Super Zoo

After the first race ended, the gamblers took advantage of the intermission to either go collect their winnings or place bets for the next race.

Wealth departs and happiness remains, as long as there's gambling to be done, the gambler doesn't consider it a loss. Gamblers will not leave the track until they've spent their last penny; as long as the horse races continue throughout the day, there is endless hope, and the vast racecourse is like a perpetual money-sucking machine, constantly absorbing vast fortunes without rest.

"Not! Happy! At all!"

Nangong muttered, she and Suming had both bet on Big Happy to win, but Big Happy came in second, just a hair away from first place.

It was Wang Hao who had casually bet on 'Governor's Scepter' to win, and earned over six thousand.

"You're still not satisfied? You forgot I also bet on the triple trio and the double!"

Nangong, confused by these more complex betting types, asked cluelessly, "Did you win anything then?"

Suming and Nangong were in line to collect their prizes when he looked at the three horse tickets in his hand and said, "Yellow River Enterprises suddenly burst forward, so the triple trio was a miss; but it looks like the double won with Governor's Scepter and Big Happy coming in first and second."

Before Nangong could respond, several punters in line in front of them turned around, faces filled with envy and jealousy.

"Wow, the young chap hit the double, he's made a fortune!"

"Ridiculous, even Big Happy can come in second, that's just not right!"

Seeing how excited the people around her were, Nangong started to grasp the situation, guessing that the double must have paid quite a bit, she widened her eyes and asked Suming, "How many times the bet did you win? Is it more than a single bet?"

"Miss, do you understand horse racing? A single bet, at most 12 times the money, that's peanuts. This young man hit the double, and with an outsider like Big Happy in it, it's at least 60 times!" said an old man with a fan, interjecting with a smile.

"6... 60 times!" Instantly, Nangong's eyes filled with countless little stars, tugging at Suming's sleeve, "Wow, we're made!"

"Can you show a bit of restraint, you're almost drooling," Suming chuckled, not taking it too seriously.

Five hundred bucks at 60 times is just thirty-odd thousand Hong Kong dollars, not much for him. Even for Nangong, with a month's salary, bonuses, and subsidies and all, her income was over ten thousand, so thirty thousand wasn't startling.

Though it wasn't a big deal, he was still quite happy, as this money was like found loot; after all, he wasn't relying on horse racing to get rich, it was all for the thrill.

"Yellow River Enterprises, sounds like it's sponsored by Li Chaoren's group. If it wasn't for that bugger, we would have hit the triple trio, now that would've been the real jackpot, a thousand times!" Suming laughed.

"Right, right, right, Li Chaoren's such a scoundrel, already so rich but still competing with us common folks over this little bit of horse racing money, it's despicable!" Nangong nodded vigorously.

Nangong's words were purely a woman's irrational complaint. If it were a major race, the prize money earned by a horse, most of it, about 70%-80%, goes to the owner, the jockey gets around 10%-20%; unless Li Chaoren himself had purchased that horse, he wouldn't get a cent. With Yellow River Enterprises being such a large group, sponsoring a few named racehorses was perfectly normal, and might not have had anything to do with Li Chaoren personally.

However, Nangong was pretty and lively. Hearing her speak like this, many of the people in line to collect their winnings at Xiangjiang laughed, and some even cursed Li Chaoren along with her.

Li Chaoren occupies a strange position in the hearts of the people of Xiangjiang. Everywhere in their lives, they can see the shadow of the Li JiaChen Group, living in Li Chaoren's buildings, using his group's water, electricity, and gas, furnished with his group's furniture, and seeing his retail companies and metros outside.

Some say, from birth to death, for every action and every penny spent by a person in Xiangjiang, a portion flows into Li Chaoren's pocket. Thus, the ordinary people of Xiangjiang both love and hate him.

After collecting the winnings, calculating the odds, it came to thirty-eight thousand Hong Kong dollars, a thick stack held in hand like a brick.

The greatest magic of the casino is not that those who lose money don't want to leave, but that those who win don't either. Anyway, Suming and Nangong didn't care about thirty or forty thousand dollars, so they decided to keep playing; there were seven races left that day.

This time they bet big, staking two thousand dollars each on single win, double, place, triple trio, and single T. Nangong, influenced by Suming's recent double win, gave up on the single and instead placed three doubles.

The forty thousand they'd just earned was quickly spent by more than twenty thousand.

The old man with the fan who had spoken earlier saw Suming increase his bets in a blink and couldn't help shaking his head, with the look of someone who's been there, advising, "Young man, there are no undefeated generals at the racetrack, uncle's lifetime of experience tells me, when you win, quit while you're ahead."

"If you're so knowledgeable, uncle, why are you still queuing to bet just like me? That's the charm of gambling, you know you'll lose, but you just can't resist taking the chance," Suming responded.

The old man looked stunned, then burst out laughing, "All gamblers in the world are the same, unwilling to leave until they're cleaned out. Uncle here is wishing you luck."

"Wishing you luck as well," Suming waved his pile of betting slips at the old man and headed back to the member's area with Nangong.

The second race started quickly, a middle-distance race of one thousand meters. Before this race, Suming didn't communicate with the horses, but instead relied on the recommendations of the experts in the racing guide to place random bets, and the result was twenty thousand dollars gone in an instant.

