This Routine Is Wrong!

Chapter 25: This Isn't How It's Supposed to Go!

There were still a full four months before Sun Hao would play his first La Liga match.

This was also his first offseason since arriving in Spain.

Long... but not lonely.

Besides training with Fernandez, the other big thing was watching the World Cup.

In Europe, the quadrennial football World Cup was the most exciting event on the continent.

Sun Hao didn't know much about football, but he had an incredibly vivid memory of the 1998 World Cup.

Because back then, he was still a kid, yet he'd heard news of several people from nearby neighborhoods jumping off buildings because of that World Cup.

So much so that even at a young age, he remembered one thing clearly: France was the champion of that World Cup.

So before the World Cup even started, he'd already figured out a plan.

Use the World Cup to make a little investment and improve his current financial situation.

After all, he'd been teased by Fernandez more than once for not having a phone.

There were plenty of legal betting sites in Europe, and since he'd already bought a computer, it was very convenient for him.

His strategy was simple too: bet on France.

Since the sites allowed quick withdrawals, every time France played, he just needed to check the odds and go all in.

Simple and practical.

What he didn't expect was that Fernandez was way more obsessed with the World Cup than he was.

Before the World Cup even started, Sun Hao would hear the guy rambling about it constantly.

Once it began, he never stopped, like a monk chanting sutras.

One day, before training even started, Fernandez was at it again.

"Clemente should be fired. He just lets the players wander around the field like they're on a stroll. What a waste of Hierro and Raul—both of their goals were beautiful!"

Sun Hao knew Fernandez was talking about last night's match.

Spain had lost 2–3 to Nigeria in their first group stage match, making their path to the knockout rounds extremely tough.

Sun Hao agreed with the second half of Fernandez's statement.

He'd gotten to know Raul when he went with Jocelyn to watch El Clásico.

Later, since his parents were fans of Raul, and Raul had a good personality, they'd had some private exchanges.

That diagonal shot from Raul was indeed beautiful.

But Spain's loss wasn't undeserved.

To put it bluntly, Spain was good at sports as a country, but they had a weakness: they were slow starters.

That applied to both football and basketball.

"Rudy, how about we go watch the World Cup final live!"

Sun Hao finally couldn't take Fernandez anymore—it felt like he'd turned into the Monkey King with a tightening headband.

"Huh?"

Fernandez hadn't expected Sun Hao to suddenly say that.

Going to watch a match live was something he'd never even considered before.

Not to mention at this point in time, where would they even get tickets?

"Just tell me, do you want to go or not?"

Sun Hao pressed.

"I do!"

Fernandez nodded without hesitation.

"Then let's go. I can get tickets, but you have to promise me one thing: train seriously during training, and no more talking about the World Cup."

"No problem!"

Fernandez agreed immediately.

Having the chance to watch a match live was a hundred times better than complaining on the training ground.

Scalpers, commonly known as ticket touts, existed in almost every industry, and they were especially active during the World Cup.

When Sun Hao said he had a way, he meant buying scalper tickets.

There were plenty of ads on those betting sites, and no one bothered to regulate them.

He tried contacting a few, and tickets were still available, but all for seats high up.

That wasn't surprising—after all, it was the final. Not many tickets would be up for sale, and good seats were unlikely.

But after his experience taking Jocelyn to watch El Clásico, binoculars worked pretty well, so it wasn't unwatchable.

He ended up buying two relatively far-back seats, and Sun Hao successfully shut Fernandez up.

When you get to watch the game live, who needs anything else!

Time flew by, and before they knew it, the World Cup had reached the semifinals. Sun Hao and Fernandez paused their training and boarded a plane to France.

On the plane, Fernandez, who had been cooped up for half a month, finally let loose, chattering nonstop about the World Cup.

This time, Sun Hao didn't tell him off.

When a person's been holding it in that long, they need to blow off steam.

Trying to quit cold turkey just ends up making you sick.

Besides, at this stage of the tournament, there was plenty to talk about.

Especially the Brazil vs. Netherlands match.

