Chapter Thirty-Four: Fishing in Troubled Waters

  Mo Nan only remembered the 82 classic underdog match, winning and losing were very clear, but the score was vague. This was thanks to Cheng Shifei's cramming of football history, he was a die-hard fan. When the two were together, every World Cup would pull her to watch the ball, constantly giving this football "ignorant" popularizing football knowledge and history.

  Cheng Shigui handed the letter over to Han Zhikui.

  "Impossible, if she wrote this, the underdog would be too big." He rubbed his chin and muttered, "But the World Cup opening match has always been a cradle for upsets. The opening match is not easy to play, and it's not like there haven't been any upsets before." He continued, "Besides, can you make money from underdogs? In '66, North Korea didn't beat Italy, no one thought they could defeat Italy, the bookmakers even offered a 1:1000 winning odds. As a result, another super-upset was born in World Cup history." Just thinking about the odds made his mouth water, he poked Cheng Shigui and said, "Matthew, since it's gambling, let's go with what she said."

  Han Zhiqian then went to Fang Mernan and made an annotation, gambling between heaven and hell.

  Cheng Shigui looked at Liang Ziwu and asked: "When you came, did 'Nan Jie' give any instructions not to jump?"

  "'Nan Jie'" Liangzi asked again if it was Fang Mo Nan or not.

  "Yes, he is older than me, can't I call him brother? " Han Zhiqian looked at Liang Zidao with confusion.

  "Hmph......" The thin monkey who was drinking water spat it out after hearing their conversation and coughed violently, "Cough...cough..."

  Liángzi was afraid he would spill the beans, so he quickly went forward and patted his back, saying "Look at you, such a big person, still choking on water." He drew a 'no' sign on his back.

  "I'll go wash up first." The thin monkey put down the cup, slipped into the bathroom with a rustle, and bit his hand to keep from laughing out loud.

  Liang Zi felt relieved after he left and only then did she understand that it was because of what Fang Mo Nan had told him not to tell Cheng Qiguang about her appearance when he first came to Yang City.

  "What did 'Nan Jie' say?" asked Cheng Shigui.

  "Nan..." Liangzi was so choked up that he couldn't get the word "sister" out. Without saying it, he directly said to please Cheng: must, have to, remember clearly, and definitely do as she says."

  "Ah," Cheng Shigui raised an eyebrow, so confident, afraid he wouldn't follow through, using so many affirmative words. Since that's the case, I can only do as she says.

  "Alright, it's already 8 o'clock, let's go eat first." Han Zhijian said. This matter can't be handled now, eating is the emperor. They finished their business and didn't even have time to drink water, just ran over, not to mention eating.

  A group of people ate at the hotel and still had things to attend to, so after dinner, they all rested separately.

  Liang Zi returned to the room and reminded Shou Hou: "Shou Hou, about Nan Nan's matter, don't leak it out by any means."

  "He nodded, also couldn't understand why they thought Fang Mo Nan was an adult."

  Cheng Shigui and others were frightened by Fang Mernan's letter, so they didn't have the heart to suspect Liangzi. They heard the unnatural expression of 'South Sister' two words.

  Cheng Shigui first burned the letter, and he still remembered these few words. He followed Fang Monan's information to place a bet, and both of them had placed bets, accompanying each other for fun, until finally they both regretted not betting more, too late to regret.

  Cheng Shigui was in Spain, but he didn't forget to have people gather information about Italy.

  According to Fang Mo Nan's revelations and the information Cheng Shi Gui has obtained, after analyzing the situation, it appears that Italy is about to fall into chaos, their opportunity has arrived.

  Cheng Shigui did not forget Yang Fan in Japan, keeping a close eye on him. Before flying to Europe, he handed over the private money and the borrowed money from his father, which was not much, to Yang Fan, who took full responsibility for it.

  Yang Fan and Cheng Shigui were university classmates, the two had a very good relationship. His age was older than Cheng Shigui, with rich experience in learning and operation, worthy of trust.

