Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts-Chapter 351 - 256. World Cup Betting

What’s the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?

Some people turn off the alarm and go back to sleep, others brush their teeth, wash up, eat breakfast, and then there are those who sprint to the bathroom to deal with the overnight accumulation.

But if you asked someone in the summer of 2010, more often than not, you’d get the same answer—stealing vegetables!

After nearly a year of viral spread, QQ Farm had virtually become a popular casual game for everyone. From sixty-year-old dancers in town squares to possibly even three or four-year-old kindergarten kids, everyone enjoyed it.

"Have they not gotten up yet, why has even Yu..." Xu Qingfan, who slept until naturally waking up around nine, harvested his crops to find that the fields of five young ladies had long been ripe.

The crops, cared for by countless others, had already been stolen, leaving only bugs and weeds.

Xu Qingfan helped them weed and water before he realized that a World Cup betting window had been added to the lower right corner of his farm.

"It’s been another four years, huh," he suddenly realized.

With a shift of his gaze, Xu Qingfan remembered many things from eight years ago. The story began in the incessant chattering of cicadas in midsummer.

The World Cup that year was unforgettable for Xu Qingfan, partly because the National Football Team had qualified, and also because he needed to deliver herbal tea for Yao Jinping.

He also couldn’t forget the World Cup of 2010.

Xu Qingfan first got hooked because of the World Cup betting event on QQ Farm, and to increase his odds of winning, he ended up staying up late to watch the games with Xu Aiguo and Xia Guofu.

Back then, he didn’t know how to play football, nor what offside meant; he simply knew that kicking the ball into the opponent’s goal meant victory.

Despite this, he was still swept up by the atmosphere of the live broadcasts.

Even after so many years, Xu Qingfan could still recall many brilliant moments from the 2010 World Cup: the "Hand of God" involving the country and a criminal, and that nonchalant penalty spoon-shot at the end.

After filling out the group stage predictions with his mouse, Xu Qingfan began to entertain the idea of making a couple of bets.

He was still in elementary school during the 2006 World Cup and had no memory of the outcomes—at that time, he didn’t even know which countries reached the semi-finals or who won the championship, so he didn’t bet then.

"This year it seems like Spain won, but it won’t make much money," Xu Qingfan thought and then felt it was kind of pointless.

After all, it wasn’t like in 2014 when Germany unexpectedly won 7-1 against Samba, a match he heard had odds of thousands to one on some betting websites.

Even though he could make millions by betting big, Xu Qingfan knew he couldn’t hide such a large sum from Zhang Chunxue without Aunt Zhang finding out. What would he say to her then?

You say, "Auntie, I have insider information, it’s a sure win!"

Zhang Chunxue would say, "I have insider information too. Want to know what it is?"

"What is it?"

"You’re dead meat today!"

Just imagining Aunt Zhang chasing him with a feather duster made Xu Qingfan’s blood run cold—no way... he shuddered at the thought!

"Big gambling is definitely out of the question, and small bets aren’t much fun... wait, that’s not right." A light bulb went off in his head, and suddenly an idea surfaced.

[If I posted the results of every match in advance online, from the group stage to the final, and got them all right, the traffic would be off the charts!]

Xu Qingfan felt this marketing plan was very feasible, so much so that he didn’t even bother with his QQ farm anymore. He immediately took out his phone and called Zhang Chunxue.

"What’s up, weren’t you guys out having fun?" Since it was a personal call, Zhang Chunxue answered quickly, her voice sultry and tingling.

"Out having fun? Auntie, I’m still at home," he said, slightly startled, then quickly continued excitedly, "That’s not important, Auntie, I’ve thought of a marketing plan to promote Good Taste Takeout that’s more reliable than running ten million in ads!"

Xu Qingfan talked nonstop for about seven or eight minutes. Initially, Zhang Chunxue was casually handling other work while holding the phone at a slant, but when she heard Xiao Fan’s idea about the World Cup betting, she straightened up and started taking notes.

"Anything else?" Zhang Chunxue finally asked, as she tapped her pen twice on the paper.

"That’s all, now you tell me," Xu Qingfan glanced at the computer’s clock—it was almost ten o’clock—and he hurried out to brush his teeth and have breakfast.

"The idea of offering coupons for predicting games is really good, but Xiao Fan, how can you ensure that you always guess right, and then..." Zhang Chunxue tried to recall the word Xu Qingfan had just used.

The source of this c𝓸ntent is frёeweɓηovel.coɱ.

"Go viral."

"Right, go viral." She then wrote down ’go viral’ on the paper.

"Because I’m the old pro, Auntie! The number one footie expert in Hong Kong is not just for show. Did you know that when I was in kindergarten, I correctly predicted the World Cup semifinalists? Back then, Chen Daozai won thirty-seven million with just two hundred; what’s predicting a few matches for Xu Qingfan!" he explained, setting aside his brushing for later, and began talking enthusiastically while sitting on the wash basin.

"Hehe~" Zhang Chunxue was so amused that she could barely compose herself, swaying gorgeously, a pity that such a charming scene had no audience in the office.

"Alright, alright, so our Xiao Fan is the old pro, got it. I’ll make a call to tech in a bit to see how soon we can implement your idea. Xiao Fan, do you need anything else? Auntie has a lot of work this morning," she said, her face filled with laughter.

"Hehe, no, thank you Auntie, next time I come over, I’ll give you a massage... Ouch, damn!"

Suddenly, the sound of something heavy hitting the floor and then the clatter of glass and plastic followed, all heard through the phone.

"Hello? Hello?? Xiao Fan, what’s up? Xiao Fan, are you okay?" Zhang Chunxue’s smile froze on her face as she urgently asked into the phone.

"Ouch~ Auntie, I’m okay... no, wait, Auntie, I have a problem, Auntie, I’m done for." Xu Qingfan covered his butt as he stood up from the floor, sucking in a breath of cold air as he looked at the washbasin he had just broken.

"What do you mean you have a problem? What exactly happened?" she continued to ask anxiously.

"Auntie, what do I do... I’ve broken our bathroom’s washbasin, my mom is going to kill me."

"Haha.... pfft... weren’t you careful? If it’s nothing else, I’ll hang up then, I’m really swamped," she said, trying to hold back her laughter.

"Okay, let me think of a way to fix this, Auntie, goodbye." Xu Qingfan looked helplessly at the broken marble on the floor.

After the call ended, Zhang Chunxue couldn’t help but laugh as she looked at the number on her phone, eliciting a delayed burst of laughter.

"Hahaha..." The office was filled with laughter for a long time.

"This cheeky kid." Zhang Chunxue shook her head and slipped her phone back into her purse.

Distracted briefly by the mishap, her spirits lifted considerably, and she even hummed a tune like a young girl as she handled her documents.

...