A Chinese man recently made international news headlines for collecting his lottery winnings in disguise in order to keep his identity a secret from his own family.
Identified only by the pseudonym Li, the Chinese man reportedly bought 40 lottery tickets from somewhere in China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, with all of them containing the same seven numbers. His gamble paid off big time, as he was able to pocket a whopping 220 million yuan (5.48 million yuan per ticket). That’s around $30 million, life-changing money, not just for him but for his entire family. But instead of celebrating the win with his wife and kids, Li reportedly played it cool, preferring to keep the good news a secret from them.
But don’t be too quick to bill the man a ‘douchebag’, because the man at least had a good reason for it. Instead of telling his family that they are now $30 million richer, and risking them becoming “arrogant and lazy”, Li preferred to put on a cartoon character outfit when collecting the lottery prize and keep his family in the dark for the long term.
“I have not told my wife or kid. I am concerned that they might feel superior to other people and will not work or study hard in the future,” he told reporters when he collected his prize.
Putting on disguises has become quite popular among Chinese lottery winners, but usually, people put them on to protect themselves from criminals looking to rob or extort them, or from having to help out acquaintances and long-lost relatives in need of money. Li’s reason has sparked a heated debate, with some applauding him for his decision, and others claiming that he has no right to keep his family in the dark.
Legally speaking, Li might be breaking the law by not letting his wife know about the lottery prize because lottery money is considered a joint asset between the married couple. On the flip side, there have been so many horror stories of families being torn apart and lives ruined because of big lottery winnings that telling his family isn’t automatically the best idea.
