Gao Mingyuan touched the armrest and immediately felt three finger holes. These holes were very obvious and were not there when he arrived. Their sudden appearance meant that Zhou Xuan was telling the truth.
He couldn't resist sticking three fingers into the small holes. They fit perfectly, and he was certain they were drilled out with his fingers. But this wasn't flour or mud; it was stainless steel, so hard that even if you tried to hammer or drill it, you couldn't get it out unless you used a diamond drill. Gao Mingyuan had seen that stuff before. How could a human hand possibly drill through holes that only a diamond drill could make?
But there are indeed three finger holes now, and they are very deep enough to fit all your fingers in.
Gao Mingyuan was immediately astonished. "Zunlai Zhou Xuan is truly an unfathomable master!"
It's true that you can't judge a book by its cover. This young man, who is so young, seems quite extraordinary. Just the fact that he won hundreds of millions of dollars in cash today proves it. Gao Mingyuan didn't believe that Zhou Xuan's success was due to luck, but now he's even more convinced. Zhou Xuan relied on ability, not luck. As for how he did it, he doesn't know, but he doesn't have time to find out now.
Once he was certain that Zhou Xuan wasn't lying or acting impulsively, Gao Mingyuan felt relieved. Of course, his heart was still pounding, after all, he was facing a ferocious lion, not a rabbit!
But Zhou Xuan's impression of him suddenly changed. The gentle and refined feeling he had before had now turned into a strong and shrewd one. He was no longer the rich and powerful young man he had imagined. It turned out that winning those four rounds was not a coincidence, but rather there was a hidden strategy behind it.
It seems Zhou Xuan won't reveal the secrets and details to him; experts are known for their secretive nature. "Although Zhou Xuan won't tell him these things, he doesn't hold back when he wins, always letting him follow along. But because of his fear and distrust, he missed out on tens of millions of dollars. Now he can't afford to lose this opportunity again. Moreover, if Zhou Xuan goes up to fight the Lion this time, the odds are 1 to 10. Just thinking about those odds makes Gao Mingyuan tremble!"
Seeing Gao Mingyuan's tacit agreement, Zhou Xuan smiled slightly, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Let's go. You place your bet, I'll go up on stage and beat him to a pulp!"
The two stood up and walked out one after the other. Zhou Xuan went first to the host, while in the control room, President Chen and his men stared intently at the screen, wondering what Zhou Xuan was going to do.
Zhou Xuan slowly walked onto the stage and said to the host, "Hello, host. I volunteered to come up here to challenge the lion!"
The county host was stunned. He'd been talking for so long and hadn't seen a single person respond to a single word, let alone someone come up on stage to challenge him. Seeing Zhou Xuan, such a refined young man, step onto the stage, he was more surprised than delighted. After a moment of hesitation, he quickly said, "Alright, alright, this gentleman wants to challenge our Man-Eating Lion. Let me ask you again, sir, do you understand the rules we just discussed?" Zhou Xuan nodded and smiled, "I remember. Signing this life-or-death contract, I receive a million in reward. Of course, I can only enjoy this million if I survive. Also, my odds are one to ten, right?"
Seeing that Zhou Xuan showed no fear whatsoever, the host thought that if he had come for the million, it would be too risky. Money is good, but one must also consider whether one has the fortune to enjoy it. This lion is so fierce and powerful, how could he possibly get past this hurdle?
However, the host quickly waved his hand, and immediately a casino staff member brought over the contract and had Zhou Xuan sign it in front of many gamblers in the casino.
The crowd erupted in excitement. Seeing that Lu Dapao had just been bitten and was now in a state of uncertainty, they thought, "Is Zhou Xuan tired of living and wants to die?"
Looking at Zhou Xuan, he is far smaller and weaker than Lu Dapao. Even with Lu Dapao's strong body and powerful punches, he was almost torn apart by a lion. So this rather thin young man doesn't look like he has any martial arts training.
Zhou Xuan, with a calm expression, signed the contract, immediately tossed aside the pen, and waited with a smile.
