【03】Financial men really like to show off, and their methods are all kinds of strange.
While embarrassing, the blunder of cash flying everywhere and money being picked up everywhere was surprisingly effective. It was around 7 or 8 PM on Friday evening, just as the pool hall was starting to fill up. Perhaps the scene was so eye-catching, several newly arrived enthusiasts noticed it and rushed to challenge Liang Zhiyao. After Charles, she played against three other people in a row, with bets ranging from large to small, ultimately winning a total of $750, surpassing even her previous record. After her final round, she sat on a sofa in the lounge area to rest. The rule in pool is that the loser pays the table fee, so Liang Zhiyao had essentially earned two weeks' worth of her part-time job on campus for free. Setting aside the moral considerations of this side hustle, it was indeed a good "livelihood." Even just two hours was mentally and physically taxing, even more so than making drinks at a coffee shop. Despite the noise in the pool hall, the English conversation provided a soothing white noise, and the sofa behind her was incredibly soft. After less than a minute, she was nearly asleep. "Hi, Liang Zhiyao." Pulled back from sleep just before she fell asleep, her first reaction was strange, because no one here should be calling her by her Chinese name. When she opened her eyes, she realized that Tan Xu hadn't left yet, even at this late hour, and was standing right in front of her. "What's up?" He waved the club in his hand. "It's rare to meet someone I know here. I was thinking of playing a round with you, but—were you almost asleep?" "I was just too tired," she said, sitting up awkwardly and checking the time. "It's already nine o'clock... How about next time? I come every Friday night." There was silence for a few seconds, but Tan Xu showed no sign of leaving. "Sorry, I didn't make myself clear," he suggested, "If you agree, we can play with a $200 bet, or you can just state a specific amount as payment for your sparring partner." Liang Zhiyao was stunned for a moment before she understood what he meant. She declined the invitation because she was truly exhausted, but Tan Xu saw it as a sign that she was only interested in games with stakes, and didn't care about simple conversations and entertainment between classmates. Therefore, he wisely changed his approach and tried to negotiate directly with her about money. For some reason, Liang Zhiyao had only found the rumors in the elevator that afternoon amusing, but now he felt deeply moved by this concrete misunderstanding...
Although this blunder of cash flying everywhere and people picking up money all over the floor was embarrassing, it unexpectedly had a good effect.
Around seven or eight o'clock on Friday evening was the time when the billiard hall started to fill up. Perhaps the scene was too eye-catching, and several enthusiasts who had just arrived noticed it and came to challenge Liang Zhiyao.
After Charles, she played with three other people in a row, with bets of varying sizes, and ended up winning a total of $750, even exceeding her previous record.
After finishing her last game, she sat down on the sofa in the lounge area and closed her eyes to rest. The rule in billiards is that the loser pays the bill, so Liang Zhiyao had earned two weeks' worth of money from her part-time job on campus in just one day.
If you ignore the moral factors of making money through illegal means, this is indeed a good "livelihood".
Even just two hours was enough to drain her mental and physical energy, even more so than making drinks in a coffee shop. Although the pool hall was noisy, the English conversation was like white noise that helped her sleep. The sofa behind her was so soft that she was almost asleep after lying there for less than a minute.
"Hi, Liang Zhiyao."
She was pulled back from her dream just before falling asleep, and her first reaction was to feel strange because no one here should be calling her by her Chinese name.
When I opened my eyes, I found that Tan Xu had not left yet at this late hour and was standing in front of me.
"What's up?"
He raised the golf club in his hand. "It's rare to meet someone I know here. I wanted to play a round with you, but—are you almost asleep?"
"I was so tired just now," she said, sitting up awkwardly and checking the time. "It's already nine o'clock... How about next time? I come every Friday night."
The air was quiet for a few seconds, but Tan Xu showed no intention of leaving.
"I'm sorry, I didn't explain myself clearly," he suggested, "If you agree, we can play with a $200 bet, or you can just name a specific amount as compensation for sparring."
Liang Zhiyao was stunned for a moment before he understood what the other party meant.
She declined the invitation because she was really tired, but in Tan Xu's eyes, it was probably because she was "not interested in anything without profit" and was only willing to play games with stakes. As for pure communication and entertainment between classmates, she was too lazy to pay attention to it.
Therefore, the other party changed his approach quite tactfully and planned to talk to her directly about money.
For some reason, Liang Zhiyao thought the rumors in the elevator that afternoon were just funny because they had nothing to do with him, but now he felt uncomfortable with this concrete misunderstanding.
Perhaps it is this strange atmosphere of clearly marked prices that makes people feel like they have become commodities, which is a bit humiliating.
Her expression instantly turned ugly, and she refused bluntly, "Sorry, I don't bet on this with people I know. Find someone else."
