Minghu Park. The glittering lake surface mirrored the blue sky and white clouds.
It was a rare good weather day, yet Chen Feng's mood had sunk to the bottom of the lake.
The diagnostic report he held in his hands had been crumpled into a ball of paper, but he hadn't thrown it away.
He was only 29 years old. He didn't want to die. But fate had played a cruel joke on him.
Late-stage brain tumor!
Chen Feng still remembered how the doctor had looked at him with sympathy, speaking gently to him, telling him to go back and eat, drink, and play, to relax his body and mind.
The doctor's sympathy was really rare.
Chen Feng forced a bitter smile, looked up at the sky, and then in a daze, he thought he saw a shooting star streaking across the horizon, gone in a flash.
"Having hallucinations again," Chen Feng scoffed at himself with a self-deprecating laugh.
Lately, he was often plagued by headaches, followed by nausea and vomiting, and hallucinations.
So, he took the day off to get checked out at the hospital and received such a result.
At that moment, his phone rang. It was his wife, Shen Lin, calling.
"What's up?" Chen Feng asked indifferently.
"I have a work dinner tonight, so I won't be coming home for dinner," Shen Lin's voice was pleasant, soft, but her personality was anything but gentle.
"Oh."
"What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing. By the way, didn't you always want to divorce me? I agree."
"What did you say?"
"I said I agree to the divorce. I've thought it through, and there's no point in clinging on to you."
"Did you… hear something?"
Chen Feng was taken aback, then a certain green notion popped into his head, and he continued coldly, "Yes, I've heard. So, let's part on good terms, shall we?"
"Do you not trust me anymore?" Shen Lin's tone also turned cold.
"It's not about whether I trust you or not, it's unnecessary, understand? We don't love each other anymore. Tell me, how much time have we spent together these past few months, how many times have we eaten together at home? How many times have we made love?" Chen Feng asked, his emotions flaring.
"…Yes. I may truly not love you anymore. You're no longer the dashing, ambitious Chen Feng. Instead, you've become a middle-aged, greasy man full of complaints and content with mediocrity, lacking in ambition."
A surge of anger rose in Chen Feng, and he wanted to curse out loud, but in the end, it turned into a long sigh. What was the point of complaining about the world when he was about to die?
Chen Feng let go.
"Say whatever you want. Now, take some time off, and I'll go home to get the documents. Let's go to the Civil Affairs Bureau," Chen Feng said wearily.
After a few seconds of silence on the other end, she asked with a grave voice, "Have you really thought this through? I can give you another two months to consider, just as long as you change some of your bad habits, we might still be able to…"
"There's no need," Chen Feng cut her off firmly, "Let's divorce. What's the point of being together without love? We don't have kids or any shared property. I'm letting you go, let you find your happiness elsewhere. A woman like you won't lack suitors."
"…Fine. I'll go ask for leave now."
Two hours later, holding their respective divorce certificates, they parted at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau.
Shen Lin gave him two days to move out of the house they were living in together.
The house was rented by Chen Feng's parents for their wedding, with a full three-year lease paid in advance, and they had already been living there for nearly two years.
Since it was very close to Shen Lin's workplace, it could be considered a small compensation from Chen Feng. Chen Feng voluntarily chose to move out of this "home" where they had lived for nearly two years.
He left all the household appliances and furniture to her.
After all, he felt like he was about to die anyway, and couldn't take those things with him, so he left them for Shen Lin. The two had, after all, loved each other once.
Moreover, Shen Lin had nearly fallen out with her own parents to marry him. It all came down to the fact that Chen Feng was penniless, had no property, and had an average job.
For this, he always harbored a sense of guilt.
His initiative in seeking a divorce was also a form of compensation to her, as being a divorcee sounded better than a widow. He didn't want to drag her down.
Chen Feng didn't take a car, but walked back to where he was staying. He planned to find a cheaper place to live tomorrow and move out. More than half an hour later, as he reached his street, a sudden gust of strong wind arose from nowhere, sending the leaves of the roadside plane trees fluttering down.
Plastic bags, scraps of paper, and dust were swept up by the wind, blowing straight towards Chen Feng.
Instinctively raising his hand to shield his eyes, Chen Feng saw a piece of scrap paper hit his hand and he grabbed it; it was a scratch-off lottery ticket that had been scratched off, and it even had a car image on it.
Chen Feng was momentarily stunned; he had played scratch-offs before, and they were very simple—you would see the prize directly marked on the ticket when you scratched it off.
Like 10 yuan, 100 yuan, 1000 yuan.
The ticket Chen Feng was holding not only had two ¥100 marks and one ¥500, but also a ¥1000 mark, and beyond that, a picture of a car.
It was a winning ticket, and a big prize at that—and it didn't appear to be a fake.
But who the hell would scratch a ticket and then just not want it? Or, did someone else lose it?
After struggling with his conscience for a while, Chen Feng just stood by the side of the road, holding on to the ticket.
Chen Feng decided that if anyone came looking for it, and could specify the amount of money and the car on the ticket, he would return it to them.
Again, he was about to die, and didn't want to tarnish his integrity at the end of his life. He might not have been a good person in his life, but he didn't want to die a bad one either.
So, he just stood there patiently waiting on the side of the road, and he ended up waiting for a good half hour, yet no one came looking, let alone asking.
After waiting another fifteen minutes, Chen Feng couldn't hold back any longer and went to the nearest public restroom. Then he followed the betting station number written on the ticket and found one on his own street, which he had frequented in the past.
Several people in the store were purchasing scratch-offs, but it didn't seem like many had won big.
Chen Feng spent 20 yuan to buy two tickets, and with a casual scratch, he won 1530 yuan on the first one and 2000 on the second, drawing envious and jealous stares from the crowd.
"Man, your luck really defies the heavens."
"Yeah, damn, I spent 2000 to buy four packs to scratch, and my fingers hurt from scratching but only won a few hundred bucks."
"No comparison, really."
"Bro, how about I pay and you help me scratch? If we win, we split it."
"Yeah, bro, you've got some serious luck today, lend a hand. Whatever comes out, I'll share with you."
...
Chen Feng had come here to see if anyone was looking for a lost lottery ticket, but had unexpectedly won. It really felt like "Flowers won't bloom when you plant them with intent, but trees will grow when you plant them without thinking."
In the past, he was also a lottery enthusiast and had bought tickets for several years, but he'd only ever won a maximum prize of 20 yuan once.
He hadn't bought any in the past few months, and he didn't expect to win this time either, but a casual purchase turned out to be a win. Where was the sense in that?