The host quickly pointed to a staff member and said, "Mr. Zhou, please come with our staff to the entrance of the control panel. In a moment, you will be taken up the elevator from that entrance to the cage!"
Zhou Xuan nodded and followed the staff backstage with a relaxed expression.
At the window, Gao Mingyuan, worried about Zhou Xuan, didn't go to the VIP room inside. He placed his bet directly at the window with his ticket. This time, he was determined to throw in all 22 million yuan, hoping to make a fortune. If he won, he would get back an astonishing 242 million yuan, instantly becoming a billionaire. If things really went that way, his dream would come true. Of course, just two days ago, he wouldn't have dared to dream of this. He never thought he could become a billionaire. He only thought about when he could get a few million yuan and open a small wholesale stone factory.
The total amount wagered, plus Zhou Xuan's 50 million, is 72 million in cash. In fact, the amount is not as much as the previous two times. In the previous two times, Zhou Xuan's bets exceeded 100 million. Especially the last time, the bet amount was 165 million. This time it is much less.
But the odds are very different. In the last round, the odds were 1 to 1. They bet over 160 million and got the same number. But this time it's amazing. The odds are 1 to 10. Even if they only bet 72 million, they will get a huge sum of 720 million in cash.
Meanwhile, in the VIP room upstairs, Yang Tiancheng was intently watching Zhou Xuan and Gao Mingyuan's actions through binoculars. Zhou Xuan had deliberately lured Yang Tiancheng into placing his bets, so when he was on stage or talking to Gao Mingyuan, he was always facing Yang Tiancheng's direction. Therefore, Yang Tiancheng could see everything very clearly.
When Yang Tiancheng saw that Zhou Xuan wanted to go on stage and fight the lion himself, he was also very surprised. Did Zhou Xuan really want to die? But judging from his appearance, it should be impossible. People who want to die are usually either heartbroken or have failed in business. In short, they only think of suicide when they can't bear the environment and economic conditions. And it should be impossible for Zhou Xuan to do that.
He just won a lot of money. Yesterday he made 35 million from Gao Mingyuan with just one stone, and today he won hundreds of millions. How could he possibly be in financial difficulty?
As for heartbreak, Zhou Xuan doesn't seem to be heartbroken. I've seen many people heartbroken because of love, so how could anyone be as unmoved and calm as Zhou Xuan?
Yang Tiancheng saw the amount Gao Mingyuan had bet on again and immediately began to think. Zhou Xuan had just helped him win 100 million, and now he had bet 70 million, a much smaller amount than the previous round.
But Yang Tiancheng knew more. The odds for this round were 1 to 10, so 70 million would be 700 million. If he really won, the payout would be more than the previous rounds combined. He understood this, so after thinking about it, Yang Tiancheng decided to follow the bet. The lion was so fierce, yet Zhou Xuan still wanted to take this gamble. He must have some confidence. Based on his understanding of Zhou Xuan, how could Zhou Xuan possibly put himself in such a desperate situation?
Moreover, Yang Tiancheng always felt that Zhou Xuan was no ordinary person, and he absolutely trusted his own judgment. That's why he followed Zhou Xuan's bets and placed a large bet, and he actually won!
Now what about this round? Yang Tiancheng is a seasoned gambler and also runs casinos abroad. He is very clear about the dirty dealings in casinos. Usually, if you want to take money out of a casino, especially a large sum of money, you need to have considerable ability. Zhou Xuan is probably aware of this as well.
How many bets are being placed is a real headache. In the previous rounds, Yang Tiancheng didn't know how many bets the bookmaker had collected in total. He didn't have Zhou Xuan's special abilities and didn't understand the bookmaker's intentions, especially the actual bets placed on both sides. This was actually the most important point of analysis, but the data displayed on the big screen was fake 90% of the time, so there was no need to analyze it.
If Zhou Xuan knew the bookmaker's true stakes, then he could roughly estimate the amount each side was betting based on his bets. Yang Tiancheng believed that Zhou Xuan knew the true betting amounts through some channel—"maybe he bribed the casino's data clerk at a high price. In that last round, the bookmaker probably made a profit besides paying out what they won."
