Chapter 2 Seeing the Future?
1532 Words
Sighing over the screen won't solve anything, so Zhang Yang decided to watch the latest live football match.
Only by watching the live game could he comment on the matches.
Zhang Yang opened Sky Sports' live stream.
Sky Sports had bought the exclusive online and television rights to the English Premier League, making it the best option for watching the latest Premier League matches in the UK.
Then, he discovered it wasn't free.
"I have to buy a membership?"
Based on his past experience, he started searching, but unfortunately, he couldn't find any free streams; they were all paid channels. Watching live meant paying.
Finally, Zhang Yang reluctantly bought a membership, which nearly cost him his entire fortune.
"I'll endure it!"
Zhang Yang gritted his teeth and started watching the live stream.
The screen showed the latest football match: Chelsea, nicknamed the 'Blues,' and Tottenham Hotspur, nicknamed the 'Lily of the North,' a match that could be considered a mini-London derby.
Zhang Yang had some knowledge of European football in his previous life, occasionally watching matches and having a good understanding of the performance of various teams.
Chelsea, the "Blues," is a strong team.
It's November 2004, and Chelsea's manager is Mourinho, known as "The Special One."
Last season, Mourinho led Portuguese giants Porto to a treble of the Portuguese league, Portuguese cup, and UEFA Champions League titles, arriving in England as a "championship coach" to take the reins of Chelsea.
This season, after investing heavily in transfers, Chelsea's strength has been significantly enhanced, performing well across all competitions, especially in the Premier League, where they have been extremely dominant, winning most of their matches.
Chelsea vs. Tottenham Hotspur?
If nothing unexpected happens, Chelsea will definitely win.
"Could it be that my intuition tells me Chelsea will definitely win?"
Zhang Yang's fingers moved rapidly as he typed a message on Weibo: "Chelsea vs. Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea will win!"
That won't do!
He immediately deleted it all.
Predicting which team will win on Weibo is meaningless. Even if he thought Chelsea would win, everyone else would.
Chelsea's performance has been too dominant.
When Chelsea plays against other Premier League teams, most people predict a Chelsea victory, especially Chelsea fans; they'll definitely favor Chelsea.
The match is currently in the 56th minute, and Chelsea is already leading by one goal. Posting a Weibo message predicting the outcome will have virtually no effect.
“What to do?
What should I say?”
“Should I make a dramatic comeback and say Tottenham will win?
That would just be random talk; even if I'm right, nobody would read it… What else should I write?
Criticize the underperforming players?
Praise the good players?
Maybe that would be helpful?”
Zhang Yang pondered, troubled.
After a while, still lacking inspiration, he picked up a deck of cards and dealt a few to himself.
“3 of Hearts, 5 of Hearts, King of Hearts…” “Flush!”
As he stared intently at the cards, Zhang Yang suddenly felt a bit dizzy.
A strange voice sounded in his ear, “System loading… Initialization complete.”
“You have gained basic ability: Foresight. You now possess eyes that can see into the future!”
Still a little dazed, Zhang Yang found a complex scene flashing through his mind, like a movie he had watched, and it was incredibly vivid.
At first, he thought it was a hallucination, but with a quick thought, he could recall it clearly, down to every single detail. “What’s going on?”
Zhang Yang frowned, trying to recall.
The fragments connected to a football match, totaling about five minutes. The two teams were Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. Most of the time, it was a back-and-forth exchange of passes, with some highlights, such as a Tottenham striker,
receiving a pass from a teammate and quickly breaking into the box for a one-on-one goal.
“What are these?”
Zhang Yang still thought it was a hallucination, mainly because it couldn’t be explained by scientific principles. He ignored the aftereffects of his time travel and continued watching the match.
The match continued.
Over time, Zhang Yang’s eyes grew larger and larger, his face filled with astonishment. Even drooling didn’t change his expression.
“How could this be?”
“It’s the same as that fragment that suddenly appeared in my mind!
Exactly the same!
It was those five minutes, and sure enough, a Tottenham striker scored!”
“I’ve gained eyes that can see into the future?
Is it real?”
Zhang Yang was utterly shocked, his mind a complete blank. “System?
That’s it!
System!
System!
