餐厅进行大酬宾打折促销活动有诸多原因：开业周年纪念日，庆祝将至的节日，或者是情人节的到来。
但对任杰来说，最近他的餐馆一次打折酬宾有一个非常独特的理由：庆祝最近的全国性取缔打压赌球。
恰恰他的餐馆名为“哭球”。
从现在开始到一月份，几乎每样菜顾客们都可以享受五折折扣。“50%”这个数字极其醒目地占据了这家以烤鱼为特色的小饭店门口张贴的广告画的一角。
哭球座落在北京城北回龙观的流星花园，表面上看起来就像这儿的任何餐馆一样。但其内部装潢很特别，是运动酒吧风格的：天花板上悬挂着足球，墙上还有巨幅照片，内容是任杰接受CCTV主持人采访的镜头。
菜名也延续了此主题：黑哨，贝克汉姆鸭头。你也可以点以著名球队命名的烤鱼。任杰强烈推荐曼联烤鱼。第一次来的顾客总是问任杰他是不是一个超级球迷，他总是回答：嗯……算是也不是。
这个38岁的男人从来没有踢过足球甚至也没有去体育场观看过一场球赛。很明显，任杰并不是一个典型球迷。但他却是一个“典型”赌球者。
与他谈话时你很难想像到曾经如此沉迷于赌球的他输光了所有身家。也很难想像，在2000年时，他是一家会公司的老板，拥有两幢公寓，一辆车和逾百万元的家产。
他公司的一个员工介绍接触到赌球是在2002年世界杯时。一开始任杰称只是玩玩。他下赌注却几乎没有赢。但他却一直坚持赌球且大多输光。仅仅两年内，他输光了两幢公寓和车，并且债务压身。
任杰承认，在生活最黑暗的那段日子，他也想过自杀。是他的妻子和儿子对他不离不弃的爱把他拉了回来，重头再来。
2007年，在亲戚的资助下，任杰的哭球餐馆开张了。除了关于足球的图片和足球菜名，还有一张巨幅图片占满了一整面墙，上面是一个女孩手里拿着足球在掉眼泪，边上还有一首忏悔诗，这些都是为了提醒消费者远离赌球。
任杰也和他朋友一起成立了一个反赌球协会来帮助那些深陷赌球无法自拔的人。甚至有从外省来找他寻求帮助的人。但不是每个人都能理解任杰的这项副业。
“有些邻居说我的餐馆名让他们感到不舒服，”任杰说。“还有些人说这餐馆迟早会关门。但我的餐馆还是开得好好的嘛，对不对？”
“生活总是有起起伏伏。我只是比其他任何人都对这点了解得更加深刻。”任杰说。
译文:
Restaurants kick off discount promotions for various reasons: the anniversary of an opening, the coming of festivals or Valentine's Day.
But for Ren Jie, the latest promotion at his restaurant hinges on something quite unique: celebrating the recent national crackdown on football gambling.
The name of his restaurant? It's aptly named Ku Qiu, meaning "crying for football."
From now until January, all customers can enjoy a 50-percent discount on most dishes. The number 50 appears prominently on an advertisement posted outside the eatery, which specializes in baked fish.
Located in Meteor Garden in Huilongguan, northern Beijing, Ku Qiu looks like any other eatery from the outside. But its interior takes on a sports bar motif: footballs hang on the ceiling, there are also large photos on the wall that Ren shot of famous CCTV sports hosts.
Names of dishes continue the sports theme: Black whistle, Goalkeeper, Beckham-style duck head. You can also order baked fishes that are named after world famous football teams. The Manchester United Baked Fish comes highly recommended by Ren. New customers usually ask Ren if he is crazy about football. His usual answer is: "Well, yes and no."
The 38-year-old man has never played football nor gone to the stadium to see a football match, Ren is obviously not your typical fan. But he was a very "typical" football gambler.
Talking with him it's hard to imagine that he was so addicted to gambling that he lost all of his property holdings. It is equally difficult to imagine that his wealth gained as an exhibition company manager was so vast that he once owned two apartments, a car and nearly two million yuan in the early 2000s.
"Gambling changed the route of my life," Ren said. He gambled for the first time during the 2002 World Cup after employees at the exhibition company introduced it to him. He claims it was just fun in the beginning. He bet and seldom won. But he kept on betting and mostly lost. He lost his two apartments and car and climbed into debt within just two years.
The darkest days once drove him to the brink of suicide, Ren admitted. It was the unwavering love from his wife and two chidren that finally saved him and encouraged him to start all over again.
In 2007, Ren opened Ku Qiu with the money he borrowed from relatives. Besides the football-related images and names of dishes he came up with, there is also a board on the wall with his poem of confession and a giant picture of a girl shedding tears while holding a football, a reminder to customers to stay away from gambling.
Ren has also set up an anti-gambling association with his friends to help football gamblers with their addiction. Some have even come from other provinces to see him and ask for help. But not everyone can understand Ren's second business.
"A few in our neighborhood say the name of my restaurant makes them unhappy," Ren said. "Some say the business will sooner or later close down. But the business is still fine." isn't it?"
"Life is all about ups and downs. I just have a deeper understanding about it than anyone else," he said.
