Volume 1: From Poverty to Wealth Chapter 25: Yang Biao's Furious Throw at Barcelona

  The night market was very lively, and even the empty space in front of Dongxing Restaurant had several tables set up, with every seat taken. However, compared to the bustling atmosphere inside Dongxing Restaurant, it was a stark contrast - one foot in prosperity, the other in endless desolation.

  Two waiters were leaning against the wall, listlessly playing with their phones. The bartender at the counter was dozing off to sleep. Li Xiaoteng walked in, took a glance around and didn't see Manager Dong, so he headed straight for the general manager's office.

  Manager Dong sat with his legs crossed behind his desk, holding a goldfish bowl and staring blankly at the fish. The cigarette in his hand was about to burn out, with a long ash that proved how deeply he was absorbed in the world of the book!

  Manager Dong saw the page turner, seemingly forgetting that he still had a cigarette in his hand. As he raised his hand to turn the book, a large amount of ash fell onto his trousers. Manager Dong quickly put down the book, stood up and casually pulled out a tissue to wipe his trousers. Just then, Li Xiaoteng walked in.

  "Hey, Manager Dong, what's wrong?" Li Xiaoteng asked with concern. Manager Dong was a bit embarrassed and casually said: "Nothing, nothing, just ash on my pants! Haha... haha..." He smiled awkwardly.

  To cover up his embarrassment, he casually picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea. Then he said: "Little Teng! Your matter has made progress! Come sit down, let's have a good chat!"

  Li Xiaoteng quickly closed the door and rushed over. He asked, "Has Mrs. Jiang agreed?" Manager Dong shook his head and said casually, "It's not set in stone, you know! Women are always hesitant when doing things, they're not decisive at all!" As he spoke, Manager Dong hurriedly used a pair of chopsticks to pick up a cup from the tea tray and handed it to Li Xiaoteng, filling it with green tea.

  Manager Dong took charge, and everything was naturally settled. Just half an hour ago, Manager Dong reported to the boss's wife on the phone about the recent night market profits. The boss's wife also knew it wasn't good, but she had no choice, and when she heard that Li Xiaoteng was willing to pay 5,000 yuan a month to rent her own stall, she agreed very readily and transferred the stall.

  Renting half of it for a hot pot restaurant would cost only 3,000. The boss's psychological price was actually just above 3,000 yuan, so she was very happy when Manager Dong raised the price of the cold dish section to 5,000. When Manager Dong asked if they could borrow the kitchen for cold dishes if Li Xiaoteng wanted to use it, the boss naturally agreed readily. The previous high price of 10,000 yuan was also just Manager Dong's own opening offer.

  Originally intended to inflate the price, unexpectedly Li Xiaoteng himself actually wanted to put money into his own pocket. And he stuffed a whole 10,000 yuan in one go. Manager Dong was also unintentionally helping him make a profit. It can be seen that Li Xiaoteng is still too inexperienced!

  Li Xiaoteng picked up the tea and took a sip. He said, "Manager Dong, when do you think this matter can be settled?" Manager Dong said in a low voice, "I'll go see Old Jiang tomorrow morning. I'll talk to him about it. This is what I'm thinking: not only will we package the cold dishes for you, but we'll also lend you the cold dish room for use. That way, it's more convenient for you!"

  Li Xiaoteng was even more delighted. He hastily nodded and said, "Then thank you for your trouble!" Manager Dong saw Li Xiaoteng say this and felt a bit unhappy in his heart. His face relaxed slightly, and he coughed: "Of course, you also know that I'm just working for others too. If this matter doesn't succeed, don't blame me, old brother, for not putting in effort for you!"

  Li Xiaoteng saw the situation and naturally knew that they were asking for money. He hurriedly said, "Manager Dong, as long as Old Jiang agrees tomorrow, I'll give you 5,000 yuan first. The rest of the money will be given to you immediately after signing the contract! Is that okay with you?"

  Manager Dong's face immediately changed from cloudy to sunny upon hearing this. He laughed and said: "Haha, we're all friends, mentioning money is so tacky! Haha...haha..." Then he picked up his tea cup and downed the tea in one gulp. Smacking his lips, his face slightly flushed, he said: "Alright, wait for my good news tomorrow morning, brother!"

  Yang Biao and Shen Jia were eating hot pot while chatting nonsense. Zhao Paozi was washing dishes, constantly turning his head to look at the entrance of Dongxing Restaurant, feeling a little anxious in his heart. It's impossible for Zhao Paozi not to care about it. Although expanding the night market would dilute his shares, after Li Xiaoteng successfully brainwashed him over the past two days, Zhao Paozi knew that his profits would only increase, not decrease! As he calculated his small account book, he suddenly felt a familiar figure approaching. Before he could lift his head...

  Suddenly, a voice was heard from the front asking: "Boss, is there a stall here that can roast lamb skewers for rent?" Due to the backlight, the person who asked the question didn't see Zhao Baozi clearly, but Zhao Baozi went to take a closer look at the person who asked the question! Isn't this the big-breasted beauty who ordered the oven together? She was still calling Li Xiaoteng "brother" in the morning! It's really impressive!

  Zhao Pu'er, who came back to his senses, shook his head and said: "We don't have any here! Go ask somewhere else!" Cui Xiaoyan looked down at the spicy hot pot in Zhao Pu'er's wok, swallowed hard, patted her pocket, sighed, and helplessly shook her head. She walked silently to the opposite side and started looking for a stall.

