Feature Shows Extravaganza - Chapter 59
Chapter 59: Who’s the God of Popping Balls
There were simply too few Platinum cards!
Ever since the popping balls were launched, millions of cards had been bought already, but only a handful of platinum cards had come out.
On a second-hand trading platform, a platinum with the fire attribute was being sold at an exorbitant price of 10,000 yuan!
Although no one had actually bought it, that still proved how rare they were.
With each new platinum card, a sensation was created among the local primary and middle school students, and that was the effect Meng Lang had been aiming for!
The card sets had been selling very well!
Kids had been saving up their pocket money for an “auspicious day”, when they would purchase the card sets and dream about finding a rare platinum card there, so that they would be envied by all the primary and middle school students in the city!
If there was no platinum card, they could live with a gold card.
Compared to platinum cards, there were a lot more gold cards going around. Anyone who had bought ten sets in a row would find at least one gold card there.
But there were exceptions as well!
If someone could be lucky enough to find a platinum card within a single set, then someone else could be unlucky enough to find nothing but common cards in all 10 sets.
No one knew how fate worked.
Meng Lang found himself a decent businessman, because he had only been making money by using the random popping values and different qualities of the cards.
If he wanted, he could give popping balls different colors according to their elements. That way, he would be able to earn even more money!
Meng Lang decided that he was too kind a man to be real.
…
“Dada, this world hates me.”
Du Bishu spread out his popping ball cards. Of the thick stack of cards, 99% were common cards and only 2 were silver.
“Am I not supposed to find at least one gold card when I buy ten sets all at once? Why is this happening? Scratching his head, Du Bishu asked.
Sitting opposite him, Pan Da shook his head. He then opened his pencil case and turned it around to show Du Bishu what was inside.
“That’s because you didn’t open the sets correctly!”
There was a sticker inside the pencil case.
On it was a smiling big brother.
Du Bishu found the man very familiar, but couldn’t remember who he was. He asked, “Who is he? Why did you put his picture in your pencil case?”
“You don’t know who he is? No wonder you can’t get a gold card!” Pan Da said contemptuously.
“Behold! This is Meng Lang, the legendary Father of Yo-Yo, Fairy Prince, and God of Popping Balls!”
He then lowered his voice. “Don’t tear the package as soon as you buy a set. Pray sincerely to Uncle Meng’s picture first and only open your sets after you’re blessed by him. That way, I guarantee you that you’ll find gold cards!”
“Are you sure?”
Du Bishu didn’t buy it, because that didn’t sound reasonable at all.
Pan Da snorted. “Suit yourself. It has taken me some painstaking effort to learn this secret strategy that will bring platinum cards to your sets. Do you know that boy who found two platinum cards in one set? I heard that he had Uncle Meng’s pictures stuck to the bottom of his feet, his butt, and his chest!”
Well…
Du Bishu still wasn’t convinced. He didn’t think that it would work, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt trying.
Hence, he asked Pan Da where to buy this sticker and headed for the stationery shop that sold the popping balls after hearing that he could get it there.
“Handsome young man, are you here to buy some more cards?”
The shop owner remembered this “big shot” who had bought 10 sets in a row, so he greeted the boy with a smile.
Du Bishu asked eagerly, “Hello, do you have stickers of the god of popping balls here?”
The god of popping balls?
The owner was baffled at first, but he soon realized who the boy was talking about. It had to be Director Meng.
So he nodded with a smile.
“Sure! Of course we have that!”
He went to the shelf of the popping ball cards and took out a large piece of sticker that had at least 10 of Meng Lang’s head shot on it. “Young man, you’re so well-informed. This has just gotten in.
“There you go. It’s made by Pengda as well.”
“How much?”
The owner raised five fingers. “5 yuan! That’s all you need to stick the god of popping balls all over your body! With his blessing, you’ll draw a platinum card in no time!”
“Give me one of those and two sets of cards, too!”
Du Bishu smacked a 10-yuan and a 5-yuan bill on the counter and went home with the cards and the stickers.
The A4-sized piece of paper was equally divided into 36 sections, each containing a smiling face of the god of popping balls.
After washing his hands, Du Bishu took a deep breath and took off his shirt. He then removed a sticker and stuck it to his chest following Pan Da’s instructions.
“And on the bottom of my feet, too..”
Then there was his butt. Du Bishu said a silent apology to Uncle Meng for this part.
He stuck the stickers onto his bottom as he apologized.
Afterwards, he held three pencils in his hands the way people did in TV shows during worshipping ceremonies and bowed three times in the direction of the window.
And the ritual was done!
It was time to open the package!
Du Bishu swallowed and realized that his hands were shaking.
“The god of popping balls will bless me!”
He wondered if he would find a platinum card this time and if he did, should he sell it or keep it?
“Do I give one to Dada if I find two?”
He was still daydreaming when the door to his room opened and Old Du walked in. “No computer before you finish your homework! How many times do I have to tell you that…”
He then noticed the strange “outfit” of his son.
Du Bishu quickly grabbed his shirt and tried to put it on, but he was too late. Old Du walked up to him in a hurry, grabbed his hands, and stared at the smiling man on his son’s chest.
“You… you’re…”
Old Du was so distraught that he was almost in tears.
He used to buy stickers himself when he was a boy and knew perfectly well what they were. He used to stick the picture of a girl band on his forehead and show it off to his friends when he was his son’s age…
He immediately freaked out.
“Who the hell is he? Why do you have to like a man, and he’s not even good-looking…”
Du Bishu smiled awkwardly. “Dad, it’s not like that. This is the god of popping balls! I don’t like him, but he can bring me luck, so that I can find a platinum card.”
The god of popping balls? A platinum card?
What the hell were those things?
Old Du was finally relieved when he heard his son’s explanation.
“As long as he’s not into men. Boys are all like that with their favorite toys…” thought Old Du.
“Wait! Is that how you’ve been spending your breakfast money??”
Du Bishu cursed inwardly and immediately shook his head. “No, of course not. It was Pan Da who had spent his breakfast money on the cards, not me. These cards are all his.”
“Good…”
Old Du was relieved, but his phone began to ring. Taking it out, he saw that it was from Old Pan.
Old Du heard Pan Qiliang’s voice on the other end. “Old Du, I’m just calling you to tell you that your son has been spending his breakfast money on some popping ball cards, and my son has all of them here. If you have time, please come over and take them back…”
Old Du looked at Du Bishu over his shoulder.
And it was not a good look!
