When she first started setting up her stall, Wang Xiangyu imitated and copied others; today, she's doing the same thing again with a lottery.

Li Youran had no choice; after all, there were many paths in life, and everyone could go their own way. What she could do, others could naturally do as well.

Besides, Li Youran never thought about monopolizing these things, because even without Wang Xiangyu, there would be others.

However, Wang Xiangyu's appearance will inevitably affect his business. Li Youran originally only planned to do this business for the few days before the New Year and then stop doing the lottery business, since the government would take over this kind of business sooner or later.

“Miss Li, there’s no need to worry. She’s not cooperating with the government and is far less trustworthy than you.”

Hearing the advisor's words, Li Youran's worries lessened somewhat.

Originally, most people were on Li Youran's side, while Wang Xiangyu's side was pitifully deserted. However, after Wang Xiangyu announced that the grand prize was one hundred taels of gold, her side gradually gained more people.

“You Ran, don’t panic. Let’s continue.” Liu Zhiyuan paused, then continued, “Even 100,000 lottery tickets can’t sell for 100 taels of gold. If she’s giving out such a high grand prize, it might be a scam. Let’s wait and see.”

Li You nodded; her thoughts were the same as Liu Zhiyuan's.

Wang Xiangyu is merely using the gimmick of the grand prize to attract crowds; if there is no grand prize in the end, sooner or later trouble will ensue.

"Fellow villagers, you all witnessed yesterday that all the awards are real and valid, and the man next to me is Master Wang from the government office, who would never cheat you."

What Li Youran needs to do now is to play to her strengths and avoid her weaknesses. Since Wang Xiangyu's lottery tickets lack official verification, they are not trustworthy. Therefore, she should emphasize the authenticity of the lottery tickets.

"Before buying lottery tickets, everyone must distinguish between real and fake ones to ensure their authenticity and avoid being scammed."

Master Wang cupped his hands and addressed the crowd.

It must be said that the government holds a significant place in the hearts of the people. The advisor's words convinced the hesitant customer to stay.

Although there were quite a few onlookers at Wang Xiangyu's place, most of them were just watching; not many actually bought lottery tickets.

"I've won the grand prize—one hundred taels of gold!"

Before a few dozen lottery tickets had been sold, someone shouted that he had won the grand prize.

Without saying a word, Wang Xiangyu handed the man a hundred taels of gleaming gold.

"One hundred taels of gold will be given away without hesitation, and the rest of the prizes will certainly not be lied to."

"It's the same lottery, but the previous one cost five copper coins, while this one only costs three copper coins, and the prizes are more valuable than the previous one."

Wang Xiangyu's spies, planted among the crowd, guided the crowd with their words, and the onlookers began to waver.

"Young Master Liu, you must be careful today and check the lottery ticket carefully before claiming the prize."

Liu Zhiyuan and Li Youran looked towards the end of the street and nodded in response.

The crowd was huge, and the atmosphere was just right. The person who received the grand prize disappeared into the crowd, but he did not shake off Li Tairan who was following behind him.

"You're dishonest! I've clearly won the first prize, why haven't you cashed it in for me?"

"Brother, please don't get excited. Let me carefully examine the lottery ticket to see if it's real or fake before I redeem the prize."

As the clerk at the prize redemption counter spoke, he hurriedly called Liu Zhiyuan over.

The man was initially indignant and seemed ready to cause trouble, but when he saw the lottery ticket being examined closely, he began to feel uneasy.

"Brother, you've made a mistake. This lottery ticket isn't one of ours," Liu Zhiyuan said with a sneer.

"But what happened?"

When Master Wang saw that someone was causing trouble, he came over.

"Perhaps I've made a mistake..."

The man looked flustered and snatched the lottery ticket from Liu Zhiyuan's hand, about to leave, but was stopped by the constable next to Master Wang.

"Send him back to the yamen for thorough interrogation!"

At Master Wang's command, the constables took him away and sent him directly to the yamen.

Just as Li Youran had predicted, someone was using fake lottery tickets to take advantage of the situation. However, Li Youran couldn't be sure whether Wang Xiangyu had sent them; she only had suspicions.

"Brother Li, we brothers dare not do this anymore. We've already lost one of our brothers; the risk is too great."

"What's there to be afraid of? At worst, I'll just give your family some money."

Before Li Erzhu could finish speaking, the men jogged away.

"A bunch of cowards, they're destined to never eat four dishes in their lives!" Li Erzhu said with a look of disgust.

The people who escaped were in cahoots with the person who tried to claim the fake lottery ticket; they were all summoned by Li Erzhu.

Originally, I thought there was no risk involved, since the fake lottery tickets that Li Erzhu gave me were so realistic that it was impossible to tell the difference between them and real lottery tickets.

Unexpectedly, they were discovered and sent directly to the yamen (government office). The remaining people were so frightened that they ran away.

"That's strange. We haven't won a third prize in all this time. Could it be that there aren't any third prizes here?"

"At least they have a participation prize over there, but I've already spent over a hundred coins and haven't gotten a single penny."

Before they knew it, it was noon. The people who had been drawing prizes at Wang Xiangyu's place began to get suspicious. Apart from the grand prize that came out at the beginning, no prizes were won for the rest of the morning.

"Little sister, that person is definitely a shill."

Li Tairan ran over, panting heavily, and said to Li Youran.

"My second uncle also got involved in this matter."

Li Tairan followed the man, who was carrying a hundred taels of gold and running very fast, leading Li Haoran to conclude that the gold was not real. Sure enough, when they reached the depths of the courtyard, someone met him, and unexpectedly, the man on the street turned out to be Li Erzhu.

"Just like the plan, let the news out and let the capable people expose this matter." Li Youran pursed her lips and said, "As for Li Erzhu, let's hold back for now, be careful and see what other schemes he has up his sleeve."

Li Youran had many questions in her mind, but she couldn't find the answers for the time being, so she simply stopped thinking about them.

While Li Youran was busy with the lottery draw, Wang Xiangyu caused a mess on her end.

"With so many lottery tickets still unsold, how can you accuse my lottery of being fraudulent?"

"When we were drawing prizes yesterday, the grand prize was drawn at the very end, so please be patient."

Wang Xiangyu's words had no effect on calming the situation; instead, the noise only grew louder.

The reason why everyone was so patient when drawing prizes with Li Youran and firmly believed that the grand prize would definitely be won was because Li Youran had government officials behind him to testify, which could ensure that the prize would definitely exist, but it was not necessarily the case with Wang Xiangyu.

"This woman is cheating; the person who won the grand prize is a shill she hired!"

A man riding a tall horse shouted angrily.