Chapter 4

As the sun set, the heartbroken man stood at the edge of the world.

Wang Chun looked at the shadow of the lamppost stretching in the fading light, feeling a sudden wave of inexplicable melancholy.

Lu Jiaojiao's words kept circling in Wang Chun's mind.

He had heard of Shakespeare, but only by name.

Who was Nietzsche?

Wang Chun felt a surge of frustration and irritability. He had never understood why his mother made him drop out of school after elementary school. Even more incomprehensible was why his mother named him "Wang Chun."

In Wang Chun's memory, his grades in elementary school were very good, even ranking at the top of the entire school. There was no reason for his name to include the character "chun" (stupid)!

"Chun, bring me a pen. This one is out of ink." The hall manager was busy writing something.

"Oh..."

Wang Chun walked out of the Greek mythology hall and got a ballpoint pen from Uncle Liu at the newsstand at the door. The bill was naturally charged to the hall manager.

"How's it going today?" Wang Chun knew without looking that the hall manager was registering the underground lottery list.

The hall manager usually took on some side jobs, collecting bets and passing them to the bookie, taking a cut for himself. Wang Chun knew nothing about horse betting, but occasionally he would buy a few yuan to try his luck. However, his luck was extremely poor, and he had never won.

"Not bad. Want to try a few yuan for good luck?" The hall manager didn't even look up, one hand continuously making phone calls, the other hand keeping records.

"Never mind... Let me think..."

Wang Chun suddenly felt a surge of excitement. He remembered that he had traveled back 60 days, and every day now was a repetition of his past life.

If he could buy a lottery ticket, wouldn't he get rich right away?

Unfortunately, he had never paid attention to the lottery, and even the underground lottery happening around him every day didn't interest him.

Buying a lottery ticket was clearly impossible, but he could try to recall the underground lottery numbers.

Wang Chun racked his brain, trying to find any clues in his memory.

Wang Chun didn't have a specific sense of time, but he could pinpoint the events of the day before he traveled back.

Yesterday, he broke up with his girlfriend, and tonight, he would have a fight with Wenjing, Shixiao, and others.

Wang Chun remembered the events of tonight very clearly because they were beaten up by a group of thieves, and as a result, he wasn't enthusiastic about the night out.

Wang Chun repeatedly went over the underground lottery numbers from the past few days.

"23!" Wang Chun slapped his thigh.

"What's up?" The hall manager looked up and asked.

"I'm going to bet on 23!" Wang Chun was excited. He remembered the special number for today because Uncle Liu at the newsstand had bet 10 yuan and won. The old man had grabbed Wang Chun and talked for a long time, regretting that he had bet too little, which left a deep impression on Wang Chun.

"Ha ha, how much?"

"How much did the old man at the phone booth bet?" Wang Chun needed to confirm.

"Ten yuan."

"Okay, I'll bet 2000 yuan... no, I'll bet all the money I have." Wang Chun took all the money out of his pocket.

"Bet so much?" The hall manager was surprised. He knew Wang Chun very well, and he had never bet more than five yuan.

"He he, I have inside information. The special number for this draw is 23. Manager Chen, we're brothers, don't blame me for not telling you. You can bet too, preferably a few hundred thousand, and you'll get rich instantly." Wang Chun laughed.

"Ha ha." The hall manager smiled but didn't take it seriously. There were thousands of people like Wang Chun who claimed to have inside information. If everyone had inside information, the bookie would have gone out of business long ago. Wang Chun's confident look was probably due to a scam call, and he didn't want to bother with such nonsense.

The draw time was around 9 PM. During the work hours, Wang Chun was fantasizing about how to spend the huge prize.

At a 40:1 payout, 2300 yuan would be 92,000 yuan, which was a huge sum of money for Wang Chun.

Wang Chun had never seen a bill over ten thousand yuan. His largest savings were a little over two thousand yuan before buying a phone. Most of the time, Wang Chun was a spendthrift. If it weren't for the old Taoist who had lost a bet and given him 2000 yuan, he wouldn't have had enough cash to bet.

Thinking about the 92,000 yuan about to fall into his pocket, Wang Chun regretted not thinking of it earlier. He should have raised more money. Unfortunately, the betting time was almost over, and he couldn't notify Wenjing and Shixiao to buy some.

The draw would be at around 9 PM!

Waiting was a torment.

Finally, after the torment, Wang Chun endured until the draw time.

The special number was 23.

The one who told Wang Chun he had won was not the hall manager but the loud-voiced old man at the newsstand, Uncle Liu, who was the street's loudspeaker. He was always the first to know about any news on the street.

After collecting the bets, the hall manager disappeared, but Wang Chun wasn't worried. After all, he was the hall manager here, and his reputation was always excellent.

In a state of extreme joy, Wang Chun endured until the end of his shift.

