Forced Me to Regress, Huh? - Chapter 11: The Second Pot of Gold

All of a sudden, all eyes in the bar turned to Cheng Zhu.

After all, the patrons still present were undoubtedly soccer fans, and a high proportion of them were gamblers.

People began to talk among themselves.

“He looks really young, probably still a student.”

“Fuck, he dared to bet twelve thousand on 0-0. Young people nowadays are impressive!”

“What a ruthless guy. I wouldn’t even dare to bet twelve thousand on a win. He actually bet twelve thousand on a score!”

“I remember the odds were around 7.5. He made a killing!”

“Is his luck really that good?!”

Those who won money were still feeling fine, but those who lost tonight were crazy envious after hearing what Shen Minglang said.

The patron who had asked Shen Minglang to give everyone a discount couldn’t resist asking, “How many scores did your cousin bet on? I want to learn from him and analyze his strategy.”

Shen Minglang replied proudly, “Of course, he just bet on 0-0! He only picked one score and won. Amazing, right?”

This revelation shocked the surrounding patrons even more.

For a moment, they couldn’t tell if this student was too naive to be afraid or just too damn lucky.

How could he not spread his risk by betting on multiple scorelines? Instead, he bet on a draw in regulation time, with a score of 0-0, but he won anyway!

There was no denying it. His win was awesome!

Moreover, even though Shen Minglang had also won with a hefty wager of 50,000, he didn’t make as much money as Cheng Zhu did today!

In the entire bar, many people weren’t just betting on winning or losing. They also bet on things like handicaps, corner kicks, over/under, the number of penalty cards, and so on.

Some of these odds were higher than betting on wins, while others were lower than simply betting on which team would win.

From a profit standpoint, it was clear that Cheng Zhu had won the most among all the customers today.

Shen Minglang said, “If I had known earlier, I would have bet 0-0 too.”

Then he looked at Jiang Wanzhou and added, “You’re lucky. You bet two thousand with Cousin.”

However, just as Shen Minglang finished speaking, he found that Jiang Wanzhou’s expression was somewhat complicated.

“What’s wrong with you? Aren’t you happy winning?” He couldn’t be bothered with his cousin’s mood. When someone approached to toast, he happily clinked glasses.

Once Shen Minglang left, Jiang Wanzhou stared intently at Cheng Zhu.

Cheng Zhu said directly, “I know what you want to ask. I didn’t bet the twelve thousand alone. Several people asked me to bet with them. I only put in eight hundred.”

He spouted nonsense in all seriousness. Towards the end, he didn’t forget to extort, “I barely won much with my eight hundred capital, while you, the big spender, bet two thousand. CEO Jiang, all expenses are on you tonight!”

To be fair, Cheng Zhu wasn’t being stingy or trying to take advantage of Jiang Wanzhou. He was purely trying to deepen his credibility.

Although Jiang Wanzhou was easy to deceive, he was still a good brother after all. He felt he had to be sincere in his deception and not half-hearted, as that would show a lack of respect for him.

Otherwise, it would seem like he was looking down on him.

After receiving this wave of ‘respect’ from Cheng Zhu, Jiang Wanzhou’s expression indeed became better, and he even said generously, “I’ll give you half of my winnings!”

“Tsk, so the domineering CEO wants to throw money at me, huh?” Cheng Zhu scoffed and added, “You haven’t finished your damn drink yet. Hurry up! We’re leaving soon! Are you raising fish in your glass or something?”

While they were having a good time, Li Rui was experiencing a minor teenage meltdown.

Cheng Zhu winning a large amount of money made him feel worse than dying!

It was fine if he lost twelve thousand. He could force a smile and pretend he didn’t care about such a trivial amount to show off a bit of his wealth in front of Li Xinyue.

In front of the girl he liked, he could act cool. Roughly speaking, it wasn’t a total loss.

But then her ex-boyfriend won seventy-eight thousand after deducting the principal in one night!

But what about me? What about me?

While with me, she ended up losing five hundred yuan…

Although I’d warm-heartedly cover this five hundred yuan for her, the psychological gap couldn’t be made up for.

Moreover, Cheng Zhu is now richer than me. His wallet is fatter than mine.

Li Rui found himself lacking even in the area where he was the most confident.

If Cheng Zhu knew about his little inner drama, he would probably be speechless. “What level are you? You treat me as an imaginary enemy all day long.”

He never intended to show off in front of Li Xinyue.

To be precise, he felt a headache whenever he saw her now.

I just noticed she’s wearing those couple shoes I bought.

My capital was reduced because of her! The odds were 7.5!

