Mei Fang led Xia Yuan to sneak out of the community and went to a football betting store at the entrance of the community. The owner yelled at them as soon as he saw the children coming in.
"Go away, go away, what are you doing in a place like this, kid? Get out!"
Seeing that the owner of the football betting shop looked ferocious, Xia Yuan subconsciously hid behind Mei Fang, holding on to Mei Fang's back tightly, while Mei Fang seemed very calm and composed.
"Hello uncle, I am running errands for my father to buy enough lottery tickets."
"Running errands..."
In the early 2000s, the rules and regulations in the small county were very lax, and adults liked to order children to run errands, such as buying cigarettes and lottery tickets, and they would give children 50 cents as errand fees.
Anyway, if he really won the prize, it would be impossible for such a young child to claim the prize himself.
So the boss asked: "Then hurry up and buy... What to buy?"
"My dad wants to buy the top four lottery, is it still available?"
"Coincidentally, today is the last day to vote for the Final Four. Did your dad tell you which teams to pick?"
"I said it, I said it! I can remember it."
In 2002, football lottery introduced many ways to play, the simplest and most straightforward of which were the top 16 competition, top 8 and top 4 competition.
The competition among the top 16 is actually a combination of win-lose lottery. You have to guess the win, loss and draw of all the games within 90 minutes in the knockout stage. If you guess all correctly, you can win the first prize, which is as high as 2 million.
However, in terms of probability, the chance of winning is 1/3 to the 16th power, which is a number infinitely close to 0.
The only way to guess the top eight is to guess the football teams that will advance to the top eight. That year, there was only one first prize for this award, and the betting amount was as high as 125 million. However, no one in the country won the prize. The reason was that dark horses frequently emerged, and one of the teams had only 1% support rate.
Please note that the top 8 guessing game is to select the top 8 from 32 teams instead of 8 from 16. If you get one wrong, you will not be able to win the prize and the probability of winning is quite low.
For Mei Fang, the only thing he could guess and remember was the top four teams in 2002.
"The champion chooses Samba... the runner-up is Debon, the third place is Tuji... and the fourth place is Bangzi? Are you sure your father chose these four teams? I remember correctly, and once you vote, you can't change it."
Mei Fang nodded to the shop owner, "These are the four my father was talking about. I remember them clearly!"
"Then don't regret it. How much do you want to bet? Two dollars a bet."
"5 bets, all the same."
"Here, for you."
Mei Fang asked the shop owner for the lottery ticket he had bought. Xia Yuan kept pulling at his clothes, "Okay... Can we go now?"
"Alright, alright, let's go."
Mei Fang was contented to get the code to his wealth after rebirth, but Xia Yuan seemed very unhappy.
"Mei Fang, you are so mean. You borrowed money from me just to buy this thing. You even lied to that uncle just now, saying that you were running errands for Dad..."
"I didn't lie. I was just running errands for my father." Mei Fang stuck out her tongue.
"Then why doesn't your father give you money?"
"My father has no money. The money is all with my mother. I will pay you back later."
"How could the Lord have no money? I don't believe it."
Xia Yuan puffed up her cheeks and looked very unhappy. Mei Fang thought about it and felt a little embarrassed for having lied to her.
"Alright, alright, we're done. Now we can go on an adventure together!"
"Isn't the adventure you're talking about the one just now?" Xia Yuan tilted his head in confusion.
"That was just running errands." Mei Fang wiped his nose, "From now on, we are on a real adventure."
After hearing what Mei Fang said, Xia Yuan's brows that were originally furrowed in anger finally relaxed, and her pouty mouth slightly raised, "Where are we... going?"
"Come with me."
Mei Fang took Xia Yuan for a stroll on the street. He thought that this kind of child must have never been shopping alone, so he could just take a stroll and then return to the community.
Although this was a street she often walked hand in hand with her parents, Xia Yuan was full of curiosity about everything around her.
Children of this age have many things they want to try, but their parents always stop them on the grounds that they are unsafe.
Cats in the pet shop window, an old stone bridge over the river, and a bustling street market.
The more crowded the place was, the tighter Xia Yuan held Mei Fang's clothes. Xia Yuan walked slower and almost tore Mei Fang's clothes.
"What are you doing so hard?"
Xia Yuan hesitantly explained, "If you suddenly disappeared, I would be lost..."
Mei Fang thought for a moment and said, "Then just hold my hand instead of pulling my clothes."
"good!"
Xia Yuan clenched Mei Fang's hand tightly. The warmth from his palm immediately made her feel much more at ease.
