend her retirement with all that money. She spent the whole night too excited to sleep, just waiting for dawn so she could cash in her winnings.

At first light, she ate breakfast, then went straight to the lottery office the moment it opened.

After taxes, her 21 million turned into 16.8 million. Seeing the deposit hit her account, she refused the bank’s offers for financial products. She had her own plans.

She also rejected the welfare center’s suggestion to donate through official charities—most of that money never reached the people who truly needed it. She had her own arrangements.

Before reporters could arrive, she quickly left the bank, putting on makeup and changing her look as she walked.

Passing an antique market, she was stopped by a kindly-looking old lady at a stall. “Girl, come take a look. These are my family heirlooms.”

Drawn in, Liu Xinghe squatted down to take a look. Among the trinkets, her eyes landed on half a piece of jade in a box. It looked strikingly similar to the half-jade her parents had left her, as if the two pieces had once been one.

With money in her pocket, she swiped her card without hesitation—88,000 yuan.

The old lady, delighted, handed her the box with the jade, then also gave her a copper coin tied to a red string.

“Girl, we’re fated to meet. This is a lucky coin. Want me to put it on for you?”

“Thank you, I’ll do it myself.”

Liu Xinghe took the coin, slipped it onto her wrist, and left, her mood soaring.

Behind her, the old lady murmured, “Nine deaths and one life… A dire fate, yet a sliver of survival remains. May this help you find it.” Then she packed up and left.

Unaware, Liu Xinghe pulled out the other half of her jade pendant once she was home. When she rubbed the two together—click—they fit seamlessly.

It used a mortise-and-tenon structure. Ingenious craftsmanship.

She tied them together on a cord and tucked the pendant beneath her shirt.

With her winnings secure, she headed to the wholesale market and spent five million on supplies—half donated to a children’s welfare home she had volunteered at, half to underprivileged kids in her hometown’s mountains.

After that, her heart finally felt at ease.

Later, she collected the 5,000 yuan reward from the police station for her earlier report, packed her bags, and boarded a plane to her chosen retirement spot.

In Sichuan Province, in a bustling town during market day, Liu Xinghe lounged in her backyard, sipping tea while watching customers flood into her new supermarket. Looking at the five-story building she had remodeled just the way she liked, and the 3 million yuan retirement fund left in her account, she smiled contentedly.

Retirement life was bliss.

After finishing her tea, she grabbed a stool, a picnic mat, and a basket of food, then cheerfully rode her electric scooter toward the riverside three miles away.

But the next second, her smile froze. With a crash, she fell off the scooter, clutching her throat in agony.

Blood gushed from her neck as she pulled out a thin, invisible string wound tightly around it. Her eyes widened in disbelief as her carotid artery spurted blood.

“Ah! Someone’s hurt! Help her!”

“Call an ambulance! Call the police!”

Screams and shouts erupted from nearby townsfolk and drivers.

“She’s been cut by a kite string! Quick, get something to stop the bleeding!”

Hearing this, Liu Xinghe’s eyes rolled back. Her hands went limp. Her head tilted to the side—consciousness gone.

Blood soaked through her clothes, staining the jade pendant on her chest. Her copper coin bracelet was also drenched.

No one noticed as the jade and the coin absorbed her blood, released a faint glow—then vanished.