"With so many opportunities she didn’t seize, why take the risk of damaging her reputation to stir up trouble over this thankless task? Moreover, for this marketing stunt, she spent more than 250 million US dollars; isn’t this extravagance a bit too much?"

Zhou Shitao’s series of rebuttals and questions immediately made the reporter realize they had asked a foolish question, especially under the scrutiny of the crowd. The reporter felt remorseful, yet unwilling and angry, unable to refute even half a word, their face turning bright red, wishing desperately to find a hole to crawl into.

Seeing the reporter’s expression, Zhou Shitao couldn’t help but snort heavily, but he didn’t intend to let the reporter go, instead, he continued to press the advantage and said:

"I’m not going to hide it from you; the idea for Huo Sining to bid on these two Beast Heads in Philadelphia was actually my plan as her mentor."

"That day, the girl called me excitedly upon learning that these two Beast Heads would appear at the auction in Philadelphia. So, I gave her a strict order to acquire these two Beast Heads at any cost."

"The girl is my apprentice; she knows my temperament and respects me as her mentor, so she contacted the black market organizers and, as the WGC champion, engaged in a bet with Mr. Alden, the Gambling King from Las Vegas."

"For this gamble, the Philadelphia organizers put up the first purchase rights of the twelve zodiac animal heads as stakes. And to win this, my apprentice didn’t hesitate to wager a Huaxia antique valued at 100 million US dollars!"

Zhou Shitao did not mention the real cause of the gamble, which was that Huo Sining won over a billion US dollars from Clara, the sister of the black market organizer, Clayflo. That antique, valued at 100 million, was also what Semiya lost to Huo Sining.

Moreover, after Zhou Shitao’s embellishment, Huo Sining instantly became a selfless sacrifice for the country, with no one doubting that the true instigator of this gamble wasn’t Huo Sining. Everyone thought she deliberately brought out the antique to lure the black market organizers into the trap.

So, when Zhou Shitao mentioned that Huo Sining wagered nearly 100 million worth of antiques to win the first purchase rights offered by the organizers, everyone was stunned, and the room was in an uproar.

Even the netizens watching the live broadcast were startled by Huo Sining’s bold and decisive actions.

Huo Sining, however, wore an expression of calm indifference, as if this was nothing more than a trivial matter.

Anyone who had gambled in Las Vegas or knew about the gambling industry had heard of Alden. Thus, when Zhou Shitao mentioned Alden, they were all taken aback.

"Holy cow, Alden is still alive?!"

"He was once the recognized God of Gamblers in Las Vegas, and Huo Sining actually gambled against him?!"

"Oh my, this is truly a summit clash between the old Gambling King and the new tycoon; can Huo Sining win?"

"I really want to see how these two gamble against each other; I feel Alden has a better chance!"

Knowing Alden’s identity, many netizens were exhilarated, and the barrage of comments almost covered the entire screen.

"Someone might say, it’s just preemptive buying rights, is it worth all the fuss?"

Zhou Shitao said seriously, "My answer to everyone is, it’s worth it, because the twelve zodiac animal heads are treasures of our Huaxia Country, their value is immeasurable. Such treasures, if we haven’t discovered them yet, so be it, but since we have, they absolutely must not and cannot continue to be lost abroad."

"Therefore, when I heard about this gamble over the phone, I told Huo Sining one thing: success only, no failure."

Zhou Shitao looked at the audience with a faint smile and said, "You must be eager to know who won this gamble, right?"

The journalists below had already been completely won over, or rather, they were in total admiration of Huo Sining, with no ill intentions left. They even forgot their original purpose for coming here, nodding in response to Zhou Shitao’s question.

Zhou Shitao was very satisfied with their reactions, his gaze falling upon the petite girl beside him, his eyes filled with indescribable pride and joy: 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"The child called me at around 3 a.m. It was afternoon in Philadelphia, just as her gamble with Alden should have ended. We old fellows were all waiting for news in the study, not daring to sleep. After the call connected, she simply said four words: mission accomplished."

"Ashamed to say, we old men had never thought this girl could truly win this gamble, but upon hearing those words, we were overwhelmingly excited, even pathetically shedding tears."

"Afterward, we decisively decided to go to America. Even if we can’t help, we should stand by the girl to encourage her, letting her know she’s not alone, at least we old fellows support her."

"So, the four of us departed for Philadelphia that morning to find her at the hotel."

At this point, Zhou Shitao couldn’t help but show a wry smile:

"However, there was a little episode in between because we decided to go to America on short notice, and hadn’t contacted the girl. When we finally found the place and went to the hotel to find her, we’d missed her."

"Because she’d gone to Oregon that afternoon, as she just mentioned, inspired by a post, they went to Volcano Park to dig for diamonds. All their phones were off, so it took until the third day for us to smoothly rendezvous with them."

Upon hearing Zhou Shitao’s explanation, everyone finally understood the whole story. Regardless of timing or reasoning, Huo Sining and her team left no loopholes. Although the excuse seemed absurd, it was indeed reasonable, compelling people to believe it.

But the more reasonable it seemed, the more the reporters present felt an indescribable awkwardness.

A group of people with hoes and shovels digging up such valuable diamonds in a park; isn’t this luck defying? Do these people have X-ray vision, striking gold with every dig?