Invasion of America

Chapter 4 Where did the lottery go?

At two o'clock in the morning, Jennifer drove her red sports car and took two students back to White Beach Town.

Selena had been playing energetically all day, but now she was like a toy that had run out of power. She lay down in the back seat and fell asleep, breathing evenly and gently.

Zhou Qingfeng, on the other hand, was quite the opposite. During the day, he was absent-minded and listless, as if he had a lot on his mind.

However, after eleven o'clock in the evening, after a brief period of weakness, he became extremely weird again, feeling dizzy and as if he had taken drugs.

As Jennifer drove, she glanced at him in the rearview mirror from time to time, feeling a little worried.

Ever since leaving the seaside restaurant, this kid has been twisting and turning in his seat, as if he had a perpetual motion machine on his butt and couldn't stop.

"Victor, are you okay?" Jennifer couldn't help but ask, with a hint of concern in her tone.

"I'm fine, I'm doing fine." Zhou Qingfeng answered in a serious tone, with an undisguised perfunctory tone in his voice.

The sports car slowly drove into Selena's driveway. Julia, her mother, heard the noise and came out to greet her, putting on a coat.

"See you tomorrow." Zhou Qingfeng smiled at Jennifer, with two schoolbags hanging on his shoulders, and picked up the sleeping Selena.

He apologized to Julia who came to pick him up, "I'm sorry, ma'am, I took your daughter out for a day."

Julia thanked Jennifer first, and after watching her drive away, she looked at her daughter being "princess-carried" by Zhou Qingfeng and sighed, "This is better than her going to a classmate's house to smoke marijuana."

After carrying Selina into the house and gently placing her on the bed, Zhou Qingfeng turned and went into the bathroom, turned on the shower, and the warm water poured down from his head, washing away his sleepy mind.

He closed his eyes and let the water flow down his cheeks, but his mind was like a movie, replaying the whole day's events over and over again.

"First, the Powerball jackpot of $2,237,650,000 US dollars was indeed won, and it was sold offline. Even the lottery outlet was announced."

He muttered to himself, sorting out the clues one by one.

"It's the lottery stand at the beachside restaurant. The black woman guarding the stand is so happy—because the lottery commission will give the stand that sells the jackpot lottery ticket a $1 million reward."

"Secondly, Raul has indeed not won the prize yet." Raul's particularly flamboyant face appeared in his mind. That guy has an extroverted personality and can't hide things at all.

If Raul had won a prize, he would have jumped up and screamed. But tonight, neither of the two lottery tickets Raul bought won, and Zhou Qingfeng didn't get any lucky break.

"Is my memory wrong? Someone else won the prize, but it was mistakenly thought to be Raul?" Zhou Qingfeng searched his memory carefully, trying to find a glimmer of inspiration.

"No, I'm sure the winner is Raul. There are very few people in the world who are so annoying. If it were someone else, I wouldn't be able to remember it." He shook his head, denying this possibility.

"So, what happened? Where is the real winner? Or, where is the real winning ticket?"

Zhou Qingfeng's thoughts were like a tangled mess. There must be an important link missing, which made it impossible to sort out the incident.

At this moment, Julia's voice suddenly rang out from outside the door: "Victor, are you done washing? You've been in the bathroom for almost half an hour."

Zhou Qingfeng suddenly came to his senses and quickly turned off the hot water, ending his shower. He grabbed a towel, quickly dried himself, put on his clothes, and opened the bathroom door.

When the door opened, Julia was standing outside with a gentle smile on her face.

She opened her arms and gave Zhou Qingfeng a hug without hesitation, her voice soft and full of gratitude: "Thank you, Victor"

Zhou Qingfeng was confused and stayed where he was. "What are you thanking me for?"

Julia let go of her hand and showed her several photos and videos on her phone that Jennifer had sent her. They were all pictures of Zhou Qingfeng playing and joking with Selena.

"I know my own daughter well," Julia said softly, "she has few friends at school and is often excluded.

In fact, I had already noticed that the child was reluctant to go to school, but I was helpless. Children of the same age all had boyfriends and girlfriends and their own small circles, but my daughter didn’t.

She paused and continued, "Her father faced drug dealers, gangs, homeless people, and addicts every day. He was under constant pressure, which made him have a bad temper.

This pressure was transmitted to our home, causing great trouble to Selena and me.

When the school said that there were international students looking for boarding, I took the initiative to offer to accept one person, and I also went to the school in person to select one.

My idea is simple, to find a friend for my child."

Julia’s eyes were gentle and grateful, “Victor, I had a good impression of you when I saw the photo.

You are clean, without weird clothes, out-of-character behavior, or exaggerated smile.

You don't smoke, drink, take drugs, or have tattoos, and you don't have any bad habits. Although we've only been together for a month, my daughter likes you very much."

After saying that, Julia hugged Zhou Qingfeng again and kissed him on the face to express her gratitude.