By the time he finished work, it was already midnight.

Wenjing and Shixiao were already waiting outside. After meeting up, the three of them walked to a nearby "Brother's Barbecue" for a night out.

"Brothers, I have good news. I won the special number, and I have over 90,000 yuan in prize money. This meal is on me." Wang Chun sat down and immediately announced the good news with a beaming face.

"Ah... Ha ha... Brother Chun actually got rich. Congratulations!" Shixiao congratulated him, but his face showed disdain, more like mocking Wang Chun for his lack of experience.

"Over 90,000... hmm, enough to buy two sets of fancy clothes." Wenjing looked calm and indifferent.

"Fancy clothes?" Shixiao pulled at Wenjing's white shirt with a sarcastic look. "How much did this shirt cost?"

"This shirt isn't expensive, only 8,000 yuan." Wenjing pushed Shixiao's hand away. "Don't touch it, or you'll get it dirty, and you can't afford to pay for it."

"Damn, are you selling pork? 8,000 yuan can buy a train car full of such shirts." Shixiao mocked.

"Ignorance is bliss." Wenjing didn't want to argue about the shirt and changed the topic. "Wang Chun, is the bookie reliable?"

"Reliable, very reliable."

"Good to know." Wenjing, who didn't like to talk much, asked one question and then stopped, carefully wiping the greasy table with a napkin.

"Brother Chun, where's your phone?" Shixiao asked Wang Chun.

"It's broken."

"Oh, that's a pity. My phone was stolen..."

"Never mind." Wang Chun immediately stopped Shixiao from continuing. He knew the script. Next, Shixiao would start complaining about his phone, and then he and Wenjing would get angry. After a few rounds of drinks, they would go to negotiate with a group of thieves, and the end result would be that the three of them would be beaten up and left with bruised faces.

Unfortunately, Wang Chun's attempt to stop the script didn't change its course.

"Brother Chun, I was blackmailed." Shixiao looked angry, opened a bottle of beer, and drank it all in one go. His small eyes turned bloodshot, like a furious predator.

Wang Chun and Wenjing exchanged a glance, a bitter smile on their faces. They both knew that Shixiao couldn't hold his liquor and would lose control when he drank.

"Who?" Wenjing asked.

"Yan Gun, that bastard. He's not good at pickpocketing but specializes in robbing others. Last time, he stole my girlfriend's purse, and this time, he stole my hard-earned iPhone 5S." Shixiao looked murderous.

"Let it go. With your pickpocketing skills, one iPhone is nothing. Even ten or twenty wouldn't be a problem." Wang Chun was determined not to let history repeat itself.

"He he, that's true. If I, Brother Bao, want to, I can easily get a few iPhones... Brother Chun, wait here, I'll go around and get you a phone to use..." Shixiao, his brain clouded by alcohol, wobbled to his feet.

"No, no, no." Wang Chun quickly stood up and pushed Shixiao back into his chair.

"I can't let this go. I, Shixiao, will lose face... wu wu..." Shixiao drank another bottle of beer and suddenly burst into tears, drawing the attention of the other diners.

"Where is Yan Gun?" Wenjing stood up.

"Good brother!" Shixiao grabbed Wenjing's arm, pounded his chest, and looked at Wang Chun.

"Getting beaten up is fine. It's a draw, and it's not embarrassing."

Wang Chun watched the tragedy about to unfold, feeling dejected. No one knew Wenjing's character better than he did. If Wenjing decided to stand up for Shixiao, no one could persuade him otherwise.

Wenjing looked gentle but was extremely stubborn. Once he made a decision, no one could change it. Once, a gang leader tried to force Wenjing to cut his girlfriend's hair with a razor, but Wenjing remained silent and unbothered, leaving the gang leader humiliated.

Moreover, Wenjing was extremely agile and decisive. It was because of him that the last fight, despite being outnumbered, ended in a draw.

"Riding the horse, you are mighty and strong, the galloping horse is like a gust of wind..."

The three of them drank a few more bottles of beer to build their courage, devoured the beef skewers and chicken wings, and then, swaying and leaning on each other, they sang their way to "Gaoshan Street."

From Brother's Barbecue to Gaoshan Street was about two miles. The three of them didn't take a taxi but took a shortcut.

On the way, Wang Chun kept thinking about how to prevent the tragedy from repeating.

Since he could prevent two car accidents and win the lottery, he could change the outcome this time.

What frustrated Wang Chun was that if they went to seek revenge, they would inevitably be beaten up because the other side had four times as many people.

"Brother Bao, if we go to Gaoshan Street to find Yan Gun, there are only two outcomes: first, we can't find him; second, we find him, but his gang is too many, and we get beaten up. Either way, there's no need for us to go to Gaoshan Street to seek revenge." Wang Chun's only hope was to persuade Shixiao to go back, making a final effort.