novelraw Chapter 788 Lost Money?
Chapter 788 Lost Money?
When I got to Leng Mei’s place and explained the situation to her, Leng Mei’s reaction was pretty much the same as Ding Wan’er’s. Of course, she was reluctant to part with Lin Feng, but knowing that Lin Feng was out on business, she could only agree. She wanted to go with Lin Feng too, but she knew better; the school couldn’t do without her, so she had to abandon the idea. At the same time, she promised to take good care of the French department’s kids, and could only cautiously instruct Lin Feng to be safe. Although she knew Lin Feng wouldn’t be in any danger, she couldn’t help but worry.
After leaving Leng Mei’s office, Lin Feng finally breathed a sigh of relief. Heading towards the French department, he planned to finish the class and greet the students. However, Lin Feng didn’t expect that as soon as he stepped out of the office building and started towards the teaching building, he would suddenly see Huang Shi sitting in a corner smoking, with many cigarette butts on the ground, looking especially haggard. This made Lin Feng feel very strange. What on earth was going on?
Huang Shi was usually very optimistic and upbeat. Lin Feng wondered what could have happened to make Huang Shi look like this. Without any hesitation, he walked over to Huang Shi, intending to find out what had happened to him during his time away from Tianhai.
"Huang Shi, why are you here? What happened?" Lin Feng walked up to Huang Shi and seeing that he didn’t react at all made him feel even more puzzled. Something substantial must have happened for Huang Shi to be in this state. He hadn’t expected that in just a few days of his absence from Tianhai, Huang Shi would encounter some trouble. If nothing unexpected, this matter must be very grave for Huang Shi to have ended up like this.
"Boss... Boss, you’re back?" Huang Shi, startled by the voice, suddenly woke up and looked up to see Lin Feng, quite shocked. He hadn’t anticipated that the boss would suddenly appear. Wasn’t the boss in Capital City? Why would he show up here?
"I’ve finished my business in Capital City, of course, I’m back. Tell me what exactly happened." Lin Feng, seeing Huang Shi’s face terribly gaunt, his beard stubbly and bloodshot eyes, even with his clothes dirty in places, knew the matter was certainly not small. Huang Shi had always been very meticulous about his appearance, and now he was in such a state, which was quite telling. The most crucial thing now was to figure out what had happened to Huang Shi, other matters could wait for later.
"Boss... Boss, please don’t ask..." Huang Shi sighed and shook his head after hearing Lin Feng’s words. He simply answered Lin Feng, his mind in complete turmoil. The turn of events was not something he had foreseen, and now he didn’t know how to face it, nor did he wish to involve the boss. The boss was busy enough, and he shouldn’t have to worry about his problems, especially since it all started because of him. He didn’t want Lin Feng to know.
"If you still consider me your boss, you will tell me straight away what happened. Otherwise, from now on, I don’t have a brother like you." Hearing Huang Shi still evading the matter, Lin Feng’s face darkened, and he pressed further. He could probably guess what was going on in Huang Shi’s mind, but how could he ignore the situation? Huang Shi had been with him for so long, and he recognized Huang Shi’s loyalty. If Huang Shi was in trouble, he couldn’t just stand by; he had to understand what had happened to help Huang Shi.
"No, boss, I’ll talk, just don’t be mad." When Huang Shi saw Lin Feng getting angry, he knew Lin Feng was looking out for him and wanted to help. And with such words from Lin Feng, if he remained silent, he would indeed no longer be able to be Lin Feng’s brother. This was certainly not acceptable to him. With that in mind, Huang Shi lit a cigarette and tried to organize his thoughts, which were a complete mess, before he slowly began to recount the whole story.
"Boss, it all happened a couple of days ago. My cousin Huang Yu had some friends who brought a gambling boat to Tianhai. Gambling boats like this have never been seen in Tianhai before. Many guests went to join the fun, and nearly all the well-known young masters and some of the wealthy men in Tianhai were there. Invited by my cousin, along with a few other friends, I also went to show support—it’s quite normal. Once we were in international waters, I realized just how huge the scale of the gambling boat was. It was even bigger than some famous foreign casinos, so I couldn’t resist playing a few hands."
"Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, but no one expected that in the last bet on football, I lost ninety-six million US dollars in one go. Although our family is wealthy, ninety-six million US dollars isn’t an amount we can just pull out. The Huang Family’s assets are mostly immovable property; we don’t have a large cash flow, so you can imagine the upheaval this sum has caused at home..."
