"Won some money..."
"It doesn't matter how much you won, buying lottery tickets is wrong!" Mom firmly interrupted Qin Miao's next words.
Qin Miao obediently stopped speaking.
However, after interrupting Qin Miao, Mom didn't go on a long rant, she just sternly emphasized the seriousness of this matter to him.
And she mentioned that this was Qin Miao's first time buying lottery tickets, but it should also be the last. He must not make this mistake again.
Qin Miao nodded vigorously, not daring to act inappropriately in front of Mom, even with the net gain of 600,000 from the lottery.
Seeing Qin Miao's sincere attitude, Mom didn't continue to lecture him. She trusted her son to understand the pros and cons.
Before she continued eating, however, she asked curiously, "How much did you win?"
Qin Miao answered honestly, "600,000..."
"Thud!"
This was the sound of the chopsticks dropping to the floor.
"How much?"
Mom's voice suddenly rose, and Qin Miao could clearly see the surprise in her eyes.
"Six hundred thousand, look, here's the winning ticket." Qin Miao pulled out a scratch-off from his pocket that he had just taken from his bag.
Mom took the scratch-off and confirmed it was indeed a winner, then returned it to Qin Miao with a face full of disbelief.
Mom then looked at Qin Miao, then at the scratch-off lottery ticket on the table.
Finally, she shook her head helplessly and said, "Our family hasn't had much luck in this area, but unexpectedly you've turned it around."
Qin Miao nodded and let out a sigh of relief.
Then Qin Miao explained, "Yes, I won, but we can't redeem it here. I need to go to the lottery center in Changsha to claim it."
"So you need to go to Changsha tomorrow?" Mom calmed down upon hearing this but didn't get overly excited about this unexpected fortune.
Qin Miao nodded and said, "I plan to go to Changsha tomorrow to claim the money."
Mom nodded slightly and asked, "Do you want me to go with you?"
Qin Miao shook his head, "You should go to work as usual, it's not that complicated, I can handle it myself."
"Alright then, I'll help you pack after dinner, but have you decided how to spend the money?"
"Probably on racing, but if you want it, I can give it to you..."
"No need, I don't need your money, just don't waste it."
"Okay."
"Let's eat first, but can you really spend the whole six hundred thousand on racing?"
Qin Miao was taken aback, thinking that racing wouldn't even cover the entry fee for high-level competitions.
But he quickly realized that Mom was actually referring to his usual simulator game.
After all, the racing-related experience Mom had was mainly through the game he played.
So Qin Miao explained, "It's real-world racing, not the game, but I haven't decided exactly how to spend the money yet."
"Probably buy a professional go-kart and check if anyone nearby hosts races or something."
Mom didn't probe further, just nodded and said, "As long as you have a plan. If the money is not enough, you can ask me for more."
Qin Miao said nothing and continued eating.
Regardless, Qin Miao never planned to ask Mom for money, knowing that with the system, he probably wouldn't lack it.
After finishing dinner, Qin Miao didn't immediately wash the dishes but told Mom, who hadn't finished eating, "I've already packed, you can just watch TV after dinner."
Mom didn't think much of it, nodded, and continued eating.
After washing the dishes and taking out the trash, Qin Miao's daily tasks were done. He returned to his room, turned on his computer, and prepared to practice his racing skills.
His system reacted to real-world racing, so he wondered if practicing on the simulator would be effective too.
Qin Miao was curious.
He turned on the computer, logged into Steam, and entered ACC. He set up his steering wheel and mount, ready for pre-race preparation.
He loaded Nurburgring North Loop and chose the 911GT3RS.
Qin Miao didn't set AI, just drove alone on the track to set lap times.
Nurburgring isn't Qin Miao's favorite track, his favorites are Monza and Shanghai.
But Qin Miao knows that if he wants to go down the esports professional path, he needs to familiarize himself with tracks he doesn't usually prefer, and this opportunity is perfect.
While car-wise, Qin Miao prefers Ferrari's 488GT3 because the car fits his aesthetics.
As for the 911, Qin Miao likes it too, but slightly less than the Ferrari.
However, for practice, Qin Miao would choose things he's not too familiar with.
Soon the system finished loading, Qin Miao glanced at his car's tire pressure, confirmed his car settings were ones he had tuned himself, and gently pressed the accelerator to drive out of the pit.
In the game, Qin Miao didn't dare to start full throttle like when racing go-karts with Qimeng.
After all, the car's power in the game is much higher than a go-kart's, plus the GT3 uses semi-slick tires, which have decent grip in normal conditions, but to start full throttle out of the pit, you should wait for the tires to warm up.
Out of the pit, the first lap is just for warming up.
The 20-kilometer track gives Qin Miao ample time to feel the changes brought by his attribute increase.
To be fair, the system's enhancement was comprehensive with no flaws.
Previously, Qin Miao always struggled with one or two corners on the lengthy track of Nurburgring North Loop, either braking late or missing the corner entry point.
With the system's improvement in place, Qin Miao found he could handle these corners with ease, smoothly navigating through them without errors.
After completing the warm-up lap, Qin Miao started clocking lap times on Nurburgring.
Of course, given his limited skill level, his main goal was to beat his previous personal best laps.
After finishing the first flying lap, it was slightly slower than Qin Miao's best lap by half a second.
Which is normal, given how lengthy the track is, small mistakes are inevitable while driving, and Qin Miao wasn't driving his most familiar car.
Meanwhile, the system alert sounded [Ding!]
[Practice lap completed, track proficiency +0.3.]
[Current Nurburgring North Loop proficiency: 0.3.]
[Simulator realism level at 30%, proficiency acquired is (1*0.3)]
Qin Miao frowned, not because he looked down on the 0.3 proficiency, but because he was surprised that even Assetto Corsa, rated by the system, only had a realism level of 30%.
Qin Miao had thought the game he played most often would at least reach a realism level of fifty or sixty percent.
After pondering a moment, Qin Miao ran another lap, bringing the Nurburgring proficiency up to 0.6, then changed tracks.
Mainly because the track is too long, one lap takes almost 7 minutes, yet earns only 0.3 proficiency, which feels like an unequal investment and reward for Qin Miao.
Consequently, Qin Miao decided to focus on practicing at Spa, where his average lap time with the 911GT3 was around 2 minutes 22 seconds.
Honestly, Qin Miao still had a lot of details to work on. Once he perfects these details, breaking into the 2 minutes 20s should be feasible.
Previously, Qin Miao didn't have much time; now it's the perfect chance to polish details while using his skills to familiarize himself with the track.