1983Fishing and Farming between Mountains and Seas

Chapter 365: Getting the Forever Bicycle
There were several square cardboard boxes on a table at the entrance, all covered with red paper, not bright red, but the color of watermelon red. On the outside of each cardboard box, there were three characters written in brush: "Lottery Box".

Liang Ziqiang and the other guy also lined up in the queue and moved forward, getting closer and closer to the red prize boxes.

He noticed that his wife was moving closer to him, her eyes still glancing at the sewing machine from time to time.

"Want a sewing machine? How about you come and draw a prize later? Anyway, you have good luck, maybe you can really get it." He turned and asked his wife.

"I just think it looks good," the wife refused to admit. "Besides, even though there are so many prizes, how many people came to touch the prizes? There were so many people that it was hard to count them. How could it be so good that we could touch the prizes?!"

In fact, if Liang Ziqiang really wanted to win the grand prize, he would have a great chance of winning it.

If he separated his tens of thousands of dollars into smaller deposits, wouldn't he have hundreds or thousands of small-denomination certificates of deposit, and be able to win prizes thousands of times in a row?
If a person touches the lottery thousands of times, it would be really difficult not to win the jackpot.

Of course, it's just a thought. It's obviously a sum of money, but to make thousands of deposit certificates is probably crazy. After all, saving money is the main thing, and winning the lottery is just a by-product.

But there are also people who have put the priorities in the wrong place. He heard people in the queue talking about how they went to the bank to deposit money just to win a prize. It seems that the role of "savings with prizes" in this special era in boosting bank savings cannot be underestimated.

When the line was halfway through, there was a sudden thunderous cheering and booing from the front.

"Fourth prize! This comrade has won the fourth prize, a sewing machine!" The bank clerk's confirming voice came out amid the noise.

"Someone really got it!" Chen Xiangbei couldn't hide her envy, "What luck, but it's a pity that there is only one left now."

Besides being envious, she was obviously even more nervous. If one machine was taken away, her chances would be reduced by half.

"What's a sewing machine? It's not a tailor. Who steps on it every day?" Someone nearby said, "If I want to touch it, I'll go for the first and second prizes! Refrigerators and TVs, these are the real good stuff. Who doesn't want them? Even if you want them, you can't buy them!"

The first prize was a Wanbao brand refrigerator. Needless to say, the current domestic production of refrigerators is still very low, and they can be said to be luxury goods. It is indeed difficult for ordinary families to buy them even if they have money, and the price is at least more than one thousand or two thousand.

The second prize was a black and white TV, which ordinary people could not buy without a ticket. The price was much lower than that of a refrigerator, but it was still around 400 yuan. Liang Ziqiang had noticed it several times when he bought things in the department store.

A sewing machine costs only about 120 to 150 yuan, which is certainly not as expensive as a refrigerator or a TV.

Amid the discussions, Liang Ziqiang and his wife gradually lined up to the prize box.

He took out the ten small deposit certificates and handed them to the bank clerk. The clerk took a closer look and stamped each of them on the "prize redemption slip" on the right side. There were three words on them: "prize redeemed."

Liang Ziqiang collected the ten deposit certificates and put them back into his pocket.

"You touch it, I'll watch!"

When it came to the lottery draw, his wife got scared and grabbed his arm and pushed him into the cardboard box.

Liang Ziqiang was not polite either. Over the past year or so, he felt that his luck was pretty good!

So, with full confidence, he reached his right hand into the watermelon red prize box. What he touched was a whole pile of small pieces of paper.

He touched this and pinched that. He felt good about himself just now, but now he suddenly felt at a loss, like a blind man touching an elephant.

"Your wife seems to be very clever and dexterous, so give her a sewing machine!" An old lady nearby glanced at him and his wife and said to him.

Liang Ziqiang muttered to himself, "Auntie, can you read my mind or what?" At this moment, he really wanted to let his wife touch a sewing machine. If nothing else, just based on the look in his wife's eyes, if she could really touch it, she would probably be so happy!
After hearing what the aunt said, some people who were originally paying attention to the prize box turned their heads to Chen Xiangbei. They were just looking at her at first, but after looking at her, some people looked over here several times.

Chen Xiangbei was unhappy, and immediately frowned, subconsciously moving closer to her man.

Liang Ziqiang had already picked up a small piece of paper and took it out.

The paper was folded and red on the outside, but when he opened it, the inside was white with a few words written on it.

"Eighth prize." "Another comrade has won a prize, this comrade won the eighth prize, a bar of soap!" the staff member's voice rang out.

Liang Ziqiang's cheeks trembled twice.

Soap……

I was looking forward to a sewing machine, but what I touched was soap. There is a big gap between the ideal and the reality...

The bank clerk motioned for him to continue.

He reached into the box again. This time, he learned his lesson and did not hesitate or grope around. When his fingers touched the first piece, he directly pinched it out.

As a result, when he took a look, he suspected that someone had thrown the previous one in again, and then he touched it again.

Exactly the same, another "eighth prize". Soap, keep picking up soap...

He never thought that he would be so lucky with soap. In the blink of an eye, he had picked up three soaps, and the other three were "Thank you for participating".

There were four more chances left. When he stretched out his hand for the seventh time, he couldn't stop picking up the soap.

Chen Xiangbei finally couldn't stand it anymore and grabbed his arm. The wife had learned from her mistakes and was determined to stop her husband from picking up the soap!

Maybe his repeated failures had forced out her courage. After pulling his hand away, she reached her fair palm into the cardboard box.

It took neither long nor short. She probably hesitated for two or three times before taking out one of them.

As soon as I opened it, the three words written in pen on the piece of paper came to me almost at the same time as the clerk's voice.

"Third prize! This female comrade is luckier than the previous one and won a third prize!"

At this moment, Chen Xiangbei was in high spirits. She raised the corners of her mouth proudly at him, and her dimples suddenly became very deep.

"A Forever brand bicycle. After you draw the last one, you can go over there to pick it up together!" the staff member said loudly again.

A bicycle! A Forever brand!
Liang Ziqiang went to the department store so many times that he asked the salesperson about the prices of many important items. A Forever brand bicycle cost about 180 yuan, but you couldn't just pay for it. You had to pay a dozen industrial tickets!

It is difficult for someone like Liang Ziqiang to buy a bicycle without a ticket, or at least it is certain that he cannot buy a Forever brand one.

Compared to the fourth-prize sewing machine, a Forever bicycle these days is definitely more valuable.

"I've already told you that you have really good luck. If you keep touching it, you might as well get the sewing machine!" Liang Ziqiang urged his wife.

Chen Xiangbei succeeded in his first attack and was very excited, so he put his hand in again.

This time when I opened it, I found out it was only a sixth prize, a thermos.

There are only so many big prizes, and it is still unrealistic to expect to win big prizes in succession.

But the thermos is actually not bad. It is much better than Liang Ziqiang’s soap.

In the last two chances, I still didn't get the sewing machine, but instead got an enamel cup and a "thank you for participating".

All ten chances had been used up, and the bank clerk pointed to the empty space for the prizes, where there was another staff member sitting who was specifically responsible for distributing the prizes.

The two of them immediately walked towards the open space. The first Forever brand bicycle in my life came so unexpectedly, and the handlebars were shining with a white new metal luster in the winter sun.

(End of this chapter)