By the time Gu Xiao got home, it was already deep into the night.
The faint click of the key sliding into the lock sounded especially clear in the corridor.
He pushed open the door. In the living room, only a dim yellow wall lamp was on, stretching Gu Hui’s figure long as he sat on the sofa watching television.
Almost the instant the door opened, a red shadow shot out from the back of the sofa like lightning and, with a whoosh, sprang onto Gu Xiao’s shoulder.
It was Xiao Jiu.
The little fellow waved its front paws excitedly, its glossy black eyes full of anger and grievance.
“It seems to have been waiting by the door all day.”
Gu Hui put down the newspaper and looked at the bristling ball of fur on his son’s shoulder, a gratified smile appearing on his face.
But when his gaze moved downward and noticed the black laptop bag in Gu Xiao’s hand, his smile was instantly replaced by surprise. “What’s that?”
“A favor.”
Gu Xiao walked into the living room and set his schoolbag and the laptop bag on the coffee table.
He rubbed Xiao Jiu’s head. The little fellow huffed and turned its head away, but in the end it did not dodge, merely sweeping its tail across his neck in dissatisfaction.
Gu Xiao sat down on the single sofa beside him. Under Gu Hui’s probing gaze, he briefly recounted what he had experienced over the past few days.
As Gu Hui listened, the expression on his face gradually shifted from its initial calm to astonishment.
When he heard Gu Xiao casually say, “I made a little over six hundred today,” he could not stop his mouth from falling open.
Gu Hui could understand that after experiencing a major upheaval, a person’s heart might change. Perhaps they would become more mature; perhaps they would strive harder.
But this whole series of moves from his own son…
How was this a change?
It was practically an evolution, wasn’t it!?
His voice was a little dry. “Why did you suddenly think of doing business?”
Gu Xiao lowered his eyes and said in a flat tone, “I’m about to become an adult. I have to find a path somehow.”
The air in the living room suddenly fell silent.
It was not that the conversation could not continue, but that there were too many things to say, too many things to ask, and yet no one knew how to begin.
Gu Hui had never been a man of broad experience.
He was also very clear that, no matter from what angle one looked at it, he was not a qualified father.
After an unknown length of silence, he finally said in a low voice,
“If you want to do it, then go do it. No matter what it is, I’ll support you.”
……
……
Back in his room, Gu Xiao began sorting out the assets he had on him.
After deducting the 400 yuan for renting the computer and the almost extravagant feast of reckless eating and drinking, the pockets that had originally been bulging became shriveled again. He had only 202 yuan left in hand.
The banknotes still carried the warmth of his body, and the amount looked shabby, but Gu Xiao was not upset.
Today, he had not merely made money. At the gates of several schools, he had also agreed on the time for the next transaction with those anxious parents.
The few new profile pictures added to his QQ account were all potential high-quality clients. Once word spread, more and more people would come to him to buy materials.
However, in Gu Xiao’s heart, compared with his friendship with Qiu Yuanyuan, all of that seemed to amount to nothing.
He took out the newspaper he had bought on the way back from his schoolbag and, by the light, flipped to the sports section.
The year 2002 was not only about the Korea-Japan World Cup.
Far away on the Apennine Peninsula, Serie A was in full swing, and on the British Isles, the Premier League was fiercely contested.
He had not considered the lottery before because there was no one he trusted. Now that he had one, it was as if his Ren and Du meridians had been opened. Gu Xiao’s gaze swept over the densely packed match schedule and standings, finally stopping on the “Serie A” section.
The football lottery at present had relatively simple gameplay. It was mainly the “win-draw-loss game,” which meant predicting the win, draw, or loss results of the 13 designated matches for that round.
To win a prize, one had to guess at least 12 of the 13 matches correctly.
It was extremely difficult, but the rewards were equally generous.
Atalanta’s upset victory over Inter Milan was a major event that had shocked the entire football world.
Knowing that Juventus would win the championship, he could rely on the original body’s football knowledge to easily reverse-deduce the results of at least 8 of the 13 matches.
For the remaining five matches, using “double selections” or “full coverage” would be enough to raise the winning probability to over 95%.
