One day in the summer vacation, I went to a store in the neighbourhood for an ice cream. After paying for the treat, I got a coupon together with it. The slip of paper indicated that I could use it to get some jewellery at a discount at the store. The coupon itself could help me save 2,000 yuan.

Was it my lucky day? I could not contain excitement within. I went to the jewellery counter, where an old woman took my coupon and glanced at it. With a smile she let me choose what I wanted. All the fancy items on display there were worth more than 2,000 yuan each. The woman said that I could use the coupon for 2,000 yuan and just pay the difference for an item. At the time I had only a 100-yuan banknote in my wallet. So I chose the cheapest item, a bracelet, labelled 2,100 yuan. Handing over the cash to the woman, I got the jewellery from her. She said I was so lucky.

With the bracelet I rushed home to share the good luck with Mother. Mother was watching TV then. When I told her about it all, she lost her temper and shouted, “What a fool! You are conned. Look what you’ve got. It is pinchbeck.” Then she took me downstairs to the store.

Back in the store, Mother, putting the bracelet down on the counter, said to the woman seriously, “You should have targeted kids. The money back!”

The old woman lowered her head. What she was murmuring I failed to make out. Reluctantly she refunded the 100-yuan banknote and took the bracelet back.

There’s no pie falling from the sky, guys.