Chi "Jimmy" Liu is quite possibly having the best week of his life.
It all started about two months ago. The 76-year-old retiree had purchased lotto tickets a few times before, but he accidently misplaced one back in late April by shoving it deep inside his wallet, behind a few credit cards.
Since that fateful day, Liu had been unknowingly carrying a ticket worth $1,273,656. It was only when he pulled out a credit card and oncovered the crumpled ticket that he realized he forgot to check his numbers.
Casually, he checked them later that night.
"My reaction? I didn’t think I won (at first) because the order of the numbers was different,” Liu told the California Lottery.
Last Saturday, he dropped into the lottery's office in Hayward and claimed his 7-figure winnings. The store he purchased the ticket from, a Valero convenience station on Saratoga Avenue, will also be winning $6,368.
Liu, who says he's more "excited" than "shocked" about his fortune, says he plans to start an education fund for his grandchildren with some of the money, and will be letting his wife handle the finances from now on, and try to keep his wallet free of million-dollar debris.
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“Next time I’m going to give it to my wife!” he promised Lotto officials.