  "Drip, drip" and another month passed. For Meridionale, the days were as calm as flowing water, repeating every day in a routine manner. Due to the economic crisis of 1979, Italy's economy stagnated. The government took measures such as increasing taxes, reducing social welfare, controlling wage growth, and tightening credit to combat inflation. Meanwhile, capitalists massively laid off workers, reduced working hours, delayed renegotiating labor contracts, and intensified conflicts between labor and capital.

  The Italian General Confederation of Labour, the Unione Italiana del Lavoro and the Confederazione Italiana Sindacati Lavoratori repeatedly called workers to strike and demonstrate in protest. On June 25, 1982, a general strike broke out across Italy with participation reaching 14 million people. The strike involved all sectors and regions of the country. Its duration, size and breadth were among the largest since the end of World War II.

  Fang Mo Nan was born with a natural sensitivity to numbers, which grew stronger as she cultivated in her past life. Unfortunately, her age not only limited her but also lacked the network world of the previous generation. She had money to make, and if she didn't make it, she wouldn't be so stupid. Now she can only manipulate from behind the scenes. Perhaps someone would worry that she's not afraid of being taken advantage of, but that just shows that others are underestimating her, which is their loss. There are plenty of opportunities to make money.

  By July 12th, Fang Mo Nan had rushed to the post office early in the morning. He heard the excited shouting from the other side, "Wow... Sister Nan, after deducting taxes, it's a whole 60 million US dollars!" Although Cheng Shi Gui was born into a wealthy family, he had never won such a large sum of money before. This trip not only earned him money but also allowed him to satisfy his football craze.

  Although Fang Mo was calm and composed, he was still shocked, "It's so much." In his heart, he had already won 20 to 30 times over, and he felt like burning incense in gratitude.

  "Haha……Not to mention other matches, just that one between Algeria from North Africa and the invincible West Germany in the group stage. Before the match, due to the huge difference in strength between the two teams, the odds offered by the bookmakers were 1:3 and 1:1000 respectively. As a result, Algeria, this new army that had just entered the final round for the first time, defeated West Germany with a score of 2-1." Cheng Shigui said excitedly, he went to bet on this match, the staff looked at him like a madman when he placed his bet.

  Later, I was afraid of being too flashy and disturbing the senses. Although there's a suspicion of covering one's ears to steal bells, it's better than nothing anyway. As a result, Cheng Shigui did a lot of homework and later bet on the underdog, of course, the odds were not as good as Algeria and West Germany. Let others think he was just a blind cat hitting a dead mouse, just lucky. Look at the subsequent games, didn't they all lose? Yet, in the end, he won more than 300 times his original bet.

  Cheng Shigui waited for half a day without getting any response from the other party, "Nan Jie, you're not even happy."

  "You're right." Fang Mo Nan understood his meaning and said calmly, but it made her even more admire the closeness of his thinking. "You've also earned a lot, haven't you?"

  Imagine a citizen of our country winning the lottery, when collecting the prize, they are wrapped up like a panda, afraid that others will see their true face. Although foreigners who win the lottery are all excited and take photos to commemorate, even getting reported in the newspaper. But not us.

  "Haha...... Thanks to you, I've made a pretty penny." said Cheng Shigui with a smile.

  "Alright, let's get down to business, you haven't forgotten our bet, have you?" Fang Mo Nan reminded.

  "I won't forget, I'll follow you from now on." Cheng Shigui said with great righteousness. More than half a year of correspondence had made them thoroughly understand each other, from the initial intentional difficulties to the final heartfelt admiration.

  "That's good, let's go to Italy now, it will be more chaotic there, and we can take advantage of the situation. This time I've said enough, after you read the letter, remember to burn it, and as for the specifics, you're in charge. Just remember one thing, don't attract the government's attention, these funds, when going in, need to be... when coming out, even more so, in short, just one sentence: prioritize."

  "Alright, take care!" said Cheng Shigui excitedly. He still preferred the thrilling life of financial markets, where one had to fight and struggle to survive. A peaceful life was still too early for someone of his age. "By the way, after I leave, if you need to send a letter, you can address it to Han Zhiqian, he's my friend, and from start to finish, he's been aware of your existence... Ah, I'll explain his situation in detail in the letter I'm sending you. And as for Japan, my classmate Yang Fan is keeping an eye on things." He was worried that after he left, it would be hard to get in touch with him again, and if something came up, it could only be communicated through Han Zhiqian. It seemed like they should hurry up and install a phone at Nansister's place.

