When the rankings came out, some people were happy, while others were worried. A few people in the tour group who had been in high spirits were now sighing as if they had been hit by frost. However, the others were just playing around. They didn't buy much and didn't feel bad about it. They were more curious about the farm owners who had placed bets on Team Three.
The farm owners who were sitting there did not look too dejected. They even had smiles on their faces as they discussed the possibility of the seventh team making it to the semi-finals of the Eastern Conference and the finals of the continent. After all, the leading dog of the seven teams today was too sharp.
"Shoubei Farm is really ambitious this year. Two years ago, they were just average. I heard they had a trump card this year, and they've been treating it like a treasure."
"Shoubei Farm doesn't have to spend money on advertising this year. That dog is the best advertisement. Who knows, it might even pull in some big investors. I'm so jealous!"
On the screen, the commentator seemed to like the lead dog of Team Seven. "Shoubei Farm's seventh team takes first place today. Lead dog A is the best of the day. Let's take a look at its profile. It's a one-year-old golden shepherd dog, Golden Colt, making its first appearance in a competition. Many onlookers are flocking over. They probably want to take photos with Golden Colt. There are many tourists from other continents... "
Zuo Yu glanced at the introduction on the screen and whispered to Fang Zhao, "Boss, how do you know that dog will win?"
"Intuition," Fang Zhao replied.
The dog did look fierce, and its eyes were very sharp. Perhaps many people would think that the dog was too aggressive and impulsive when it came out to pasture, but in fact, it was not the kind of dog that was very aggressive. It was very restrained and smart, like a well-trained soldier that knew when to carry out a certain task. It was indeed the case. It led the other dogs in the team and carried out the coach's daily training very well.
When Fang Zhao had seen the dog when he'd looked up the information on each team, he'd felt something familiar. It reminded him of the combat dogs that had existed during the end of days. Although Golden Colt was still a distance away from the combat dogs of the past, it had done a good job as a shepherd dog in the New Era. Combined with some of the experience his old friend Su Mu had imparted to Fang Zhao, he had chosen Team Seven to win first place.
As for the other teams, Fang Zhao had ranked them according to the results of his analysis. There was also a certain amount of luck involved. As for the sixth and seventh places, there were too many variables, so Fang Zhao had only placed bets on the order of the top five.
"Sigh, looks like Muzhou's farm owners are used to playing this game. They don't feel the pinch even after throwing so much money into it," someone whispered.
Hearing this, Wu Yi snickered to himself.
Don't feel heartache?
How could this be? Did they really think that their money fell from the sky?
But this time, his cousin's farm was participating, so he had to give her some face. When the time came, he still had to show the betting slip to others. This was proof of his support. Maybe his cousin would be happy and give him another puppy.
Why wasn't he depressed? When he placed his bet, his wife also placed a million dollars on Shoubei Farm in the seventh team. Although he really wanted his cousin's farm to win, compared to the other teams in the same team, the news about Shoubei Farm this year was a little shocking. So, he asked his wife to place another bet. The two of them placed their bets. Overall, they did not win any money. They even had to pay some taxes, but the taxes were small amounts. As long as they did not make a loss, it was fine. Wu Yi was still very satisfied.
Other small farm owners had definitely placed bets on Team 7 in secret, but they would not say it out loud, especially not to people from other continents. He could not wait for people from other continents to bet with him. Even if they lost, they could still contribute to Muzhou. Every year, the Muzhou government spent a lot of money and manpower on improving the land, crops, and animal husbandry. It was used for technological development and construction, and every year, the sheep-herding competition sucked in a lot of money from Muzhou tourists. Regarding this, farm owners were very happy. They were very happy to scam others.
Wu Yi was very happy to see those tourists from other continents throwing money. Catching a glimpse of their dejected looks, Wu Yi was secretly happy. But when his gaze swept to Fang Zhao's table, he paused.
"Hey, those two fellas over there, did you place your bets just now? How did it go? "Wu Yi asked loudly." Looking at you guys, you should have won, right? " They were not people waiting to die. If they did not have the slightest bit of brains, how could they manage a medium-sized farm steadily? Wu Yi's ability to discern people's thoughts from their body language was quite good. The two over there had smiles on their faces. Even if they had not made a killing, they had definitely placed their bets.
"Hey, someone placed their bets on first place?" The tour group members looked toward Fang Zhao's table curiously.
Fang Zhao was not smiling because he had placed his bets. He was smiling because he recalled Su Mu's story about how to train a shepherd dog. Hearing Wu Yi's question, he replied, "Not bad luck."
"He really placed his bets on Team 7?" A small farm owner asked in astonishment. He knew that even before the competition, many people from Muzhou thought highly of Team 3. It was just that they had heard some rumors and had other plans. If this was the case for the locals, how did the foreigners manage to pick the seventh team? Furthermore, in previous competitions, Team 7's results had not been much. Today, it was because they had changed dogs that they had suddenly become so ferocious. Foreigners placing bets on Shoubei Farm was indeed very rare.
"Looking at that dog, I think it's not bad." Fang Zhao raised his chin toward the big screen. On the screen was a replay of Team 7's appearance, focusing on analyzing the lead dog, "Gold Colt."
