Notes of Destiny: A Musical Odyssey by Neil Grant
Chapter 16

Chapter 16 Raffle

Forest Supermarket was across from Mr. Thornsby’s Aristo Supermarket.

Colorful flower arrangements were neatly arranged in two rows. The supermarket looked outstanding and impressive!

Popular music was playing through the sound system.

A temporary stage was built at the entrance, and the host did his best to stir the atmosphere.

The big discounts, raffle, free gifts, and other activities gathered many customers.

However, Mr. Thornsby’s supermarket had been open for five years. Everyone was used to going to Aristo Supermarket.

They were still reviewing the new supermarket’s prices and quality control.

The host livened up the atmosphere and started kicking things off.

“We had the honor of inviting this year’s Love for Armoa winner to come and perform live for everyone today. He will be singing two songs today. Can everyone guess which two songs those are?”

The audience offstage laughed, and the atmosphere was lively.

The host had clearly asked a rhetorical question!

Neil wasn’t a big star who had countless songs.

He had sung two new songs in total in the past two weeks.

One was ‘Dracorea the Beautiful,‘ which he had sung in the county town’s Love for Armoa contest.

The other was the song where he had revealed his outstanding talent at the state capital competition, ‘The Pearl from the East.

He had only sung ‘Dracorea the Beautiful‘ that day, and few people from the county town had heard it.

But scenes of ‘The Pearl from the East‘ winning first place had continuously broadcasted on television for a few days.

He was well–known in Cloubury.

A crowd gathered before the stage when they discovered he would sing these two songs.

A star had come from a small town, and he could sing so well. He had won a prize and was even on television.

In this small town in 1997, it was terrific news!

Especially when that person used to be a gambling drunkard who hit his wife!

Word had spread fast.

Many people gathered before the stage and surrounded the area. It was packed with people.

Neil walked on stage.

That day, when the supermarket announced its opening, Neil had looked for the boss of the supermarket.

Neil had promised to sing two songs for free to gather the crowd.

Mr. Rockson, the boss, was delighted.

It was 1997, and celebrities were expensive. It was far from the later generations, where smaller county towns could invite celebrities past their prime.

Inviting celebrities for opening ceremonies in county towns was difficult at that moment. It was good enough to ask a resident bar singer or lesser–known bands.

Only big cities could invite celebrities.

Performance, transportation, and accommodation fees totaled up to at least ten thousand.

Therefore, Mr. Rockson had planned to invite a slightly popular band with his hard–earned money. He had been prepared to spend twenty to thirty thousand.

It was costly for a county town!

He never imagined Neil would take the initiative to look for him!

Neil had promised Mr. Rockson that scenes of him winning the state capital Love for Armoa competition would be broadcasted soon and aired for at least three days.

Then, every household in the county town would know about Neil and the song “The Pearl from

the East.

So they would naturally come to join the crowd.

Furthermore, with the popularity of Armoa being returned to Dracorea, many people would

come.

And the popularity of the supermarket would increase!

Mr. Rockson was a businessman. He prioritized profit and was incredibly shrewd.

The wheels started turning in his mind.

He knew about Neil winning first place in the county town competition.

He thought what Neil said made sense.

He didn’t have to spend any money and got a famous county town celebrity to perform for free. It would bring his supermarket more popularity.

More importantly, if he built a good relationship with Neil, he could still invite Neil to future celebrations or special events!

It would be cheap and effective, much better than those unreliable bands!

Therefore, Mr. Rockson agreed without another word.

On the scene, the host was still breaking the ice.

Neil walked on stage, and instead of booing, applause rang.

Many locals were discussing.

“Neil is pretty handsome. Clothes make the man indeed!”

“Neil has really turned over a new leaf. His wife must be smiling in her dreams!”

“It’s good that he’s changed. His wife was pitiful last time. She was a delicate woman who came to the county to suffer with him. She bore his children and raised them, but he hit her. It was infuriating to watch!”

“This fellow can really sing well. I think he’s better than those celebrities on television.”

Before Neil started performing, the host spoke and announced the upcoming raffle segment

many people were gathered.

while

Neil hadn’t recorded an accompaniment, and there wasn’t a piano.

He held a guitar that Mr. Rockson had borrowed and performed ‘Dracorea the Beautiful. The audience applauded thunderously after that.

“Amazing! He sang well!”

“I never thought that loser would still have tricks up his sleeve!”

“This song has great quality. It should be performed on the New Year’s Eve Stage!”

“This is my first time listening to it. It’s amazing.”

“Oh my god, my tears are about to fall. I have a great–uncle in Armoa who said he wants to return in two days. I have to show him the changes in the country.”

The locals talked about it.

Many people changed their minds about Neil.

Before Neil sang the second song, the host went on stage and announced the raffle rules.

“Alright, our big star has sung his famous song! We are going to announce the raffle results now. The staff has given everyone an admission ticket just now. If the number on your ticket stub is the same as the announced winning number, redeem your prize with the staff. We are open and transparent. If you win, you can redeem it on the spot…

“Now, we are going to announce the fourth–place winners. Let us see who are the lucky ones!”

The host’s tone became more excited.

The staff carried a raffle box and walked up.

The host reached into the box and pulled out a card.

“The winner of fourth place is…”

“It’s me! I won!”

A woman in her fifties shouted excitedly in the crowd.

She immediately squeezed her way to the counter to redeem her prize.

The raffle segment was quickly carried out, and all the second, third, and fourth–place prizes were given out.

What remained was the grand prize, which was a twenty–five–inch colored television. It lay on the stage alone.

The surrounding crowd had watched others win second, third, and fourth–place prizes, including a thermos flask, electric blanket, and washing machine…

They couldn’t leave!

The crowd raised their head and looked in anticipation, waiting for the prize to be announced!

In 1997, colored televisions were still rare. Many people in an economically backward county town had old black-and–white televisions at home.

A branded, twenty–five–inch colored television retailed at almost four thousand.

Everyone hoped to be the lucky winner of the grand prize!

Actually, these raffles were usually quite ‘mysterious.

If a privately owned supermarket held a raffle, the prizes were typically given to internal staff. The whole process was arranged.

In the raffle box where the host picked numbers, there would be one or many hidden compartments where the decided numbers were placed.

The selected numbers would be within a controlled range.

Perhaps they would be given to the boss‘ relatives, or they would replace someone to accept the prize before returning it.

The bigger prizes would be out of reach for the audience. The actual gifts given to them would only be the thermos flask.

Not many people knew about this insider information yet in this era.

In the later generations with advanced technology, everyone disliked such under–the–table manipulations, so they rejected them.

Just like the lottery. It had been revealed a few times that the audience was the same every year.

But the current audience offstage clearly didn’t know about the inner workings!

A few young people dress?

colored television.

sed ruggedly in the crowd stared maliciously at the rallic boxed

As though they were waiting for something.