It's not every day you'll hear a story of a couple winning 4D after dreaming of the number, only to lose the ticket and then have it found and returned.

In a Straits Times article on Dec. 14, storekeeper Neo Hock Wah said that his wife had used S$10 to buy a 4D ticket on Nov. 7.

This was after Neo had a dream containing the numbers 1989.

As luck would have it, Neo's wife would later misplace the ticket, after it dropped out of her wallet while she alighted from a bus.

The worst part? Realising that the ticket would win them S$2,500 -- and the fact that they rarely buy 4D, according to ST.

Good Samitarian finds the ticket

Neo's wife had taken a photo of the ticket before it was lost, but their attempt to redeem the prize money with the photo was unsuccessful.

The couple then took it up to Stomp and Lianhe Wanbao to seek for the lost winning ticket.

They would get lucky once again: Bryan Lee, a Nanyang Polytechnic student, had gotten on the same bus, saw the ticket and picked it up.

The amazing thing was, Lee had thought that the piece of paper was litter and picked it up from the floor  -- something most people would not have done.

ST reports that the student nearly discarded the slip of paper as he alighted, but the bus bin was full, prompting a second glance from him.

Seeing that the ticket was in good condition, Lee realised that someone might have dropped it by accident.

After coming across the article regarding the lost ticket, Lee contacted the anxious couple via Wanbao.

Giving back to charity

The Neos, who had lost sleep over the matter, met up with Lee on Nov. 19, ST found out.

The couple gave Lee a S$200 red packet out of goodwill and gratitude, which the latter initially declined.

However, he eventually accepted it with reluctance, but will be giving the sum to an organisation of his choice.

The student told ST:

"My priority was to find the owner. Just because I can collect the lottery money does not mean that was the right thing to do."

Top image adapted via Joshua Lee and Singapore Pools