他習慣以擲硬幣的方式去做決定，尤其是每期六合彩，他都堅持用這方法選出六個號碼。第一步，將四十九個號碼分為兩組，擲到「公」便選一至二十四，擲到「字」便選二十五至四十九；然後再將該組數字平分，再次擲幣，如此反覆，直至選出一個號碼。過程冗長，他卻從不嫌煩。

擲硬幣這方法，是父親小時候教他的，例如，午餐吃飯或是意粉、買玩具車或是飛機。此外，父親有一句話常掛在嘴邊：「運氣，是獎賞給有耐性的人。」父親本身就是一個極有耐性的人，喜歡玩一種稱為「純白地獄」的砌圖。這種拼圖沒有任何圖案，每一塊都是純白色，只能靠線條的細微變化去辨認位置，極度考驗耐性，但父親認為，當展現耐性，就能提高運氣，更快速找出對的一塊。

他和父親曾合力完成一幅二千片純白拼圖。最後一塊嵌進去時，兩人擊掌歡呼，那份興奮至今記憶猶新。那時他深信，有些事情，需要耐性與運氣相輔相成，才做得成。

後來，他不再拼圖了，但父親那番關於耐性與運氣的信念，他一直記在心裡，並漸漸轉移到賭博上。因為賭博贏了，有實實在在的金錢回報。

每期六合彩，他都重複那套冗長的擲幣篩選程序，從中找回一種熟悉的感覺，像從前試了多次後才成功嵌合兩塊相鄰的拼片。他相信，只要有耐性，堅持，總有一天，會中頭獎。

今夜，他選了三個號碼後，再次擲出硬幣。銀幣在半空翻轉，叮的一聲落在桌面，就在此刻，面前憑空出現一個女士。她臉龐圓潤，體態略豐，手中托著一枚小圓球，色澤不斷流轉——紅、橙、黃、綠、藍、靛、紫，像一道被壓縮成拳頭大小的彩虹，在圓球表面緩緩變化，從不停歇。

那女士開口，聲音柔和，像在他耳邊低語：「先生，我是幸運女神霍陶娜的後代。恭喜，你中獎了！因為每當硬幣被擲第一億次時，我就會現身，贈予幸運的擲幣者神秘力量。然後，次數歸零，計數重新開始。」

他心想，父親說得對，耐性真的換來了回報。此外，他想起以前聽過類似中獎者獲得超能力的都巿傳說，加上她憑空出現，絕非戲法所能解釋，便毫無保留地相信了她。

她續道：「接下來的十二小時，你將擁有『運氣之眼』，可以看出每一個人的幸運程度。在每個人頭頂約一公分處，你會見到一顆小圓球，就像我手上這顆。球的顏色代表運氣的好壞，由紅至紫，共七種彩虹色。紅色代表極度好運，紫色則相反。」

他抬高頭，卻看不見自己頭頂有球，也看不見她頭上有任何東西。

她看穿他的疑惑，道：「你無法看見自己的球，鏡子也照不出來。而且，運氣之眼只能看見人類的球，看不見神族的。」

他問：「這力量，究竟有何用處？」

她微微一笑：「我只負責送獎品。如何使用，你自己決定吧。順帶一提，還有兩種極罕見的顏色。金色，代表好運到達巔峰；黑色，則代表厄運纏身。」

說罷，她的身軀忽然縮小，像一縷煙鑽進手中那顆變色彩虹球裡。颼的一聲，球飛出窗外，融入夜色中。屋裡只剩他一人，和桌上那枚靜靜躺著的硬幣。

他決定去找有好運的人，便趕到投注站。當時距離截止投注只剩約十五分鐘，站內人頭湧湧，每個人頭頂都浮著一顆小圓球，大多為綠、藍、靛色，紅色和橙色一個也沒有。但在最前面排隊的那人，頭上的球竟是金色的，璀璨輝煌。排在第二的，竟是他同事阿達，頭頂卻懸著一顆黑得發亮的球，像黑洞般陰森恐怖。

時間有限，他只能選一個人去問該買什麼號碼。他該選誰？

如果你是他，你會選擇：

 -（A）問金球陌生人

 -（B）問黑球阿達

 -（C）繼續用擲硬幣選出餘下三個號碼

He always made decisions by flipping a coin. Especially for the Mark Six lottery — he insisted on using this method to pick his six numbers. First, he'd split the 49 numbers into two groups. Heads meant choosing 1 to 24; tails meant 25 to 49. Then he'd split that group in half again, flip again, and repeat until he had one number. It was a long, tedious process, but he never minded.

