Xiao Yun picked up some food for Xiao He with his chopsticks.
Xiao He raised his eyebrows, skeptical. "Why? Did you do something bad today?"
"No, but there is something that you need to be mentally prepared for," said Xiao Yun as he placed the food in Xiao He's bowl.
Xiao He looked at his son, as if he already knew what Xiao Yun was going to say.
"No, I really didn't do anything bad." Xiao Yun was speechless.
"Then what is it?" asked Xiao He.
Xiao Yun cleared his throat and said, "I bought a lottery ticket."
Xiao He: "Was that why you wanted to sell the recyclables?"
"Why do I feel that you are not surprised at all?" asked Xiao Yun.
"Should I be surprised when you've already bought it?" asked Xiao He in return indifferently.
"Rather than surprised, I'm more of the thought that I should teach you a lesson. You shouldn't be too young for that anymore, right? If you're already buying lottery tickets, what's next? Gambling? Will I have to pick you up from the police station instead of the kindergarten one day?" Xiao He was not calm anymore.
Xiao Yun let out a sigh of relief. Xiao He's calmness earlier was scarier to him. That wasn't a normal reaction to the news he just broke out. Xiao He's current reaction was what he expected to be normal.
Xiao Yun hurriedly tried to diffuse the situation, "But Dad, even if you want to sentence me to death, you have to listen to me first. Even those arrested are still allowed to defend themselves."
Xiao He felt angrier after Xiao Yun spoke. "How could you expect me to still be reasonable with you?"
"No, no," said Xiao Yun hurriedly with an apologetic smile.
"What else is there to say? I don't think there is anything. I already know what happened anyway. You didn't win, did you? So the money you had worked so hard to earn was burned just like that," said Xiao He bluntly.
"Why wouldn't I win?" asked Xiao Yun unwillingly.
Xiao He put down the bowl and chopsticks, crossed his arms, and said to Xiao Yun, "Oh, from your tone, you must have won. How much did you win?"
Xiao Yun was speechless. Xiao He didn't believe in his son. Did he think he only won a small sum? Now Xiao Yun didn't even know how to tell his father how much he had won.
Xiao Yun didn't say anything but pointed two fingers at Xiao He.
Xiao He didn't care. "Oh, twice the amount."
Xiao Yun shook his head while keeping his two fingers up.
Xiao He continued to guess. "You only won twice the amount you bet and you still want to brag about it to me?"
"It's two hundred thousand." Xiao Yun didn't want to have Xiao He guessing anymore.
Then he added, "There should be more than one hundred and ninety thousand left after tax."
Xiao He's immediate thought was that his son had been cheated.
Seeing that Xiao He did not believe him, Xiao Yun said, "You can look at your account balance later. It's almost time. The money should be arriving soon."
As soon as Xiao Yun finished speaking, he heard a notification from Xiao He's phone.
Xiao Yun gestured for Xiao He to open it and take a look.
Xiao He opened the text message with the same expression of doubt and disbelief.
But when he saw the balance of the account, Xiao He had to use his fingers to count the number of zeroes in the amount that he had just received.
He counted it several times as if he didn't believe it. And Xiao Yun didn't rush him. He just waited for Xiao He to slowly digest and accept what had just happened.
Finally, Xiao He put his phone on the table and looked at Xiao Yun doubtfully.
Xiao Yun knew that this would happen.
As expected, Xiao He looked at Xiao Yun with a serious expression and asked, "How did you do it?"
Xiao Yun couldn't tell his father that he had been reborn, which was how he knew the winning numbers.
Fortunately, Xiao Yun had already anticipated this question from his father. "I had read a book about the lottery some time ago and decided to try it."
Xiao He obviously didn't believe him because he asked, "Really?
"Well, I also knew that luck was a huge part of it. But since I've studied the book, I decided to give it a go.
"Anyway, I have already won the lottery, and the money is already in your hands. What's the point of thinking so much about it?"
Xiao He thought about it and felt that it was true, so he decided to just let it go. His son must have been a very lucky boy.
"Dad, look at how much we've won. With so much money, why don't give me thirty to fifty thousand and you can keep the rest?" Xiao Yun started to make demands with a smile.
But Xiao He glared at him. "Thirty to fifty thousand? Why don't you go to Heaven? Why do you need so much money for a kid?"
"Well, ten thousand is good enough for me as well." Xiao Yun settled for the second best. He felt that it was better than nothing.
Xiao He rolled his eyes even more. "It's too little? I don't think you understand how much that amount is."
"Why are you being like this?" asked Xiao Yun unwillingly.
"No matter what, I'm still your father," said Xiao He
"Fine." Xiao Yun admitted it.
"How stingy. If it wasn't because I'm not old enough to have my own bank account, I wouldn't have let them bank in the prize money into your account." Xiao Yun whispered.
But Xiao He heard him. "What are you mumbling about?"
"Nothing," said Xiao Yun hurriedly.
"I'll give you a thousand. Use it wisely," said Xiao He.
Xiao Yun immediately became energetic when he heard that. He had been sitting on the chair weakly just now, but now he was sitting up straight.
"Can you give me more?" Xiao Yun still wanted to continue bargaining.
"Three hundred." Xiao He looked at Xiao Yun.
Xiao Yun hurriedly shook his head. "Okay, one thousand it is."
It was better than nothing. No matter how small a fly was, it was still meat.
...
Early in the morning, Xiao Yun had just woken up when he saw Xiao He sitting on the sofa with freshly-bought breakfast on the dining table.
"Go wash your face and brush your teeth. We'll be leaving for school in a while," said Xiao He.
Xiao Yun saw the dark circles under Xiao He's eyes and couldn't help but tease his father. "Dad, were you so excited that you didn't sleep the whole night? Were you just sitting on the sofa the entire time?"
"You're thinking too much. What's there to be excited about? It's just winning the lottery. Also, I was in the bedroom yesterday," said Xiao He, pretending to be calm.
Xiao Yun nodded and thought, 'Then, he must have stayed up in bed all night long.'
With his thoughts kept to himself, Xiao Yun turned around, yawned, and went to wash up.
By the time he came out, he saw Xiao He take out ten red pieces of paper from his wallet and handed them to Xiao Yun.
"Oh my, you're so proactive. I thought I would have to behave well and receive the money in batches," Xiao Yun said cheekily.
Xiao He pretended to put the money away. "Thanks for reminding me to give this out in batches. Children shouldn't be entrusted with so much money anyway."
"Ah, don't, I'm just kidding," said Xiao He as he gratefully took the money with both of his hands.