"I’ve been racking my brains here for two days, but I can’t think of a good solution. It’s giving me such a headache. Until you showed up, honestly, I’m even afraid to go home now. Just thinking about what I’ll face when I go back twists my heart into knots. I really don’t know how to face it, ah..."
Huang Shi’s face showed a look of distress as he recounted the entire incident, followed by a long sigh. He discarded the cigarette butt he was holding, and then grabbed his head with both hands, looking exceptionally pained...
"Were you set up?" Lin Feng felt very surprised upon hearing Huang Shi’s story. Given Huang Shi’s character, such an incident shouldn’t have occurred, let alone a major stake of 96 million US dollars. If it were in the past, Lin Feng might not be so sure, but Huang Shi had been with him for so long now, and had become indifferent to most things. It was impossible for this to happen. However, since it had happened, it meant there must be a problem, otherwise, this situation shouldn’t have arisen.
Looking at the situation comprehensively, something uncontrollable must have occurred, or perhaps Huang Shi was framed. Otherwise, he would never have gambled so big. Given Huang Shi’s character, a small bet was entirely possible, but a figure as large as 96 million US dollars was not. So what exactly happened? Could it be that Huang Shi really was set up as he thought, leading to such a significant loss?
"Boss, I really lost unjustly in this matter. As you know, I only play small stakes at the gambling table. How could I possibly bet so big? And others wouldn’t dare to set me up so easily, after all, our family is the Huang Family Clan. Our influence in Tianhai is no trivial matter. Even if they had the intention, they wouldn’t have the courage," Huang Shi said.
"This whole incident is my own fault. I lost the money betting on soccer. I had won just under a million US dollars at the gambling table and wasn’t planning to play anymore, but my brother saw that I stopped playing and took me to a hall to watch a soccer match. I truly didn’t expect to lose so much money because of that match."
As Huang Shi recalled the situation, he was immediately filled with regret. Had it not been for the provocation of that woman, he definitely wouldn’t have placed such a huge bet. If he had been more cautious with the opponent, what followed wouldn’t have happened. One could say that everything that happened later was completely within his control, and for that, he could only blame himself.
"Tell me about the specifics of the soccer betting," Lin Feng urged, his curiosity piqued. A simple bet on a soccer game shouldn’t result in such an outcome; there must be some issue involved. It was unimaginable for him to believe that Huang Shi would place a bet of 96 million US dollars; he simply did not think Huang Shi could do such a thing.
"The betting hall was crowded at the time, with many familiar faces who greeted me; I didn’t think much of it and just placed a bet of one million US dollars on a team I knew well. To me, it was just for fun; winning or losing didn’t really matter. I was just joining in on the excitement," Huang Shi recounted.
"However, things often come with surprises, I bet one million US dollars, and right then, a woman mocked me, saying that I, the Crown Prince of the Huang Group, didn’t bet as much as a weak woman like her. Many around us agreed, believing that with my status, my bet was indeed too small, and they all started commenting on it."
"Later, under such circumstances, I got hot-headed and directly made a bet with that woman. The bet was only six million US dollars, but the condition that was set stipulated that the bet would double for each additional goal scored by one side. It was exactly this that trapped me deeply. At that time, I thought that there wouldn’t be a huge difference in the score for two evenly matched national soccer teams at most one or two goals at best. Moreover, I believed the team I bet on had a higher chance of winning, so I agreed without much thought."
"But what happened afterwards was beyond everyone’s expectations. I never imagined that two world-class soccer teams of equal skill would end up in such a one-sided match. The team I favored suddenly found themselves in a one-sided situation, and to everyone’s surprise, the score difference between the two teams ended up being enormous. Boss, do you know, it was 5:0, so in the end, I lost 96 million US dollars!"
After outlining the entire process, Huang Shi’s emotions surged wildly, and a torrent of remorse flooded his heart. If he hadn’t gone to gamble on the ship just for the thrill of it, none of the subsequent events would have occurred. Now, he despised himself even more. Why did he foolishly go gambling on the ship? Otherwise, he certainly wouldn’t have lost so much money. 96 million US dollars, that’s a significant amount even for his family, and he had lost it so foolishly. How could his family not be furious!