The King of Soft Rice in Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 264 Buying Lottery Tickets

Although he found it a bit strange, seeing Yang Mi's nervous yet pitiful appearance, Xu Jiuyang still gave her his phone number, asked for her pager number, and even called her in person.

"Thank you so much!" Yang Mi's eyes crinkled into a smile, and she gave him a hug before asking mysteriously, "Do you watch football?"

"I'm not watching," Xu Jiuyang shook his head.

"So you're saying... you won't watch?!" Yang Mi's eyes widened in disbelief.

“Yeah, not all men like watching football,” Xu Jiuyang said matter-of-factly.

The old man loves football the most, and staying up all night to watch the World Cup is a common occurrence. So, of course, he has to give up football.

Besides, what's so great about the Chinese national football team? Everyone thought qualifying for the World Cup this year was the beginning, but it turned out to be the peak. From then on, they just kept sliding downhill, and by the time they were reborn, they hadn't even hit rock bottom yet.

"Then...then..." Da Mimi stammered for several seconds, "Then do you know that the men's football team has qualified for the World Cup?"

"Of course I know that. I also know they were completely shut out, going home without scoring a single point in the group stage," Xu Jiuyang shrugged.

Da Mimi perked up: "Then you should know that the quarterfinals are coming up soon, right?"

"So what?" Xu Jiuyang's mind stirred slightly, and he vaguely realized something.

"I'll give you money, will you buy me a lottery ticket?" The girl suddenly grabbed his arm.

"You can buy it yourself," Xu Jiuyang said, puzzled.

"I bought it, but where am I going to put the money?" Yang Mi sighed. "My mom will definitely confiscate it."

"So, you want to put it here with me?" Xu Jiuyang's lips twitched.

“Yes, yes,” the girl nodded repeatedly. “In two more months, I will be 16 years old and I can start my own company. You can give it to me then.”

"You trust me that much?" Xu Jiuyang asked with a smile.

“I told you back on the set of The Legend of the Condor Heroes that you are the kind of straightforward person who can be trusted,” Yang Mi said seriously. “Besides, if I can get to know someone for a few dollars, I’m not losing out.”

“But this might not be just a few dollars, but tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands?” Xu Jiuyang teased her.

The girl hesitated for a moment, but quickly regained her composure: "I gambled my money on this, and if it's all gone... then it's gone."

She immediately raised her chin, adopting a proud expression: "Spending hundreds of thousands to get to know you is just as worthwhile!"

Xu Jiuyang laughed and gently tapped the little girl on the head: "Whether you can win the lottery is still uncertain, and you're already fantasizing about what you'll do if you do win?"

"Don't hit me on the head!" Yang Mi shouted in dissatisfaction, then raised her right hand, extending her index finger and thumb. "Let me tell you, I'm at least 80%..."

She paused to think for a moment, probably feeling that the intensity wasn't enough, and then pulled her two fingers back and curled her index finger: "I'm at least 90% sure."

"Is it that tall?" Xu Jiuyang asked, feigning surprise.

"Of course!" Yang Mi puffed out her chest and snorted, then looked around and mysteriously beckoned to him. After he bent down, she stood on tiptoe and whispered in his ear, "My friend told me that the Koreans are the most despicable and shameless. They will definitely use off-field tactics to get themselves into the semi-finals. Then, to save face, FIFA will also let one of the countries that has reached the quarter-finals for the first time into the semi-finals. Senegal is an African country, and Turkey is a European country, so it goes without saying which one they will choose. With these two, plus the established powerhouses Brazil and Germany, the semi-finalists will be decided."

Xu Jiuyang was quite surprised. He naturally knew that the four semi-finalists of the 02 World Cup were Brazil, Germany, South Korea, and Turkey. Initially, this was considered his most important backup plan. If he couldn't make his first fortune in Beijing, betting on the semi-final matches would be the simplest way. However, he knew this was because of foresight, and now someone not only predicted the semi-finalists but also provided a plausible explanation, which was quite impressive.

Although the South Koreans' shameless behavior only caused an uproar during the semi-finals, there were signs of it beforehand, and it's normal for observant people to be able to summarize it.

Then, the fact that the South Koreans bribed the referees must have been known to some people within FIFA, but they all turned a blind eye. Otherwise, even Beckenbauer wouldn't have come to put pressure on them during the match against Germany.

Therefore, while sending the South Koreans into the semifinals, it is perfectly logical to also include a newly qualified quarterfinalist to make the match more interesting.

Furthermore, Türkiye is ultimately a European country, and can be considered a Vaishya, which is a step above Shudras or Dalits like Senegal.

The more Xu Jiuyang thought about it, the more it made sense. Although he wasn't sure if reality was really like that, he could only sigh again that the so-called "lack of logic in reality" was indeed due to insufficient information.

“That’s interesting,” he said. “Alright, how are you planning to buy it?”

“I’ve already checked with the lottery station,” Yang Mi said, increasingly smug. “They say the jackpot is determined by the amount of lottery tickets sold. Given the popularity of this year’s World Cup in China, even if each ticket costs 2 yuan, if just one percent of people buy tickets, the jackpot will still be tens of millions. If I buy 10 tickets, even if thousands of people win, I can still get hundreds of thousands!”

"Sure." Xu Jiuyang suppressed his urge to complain and gave her a thumbs up. Although the process wasn't quite right, the result was still fine.

“Then let’s go,” he said immediately.

"Go? Where to?" The usually shrewd girl asked, now looking confused.

Xu Jiuyang immediately tapped her on the head: "Of course, go buy a lottery ticket, so you don't have to wait and see."

Although she was somewhat dissatisfied, Yang Mi immediately cheered up after hearing this: "Okay, okay, I'll go now."

Since there were no map navigation systems at that time, they eventually went to a lottery shop that the girl had scouted out, and placed a total of 20 bets—Xu Jiuyang also bought 10 bets.

"So, don't say the boss didn't take care of you." Da Mimi was completely unconcerned, even smug. "If you really win, you'll have to treat me to a meal."

“No problem, whatever you want to eat in the capital, I’ll treat you.” Xu Jiuyang readily agreed, but in his heart he was wondering whether he should persuade her to invest the money in Shenlei Technology.

After all, the company is in its early stages, and Xiaoli is basically the one investing the money. Bringing in a shareholder is a good idea, since she won't have much say anyway and can just wait for the dividends.

"Speaking of which, Mimi, if you really win the lottery, how do you plan to spend it?" Xu Jiuyang asked after they got back to the car.

"Of course, I'll wait until September, after my birthday, to open a film and television company!" Yang Mi said confidently.

"Start a film and television company?" Xu Jiuyang asked with a strange expression.

"Yes, I'm an actress now, so it's perfectly normal for me to run a film and television company to manage my own business," the young woman said earnestly.

Xu Jiuyang stopped talking and decided to trick her into coming over. With such a sum of money, why start a film and television company? It's 02 now, there are plenty of high-quality assets to invest in.

Although I didn't have a very good impression of Yang Mi in my past life, I've met her a few times in this life and she's quite an interesting girl. At least she's much better than those women who throw themselves at you all the time.

If she's willing to listen to him, he might as well lend a hand. He figured that if a few words from him could change the lives of Fan Bingbing and Li Yunxin, there was no reason why he couldn't change Da Mimi's life too.

Anything is better than being exhausted and pale, and still having to attend some company's annual meeting, right?

(End of this chapter)