The atmosphere was a little stagnant for a while.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything else," Tan Xu explained, seeming to realize that his words had come off as somewhat condescending. "It's just that it's rare to see classmates here. I had planned to play snooker with a friend, but they stood me up, and I've been practicing on my own for so long that I'm really bored."
This time it was Liang Zhiyao's turn to be surprised: "There's a snooker table here?"
If Chinese billiards is just a game with smaller holes than American billiards, then snooker is practically a different sport altogether. Not only is the barrier to entry higher and the difficulty greater, but the playing style and approach are also significantly different from American billiards. This niche sport only has a small following in the UK and China, but is largely ignored here.
She asked the front desk when she first came, and was told there was no snooker.
Tan Xu smiled and said, "The owner here—the friend who stood me up—is Chinese. He likes to play snooker, so he bought a table and put it in the shop. But it's not open to the public. He just plays with his friends when he has nothing to do."
"I thought so." She suddenly realized that she had seen the owner a few times before. He was indeed an Asian man and looked to be in his twenties. No wonder Tan Xu chose to play billiards here instead of going to the pool hall near the school.
She finally understood why the cue in the other person's hand looked a little strange - it was a snooker cue, and its length and thickness were obviously different from those of an American pool.
Knowing that there was a snooker table here, Liang Zhiyao instantly lost his sleepiness.
From the age of eight to now, she hardly remembers a time when she had not played snooker for more than a week. In the past two years, Liang Zhiyao often drove to a snooker room, but spending money on hobbies was the icing on the cake when one had abundant material resources. Now she did not have the capital, so she had not visited the room for a while.
Tan Xu seemed to see through her thoughts and asked half-jokingly, "Why, if it were snooker, would you be in the mood to spar now instead of waiting until next week?"
She blinked: "I don't think I ever said I could fight."
"I guessed," he shrugged. "I just watched you play with someone else. When you play American Pool, you like to plan the movements of at least four or five target balls, and you have very precise control over the cue ball. It's quite like you play snooker regularly."
This guy is so pretentious. She curled her lips inwardly.
This kind of compliment sounds like praising her playing skills, but in fact it is more like subtly hinting that she is also a good player, and it also subtly reveals a mentality of commenting from a high vantage point.
Her impression of Tan Xu had already become somewhat negative because of his condescending attitude just now, and now she had silently labeled him, secretly thinking that financial men really like to show off, and their ways of doing so are all very strange.
But this pretense was like a provocation, which only aroused her strong competitive spirit. Not only did she no longer feel sleepy, but she was also eager to try, and couldn't wait to see him "slap her in the face".
"Let's play snooker, free of charge," she said impulsively. "But—does your friend mind if we use his table?"
"Don't worry about that," Tan Xu said with a smile. "We have a good relationship. Even if he stood me up again today, it's still no problem for him to play a game with his friends."
Everything seemed to be going smoothly, but it was not until she followed the other party through twists and turns into the billiard room where the snooker table was placed that Liang Zhiyao realized another serious problem - she had no cue.
American pool and snooker use completely different cues. Since the snooker here isn't open to the public, there aren't any public cues like in American pool. She only plays American pool here, so her snooker cue has been gathering dust at home for a long time and she didn't bring it with her.
"I don't have my clubs," she said awkwardly. "Do you still want to play?"
Tan Xu was quite generous: "If you don't mind, you can use my club. It might not be the most suitable length for your height, but it won't be that much different."
They flipped a coin and decided that Tan Xu would serve first. He leaned over and hit the cue ball with a standard posture, bringing out three red balls. After hitting the edge of the cushion, the cue ball returned to the lower area and stopped steadily near the top.
There wasn't much of a problem with this tee shot; it barely left a mid-long shot under the table with a 50% chance of success. Tan Xu walked around the table and handed her the club: "Come on."
Snooker cues are usually customized according to the user's height. This one is indeed a little long for Liang Zhiyao, but not to the point of being unusable.
What really caught her eye was the familiar pattern on it and the circular brand logo at the bottom.
Her 18th birthday present was a golf club of this brand, but that one was a basic model, while Tan Xu's one was probably not available for direct purchase through official channels and was of collectible quality.
She thought to herself, he should have told her earlier. If he had known there was such a good stick, she would have asked him to play a game no matter how tired she was.
Liang Zhiyao walked half a circle around the table.
She was debating whether to attack directly. The chances Tan Xu had given her were only average, requiring a high level of accuracy. And she had been playing American style for the past few months, so it was impossible for her to maintain her touch as well as before.
But she suddenly felt a long-lost sense of relaxation - there was no stakes in this game, she didn't need to worry about tuition, rent, medical insurance, didn't have to bear financial pressure, and didn't have to consider the safest way to play. Instead, she could purely enjoy a sport she had loved for a long time in the way she liked.
It felt like someone who had walked for a long time in the desert finally drinking spring water, incredibly sweet. Without hesitation, she rubbed the club head lightly with chalk, leaned over, set her grip, aimed, and decisively struck the club.
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