I
t was barely past five in the morning when Doug Feng was jolted awake by a burst of noise coming from the courtyard.
Groggy and a little annoyed, he rubbed his eyes and stumbled toward the door, only to find the entire household in a flurry. His parents were among the crowd outside, voices overlapping, worry written all over their faces.
"What's going on? Why is it so noisy this early?" Doug muttered, still half-asleep as he opened the door—just in time to nearly bump into his mom.
She looked unusually flustered. "Mom? What happened?" Doug asked, instantly more alert.
His mother sighed heavily, the lines on her forehead deeper than usual. "It's your Aunt Liang—her heart condition flared up again. We just called the ambulance and they've taken her to the municipal hospital."
Doug's heart sank. "Aunt Liang? But she was fine last night…"
"She's been under a lot of pressure," his mom continued, voice filled with sympathy. "Her husband passed away early, and she's been raising that poor girl all on her own. It's not easy for a widow with a child. Life's just… unfair sometimes."
She pulled out a ten-yuan note from her pocket and shoved it into Doug's hand. "Here, go grab some breakfast outside today. I have to head to the hospital—your Zhu Sis can't handle everything alone. We're neighbors, we have to be there for each other."
Doug hesitated. "Want me to come too?"
He couldn't stop thinking about how just last night he'd shared ice cream with Zhu Sis—Liang Yanzhu. She'd looked so lost in thought. And now this?
But his mom shook her head firmly. "No. You have exams today. You'll only get in the way if you go. Be good."
She rolled up her sleeves, threw on a coat, and rushed out.
Doug stood in the doorway for a moment, staring after her, feeling a nagging sense of guilt and helplessness. But she was right. There wasn't much he could do at the hospital. He clenched the ten-yuan note in his hand and turned back inside.
Sleep was out of the question now. It was almost six anyway, so he turned on the TV for some background noise while he got ready.
The screen flickered to life on Yanping Channel One, playing the city's morning news. Yanping was a major city in Fujian Province, with several counties under its jurisdiction—Zhicheng included.
"Breaking news," the anchor announced. "Following the embezzlement and disappearance of the factory head of Sanyi Electronics, several of its branches have gone bankrupt across our province. Workers have gathered at the gates, demanding unpaid wages. Sanyi reportedly owes over three million yuan in back pay, with operations halted across more than ten factories."
Doug blinked at the screen, stunned.
Sanyi Electronics? That used to be a provincial star company! They specialized in chip assembly, had over a dozen factories, and were supposedly moving into mobile chip development. Just a few months ago, they were boasting about breaking into the national market. And now the boss ran off with the money?
He checked the clock—6:30 a.m. Time to go.
After grabbing a quick breakfast from a roadside stall, Doug made it to school around 7 a.m. Most of his classmates had already arrived, eyes glued to textbooks, cramming before the next round of exams.
The classroom buzzed with that familiar nervous tension—until a loud voice broke the mood.
"Guys, guys! Guess what I saw yesterday? Huge news!" It was Zhang Caijie, the class's resident lottery fanatic, marching in with his backpack and that usual sparkle of chaos in his eyes.
"Let me guess," someone muttered. "You finally hit the jackpot?"
"Not me, sadly," Zhang said, dramatically slinging his bag onto his desk. "But someone else did! You won't believe this—remember that lottery shop we went to? The same one we bought tickets from last time?"
Everyone perked up.
"Yeah?" a curious voice asked. "What about it?"
"Well," Zhang leaned forward, voice lowering for dramatic effect. "Someone bought seventeen tickets—sixteen of them hit! One first prize and fifteen second prizes! Altogether, nearly ten million yuan!"
"Shut up," someone gasped. "No way."
"I'm dead serious!" Zhang said, eyes gleaming. "The shop owner was still talking about it yesterday. Said the guy came in, picked the numbers like he already knew the results, bought them all in one go, then randomly added one more for fun. That last one didn't win, though."
By now, half the class had gathered around.
"A whole ten million?" another student asked. "If I had that kind of money, I'd drop out right now. Who needs the college entrance exam when you've already won the lottery of life?"
Everyone laughed, but deep down, envy bubbled beneath the surface.
Zhang sighed dramatically. "And think about it—we were so close! I got three numbers right. The class monitor got three too. If we'd just combined our guesses—my front numbers, her back numbers—we could've gotten second prize at least!"
"You always say that," someone teased. "Next you'll claim you almost hit the jackpot every time you miss by one digit."
They laughed again, but Doug just sat quietly in his seat, a tiny smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
Ten million? That lucky winner they were all talking about?
Yeah. That would be him.
And they were right—he had known. Not in some mystical way, but close enough. He had split the numbers just right. He had almost bought more, but ran out of cash at the counter.
Still, sixteen out of seventeen was plenty.
He felt the warm satisfaction curling in his chest. It wasn't time to tell anyone yet. But oh, it was delicious hearing his classmates talk about him like he was some local legend.
"Hey, Doug," his deskmate Howie elbowed him. "What's with the grin? Don't tell me you are the secret millionaire."
Doug waved it off. "Nah, just happy I finished yesterday's exams early. I always second-guess myself if I linger too long. Better to trust my gut and move on."
Howie raised a brow. "Sure, but you turned in both your Chinese and Math papers in under an hour. That's not gut—that's some next-level confidence."
Doug shrugged modestly. "What can I say? Genius in disguise."
"Keep dreaming. When I top the rankings, don't forget to call me Big Bro."
The bell rang, snapping everyone back to reality. Time to head to the exam halls.
Doug was just about to sling his bag over his shoulder when an icy voice cut through the air.
"Doug Feng. We're in the same exam room. Let's walk together."
He froze.
Standing next to his desk was none other than Lin Xia—the class goddess herself, cool and untouchable as ever.
Doug blinked. Was this really happening?
"Uh… sure?" he said.
She turned around without another word, her long ponytail swishing behind her as she walked off like an ice queen from a teen drama.
Doug followed, bewildered. What's with that tone? Did I do something to offend her? Or… could she somehow know?
One thing was certain—this exam day just got a whole lot more interesting.