77: Chapter 77 What?! There's an upper limit?!

The use for this piece of information that Zhao Jian could think of...

...was to bet on football.

And it had to be through official channels; otherwise, the money would be thrown down the drain.

There was no rush; anyway, there were still over a dozen hours before betting closed.

Only after eating did he find a shop on his way home.

He went in to place his bets.

When Zhao Jian wanted to bet several million, he was dumbfounded.

"Sorry, brother, a single shop can only process thirty thousand a day. Even if you added up all of Xiong City, it wouldn't be that much."

"How about you bet a little less?"

When the lottery Shop Owner heard this kid wanted to bet eight million, he thought he was there to cause trouble.

Although football teams have differences in strength...

...all sorts of accidents on the field are hard to predict.

No one can guarantee that a strong team will 100% defeat a weak one.

And Zhao Jian was buying an upset; he was betting on the underdog!

This was not much different from throwing money into the water.

As long as one was a normal person, it was impossible to do such a thing!

But out of professional ethics, the Shop Owner still told him the rules...

...instead of just kicking him out.

The odds were 1 to 2. Very high.

But with a thirty-thousand-yuan limit, he could only double his money.

Unless...

Zhao Jian quickly paid and got his tickets.

Then he opened the navigation on his phone and called a taxi.

Following the navigation, he shuttled between every lottery shop in Xiong City.

He was going to buy out the entire city's quota!

Unfortunately...

Xiong City wasn't big; all the shops combined only amounted to 103.

More than 40 of them couldn't be found no matter what; the navigation's destination was just a construction site.

There were also many that could only sell twenty thousand worth of tickets.

In the end, he only managed to bet 1.5 million in total.

After doubling, the prize money would only be three million.

It was a lot of money.

But compared to picking up gold or fishing out a watch, it was much more exhausting.

By the time he got home, it was already night.

He hadn't even eaten lunch just to place the bets.

He originally thought about going to Zhang Tao's place for a free meal in the evening...

...and to relax.

But he received a text from his Good Older Sister saying she had to work overtime.

It seemed he could only go to a soulless five-star hotel to reluctantly eat some cold delicacies.

Just as he entered the elevator, he saw the Landlady, who was also heading downstairs.

She was wearing a leather outfit.

The black clothing contrasted with the woman's fair skin.

Her long hair was draped over her back, looking somewhat sexy.

"Sister Liu, you really care about the environment."

Zhao Jian stared for a couple of seconds before looking away.

Afraid of getting sucked in.

When Liu Ying saw him, she originally wanted to greet him warmly.

But this sentence left her not knowing how to respond.

Where did he see that she cared about the environment?

Small question marks spun over her head for a long time; she didn't understand.

She simply asked Zhao Jian, "How do you know? Where did you see that?"

No matter how you looked at it, "caring for the environment" was a positive term.

She took it as a compliment.

"Even if you farted, it wouldn't spread into the natural environment, choosing internal circulation instead. This point alone proves that Sister Liu truly cares for the environment."

"If everyone were like this, our air quality could go up another level!"

Oh, it was a tease.

Liu Ying wanted to pretend to be expressionless and reject this crude joke.

But her face turned red down to her neck; she couldn't keep up the act.

Her watery eyes looked at Zhao Jian:

"I used to think you were quite honest, but why are you so bad now? You're terrible!"

It sounded like she was acting spoiled.

Zhao Jian chuckled sheepishly.

"Everything changes. I'm no exception."

Before, he was afraid of this and that, had no confidence, and was inevitably cautious in his words and actions.

Now, he was just less restrained.

Hearing Zhao Jian say he would also change, Liu Ying's gaze suddenly shifted downward.

At the same time, she reached out while pretending not to understand and asked:

"Is the change you're talking about getting bigger or smaller? Let me try and see!"

Zhao Jian suddenly dodged backward.

"Holy crap, what are you doing! This is an elevator, there's surveillance!"

