Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Liauchai
Good morning,
Liauchai or Iauchai, what's in a name?
It never rains but pours. This happened to Liauchai. Just into
his mid thirties in life, he was suckered in a con scam and lost
almost all his savings, got retrenched, lost his wife and his two
children in an accident, and even had his car repossessed .
What more can happened to a man!
For a man who grew up with a silver spoon, Liauchai was not
one who could take all these hard knocks, not in such succession.
Taking whatever cash that he had, he went to the casino. He still
had thousands, hundreds and tens of dollars. By his calculation,
if he double his bet just eight times, his four thousand would roll
into half a million, putting him back on track. He was not insane.
It was that under the situation, that was how his mind worked.
Make good or bust. If bad luck could befall him successively the
turn should be good luck, and eight always mean luck.
He decided on roulette, which excluding the O offers quite an
even chance on colour, black or red. When the wheel was spun,
he was on his way. He let it roll as planned. His pile kept doubling.
One more baby and it would be $512,000. But Lady Luck went out
of steam for him.
He was not sad, what the heck?. That was his plan. Now he had
his next move. As he was climbing up the high bridge, a voice
struck his ears, "Spare me a dinner, sir!" Turning round, he faced
a down and out fellow, one about to collapse through starvation.
"What the heck," he thought, "why not give us both a fine last
dinner?"
He took the man to a restaurant and both had a fine meal. The
dinner was grand, and Liauchai warmed all over watching the
man tucked into the meal and the wine. The man thanked
him volubly. Liauchai reached into his pocket and gave the
man the rest of all his remaining dollars. He did not need these
where he was going.
As they parted after coming out of the restaurant, the man
hugged him and slipped something into his pocket. They bid
each other goodbye and went separate ways, one well fed and
happy, the other indifferent. Somehow Liauchai turned around
to give the man a last look; something in the man reminded him
of himself. His gaze followed the retreating man. A thought came
into his mind; perhaps he could bounce back into life like the
man did. He could get some money from the insurance and .....
Bang, and objects and things flew about amid crashing and other
noises.
Liauchai awoke. He felt strange and painful here and there. He
was puzzled. What had happened and where was he. And as he
surveyed his surrounding, he wondered. He could not move. His
limbs were bandaged and suspended. He was in a hospital bed,
strung up like a spider's victim. He was very perplexed.
He was about to shout when a sweet voice greeted him,
"Good morning, Iauchai, you are awake at last." It was the nurse.
"How am I here?" he asked.
"You had an accident, a drunk driver rammed into you. You
have been here two days", she replied.
"Why am I not dead. I should be dead."
"Why does a rich man like you want to be dead?"
"I am not rich."
"But you are. You had a lottery ticket in your pocket.
Its number matched the first prize yesterday."
"But I never buy lottery tickets."
"Well you had one, and I have kept it safely for you. All you need
to do is get well and go claim your prize"
"Don't kid me ! Why did you not just quietly keep the ticket.
I would never know."
"It is me, that is why. I do not do such things."
"What did you call me just now?"
"Iauchai, that's your name, is it not?", her pronunciation
miss the L in his name. "You have fortune, not lose fortune,"
she stressed.
"Well, I'll be mummified," he murmured,
"Iauchai instead of Liauchai, this is my new name."
Have a nice day.
Ronald
Liauchai or Iauchai, what's in a name?
It never rains but pours. This happened to Liauchai. Just into
his mid thirties in life, he was suckered in a con scam and lost
almost all his savings, got retrenched, lost his wife and his two
children in an accident, and even had his car repossessed .
What more can happened to a man!
For a man who grew up with a silver spoon, Liauchai was not
one who could take all these hard knocks, not in such succession.
Taking whatever cash that he had, he went to the casino. He still
had thousands, hundreds and tens of dollars. By his calculation,
if he double his bet just eight times, his four thousand would roll
into half a million, putting him back on track. He was not insane.
It was that under the situation, that was how his mind worked.
Make good or bust. If bad luck could befall him successively the
turn should be good luck, and eight always mean luck.
He decided on roulette, which excluding the O offers quite an
even chance on colour, black or red. When the wheel was spun,
he was on his way. He let it roll as planned. His pile kept doubling.
One more baby and it would be $512,000. But Lady Luck went out
of steam for him.
He was not sad, what the heck?. That was his plan. Now he had
his next move. As he was climbing up the high bridge, a voice
struck his ears, "Spare me a dinner, sir!" Turning round, he faced
a down and out fellow, one about to collapse through starvation.
"What the heck," he thought, "why not give us both a fine last
dinner?"
He took the man to a restaurant and both had a fine meal. The
dinner was grand, and Liauchai warmed all over watching the
man tucked into the meal and the wine. The man thanked
him volubly. Liauchai reached into his pocket and gave the
man the rest of all his remaining dollars. He did not need these
where he was going.
As they parted after coming out of the restaurant, the man
hugged him and slipped something into his pocket. They bid
each other goodbye and went separate ways, one well fed and
happy, the other indifferent. Somehow Liauchai turned around
to give the man a last look; something in the man reminded him
of himself. His gaze followed the retreating man. A thought came
into his mind; perhaps he could bounce back into life like the
man did. He could get some money from the insurance and .....
Bang, and objects and things flew about amid crashing and other
noises.
Liauchai awoke. He felt strange and painful here and there. He
was puzzled. What had happened and where was he. And as he
surveyed his surrounding, he wondered. He could not move. His
limbs were bandaged and suspended. He was in a hospital bed,
strung up like a spider's victim. He was very perplexed.
He was about to shout when a sweet voice greeted him,
"Good morning, Iauchai, you are awake at last." It was the nurse.
"How am I here?" he asked.
"You had an accident, a drunk driver rammed into you. You
have been here two days", she replied.
"Why am I not dead. I should be dead."
"Why does a rich man like you want to be dead?"
"I am not rich."
"But you are. You had a lottery ticket in your pocket.
Its number matched the first prize yesterday."
"But I never buy lottery tickets."
"Well you had one, and I have kept it safely for you. All you need
to do is get well and go claim your prize"
"Don't kid me ! Why did you not just quietly keep the ticket.
I would never know."
"It is me, that is why. I do not do such things."
"What did you call me just now?"
"Iauchai, that's your name, is it not?", her pronunciation
miss the L in his name. "You have fortune, not lose fortune,"
she stressed.
"Well, I'll be mummified," he murmured,
"Iauchai instead of Liauchai, this is my new name."
Have a nice day.
Ronald