A Chinese woman who won a bid for 26,145,892 yuan (about 4.81 billion won) for the phone number ‘999999’ was fined after refusing to pay the balance, saying, “It was a mistake.”
On the 7th, Chinese local media, including the Geukmok Newspaper, reported that the People’s Court of the Economic Development Zone of Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province, China, awarded 80,000 yuan (approximately 1,500 won) to Mr. It was reported that a fine of 10,000 won was imposed.
Zhenjiang City People’s Court announced, “Considering that Ms. Xiao was pregnant, no detention measures were taken.”
The reason that Mr. Xiao raised his hand to pay a large sum of 4.8 billion won is related to the Chinese people’s particular fondness for the numbers 6 (six), 8 (八), and 9 (九).
The number 6 has a similar pronunciation to ‘Ryu’ (流), which means that everything goes smoothly like water, so it is considered a number symbolizing good fortune. In particular, ’66’ has the meaning of everything going smoothly, so it is very popular as a car and cell phone number.
9 is often preferred because it has the same pronunciation as ‘久’ (久), which means ‘eternal, long life’.
The number 8 is pronounced the same as ‘發’ (pa), meaning ‘發財’ (pa zhai), meaning making money, so it is the Chinese people’s favorite number.
As a result, on the 24th of last month, an uproar arose when the phone number ‘999999’ (186-119-99999), which has six 9th digits, appeared in an auction on Taobao, China’s largest e-commerce platform.
About 720 people participated in the auction, which was held with a deposit of 20 yuan (about 3,700 won) and a starting price of 100 yuan (about 18,400 won), and after fierce competition, the bid was won by Mr. Xiao, who offered 26,145,892 yuan.
Afterwards, Mr. Xiao did not pay the auction balance by the due date (December 3), saying, “I made a mistake.”
The People’s Court warned, “We will conduct a re-auction for mobile phone numbers,” and added, “If you disrupt the auction order by maliciously raising the bidding price, you may be fined, detained, and held responsible for the event.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.