A tale of chance and mishap, from Chinese author Jiang Zijian
We’d moved to yet another new city. In the matter of renting an apartment, I only had one requirement: There had to be a lottery shop downstairs. Everything else was up to my girlfriend.
She thought there was a lot else that could be done with 2 RMB—buy a spoon to use for a year, a pack of tissues to use for three days, a bottle of water to drink for a day, or even just blast the air conditioner all night. Why waste it on a daydream? With the money I’d spent on lottery tickets, I could have already bought a new imported oven; instead, I’d not even won enough to buy a slice of bread.
We’d had a big argument about this. However, after we found a new apart
I’ve Never Had a Winning Ticket | Fiction is a story from our issue, “Vital Signs.” To read the entire issue, become a subscriber and receive the full magazine. Alternatively, you can purchase the digital version from the App Store.
Jiang Zijian is a contributing writer at The World of Chinese.
