A Chinese man has kept his eye watering 219 million yuan (AUD$47,068,869) lottery win a secret from his wife and child so they don’t become lazy.
Known only as Mr Li to conceal his identity, the man dressed up in a yellow cartoon costume when he accepted the huge win on October 24 at the lottery office in Nanning, in the southern region of Guangxi.
“I did not tell my wife and child for fear that they would be too complacent and would not work or work hard in the future,” he told Nanning Evening News.
Mr Li confessed that he bought 40 lottery tickets all of which had the same seven numbers, with the lottery company paying out 5.48 million yuan (AUD$1,177,811) for each ticket.
Eventually he found out that he had the winning lottery numbers of 2, 15, 19, 26, 27, 29, and 2 and went to claim his prize.
After receiving the hefty sum, Mr Li donated 5 million yuan (AUD$1,074,597) to charity and is still unsure of what to do with his fortune.
Mr Li has been playing the lottery for a decade and only won minor prizes until this time round.
“I regard buying the lottery as a hobby, and my family does not care. Plus, I do not spend much money on it, and the lottery provides a ray of hope for me,” he told the South China Morning Post.
Image: Guangxi Welfare Lottery Centre
This article first appeared on OverSixty.