Yang Tiancheng thought for a moment, realizing that time was of the essence, and immediately picked up the phone to place a bet of 100 million. This time, the amount was more than 20 million more than Zhou Xuan and the others, but not by much.
In the previous round, Yang Tiancheng's estimate was about right, but in this round, his estimate was wrong. After Zhou Xuan signed the document, the amount of bets on the lion immediately exceeded 200 million, and the increase was quite astonishing.
Mr. Chen's face was gloomy. Zhou Xuan had placed a bet of 72 million. In this round, they originally planned to arrange for someone to win, and the bet on the lion was definitely huge. But Zhou Xuan deliberately bet on himself instead. "Could it be that he knew that the casino was going to arrange for someone to win?"
It's highly unlikely. The people in the control room have been thoroughly investigated, and all personnel are under surveillance. None of them have made a phone call. Furthermore, the casino's network is independent and not connected to the internet. Therefore, it's impossible for them to connect to the outside world via the network. Communication devices were left with the guards for safekeeping when they entered the casino, and there are detectors at the entrance, so it's impossible for them to get in. Therefore, it's possible that someone colluded with Zhou Xuan.
Moreover, according to the surveillance footage, Zhou Xuan and Gao Mingyuan "absolutely had no contact with anyone, and their actions were independent from beginning to end. The bets were decided by Zhou Xuan himself, without any contact or discussion with anyone."
When General Manager Chen saw the data clerk's report that another person in the VIP room had placed a huge bet of 100 million, and that the bet was against Zhou Xuan, he found it strange. They wouldn't dare to place such a large bet if they weren't absolutely certain of success.
Mr. Chen got angry. "In this round, the betting direction doesn't need any promotion at all; it's all heading straight for the lion." "There are over 200 million bets on the lion now, almost 300 million. Only 172 million bets have been placed on Zhou Xuan's side, just Zhou Xuan and Yang Tiancheng. There's no one else."
"If the lion wins, the casino will lose less than 100 million. The odds for the lion to win are 5 to 1, meaning you only lose 1 out of 5. So, a bet of nearly 300 million would only lose less than 100 million. But if the 172 million bet on Zhou Xuan wins, the casino will lose 1.72 billion, which would be a huge loss."
Mr. Chen and his men were sweating profusely with anxiety. His younger brother, revealing a fierce expression, said, "Brother, I'll have someone take care of these two!"
"Damn it!" President Chen roared angrily, yelling at his brother, "All you know is how to do it! Do you even know who these two people are? If you kill them today, I reckon by tonight a large force of military or police will come and wipe us out!"
Mr. Chen's younger brother was stunned by his outburst. He couldn't understand what was so scary about these two people. However, the one yelling at him was his own brother, the person in charge of the casino. He could only endure it. Moreover, he knew that his older brother was very capable. He couldn't match him, and he didn't dare to refute him. In short, whatever his older brother arranged was correct.
General Manager Chen scolded his younger brother a few times, then frowned and pondered for a long time before finally raising his head and saying to his subordinates, "Second brother, tell a few of the data collection guys to go out and spread the word among your acquaintances: 'Let's spread the word that in this round, we'll secretly incapacitate Lion, and Zhou Xuan will win this match!'"
Mr. Chen's second brother quickly agreed. They never questioned their boss's arrangements and just went out to do their jobs.
In less than five minutes, insider information, which usually spreads the fastest, from one to ten, and from ten to a hundred. "You said not to tell anyone else" is the most confidential information, meant to be told only to you. But he only told his best friend, and as a result, it was passed from one person to another, and everyone knew about it very quickly.
At this time, almost everyone was betting on Lion, with bets exceeding 500 million. Upon hearing this astonishing news, they were all stunned, and then, like a flood breaking through a dam, they frantically bet against Zhou Xuan.
This situation was unexpected even for Zhou Xuan. He had placed his bets based on the assumption that the house would win, but now things were developing in the opposite direction!
Volume 1: The Lotus Buds Just Begin to Emerge - A New Month, Requesting Guaranteed Monthly Tickets
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