Chapter 5019 — A Swindler on the Road
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"Then what's there to talk about? Since you can't give me five thousand, then I give you five thousand and the ticket's mine — or else we just call the police. Take your pick, old man!" As he spoke, the young man reached out to snatch the ticket again.
The old man hastily ducked behind Wei Zhao once more and yelled, "Only five thousand? I'd rather give it to someone else! Young man, you just give me five thousand and this ticket is yours — anyone but this little scoundrel can have the bargain!"
"Damn you, who are you calling a scoundrel?" The young man flew into a rage and lunged to hit him again, but the old man was now nimble as could be, dodging and weaving around Wei Zhao. The two of them chased each other in circles and actually trapped Wei Zhao in the middle, leaving him unable to get away for the moment.
Seeing a fight about to break out, passersby gathered around. Realizing things looked bad, the young man backed off and pulled Wei Zhao and the old man into a side alley at the street corner. Lowering his voice, he said, "Forget it, forget it. I'll count myself unlucky today and take the loss — but I don't want this old man to get the bargain either! How about this: brother, you give me five thousand, and give the old man another five thousand, and the bargain's yours. Old man, you've got no objection to that, have you?"
"Right, right! I can tell you're a good man, young fellow. Letting a good man like you have the bargain is better than letting a scoundrel like him have it. You just give me five thousand, and the ticket's yours!" the old man chimed in.
"Really?" Wei Zhao's expression showed both temptation and hesitation.
"Of course it's real! You give us five thousand each, and with this ticket you can walk away with twenty-four thousand. There's no better bargain under the sun! It's only because I didn't bring that much money — if I'd had the full ten thousand, would this bargain ever have fallen to you?" The young man sounded aggrieved.
"But how do I know this ticket has really won anything?" Wei Zhao's face still carried a trace of wariness.
"That's easy. Look at the numbers and the date on the ticket, then check it on your phone — how could anyone fake something like this? Here, take a look." On his phone, the young man found the official welfare lottery website and pulled up the winning announcement for that draw to show Wei Zhao.
Wei Zhao leaned in and looked carefully, then said in a voice full of delighted surprise, "It really is ten third-prize bets!"
"See? There's no way to fake something like this. So, brother, do you want it or not? If you don't, I'll go find someone else. Put down ten thousand and walk away with twenty-four — I only have to shout once and there'll be plenty of people fighting for this bargain. It's only because I think you're all right, brother, that I'm letting you have it." As he spoke, the young man took two steps toward the alley mouth, making as if to leave.
"Young man, I know you're an honest, good-hearted sort, so just take the bargain. Someone's going to get it anyway — better you than anyone else. I just like the look of you," the old man urged along with him.
The two of them went back and forth, one pleading earnestly, the other playing hard to get, until at last Wei Zhao relented. Cautiously, he pulled the ten thousand yuan from his trouser pocket, divided it into two stacks, and put one in each of their hands. "Give me the ticket. You two count it carefully — five thousand each, and this ticket has nothing more to do with you."
"Nothing to do with us, nothing to do with us! If this little scoundrel kicks up a fuss and tries to cheat you, I'll testify for you!" The old man took the money, beaming, and nodded again and again.
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