On one side, Brazil led by Ronaldo; on the other, the Dutch Golden Generation, spearheaded by Bergkamp and Ajax.

Two of the top three teams in this World Cup clashing—absolute fireworks.

"Who do you think will win the title?"

A natural question popped out of Fernandez's mouth.

"France."

Sun Hao didn't know much about soccer, but he knew the outcome.

"I'm backing France too. I think they'll take it this time."

"What did you say?"

Sun Hao thought he'd misheard.

And this wasn't how it was supposed to go!

Shouldn't Fernandez be supporting Brazil, with Sun Hao backing France, leading to a bet, Sun Hao winning, winning over Fernandez's loyalty, and from then on the guy doing whatever he said?

He thought back to when he first met Jocelyn, and Fernandez walking away with his hands behind his back.

You're not a time traveler, are you!

But Fernandez was a real theory king—on women, on match predictions, everything.

Over the next while, Fernandez gave Sun Hao a thorough analysis.

He thought that at this point, the hottest favorite to win was Brazil, second was France, and third was the Netherlands.

As for Croatia, who had ridden their schedule to get here, they were just a supporting act.

According to his analysis, as long as France beat Croatia, their chances of winning the title were huge.

Because they had a strong midfield and defense, which could largely stifle Brazil's attack.

And in his view, this Brazil team was overrated—their midfield and defense were too weak.

So if Brazil's attack got bogged down, France, with home-field advantage, would have a great chance to counter and tear Brazil apart.

The analysis sounded pretty professional, but aside from Sun Hao, anyone else would think it was nonsense.

Brazil was the defending champion, the kings of the world, with Ronaldo, the "first man of football."

Lose? You're kidding me!

But Sun Hao listened and thought Fernandez was like a modern-day Zhao Kuo.

No insult meant—his theory was genuinely solid.

On the night they arrived in France, they holed up in their hotel room and watched the semifinal live.

Hearing the shouts from the hotel vicinity and the streets, Sun Hao got a taste of football fans' passion.

And the match was truly gripping.

0-0 in regular time, 0-0 in stoppage time, all the way to penalties.

In the end, Brazil held steady, beating the Netherlands 4-2 on penalties to march into the final.

At the same time, in the other semifinal, France beat Croatia 2-1 to meet Brazil in the final.

Who would win between Brazil and France—the question they'd discussed on the plane—was about to be answered.

After Fernandez went to sleep, Sun Hao opened the hotel computer, saw France's odds at 1 to 4, and threw all his money in.

The next afternoon, the Stade de France was buzzing with noise.

This stadium, built specifically for this year's World Cup, could hold up to 80,000 people, on par with the Bernabéu in terms of class.

And unlike matches in Spain, this was the World Cup final—the atmosphere from the live crowd could only be described with one word.

Crazy.

Matching T-shirts were a given; the slightly more over-the-top ones used paint to draw a jersey on their own bodies.

Even crazier, the paint went straight onto their faces.

The wildest were those who painted themselves entirely as green giants or other alien characters—definitely the most eye-catching guys in the crowd.

Of course, pretty as it was, nothing drew the eye like the female fans.

The European and American female fans were all about showing skin.

A tight T-shirt was all it took for you to deeply understand the word "fantasize."

Some couldn't even bear the scorching summer heat and just wore underwear, draping the National Flag over themselves, making you feel just how damn hot this summer really was.

As for those fans who weren't just hot-bodied but also stunning in the face, they were absolutely tempting enough to drive a man to crime.

This kind of atmosphere was one of a kind.

Sun Hao suddenly felt this ticket couldn't have been more worth it.

Even if he couldn't watch the game at all, just experiencing this vibe was absolutely worth it.

The scene was also full of pre-game warm-ups: waves of people, drumbeats, shouts.

The game hadn't even started yet, and the atmosphere was already pushed to a climax.

Thanks to Xianglai Yuanqian Naihe Shenqing and Duanqiao Canxue for the tips! Congratulations to these two big shots for receiving Shui Qie's exclusive mwah mwah~

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