A man in China who bought lottery tickets for seven years using the numbers of his family’s birthdays has finally hit the jackpot, winning a 24-million-yuan (US$3.4 million) prize.
The story of the cash bonanza unfolded on September 10 when the Chinese welfare lottery shuang se qiu, or Double Colour Ball, announced its first-prize winner a man who uses the pseudonym, Huang, from Hefei, Anhui province in central China.
His win came after he bought a 10-yuan (US$1.4) ticket with his usual self-selected numbers.
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The Double Colour Ball lottery, launched in 2003, is one of China’s most popular sweepstakes.
As of mid-July, it boasted annual cumulative sales of 30 billion yuan (US$4.3 billion) so far this year.
On the morning of September 12, Huang arrived at the Anhui Provincial Welfare Lottery Centre to claim his prize.
He said calmly: “I’ve been buying lottery tickets for more than 10 years, never spending more than 20 yuan per draw.
“I try to keep it rational and never really expected to win the jackpot. My usual mindset is to support charity with my purchases, winning is just a bonus.”
After claiming his prize, Huang donated 100,000 yuan (US$14,000) to the Anhui Provincial Charity Federation.
“When I first started playing I liked to use randomly generated numbers. Then, one day, I read a story about a lottery winner who had used a combination of their family members’ birthdays.
“Inspired by this, I decided in 2017 to do the same with my family’s birthdays, sticking with those numbers. I never thought I would actually win big!” said Huang.
Huang added that he will use the cash to improve his family’s living conditions: “We plan to buy a better house,” he said.
The story, reported by The Information Times, triggered a heated discussion on mainland social media.
“Seven years of persistence, that’s admirable! And donating after winning, what a kind heart!” said one online observer.
Another expressed jealousy: “Why wasn’t it me who won?”
Large lottery wins are not uncommon in China.
In July last year, a mainland man identified as Yang won 10 million yuan (US$1.4 million) after buying a four-yuan ticket.
In October the same year, a man surnamed Wang from eastern China’s Zhejiang province won 74 million yuan after buying a lottery ticket using the numbers of his wife and daughters’ birthdates.
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