Life inevitably takes detours.

This weekend, my wife, Amanda, went to the seaside to vacation with friends. My son went to attend a classmate's wedding. I'm the only one left at home. I was thinking that today I might as well go out for a stroll.

I have always been reluctant to spend money. For example, if you invite friends to a meal, if this happens when you are down and out, probably no one will pay attention to you; if you are doing a little better, still no one will pay attention to you, maybe they don't dare to disturb you; or if you are doing well, others might be jealous of you. So loneliness is inevitable.

The key is that I can't figure out one thing. I have been in the UK for over forty years, and I still don't understand what kind of country it really is. You might say it is a capitalist society, yet it has universal public healthcare. Even if you are here for tourism or visiting relatives, if you suddenly fall ill, you don't need to pay for medical treatment; even surgeries, calling an ambulance, and hospitalization are all covered.

Children from kindergarten to high school do not have to pay a penny in tuition. Then, when you retire, you still receive a pension; if you have never worked, you can still receive old-age benefits. If you are living in poverty, you can seek government assistance. If you insist that this is a benefit only available in socialism, that's not true. There are both red and yellow areas here.

Their culture minister built a casino during the 2012 London Olympics. Not only did he gamble himself, but even the Queen joined in. I just don't understand what is going on?! What kind of country is this? If you haven't been to London, you wouldn't know that on every street corner, there is a casino, making it hard to move an inch.

Of course, I have been here for so many years, and I have definitely taken some wrong turns. I won't hide this from everyone; I have filmed so many episodes and said whatever needed to be said.

What I want to talk about is that one time, I wanted to buy Amanda a bottle of perfume that cost over 100 pounds. At that time, I was a bit tight on money, so I hesitated. At that moment, a friend of mine came to me and said, "Brother Guo, it's okay, let's go buy a dog first." I said, "What dog to buy?" I thought he wanted me to buy a dog for Amanda, but he said, "No, it's to bet on dogs." I said, "We haven't played this before, we don't know." He pulled me along and said, "I'll tell you, let's go." As a result, I really foolishly followed him.

We arrived at the dog racing track, and the scene was packed with people. There were a total of six dogs, numbered 1 to 6. He told me to bet on number 6, so I did, but I was puzzled and asked him, "How do you know to bet on number 6?" This guy then pulled out a newspaper from his pocket. He said, "No, this newspaper specifically introduces dog number 6! It has a historical profile." I said, "Oh, it actually has a history?!".

The newspaper detailed when the dog was born, its weight, and its past performance; it even included what this dog eats every month and every day, and it clearly stated the dog's owner's name, just short of mentioning their family background; I guess this dog is either a middle peasant or a rich peasant; this section could really make a big deal out of introducing this dog.

I thought, since we are here, let's go for it; I placed a bet of 100 pounds, and the race started in just three minutes; I was particularly anxious, closely watching number 6.

They first kept the dogs in cages, and before releasing them, they took out an electric rabbit and let it run a few laps on the track. As soon as the rabbit ran, the dogs immediately chased after it. I quickly realized how people got the dogs to run in circles. The answer is that it relies on that electric rabbit. The participants in this game come from all walks of life, and the amounts they bet vary; there are even those who really risk their lives, but I won't go into detail about that.

They didn't fire a gun; as soon as they did, the dogs might get scared. It just went "peep," a small sound, and the cage suddenly opened with a bang, and all six dogs burst out at the same time. I watched as dog number 6 came out and, with a loud crash, fell over. In less than three seconds, my 100 pounds was gone without a trace.