Come out now!”
He shouted for a long time, trying various methods, but the sound he had just heard seemed to be a hallucination, with no other response.
After a while, Zhang Yang finally recovered and began to seriously test the sound he had just heard.
He carefully looked at the computer screen, then at the playing cards in front of him, randomly picking a few cards and placing them in front of him.
“Six of Spades, Seven of Spades, Queen of Spades…” Suddenly, a miracle occurred!
As if a flash of white had appeared, many fragments suddenly appeared in his mind, which, when pieced together, formed roughly a five-minute football match.
The two teams in the match were Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, and the most memorable moment was when Chelsea's tall, muscular striker was brought down in the penalty area!
The referee pulled out a red card!
Chelsea's tall, muscular black striker scored the penalty!
“Will this one be accurate?”
Zhang Yang looked carefully at the screen.
The next minute's footage and the flashback in his mind were identical, down to the last detail.
"Indeed accurate.
So, the next foul should be by a Tottenham defender?"
Zhang Yang suddenly remembered Weibo. He immediately switched webpages, opened Weibo, and posted an instant update: "#ChelseaVSTottenhamHotspur# Tottenham defender's mistake against Zhang leads to a penalty.
Chelsea's tall, muscular striker converts the penalty, giving Chelsea the lead again."
In the world of Weibo, where personal updates are ubiquitous, a comment from an ordinary account on a football match wouldn't normally cause a stir. However, the subsequent Chelsea vs. Tottenham Hotspur match seemed to unfold specifically to confirm this message.
After a series of passes, Chelsea passed the ball to Zhang, and a Tottenham Hotspur defender committed a foul.
The referee awarded a penalty!
Chelsea's tall, muscular striker converted the penalty, putting the ball into the Tottenham goal. The score became 2-1, and Chelsea regained the lead.
"It's true!"
Zhang Yang excitedly raised his fist, his fist trembling with excitement.
He's rich now!
———— In the internet age, information spreads incredibly fast.
In the world of Weibo, many people enjoy browsing interesting comments in open forums.
In the British football environment, there are countless football comments, most of which are inconspicuous, especially individual comments, which rarely attract attention. However, Zhang Yang's message still caught the attention of some.
On Premier League match days, key matches always generate a lot of discussion. "#ChelseaVSTottenhamHotspur#" is a trending topic, with many people commenting on it.
Many people predict the match, often only saying things like 'which team will win,' 'which player will perform,' 'what the starting lineup will be,' etc. There's very little commentary on how goals will be scored, especially during the match when everyone is watching the live broadcast.
Comments are also based on past matches; who would predict what will happen in the future?
When James Jetanson saw a comment saying "Tottenham defender makes a mistake, Chelsea scores penalty," he was quite surprised, because they hadn't seen this in the match they were watching.
James Jetanson was one of them.
James Jetanson is a North London Tottenham fan. Due to work overtime, he didn't go to the game in person, but watched it on TV.
While casually glancing at Weibo, James Jetanson noticed this message.
"Tottenham defender fouls?
Chelsea takes a penalty?
Dream on!"
James Jetanson discussed it with his colleagues, then laughed, "Those Chelsea fans must be dreaming!"
He ignored it and continued watching the game.
But what James Jetanson didn't expect was that what happened next seemed to confirm the Weibo post: the Tottenham defender really did foul in the penalty area, and Chelsea really did score a penalty.
"Oh my god!
Could it be a delay in the broadcast?!"
That was James Jetanson's first reaction.
To confirm his suspicions, he immediately checked the update time of the Weibo post: 5:33:17. The match ended at 5:36 when the Tottenham defender committed the foul.
This proved the Weibo post predated the match.
"No way?
Personal 'Zhangyang'?
What a cliché name!
A personal account, it's definitely a fluke!
This guy is a complete i***t!"
James Jetanson cursed, but still followed the Weibo account out of curiosity, thinking he'd see if there were any new posts or if he had time to comment.
Other fans across Britain watching the Chelsea vs. Tottenham Hotspur match also noticed the Weibo post.
Their reactions were very similar to James Jetanson's.
The Weibo account 'Zhangyang' quickly spawned over three hundred accounts.
- Writer
