Special Chapter: Old Wu Nine's World Cup

Winter snow in the valley lay deep and soft, heavy upon the thatched eaves of the gatehouse, plain yet strangely lovely.

At that moment, Wu Ning sat calmly in the courtyard, offering cups of clear tea to his guests.

"Wu, you little rascal!"

A thunderous shout rang from outside the gate, and in stormed a magnificently dressed man, all bluster and grandeur.

"And you did not even call me over to watch? You damn cheapskate!"

"Crazy?" Wu Ning frowned, instinctively glancing at the two friends seated with him.

He hurriedly rose to meet Tang Yi, grabbed his arm, and growled in his ear, "We are brothers here. Don't embarrass me!"

"Huh." Tang Yi blinked in confusion, only then noticing that Wu Ning had guests as well.

"Who are they?"

Before he could finish, and the moment he recognized the two men in the courtyard, he flew into a rage and bawled again:

"So it's you, Wu, you little scoundrel. Trying to poach my brothers? Aren't these my own book club comrades? How did they end up here instead of with me?"

"Ahem."

Wu Ning immediately felt guilty and cleared his throat awkwardly. "All brothers, all brothers! Brother Maple and Brother Hearth were merely touring the Tang Empire, happened to pass through Fang Prefecture, happened to catch the World Cup, happened to..."

"With all these 'happens to,' as brothers, you surely believe me, right?"

"Believe you my ass!" Tang Yi glared and snapped.

Among their whole circle, this fellow was the shrewdest and slipperiest; otherwise no one would have taken to calling him Wu, the Little Scoundrel.

He dragged Maple and Old Hearth toward him. "Come, come, come with me to the Song Empire to watch the matches. It is a hundred times better than this thatched shed!"

Maple and Hearth were speechless at once, exchanging bitter smiles as they shook off Tang Yi's grip.

"I say, Zihao, when it comes to fighting, brawling, and going off the rails, your natural gifts are something my brother and I do acknowledge. But when it comes to seeing the whole field and judging the moment, we still have to look to the ninth brother's wit!"

"What would you do going to the Song Empire? Lose your whole fortune, that's what."

Hearing that Maple and Hearth were both defending him, Wu Ning was delighted and used the chance to drag Tang Yi back to the table.

"Sit down!"

He chided him with mock annoyance. "Wherever we watch it, it is still watching. What difference does it make if we watch in the Tang Empire? With brothers here, I guarantee you win every bet!"

"No..." Tang Yi flushed red. "Now that I cannot accept. Then tell me this: yesterday, Portugal versus Spain, who did you bet on?"

At this question, Old Hearth merely spread his hands. "I bought the draw. Made a small profit, that is all."

"Huh." Tang Yi was speechless. You actually dared bet on a draw?

Brother Maple fell into thought. "I was a bit more conservative. I only took Portugal for the first half, then went after the over in the second. It was... acceptable, I suppose."

Tang Yi was nearly in tears. An Iberian Peninsula derby, and you dared take the over?

He turned to Wu Ning. "And you?"

Wu Ning gave a helpless little smirk. "Too poor to be careful. I had to go for a long shot, so I bet on the exact score: three to three."

"What?"

Tang Yi could not stay calm. "Did you get Qi Lei to help you or what? How else would you know the score was three to three?!"

Wu Ning grew even smugger. "Why would I need Qi Stone? Nothing more than intelligence."

At that, he began to analyze it for Tang Yi.

"First, you need to understand two things.

"The World Cup is a matter of national honor, yes, but it is also a business. Even if you do not want to admit it, commercial value is the very reason it has survived to this day and become one of the world's largest sporting events.

"So the outcome of a match is not only a contest of strength, not only a struggle between nations, but also a continuation of business by other means.

"Second, in today's football market, a transfer fee for a player can easily run into the millions, even the hundreds of millions. Shirt sponsorships begin at hundreds of thousands of euros, with no upper limit. Do you really think that value comes from nowhere?

"If you were the boss of Coca-Cola or Pepsi, would you spend tens of millions of euros just to print a logo on a jersey? The return on that investment would be far too low.

"Moreover, the usual way the European football market works is this: big companies generally sign with agencies for football advertising, not directly with teams or players.

