Chapter 579

"Not defeated, it's that the Stream Village side has the advantage, so Yuan Zhao settled for second place."

"The Yuan family is indeed formidable, but I'm rooting for the Jiang family of Binhu Village. This year the Jiang family's Young Lady took first place at the Seventh Academy—Yuan Zhao might be in trouble."

"The Wei family of Jin Sha Village is the truly formidable one. I heard the Wei family has invested quite a lot of resources."

"Right, I heard that too. The Wei family's lord took third place at the Seventh Academy this time."

"Only third place—is that as good as the Jiang family who got first?"

"In this kind of ranking, it's just a hair's breadth. If they competed again, the result could easily flip."

"Stop arguing with me. There's a betting booth over there—shall we go place a wager?"

"Let's do it. Let's go!"

Zhao Chi watched them walk to the side.

Even more people were crowded there.

It looked like they were rushing to buy something.

Zhao Chi asked in surprise: "Eleventh Brother, why are there so many people today? They're not here to train, are they?"

Zhao Huai laughed: "What training? They're all here to watch the matches."

Although he had guessed it, Zhao Chi still found it a bit hard to accept.

This wasn't at all what he had expected.

"Didn't you say only the instructors, nobles, and military would be here? How can there be this many people?"

Zhao Huai said: "I never said only they would come. I said they would come. Most of the audience are ordinary people, of course."

"Then how did they find out?"

"Huh? Of course our few villages spread the word."

"……Why?"

"Why what? I say, Zhao Chi, what's gotten into you? Of course it's to sell tickets—one ticket is 5 silver coins. Think about it, how much is that?"

"Tickets too? Isn't this an internal competition?"

"Right, an internal competition, but nobody said only insiders could watch."

Damn it……

Zhao Jiao said: "It's fine. Most of these people are just neighbors. There are very few lords; nothing will be exposed. Since you're not afraid of nobles and the military watching, why fear these neighbors?"

Seems... reasonable.

Zhao Chi was the one who least wanted the nobles to watch.

But since the nobles and military would be watching anyway, having these ordinary residents watch mattered even less.

Alright then……

Zhao Chi pointed at the group nearby: "What are they doing over there? I heard they went to place bets—are they betting on us?"

Lu Hong nodded: "Of course. I used to bet often too. Even though I lost more than I won, I still wanted to place a bet. Shall we go too?"

Zhao Huai laughed: "Haha, I was just about to say that. Let's go place a wager too. Let's go!"

Zhao Chi asked: "Is this legit? If you bet correctly, can you really take the money?"

Zhao Jiao said: "On that point you can rest easy. The nobles are behind this, so the Daoshibu Society won't be sore losers."

Zhao Chi nodded and asked no more.

Squeezing into the crowd, he saw someone holding up a spirit-energy device.

"Place your bets, place your bets! The match starts in one hour. The earlier you bet, the higher the odds. You betting too? Connect to the system."

Lu Hong looked like an old hand.

He finished placing his bet in no time.

Zhao Jiao was still frowning in thought.

Zhao Huai said: "Do you know how to bet? Connect from the system end, click whoever you want to bet on, then put in the money."

Zhao Chi nodded: "Mm, I'm already connected."

【Rookie Tournament Betting】

【First Round】

【Second Round】

【Third Round】

【Quarterfinals】

【Semifinals】

【Semifinals】

【Finals】

Those were the only options.

Zhao Chi clicked First Round first.

【First Round Betting Odds】

【Binhu Village Wu Liang】 1.3x

【Nangu Village Liu Neng】 1.1x

【Jin Sha Village Li Ping】 0.9x

【Beiliu Village Lu Yi】 0.1x

【Stream Village Xiao Rui】 0.2x

【……】

【Stream Village Zhao Chi】 0.3x

How do you read these odds?

There's an explanation next to it.

Zhao Chi skimmed it briefly and understood.

The odds are set individually based on each contestant's situation.

For example, betting on Lu Yi — if she wins the first round, you get 0.1 times the money. So if you put in 2 gold coins, you get an extra 0.2 gold coins.

If you bet on Liu Neng, when he wins the first round, you get 1.1 times the money. Put in 2 gold coins, and you get an extra 2.2 gold coins.

Of course, the principal is returned along with it.

But if the bet loses, the principal is gone.

The higher the odds, the weaker this lord's usual performance.

The lower the odds, of course, the stronger this lord's usual performance.

Lu Yi's odds are very low, only 0.1, so based on her performance, she has a high probability of winning, hence the low odds.

That Liu Neng's usual performance probably isn't much, so his odds are high. His chance of winning isn't great.

Zhao Chi's odds are 0.4.

Looks like his performance is fairly well recognized.

As for where this performance data comes from, Zhao Chi had no idea.

But Zhao Jiao just said the backers behind this kind of betting are nobles, so it's pretty obvious.

The data comes from the nobles.

The first round has the lowest odds.

The second round's odds are a bit higher.

The third round is higher still.

Zhao Chi went straight to the finals betting.

Quite a few people he recognized.

Zhao Chi specifically picked a few people he knew to follow.

【Character Betting Odds】

【Binhu Village Jiang Die】 3x

【Beiliu Village Yuan Zhao】 3x

【Nangu Village Lang Hu】 38x

【Nangu Village Cao Feng】 45x

【Beiliu Village Lu Yi】 76x

【Xiliu Village Zhao Chi】 88x