His father had taught him this method when he was young — for deciding between rice or pasta for lunch, or a toy car versus a toy plane. His father also had a favourite saying: "Luck rewards the patient." His father was an incredibly patient man who loved a jigsaw puzzle called "Pure White Hell." It had no picture — every piece was pure white. You could only tell them apart by the tiniest variations in their edges. It was a true test of patience. But his father believed that showing patience would boost your luck, helping you find the right piece faster.

He and his father once completed a 2,000‑piece Pure White Hell puzzle together. When they slotted in the last piece, they high‑fived and cheered. The excitement was still fresh in his memory. Back then, he believed that some things required both patience and luck to succeed.

Later, he stopped doing puzzles. But his father's belief about patience and luck stayed with him — and gradually shifted to gambling, because gambling offered real money returns.

Every lottery draw, he repeated that long coin‑flipping process. It gave him a familiar comfort, like when he'd finally fit two neighbouring pieces together after many attempts. He believed that with patience and persistence, one day he'd hit the jackpot.

Tonight, after picking three numbers, he flipped the coin again. The silver coin spun in the air and landed on the table with a ding. At that very moment, a woman appeared out of thin air. She had a round face and a slightly plump figure, holding a small ball in her hand. Its colours shifted continuously — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet — like a rainbow compressed into a fist‑sized ball, flowing across its surface without pause.

The woman spoke, her voice soft, as if whispering in his ear: "Sir, I am a descendant of Fortuna, the Goddess of Luck. Congratulations, you've won! Because every time a coin in the human world is flipped for the ten-millionth time, I appear and grant the lucky flipper a mysterious power. Then the count resets to zero."

He thought to himself, Father was right — patience does pay off. Besides, he had heard urban legends about lucky winners receiving supernatural abilities, and her sudden appearance was clearly no magic trick. He believed her without reservation.

She continued: "For the next twelve hours, you will possess the 'Eye of Luck.' You'll be able to see how lucky every person is. About a centimetre above everyone's head, you'll see a small ball, just like this one. The colour indicates the quality of their luck — from red to violet, the seven rainbow colours. Red means extremely good luck, while violet is the opposite."

He looked up — but couldn't see an ball above his own head, nor above hers.

She read his confusion: "You can't see your own ball — not even in a mirror. And the Eye of Luck only works on humans, not on deities."

"What exactly is this power for?" he asked.

She smiled faintly. "I just deliver the prize. How you use it is up to you. By the way, there are two rare colours: gold — luck at its peak — and black — the ultimate bad luck."

With that, her body shrank like smoke, vanishing into the rainbow ball she held. With a whoosh, the ball flew out the window and disappeared into the night. He was left alone in the room, with only the coin lying still on the table.

He decided to find someone with good luck. He rushed to the betting station — there were only fifteen minutes left before the cutoff. The place was packed. Above every head floated a small ball — mostly green, blue, or indigo. Not a single red or orange. But the person at the very front of the queue had a golden ball, brilliant and radiant. Right behind him stood his colleague, Ah Tat — with a jet‑black ball hovering like a gloomy black hole.

Time was limited. He could only ask one person which numbers to buy. Who should he choose?

If you were him, what would you choose?

 - Choice (A): Ask the golden‑ball stranger

 - Choice (B): Ask black‑ball Ah Tat

 - Choice (C): Continue flipping the coin for the remaining numbers

選擇（A）：問金球陌生人

陌生人走出投注站，他連忙追上前，客氣地問：「先生，我在做一個統計，想了解最多人買什麼號碼，請問你剛剛買了那幾個？」

陌生人頭也不回，粗聲粗氣地丟下一句：「不要煩我！」腳步沒有停下，轉入一條小巷。

他不甘心，快步跟上去，掏出鈔票：「我給你一百元，告訴我你買了什麼號碼，好嗎？」

陌生人回頭，像看瘋子一樣瞪了他一眼：「神經病！」繼續前行，愈走愈快。

那一瞬間，他的耐性像繃緊的弦，啪一聲斷了。他瞥見路旁擺放著幾支長木條，隨手拿起一支，舉高木條，想打暈那人，再看他的獎券。但就在此刻，一個啤酒瓶從高處墜下，擊中他的頭顱。

他慘叫一聲，跌倒在地，手中的木條滾落一旁。

他緩緩站起身，看見自己居然仍俯伏在地，頭頂有一顆紅色小圓球，顏色漸漸變淡，然後啪的一聲，在他眼前輕輕爆破。

那一刻，他除了知道自己已死去，靈魂離體，亦明白：他雖然擁有紅色球的幸運，但失去耐性，運氣亦隨之而去。

[完]

Choice (A): Ask the golden‑ball stranger

The stranger stepped out of the betting station. He hurried after him and asked politely, "Excuse me, I'm doing a survey — what numbers did most people buy? Could you tell me yours?"