  "I, Han Zhiqian, sent you the contact in Spain. Otherwise, I can call you." Fang Mosou said it's nothing, and hung up.

  Cheng Shigui obtained funding in Spain and smoothly entered Italy through various channels, taking a pleasant flight to Italy. Having analyzed the situation in Italy, he had already sent some of his acquaintances there as advance scouts. These people were those he had met in Europe, sharing similar goals and aspirations, but for various reasons, they had not been recognized or fulfilled in investment banks, banks, or financial analyst positions, or had been harassed by their superiors, each with their own difficulties, so it was a good opportunity to gather them together.

  Fang Mo Nan has done what he needed to do, handed over the sky-high international long-distance fee, and strolled away leisurely. The monotonous sound of Meng Bei's piano was so pleasant to listen to. When I first started learning the violin, the enchanting sound was enough to drive people crazy. It scared everyone in the family so much that they had to stuff their ears with cotton balls to reduce the noise pollution.

  After several months of study, it's much better now, just a bit monotonous. "Not bad." Fang Mo Nan patted her shoulder in praise.

  "Hehe... Nan Nan, do you want to learn too?" Old Master Lin sat in the rocking chair in the courtyard, holding a book and said leisurely. Then he pointed out where Mo Bei was pulling incorrectly and had him pull again until he was satisfied.

  "Oh, I don't want to learn that Western stuff." Fang Mo Nan shook her head in refusal. She was busy every day and didn't have the energy to learn, so she simply made up an excuse.

  "Instruments don't have national borders." Old Lin looked at her with a smile, not expecting the little girl to be so patriotic. "Learning from Huaxia is also good, but I won't do it myself, just right that I know someone in the county drama troupe, I'll go find her." Without waiting for her to say anything, the old man had already made up his mind, he was unwilling to see her complete every task he gave her with ease, and wanted to give her something to do.

  Fang Mo Nan thought to himself, the old man's family books were almost all read by her, it was good that she found something to do, otherwise she would have nothing to do during the day.

  The old man acted quickly and took her to the county drama troupe that day. "Nan Yangtou, likes musical instruments."

  "For the erhu, this price is a bit cheaper. I don't want a piano that costs tens of thousands of yuan, and besides, you can sit down to play it."

  Mr. Lin took her to find the erhu teacher, and the two of them chatted like old friends. When he asked, the old man agreed to teach this young apprentice directly.

  Fang Mengnan's real learning career, this time she had no chance to cheat. The professor who taught her erhu was a woman named Chen, about the same age as her grandmother, and Mengnan called her Chen Nainai. She wore very old clothes, but they were clean. Her hair was neatly combed back and tied up with a bun, secured with a wooden hairpin, looking like she had just stepped out of the old society.

  Grandma Chen looked like a kind and gentle person, usually very warm to her, but when it came to teaching her, she was possessed by an evil spirit, often scolding and humiliating her. She really didn't care about past lives or reincarnation, never having been scolded like this before. But in other people's eyes, Fang Mo Nan seemed more real, lovable, and lively, not just a calm and terrifying face.

  So everyone saw Fang Mo Nan eating at Chen Nainai's place, they laughed very happily, she just treated it as a joke, and she wasn't a genius after all. Her artistic cells were indeed not as good as Mo Bei, this was clearly evident, and the more it went on, the clearer it became. She also couldn't take everything for herself, or else others would lose their heads.

  At the time when Fang Mengnan was living a leisurely life, Italy had just started to strike, and people didn't seem to take it seriously, thinking it was just a small disturbance that would calm down soon. Cheng Shigui and others walked around the streets to gather news from all sides, which could allow them to earn more capital. He had also received letters from Fang Mengnan and had studied in Europe before, where he learned European history during his school days.

  Cheng Shigui clearly recognized that each of these strikes in European countries was particularly large, even if the government or workers did not have this intention, there were people who pushed and helped to make it bigger. Each strike is closely related to political struggle, which is also an inevitable part of political struggle. In order to move up to a higher level, politicians don't care about life or death, as long as they win the victory, everything can be sacrificed.

