To hide his identity, including from his own family, a lottery winner in China claimed his 220 million yuan prize (about $30.1 million) last week while dressed as a cartoon character.
The winner, who could only be identified by his pseudonym Li to the local media, told news organizations in his area that he decided not to tell his family about the prize money to prevent them from becoming lazy or behaving “superior” to others.
Li bought 40 tickets with the same number of combinations on each because he felt so confident in his lottery picks. Each of the tickets, which he purchased in the province of Guangxi Zhuang for 80 yuan (about $11), has a winning payout of 5.48 million yuan (around $750,000), making a total of 220 million yuan.
When Li found out he had won the jackpot on October 21, he claimed he was unable to sleep. Li claimed his win at the Guangxi Welfare Lottery Distribution Center in Nanning City on October 24 while decked up as a yellow cartoon character.
Winners who want to keep their identities a secret from the public frequently use the appearance in cartoon costumes at the cheque presentation event.
But Li admitted that even his family was unaware of the news that would change his life.
He was quoted by the South China Morning Post as adding, “I have not told my wife or kid.” “I am worried that kids won’t put in as much effort in their future work or studies since they might feel superior to others.”
Li was able to keep 171 million yuan ($23.4 million) after giving the 5 million yuan ($684,660) to charity and paying tax on 43 million yuan ($5.9 million) of it.
Li considers himself a lover of the betting game and has been purchasing tickets on a regular basis for more than ten years.
Li claims that for numerous years, he has consistently placed bets on the same seven numbers because they “looked attractive” to him.
“I’ve only ever earned a few dozen yuan,” Li said. “My family has no concern for my hobby of purchasing lotto tickets. Additionally, I don’t spend much money on it, and the lottery offers me some optimism.
Li admitted that he hasn’t yet considered how he will use the funds, but he plans to take his time and thoroughly prepare it. Despite being unaware of the millions of dollars they now possess, Li’s wife is entitled to the wins as a co-owner of the recently reported asset under Chinese Marriage Law.
What will you do, and how would you react if you won a million-dollar lottery? Please let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to spread the news so that we can hear from more people.
