Chapter 363
Chapter 363: The special lucky draw prize
"Miss Lin, to be honest, we actually can't afford a 180 square meters flat. How about you take us to see a 120 square metres one? Or if you're busy, you don't have to show us around," Mrs Xiang confessed to Lin Yixian in a rather awkward but sincere manner as they walked.
Lin Yixian felt a headache coming on as she thought: Not show you around? Do you want me dead? Please stop it, will you? While I don't know what exactly this is all about, you're definitely the greatest VIPs of Ning Garden. That's definite. Don't smash my rice bowl, oh great VIPs!
"It's fine, let's just take a look at them all! We can begin with 180 square metres."
Lin Yixian could not be denied as she stubbornly brought Mr and Mrs Xiang over to the 180 square metres home.
As they passed through the intricately designed rooms that had basically already undergone renovation, Mr and Mrs Xiang were incomparably satisfied with what they saw. They thought about how they could even install a small loft upstairs in the future, where Little Xiang Ning could sit and study or do her homework while looking at the starry sky outside the window…
However much they understood that they actually couldn't afford it, Mr and Mrs Xiang were still left rather unable to move away from this place.
The two of them looked at this, stroked that…coupled with Lin Yixian's enthusiastic, detailed introduction and explanations, more than an hour had already passed before they knew it.
"Well, we should be getting back to the hall to participate in the lucky draw for the inclination survey," Lin Yixian eventually said.
At that instant when they left the place, Mr and Mrs Xiang both unconsciously sighed in unison, their eyes filled with longing and regret as they simultaneously gazed back at the flat which they had just thoroughly viewed.
……
Arriving back in the hall, Mr and Mrs Xiang saw that there were already throngs of people there that numbered into the several hundreds. Their relatives were there as well.
The emcee stood up on stage, announcing the details of the upcoming lucky draw.
The lucky draw actually appeared totally legit. On the surface, at least, even Fang Yuqing and the others could not tell how there might be something else behind this process. They just thought that Godly Swindler Xu was mad. As for what exactly he wanted to do and how he was planning to do it, even if he had rigged the lucky draw, he could just do whatever he wanted…
After all, they were already used to believing in Godly Swindler Xu. They thought that however he might appear to be messing around, there should still be a deeper meaning behind it. Blind faith kills! Of course, with the Black Horse Club and the Fang family around, there was nothing to worry about even if a little something cropped up.
The process was so rigorous that even officiators were there to make sure that everything was all fair and just…but there were officiators for lottery tickets too, and whoever even trusted that?
As for what Xu Tingsheng felt about this, since this simply consisted of additional giveaways in the first place, he did not believe that there was anything wrong with manipulating it. He wasn't some saint or anything.
Only the first 800 potential customers who had filled in the inclination survey were allowed to participate in the lucky draw. As soon as the number was reached, this ended right away.
Still, there were actually merely around 300 of these families who had stayed behind.
While they all knew about the lucky draw, many had chosen to take their leave after viewing the flats and filling up the forms.
While the prizes had not been announced, they were placed right there for all to see. A few stuffed bears, a pile of pencil cases, notebooks and small bags…many people actually saw these as being useless to them.
The emcee awaited further confirmation, giving time for telephone notifications to be made as he waited for those who had left to return. Still, those who did return were few and far between.
Afterwards, the employees present checked the names on the inclination surveys against those present. Each family only had a single person remaining within the area. Mrs Xiang was amongst them. Since these were all minor goods anyway and since they were there anyway, she and her husband felt that it would be nice if they could manage to get something which Little Xiang Ning would like.
The emcee spoke while the officiators verified that everything was fair and proper.
From the fifth-tier prize to the first-tier prize, the prizes announced by the emcee really did not hold much allure. From pencil cases to stuffed toys, they were all things which cost a few to a few dozen yuan.
Most of the people present were devoid of enthusiasm as they listened on, with someone even complaining out loud, "This old man ain't drawing anymore! What a waste of time! Can I leave?"
"You can," The emcee answered.
A few of those present really began walking towards the door.
"Now, I will announce the sole special-grade prize of the day. More than 800 tickets, and 300 of you here. I really hope that you will be able to draw it out. Even if you fail to do so, we will still invite the officiators present to unveil all the tickets for everyone to see to prove that we did indeed place this grand prize inside."
The emcee dropped the bait.
"An electric rice cooker?" Someone yelled from amongst those in the midst of walking away.
Laughter erupted amongst the crowd.
"Even an electric rice cooker would be thinking too highly of them! So stingy with their prizes…" Another guy complained loudly.
This was just how people were. While these were clearly additional items which Zhicheng did not actually have to give to help get their flats sold, they still felt as if they had been robbed of something due to the prizes not being valuable enough.
"There is just one of this special-grade prize. One lucky friend will be able to buy the flat which you just filled in in your inclination survey at a fifty percent discount. Only one flat," The emcee finished composedly.
Deathly silence descended, the previous hubbub subsiding at once.
This quality gap…wasn't it a little too great? From pencil cases to some hundreds of thousands in cash? A fifty percent discount! Whichever of Ning Garden's flats this was eventually used for, this special-grade prize would still be worth some hundreds of thousands, with this going higher the more valuable the flat.
"Is this for real?" Someone asked hoarsely.
The emcee smiled, "I'll say it again. There is just one of this special-grade prize. One lucky friend will be able to buy the flat which you just filled in in your inclination survey at a fifty percent discount. Only one flat. Zhicheng is a new real estate company, and we're treating this as a fortuitous opening to our commencement. You're all invited to participate in this game that is based completely on luck."
All hell broke loose.
After the emcee had repeated and confirmed the news, a grand commotion erupted in the room.
Some were even already sighing that they had selected too small a flat in that inclination survey earlier as though it was already certain that they would manage to draw the grand prize for sure.
Some were praying.
Some were both laughing and cursing at the same time…
Mrs Xiang turned and looked towards Mr Xiang who stood outside the door. As their gazes met, the same thought resided in the minds of this husband and wife: How good it would be if we could draw it, that 180 square metres flat we yearn for…for our dreams to become reality…"
Still, with this being something that was completely luck-based, Mr Xiang smiled comfortingly, conveying to Mrs Xiang not to be too concerned about it.
How could Mrs dXiang not be concerned about it? She felt stifled, pressured, moved by her mother, worried for Little Xiang Ning…all at the same time. Wishing to draw the special-grade prize just so much, her hands were all dripping with sweat.
That cousin of hers was present too. While she too was filled with joy, as she saw Mrs Xiang, she still mocked derisively, "Oh, maybe your family will really be able to afford it now! If it's at half price, you should be able to afford it, right?"
Eldest uncle's wife added, "Yeah, maybe you really will draw it."
Mrs Xiang simply ignored them as she began following the queue for drawing the lucky draw tickets.
Those who had already drawn their tickets could go around freely, leaving the room to scratch and unveil them. Some impatient ones were already starting to fill the room with sighs as they checked their tickets on the spot. Mrs Xiang thought that this was good, since this also meant that the grand prize had not yet been drawn away.
Mrs Xiang was conflicted for a long time as she put her hand in the box. Only at the urging of the employees did she force herself to select and grab one. Then, she left the room, hurrying over to Mr Xiang's side.
……
In the office upstairs, Xu Tingsheng told Little Xiang Ning, "007, you're on."
"Oh yeah!"