Zhou Qingfeng had just finished showering and emerged wearing only his underpants. Julia's embrace froze him, and he finally relaxed after hearing the well-meaning housewife's words of thanks.

This stiff awkwardness made the boy look particularly immature, causing Julia to laugh and ask, "Victor, you're still a virgin, right?"

How should one answer this?

Julia was wearing silk pajamas and a coat late at night. When she hugged him, she opened the coat and hugged him openly.

The touch of mountains and hills is matched with the smoothness of silk satin. It is cool at first, warm in a moment, soft and elastic, the ultimate enjoyment.

It’s really empty.

Zhou Qingfeng just reacted and wanted to experience it carefully, but Julia let go.

This is like Zhu Bajie eating the ginseng fruit - I haven't even tasted it yet! !
"Hug again?" he couldn't help but ask.

Julia laughed out loud. She really liked the boy's inexperienced clumsiness, as if she had returned to her youth. But she refused without hesitation, "Don't even think about it. Go to bed now."

How could Zhou Qingfeng sleep?!
There are so many car models in America, including mini cars, dynamic sports cars, and family-sized SUVs.

It's powerful, large, spacious, comfortable, versatile, and highly adaptable. It has bright headlights, a bulging trunk, and even heated seats.

It's really practical and versatile.

Although he was reluctant to leave, Zhou Qingfeng had not been knocked unconscious by the car yet, and he reluctantly went into his room.

It's late at night, but I can't sleep.

He used his mobile phone to surf the Internet and follow up on the follow-up of the "Powerball" super jackpot.

Major media outlets around the world reported the news of this huge jackpot immediately, and social media was buzzing with the news that "someone won $2.2 billion with a single lottery ticket."

Who wouldn’t be jealous?
There is a widely circulated photo of the lottery booth at the seaside hotel where the super jackpot was sold, and it shows hundreds of people present at the time.

Zhou Qingfeng even found himself in it.

Photo caption: Who is the lucky one?

"No, the lucky guy is not here. At least not yet." Zhou Qingfeng lay on the bed, closing his eyes and thinking.

"According to the rules of Powerball, the draw is held every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, and today is Wednesday.

This means that the current jackpot was sold during the 48 hours between Tuesday and Wednesday, but not necessarily the hours before the draw.

So it may not be that I, the "butterfly", flapped my wings and affected the ownership of the jackpot. It is more likely that someone else actually bought the lottery ticket.

But why was it Raul who received the award in the end?

The key to the problem must still lie with him." Zhou Qingfeng thought in a daze, half asleep and half awake.

He had another nightmare, dreaming of the cruelty and despair of the end of the world, the gray sky and the pale earth constantly breaking and reorganizing until dawn.

He felt that he had fallen asleep for a short time when he heard a violent knock on the door, "Victor, get up!"

The door suddenly opened. Selina rushed in wearing a loose T-shirt, jumped onto the bed, and straddled the boy.

Zhou Qingfeng was almost scared to death. When he raised his head, he saw a pair of little white rabbits jumping around under the hollow T-shirt.

This girl had a good night's sleep, recharged her spirit and physical strength, and came back to wreak havoc on the world again.

"Do you know what time it is now?" Selina asked with a smile, "Are you surprised that I can open your door?"

"Hurry up, we can't skip classes today, we have to go to school."

Zhou Qingfeng hugged the quilt, lying in bed and refusing to get up, shouting in pain: "I'm sick, I need to take another day off today."

"Are you sick?" Selina jumped a few times, wrinkled her nose and sniffed, then asked nervously, "Did you release yourself?"

What kind of question is that? Is that a lady's question?
Unexpectedly, the girl patted her thriving chest and said, "Don't worry, I'm your girlfriend. From now on, you can leave the memory clearing job to me."

Is there such a good thing?
The girl has a great figure and looks, and her temper is not bad either, but she is a little too energetic.

Just a small question. Zhou Qingfeng really wants to ask, "When did you become my girlfriend?"

"You promised me last night, you didn't forget it, did you?" Selina's face changed and she asked fiercely.

Zhou Qingfeng really forgot that he was in a trance for a long time before and after the lottery draw last night, especially after the lottery draw, he felt dizzy as if he had drunk too much.

"No, no, I'm just very happy to have a beautiful girl like you as my girlfriend," he said quickly.

The sixteen-year-old girl still had a bit of baby fat and was very cute. Having her as a girlfriend was really a blessing from past life.

After receiving the formal promise, Selina showed a bit of shyness and jumped out of bed with a blushing face, "Hurry up, Mommy has made breakfast and is waiting for you."

Zhou Qingfeng hadn't slept much the previous night, but he was in a good mood. He put on his clothes, went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, and washed his face before heading to the restaurant.

The three members of the Congers family were already sitting at the dining table, but the atmosphere was not relaxed.