The stranger didn't even turn around. He grunted, "Leave me alone!" and kept walking, disappearing into a narrow alley.

He wasn't about to give up. He quickened his pace, pulled out some cash, and said, "I'll give you a hundred dollars — just tell me your numbers, okay?"

The stranger looked back at him like he was crazy. "You're nuts!" He walked faster.

In that moment, his patience snapped like a taut string. He spotted a few long wooden planks by the roadside, grabbed one, and raised it — intending to knock the man out and check his lottery ticket. But just then, a beer bottle fell from above and smashed into his head.

He screamed and collapsed, the plank rolling away.

Slowly, he got to his feet — and saw himself still lying on the ground. Above his own head floated a small red ball, its colour fading, until with a soft pop, it burst before his eyes.

In that instant, he knew he was dead — his soul had left his body. He also understood: though he had a red ball, his loss of patience had cost him his luck.

[End]

選擇（B）：問黑球阿達

他走上前，擠出一個若無其事的笑容：「阿達，真巧，你也來買六合彩？買了什麼號碼？」

阿達很爽快，把剛印好的獎券遞給他看，一共買了七個號碼。

他掃了一眼，心跳驟然加速。那七個數字，其中三個，竟和他用擲幣選中的號碼，每個都只差一個數。一個念頭像閃電般掠過腦海：阿達頭頂是黑球，運氣差到極點，說不定他買的，全是中獎號碼的隔鄰。若把這七個數都買下前後兩個號碼，共十四個……共三萬零三十元，差不多是他兩個月的薪金。

他猶豫了。若只買自己擲出的那三個，再補上其中四個的隔鄰，共十一個號碼，只需四千六百二十元。

萬一「差一個數」只是巧合呢？如果根本不是隔鄰，只是隨機的偏離呢？

他站在投注站前，心裡像有兩把聲音在游說他。一邊是父親的話：「運氣，是獎賞給有耐性的人」，他應該在誘惑面前，堅持自己的習慣；另一邊是靈機一觸，可能是運氣回應了他的耐性，向他招手，他應該懂得變通。

他望望手錶，餘下的時間，只夠他用擲硬幣來選出餘下兩個號碼，或跑到附近的提款機，取數萬元來買阿達的鄰近號碼。

如果你是他，你會選擇：

 -（B1）買阿達的鄰近號碼

 -（B2）既買阿達的鄰近號碼，也用擲硬幣選號碼

 -（C）繼續用擲硬幣選出餘下兩個號碼

Choice (B): Ask black‑ball Ah Tat

He walked up, forcing a casual smile: "Ah Tat, what a coincidence! Buying lottery too? What numbers did you get?"

Ah Tat was happy to show him his freshly printed ticket — seven numbers in total.

He scanned them and his heart raced. Three of those numbers were just one digit off from the numbers he'd already picked by flipping. A thought struck him like lightning: Ah Tat has a black ball — his luck is rock bottom. Maybe all his numbers are adjacent to the winning ones. If he bought both the previous and next numbers for all seven, that would be fourteen numbers — costing him over $30,000, nearly two months' salary.

He hesitated. What if he only bought his own three plus the adjacent numbers for four of Ah Tat's numbers — eleven numbers in total, costing just $4,620?

What if "off by one" was just a coincidence? What if the deviation was random?

He stood at the betting station, torn between two voices. On one side, his father's words: "Luck rewards the patient." He should stick to his habits despite temptation. On the other side, a flash of inspiration — perhaps luck was responding to his patience and beckoning him to adapt.

He glanced at his watch. The remaining time was only enough to flip for the last three numbers, or to dash to a nearby ATM and withdraw thousands for Ah Tat's adjacent numbers.

If you were him, what would you choose?

 - Choice (B1): Buy Ah Tat's adjacent numbers

 - Choice (B2): Buy Ah Tat's adjacent numbers AND flip for his own numbers

 - Choice (C): Continue flipping the coin for the remaining numbers

選擇（B1）：買阿達的鄰近號碼

他趕在最後一分鐘，花費數萬元，買下十四個號碼。

結果，他只中了三個號碼。

而那三個，恰恰是他原先用擲硬幣選出來的。

他呆坐著，盯著那張中獎票。阿達的黑球，並沒有指引他走向捷徑，反而像一面鏡子，照出他自己的動搖。他本來已經有三個號碼，那是耐性與習慣交給他的答案，他卻因為看見別人的不幸，輕易放棄，沒有用同一方法選擇餘下號碼。 翌日，他得知阿達頭上的黑球，並非預示號碼的偏移，而是預示一樁真正的災禍。當晚阿達離開投注站，行經一條小巷時，被一個從高處擲下的啤酒樽擊中頭部，重傷不治。

如果當初他關心阿達頭上的黑球，提醒他多加小心，能否改變他的命運？他不知道。但他終於明白一件事：運氣之眼給他的，不是一條通往財富的捷徑，而是關於耐性的考驗。

[完]

Choice (B1): Buy Ah Tat's adjacent numbers

He rushed to buy those fourteen numbers in the final minute.

