HLM – Chapter 1086 The Country Bumpkin Becomes a Star

Unlike other sports, no matter how wild things got outside, the racetrack itself remained calm.

Tuhao Jin stopped in his tracks. Still, no one had rushed onto the track. In other sports, this would be the moment to embrace the winner, but not in horse racing. There were still horses running—if someone dashed onto the track now and got hit…

A person might survive, but would be crippled; a horse might survive, but would likely be seriously injured. The horses allowed on such large competitions were all extremely valuable, worth at least a million each.

Wang Bo embraced the people around him. They had won—Tuhao Jin had won.

The Level 3 Speed Race only had one round. The top twelve horses took the track, and of course, they all had to pay an entry fee.

This was another way horse racing differed from other sports. In boxing or martial arts, athletes received appearance fees. In horse racing, participants paid an entry fee. For this Level 3 Speed Race, the fee wasn’t high—just a bit over 10,000.

The prize money was also modest: a total of 800,000. Compared to grand events with prizes of tens of millions, this was tiny.

However, Wang Bo had made a tidy profit. He had placed a heavy bet on Tuhao Jin, and the horse’s victory brought him tens of millions in earnings. This left him very satisfied. Talking with a group of people, he said, “I thought the organizers might cheat. After putting over a million on Tuhao Jin, I really worried they’d do something.”

Hani laughed, “You worry too much. Horse racing is generally fair, unless someone bribes the outcome beforehand. Besides, how many people even bet on Tuhao Jin? I’d bet the betting company actually wanted Tuhao Jin to win—it means they’d make more money.”

Indeed, right now, countless people were swearing, betting slips flying everywhere like snow.

But some were laughing. A big man who had placed 10,000 on Tuhao Jin earlier grinned ear to ear: “Holy crap, luck can’t be stopped! First time betting on horse racing, and I just won 100,000!”

Wang Bo asked, “Is this your first time?”

The man nodded. “Yeah. You know the situation back home—except for Hong Kong, there’s nowhere to bet on horses.”

Wang Bo admired him. “Your first time and you bet so big—that’s gutsy.”

The man looked proud. “Not bad. Life’s short, brother, just having some fun. By the way, how much did you bet?”

“150,000. All of us together, 150,000. That horse is mine.”

The man went silent for a long moment before sighing: “Subtle flex, deadliest kind.”

The jockey and horses returned to the stables. A swarm of reporters followed, almost all crowding around Malong and Tuhao Jin, dozens of microphones shoved in Malong’s face:

“Hello, Mr. Malong. It’s been fifteen years since your last championship. How do you feel?”

“Where did this horse come from? Hello, we’re from the Auckland Sky News. As far as we know, many people are interested in your horse.”

“What breed is Tuhao Jin? Its sudden emergence shocked everyone. How do you feel about that?”

“…”

Wang Bo and his group entered the stable and saw this scene. Seeing so many microphones in front of Malong, Bowen shook his head: “Last time I watched GV, an old man was in a situation like this—a bunch of black birds in front of him.”

Everyone around shivered. Wang Bo said anxiously, “Why the hell are you watching GV?”

Bowen laughed. “Nothing, just curious, so I glanced at it.”

“This is terrifying,” the group kept their distance.

Malong was clearly flustered. Even at his peak, he had never been treated like this; usually, only two or three reporters would come talk after a race. And his eyes were red from crying earlier on the track—he clearly didn’t want to be on the front page like this.

Seeing Wang Bo arrive, his eyes lit up as he pointed: “That’s our boss, Mayor Wang Bo of Sunset Town. That horse belongs to him.”

Wang Bo thought: “Damn it, they’re framing me!”

Fortunately, not all the reporters rushed to him—many stayed with Malong. About a dozen others moved over and shoved a pile of microphones in front of Wang Bo.

Bowen said, “Boss, I’ve seen a scene like this in GV too. Over ten guns, huh.”

“F***, get lost!” he thought. Of course, he couldn’t say that aloud with microphones in front of him.

The reporters bombarded him with questions:

“Mayor Wang, where did your horse come from? What breed is it?”

“What’s your view on the upcoming election? How likely is the Green-Worker Party to win?”

“At this critical moment, is it appropriate to participate in horse racing? Any special reason?”

“Mayor Wang…”

Wang Bo blinked, quickly gathering his thoughts. “National elections are important, but life goes on. Entertainment should not be reduced, so today we won’t discuss politics.”

“As for this horse’s lineage and breed, I have nothing to say—it’s actually a wild horse, from a wild herd. You know Sunset Town used to be wasteland. They lived there. After I got familiar with them, I built stables for them.”

“What happened next, you know—Mr. Malong saw my horse, thought they were of excellent quality, and decided to train them for competition.”

The reporters froze. “Wait, are you serious? These champion horses came from a wild herd?”

Wang Bo shrugged. “Anyone who knows me knows I’m not good at making up stories. I can only tell you—it’s true.”

The reporters gasped. Malong had kept this a secret, so no one had known Tuhao Jin’s true origin.

The revelation shook the horse racing world. People believed selecting a good horse depended on bloodline, environment, innate ability, training, and more. Even then, finding a champion horse was hard. There’s a saying: “To raise a champion horse, 5% depends on bloodline, 5% on training, 90% on luck.”

Many dismissed it, but Tuhao Jin proved it true.

More questions about Tuhao Jin arose. Soon, 40–50 reporters surrounded the two. Seeing trouble, Wang Bo pulled Hani aside: “This is my press secretary. Ask him. I have other things to do.”

Hani exclaimed, “Boss, that’s unreasonable!”