At the end of the busy street, there was a vendor selling cotton candy. Xia Yuan stopped here and watched the cotton candy owner making cotton candy on the spot. The children around him formed a circle around him. A big sign on the cotton candy said the price was 1 yuan per piece.
"You want to eat this?"
Xia Yuan nodded, "But my mother never buys it for me."
"Stationery and stickers and stuff..."
Mei Fang sighed and said, "It's a pity that I don't have money. If I had money, I would definitely treat you to cotton candy."
"Well... How about this, I have money, I can lend it to you first, and then you can buy it for me."
"… "
Mei Fang watched the silly girl take out two coins from her bag and then hand them to her with a look of full expectation.
"Uncle, I want some marshmallows."
Mei Fang handed the cotton candy she bought to Xia Yuan, "Here, it's my treat."
"Thank you... But the marshmallow is so big, I can't finish it by myself. Can we share it?"
"I don't need it, you can eat it yourself."
Xia Yuan took a bite of the marshmallow and was immediately shocked by its melt-in-the-mouth texture.
"It melts as soon as you lick it. So greasy and delicious!"
"As long as you like..."
Although she was from a wealthy family, she was still just a little girl who had never seen the world.
Xia Yuan focused all her attention on eating the marshmallows, with her other hand still being held by Mei Fang. As expected, her face was covered with so much marshmallows that she looked like a harlequin cat.
After that, Xia Yuan kept crying, worried that her mother would find out. It was not until Mei Fang took her back to the sink in the community to wash her face that she stopped crying.
As the sun sets and smoke rises from cooking fires, the aroma of home-cooked meals can already be smelled in every household in the community.
Xia Yuan and Mei Fang sat on a bench in the community to rest. Xia Yuan was wiping his face with a handkerchief while Mei Fang was bathing in the evening sunset.
The temperature in June was just right. The sounds of snack vendors speaking in a dialect outside the community came closer and closer, and she felt as if she were in another world. Mei Fang subconsciously closed her eyes, enjoying the tranquility of the moment.
It has been a long time since I have experienced such a leisurely and relaxing time...
When Mei Fang opened his eyes, he found Xia Yuan holding his cheek with one hand, staring at him with curiosity.
"Mei Fang, what are you thinking about?"
Mei Fang said bluntly, "I am thinking about how to make a lot of money in the future."
Xia Yuan puffed up her cheeks immediately, "Your dream is too boring!"
"So what do you want to be when you grow up?"
"Me..." Xia Yuan thought for a while and answered, "In the future, I want to be a primary school teacher like my mother."
"So your mother is a teacher? Why do you want to do this job..."
Based on Mei Fang's understanding of Xia Yuan, he thought that Xia Yuan, who had the personality of a little angel, would say something like being a selfless gardener who burns herself to light up others.
However, Xia Yuan's answer surprised Mei Fang.
"Because, teachers have a lot of holidays, Saturdays, Sundays, summer vacation, winter vacation, Mid-Autumn Festival, New Year's Day, and get off work very early. My mother is like that, it's so relaxing!"
Well... I have to say, children's thoughts are really pure.
Mei Fang tapped Xia Yuan's head gently.
"Why did you hit me..."
Although she looked aggrieved, Xia Yuan did not actually cry.
"You said you wanted to be a teacher, but in the end you just wanted to have fun."
"Wait, I haven't finished yet..." Xia Yuan excitedly talked about his future plans, "Besides, if I become a teacher, I can spend my whole life with children. We can go on outings together, and I will only assign a little homework, and ah..."
Mei Fang never thought that one day she would be like this, listening to a little kid talk about her ideals in life.
Strangely, he didn't seem impatient at all.
The two children chatted like this. Most of the time, it was Xia Yuan who talked, and Mei Fang occasionally interjected. As they talked, Xia Yuan gradually became tired and his speech became a little slurred.
When Mei Fang was about to ask her if she wanted to go home, Xia Yuan fell headfirst onto Mei Fang's shoulder and fell asleep from exhaustion.
…
Mei Fang did not rush to wake her up immediately, but maintained this posture for some time.
Mei Fang was thinking as he felt the pleasant and refreshing evening breeze at the beginning of summer.
Perhaps in that distant past life, Xia Yuan had also had such an innocent time with him, but that time had been completely forgotten by him under the wash of time.
But whether it really happened in the past or not, it is always happening now.
And now he will definitely cherish it.
Thank you all for your votes! This is the double update I promised today, Cao Manjun will present it to you now! Please support me~
(End of this chapter)