Gao Yang lit a cigarette and explained to Lin Xian:
"If Argentina really won against France in the penalty shootout... then we shouldn't bet on Argentina winning in the lottery! We should bet on a draw!"
"Why?" Lin Xian's eyes were clear and innocent.
"It's like this..."
Gao Yang gestured animatedly:
"A football match consists of three stages: regular time, extra time, and penalty shootout."
"If a winner is determined during regular time, the match ends there."
"If the match is a draw after regular time, meaning the scores are equal, then it goes into extra time to determine the winner."
"And if it's still a draw after extra time! Then it goes into a penalty shootout, taking turns to kick penalties until a winner is decided!"
"And the criteria for determining the result of football lottery tickets only look at the result of the regular time!"
Lin Xian understood at this point:
"I see, since it has reached the penalty shootout, it must have been all draws before that, so naturally we should bet on a draw."
Gao Yang gave Lin Xian a thumbs up:
"You learn fast! You're a natural at playing football lottery! Come on, let's buy some together! The odds for a draw are very high!"
"Come on, bro! If we lose, it's on me, right? I've earned seventy to eighty thousand from you before, so if I win this time, it's yours, and if I lose, it's on me!"
Gao Yang dragged Lin Xian into the shop.
In the end, under Gao Yang's persuasion, Lin Xian reluctantly bought 30,000 yuan worth of football lottery, betting on a draw between Argentina and France.
Lin Xian wasn't into gambling at all and didn't want to buy so much. But Gao Yang was insistent, and in the end, he forcefully grabbed Lin Xian's phone and paid with facial recognition.
Gao Yang went all-in with 60,000 yuan, while Lin Xian was forced to spend 30,000 yuan.
The odds for a draw were 3.7.
In other words... if Argentina and France really drew during regular time, Gao Yang could cash out 220,000 yuan, while Lin Xian could cash out 110,000 yuan.
...
3 a.m.
The match began again amidst Lin Xian's yawns.
Argentina played aggressively.
Shortly after the start, they scored a penalty, and then another goal followed.
By the 80th minute, Argentina led 2-0!
Gao Yang was sweating profusely:
"What's going on, Lin Xian? This is different from what we agreed on! Unless the French team has a miracle, how could they score two goals in just over ten minutes!"
However!
Before Gao Yang could finish speaking!
France's star player Mbappé scored a goal directly!
Before Gao Yang's shout could reach the window, Mbappé scored another goal!
Two goals in just a few seconds! Even football novels wouldn't dare to write this!
"Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh!!!"
Gao Yang turned into a human mop again, writhing on the floor like a maggot, muttering words as if summoning some great demon, unable to speak coherently!
Finally...
Argentina won the match in the penalty shootout.
Messi lifted the long-awaited World Cup trophy.
Gao Yang also lifted the winning ticket of 220,000 yuan and pounced on Lin Xian—
"Father-in-law!"
"Get lost!"
...
After a scuffle.
Gao Yang finally calmed down and began to analyze:
"Now, looking at it... your dream seems really abnormal! If it's just predicting Argentina's victory, it's nothing."
"But, you accurately predicted a draw in the regular stage, a draw in extra time, and only then would a winner be decided in the penalty shootout..."
"I need to think about this."
Gao Yang pondered while Lin Xian also furrowed his brow in thought.
At the moment.
[If roughly judged, it's basically confirmed that Lin Xian's dream is the real future world 600 years later.]
But he still felt that there was some decisive evidence missing.
Relying solely on predicting football match results to conclude that the dream is the real future world is logically unsound.
When they bought the lottery tickets just now, many joking football fans in the shop said they were making a fortune by betting on football this year, and they had won several games in a row. An old man even won seven consecutive times and was ready to buy a car in full.
There are only three results in football lottery: win, lose, or draw.
Even if it's purely guesswork, there's a chance of getting several games right in a row. This isn't enough evidence to conclude that the dream is the real future world.
"Actually, Lin Xian, I still can't believe that your dream is real."