Gu Xiao picked up a pen and rapidly calculated on scratch paper.
Taking the second prize as the target: 8 matches as bankers, that is, single picks; 3 matches with double selections; 2 matches fully covered…
With this kind of multiple-entry betting, the cost would only be 144 yuan.
In this gamble, he was not betting on football, but on Qiu Yuanyuan’s character.
Gu Hui?
Forget it. With his personality, he would absolutely never agree, and Gu Xiao did not want to have too many dealings with him either.
……
……
He turned on the computer, plugged in the telephone line, and took out the telecom network card.
After entering the username and password from the card into the network interface, the familiar sound of telephone dialing came from the speaker.
Before long, a small window popped up on the computer screen showing “Connected,” and the online time below began to tick upward.
Gu Xiao sighed over how cumbersome it was to get online in this era, then opened QQ and entered his account and password.
In the friends list, Qiu Yuanyuan’s account, “Sunset Afterglow,” was impressively online.
He clicked the profile picture and typed a message.
[Wandering Muzi: Still not asleep?]
[Sunset Afterglow: If you have something to say, say it.]
Gu Xiao was chilled for a moment, unable to understand how a teenage girl could be so cold.
He braced himself and continued typing. [Can you have your brother help me buy a multiple-entry football lottery ticket?]
[Sunset Afterglow: Which matches? How do you want to buy?]
Gu Xiao answered one by one and attached the calculated amount.
Qiu Yuanyuan remained as sparing with words as ever.
[Sunset Afterglow: Wait.]
They had eaten together, at least. Couldn’t her attitude be a little gentler? Gu Xiao muttered a few words, then quietly began to wait. Feeling bored, he opened a webpage and started browsing the Tianya forum.
“The National Football Team Sets Out for the World Cup”
“The World Order After 9/11”
“Social and Economic Changes After China’s Accession to the WTO…”
One grand topic after another appeared before his eyes, and netizens from all over the country were scrambling to comment under the posts.
Gu Xiao suddenly felt that making money by compiling study materials was somewhat missing the bigger picture.
Pretending to be a public intellectual and academic heavyweight online, using knowledge from later generations to start debates on Tieba and build a personal IP, seemed like a better choice.
The butterfly effect might change the historical trajectory of a certain person or event, but it would be extremely difficult to affect the development process of a nation.
With the knowledge in his head, he could absolutely write an article like “Five Years of Changes in the International Situation.”
As long as it contained enough solid information, there was no need to worry it would not become popular.
Just as he was imagining himself playing an omniscient god and commenting on world affairs in the forum, QQ lit up with a friend request.
[“Playing Alone” requests to add you as a friend.]
Gu Xiao looked at this unfamiliar screen name and fell into confusion, but soon realized the other party was Qiu Xu and hurriedly accepted.
The chat window popped up rapidly: [Wandering Muzi? What kind of stupid screen name is that?]
Your “Playing Alone” isn’t much better, is it? Gu Xiao grumbled inwardly, then typed:
[Has Yuanyuan already told you?]
At the counter of Jisu Internet Cafe.
Qiu Xu looked at the two characters “Yuanyuan,” so angry that veins bulged on his forehead. But remembering that the person on the other side was a minor, he could only forcibly suppress the urge to curse.
[Playing Alone: So young and already learning bad habits, going off to gamble? Does your family know?]
[Wandering Muzi: No.]
Qiu Xu choked for a moment and suddenly felt that there was a reason his little sister liked hanging around with this guy.
[Playing Alone: I won’t help you buy it. Go to school properly!]
Gu Xiao froze for a moment, not expecting to be refused in this way, and suddenly felt that the other party was not that annoying after all.
Unfortunately, he would not compromise on this matter.
[Wandering Muzi: I can make a deal with you.]
[Playing Alone: Not interested.]
Qiu Xu revealed an amused smile, as if he could already see Gu Xiao on the other end flying into a rage.
Just as he was about to open a bottle of cola to celebrate, the newly updated message in the pop-up window startled him so badly that his back went ramrod straight.
[Wandering Muzi: I can let you activate Private Room Four at almost zero cost and turn a profit.]