Chapter 8 — Lottery Ticket Without Name

The verification session was held at the provincial hall. Not to redraw the numbers to find the winner, but to publicize the ticket checking process.

Quan stood behind the glass, looking at the blank piece of paper with no name on it. Experts compare inks, serial numbers and printers. The ticket is valid and has not been altered.

The union representative presented the list of ticket donations. Khanh used to use another list, which only had the name of the foreman and the two people who received the money.

Nhi presented small transfer data of twelve workers. Mrs. Sau gave her shift book, where Lam recorded each contribution.

The fund's lawyer asked why Quan kept the ticket. Quan said he bought it for him, but then didn't remember returning it because the whole shift was called to repair the machine.

A worker confirmed that he saw Lam holding the ticket. Others saw Quan put it away. No one saw the exchange moment.

The lottery authority declaring the presenter valid is just one step; Ownership disputes must be resolved by civil agreement.

Thanh admitted that he forced Lam to hand over a photo of the ticket, but did not take the original. He said Khanh hired him to fake her disappearance.

Khanh was silent until Nhi gave her the call recording. He admitted that he wanted to use the prize to compensate for the investment fund, but said he did not know that Lam was still alive.

Lam stood up and said he didn't want to accept the whole thing. He proposed to divide according to contributors, partly to create a fund to prevent occupational accidents.

Quan said he would not receive any special part. They agreed to a bylaw signed by twelve people, independent auditing rights, and a thirty-day withdrawal lock.

Outside the hall, the livestream cameraman asked Quan if he felt he was the winner.

Quan looked at the ticket behind the glass. "I feel like I'm the one assigned a difficult job."

That night, an anonymous envelope was sent to Nhi's house. Inside were documents proving that one person in the group had withdrawn the money first, even though no one had permission.

The signer's name is Ms. Sau.

The woman in the hallway is Hanh. She brought a cloth bag and said she found the original power cut record in Khanh's room. The minutes contained Ms. Sau's signature, but the signature was placed next to an "emergency support" amount that had never been approved.

Ms. Sau realized she had signed a stack of blank papers when Khanh offered to support seriously ill workers. She believes he will fill in the following information correctly. Unexpectedly, those signatures were used to withdraw funds and legalize transactions.

Quan was angry. “You knew they could do that and still signed?”

Ms. Sau replied: "I know I need paper to save people. I don't know who my signature will save."

The group of twelve people met in the reopened cafeteria. They placed the ticket in the middle of the table, no one touched it. Nhi read each contribution, each withdrawal, then asked if everyone would accept an independent manager or not.

Phuc wanted to let Quan keep it because he was the buyer. Lam objected because Quan was being dragged in too much. Hanh suggested hiring an auditor and publishing the books every month. Ms. Sau requested a separate procedure for emergency cases, but it must have three signatures and a doctor's confirmation.

Quan looked at them arguing. Previously, each person only knew that they had contributed one hundred thousand. Now they are forced to learn how to be responsible for fifty-two billion.

Khanh's lawyer tried to prove that the ticket belonged to the union because the contributions were collected at the workplace. Nhi gave the fund's charter: money is used for support, not for investment or buying tickets. Contribution slips have each person's individual signature, not deductions subtract automatically.

Thanh appeared via video from the detention center, saying something surprising: "Khanh was not the one who came up with the ticket. The person who came up with the idea was an investor outside the factory."

The investor's name is on the deleted email list. Hanh recovered from the old server: a company that bought workers' debt, bought back Quan and Duy's loans. They don't just want prize money; They want to buy the right to collect debt from the whole group.

Quan realized that the larger amount of fifty-two billion that Lam mentioned was the total value of debts and insurance. If investors control the tickets, they can recover more of the prize money by forcing people to sign over.

Lam suggested not disclosing members' addresses, only disclosing profile codes. Nhi set up a data room using a two-layer password. Quan checked the server himself and discovered a strange account logged in from the debt company's address.

He locked his account, but before he could change his password, the printer popped up a new page: "Group representative: Quan."

Quan tore the page. Lam held his hand.

"Don't tear it up. Save it, so you know what story they're trying to write."

That night, the group signed temporary regulations. The ticket was placed in the state safe, and the scanned copy was divided into twelve parts, each person kept a code that could not be opened without the other codes.

As they left the hall, a reporter asked Quan if he was afraid of losing his share because he was not named. Quan said: "I'm more afraid of naming something that's not mine."

Immediately after the answer, Nhi's phone informed that the bank had temporarily locked the group's account. Reason: there is an emergency withdrawal order signed by Ms. Sau.

The bank asked Ms. Sau to confirm directly. She went to the counter with Nhi, bringing her phone, shift book and transaction record. The bank employee pointed to the authentication button that had been pressed from another device.

“I don't have a second phone,” Ms. Sau said.

Hanh checked the log and discovered that the authentication code was forwarded through an old phone number once registered under Khanh's name. The transaction was created before the team signed the regulations, but was dated after the prize money was received.

Quan asked why they didn't just delete the transaction. Nhi replied that they wanted to use Ms. Sau's signature as an excuse, in case they were discovered and blamed the person who had admitted to signing the blank paper.

Mrs. Sau looked at the screen, not crying. "I will stand in front of everyone and say I was wrong. But I don't accept the mistake on behalf of the person who forged the signature."

They sent a copy of the log to the investigation agency. The team account is still locked, but the lock gives them time to test the entire process before the first coin leaves.

In the evening, Quan and Lam sat outside in the cafeteria yard. Lam asked Quan if he still wanted to keep the ticket.

“No,” Quan said. “I just want to keep my word: no one can hold it alone.”

Lam nodded. “So tomorrow, we sign in front of the camera.”