Finally, Gao Yang raised his head and said seriously:
"Even if you accurately predicted the results of three consecutive football matches, there are still too many unreasonable phenomena in your dream. Honestly, I find it hard to imagine that it's a real world."
"I remember you saying that time in your dream never progresses? It's always fixed on the same day?"
Lin Xian nodded:
"Every time I dream, it's the same repeating cycle... People who died yesterday are still standing in the same place today; friends who played well with me yesterday have completely forgotten everything today; leaves always fall in the same place, without any deviation... It's like watching the same movie every day."
"In fact, this dream has many inexplicable aspects, such as the level of technological development in the dream, which is almost indistinguishable from the present in 2022. How do you explain that? Do you believe that life 600 years in the future will be the same as now?"
At this point, both Gao Yang and Lin Xian were scratching their heads, deep in thought.
"Now."
[If roughly judged, it's basically confirmed that Lin Xian's dream is the real future world 600 years later.]
But he still felt that there was some decisive evidence missing.
Relying solely on predicting football match results to conclude that the dream is the real future world is logically unsound.
When they bought the lottery tickets just now, many joking football fans in the shop said they were making a fortune by betting on football this year, and they had won several games in a row. An old man even won seven consecutive times and was ready to buy a car in full.
There are only three results in football lottery: win, lose, or draw.
Even if it's purely guesswork, there's a chance of getting several games right in a row. This isn't enough evidence to conclude that the dream is the real future world.
"Actually, Lin Xian, I still can't believe that your dream is real."
Finally, Gao Yang raised his head and said seriously:
"Even if you accurately predicted the results of three consecutive football matches, there are still too many unreasonable phenomena in your dream. Honestly, I find it hard to imagine that it's a real world."
"I remember you saying that time in your dream never progresses? It's always fixed on the same day?"
Lin Xian nodded:
"Every time I dream, it's the same repeating cycle... People who died yesterday are still standing in the same place today; friends who played well with me yesterday have completely forgotten everything today; leaves always fall in the same place, without any deviation... It's like watching the same movie every day."
"In fact, this dream has many inexplicable aspects, such as the level of technological development in the dream, which is almost indistinguishable from the present in 2022. How do you explain that? Do you believe that life 600 years in the future will be the same as now?"
At this point, both Gao Yang and Lin Xian were scratching their heads, deep in thought.
"Now."
[If roughly judged, it's basically confirmed that Lin Xian's dream is the real future world 600 years later.]
But he still felt that there was some decisive evidence missing.
Relying solely on predicting football match results to conclude that the dream is the real future world is logically unsound.
When they bought the lottery tickets just now, many joking football fans in the shop said they were making a fortune by betting on football this year, and they had won several games in a row. An old man even won seven consecutive times and was ready to buy a car in full.
There are only three results in football lottery: win, lose, or draw.
Even if it's purely guesswork, there's a chance of getting several games right in a row. This isn't enough evidence to conclude that the dream is the real future world.
"Actually, Lin Xian, I still can't believe that your dream is real."
Finally, Gao Yang raised his head and said seriously:
"Even if you accurately predicted the results of three consecutive football matches, there are still too many unreasonable phenomena in your dream. Honestly, I find it hard to imagine that it's a real world."
"I remember you saying that time in your dream never progresses? It's always fixed on the same day?"
Lin Xian nodded:
"Every time I dream, it's the same repeating cycle... People who died yesterday are still standing in the same place today; friends who played well with me yesterday have completely forgotten everything today; leaves always fall in the same place, without any deviation... It's like watching the same movie every day."
"In fact, this dream has many inexplicable aspects, such as the level of technological development in the dream, which is almost indistinguishable from the present in 2022. How do you explain that? Do you believe that life 600 years in the future will be the same as now?"
At this point, both Gao Yang and Lin Xian were scratching their heads, deep in thought.
"Now."
[If roughly judged, it's basically confirmed that Lin Xian's dream is the real future world 600 years later.]
But he still felt that there was some decisive evidence missing.
Relying solely on predicting football match results to conclude that the dream is the real future world is logically unsound.
