The people "arranged by General Manager Chen" obviously wanted the lion to bite Lu Dapao to death. Firstly, it would save them trouble, and secondly, it would be more exciting for the audience's gambling and bloodlust. However, when they saw the scene, they felt strange. They had known about the lion's ferocity all along. Now that the **disappearance** had been ineffective, and the lion had even bitten off Lu Dapao's arm, and they had just seen the lion open its mouth to bite off Lu Dapao's neck, why did it suddenly retreat for no reason?
It's unbelievable that the lion suddenly became so kind. They had been starving for three whole days. Judging from how fiercely it was tearing at Lu Dapao just now, it should have torn Lu Dapao apart and eaten him on the spot. Why did it stop?
They certainly couldn't understand what was going on inside; of everyone present, only Zhou Xuan knew the reason.
Zhou Xuan watched calmly from his seat, neither surprised nor excited. On the contrary, Gao Mingyuan next to him was both standing and sitting, wanting to shout but forcibly holding back. He had just been scolded. He tried his best not to make a sound because he had placed a huge bet of six million with Zhou Xuan. You can imagine how nervous he was. Although losing six million wouldn't hurt him much, it was still a large sum of money. If it weren't for Zhou Xuan, his savings would never have exceeded 500,000. But Zhou Xuan had increased his cash savings to over 20 million in just two days.
It's a pity that in the last round, Zhou Xuan reminded him to place a bet early on, but in the end he was afraid and didn't trust Zhou Xuan's choice, so he didn't place a bet. But the final result showed that Zhou Xuan was right. The feeling of regret kept lingering in his mind. That was a 1 to 4 payout. If he had bet one million, he would have made a profit of four million. If he had bet five million, he would have made a profit of twenty million!
In this round, he finally couldn't resist betting with Zhou Xuan. All his experience, skills, odds analysis, and tips were irrelevant when Zhou Xuan had such good luck. He stopped researching and just followed his bets.
I used to do so much research, but the more I researched, the more confused I became, and it was always difficult to actually win money. Unlike Zhou Xuan, who had such good luck and won money one after another.
At the start of this round, Gao Mingyuan was different from the previous ones. After all, he had placed a huge bet of six million. If it weren't his business, he would have been indifferent. But once he placed a large bet, the situation had an immense pull on him. He wished the lion would leap up and bite Lu Dapao to death! But at the beginning, Lu Dapao beat the lion hard from all sides, and the lion only growled but did not dodge or fight back. Gao Mingyuan then realized that things were bad and he was probably going to lose this round. Just like the last round, the dealer was faking it.
After a few minutes, Gao Mingyuan's heart turned as cold as ice. Six million yuan, just like that, ended because of Lu Dapao's meddling.
Zhou Xuan, standing to the side, neither confronted him nor comforted him, letting him be nervous. In any case, in the control room, President Chen and his men were still keeping a close eye on the two of them, and Gao Mingyuan's nervousness and regret would only make them feel that the matter was "real".
As the lion leaped up and bit off Lu Dapao's arm, about to kill him with another bite, Gao Mingyuan finally sprang to his feet and roared. However, at that moment, there were too many surprised and exclaiming people, and no one paid attention to him. By the time the lion had retreated a few steps and was staring at Lu Dapao with its mouth wide open, the outcome was basically decided. As long as Lu Dapao couldn't get up to fight back, he would be declared the loser. And Lu Dapao, apart from shouting for help, indeed couldn't stand up.
Gao Mingyuan's face was flushed, and he excitedly shouted, "I won! I won again!" This time, he had actually won his six million bet, and Zhou Xuan had also won an astronomical sum of 165 million. He wouldn't even dare to dream of such a thing. Zhou Xuan's luck was truly incredible. So far, he had given him a 16 million tip, while Gao Mingyuan himself had won a pure 330 million in cash. He hadn't even put a single penny of his initial investment into the deal; he had won it all back!
This was an unimaginable sum of money. Following Zhou Xuan, Gao Mingyuan felt incredibly excited and thrilled. He didn't need to think about anything; he could just follow his lead and place his bets.
Gao Mingyuan couldn't help but admire Zhou Xuan's luck. He also vaguely realized that while luck could be attributed to winning once or twice, it was impossible to attribute every win to luck.
I'm afraid Zhou Xuan has done very deep research and is extremely knowledgeable in this field. He must be a true expert. Otherwise, how could he make such an accurate prediction?
