Trembling in the Skies

Chapter 25: Probability

Li Teng was also a bit surprised; he remembered that his card had a credit limit of only 100 points. “Once you’ve used up the 100 points, a new credit limit becomes available. From 100 to 1,000, every point you spend is like borrowing one and repaying two,” the young girl answered for the office worker. “Is that how it works? Then how many points did you spend? It must have been quite a lot, right?” The man in glasses sized up the young woman. The outfit she was wearing looked very high-end, and she was also adorned with quite a few beautiful accessories. “I think it was a little over 1,300? For amounts over 1,000 but under 10,000, you have to pay back four times the amount,” the young woman replied to the man in glasses. Clearly, after spending all 1,000 points, she had continued to run a credit balance of over 300. “Women really are spendthrifts—they don’t think about the consequences at all! If you don’t win the full refund, you’re in big trouble.” The man in glasses tutted a few times. “When I first came in, I didn’t get any warnings at all. If I’d known the punishment was this severe, I definitely wouldn’t have dared to spend like that.” The female office worker standing in front of the prize machine frowned, looking anxiously at the screen in front of her. Prompted by the director, the office worker pressed the raffle button. The speed of the roulette wheel on the screen slowed down. She covered her eyes, too afraid to look at the result. If the final result was 100 points or zero points, she would have acted in this scene for nothing today, and like Guo Zhipeng, she’d be sent straight to the wax museum. Her chances of ending up in the wax museum weren’t low—they stood at forty percent! It seems that reckless spending really isn’t a good habit. “Wow!” the young girl exclaimed. “What is it?” the office worker, still covering her eyes, asked the girl in a trembling voice. “You’re really lucky! You actually won 100 points! I tried to win 100 points but couldn’t.” The man with glasses answered for the girl. “Huh?” Upon hearing the bespectacled man’s reply, the office worker’s legs gave way, and she nearly collapsed to the ground. It was a windfall for the guy with glasses to win 100 points, but if she’d won 100 points, she’d be doomed! “Don’t listen to that know-it-all—you actually won a full refund,” Gao Fei quickly interjected, trying to reassure the office worker. Just as the office worker was about to fall, she heard Gao Fei’s words, quickly opened her eyes, and looked at the spinning wheel on the screen. Sure enough, just as Gao Fei had said, the pointer had landed on the “60% off” option—a full waiver of the bill—rather than the “30% off” option worth 100 points. “You bastard! Were you trying to scare me to death?” The office worker kicked out at the guy with glasses, who burst out laughing and ran off. The office worker had narrowly escaped, and now it was the young girl’s turn. The young girl spent over 1,300 points. Just like the office worker, if she didn’t win the full refund, she would undoubtedly be sealed in wax. However, the young girl didn’t seem as scared as the office worker. She walked right up, casually tapped the raffle button, and watched as the spinning wheel on the screen slowly came to a stop. It landed on… the “60% off” section. “You sure are confident!” The office worker, who’d narrowly escaped death, was deeply impressed by the teenager’s composure during the draw. “I’ve always had great luck. I wasn’t worried at all about not winning the free meal—it’s a 60 percent chance! If I couldn’t win with odds that high, I’d be so unlucky! I might as well just die,” the girl said with a dismissive expression. Finally, it was Li Teng’s turn. “How many points did you spend?” the man with glasses asked Li Teng. “Judging by his clothes, he probably didn’t spend much. Even with the food, it shouldn’t be more than 100 points,” the female office worker analyzed. “I think it’s under 30,” the young woman chimed in. “I only spent 18 points in total,” Li Teng said, standing in front of the prize machine. “I guessed right, didn’t I?” the young girl said with a smug expression. “18! You’re way too frugal! If you win 100 points, you’ll be raking it in!” the office worker exclaimed, her eyes wide. “Haha, if he wins a full refund, he’d actually be losing out,” the guy with glasses said with a look that suggested he was hoping to see Li Teng make a fool of himself. “Let’s get started! Aim for 100 points—that’d be a huge win!” the young woman encouraged Li Teng from the side. “What are you waiting for? You only spent a little bit—you don’t have to worry about going into the red. Go ahead and draw!” The office worker urged Li Teng. “It’s definitely going to be 100 points—I believe in your luck!” Gao Fei also offered Li Teng a few words of encouragement. “Just don’t end up with the 10 percent,” the guy with glasses added. Although it was meant as a good-luck wish, it sounded a bit off to the others. After hesitating for a moment longer, Li Teng finally reached out and slammed his finger down on the draw button. He didn’t have high hopes of winning 100 points—a net gain of 82 points. Right now, he just hoped he wouldn’t draw the “10 percent” option, which offered zero points. If he landed on the top 10 percent—the option with no points—his account balance would drop to -8. In that case, he would have gone through all this for nothing, and his carefully orchestrated plan to outmaneuver Guo Zhipeng would have been completely meaningless. The rapidly spinning wheel on the screen began to slow down. The pointer repeatedly glided back and forth between the three options before finally coming to a stop at… It stopped at… …the “Full Refund” section. The raffle couldn’t be rigged—was the probability really fixed at just this one outcome? Li Teng was quite disappointed. If he’d known everything was on the house, he would have spent a little more.