In the end, he matched only three numbers.

And those three were exactly the ones he'd originally picked by flipping.

He sat there, staring at the ticket in a daze. Ah Tat's black ball hadn't shown him a shortcut — it had only reflected his own wavering. He already had three numbers, the answer his patience and habit had given him. But because he saw someone else's misfortune, he gave up easily and didn't use the same method to choose the rest. The next day, he learned that Ah Tat's black ball hadn't predicted a number shift — it had predicted real disaster. That night, as Ah Tat left the betting station and walked through a narrow alley, a beer bottle thrown from above struck his head. He died from his injuries.

If he had cared enough to warn Ah Tat about the black ball, could he have changed his fate? He didn't know. But he finally understood: the Eye of Luck hadn't handed him a shortcut to wealth — it had handed him a test of patience.

[End]

選擇（B2）：既買阿達的鄰近號碼，也用擲硬幣選號碼

他決定兩邊都不放手，一邊快步跑向提款機，一邊從口袋掏出硬幣，邊跑邊擲，要在途中選出餘下的號碼。

就在穿過一條沒有紅綠燈的馬路時，他將硬幣拋向半空，伸手去接，卻接了個空。硬幣叮的一聲滾落地面，他本能地彎腰低頭，急急去望是公或是字。就在這一刻，一輛車貼著他的衣角掠過，幾乎把他撞倒。

他嚇得臉色發白，呆了幾秒，才繼續前行。但那一下驚嚇，令他的動作慢了下來。他到提款機提了錢，再回投注站時，門前已排了長長的隊。眼睜睜看著截止時間過去，他終究沒能下注。

結果，若他堅持只用擲硬幣的方法，本可中二獎，贏數十萬元。

他苦笑著，自己的運氣真差勁。

他卻沒想到，是因為自己的性急，將原先的好運花光了，用了來保住性命。

[完]

Choice (B2): Buy Ah Tat's adjacent numbers AND flip for his own numbers

He decided to do both — rushing toward the ATM while pulling a coin from his pocket, flipping it as he ran to pick the remaining numbers.

As he crossed a road without traffic lights, he tossed the coin up. But he fumbled the catch — ding — it rolled onto the ground. He instinctively bent down to see if it was heads or tails. At that moment, a car whizzed past, brushing against his clothes — almost knocking him over.

His face went pale. He froze for a few seconds before moving on. But the scare had slowed him down. By the time he'd withdrawn the money and returned to the betting station, a long queue had formed. He watched the cutoff time pass — he never placed his bet.

In the end, if he had stuck to his coin‑flipping method, he would have won second prize — hundreds of thousands of dollars.

He smiled bitterly: My luck is terrible.

But he never realised — his impatience had burned through his good luck, and it had been used to save his life.

[End]

選擇（C）：繼續用擲硬幣選出餘下三個號碼

他站在投注站前，手裡握著硬幣，目光在阿達的鄰近號碼與自己未完的選號之間來回游移。阿達頭頂的黑球像一個無聲的誘惑，告訴他捷徑就在眼前，只要花錢買下那十四個號碼，就能繞過所有漫長的擲幣。

但他想起父親說的話：「運氣，是獎賞給有耐性的人。」

他將硬幣拋向半空，接住，掀開。然後再一次，再一次，直至選出餘下的三個數字。他沒有動搖，沒有猶豫，只花了十元，買下六個用硬幣選出來的號碼。

結果，他中了二獎，贏數十萬元獎金。

兜兜轉轉，始終是父親的方法最可靠。

他內心充滿喜悅，因為他明白到：耐性的重要，是面對誘惑，依然堅守自己的習慣。

[完]

Choice (C): Continue flipping for the remaining numbers

He stood at the betting station, coin in hand, his gaze shifting between Ah Tat's adjacent numbers and his own unfinished selection.Ah Tat's black ball whispered temptation — a shortcut, if only he spent the money on those fourteen numbers, bypassing all the tedious flipping.

But he remembered his father's words: "Luck rewards the patient."

He tossed the coin, caught it, and revealed it. Again. And again — until he had chosen the last two numbers. He didn't waver, didn't hesitate. He spent just ten dollars on six numbers, all chosen by the coin.

He won second prize — hundreds of thousands in cash.

In the end, his father's method was the most reliable.

His heart swelled with joy — because he now understood the true meaning of patience: holding steady to your own habits, even when temptation beckons.

[End]