On the evening of January 29th, the Double Color Ball held its 2012010th draw, which was the first draw after the Spring Festival. The winning numbers for that draw were: Red balls 01, 03, 13, 19, 25, 26 and Blue ball 10. In the first draw of the Lunar Year of the Dragon, four top prizes were awarded, with each prize worth over 9.68 million yuan. Mr. Qiu from Jieyang in Guangdong Province won 9.93 million yuan with a small 4-yuan "6+2" combination ticket. Recently, this lucky lottery player came to the provincial welfare lottery center to claim his nearly ten-million-yuan New Year's bonus.
Mr. Qiu attributed his win to his daughter's random selection of numbers. He came alone to claim the prize, dressed plainly, looking no different from an ordinary worker, but his joy at winning was evident on his face. He admitted that everyone dreams of becoming wealthy, and he was no exception. However, as a low-level worker on an assembly line in a factory, he supported his family of three on a meager salary, living in a house borrowed from his sister-in-law without even owning a decent home of his own. He jokingly referred to his daily life as one of dependence on others, like someone hovering around the poverty line. Seeing his daughter growing up and about to enter elementary school, Mr. Qiu’s worries grew day by day. If it weren't for this life-changing lottery ticket, he didn’t know how he could continue living.
Not long ago, while passing by a betting station, Mr. Qiu noticed that the Double Color Ball jackpot had reached 700 million yuan, so he decided to try his luck to see if he could win a third prize to improve his life. Since the numbers he had previously chosen himself hadn’t yielded any wins, he took his sister-in-law's advice and let his daughter randomly pick numbers from a pile of numbered slips of paper. Unexpectedly, a small incident occurred—while Mr. Qiu originally intended for his daughter to select one set of numbers, she picked out two blue ball numbers instead. Although Mr. Qiu initially thought about having her reselect, he decided against it and went with what she had picked. It turned out that the "6+2" small combination ticket selected by his daughter brought him a rich prize of 9.93 million yuan.
Acquiring a home became his top priority after winning. Mr. Qiu frankly admitted that not being able to have a true home of his own after many years of marriage, forcing his wife and child to live under someone else's roof, was something he deeply regretted and found embarrassing. He laughed saying that if he continued working his current job, he didn’t know when he’d be able to buy a house. However, this unexpected windfall genuinely changed his fate, ensuring at least a secure and comfortable life for the rest of his days. Therefore, his first task after winning was to purchase a proper home for his family of three, so they wouldn’t have to keep borrowing relatives' houses to live in.
"At least after a hard day's work, I can return to a cozy nest of my own, possessing a piece of sky that truly belongs to me. That is the simplest pursuit of our working class," Mr. Qiu sincerely said. "As a traditional Chaoshan man, deep down I believe that wealth comes from daring to take risks and boldly engaging in business." Hence, the second use of his winnings was to plan operating some small businesses in the future. He emphasized "small businesses," stating that he was very content and didn't need great riches; ensuring a worry-free life in the future would be sufficient. Additionally, he specially thanked his daughter, considering her the lucky goddess in his life. He also planned to deposit 2 million yuan of the winnings into his daughter's bank account as her future dowry.
Southern Daily reporter Zhou Zhikun, correspondent Liu Yufeng