"Not just that," Wu Yi suddenly said. "Since you could tell that Team 7 had a chance of winning, then you definitely did not just place your bets on first place. You also placed bets on the others? You placed bets on second and third place, right? Friend, let us broaden our horizons. Which ones did you place your bets on? "
As he spoke, Wu Yi got up and walked over. He sat across the table from Fang Zhao, a warm smile on his face.
"Top five," Fang Zhao replied.
Wu Yi felt that he had not heard clearly and asked again, "What?"
"I placed bets on the top five."
"... All... correct?"
"Not bad luck."
Wu Yi was stunned for a moment, then his face broke into a big smile. "Haha, impressive, impressive. Let's be friends. Is this your first time in Muzhou? If you have any questions, you can ask me. It's been a few years since I've seen someone who has guessed five bets, and it's on my farm. Haha, that's a good thing.
Wu Yi gestured for the workers to bring out the food. He had to have a good chat with someone.
"Top five? Does he mean that he placed bets on the exact ranking of the top five? "The tour group that was eavesdropping was flabbergasted. After all, one wrong bet was a failure. Only by accurately guessing the top five bets would it be considered a success.
"Wait, let me see how much the bonus for placing a bet on the top five bets is... 100 times?! How many bets did that kid place? "
"I don't know. Should we go ask?"
"Hey, he won't say how many bets he placed. It's a waste of time to ask!" an older man said with a tone of experience. Just as he finished speaking, he heard Wu Yi ask the same question.
"How many bets did he place?" Wu Yi asked.
"20,000," Fang Zhao replied.
Wu Yi: "..."
The small farm owners that had gathered over: "..."
The tour group members: "..."
An eight or nine-year-old child from the tour group did the math and whispered to his father, "That brother said he placed 20,000 bets, and each bet is five dollars. That means that brother placed a bet of 100,000 dollars. If he guessed the top five correctly, he would get a hundred-fold bonus. Is that 10 million?"
The kid's father forced a smile. "Yes!" He had placed 10,000 bets on Team 3 behind his wife's back. He had wanted to show off to his wife and children after winning and buy more things, but now... he had better shut up.
"Forgive my poor eyesight, I didn't notice. I heard that you are a friend from Yanzhou?" A few small farm owners smiled warmly.
In some places, people made friends through literature. In others, they made friends through alcohol. In Muzhou, it was probably through sheep herding.
When it came to other topics, such as farming and management, although they would say a few words, they were reserved. No matter how much you said, who knew if you were bragging? They also couldn't follow the tourists to verify the authenticity. Without seeing it with their own eyes, the credibility would be reduced. But the sheep-herding competition was different. Watching the competition together was just a preliminary interaction. If you were in the right order of the competition, the farm owners would be more than willing to talk to you about life. They would think that you were very capable and a good person.
So when they found out that Fang Zhao had not only placed first in the competition but also in the top five, their attitudes toward Fang Zhao changed immediately. They saw him as someone with similar interests.
Originally, there had only been Fang Zhao and Zuo Yu at the table, but now it became crowded. A few small farm owners couldn't find chairs and pulled over from neighboring tables to squeeze in. The center of the viewing hall shifted from the central area to the table in the corner.
"Placing in the top five isn't easy. Third and fourth place should be about the same. I'd believe you if you said it was luck, but if you said it was all luck, that would be a joke. Friend, you have a shepherd dog, right? "Wu Yi asked.
"Never had one," Fang Zhao replied.
The farm owners expressed their disbelief. If he really didn't understand shepherd dogs, how could he have so accurately judged the rankings? Luck? Even if luck played a role, it was definitely not a big factor.
"You definitely have a shepherd dog, and not just one!" a small farm owner beside him chimed in.
"I really don't have one. I do have a dog, but I only have one. I picked it up, and it's not a shepherd dog. It's not big," Fang Zhao replied seriously.
Zuo Yu wanted to laugh when he imagined that curly-haired little dog charging into the farm and barking at the flock of sheep, but the flock of sheep calmly grazing on the grass.
After that, Wu Yi invited Fang Zhao to have dinner with his family. In Muzhou, a farm owner inviting a family member for dinner was a sign of respect and recognition.
Wu Yi did not care about the other people in the tour group. To him, they did not have a common language. They could go wherever they wanted.
Fang Zhao asked Wu Yi about Muzhou's history. The information he had obtained from the Internet was different from what he had learned from Muzhou locals.
Wu Yi said a lot, mentioning everything that was not available on the Internet. When he heard Fang Zhao ask about the Su family, Wu Yi felt that Fang Zhao might be trying to get in touch with the Su family.
"Right now, Muzhou is still the Su family's Muzhou. The sheep-herding competition is also organized by them. If you want to find the Su family to discuss business, I'm afraid it will be hard to find them. If you want to bet on the sheep-herding competition... listen to my advice. Don't be too ostentatious. Just earn enough. You have good foresight. It's not that the Su family will do anything, but it will be troublesome. "
Wu Yi had only said so much because he had seen Fang Zhao betting so much money in one go, and he had been so accurate. He was a decent person, and he was not weak.
"In Muzhou, the Su family accounts for 70% of the people who correctly guessed the top five and the entire rankings. If you had not said you had nothing to do with the Su family, I would have thought you were some illegitimate child of the Su family. Old grudges between rich families are hard to explain. So, if you want to get in touch with the Su family, you better think twice. Picking the wrong people will be troublesome. "Wu Yi only dared to say this in front of Fang Zhao.
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