When they bought the lottery tickets just now, many joking football fans in the shop said they were making a fortune by betting on football this year, and they had won several games in a row. An old man even won seven consecutive times and was ready to buy a car in full.
There are only three results in football lottery: win, lose, or draw.
Even if it's purely guesswork, there's a chance of getting several games right in a row. This isn't enough evidence to conclude that the dream is the real future world.
"Actually, Lin Xian, I still can't believe that your dream is real."
Finally, Gao Yang raised his head and said seriously:
"Even if you accurately predicted the results of three consecutive football matches, there are still too many unreasonable phenomena in your dream. Honestly, I find it hard to imagine that it's a real world."
"I remember you saying that time in your dream never progresses? It's always fixed on the same day?"
Lin Xian nodded:
"Every time I dream, it's the same repeating cycle... People who died yesterday are still standing in the same place today; friends who played well with me yesterday have completely forgotten everything today; leaves always fall in the same place, without any deviation... It's like watching the same movie every day."
"In fact, this dream has many inexplicable aspects, such as the level of technological development in the dream, which is almost indistinguishable from the present in 2022. How do you explain that? Do you believe that life 600 years in the future will be the same as now?"
At this point, both Gao Yang and Lin Xian were scratching their heads, deep in thought.
"Now."
[If roughly judged, it's basically confirmed that Lin Xian's dream is the real future world 600 years later.]
But he still felt that there was some decisive evidence missing.
Relying solely on predicting football match results to conclude that the dream is the real future world is logically unsound.
When they bought the lottery tickets just now, many joking football fans in the shop said they were making a fortune by betting on football this year, and they had won several games in a row. An old man even won seven consecutive times and was ready to buy a car in full.
There are only three results in football lottery: win, lose, or draw.
Even pure guesswork has the chance of getting several games right in a row, so this isn't strong evidence to conclude that the dream is a glimpse of the real future world.
"Actually, Lin Xian, I still can't believe that your dream is real."
In the end, Gao Yang raised his head and said seriously:
"Even if you accurately predicted the outcome of three games in a row, there are still too many unreasonable phenomena in your dream. Honestly, I find it hard to imagine that it's a real world."
"I remember you saying that time in your dream never progresses? It's always fixed on the same day?"
Lin Xian nodded:
"Every time I dream, it's the same repetitive cycle... People who died yesterday are still standing in the same place today; friends who played well with me yesterday have forgotten everything today; leaves always fall in the same place, never missing a single detail... It's like watching the same movie every day."
"In fact, this dream has many unexplained aspects. For example, the level of technological development in the dream is almost identical to that of the present year 2022. How do you explain that? Do you believe that life will be the same 600 years from now?"
At this point, Gao Yang was scratching his head in confusion.
"Stop! Stop!"
Gao Yang signaled Lin Xian to quiet down.
Then he ran into Lin Xian's bedroom, took out a piece of white paper and a black pen:
"This is too messy... Let's organize our thoughts! Then we can figure out what's going on with your dream!"
"How do we organize it?" Lin Xian asked, extending his hand.
Gao Yang handed Lin Xian a piece of paper and a pen, gesturing for him to sit down:
"Just as you said, dreams are different from reality. Dreams don't need to be logical and orderly, but the real world is different! The real world must be rational, orderly, and verifiable."
"So, let's summarize the 'unreasonable aspects in your dream' together! List them one by one!"
"If these unreasonable aspects cannot withstand scrutiny, are contradictory, and logically inconsistent... then it can definitely be concluded that your dream is just a dream! Everything is just a coincidence!"
Lin Xian took the pen, nodding in agreement. It was indeed a good method, a kind of reverse reasoning.
"Okay, let's each write down our thoughts, then we'll summarize and discuss them."
Lin Xian lowered his head and wrote the title on the white paper:
[Unreasonable Phenomena in the Dream]
...
After writing, Lin Xian's pen moved swiftly.
He had long felt that there were too many bugs in the dream, but before, he thought that since it was a dream, being unreasonable was reasonable.
But now, with a change in perspective, if the dream world was to be linked to the real world...
Those unreasonable aspects would appear even more unreasonable!