“Captain Xu? What are you doing here?”
A familiar voice came from inside the ‘Snow King’ mascot costume.
“Wang Dachuan?” Xu Mo immediately recognized the voice.
In the next moment, the ‘Snow King’ raised its bulky arm to its mouth, making a ‘shush’ gesture.
“Captain Xu, don’t make a scene. I’m here to claim my prize. You’ll blow my cover! This has to stay confidential!”
Xu Mo was taken aback.
From the sound of it, Wang Dachuan had won a considerable amount.
Xu Mo already knew that Wang Dachuan had won a second prize. Last night, when he checked the winning numbers for this round, he saw that Wang Dachuan had won the second prize.
But Xu Mo didn’t know exactly how much the prize was because he wasn’t sure how much Wang Dachuan had multiplied his bet. If he had multiplied it by 100, like Xu Mo did last time, then based on this round’s second prize amount, it would be… 25 million yuan!
Xu Mo even wondered if Wang Dachuan had multiplied it by 200, which would make the prize a staggering 50 million yuan!
If that were the case, dressing up like this would be understandable. Tens of millions of yuan was indeed a life-changing fortune.
Xu Mo leaned closer to the ‘Snow King’ and whispered, “How much did you win?”
The ‘Snow King’ wiggled its bulky body, glanced around, and then bent down to whisper in Xu Mo’s ear.
“250,000 yuan!!!”
Xu Mo: “……”
250,000 yuan, minus taxes, would leave about 200,000 yuan.
And you dressed up like this to claim the prize?! In the middle of summer, aren’t you afraid of overheating?
People claiming prizes of 200,000 to 300,000 yuan were a dime a dozen here. No one else was as dramatic as you!
Wang Dachuan, hidden inside the ‘Snow King’ costume, didn’t notice Xu Mo’s exasperation.
He was still curious about why Xu Mo was here.
“Captain Xu, you haven’t said yet. What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to claim a prize too,” Xu Mo replied succinctly.
“You’re here to claim a prize too? How much did you win?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Wang Dachuan regretted them.
Judging by Xu Mo’s casual demeanor, he probably hadn’t won much—maybe just 10,000 or 20,000 yuan. That would explain why he had come to the prize claim center instead of cashing it out at a lottery shop.
He thought to himself, “Here I am, having won a massive 250,000 yuan, asking someone who only won a small amount how much they won. That’s just rubbing salt in the wound!”
But the words were already out, and there was no taking them back.
Wang Dachuan could only regret it in his heart, wishing he hadn’t asked.
“It’s okay, Captain Xu. Keep at it! You’re so talented; you’ll definitely win a big prize again someday!”
But Xu Mo’s next response left him utterly stunned.
Xu Mo casually replied, “Seven million.”
Wang Dachuan: “???”
How much?!
Seven million yuan!!!
At that moment, Wang Dachuan felt like a complete fool.
The clown was him all along!
Here he was, having only won a little over 200,000 yuan, and he had just been comforting someone who had won seven million yuan?!
Wait, how did Xu Mo win seven million again? Didn’t he just win seven million last round?
Adding the two together, that’s 14 million yuan!
Wang Dachuan’s mind went numb, and his head buzzed.
All he could think about was Xu Mo’s casual mention of “seven million.”
He felt like he wasn’t wearing a ‘Snow King’ costume but a clown suit instead…
The staff led the two of them to claim their prizes separately.
However, their treatment was vastly different.
When Xu Mo claimed his prize, several cameras surrounded him, clicking away, and reporters bombarded him with questions about how he felt after winning.
As for Wang Dachuan, he didn’t get such treatment.
A prize of 250,000 yuan wasn’t enough to warrant any media attention.
When he claimed his prize, only a staff member accompanied him through the process.
After showing his ID, bank card, and making a donation, the process was over, and the money was quickly deposited into his account.
The scene he had imagined earlier—being surrounded by dozens of cameras and reporters—never happened.
On the contrary, no one paid him any attention!
It seemed like a prize of 200,000 yuan was nothing to the staff at the prize claim center.
And here he was, dressed up so elaborately to claim it…
Wang Dachuan was filled with regret.
Wearing this ridiculous costume and standing there like that would make him the laughingstock for life!
What a disaster!!!
Just thinking about his earlier conversation with Xu Mo made Wang Dachuan cringe with embarrassment.
So after claiming his prize, he left immediately, not waiting for Xu Mo.
He was afraid Xu Mo would tease him for dressing up so dramatically to claim such a “small” prize…
After claiming his prize, Xu Mo headed straight to his private museum. This was something he had arranged earlier with Han Fei’s father-in-law.
They were supposed to meet at the private museum, where Xu Mo would guide Han Fei’s father-in-law and his friends on a tour of the last 40 chapters of *Dream of the Red Chamber*. At the same time, these esteemed *Redology* experts would help spread the news that Cao Xueqin’s original manuscript of the last 40 chapters had resurfaced.
Private Museum.
Today, Xu Mo had deliberately closed the museum for the day, so there was no long line of visitors like yesterday.
When Xu Mo arrived, he saw a group of middle-aged and elderly people gathered at the entrance.
Leading them was Han Fei’s father-in-law. Not because he was the leader of these *Redology* experts, but because he was the host and the one who had spread the news.
When he saw Xu Mo, the old man immediately called out.
“Young man, over here!”
He also introduced Xu Mo to the others.
“This is Xu Mo, the one I told you about. He’s the one who has the original manuscript of the last 40 chapters of *Dream of the Red Chamber*, passed down through his family.”
The crowd swarmed over, eager to get acquainted with Xu Mo.
After a brief introduction, Xu Mo led everyone into the museum and to his office inside.
Before leaving last night, Xu Mo had carefully placed the last 40 chapters of *Dream of the Red Chamber* into an antique box and stored it in the office safe.
“Everyone, please wait a moment. I’ve stored the manuscript in the safe. I’ll take it out now.”
Although they had already seen photos of the last 40 chapters, the *Redology* experts were still incredibly excited.
After all, seeing something in a photo and seeing it in person were two completely different things.