  In the blink of an eye, Zhao Baozi turned around and saw that Li Xiaoteng was already sitting with Yang Biao and Shen Jia eating and drinking. Zhao Baozi quickly put down his work, wiped his hands on his apron twice, and hurried over to Li Xiaoteng's side, asking in a low voice: "Teng Ge, how is it?" At the same time, he also glanced at the cold dish stall next door with his small eyes.

  Li Xiaoteng looked at Zhao Duanzi's serious expression and felt an inexplicable sense of amusement. However, he still nodded solemnly and said: "I reckon it's about right, should be no problem!" Li Xiaoteng was about to say something else when the guest shouted: "Boss, bring us twenty skewers of dishes!" Zhao Duanzi hastily replied: "Coming! What dishes do you want?"

  "Come on! Hurry up and get on!" The customer yelled loudly.

  While eating hot pot, Yang Biao was chatting with Shen Jia when he suddenly wiped his mouth and pulled out a 100-yuan bill from his wallet. He handed it to Li Xiaoteng and said: "Teng Ge! The odds for the William Hill game have been announced! Use 1,000 yuan to buy Barcelona for me. The remaining 200 yuan is for you and Dongzi's red envelope money. I won't bother with formalities!"

  Li Xiaoteng smiled and accepted the money, without counting it. He casually took out 200 yuan and put it on the table, shouting to Zhao Baozi: "Dong Ge, Biao Ge's red envelope is accounted for 200!" Then he put the rest of the money into his own pocket. He asked: "Are you sure you want to buy Barsa?"

  It's better not to ask, but after asking this question, Yang Biao's eyes widened! His dark face actually had a hint of redness. The shape is really quite intimidating!

  "What the f**k! Do you know how William Hill sets their odds? I'm so angry I could blow up William Hill! Damn it!" Li Xiaoteng looked at Yang Biao, who was furious, and asked: "How do they set the odds? I don't quite understand this."

  Yang Biao grabbed the Coke on the table and took two big gulps, giving off an air of drinking like it was water, with a heroic expression that made bleeding and sweating seem just as easy. "Real Madrid beat Barca by two and a half goals! Barca let Real Madrid win by one goal!" Li Xiaoteng asked dizzily: "What does this mean?"

  Yang Biao said angrily: "You may not understand, let me give you an example. If Real Madrid beats Barcelona by one goal, it means that the two teams with similar strength have a score of Real Madrid winning Barcelona by one goal. We are not losing or gaining money if we bet on Barcelona and they don't lose. Only when Real Madrid wins 2-0 against Barcelona do we lose money. If we let in two goals, a 2-2 score is us betting on Barcelona to win money. What concept is two and a half goals? It means that when Real Madrid plays against Barcelona with a score of 3-3, we make money if we bet on Barcelona! This odds, even an idiot would bet on Barcelona. And I'm a die-hard Barcelona fan, let's go against Real Madrid!"

  Yang Biao was enthusiastically teaching Li Xiaoteng about football betting, but Li Xiaoteng was getting confused as he kept changing his mind. Feeling dizzy, he quickly stopped Yang Biao and said: "Can you just put it simply?"

  Yang Bo rolled his big white eyeballs at Li Xiaoteng: "Let's take a look at a simple math problem. The odds for the match between Real Madrid and Barcelona have been announced by William Hill (2.05/1). That means if Real Madrid wins, you can get 1000 (principal) plus 1000 times 2.05 which is 3050 yuan. If Real Madrid ties or loses to Barcelona, then you lose all the principal of 1000 yuan.

  Li Xiaoteng's blood suddenly boiled. The odds of Real Madrid were set so high. Isn't this just giving money to oneself? Li Xiaoteng hurriedly asked: "If I buy 4,000 yuan for Real Madrid's victory, is it 8,200 yuan?" Yang Biao nodded and said: "Teng brother's math is pretty good! Didn't expect you to come up with it so quickly!" Li Xiaoteng said embarrassedly: "Hehe, also calculated temporarily by selling spicy hot pot these two days! The more I use, the faster I get!"

  Li Xiaoteng had a feeling of wanting to stand on the table and roar twice! If he really bought Real Madrid, the principal of 400,000 would be 820,000. Of course, if Xiao Bian could apply for a quota of 600,000 for himself! It's... it's... how much is it?! Li Xiaoteng was getting more and more excited. Although he didn't calculate how much money 600,000 could make, he knew it would be over ten million! He felt his brain buzzing. There seemed to be two green veins jumping in his temples, it was so intense! In his previous life, he had worked hard to earn money, but only saved tens of thousands of yuan!

  Yang Biao looked at Li Xiaoteng's flushed face and heavy breathing. He hastily asked, "Teng Ge, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Seeing that Li Xiaoteng still had a dazed and confused expression, Yang Biao quickly stood up and patted Li Xiaoteng on the shoulder, asking, "Teng Ge! Teng Ge?"

  Li Xiaoteng finally came to his senses! He asked, "What's wrong, Biao Ge?" Yang Biao saw that Li Xiaoteng had returned to normal and didn't say anything. At this time, Shen Jia spoke up: "Xiao Teng, are you okay? Is something uncomfortable? I just saw your expression when my grandfather was having a seizure, it was exactly the same! Shouldn't we hurry to the hospital?"

  Yang Biao nodded seriously and said: "Teng Ge! Let's go, I'll get you a ride, let's go to the hospital for an emergency check..."

  It's the weekend! I'll add an extra chapter today! Please support me, everyone! A "like" and a "collect" would be great too! Thanks to all of you!