Is she fucking wearing shoes that cost over a thousand? No, she’s walking around in ten thousand!

At this moment, a group of people left the bar, but another group was still chatting about the game.

Some people were lamenting about their lost money, while others mourned for Messi, who had just missed out on the championship.

But Cheng Zhu knew very well that Messi would lift the trophy he had always dreamed of in the 2022 World Cup.

He downed his cocktail in one go and looked at the empty glass. I now have ninety thousand yuan. What should I do next?

The next moment, a preliminary plan formed in his mind.

He decided to utilize one of his old skills to earn his second pot of gold in this life.

There’s a sector in e-commerce that has a promising future and growing better with each year.

Not to mention that it’s just 2014, even in 2023, selling that stuff is still a great choice.

That’s it then. Cheng Zhu looked at the empty wine glass and made a decision. Ninety thousand is enough.

* * *

In Hidden, Chen Rongrong said sadly, “Ah, Yueyue, we each lost five hundred.”

This simple sentence made Li Rui, who was already in agony and torment, immediately raise his head.

He looked at Li Xinyue and squeezed out a smile. “Xinyue, Chen Rongrong, my brother just sent me a message. He said the bets got stuck when he was placing them, so he didn’t get your two bets in. I’ll transfer you the money later.”

“Ah! Really?” Chen Rongrong instantly brightened up.

But she still picked up her phone and posted on her WeChat Moments. After blocking a specific group, she also blocked Li Xinyue and Li Rui from seeing it. The content was:

“Wuwuwu. I lost five hundred in the World Cup finals. Please comfort me.”

Li Xinyue merely nodded, her eyes still drifting towards Cheng Zhu from time to time.

She didn’t care much about losing 500 yuan. She was still shocked that Cheng Zhu won a lot of money.

Li Rui saw all of this, and his heart ached like it was being cut by a knife.

However, Cheng Zhu never once looked over.

“Yueyue, why don’t we leave?” Chen Rongrong suggested while chatting on her phone.

“I want to stay a little longer,” Li Xinyue replied.

Li Rui had no objections to this. He was happy to be here and accompany her.

But at this moment, Cheng Zhu and Jiang Wanzhou stood up.

The two said goodbye to Shen Minglang and left.

The bartender, Yezi, waved goodbye and took out her phone, wanting to add Cheng Zhu on WeChat.

Considering her ample chest, Cheng Zhu didn’t refuse.

Seeing Cheng Zhu and Jiang Wanzhou walking towards the door, Li Xinyue immediately stood up and said, “Let’s go. We should leave too.”

Chen Rongrong, who was busy chatting on her phone, raised her head in confusion. Li Rui, noticing what was happening, felt as if a knife had been driven into his heart again.

For some reason, Cheng Zhu’s words echoed in his mind. “Warm-hearted guys line up behind dogs.”

The three of them got up, and Li Rui went to pay.

Still determined to act out his initial plan, when the server asked him if he had a membership card, he pretended to be calm and experienced. “Yes, use the card.”

When he turned around after paying, he found that Li Xinyue and Chen Rongrong were nowhere behind him. They had already left the bar.

Despite the scorching summer, they hadn’t stayed inside to enjoy a bit more of the air conditioning.

Li Rui walked out in a daze, only to find Li Xinyue looking around for something.

Chen Rongrong suddenly exclaimed, “Ah, Yueyue, why are you crying?”

* * * 

Meanwhile, in the Mercedes-Benz G-Class.

The bar manager was helping drive, acting as the designated driver on Shen Minglang’s instructions.

Jiang Wanzhou, sitting in the passenger seat, turned his head and said to Cheng Zhu in the back, “Hey, how about we travel somewhere for a few days?”

“Forget about traveling. I’m planning to visit somewhere for market research,” Cheng Zhu said.

“Tsk, market research? Your words are dripping with pretentiousness,” Jiang Wanzhou said.

“Don’t worry. I’m not taking you. It’d be inconvenient,” Cheng Zhu said.

“Why not? What’s so inconvenient? Don’t tell me… do you want to fucking get back together with Li Xinyue?” Jiang Wanzhou glared at him as though he were looking at a loser.

“Alright, don’t bring up roles that have already wrapped up filming,” Cheng Zhu said.

——Life is a big stage. Once a role is played out, don’t revisit it.

“Then why is it inconvenient to take me?” Jiang Wanzhou asked.

“Your yin energy is too heavy. That place isn’t suitable for you,” Cheng Zhu said seriously, raising an eyebrow.

===

The first industry he gets into is pretty interesting. Probably the first time I’ve seen it in one of these types of novels.