Super Zoo-Chapter 747 - 729: Having Money is Not Deception
Almost the moment Suming pulled out his crumpled betting ticket, the initially bustling racecourse suddenly quieted down for a second. Many spectators, who had been ready to leave, suddenly halted in their tracks, lifted their heads, and gaped in disbelief at the big screen at the racecourse;
Even more people were being dragged by friends and family to have a look at this huge screen.
The big screen at the racecourse displayed the highest prize amounts for this round of betting.
First place, Mr. Su; betting method, superfecta; bet amount, three hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars; winning amount...
A string of digits so long it was almost twice the length of the second place, so nobody was really interested in the subsequent rankings.
Immediately after, the venue erupted with a continuous murmur of astonishment.
In the loudspeaker, the commentator's voice, as if he had seen a ghost, exclaimed, "Wow, am I seeing this right? A superfecta, the first superfecta jackpot of the year has just come up! With a betting amount of three hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars, the prize money exceeds one—hundred—million, 1.3 hundred million Hong Kong dollars!"
"It's indeed exciting," one of the commentators, with a totally different style than the previous one who was always exaggerative whilst this one was the calm type, said in an even tone, "What a pity, in this race of 12 horses, the ones that ran into the first four were all popular choices with comparatively low odds. Otherwise, this prize could have broken the record of the 2005 superfecta prize money of 150 million Hong Kong dollars, becoming the highest single winning amount ever in the history of Xiangjiang Jockey Club."
"Wow, don't put on a cold face, the superfecta is practically a legend in the betting world, it's not so easy to come by. Even if it didn't break the record this time, after taxes are deducted, there's still over one hundred million to take home, an amount we could talk about all our lives and never earn! Anyway, I am incredibly jealous. Let's all congratulate Mr. Su together!"
This wasn't an exaggeration, as the superfecta theoretically has odds around ten thousand to one, but in practice, such small probabilities are practically zero. Each year, with the months of racing at Xiangjiang Jockey Club and billions of bets cast, the number of superfecta winners since its opening has been very few.
"Mr. Su... if my memory serves me correctly, last season, there was also a Mr. Su who took home a forty million prize. It can't be such a coincidence that it's the same Mr. Su, can it?"
"How can it be such a coincidence? You think he's the God of Gamblers or what?"
...
In the midst of the uproar, Suming winked at Hou Longtao and Cui Bijia, who were already stunned into silence, and whispered, "Let's go, enter the village quietly, don't alert the ones with guns."
Hou Longtao had yet to react at all. He couldn't even fathom what one hundred million Hong Kong dollars meant, nor did he understand what winning a superfecta meant. All he knew was that Suming had been hit hard by a gold ingot from the sky.
No, not a gold ingot, but a huge diamond!
Cui Bijia's mind buzzed, and she became completely confused.
He actually won?!
Accompanied by two dazed companions, they approached the service desk.
Others didn't know about Suming's win, but A Joe, the operator who had sold the betting ticket to Suming, and the on-duty manager remembered it all too vividly. There were seldom such people who would angrily throw tens upon tens of thousands into a bet.
When A Joe took the ticket, her hands trembled, fearful of damaging the thin piece of paper worth over one hundred million.
"Mr.... please wait a moment, a senior executive will be with you to offer assistance..." A Joe said cautiously.
"Alright, no problem," Suming smiled at the young girl and then said to the nearby on-duty manager, "Hey, don't forget, donate two per thousand of my winnings directly to this lady as a thank you for bringing me good luck."
A Joe: "..."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Su, my position is too low to handle this. A senior executive from the Horse Club will assist you with the related matters shortly," said the plump on-duty manager with a smile on his face as bright as spring flowers, knowing that regardless of what kind of person this mainland customer, who he had just been cursing behind his back, was before, from this day on, he was someone the manager could not afford to offend.
While they were talking, a middle-aged woman wearing black-framed glasses, accompanied by four guards dressed like marines, appeared before them.
"Mr. Suming, hello. I'm Shen Jiayi, the Executive Vice President of the Xiangjiang Jockey Club, and I'll be handling the award procedures with you. Please follow me," the middle-aged woman said politely but with an unmistakably superior tone.
Seeing those guards, Suming chuckled, understanding that what he had been guarding against, or rather, what he had been expecting, had finally happened.
It definitely wouldn't be easy to walk away with one hundred million just like that.
He chuckled and said, "All right, please take care of my two friends."
"Rest assured, the Jockey Club has always upheld the principle that the customer is God," Shen Jiayi responded.
A group of people walked towards the office building behind the racecourse, leaving a bunch of entry-level employees at the service desk looking at each other in bewilderment.
"A Joe, you have to treat us to a meal today! One-thousandth of over a hundred million is more than two hundred thousand!" a young female staff member was the first to break the silence.
"Yes, yes, A Joe, the God of Wealth has come to your door; did you make a wish at Wong Tai Sin last week?"
