Chapter 2: Encountering a Beauty on the Road

Chen Feng ignored the envious and jealous lottery players, went to the counter to claim his prize, and left immediately.

As for the lottery ticket that had won the car, Chen Feng planned to wait one more day. He would wander around the area again tomorrow, and if there was still no news, he would, of course, go claim the prize himself.

That evening, Chen Feng packed his luggage, intending to find a place to move out the next day.

Shen Lin did not come home that night.

The next morning, Chen Feng first went to the lottery shop to look around. There was no one in the shop at the time, only the owner.

Chen Feng walked up and asked casually, "Have you heard of anyone winning a big prize on the scratch-offs around here lately?"

Chen Feng had won over three thousand yuan in the shop yesterday, and having frequented the place from time to time over the past two years, the owner still had an impression of him. He smiled and said, "The biggest prize won on a scratch-off here would have to be you. You scratched out over three thousand with just two tickets yesterday."

Chen Feng nodded, said nothing more, and bought two more tickets for 20 yuan. He didn't scratch them on the spot and left immediately.

He planned to find a place nearby; after all, he had lived in this area for nearly two years and was quite familiar with it.

His luck was quite good. Passing by a steamed bun shop, he bought a few meat buns and a carton of milk, and casually asked if there were any single rooms for rent nearby. The landlady actually happened to know of one and enthusiastically gave him the landlord's phone number.

He called the landlord while eating his meat buns, right there at the breakfast shop.

It only took a few minutes to walk there, and the two met at the breakfast shop. The landlord was straightforward and had a good impression of him, so he took him directly to see the room.

It was just two streets away from where he currently lived, in an old residential complex with over twenty years of history, but it wasn't too dilapidated.

It was on the ground floor, over fifty square meters, and simply renovated. It had a living room, a bathroom, a bedroom, and a small open-air courtyard of seven or eight square meters. The kitchen was located by the steps leading to the courtyard; the space was small, but barely enough for use.

The monthly rent was 800, with a one-month deposit and three months' rent paid in advance. Chen Feng offered to rent it for a year and pay ten thousand yuan upfront. For lease renewals, he asked to be notified two months in advance.

The landlord agreed without a second thought.

The two quickly signed a preliminary contract, and the agent fee was waived.

Chen Feng had a fairly good impression of this chubby, middle-aged landlord. Although he had paid slightly more rent than necessary, he felt a bit guilty in his heart.

He figured that in the future, he would very likely die suddenly in this room. He would just have to leave a sum of money for this landlord as compensation when he was nearing the end.

Chen Feng had always been the type of person to consider others, which was why his soon-to-be-finished life had been so unsatisfactory—he had too many concerns.

With the house secured and not far from his former "home," Chen Feng took a taxi to move his luggage over.

After tidying up a bit, he was all settled in.

He went out and walked to the street where he had originally found the winning lottery ticket, but he still didn't see anyone looking for a lost ticket.

He went to the lottery shop again to look around, but there was no news of anyone losing a ticket there either.

By noon, after lunch, Chen Feng wandered around the area again, but there were still no rumors of a lost winning ticket.

It seemed that this car-winning ticket was a gift from heaven.

If one does not take what heaven gives, one will suffer the consequences.

Chen Feng stopped trying to find the owner and took a taxi directly to the lottery prize redemption center.

He successfully claimed a Buick Envision worth over 200,000 yuan—the exact model he had wanted to buy for years but couldn't afford.

Now, a single lottery ticket had made it a reality.

Driving the Buick, Chen Feng felt little joy. Because he was going to die soon.

He drove aimlessly, wandering through the city of ten million people, and before he knew it, he had driven out of the urban area, continuing along a straight highway.

He didn't know how long he had been driving when he turned a corner and entered a side road. The view suddenly opened up to a lush green field, forests, golden rice paddies, and herds of cattle and sheep dotting the landscape—a thriving pastoral scene.

Looking at the beautiful scenery, Chen Feng's mood improved significantly.

After driving a bit further, the traffic on the road gradually thinned out, and Chen Feng decided to find a place to get out, get some fresh air, and stretch his limbs.

He realized that, unknowingly, more than two hours had passed.

Just then, he saw a Mini parked on the side of the road in the distance, with a beautiful woman with long, flowing hair standing by the car, waving at him.

He soon reached the Mini. Chen Feng stopped his car, rolled down the window, and asked, "Is something wrong?"

"Could you lend me your phone? My car broke down, and my phone is out of battery." The woman leaned over to look into the car and met Chen Feng's eyes. She was indeed very beautiful, about twenty-three or twenty-four years old, with a pure look and a very pleasant voice.

"Sure! Let me pull over."

Chen Feng drove forward a bit and parked on the side. He got out, took out his phone, and handed it to the woman without hesitation.

It wasn't that he lacked caution, but the area was surrounded by fields, far from any village or shop, and there were no other cars on the road. With only this young, beautiful woman present, what kind of trap could it be?

More importantly, Chen Feng was dying soon, so he was much bolder than usual and wasn't afraid of being scammed for doing a good deed.

"Thank you, thank you."

The girl took the phone and thanked him profusely. She hurriedly called a friend, spoke for a long time, ended the call, and returned the phone to Chen Feng.

"Big brother, thank you. Let me treat you to a meal another day."

"No need."

Chen Feng took the phone and waved his hand to leave, but the girl called out to him: "Big brother, could you... could you wait with me for a moment? My friend will be here soon. I'll treat you to a meal another day. I'm really sorry to trouble you."

At the end, the girl put her hands together in a pleading gesture.

Chen Feng had originally wanted to get out to see the scenery and stretch his limbs, so he readily agreed: "Alright. I'll just look at the scenery here and take a rest."

"Thank you, you're so kind, big brother." The girl looked grateful. It was in the middle of nowhere, her car had broken down, her phone was dead, and no one else was passing by. As a girl, she was naturally a bit scared.

Chen Feng walked over to his own car, took a bottle of purified water that the dealership had given him, and began to drink, looking out at the pastoral scenery.

It was October, and the golden rice paddies were almost ready for harvest. In the distance, a few water buffalo were leisurely grazing, and a flock of white goats nearby were bleating as they ate, looking quite delicious.

Chen Feng stared at the flock of white goats, drooling slightly.

"Big brother, are you a local?" The girl walked up to him at some point and suddenly asked.

Chen Feng snapped out of it and subconsciously shook his head: "No."

"Oh, my name is Wu Mengting. What's your surname?" The girl was trying to strike up a conversation.

"My surname is Chen." Chen Feng didn't intend to give his full name and instead asked, "How did you end up out here all by yourself?"

Wu Mengting smiled shyly: "I came to take some photos of the countryside. Who knew that after I parked the car here, it wouldn't start? And my phone ran out of battery."

Saying this, she turned to Chen Feng and thanked him again: "It's a good thing I met you, Brother Chen, otherwise I'd be in trouble. This is several kilometers away from the main road. I waited for over half an hour without seeing anyone, and I was even more afraid of running into bad people."

"Aren't you afraid that I might be a bad person?" Chen Feng asked curiously.

Wu Mengting giggled: "Big brother, you don't look like a bad person at all. You have a very kind face. Besides, this car of yours must be new, right? It costs over two hundred thousand. People who can afford such a car, and a new one at that, generally aren't bad people."

Chen Feng didn't quite understand this logic.

However, he had to admit that her judgment was quite accurate. His face did look somewhat handsome and kind, not at all like a bad person.