TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A man in Taipei City and a woman in Pingtung County recently each won a NT$1 million (US$36,000) scratch card prize, and it was believed that a cat and a dog played a role in the strokes of luck.
A lottery store in Taipei’s Nangang District said a young man came to the store to buy a few scratch cards the other day, CNA reported. The man returned to the store to break the good news that one of the “20 Million Super Red Envelope” scratch cards he got hold of turned out to be worth NT$1 million.
Believing that the store's tabby cat, “Chao Tsai” (招財), had brought good luck to the customer, a female clerk at the store surnamed Wang (王) explained that tigers and cats belong to the same family, and this year happens to be the year of the tiger.
When customers came to the store to purchase lotteries, Chao Tsai would huddle against them, which could bring them happiness and fortune, she added.
Some customers even treated the cat as the God of Wealth, and circled the lotteries they bought over its head three times as a gesture to supplicate for fortune.
Another stroke of luck believed to be associated with an animal happened to a woman in her 50s in Pingtung County during the Lunar New Year holiday.
With regard to the lucky woman, Taiwan Lottery Co. cited a lottery store worker in Pingtung County as saying that she came to buy “20 Million Super Red Envelope” scratch cards with a collective fund that she, her family, and friends had put together.
While the woman was at the store, a big black dog stayed by the woman’s side the entire time, the company added. Out of curiosity, the woman asked the store worker about the dog and was told that it was not the store’s pet, but had been staying there for the past few days.
Upon hearing that, another customer reacted: “Dogs bring fortune. Could it be the store is going to strike it big?” Reacting to the comment, the woman randomly picked a scratch card and walked to be by the dog’s side to scratch it, which revealed that she had hit the NT$1 million prize, per CNA.
A female worker at the lottery store surnamed Tseng (曾) was delighted to say that the black dog brought more than this luck. A customer won a Big Lotto’s Lunar New Year special NT$1 million prize later that night, according to the CNA report.
The “20 Million Super Red Envelope” scratch card offers a total of five NT$20 million prizes, nine NT$2 million prizes with BMWs, and 650 NT$1 million prizes. As of Saturday (Feb. 5), two NT$20 million prizes, four NT$2 million prizes with BMWs, and 179 NT$1 million prizes have been awarded, per Taiwan Lottery.
