Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Li Du felt that the tour agency was unreliable. However, he had only given the tour
guide two hundred dollars and his parents had been happy during the tour. Hence, he
did not feel like he had lost out.
Hearing that they were going for a lucky dip, someone asked, “Young man, is that a free
lucky dip or a paid one?”
The tour guide smiled gallantly. “Sir, it’s a free lucky dip. Our tour agency collaborates
with these associations. Anyone can have one chance to take part in the lucky dip for
free.”
“That’s great,” An old man and old lady smiled.
One lady was unhappy. “Ah? One chance per headcount? There’s only me from my
entire family who joined this tour. Some people here have come with their whole family,
so this is not exactly fair, right?”
Li Du was stunned. They have not even seen the lucky dip yet and did not know what
they might win. Why are they so godd*mn anxious? It seems like they are already vying
for the prize.
Li Du’s parents were very enthusiastic as well. The older generation people all felt the
same about free stuff.
Li Du’s mother asked, “Can we participate too? What are the prizes?”
The tour guide shouted, “Sure, sure, everyone with a red hat can go for the lucky dip.
No need to be so anxious.”
Li Du’s mother said happily, “Oh, that’s fantastic.”
Li Du shook his head and said, “Let’s not join these activities. Mum, let’s go. Look, this
tour agency is very unorderly. There must be some sort of scheme. Perhaps there is
some catch to the lucky dip.”
Li Du’s father nodded his head solemnly. “He’s right, let’s just go.”
Li Du’s mother could not bear to leave. “Let’s go and have a look. If anything seems off,
we don’t have to take part in the lucky dip, right?”
Seeing his mother’s insistence, Li Du stopped trying to persuade her and decided to
give in and go to have a look.
Like a herd of sheep, the tourists rushed into a huge bus. Li Du’s Cadillac followed
behind.
The location of the lucky dip was not shabby. It was held on the private beach of a
luxurious, beautiful big hotel. There were hot air balloons above them, and supervisors
maintaining order on the ground. It looked very well-arranged.
After the tourists stepped down from the bus, the tour guide pointed at the hotel and
said, “This is the Hilton Hotel. You have all heard of Hilton, right? One of the world’s
famous five-star hotels. Our lucky dip will be taking place on their beach.”
“Hilton, oh, I know. There’s one in Shanghai where we come from. My son took me
there for my birthday. It must be legitimate.”
“The hotel is so huge, you can’t miss it. There will definitely be no problem.”
“Why couldn’t we stay in this hotel? We are staying in that shabby place, just a small
lousy guesthouse. There is not even enough warm water at times.”
“Didn’t they say that a cold shower is an Australian custom in this season?”
The tourists started to bicker and, listening to them, the tour guide smiled and pointed to
the side of the hotel. He said, “This is Sydney’s police station. Do you see the national
flag and police force flag? Our lucky dip will take place right here, in front of the police
station.”
That helped to reassure anyone who might have had doubts. The people started to
queue, getting ready to participate in the lucky dip.
On the stage, a tall handsome host shouted, “Congratulations, congratulations, this lady
has got the third prize! Lady, please raise up your ticket for me to have a look, I need to
verify…”
“No problem, no problem, you have indeed got the third prize ticket. A rosewood
furniture set, a Harley motorcycle or twenty thousand Australian dollars, take your pick!”
The lucky middle-aged lady said happily, “I want twenty thousand dollars!”
A young lady propped up a tray and walked over. There were two thick rolls of fresh
banknotes on the tray.
The host handed the money over and said, “Don’t leave just yet, Ma’am. You have to go
to our staff behind the stage to sort out the taxes…”
The middle-aged lady interrupted cheerfully, “I know, the tax collection in Australia is
very stringent. Tax must be paid on all income. I know, I will go immediately.”
“Thank you for your cooperation,” The host grinned.
Seeing that the middle-aged lady had walked away with money, the tourists looked on
in envy and were all eager for their turn at the lucky dip.
After that, someone else got a prize too, but it was not one of the top three prizes. Now
people were getting lucky prizes, consolation prizes, participation prizes. There were
many prizes of varying value. They ranged from rosewood bracelets and red
sandalwood necklaces to luxury bikes, sofas and other furniture.
The tour guide explained, “The sponsor of this event is a luxury company. The prizes
they offer include luxury yachts, luxury cars, rosewood furniture, and gold and silver
jewelry.
“Let’s cut to the chase, give us our tickets quickly, we want to participate in the lucky
dip,” A middle-aged man was in a hurry.
The tour guide started to give out the tickets. The winners would get their prize based
on their tickets. One ticket was entitled to one chance of drawing a prize.
Some ladies held onto the tour guide and insisted on getting more than one ticket. They
could tell that everyone who participated in the lucky dip would likely win some sort of
prize. The odds were high. The host emphasized from the stage again that this was an
event held by a sponsor company.
Li Du was shocked. Could it be that I had been overly suspicious of the event? This
lucky dip seems too good to be real.
A yacht stopped along the beach some distance away. It was even larger than the Sea
Star 60 he had bought. The yacht was one of the top prizes and the host announced it
was worth 5.2 million Australian dollars. Li Du’s Sea Star 60 was only worth about 1.2
million!
Li Du’s mother took three tickets and came back to pull Li Du and his father along to
queue for their turn in the lucky dip.
The event organizers had split people into two groups. In every group, there was a large
lucky dip box. There was a tall, tough security guard looking over each box. Once
someone handed him a ticket, they could draw a lot from the lucky dip box once.
There was no shortage of people queuing to have their turn. Li Du noticed that almost
all of them were tour groups organized by agencies. They all had different sorts of hats
on their heads.
He observed that the tourists were not only Chinese but also Koreans, Japanese,
Malaysians, Indians, and people from many other countries. They all spoke different
languages.
When it came to the turn of people in their queue, a middle-aged lady who was wearing
many pearls stretched out her hand for a look and called out happily, “Ah, I did it, I did it!
It’s the third prize, I got the third prize!”
Jealous voices rang out all around:
“This lady is so lucky!”
“Aiya, third prize, twenty thousand Australian dollars, that’s tens of thousands of
Renminbi!”
“I’d be fine just winning a participation prize. Just win a red sandalwood necklace, that is
worth a few thousand in China.”
Hearing someone say that, Li Du asked, “If it’s so valuable, why is it only a participatory
prize here? Isn’t it supposed to be worth more than the third price of twenty thousand
Australian dollars?”
The tour guide explained, “That’s because the domestic rosewood prices have
increased due to demand. In Australia, rosewood and sandalwood are less valuable.”
“That’s right. It’s just like housing. In some places in China, the price of a square meter
has risen to twenty or even thirty thousand. What kind of real estate prices do you see
in Sydney? Yesterday we went to check out the housing prices here. Converted into
Renminbi, a small villa is worth three or four million,” another tour guide added.
The tourists nodded and someone said, “There is indeed something to learn from
capitalist states!”