Before the third race began, Suming learned from his earlier mistake. It was clear these so-called experts couldn't be trusted at all. If he believed them, he would end up bankrupt and pant-less!

Bringing Nangong and the twelve horses from the third race, Suming had a heart-to-heart with each of them.

This race overlapped with some of the horses from the first race. Da Kuai Huo was still in, and unexpectedly, the Lion Castle Dragon that made a fool of itself in the first race was also there.

Da Kuai Huo was brimming with confidence this time, its eyes full of fighting spirit; while Lion Castle Dragon still had its rascal look, as if it didn't care about anything and had the attitude that it didn't matter if it wasn't allowed to race.

It seemed like this was a horse with a story.

Back at the betting point, Suming saw that old man again.

The old man, clutching a win bet ticket, appeared elated, having likely won a lot in the second race, probably earning about tenfold.

Seeing Suming toss his betting ticket into the trash can casually, the old man, waving his fan, came over and said triumphantly, "Young man, you lost, didn't you? There's a saying in the mainland, 'Ignoring the advice of the elders leads to immediate loss.' Uncle wasn't wrong, was he? Giving away twenty thousand to the Horse Club like that, you might as well take a pretty girl to a bar."

Only when he got closer did Suming notice that the old man had a tattoo on his forearm and walked with a noticeable limp, his fan-shaking hand trembling constantly as if he had suffered a severe injury. It seemed likely that in his youth, the old man might have been involved with gangs.

There are many such elderly people in Xiangjiang, who were once influential in gangs, cruising around in Benzes, but now retired due to injuries or other reasons, had a bleak old age, with no children and alone, spending their days gambling on horses, watching operas, and shooting the breeze with the youth to pass the time.

The old man had the money to bet on horses and could sit in the members' seats, which at least meant he was doing okay financially, not one of those destitute, down-and-out big shots sleeping on the streets.

But this was none of my concern. As a Communist Party member, should I be afraid of a retired gang leader? Suming chuckled and replied, "There is another saying in the mainland, 'From the people, for the people.' I'm a Party member; consider that money a donation to charity."

The old man laughed exaggeratedly, "Young man, trying to scare uncle with the People's Liberation Army?"

Both were joking around, and after laughing and talking, it was Suming's turn to place his bets.

This time, he only bet five thousand on the win, but Nangong's ambitions were growing. She even placed a bet on a trifecta with over a thousand odds, claiming that if she was going to win, she might as well win big!

When the third round began, Da Kuai Huo charged out of the gate in the lead, maintaining a huge advantage from start to finish, crossing the finish line three horse lengths ahead of the second place.

Nangong lost a thousand, while Suming's bet on Da Kuai Huo to win, at eleven to one, pushed his capital to over sixty thousand.

With previous experience, Suming had a good grasp of the horses' temperaments, making communication even more effective.

In the following two races, Suming placed five bets—three misjudged losses and two correct wins.

In horse racing, big rewards come from small bets. When you lose, it's just a small capital, but a win can bring in several times, dozens of times, or even hundreds of times the investment.

From the two wins, one was again at 66 to one for a double, and the other was a single T at 220 to one, skyrocketing his capital to a staggering 720,000. Any more than that, and he would not settle in cash, but rather directly into a card or a horse betting account.

Nangong's purse was stuffed with cash, she was smiling so much her face almost went numb, hugging her bag close like she had scored a fat little boy, following behind Suming.

"Hey, hey, we've won so much money, won't the racetrack send gangsters to rob us?" Nangong, having seen plenty of Xiangjiang movies, asked Suming quietly and with some concern.

If it was an underground illegal betting den, winning that much would definitely mean not getting out. But the Horse Club and the racecourse had legit government backing, and it wouldn't be like what Nangong described, not even for winning over sixty million, let alone six hundred million. Just like winning the lottery, the winners are not only not hunted down by the government, but the government also helps keep it confidential and provides security.

The old man who'd been pretending to be an experienced ex-gang member was no longer acting the part. He followed Suming, treating him like a guiding light. Whatever Suming bet on, the old man would follow suit.

After placing a bet, the old man caught up from behind with his fan, pulling Suming aside, and asked mysteriously, "Young man, do you have some insider info? Give Uncle a hint, and I'll give you a cut of the profits."

"Those kinds of jokes could get people killed, Uncle. I'm just a tourist from the mainland; where would I get insider info? It's just good luck," Suming shrugged.

"Uncle's been betting his whole life and has never seen such good luck," the old man persisted.

After each race, the big screen would display a list of those who won the most, including winners, their methods, and the amounts, to stimulate more betting. Of course, there were no specific winner's details, represented instead by a Mr. or Ms. So-and-So.

By the fourth race, the name 'Mr. Su' had appeared on the big screen, in eighth place.

By the end of the fifth race, some of the shrewder gamblers noticed that there was still a Mr. Su on the screen, but he had climbed to third place.

At the start of the sixth race, the moment the twelve horses burst out of the gates, even Suming, who had been unfazed until now, couldn't help but feel a jolt in his heart, clenching his fists with sweat starting to form in his palms.

Nangong was too nervous to speak, clinging tight to Suming, her hands trembling slightly.

This time Suming placed three bets, all in various combinations, with the lowest at 66 to one for a double, betting a minimum of twenty thousand on the three methods!