This crazy woman.

Hearing "elevator," Liu Ying restrained herself a lot.

She didn't make another move until they reached the ground floor.

The two of them walked out of the residential area side by side.

As they were about to part ways, Liu Ying murmured, "Would you believe me if I said I'm not usually like that? I really just couldn't help myself when I saw you."

She wasn't lying completely.

She always kept her distance from others.

But "couldn't help herself" was a lie.

She was intentionally testing Zhao Jian, observing both his character and his attitude.

Zhao Jian's reaction satisfied her.

He wasn't a Sea King who accepted everyone, yet he definitely didn't lack desire for her either.

Her charm was still there!

Zhao Jian didn't know how to respond and just gave an "Oh."

He just wanted to leave.

It wasn't that he had any psychological burden; he simply didn't know what to say.

After all, he couldn't exactly say, 'It's fine, I don't mind. You can do it a few more times in the future; I actually quite enjoyed it.'

That would be too lewd.

"Are you free? I'll treat you to dinner. I haven't thanked you yet for helping me find Little Yellow last time."

He wanted to go.

"Sure, I happen to be hungry."

According to Liu Ying's thoughts, for the first time treating Zhao Jian to dinner, Joyful Sea World would be the first choice.

After all, it was the most expensive restaurant in Xiong City.

But Zhao Jian didn't want her to spend too much.

Its status relied entirely on the reputation it had built over the years; in terms of taste, it didn't surpass the food elsewhere.

It was only because it was expensive that local bosses liked to meet there for business.

Since he and Liu Ying were just having an ordinary meal, there was no need to waste that money.

At Zhao Jian's suggestion, they chose barbecue.

It was very close to Baihewan Residential Area.

More precisely, it was one of the shops in Baihewan Residential Area.

Liu Ying mostly ordered lamb kidneys, grilled chives, and grilled oysters.

Whereas Zhao Jian preferred lamb chops, pork gristle, and grilled squid.

As a result, after they were served...

...everything he ordered ended up in Liu Ying's stomach.

After dinner, Zhao Jian, whose body felt a bit hot, rejected the beautiful Landlady's invitation.

He went home to watch the game!

To watch football.

He had little interest in playing football; since he was a child, his family had made him study hard to get into university.

Playing football and watching TV were categorized as things that sapped one's ambition.

An interest not cultivated in childhood isn't something one will naturally love when grown up.

Because he didn't understand it.

Fortunately, he didn't need to understand the strengths or the situation. He only needed to see if the score matched the system's information.

He hadn't watched TV in a long time.

Sitting on the sofa, he watched the football match.

The two teams were in a tactical tug-of-war, locked in a stalemate.

To those who understood, it was incredibly exciting, and they might even hold their breath in tension for the team they supported.

Zhao Jian just wanted to sleep.

He didn't even understand the difficulty or the purpose of the various impressive moves.

It was truly like a blind man watching a dance—a complete waste of effort.

Luckily, halfway through the match, Zhang Tao took a break from her busy schedule to send him a message:

"Checking in! Come on, fess up, what are you doing?"

Holy crap, does this woman have an Intelligence System too?

After dinner, he had almost accepted the beautiful Landlady's invitation to go to her place and watch her dog do backflips.

It was his worry over the match results and the exhaustion from running around all day that made him reluctantly refuse.

Although visiting dozens of lottery shops to place bets involved traveling by car, it didn't stop him from feeling mentally drained.

But he didn't expect to have dodged a bullet.

Usually, Zhang Tao rarely sent him messages.

He took a photo of the TV screen and sent it to her.

"Watching the game. Are you done with work?"

Zhang Tao received the photo and likewise took a picture of her surroundings.

She was at the company; not only was she working overtime, but many people in the whole company were busy.

And she wasn't actually trying to check up on him.

It was merely an expression of possessiveness, a way of showing love.

She learned it online.