Gao Mingyuan received a reward of 16 million from Zhou Xuan, and then bet another 6 million in this round. With a 1:1 payout, he won back another 6 million, bringing his total cash to 23 million. Adding the tips Zhou Xuan had given him before, he now has nearly 30 million in cash!
Zhou Xuan smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Old Gao, stop grinning like an idiot. Go exchange the tickets so we can place bets later. Time is short... Exchange my tickets for two, one for 320 million and the other for 10 million. They're yours!"
Zhou Xuan won another 165 million in cash, which would have allowed him to give Gao Mingyuan a larger reward, but Zhou Xuan only gave him 10 million. Even so, the reward was still a huge amount.
Gao Mingyuan himself didn't dare complain about the amount being too little, and happily took the receipt to the window. Without exception, Li Ni quickly opened the door and welcomed him into the VIP room where he was served by special staff.
Following Zhou Xuan's instructions, Gao Mingyuan issued a receipt for 300 million yuan of the money he won, while he himself issued a receipt for 10 million yuan along with his 6 million yuan bet, totaling 22 million yuan, which was also a large sum.
At this moment, Gao Mingyuan didn't even have time to flirt with Li Ni and the other women. He just urged them to hurry up and finish issuing the tickets. After taking the tickets back to his seat, he excitedly whispered to Zhou Xuan, "Brother, what's the next round?"
Zhou Xuan chuckled and said, "They haven't even opened the betting pool yet, they haven't set up the odds. What are you going to bet on? Hehe, don't rush. Once the casino opens, they're only worried about you not gambling, not afraid of you actually gambling. Don't worry, if you want to gamble, the chances are great!"
As Zhou Xuan spoke, he also peered into Yang Tiancheng's VIP room upstairs. Yang Tiancheng was overjoyed; it seemed his assessment was correct. Despite his youth, Zhou Xuan was an unfathomable expert in every aspect. He had sensed Zhou Xuan's unusual nature during the jade gambling, and now it seemed he was right. Zhou Xuan had made hundreds of millions without making a sound, and Yang Tiancheng had even caught his last train and earned back a hundred million, managing to recover half of his losses. It was a pity he didn't know what Zhou Xuan had bet on in the previous rounds; if he had followed his bets earlier, he probably would have already recouped his losses, and might even have won a large sum!
At this point, Yang Tiancheng stopped looking at the odds and studying the matches. He just kept a close eye on Zhou Xuan to see what they would do next, and then followed suit. This saved him the trouble of dealing with the odds. If they won, they won; if they lost, they lost. But judging from Zhou Xuan's appearance, he didn't seem like someone who was going to lose.
The county emcee walked back onto the stage with the microphone and said, "Everyone, please be quiet. This bet is unlike any other. Look at this lion..."
As he spoke, he pointed to the iron cage. Lu Dapao had already been taken away by the control panel by lowering the cage, leaving only the male lion inside. Zhou Xuan then withdrew his ability to control it, and the male lion roared fiercely inside the iron cage, baring its teeth and clawing wildly, displaying extreme ferocity.
"Now we've decided to have a free betting game. Anyone want to challenge this lion?" the host asked with a smile. "If any audience member is willing to give it a try, the odds for the lion are 5 to 1, and for those who want to try their luck, it's 1 to 1. The odds are very favorable, and in addition to our share of the odds, we'll also give out a bonus of one million!"
The audience isn't stupid. Even if they gave a million, or even ten million, what good would it do if the man was killed by a lion? Besides, how can you guarantee the money's safety after the man is dead?
No one responded; it was too dangerous, and no one dared to go up and try the bet.
Zhou Xuan's heart skipped a beat. What kind of trick was the bookmaker up to?
They quickly probed the situation in President Chen's control room. President Chen and his brother were in his office, discussing something.
"Second brother, do you think anyone will bet on this? If an audience member goes up, we'll secretly drug the lion so it can fight and the audience member wins. This round will be a huge victory, our biggest win of the day. If no audience member dares to go up..."
As he spoke, Mr. Chen considered the situation and said, "If no audience member is willing to go up, just pick one of your brothers and give him a bit more money!"
The second brother replied, "I'm afraid no one in the audience would dare to go up. It would be difficult to find our own brothers. They just watched as the lion bit off Lu Dapao's arm and almost killed him. If we send them up now, they might not trust us. Money is a small matter. In this kind of situation, we can only pave the way with money!"
"You must find someone to play. You can pay more until he's satisfied. Then you can guarantee his safety. Make things clear. Your own brother knows the inside story. Just make it clear!"
