dkrc Chapter 92: Guessing the Gold Medal, Asking for a Lucky Draw
Chapter 92: Guessing the Gold Medal, Asking for a Lucky Draw
After five courses of cooking, the red oil broth in the copper pot was still bubbling away, and the table was piled high with empty plates and bamboo skewers.
Song Qingning leaned back in her chair, rubbing her bloated stomach: "I can't take it anymore, if I eat any more my pants are going to burst at the waist."
Old Gao used his chopsticks to pick up the last piece of tripe from the pot, swishing it repeatedly in the spicy oil, and said, "You girls just have small appetites. This is nothing!"
"I've only eaten about 80% of what I need."
After Lin Bei finished paying the bill and returned, he stuffed the few bills he received into his pocket, stood by the table watching them, and suddenly said, "Anyway, we have nothing to do when we get back. There's a lottery shop nearby, let's go play some lottery."
"Lottery?" Old Gao mumbled, stuffing tripe into his mouth. "Double-color ball or scratch-off?"
"I'm good at scratch-off lottery tickets. Last time I scratched ten dollars and won ten dollars, so I broke even."
"It's not the Double Color Ball lottery." Lin Bei took out his phone from his pocket and opened the Olympic schedule page he had saved earlier.
"During the Olympics, the Sports Lottery Center launched a game called 'Medal Match Guessing Game'."
"Guess which event the Chinese team will win the gold medal in, and you'll get a prize if you guess correctly."
"Unlike betting on sports, this is a legitimate and legal sports lottery."
"A medal guessing game?" Song Qingning sat up straight in her chair. "It sounds like an exam prediction game."
"Which subject should we bet on to get a high score? There's a prize if we guess correctly!"
"That's roughly the idea." Lin Bei put his phone on the table and said, "During the Olympics, the sports lottery launched several games, including one related to the Olympics: the medal matching game."
"The rules are simple: select a number of events from all the Olympic events that you think the Chinese team can win gold medals in. After the competition, the prize will be drawn, and the more you guess correctly, the higher the prize."
"Just like buying lottery tickets, it costs two yuan per bet, and you can buy them at any legitimate sports lottery store."
Old Gao put down his chopsticks, picked up his beer glass, took a sip, and thought seriously for two seconds: "So... we guess the men's singles table tennis player will win the gold medal."
"Then, if Ma Lin or Wang Hao actually wins the gold medal, we can make money?"
"Yes." Lin Bei nodded.
"What about the women's singles badminton?" Su Qianqian asked. "Wasn't Zhang Ning the defending champion?"
"I can guess, I can guess all the projects." Lin Bei picked up the teapot on the table and poured himself a cup of tea.
"Since we just finished eating and had nothing to do, let's go to the lottery shop, buy a few tickets each and have some fun, just to add some luck to the Olympics."
"Whether it's auspicious or not doesn't matter, it's just for good luck."
"Sure," Song Qingning was the first to respond.
She rummaged through her bag and pulled out her wallet, counting the change inside. "Anyway, I still have a few dozen yuan in my wallet. It's just sitting there anyway, so I might as well buy a few tickets and try my luck."
"Just consider it cheering for the Chinese team... If we win, I can treat Qianqian to a nice meal."
"I'll go too." Su Qianqian put down her teacup, her tone as calm as ever: "I'll buy a few tickets as a lucky draw."
"Let's go." Old Gao finished the last sip of beer and put the glass on the table. "Two yuan won't hurt you, and you won't be cheated either."
"But what you buy for two dollars is the Olympic spirit."
Wu Xiaoxun took out a few crumpled banknotes from her wallet and counted them; her total net worth was 120 yuan.
She hesitated for a moment, then took out a twenty-yuan note and put the rest back in her wallet.
"Then I'll buy ten tickets, and save the rest to buy QQ coins and in-game skins."
Q coins?
skin?
Upon hearing these two names, Su Qianqian looked at Wu Xiaoxun, her eyebrows twitching slightly as if she had thought of something.
But she didn't say anything, picked up her teacup and continued drinking tea.
Lin Bei was the first to push back his chair and stand up. The five of them walked out of the hot pot restaurant and along the main street of the night market toward the lottery shop on the corner.
The August night breeze carried the aroma of cumin from the barbecue stalls and the cheers of the Olympic live broadcast from the distant square.
On the lampposts along the street, there are still small national flags that were hung up on the opening day of the Olympics.
The corner of the flag was gently lifted by the wind, and then gently fell back down.
Lin Bei walked at the front and looked at the schedule on his phone again.
He had already made a short list in his mind of the few events in his past life that the Chinese team won gold medals, which he remembered most clearly.
Lin Bei knows which events he can confidently win gold medals in, and which events might result in upsets.
But he only planned to wait and then buy one ticket for everyone.
After all, Lin Bei wasn't there to gamble; he was just using the guise of "getting a lucky draw" to give those around him a small surprise when the Olympics ended.
All he needed was a plausible reason to turn those established facts from his past life into real numbers in his bank account.
……
The lottery shop is small, with a storefront only three or four meters wide.
A faded red sign hangs at the entrance, with the words "China Sports Lottery" printed on it.
Lin Bei pushed open the glass door and went in. On the left was a whole wall of lottery number trend charts, and behind the glass counter on the right was a boss in his fifties, wearing reading glasses and reading a newspaper.
A small television hung on the wall, replaying yesterday's Olympic highlights, with the commentator's passionate voice coming from a dusty speaker on the ceiling.
Lin Bei walked to the counter, picked up the blank betting slip and a ballpoint pen tied with a string, and checked a few options in the "Medal Guessing" section.
While Lin Bei was writing with his head down, everyone else crowded around him, craning their necks to watch.
Lao Gao tried to peek at what he was writing, but Song Qingning grabbed him by the back of the collar and pulled him back.
After Lin Bei finished writing, he handed the form to the boss.
The boss pushed up his reading glasses, looked at the options on the list, and then looked up at the group of teenagers in front of him.
"Young man, buying so many bets?"
"Don't end up crying after losing everything," the shopkeeper joked, as he deftly printed out the lottery ticket and handed it over.
"Don't worry." Lin Bei took the lottery ticket, folded it, and put it in his pocket. "I wouldn't come here to cry even if I wanted to."
"It's your turn." Lin Bei stepped aside to move aside from the counter.
Song Qingning, Lao Gao, Su Qianqian, and Wu Xiaoxun stepped forward one by one and each bought a few bets according to Lin Bei's list.
Su Qianqian bought the fewest tickets, only two, saying she came for the "good luck" rather than to make money.
Old Gao bought ten tickets, and when he paid, he almost dropped his toothpick on the counter.
"This is all the possessions he accumulated while volunteering."
"I don't expect to win much, just double my money would be great."
Wu Xiaoxun bought ten tickets for twenty yuan, carefully tucked the lottery tickets into the innermost layer of her wallet, and patted them repeatedly to make sure they wouldn't fall out.
Lin Bei and his group pushed open the door of the lottery shop and came out.
The hot wind of the August night began to blow in.
As Lin Bei stepped down the stairs, he bumped into an acquaintance.
Wang Yu and four or five other young people were standing on the steps outside the lottery shop, each holding a freshly filled-out betting slip.
He wasn't wearing a baseball cap today, but a dark gray polo shirt. When he saw Lin Bei and Lao Gao come out of the store, he was stunned for a moment, then smiled and came to greet them.
"Linbei? Gaoda?"
Wang Yu folded the betting slip in half, stuffed it into his pocket, and laughed, "What a coincidence, you guys are here to buy lottery tickets too?"