Guan Yao rested at home for another two days, using the time to pick up all the little joys of life she had previously neglected in her busy routine.
She would sleep until she woke up naturally, then leisurely prepare a lavish breakfast.
In the afternoons, she would still sit by the window, reading a good book accompanied by soft music.
Pleasant times always fly by, and in the blink of an eye, it was June 17th.
Today, Guan Yao planned to visit the lottery shop once more.
If you ask why?
Naturally, to pick up her merchandise!
That’s right, she now referred to this activity of hers as restocking.
Every time she walked out with a massive bundle of cash, wasn’t that just like restocking?
Humming a little tune, she walked into the shop. As soon as she crossed the threshold, she spotted two familiar figures—Blondie and Deng Xueyan.
Deng Xueyan was standing inside the lottery shop, one hand clamped tightly over her backside, her two legs looking as though they had been glued together and then forcefully pried apart. Every step she took was exceptionally arduous, and her toes trembled slightly every time they touched the ground.
Her once meticulously styled hair was somewhat disheveled at the moment, with a few stray strands plastered across her sweat-beads-drenched forehead.
To slightly alleviate the agonizing, needle-like pain in her rear, her walking posture had become utterly bizarre. Her whole body listed to one side like an unbalanced roly-poly toy.
With every tiny step she took, she had to take a deep breath, bite her lower lip, and squeeze out a few muffled groans of pain from between her teeth.
Looking closely, tears even flickered in her eyes—tears of grievance born from being tormented by hemorrhoids to the point of pain and frustration.
As she laboriously shuffled her feet, she kept muttering under her breath:
"Damn these wretched hemorrhoids, it hurts so much! It’s all that jinx Guan Yao’s fault; if it weren’t for her, would I be this unlucky?"
From time to time, she changed the posture of holding her backside, but no matter how she adjusted, that piercing pain clung to her like a shadow, making every movement she made full of misery and humiliation.
Guan Yao chuckled inwardly, feeling not a shred of sympathy for her.
Stupid woman, bringing this on herself!
Blondie and Deng Xueyan also saw Guan Yao, and Deng Xueyan’s already sullen face turned even more flushed.
She glared viciously at Guan Yao, as if Guan Yao were her mortal enemy.
Meanwhile, Blondie stood off to the side, his gaze betraying a trace of reluctance and defiance.
"Well, if it isn't Guan Yao? What, here to buy lottery tickets again?"
Deng Xueyan said sarcastically.
Immediately afterward, having aggravated her injury, her expression shifted, and she said viciously, "You got lucky last time, but it won't be that easy today!"
Guan Yao raised an eyebrow and responded dismissively:
"What I buy is none of your business."
"If you still want to bet against me, be my guest."
"However, I’m warning you, don't come crying when you lose again."
Hearing this, Deng Xueyan threw a tantrum, which ended up aggravating the injury on her backside and making her gasp in pain with an "Ouch!"
"Don't get cocky! We're definitely going to win this time."
"My boyfriend has analyzed it. Today's match is completely different from last time."
Blondie also chimed in, putting on a brave face: "That's right, we've studied this one thoroughly."
"We're betting the opposite of you, and the Cavaliers are definitely going to win this match!"
Too lazy to argue with them, Guan Yao went straight to the owner and said, "Boss, I'd like to buy tickets for today's game. I'll bet on the Warriors to win the championship, for the same amount."
As he processed the transaction, the owner couldn't help advising, "Young lady, these lottery outcomes are hard to predict. You should still take it easy."
Guan Yao smiled and nodded, indicating she knew what she was doing.
Seeing that Guan Yao had already finished her purchase, Deng Xueyan immediately urged Blondie:
"Quick, let's buy the opposite! Buy more this time and win back everything we lost last time!"
Blondie's face ached with reluctance, but unable to win against Deng Xueyan, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and say, "Fine, I'll bet on the Cavaliers to win."
Seeing this, the owner kept working the terminal and asked, "How much?"
Blondie's expression instantly froze.
Seeing him hesitate, Deng Xueyan threw a fit and shouted, "Buy twice as much as her!"
"Buy thirty-five thousand!"
At this point, Blondie's expression was a sight to behold.
However, this was no longer just a battle between Deng Xueyan and Guan Yao.
Blondie felt his status as a basketball expert being questioned, something he simply could not accept.
He gritted his teeth and pulled a bundle of cash from his jacket.
After counting it over and over, recounting it left and right as if terrified of making a mistake, he reluctantly handed it over to the owner.
In the end, he was left with just a hundred-yuan bill in his hand.
Seeing that Blondie had finished buying the tickets, Deng Xueyan did not forget to hurl a harsh threat at Guan Yao:
"Guan Yao, you just wait and see. You're definitely going to be the loser this time!"
Guan Yao merely smiled faintly and paid them no further mind.
She knew very well that these two were merely acting out of blind spite and understood nothing about analysis.
They hadn't even done any analysis; it was purely out of spite.
She trusted her own judgment and looked forward to the moment of the draw, letting the facts teach these two unreasonable people a lesson.
Unexpectedly, Deng Xueyan flared up at that moment: "Don't leave!"
"Why would I leave?"
"The owner has a TV right here in the shop. Let's watch the game live right here!"
Guan Yao had originally intended to ignore her, but seeing her jumping up and down and wincing in pain every now and then as she stretched her injury, she found it utterly hilarious.
Very well, she'd stay a bit longer to see if anything even funnier would happen.
Seeing that Guan Yao had no intention of leaving, Deng Xueyan and Blondie were immensely pleased.
Today, they were going to prove themselves right here!
Faced with a few hard-won major clients, the owner self-consciously brought over three stools.
"Ouch!" This cry came from Deng Xueyan, who jumped right back up the moment she sat down.
"Your stool is so hard! Couldn't you have brought a cushion over?" she snapped at the owner in a temper.
The owner was somewhat displeased by now. He had been kind enough to get her a chair, and she was still being picky.
She was thoroughly spoiled!
"There isn't one, this is the only one. Take it or leave it." With that, the owner turned his attention back to the television on his own.
Left with no choice, Deng Xueyan had to watch the game standing up.
From time to time, Deng Xueyan glared at Guan Yao's back with venomous eyes, muttering under her breath and cursing Guan Yao to lose her entire fortune this time.
Blondie wore a gloomy expression, his eyes locked onto the television broadcasting the game in the shop, his grip on the lottery tickets so tight that his knuckles turned white from the force.
Finally, the whistle blew, and the game began.
At first, the situation was unclear, with both teams trading baskets. Deng Xueyan and Blondie's hearts hung suspended in the air.
Deng Xueyan paced back and forth in place, chanting under her breath:
"Come on, Cavaliers! Hit them hard, don't let that Guan Yao get her way."
Blondie frowned, his eyes glued to the screen without blinking, beads of sweat dotting his forehead as he occasionally spat out a few words: "Quick, shoot the ball!"
As the game progressed, however, the situation gradually turned in a direction unfavorable to Deng Xueyan and Blondie.