A young man named Li from Hongkou District, Shanghai, China just went through a tough year, failing both at work and in life. Looking at his situation near the end of the year, with Lunar New Year approaching, he didn’t have a single penny to his name, couldn’t buy new clothes or prepare for the holiday, showing how helpless he felt.
Still, he hoped for a lucky break to change his life by playing scratch-off lottery tickets. He pretended to be lending money, saying the debt would be repaid the next day so he could get away with playing on credit. Li even used his ID card, bank card, and phone as collateral to gain the trust of the store owner.
Trying the same trick a second time at another shop, Li unfortunately ran into the original creditor. Caught red-handed, he couldn’t deny it anymore. When asked to pay for all the tickets, he admitted he had no money left and confessed that with the New Year coming and no cash, he took a desperate gamble hoping to win.
Over two frantic days of scratching tickets, Li spent a total of 26,000 yuan (around 90 million VND or $13,000). In the end, his plan blew up in his face. Not only did he rack up huge debt, but he also lost his chance to celebrate the holiday after being arrested for fraud and theft.
During questioning, Li revealed that he had lost all his savings over the past year and currently had no money, no home, and no car. Despite trying to turn his life around with lottery tickets, he failed.
