Money can change how you think and feel, but that doesn’t include a lucky Chinese man called Mr. Li. The man from South China won a life-changing $29.9 million in the lottery. Still, instead of rejoicing with his family and having the time of his life, the sagacious father kept the jackpot a secret from his wife and child, worrying that the winnings might make them slothful. Per Fortune, Mr. Li went alone to the lottery office in Nanning, in the southern region of Guangxi, to claim his prize, the Nanning Evening News reported. He wore a bright yellow costume that covered his head in photos showing him accepting the prize money.
“I didn’t tell my wife and child for fear that they would be too complacent and would not work or work hard in the future,” the man told the newspaper last week. Mr. Li showed compassion by immediately donating 5 million Yuan (nearly $700,000) to charity and taking some 171.6 million Yuan ($24 million) home after deducting taxes. The fortunate father had bought 40 tickets for the lucky draw in a shop in Litang, a town east of the regional capital of Nanning. Each ticket purchased had the same seven numbers, with the lottery company paying out 5.48 million Yuan for each ticket, per Daily Mail.
After realizing he held the winning numbers of 2, 15, 19, 26, 27, 29, and 2, the man said he took a train to the state capital to collect his massive fortune. A predictably excited, Mr. Li isolated himself in a hotel for fear of losing his ticket before collecting his prize money. “I did not leave the hotel because I was afraid to go out and lose the lottery ticket,” explained Mr. Li, who reportedly didn’t sleep the night he found out about his win.
