Chapter 1

Minghu Park. The shimmering lake surface reflected the blue sky and white clouds.

It was a rare good day, but Chen Feng's mood had sunk to the bottom of the lake.

The diagnosis report in his hand had been crumpled into a ball, but he hadn't thrown it away.

He was only 29 this year, and he didn't want to die. But fate had played a cruel joke on him.

Advanced brain tumor!

Chen Feng still remembered how the doctor had looked at him with sympathy, speaking gently and telling him to eat, drink, and play as usual, to relax and enjoy life.

The doctor's compassion was truly rare.

Chen Feng's lips curled into a bitter smile as he looked up at the sky. In a daze, he saw a meteor streak across the sky, disappearing in an instant.

"Another hallucination." Chen Feng laughed at himself.

Lately, he had been experiencing frequent headaches, nausea, vomiting, and hallucinations.

So today, he took a day off to go to the hospital for a check-up, and this was the result.

At this moment, his phone rang; it was his wife, Shen Lin.

"What's up?" Chen Feng asked in a flat tone.

"I have a company dinner tonight, so I won't be coming home for dinner." Shen Lin's voice was soft and gentle, but her personality was anything but.

"Okay."

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing. By the way, haven't you always wanted a divorce? I agree."

"What did you say?"

"I said I agree to the divorce. I've thought it through; it's meaningless for me to keep clinging to you."

"Did you... hear something?"

Chen Feng was taken aback, then a green thought crept into his mind, and he replied coldly, "Yes, I heard something. So, let's part ways amicably and move on."

"Are you no longer trusting me?" Shen Lin's tone also turned cold.

"This isn't about whether I trust you or not; it's about the fact that it's unnecessary. Do you understand? We no longer love each other. Think about how much time we've spent together these past few months, how many times we've eaten at home, how many times we've been intimate?" Chen Feng asked, his emotions rising.

"…Yes. I might really not love you anymore. You're no longer the vibrant, ambitious Chen Feng. You've become a middle-aged man who complains all day, gets by, and lacks ambition."

Chen Feng felt a surge of anger, wanting to shout, but it turned into a long sigh. He was going to die; what was the point of complaining?

Chen Feng let it go.

"Say what you want. Now, take a day off, and I'll go home to get the documents. We'll go to the Civil Affairs Bureau." Chen Feng said weakly.

After a few seconds of silence, she asked in a low voice, "Have you really thought this through? I can give you two more months. If you change some of your bad habits, we might still be able to…"

"No need." Chen Feng interrupted her, his tone firm. "Let's get divorced. What's the point of forcing ourselves to stay together when we have no feelings left? Besides, we don't have any children or significant assets. I'll let you go and find your own happiness. A divorced woman sounds better than a widow. I don't want to drag you down."

"…Alright. I'll take a day off now."

Two hours later, the two of them, each holding a divorce certificate, parted ways at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau.

Shen Lin gave him two days to move out of their current home.

This house was rented by Chen Feng's parents as their marital home, with three years' rent paid in advance. They had already lived there for almost two years.

Since it was close to Shen Lin's workplace, it could be considered some compensation from Chen Feng. Chen Feng chose to move out of the home they had lived in for almost two years.

He left all the appliances and furniture to her.

After all, he was going to die, and he couldn't take these things with him. He left them to Shen Lin, as they had once loved each other.

Moreover, Shen Lin had almost fallen out with her parents to marry him. After all, Chen Feng had no money, no house, and a mediocre job.

For this, he always felt guilty.

This time, taking the initiative to divorce her was also a form of compensation. A divorced woman sounded better than a widow, and he didn't want to burden her.

Chen Feng didn't take a car; he walked back to their place. He planned to find a cheaper place to live and move out the next day. After about half an hour, he reached the street where they lived. Suddenly, a strong wind blew, causing the leaves of the plane trees to fall.

Plastic bags, paper scraps, and dust were blown toward Chen Feng.

Instinctively, he raised his hand to shield his eyes. A piece of paper was blown into his hand, and he caught it. It turned out to be a scratched lottery ticket with a car image on it.

Chen Feng was stunned. He had played scratch-off lotteries before; they were simple. If you won, the amount was clearly marked on the ticket.

For example, 10 yuan, 100 yuan, 1000 yuan.

But this time, the scratched ticket in Chen Feng's hand not only had two 100 yuan, one 500 yuan, and one 1000 yuan, but also a car image.

This was a winning ticket, and a big one at that. And it didn't seem to be a fake.

But who the hell would scratch a winning ticket and then throw it away? Or was it someone else's discarded ticket?

After a brief internal struggle, Chen Feng decided to wait by the roadside with the ticket.

He decided that if anyone came looking for it and could accurately describe the winnings and the car, he would return it to them.

After all, he was going to die and didn't want to tarnish his reputation before he died. He wasn't a good person, but he didn't want to die as a bad person.

So, he stood by the roadside and waited. After waiting for more than half an hour, no one came looking for it, let alone asking about it.

After waiting for another ten minutes, Chen Feng couldn't hold it in any longer and went to the nearest public toilet. Then, he found a lottery shop on the same street, one he had visited occasionally before.

Many people were buying scratch-off lotteries in the shop, but few seemed to be winning big.

Chen Feng spent 20 yuan on two tickets and scratched them casually. The first one won him 1530 yuan, and the second one won him 2000 yuan. This immediately drew envious and jealous looks from the other customers.

"You really have incredible luck."

"Yeah. I spent 2000 yuan and bought four packs, scratching until my fingers hurt, and only won a few hundred yuan."

"There's no way to compare."

"Brother, how about I pay for the tickets, and you scratch them for me? We'll split the winnings."

"Right, brother, your luck today is really good. Help me out, and I'll split the winnings with you."

...

Chen Feng had come to the shop to see if anyone had lost a ticket, but he didn't expect to win. It was like the saying, "You can't make a flower bloom by force, but sometimes a willow grows from an unintentional planting."

In the past, he had been a lottery enthusiast, buying tickets for years, but he had only won 20 yuan once.

In the past few months, he hadn't bought any tickets, and he hadn't expected to win this time. Who could he complain to?