Lottery Zoo
Old Wang won the lottery again, this time a third prize. The winnings weren't much, but enough to buy "Star" a week's worth of beef. Star is a Bengal tiger, Old Wang's most prized possession, because she's the most "voracious" eater in the zoo. The zoo is actually pitifully small, more like Old Wang's "private backyard" built with lottery winnings than an actual zoo.
Old Wang is eighty-one years old, with a hunched back and a face full of wrinkles. Yet, he always holds a lottery ticket in his hand, with a childlike gleam in his eyes. He doesn't buy lottery tickets to get rich, but for the sake of the dozen or so animals clamoring for food. The zoo's sign is rusty, with crooked words that read: "House of Hope." What is hope? Old Wang says, hope is watching these guys jumping around every day.
Some people say Old Wang is foolish, that he should use the money to buy himself something good instead of lottery tickets. Old Wang laughs, revealing a mouth with missing teeth: "Money, you can't take it with you when you die. If they eat, I feel at ease." The first thing he does every morning is to "brag" to the animals about the numbers he dreamed of last night, then he rushes out to buy a few tickets at the nearest lottery station.
Days passed like this, and Old Wang and his zoo became a unique sight in this small town. Some were curious, some mocked him, and most people treated it as a joke. Everyone thought that Old Wang's "lottery zoo" would one day go bankrupt because it wasn't reasonable, and certainly wasn't logical.
One day, a young man in a suit came, saying he was a TV reporter. He held up a microphone and asked Old Wang: "You maintain a zoo by buying lottery tickets, aren't you afraid you won't win one day?"
Old Wang stroked his beard and said slowly: "Afraid of what? Buying lottery tickets is my job, and feeding them is my greatest joy. If I don't win today, I'll buy again tomorrow. As long as I live, I'll make them happy every day."
The reporter asked again: "Have you ever thought about what will happen to this zoo if you are not around one day?"
Old Wang was silent, he looked at Star in the distance, whose tiger eyes were staring at him, as if she could understand his words. He sighed and said: "I bought, accident insurance."
After the interview, the reporter edited Old Wang's story into a short video and posted it online, with the title "Old Wang's Fantastic Lottery Zoo." Unexpectedly, the video quickly went viral. Netizens expressed that they were touched by Old Wang's optimistic spirit, and some even said they wanted to donate to him.
Donations poured in like snowflakes. In just a few days, a large sum of money appeared in Old Wang's account. Old Wang was overjoyed and said he would give the animals extra food, and buy a bigger scratching board for Star. But just as he was about to go to the bank to withdraw the money, he was told that his account had been frozen.
The bank said that they had received a report that Old Wang was illegally raising funds, using the zoo to gain sympathy and defraud social donations. They also said that Old Wang's zoo did not have an operating permit and was an illegal business.
Old Wang was dumbfounded. He felt that he had not done anything wrong, he just wanted to keep these poor animals alive. He wanted to explain, but no one listened. His "House of Hope" was sealed up, the animals were sent to other zoos, and Old Wang stood alone in the empty yard with a few un-won lottery tickets in his hand.
That night, Old Wang had a dream in which he won a big prize again, so much that he could turn the whole city into a zoo. When he woke up, he took out the lottery ticket and found that the date was yesterday. He trembled as he scratched it open, the numbers were exactly the same as in his dream. Old Wang suddenly laughed, tears streaming down his face. He said to the empty yard, "Star, I finally won the first prize, haha, the first prize!"
He picked up his phone and dialed a number: "Hello, is this the accident insurance company? I'm Old Wang, I had an accident today."