  These days, staying here, from the information he got from various industries, he can be sure that this strike is likely to bring huge harm to this place. They don't care about it at all, the more chaotic this place is, the better for them to take advantage of the situation.

  Cheng Shigui brought these people together, combining Fang Mosan's detailed plan in his letter, using the connections and network he had built up over many years in Europe to collect detailed intelligence every day, then summarizing and analyzing it, enabling them to navigate the stock market and futures market with ease and maximize their gains. They worked quietly here, making a big impact without being noticed.

  Sweltering summer, Fang Mo Nan and Mo Bei hid in the house, one playing the violin, the other playing the erhu. The harmonious music blended with the loud cicadas outside, like a miniature symphony. Grandma was overjoyed, unable to close her mouth, because summer vacation had arrived, and she could reduce the number of buns every day, only satisfying the nearby households, and steaming a few more during market days.

  Dad is building a big building in Beijing, so he wants to take them to Beijing for a play during the summer vacation, but was rejected by Grandma and others. The weather is too hot on the one hand, and most importantly, Grandma misses her stall. Mom's work is now easy-going, can help Grandma, mainly looking at the progress of two daughters, laughing sweeter than eating honey

  Mr. Lin lay in a rocking chair, fanning himself with a large palm-leaf fan, staring intently at Little Swallow who was studying.

  Xiao Yi studied very hard, and under the guidance of Old Master Lin, she had already self-studied all the courses up to high school sophomore year. Especially with Fang Mo Nan bringing her review materials that were more advanced than those in the county, she was immersed in a sea of questions every day. She could have taken the college entrance exam this year, but Old Master Lin suggested that she take it next year, solidify her foundation, and review for another year to increase her chances of getting into a good school.

  In the future, Xiao Qiuzi's husband would often take the bus to help his mother-in-law with chores every Sunday or holiday. He was sweet-talking and could even cook. He was truly a man who could both enter the hall and enter the kitchen. Gradually, Mother-in-law looked at him more and more fondly, and every time she would reimburse him for his bus ticket and give him a big package of delicious food when he left. Xiao Qiuzi watched this, pouting and saying: "He says he's here to help with chores, but it seems like he's just here to improve his life." She was always cold towards him, not willing to let him eat and drink for free while ordering him around.

  He stupidly accepted it all, because in his opinion, if Xiao Yi was willing to face him, then that's enough. If he were treated as a stranger and ignored, then he would really have no chance at all.

  "I want to eat watermelon." Mengbei put down the violin, wiped the sweat from her face, and sat on a small stool. Old Man Lin fanned her with a fan as she was hot.

  "Good." Grandma took out the watermelon chilled in the well water, cut it up and served it.

  "It's sandy and sweet, cool and refreshing, without any seeds, it's really delicious." Mo Bei is now very agile, after all, he will be three years old soon.

  "Yes, I've never had such delicious watermelon at someone else's home." Xiaoyi swallowed the watermelon in her mouth and continued eating.

  "Of course, what's in this space can't be compared with elsewhere." Fang Mo Nan muttered to himself as he ate.

  Time flies quietly like flowing water, and before you know it, winter has arrived. Fang Mo Nan thought to himself: 83 is just around the corner, and there will be a Spring Festival Gala too. Perhaps Cheng Shi Gui's clothing line can take another step forward. Italy is famous for its football, cars, and more importantly, fashion. We can't just make money from our own people; we need to make money from Europe and America as well, that's the way to go. I'll think about it carefully in the space at dawn and send a letter to get in touch. Alas, computers are really inconvenient.

  Fang Mengnan sent out a batch of letters, many of which contained suggestions for Spring Festival Gala costumes and CCTV host costumes, as well as some more avant-garde, European-American style fashion designs.

  Han Zhiqian received the package and looked at it with his appreciative eyes, thinking that the design was very classic, either avant-garde, fashionable, luxurious, elegant, refreshing and neat, or simple and comfortable.

  He had seen many famous and expensive clothing brands, the designs were also very good, but none of them could compare to these sketches in front of him. He really wanted to see the person who designed these clothes, suppressing his excitement as he waited for Matthew, they couldn't wait any longer, let's go together to meet this 'genius'.

  Is it?