The sheriff in uniform sat at the top, his face as gloomy as the sky before a storm, his eye sockets dark, and it was obvious that he had not slept all night.

His police uniform was wrinkled and his collar was loose. He exuded an air of fatigue and a hint of gunpowder.

Zhou Qingfeng took the initiative to break the silence: "Good morning, Mr. Congers."

His voice was brisk, as if he didn't notice Sheriff Congers's icy face, and he asked with concern, "Didn't you get a night's rest?"

This sentence was like a fuse that instantly ignited Sheriff Conger's anger. He slammed the table, making the cutlery on the table clang, and the whole family was startled.

Julia almost dropped the coffee cup in her hand, while her daughter Selena shrank her neck, stared at her plate, and dared not say a word.

"Rest? How can I have time to rest!" Sheriff Congers' voice echoed in the living room like thunder, his eyes were bloodshot, full of anger and helplessness.

"Late last night, two gangs exchanged fire while conducting a deal outside of town! Three were killed and seven were injured.

When I rushed over, those bastards had no respect for the rules. Not only did they refuse to leave, they also shot at us. A police officer was injured on the spot.

I emptied four or five magazines, was nearly shot, and nearly didn't make it back!"

The sheriff's fists were clenched tightly, his knuckles white, as if he was still reliving the thrill of last night. As a family member, Julia was also terrified and pale, as if a hail of bullets was right before her eyes.

Being a police officer in a poor area of ​​the United States is indeed a high-risk job.

He faces gunfights and violent clashes every day, and a single misstep could cost him his life. It's no wonder Mr. Congers has a bad temper; it's the result of long-term high pressure.

After breakfast, Zhou Qingfeng put on his schoolbag again and rushed to the school bus stop with Selina.

The tall and fat student continued to block the car door, not letting Zhou Qingfeng get on. "If you want to go to school, walk there."

"That's ridiculous. Your school bullying means not letting people get on the school bus? Why don't you get off and fight me?"

Zhou Qingfeng was so angry that he laughed outside the school bus.

The tall and fat one was unmoved. "I don't fight, but I don't want to see you in school."

Selina was heartbroken because her father was almost shot. She didn't accompany Zhou Qingfeng anymore. She just said "see you at school" and got in the car.

Zhou Qingfeng stood on the side of the road, bored, carrying his schoolbag.

He didn't have to wait too long. Jennifer's fiery red convertible sports car arrived as promised. The roar of the engine came from far away and finally stopped steadily in front of him.

Jennifer held onto the car door, raised her eyebrows, and teased, "Victor, did you miss the school bus again?"

Zhou Qingfeng shrugged. "No, I'm not allowed to get on the school bus. It was like this yesterday and today, but I should be able to ride again tomorrow."

"Why?" Jennifer's curiosity was piqued. "Is there anything special tomorrow?"

Zhou Qingfeng threw his schoolbag into the back seat of the convertible sports car, lifted his legs onto the passenger seat, and slowly fastened his seat belt.

"I bet when I show up at the school gate in your car, those people who are jealous of me will definitely curse the guy who blocked the door today."

Jennifer couldn't help but burst into laughter when she heard this. Her laughter was clear and pleasant: "Hahaha, I'm looking forward to seeing that scene."

When he arrived at school and sat in the classroom, although Zhou Qingfeng's eyes were fixed on the blackboard, his thoughts had already flown away.

His mind was full of the lottery ticket. He tried to find some clues from his memories, but he found nothing.

"Victor." On the podium, the graceful history teacher suddenly called out, interrupting Zhou Qingfeng's distraction.

There were few people in the classroom listening attentively to the lecture, and the only student who seemed to be motivated was actually absent-minded, which made the teacher couldn't help but call his name.

"'I must study politics and war, so that my sons may have the ability to study...

Mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, shipbuilding, navigation, commerce and agriculture,
so that their children may study painting, poetry, music, architecture, sculpture, textiles, and ceramics.'

Who said that?

The entire class's attention instantly focused on Zhou Qingfeng. He paused for a moment, then thought for a moment before answering uncertainly, "John Adams?"

"Oh No!" The students groaned in unison. Zhou Qingfeng's answer made them look like a bunch of idiots.

One girl couldn't help but complain, "This isn't fair! How can a Chinese person know so much about our country's historical figures?
Why should he learn about history that we ourselves are too lazy to pay attention to? Can't he do something else? Isn't it better to just woo girls like the other boys in the class?

The history teacher on the stage sighed, "I'd like to know why, too. But Victor got an A+ in class today, even though he was clearly distracted."

"Oh No!" The wailing in the class became louder.

A boy yelled, "Fuck you, Victor! Can't you be a little dumber? You've brought bad luck upon all of us! I can't even get a C with you in the class."

The class was coming to an end. The teacher cleaned up the podium, hooked his finger at Zhou Qingfeng, and called on him again, "Victor, come to my office."

(End of this chapter)