It was hard to tell whether his heart was pounding from excitement or fear; everything felt surreal and unpredictable.
Suddenly thinking of the lottery, Lu Chen's expression shifted drastically as he sprang to his feet, instantly drawing the gazes of his fellow overtime workers.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I'm a bit dizzy, going downstairs for some fresh air."
Covering with a casual remark, he grabbed his phone and dashed downstairs.
"Lottery shop... Lottery shop..."
He muttered under his breath, his anxious gaze sweeping the surroundings.
Small shops selling lottery tickets were usually everywhere—why on earth were they nowhere to be seen now?
There were only three minutes left until 8:00!
Suddenly, his eyes narrowed as he finally spotted a tiny lottery shop at the street corner.
He swore he had never run so desperately in his entire life. The distance was barely three hundred meters, yet it felt like he had sprinted through most of his life. By the time he reached the shop, he was gasping for air, completely out of breath.
"Giv—giv—"
"Boss! Buy a lottery ticket!"
The owner looked at him strangely. "Take it easy, young man. What numbers do you want?"
"05, 11, 18, 20, 26, 28, 12..."
"Just these!"
"Got it."
The owner was efficient, taking the money and printing out a ticket just in the nick of time before the deadline.
The moment he stepped out of the shop clutching the ticket, Lu Chen's mood was unexpectedly calm—so calm that he almost wondered if he was hallucinating.
He glanced down at the ticket clutched tightly in his hand.
Was this thing really worth tens of millions?!
Am I dreaming?
[Remaining time: 18 minutes]
"Next, do I just have to wait for this lottery ticket to draw?"
His heart hammered as if it wanted to leap out of his throat. He tucked the ticket deep into his pocket, terrified that someone might snatch it away.
The prize money for this lottery was a full fifty million!
What's more, he had checked that no one else had won the first-place prize, meaning he could enjoy this fifty million all to himself!
He had already started daydreaming about what he would do once he had all that money.
No more work!
Buy cars and houses!
Put all the remaining money in the bank, live off the annual fixed-interest returns, and even with a bit of restraint, it would be enough to squander away for a lifetime!
Still, he had to keep a low profile before that.
Not wanting passersby to see his silly grin, he tightened his facial expression as much as possible and walked back toward the company with a relaxed, cheerful stride.
As he reached the base of the building, he inexplicably thought of what the big-mouthed Qiao Weizhao had mentioned earlier.
"Falling object from high above... crushed that iron-lady Zhou Manyin?"
"The time should be around eight-thirty?"
He checked his watch.
It was now 8:05, leaving 15 minutes until his return to his original world; it seemed he wouldn't be able to help even if he wanted to.
Though he felt a twinge of regret—he could have saved her if it were truly feasible—he was certainly not going to risk exposing the fact that he possessed the System.
Even if the other person was a wealthy beauty, it made no difference.
He instinctively glanced up at the upper floors.
To be honest, not many floors had their lights on, given how late it was.
Besides, the night was too dark for him to clearly make out which floor had people.
"Forget it, forgive me for being powerless."
He reached into his pocket to confirm the ticket was still there, felt a surge of reassurance, and resumed his stride toward the building.
Before he had taken a single step, however, his body suddenly stiffened. He stared in absolute shock at the tall, slightly fatigued female figure currently emerging through the automatic doors.
The woman wore lightweight gold-rimmed glasses, a dignified gray tailored suit, and a beige scarf wrapped around her neck. Her long black hair cascaded like a waterfall, with a few strands resting across her rising chest, adding a touch of softness to her naturally proud, queen-like demeanor.
Mature, intellectual, and gorgeous.
And carrying the most striking sense of pride.
She seemed like a perfect swan, naturally deserving of everyone's flattery and envy.
Such a flawless woman and an ordinary guy like Lu Chen belonged to completely different worlds—much like the heroine of a movie and a passing extra.
Yet who could have known that in just a few seconds, her life would be tragically cut short?
Lu Chen was completely dumbfounded.
He stood frozen as he watched Zhou Manyin gradually approach, his heart beating faster and faster.
"Why... why is she appearing here at this time?"
Could there have been an error in the police's timeline calculation?
Meanwhile, having just finished her overtime work, Zhou Manyin felt utterly exhausted and longed to get home early, take a nice hot bath, and soothe the fatigue that had built up over the entire week.
"Thank goodness, once I wrap up this deal, I can finally rest for a few days."
This single piece of business would match more than half a year's worth of her past performance; as long as she seized it, she could take the company to the next level!
She had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time.
At this thought, even the exhaustion weighing on her body seemed to lighten slightly.
However, just as she stepped out of the building's entrance, her sharp instincts made her notice a man by the roadside staring directly at her.
She couldn't help frowning.
The man's gaze was practically undisguised, fixing on her so intensely as if she weren't wearing any clothes at all.
Though she had encountered lecherous men before, she had always kept herself respectable and never gave such men the time of day.
Moreover, businessmen she met usually knew better than to cross the line, pulling back once they noticed her expression change.
Yet right now, she found that this strange man seemed completely oblivious to her disgust, staring at her unblinkingly without a shred of restraint.
"Is he a lunatic or something?"
Anxiety stirred in her chest. She instinctively tightened her grip on her bag and decided to give him a wide berth.
Just then, however, she suddenly saw the man react as if struck by some stimulus, lunging wildly toward her!
Terrified out of her wits, her face draining of color, she immediately took two steps back, pulled a bottle of anti-wolf pepper spray from her bag, and blasted it right at him.
"Stay away from me!"
"Thud!"
Although Lu Chen managed to close his eyes in time, he still took the full blast of the pepper spray straight to the face. His entire face burned as if it were on fire, and his eyes ached unbearably.
Yet he still managed to tackle Zhou Manyin to the ground right at the most critical moment.
The two of them crashed heavily onto the floor, producing a dull thud alongside the woman's terrified scream.
"What's going on?"
"Look over there, it's General Manager Zhou Manyin!"
"You perverted creep, let her go right now!"
The building's security guards had also noticed the commotion outside. Taking in the scene, they panicked, assuming the worst, and came running over.
If such a vicious incident occurred right under their noses, they might as well pack up and leave!
Just at that moment, however—
"Crash!"
A loud, shattering sound of breaking glass erupted directly behind the two of them.
Everyone present froze in place.
The security guards, gripping their plastic batons, stopped dead in their tracks, dumbfounded.
Zhou Manyin, who was still pinned beneath Lu Chen and had been struggling just a moment ago, also froze. Her constricted pupils stared past Lu Chen's shoulder at the exact spot she had been about to walk to.
There, a flower pot that had plummeted from high above was smashed to smithereens. The sheer force of the fall had even cracked the marble floor tiles into a dense, spiderweb-like pattern, completely shattering the center.