Chapter Eighty-Eight: Receiving the Award

Uh, the number of “House Technique” collections has surpassed ten thousand—thank you all for your support!

The ticket verification process was personally handled by Wu Yong to avoid letting the salespeople discover any tricks. Ordinary white tickets had “Thank you for your patronage” written in black, while the first to seventh prize tickets were marked in red. Thus, it wasn’t difficult to find the prize tickets from the mass of white ones.

Wu Yong found the remaining red-lettered tickets from the lottery box—there were still a dozen fourth to seventh prize tickets, and one each of the second and third prize tickets. He was secretly delighted that the event expenses could be kept under ten thousand yuan. As long as he sold one more car, today’s event would be a success.

However, after searching further, Wu Yong’s expression grew grim. Despite his efforts, the first prize ticket was nowhere to be found, and he began to panic. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

Wu Yong searched carefully once more, confirming that the first prize ticket was not among them. His face turned ashen. He swallowed hard, mentally reviewing every detail of placing the first prize ticket, but found no loopholes.

“What’s going on? Was the glue not sticky enough, causing the first prize ticket to fall and be picked up by someone else?” Wu Yong muttered anxiously to himself.

“It’s just a few tickets—how long are they going to keep verifying?”

“Yeah, maybe they’re trying to pull something shady!” Voices of impatience rose from the crowd below the stage.

“Alright, show these tickets to everyone,” Wu Yong finally gave up searching, waved his hand weakly, and spoke to the salesperson beside him.

Wu Yong placed the separated tickets onto a wooden tray covered with a red silk cloth, so customers could see at a glance how many tickets remained. The salesperson tilted the tray and displayed it to the crowd.

“Look, there’s no first prize ticket in there!”

“That means someone in the crowd drew the first prize!”

“Not necessarily—maybe the first prize ticket was never in the box to begin with!”

Customers close to the stage saw there was no first prize ticket and exclaimed loudly. There were only two possibilities: either someone had drawn the first prize, or the ticket had never been placed in the box at all.

Either scenario was a novelty for the audience. If it was the former, the winner would receive a BMW 7 Series; if it was the latter, the dealership’s reputation would be ruined, and closure was not far off.

Reputation is crucial for a dealership. If trust is lost in the industry, not only will customers stop coming, but competitors will squeeze them out, making it impossible to survive.

“Will the customers who drew prize tickets please come to the stage to claim your prizes! We’ll distribute them all together,” Wu Yong said, his voice weary.

“Time to claim my prize—I was planning to get a new phone, now I can save the money!”

“My son’s going to college; this laptop is perfect for him.”

After Wu Yong spoke, the prize-winning customers eagerly climbed onto the stage, some murmuring happily to themselves.

About a dozen people went up. After the tickets were verified, each received their prize. Yet, no one came forward with the first prize ticket, prompting another round of discussion among the audience.

“How strange—weren’t we supposed to claim prizes? Why isn’t the BMW winner coming up?”

“I bet there’s no first prize ticket at all—it’s just a trick by the dealership to lure customers.”

“Exactly, there are plenty of scams like this nowadays. This dealership’s reputation isn’t good.”

“I was considering trading for a BMW here, but seeing them use deception to attract customers, I’ll forget it.”

Wu Yong stood on the stage listening to the debates, sweat trickling down his face. He was now hoping for the first prize winner to come forward; losing a BMW would be better than losing the dealership.

If no one claimed the prize, the dealership’s reputation would be destroyed, and the business he’d poured two years of effort into would face closure. Even if it survived, business would decline sharply, which was far worse than losing a single car.

“Damn, what’s happening? We’ve never had this problem at previous lottery events! Did someone draw the first prize, or was it never in the box?” Yang Guang watched the stage nervously, knowing he would be out of a job if the dealership closed.

Zhang Qi sensed something was wrong and hurriedly squeezed through the crowd to the stage, her brows tightly knit. She glanced at Wu Yong, then at the customers, murmuring to herself, “Could something have gone wrong? With President Wu’s skills, it shouldn’t be!”

Zhang Wei stared at Wu Yong, whose face was drenched in sweat, feeling a surge of revenge. He wasn’t normally petty, but what Wu Yong had done that day was truly excessive, possibly affecting his whole life.

If he’d encountered a careless police officer or Wu Yong had stronger connections, Zhang Wei might have been detained and interrogated. If the police couldn’t crack the case, he could have been forced to confess and become a scapegoat for a robbery.

Zhang Wei understood Wu Yong’s predicament perfectly. If he came forward to claim the prize, Wu Yong would lose a car; if he didn’t, Wu Yong might have to close the dealership. At this moment, Zhang Wei held absolute power.

“Will the lucky winner of the first prize please come to the stage? We will present you with a BMW 730,” Wu Yong called out to the crowd, his gaze filled with both anticipation and pain.

Wu Yong now found himself pathetic. Normally, organizers hope the prize-winner won’t show up, but faced with a crisis of credibility, he actually wished someone would claim it, even at the cost of a BMW.

“Why hasn’t anyone claimed the prize yet? Maybe no one won the first prize at all!”

“Yeah, does your dealership have any integrity? Are you really so deceptive?”

“With this kind of behavior, I wouldn’t feel safe buying a car here, even if I had the money!” The crowd grew restless and impatient.

“If the first prize winner comes forward now, our dealership will handle all the new car paperwork for you free of charge,” Wu Yong said, gritting his teeth.

A BMW 730 costs about nine hundred thousand yuan, and the paperwork for a new car would cost at least another hundred thousand. Wu Yong was now willing to cover even those expenses, desperate to preserve his dealership’s reputation, no matter the cost.

“Hahaha, President Wu, you’re truly generous. Let me thank you for this grand gift,” Zhang Wei laughed and stepped out from the crowd, striding up to the stage.

Yang Guang, Zhang Qi, and Wu Yong were all stunned by the sight—none of them had expected Zhang Wei to be the winner of the first prize.