Chapter 14: Winning the Prize
Fortunately, the management system only cared about how much she earned, not how much she spent; her upgrade progress hadn’t suffered any deductions.
With so many items, it took Fangfang two trips to help Jian Xingxia carry everything over, and she was red-faced and drenched in sweat from the heat.
Jian Xingxia looked around and noticed a soda manufacturer running a promotion right in the middle of the market.
Jian Xingxia walked over, and the promotional lady smiled warmly as she handed over a small disposable cup. “Have a taste.”
Jian Xingxia tried a sip; it was the orange flavor she liked.
“Ma’am, how much for a bottle? I’ll buy two.”
“It’s three-fifty a bottle, but we have an event today! Buy ten, get two free. Buy a whole case of twenty-four bottles, and you get a six-pack tier for free! If you buy two cases, you even get to draw a prize!”
Jian Xingxia smiled and shook her head. “Ma’am, we came to the market from the village below. We have too many things and won’t be able to carry it all. Just two bottles—no, make it three.”
She would bring one back for Auntie Lu.
The soda lady felt a wave of regret in her heart. She hadn’t sold a single case all morning. This unknown little brand of soda, though delicious, just wasn’t drawing any buyers. After bustling about all morning, her commission wasn’t even enough to cover breakfast.
She packed three bottles of soda into a plastic bag and handed them to Jian Xingxia. “Come back if you like it!”
Jian Xingxia handed over the money and gave one bottle to Fangfang.
Auntie Lu refused to drink hers. “Xiaxia, why are you spending money on this? You don’t have any elders supporting you, so you need to save your money. It just so happens the lady is still over there; go return this soda.”
With that, she started heading toward the soda lady.
Jian Xingxia and Fangfang hurriedly rushed over to stop her. Young people were thin-skinned and had never done something as embarrassing as returning an item right to someone’s face. Moreover, this was a beverage; for food and beverage items, people definitely wouldn’t allow a return unless there was a quality issue.
The three arrived in quick succession. The soda lady had her back turned to the stall, hiding near a patch of bushes, talking quietly on her phone.
“No! Teacher Chen, please don’t send the child back. I’m out here working and I don’t feel safe leaving Xiaobao at home alone. I have to trouble you to look after him.”
“Yes, yes, I know. I’ve already owed the daycare fee for half a month. Please wait a little longer; once I get this month’s commission, I will definitely pay it!”
Not knowing what was said on the other end of the line, the soda lady kept offering forced smiles and saying many pleasant words. It took quite a while before she finally turned back around.
Seeing Jian Xingxia and the other two, the soda lady blanked for a moment, then hurriedly raised her hand to rub her eyes, putting on a smile.
“Delicious orange soda, would you like a taste?”
Auntie Lu quietly hid the unopened soda behind her back and asked awkwardly, “How… how do you sell this soda?”
The soda lady’s eyes lit up, and she quickly repeated the promotional details.
This time, it was Auntie Lu’s turn to fret. She earned her living by selling bits of fruit and grain; earning money wasn’t easy, and she couldn’t bear to spend so much money on soda.
“Ma’am, I’ll buy two cases.”
Jian Xingxia walked up with a smile, shaking the bottle in her hand. “This soda is delicious. The weather is so hot anyway; I’ll buy two cases and take them back to drink slowly.”
“Oh! Oh! Wonderful! I’ll get them for you right away!”
A case contained twenty-four bottles; two cases came to a total of one hundred and sixty-eight yuan.
Auntie Lu and Fangfang each carried a case, feeling incredibly conflicted. They felt bad that Jian Xingxia was spending money, yet they also felt bad that the soda lady’s life was so difficult. Kind-hearted people were always prone to empathizing with others.
The soda lady packed the twelve free bottles into a bag, then hauled out a lottery box, letting Jian Xingxia draw a prize.
Jian Xingxia laughed. “It’s probably just a participation prize. My luck with raffles has always been pretty terrible.”
Fangfang chimed in, “Me too!”
The soda lady, deeply appreciative of Jian Xingxia’s kindness, said, “Young lady, you have a good heart. Good people are bound to have good luck.”
As they spoke, Jian Xingxia had already scratched off the prize ticket.
The soda lady looked down, and her jaw instantly dropped.
“Young lady! You won!”
“Huh? Really?”
Fangfang hurriedly squeezed over to look. “Oh my god! You really won! First prize!”
The soda lady pulled out her phone to check what the first prize was, but her phone was a bit laggy and kept failing to load. “It seems to be solar… solar energy something.”
The soda lady handed the phone over, and Fangfang beat everyone to it. “I see it! It’s solar energy! But the rest of the words are still spinning.”
The four of them watched for a long time, but the subsequent text just wouldn’t come out.
The soda lady sighed helplessly; small companies really couldn’t be relied upon, they couldn’t even make a proper lottery webpage.
She handed the prize ticket back to Jian Xingxia. “For second prize and above, you have to go to the official website yourself to fill in the winning code and contact information. Don’t worry, I’ve already registered your winning information on my end. Once the company verifies it, they’ll mail it to you.”
Fearing that Jian Xingxia might think she was a scammer, the soda lady proactively left her contact information with her.
Jian Xingxia, however, wasn’t worried at all.
The exact moment she scratched the ticket, she had already heard the system’s notification.
【Please note! The reward delivery channel has been successfully established. Owner, please keep an eye out to receive it!】
Jian Xingxia had been wondering earlier how she, dirt-poor and owning nothing but a broken mountain estate, was going to explain the arrival of the system’s reward. Now it seemed there was no need to worry. This system was incredibly useful; it automatically rationalized every single illogical detail.
Fangfang urged Jian Xingxia to register it, but Jian Xingxia made up a lie. “I’ll go online later to ask around. If someone is willing to buy it off me, I can just fill in their address instead.”
Fangfang thought about it and found it reasonable. “Trading it for cash is even better.”
Auntie Lu also nodded, feeling that Jian Xingxia really knew how to manage a household.
The pickup truck arrived.
The three of them put the soda onto the truck, then went to the lotus root stall to retrieve the items Jian Xingxia had bought, which delayed them by a few minutes.
The pickup driver said, “You have too many things, you’ll need to give an extra ten yuan.”
Auntie Lu wanted to haggle a bit, but Jian Xingxia handed over the money first. The driver wasn’t overcharging; the hoes, shovels, and various seedlings were awkward to place and couldn’t be crushed, taking up more space than two actual passengers.
Auntie Lu didn’t say anything further. Her intention wasn’t to be stingy; it was just that being poor made her used to budgeting meticulously and haggling over everything.
Once the pickup driver received the money, his attitude toward them sweetened considerably.
“The seedlings shouldn’t be crushed. Put them under the seats in the front cabin.”
See? A well-fostered relationship immediately proved useful.
Jian Xingxia placed them inside and took the opportunity to ask the pickup driver how he charged for bringing things back from the town, and how much a trip would cost on a non-market day. The driver answered each question, giving Jian Xingxia a good estimate in her mind.
The pickup truck made a loop around the town, stopping at the marketplace, the pedestrian street, Liangdao Street, and the bus station. Once it was packed with a dozen or so people, it bypassed the main highway and drove back.
They arrived at Lu’an Village at ten-thirty.
Jian Xingxia unloaded her goods, and Fangfang brought the three-wheeler over to help haul her cargo back.
