Genius Club-Chapter 22: Reality and Illusion
Lin Xian looked left and right, finding a middle-aged man playing soccer with a child.
The man, wearing soccer shoes and a team jersey, must be a fan, so Lin Xian decided to try his luck.
"Hi."
Lin Xian approached and greeted him:
"Brother, excuse me, do you know much about soccer events? Especially the World Cup."
The man grinned crookedly and pointed to the jersey he was wearing:
"Then you really found the right person! I’ve been watching soccer since I was a kid, I haven’t missed any game of any World Cup since I became sensible!"
"Ask away, little brother, anything you want! Whether it’s about players, matches, or even gossip stories, I can tell you all about it!"
Not bad.
Reliable.
A passionate fan.
Lin Xian nodded and asked:
"Thank you, brother. Do you know who won the 2022 Qatar World Cup? Was it Argentina?"
The middle-aged brother suddenly froze, glaring at Lin Xian unfriendly:
"Are you trying to cause trouble, little brother? That was centuries ago, how could I know? It’s so long ago you can’t even find it on the internet, alright!"
"Brother, don’t get excited."
Lin Xian calmly appeased:
"I’m writing a paper on this topic, so I need to understand some of the matches from that time. Where should I go if I want to find relevant records?"
The middle-aged brother shook his head:
"That’s going to be hard to find, a match from over 600 years ago... If you really want to look, try the library."
Having said that, the middle-aged brother left with the child.
Library...
Lin Xian looked up at the bright moon in the sky.
At this hour, the library would definitely be closed, and today he needed to do some serious research; he couldn’t just barge in and risk attracting the police or security guards, that would waste the entire evening.
But he should be able to try his luck at a bookstore, right?
Since the setting in the dream is 2624, to find the result of a soccer game from 600 years ago, he would have to flip through history books.
"Bookstore..."
Lin Xian closed his eyes to recall.
In these twenty-some years, he had visited almost every part of this city. Naturally, he knew where the bookstores were.
"Seems like there’s one on Tian Street, I remember it was still open late when I passed by it before."
Once he had a target,
Lin Xian ran towards the bus stop—
Bang!
"Ouch!"
Lin Xian, jogging, collided with a heavyset man.
"Watch where you’re going!"
The man wore a Rhine Cat Mask and glared at Lin Xian fiercely.
"Got it," Lin Xian responded offhandedly.
Turning his head, he realized it was someone he knew.
He laughed and patted Big Face Cat’s shoulder:
"You should also watch your back more, don’t get headshot every time."
"What!?"
Big Face Cat exclaimed in shock, hastily looking behind him, his right hand reaching for his waist.
However... there was nothing behind him.
"Who the heck are you!"
Big Face Cat turned around only to find that Lin Xian had run off far away.
He rubbed the sore spot where he had been hit, his face scrunched up in annoyance, looking around:
"Where is that Code Expert hiding? Can’t find him..."
...
Lin Xian rarely took the bus in his dreams.
Previously, when going to distant places, he would just commandeer a vehicle and play "Wild Racing."
But that would basically start "escape mode," and soon police cars would be chasing him, ending with him either getting arrested or shot dead for hitting too many people.
Today he had real business to attend to and didn’t want any trouble.
The bookstore was indeed far away. It took an hour and a half on the bus to reach the destination.
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Lin Xian walked into the bookstore.
The clerk gave him a cold look and continued playing on her phone.
It didn’t take Lin Xian much effort to find several books on sports and soccer.
However, most were news and information types, with complete absence of any data on the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
"Can’t find it at all..."
After a long search, even history books were scrutinized. However, finding records of a soccer match from several hundred years ago was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, the title of a book on the shelf caught Lin Xian’s attention—
Interesting Football Knowledge 7: The History of the World Cup
Lin Xian pulled out the book.
It was a children’s book, which introduced the sport of the World Cup using simple language and illustrations.
At the end, there was an appendix titled "List of Past World Cup Champions":
"It really is ’As despairing as an exhausted mountain and a depleted river, yet the road presents itself with no effort at all.’"
The list of champions was arranged in reverse order.
Lin Xian quickly flipped to the back, stopping at the last page, and soon found the information about the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
There was just a brief sentence—
[Argentina Team won the championship by defeating France in a penalty shootout!]
"Penalty shootout? What does that mean?"
Lin Xian didn’t understand football and had no idea what the term ’penalty shootout’ meant, but it was clear that Argentina Team had secured the championship:
"Since the final champion is Argentina Team... then it goes without saying, in the semi-finals against Croatia, Argentina certainly triumphed."
Closing the book, Lin Xian reinserted the children’s book back into the shelf.
He looked up at the clock on the wall, which just showed 00:42.
Boom!!!!!!
Boom!!!!!!
Boom!!!!!!
The familiar white light arrived on time, incinerating everything in the world.
...
...
Buzz…
Lin Xian opened his eyes.
Faint sounds from the television were coming from outside the bedroom, and flickering lights shone through the crack of the door, indicating that Gao Yang was still watching TV in the living room.
Lin Xian rubbed his eyes and sat up in bed. Then, he put on a thick pajama and pushed open the bedroom door.
"How did it go? Did you find it?"
Gao Yang lifted his head from the coffee table.
It was covered with beer, duck snacks, fried chicken, and other takeouts.
"It should... be an Argentina win," Lin Xian yawned and said.
"Shouldn’t be! What’s the final score!"
"I don’t know. I only know that the final was between Argentina and France, and Argentina won the World Cup."
Hmm...
Gao Yang thought for a while with his eyes closed:
"Alright."
He got up, picking up a coat from the sofa and put it on:
"I’m going downstairs to buy some more lottery tickets."
"Didn’t you already bet on Argentina winning?"
"I only bet 100! You’ve dreamed that Argentina won, shouldn’t I buy more?"
"What about ’betting small for fun’?"
"Take a gamble! From a bicycle to a motorcycle!"
Gao Yang zipped up, unlocked the door, and walked outside.
"Hey! Where can you buy them so late, don’t the lottery shops close?"
Lin Xian called out to Gao Yang.
"The lottery shops definitely stop selling early. But some owners will print extra tickets in advance and sell them during the match; others do this kind of business, printing a lot of tickets beforehand and then selling them at a higher price when the match is about to start."
"Just don’t buy too many, it’s not necessarily reliable, be careful."
"I know, I know!"
Slam!
The door shut forcefully.
...
Soon afterward, Gao Yang returned panting, pushing open the door with a handful of lottery tickets:
"5000 bucks! I’ve gone all in with a month’s salary! If we win, it’s the club and models, if we lose, it’s back to the salt mines!"
Lin Xian chuckled helplessly:
"You escalated from ’betting for fun,’ to ’taking a gamble,’ to ’all in’ rather quickly, didn’t you?"
Gao Yang sat down and switched on the TV with the remote:
"Come on models! It’s all on you, Messi!"
