For the first time, an expression of panic appeared on Ruribird Nadeshiko's face.
Just as Kurume Laiwei said, she had now developed "Kurume Dependence." Once Kurume left her, she felt like she couldn't do anything at all...
Kurume's words were more unacceptable to her than losing several million yen.
Ruribird Nadeshiko subconsciously grabbed Kurume Laiwei's hand, looked up with a tearful expression, and pleaded in a flustered manner, "Don't leave me, please continue to be my friend. I will definitely listen to your instructions and do well next time!"
The Ruribird Nadeshiko who was just swaggering around a second ago now showed such a pitiful look. If Meari had seen it, she would have been utterly astonished.
Seeing Ruribird Nadeshiko's pitiful appearance, Kurume felt a headache and sighed helplessly, "It's done, I'm not blaming you. Just let Meari learn a lesson."
When Kurume heard last night that Meari wanted to save money to buy a school dormitory, she felt a bad premonition.
If Saotome saved enough money to live at school, she would have more time to interact with Ayanokoji. They would eat all three meals together, and perhaps they would get together without her knowing at some point.
This gave Kurume Laiwei a sense of crisis, so she contacted Ruribird Nadeshiko last night and discussed with her that she would bring Meari to her to gamble.
These days, Kurume had been busy with the Chemistry Preparation Room and hadn't been "attracting customers" for Ruribird. She had been urged several times, so this time it was just right to bring Meari over as an "emergency" and shut her up.
If Ruribird Nadeshiko won, she could hinder Meari and slow down her progress in saving money.
If Saotome Meari won, it could also teach Ruribird Nadeshiko a lesson.
The gambling game [Listen to Heavy Money] created by Ruribird Nadeshiko had only been developed in the past two months. She was currently undefeated and always looked down on people, even when interacting with Kurume, she acted self-important, which had annoyed Kurume for a long time.
If Meari could suppress her increasingly arrogant demeanor and make her suffer a setback, Kurume would also be very happy.
Bringing Meari to the music room to gamble with Ruribird Nadeshiko was originally a brilliant move, beneficial to Kurume no matter what.
She had specifically instructed Ruribird Nadeshiko that it was fine to earn money from Meari, but earning a few hundred thousand from her was enough, and she should leave her enough capital so she could continue to save money.
But what Kurume didn't expect was that Ruribird Nadeshiko actually looked down on Meari and had the goal of "draining" Meari completely.
She didn't take Kurume's words seriously, thinking that Meari was like the other customers she had brought before, all "lambs to be slaughtered," and instantly emptied Meari's wallet.
Meari too, she had hoped she could win against Ruribird Nadeshiko, but she didn't expect her to fall into such a simple and clumsy trap of feigning weakness.
Was she too confident in herself, or too carried away...?
Kurume sighed again. It was originally a brilliant plan that would benefit her no matter what, but now that she was going back to the Cooking Room, she didn't know how others would see her.
Would Hanatemari Kazura and the others think she deliberately tricked Meari and then become hostile towards her?
It was fine if others misunderstood, but if Ayanokoji Kiyotaka misunderstood, it would be bad...
Kurume Laiwei secretly thought, "This is bad."
She couldn't stay in the music room now; she had to go back and explain to Ayanokoji first. If Meari went back to him first and cried, saying she had tricked her, then she would truly have no one to reason with.
"Kurume..." Ruribird Nadeshiko looked at Kurume pitifully.
"Alright, I'm not blaming you. Remember to listen to me next time. If you don't want to listen to me..."
"I'll definitely listen!" Before Kurume could finish her sentence, Ruricho Nadeshiko grabbed Kurume's hand and promised, "You can even have me return this money to Meari!"
"This is money you won gambling, so you keep it. Alright, I'm leaving now, we'll talk later."
Kurume didn't take the money Ruricho Nadeshiko offered. It was better she didn't take it; if she did, she would truly have no one to reason with.
Meari casually brushed her off and hurried out of the music classroom. Just as she stepped out the door, to her surprise, her vision blurred, and someone pressed her against the wall.
It was Meari.
Meari's face was very unpleasant, and she questioned in a low voice, "Kurume... why did you stay in the room for so long before coming out? Did you conspire with Ruricho Nadeshiko to deliberately trick me? And here I thought of you as a friend and trusted you wouldn't lie to me!"
Kurume quickly explained, "You've got it all wrong! I really didn't think that way. Ruribird is my friend, and you're my friend too, so how could I conspire with her to trick you?"
"Then how do you explain her deliberately hiding her skill and swindling money from me?"
"Gambling always has winners and losers. Do you really think the other party set up a casino to do charity and specifically lose money? If you had any sense, you'd know that the other party might very well be holding something back.
I didn't participate in the entire game; it was the two of you gambling, so it has nothing to do with me, right? You were happy when you won, but now that you've lost, you're starting to cause trouble for me? Besides, didn't I warn you from the beginning not to underestimate Ruricho Nadeshiko?"
Kurume Laiwei was very eloquent, and she had already prepared her explanation. Her words made Meari's angry expression turn into a flickering gaze.
Seeing that her words had an effect, Kurume paused, "Moreover, just now you clearly had a chance to make a big profit and leave, but she only said a casual, non-binding remark, and you sat back down at the gambling table, deciding to gamble with her again."
"This was you wanting to be greedy, thinking she was easy to deal with, which is why you stayed!"
Meari couldn't refute it...
Indeed, Kurume Laiwei had warned her from the beginning. It was her own overconfidence after winning a large sum of money.
But she was also full of grievances. She came here to gamble because she trusted Kurume. Who would have thought that Kurume and Ruricho Nadeshiko were colluding to trick her!
Meari knew deep down that Kurume Laiwei had definitely conspired with Ruricho Nadeshiko to make her the patsy, but now it was meaningless to dwell on who tricked whom. The final result was that she lost money.
"...Kurume, lend me some money." Meari released her hand and suddenly said in a low voice.
"Why do you want to borrow money from me?" After Kurume said this, she quickly realized something and frowned, "Meari, you're not trying to gamble with Nadeshiko again, are you? What if you lose?"
If Meari wanted to break even, she would need to bet at least 300,000 yen. If she lost, she would owe over a million more.
Once the capital is lost, not everyone can win 37 million from 20 yen.
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