Zhou Xuan detected that President Chen and the others were determined to hold this game no matter what. If they couldn't find an audience, they would find their own people. Of course, it would be best to find an audience. If an audience member came on stage to participate, others would believe it and bet even more frantically. It was estimated that only gamblers who had lost all their money and had nowhere else to turn would be willing to go on stage to bet on this game.
Zhou Xuan pulled Gao Mingyuan aside and whispered in his ear, "Old Gao, Manager Gao, go up and tell the person in charge of the well that I'll bet on this bet, and you need to bet another 50 million on me!"
Gao Mingyuan exclaimed in surprise, "What? What did you say?" For a moment, he thought he had misheard, not understanding what Zhou Xuan meant, or perhaps he had said something wrong.
Volume 1, Chapter 604: Making a Mistake
Zhou Xuan said calmly, "...You place a bet of fifty million on me. You can place any number of bets you want. I'll go up on stage and gamble with that lion!"
Gao Mingyuan grabbed him and said urgently, "Brother, Xiao Zhou, please don't do something so stupid! Let's stop gambling and leave now. Let's get our cash and leave. We're done!"
Although Gao Mingyuan is mercenary and opportunistic, he still has a great fondness for Zhou Xuan and is very grateful for his reward. In just two days of following Zhou Xuan, his wealth has skyrocketed to 30 million yuan. Where else can you find such a good thing?
All of this is because of Zhou Xuan. They have developed a dependence on Zhou Xuan and a genuine sense of gratitude towards him. Going on stage to fight the lion is undoubtedly suicide, so of course we have to stop him.
Zhou Xuan chuckled and whispered, "Old Gao, don't worry. Do you think I'm the kind of person who would contemplate suicide or be so irrational? Hehe. I'm living a very comfortable life. I have endless money, a beautiful wife, an adorable son, and elderly parents to care for. Why would I be irrational? I'll secretly tell you a secret: I've practiced martial arts. Killing a lion like this is a piece of cake. Not to mention lions, even slugs and elephants—I could easily kill them all!"
Gao Mingyuan naturally didn't believe Zhou Xuan's words. Zhou Xuan then whispered, "Old Gao, I know you don't believe me, so I'll give you a demonstration. But you just need to listen carefully to what I say, don't show any expression, and don't make any sudden movements. Just listen to my instructions!" Gao Mingyuan didn't know what Zhou Xuan was going to say, but Zhou Xuan had always appeared unfathomable and extremely composed, not the kind of person who would act recklessly. So Gao Mingyuan still believed him, sat down, and immediately asked in a low voice, "Brother, go ahead and say it. I'm listening!" Hearing Zhou Xuan speak so seriously, Gao Mingyuan didn't dare to show any other expression. While asking him, he pretended to look at the male lion in the iron cage on the platform.
Zhou Xuan braced his hands on the edge of the seat; the armrest was made of stainless steel, incredibly sturdy. He then said to Gao Mingyuan, "Old Gao, this armrest is made of stainless steel. I'll use my 'One-Finger Zen' to drill a hole for you to see. But there are cameras watching, so don't watch my movements. Just touch it with your finger. We need to prevent the casino staff from monitoring us, otherwise we'll have a hard time winning money. Right now, we need to make them think their lion is sure to win. We can only win big money by placing our bets, 1 to 10. Think about it. Also, you have to believe me, I will definitely beat this lion. As long as you believe me, you will win big money!" Gao Mingyuan felt that Zhou Xuan's tone wasn't joking, and Zhou Xuan hadn't joked with him at all from beginning to end, always speaking and acting very seriously. So he calmed down. Zhou Xuan, with his left hand on the stainless steel armrest, used his supernatural ability, "Transformation and Devouring," to drill two finger holes in the armrest.
After finishing, Zhou Xuan immediately leaned back in his chair, looking at the odds on the big screen. It clearly showed: "African Lion, 5 to 1" and "Mysterious Figure, 1 to 10, welcome to bet!"
"Because the person to fight the lion has not yet been selected, there is no time limit yet, and we are still waiting." However, some impatient gamblers have bet on the lion. Now even a fool would not bet on the lion. This lion is so ferocious that it is impossible for humans to fight against it. This male lion is huge, as strong as a calf. Just by its weight, it is not something that humans can resist.
It's like comparing a small child to a sumo wrestler weighing several hundred kilograms; they're not even in the same league and there's no comparison.
After Zhou Xuan leaned against him, Gao Mingyuan pretended to stand up for a moment, then sat down and placed his hand on the armrest. It was a very natural action, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary from the camera.