The operators at the Horse Club were mostly young girls, and instantly, there was a chorus of chattering.
A Joe was still in a daze herself.
More than two hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars isn't too much, but it was definitely not a small amount either, especially since the economy has been down these last two years. Her husband, a programmer, only earned a monthly salary of twelve thousand dollars when he graduated last year, and it had increased to fifteen thousand this year. As for her own job as a ticket clerk, which required no special skills, she earned just under ten thousand a month.
"What are you doing, it's working hours; get back to work!" The portly manager glared, quelling the minor commotion.
"Sorry, Manager, it's all my fault." A Joe winked at her group of sisters and quickly took her seat in front of the computer.
The manager sat down beside her, suddenly changed his expression, and said softly with a very kind smile, "A Joe, maybe you should get that Su Sheng's phone number, find out what his background is? If there's an opportunity in the future, look out for your uncle here, you see, I'm getting on in years, and I still have a mortgage to pay off. It's tough."
"But you just said not to let yourself be fooled..." A Joe blinked her innocent eyes at the portly manager, unsure if she was being deliberate or truly naïve.
"Wow, what I meant was, don't let those lecherous guys who pretend to be wealthy trick you! He now has an estate worth over a hundred million dollars, a genuine wealthy man—that, of course, doesn't count as deceit," the manager said earnestly.
...
After Suming left the stands, Princess Anne and Lady Eugene in the VIP box also saw the detailed list of this period's winning bets.
"It's him! He actually won over a hundred million Hong Kong dollars?!"
The gambling industry of the Horse Club inherited the traditions of Western gambling, and because of the nature of gambling, whereby an individual wins public money, it must be transparent. There were no privacy protections, so details about who bought the lottery, how they placed their bets, and how much they won were all clearly accessible, and there were no incidences of collecting awards wearing a disguise.
Of course, the information published was limited to the most basic details, such as name, and included detailed personal information.
"Eh? He actually won a billion?!" Anne and Eugene were also quite shocked. Converted, it was about twenty million US dollars, which for those two members of the royal family, who despite having noble titles actually didn't have much money, was absolutely not a small number.
Even for Queen Elizabeth herself, twenty million US dollars was a significant amount.
"Alright, Eugene, if you look at his betting records, each time it's hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong dollars. He must be a nouveau riche from the mainland. As royalty, we should not get into conflicts or entanglements with these people; it's not good for our reputation. I'll take care of the car issue for you—don't be upset," Anne said.
Eugene suddenly smiled, "No, Sister Anne, I don't need your help, and I'm not upset at all! On the contrary, I'm very happy!"
Anne was taken aback; instead of being angry that the person who had offended her had made a fortune, Eugene was actually happy?
When had this little girl's character changed?
The more Eugene thought about it, the happier she became, her large eyes squinting into a line, resembling a crafty little fox as she put her arm around Anne's shoulder and said, "Sister Anne, he's won a billion. With that money, not only can I repair the car, no! I could totally buy several new ones, hmm, and even make up for the deficits in my vineyard and estate..."
"Eugene, what are you going to do?! I warn you, if you engage in illegal activities, Her Majesty the Queen will revoke your title and kick you out of the royal family," Anne, unsettled by her laughter, hurriedly warned.
"Don't worry, dear sister, I'm not that kind of bad girl who bullies others with her power!" Eugene chuckled as she clicked a few times on the screen: "Look at his betting record, he has been losing continuously, but each time he increases the amount, taking more daring gambles. What does this indicate?" ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
Royal princesses, regardless of their nature, have indeed received a thorough education and have some knowledge of psychology. Anne thought for a moment and said: "It indicates that this person is very impulsive and headstrong, to use Huaxia's words, he's concerned about 'face.' Hmm, he's also a typical tycoon, not lacking in money. Besides, he doesn't understand horses; the last win was probably just luck."
"Haha, that's right! With such a person, if I don't win all his money, it would simply be unfair to the twenty years of nurturing the British Empire has given me, wahahaha!"
The more Eugene talked, the happier she became, and finally, she just stood with her hands on her hips, laughing uproariously.
Princess Anne was speechless. Every time Eugene laughed like this, she had a bit of the secretive scheming quality of Queen Elizabeth in private. No wonder this younger sister was always making headlines, causing endless headaches for the royal family; yet Her Majesty still tenderly doted on her, not just because Eugene was the queen's granddaughter and seventh in line to the throne. Perhaps a more significant reason was that she was the one among so many grandchildren who most resembled Her Majesty the Queen.
"Alright then." Anne, helpless with her sister, could only spread out her hands and say, "Just don't make any trouble; betting on horses is fine. I'm going to prepare for the performance of the dressage routine at next week's Longines Cup opening ceremony. Do you want to come with me?"
"Sure! It'll be perfect for me to take a firsthand look at the horses participating in the race at the stables, so I can really determine their condition."