"And the key lies with those agencies."

Hearing this, Tang Yi could not help exclaiming, "So you mean that agency must be making a fortune."

The major leagues of Europe—what a market. There was plenty of business to be done there.

"Wrong." Wu Ning shook his head.

"On the contrary, those agencies are losing money. They spend millions to buy players and advertising rights at a premium, then sell them on to the big companies or the clubs at a lower price."

"Why would anyone do that?" Tang Yi did not understand. "Who would make losing deals?"

"Losing money?" Maple could not help laughing.

He lifted his teacup and sneered, "People like William Hill, Ladbrokes, and the other powers behind the curtain have no idea how much they make. They can certainly afford this little bit."

"!!!!"

Tang Yi was startled at last, finally understanding what Wu Ning was getting at.

"You mean William Hill and Ladbrokes are the real deep-pocketed backers of the entire European football market?"

Indeed. Football may be competitive sport, but the important thing is business.

Though no one liked to admit it, betting remained the fattest cut of meat in that business.

Tang Yi suddenly understood. "You are saying the bookmakers control the matches?"

Wu Ning said, "Why would they need to control them? When every player in Europe is eating from their bowl, who would not owe them a favor? The money spent on you has to be earned back, does it not?

"Look at this group with Portugal and Spain. There was never any doubt about those two advancing. If this match was not meant to be staged for you, then what was it for?

"Everyone knows Spain is a little stronger, with the better chance of winning. Everyone also thinks the gap between the two sides is not that large, and Spain's defense is an iron barrel.

"Everyone thinks Portugal has only Ronaldo and cannot score too many. If the match were played strictly on strength and the result followed that logic, then the bookmakers would already be bankrupt.

"And only with a draw does this group become truly workable.

"These two teams are both of such high quality, and Morocco lost to Iran, so then..."

Wu Ning raised his brows.

"Then when they play Morocco, won't it be child's play? Everyone will pile their money on Spain and Portugal again.

"But what if it ends in a draw?"

Wu Ning smiled with meaning. "It would not affect qualification anyway."

"Dammit!" Tang Yi swore.

"They would make a killing!"

"Exactly." Maple spread his hands with a smile. "That is football gambling. Sometimes it has nothing to do with strength."

"I get it!" Tang Yi nodded hard. "As expected of General Wu, the Little Scoundrel. You really do have the most schemes!"

Wu Ning accepted the praise with complete composure and stepped forward with a sly grin to console him. "Follow me, and I'll take you to the feast."

Tang Yi said nothing. Quietly, he took out his phone and called his precious daughter, Tang Yu.

"Little Sugar..."

"First, help your father with something."

"William Hill, Ladbrokes, and whatever other names your father has not remembered—look them up online yourself, and buy all of those companies for me."

"Yes. Right now."

"Also, send a telegram to Yelü Hongji and have him lead his troops to surround every World Cup stadium for me!"

"Mm. Tell your mother I am heading back now."

After hanging up, Tang Yi slowly stood. He looked at Wu Ning, then at Maple and Hearth.

"Well then..."

"You keep having your fun. I am leaving."

"Wait!" Maple called out hurriedly.

"This, this..."

"Tang Empire is fun enough already... come on, I will go wander the Song Empire with you."

"Me too! Me too!" Hearth rose as well. "Fang Prefecture is still too cold. Let's go bask in the sun at Cliff Prefecture."

As they spoke, the three of them laughed and chatted, stepping out side by side and leaving Wu Ning standing alone in the courtyard, staring blankly.

"That is enough..."

"Picking on me?"

He turned around in confusion, just in time to see his ugly uncle emerge from the house.

Wu Ning broke into a grin. "Uncle..."

"You are on your own. I am off to the Song Empire with that madman."

With that, he chased after Tang Yi.

"Brother Tang, wait for me!"

But just as he reached the gate, a giant foot suddenly shot out of the void and kicked him right back into the courtyard.

"Get back in there!"

"Do not even think of going anywhere until the real work is done!"

...

The following is merely my own wild guess, offered only to give everyone a laugh.

Let this stand as a memory of the passionate World Cup dawn of June 16, 2018, spent with Maple and Old Hearth.