Seeing Saotome's blank expression, Hanatemari thought she hadn't heard clearly, so she mustered her courage and repeated it.
"Meari, I'm actually very slow, and my mind isn't sharp when gambling. I keep losing to others, which has made me a 'Stray Cat' now, and no one wants to be my friend. If Meari is willing to be my friend, that would be great..."
Hanatemari's words were sincere, yet upon hearing them, Saotome Meari's expression darkened. She didn't speak, nor did she refuse.
Hanatemari waited for a while, and seeing that Saotome was slow to respond, the hopeful light in her eyes gradually dimmed.
She lowered her head and laughed self-deprecatingly.
"I understand, it seems I was just deluding myself. Someone like me probably doesn't deserve to be your friend... I'm sorry, please forget it, just pretend I never said that."
As soon as Hanatemari finished speaking, she hurried away, not even giving Saotome a chance to stop her.
Saotome did not try to stop her, only watching her retreating figure in silence, her eyes flickering.
"...Saotome, are you alright?" Ayanokoji waved his hand in front of her.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka felt it was strange. Saotome wasn't the kind of person to be so harsh, so why didn't she agree to be Hanatemari's friend?
Ayanokoji had thought they were already friends... What exactly had happened between them?
"Ah... I'm fine, let's go eat!" Saotome came back to her senses and gave Ayanokoji a smile.
It was just... that smile looked forced no matter how you looked at it.
The school's official website brief once mentioned that most of the chefs in the school restaurant were graduates from a school called Tootsuki Academy.
Students who graduate from this school possess extremely high culinary skills, with unique cooking methods for any dish.
Excellent graduates among them would even be eagerly recruited by Michelin-starred restaurants immediately after graduation.
Ayanokoji had originally thought that a high school specifically established for rich second-generation individuals would have very high prices.
However, in the restaurant of Private Hyakkaou Academy, in addition to dozens of chefs specializing in expensive dishes like Kobe beef and Australian lobster for the wealthy students, there were also several chefs who provided home-style cooking for ordinary students.
Although they also graduated from Tootsuki Academy, the dishes they prepared had no price premium, belonging to a level acceptable to average high school students.
Ayanokoji specifically asked a red-haired chef, who generously stated that besides the items on the menu, whatever you wanted to eat, as long as the kitchen had enough ingredients, they could make it fresh for you individually.
Moreover, the price was only a symbolic charge for some material costs.
"This school is quite particular about its cuisine."
Saotome kept reaching for the dishes in front of her with her chopsticks, marveling and praising enthusiastically: "Dishes of this caliber would cost more than ten times the price outside, and you might not even be able to order them!"
Saotome received 250,000 in gambling winnings and generously declared that she would treat him to lunch this time.
The two ordered five or six dishes, and the the price was less than five thousand Japanese Yen, which greatly pleased Saotome.
Although the price was not high, the taste was the best she had ever tasted—of course, her family's financial situation was average, and she hadn't eaten many good things.
"The restaurant at Private Hyakkaou Academy is really good, but why is there such a gambling culture here?"
Saotome sighed, "If there were no gambling, people would still desperately try to squeeze into a school like this. Otherwise, no matter how delicious the food here is, it's just prison food."
Saotome deeply regretted the agreement on the admission notice she had signed.
As long as she entered this school, she had to stay there for three years, otherwise, she would have to pay a huge fine.
Ten million Japanese Yen! Even if she were sold to the pleasure district, she would have to work day and night for one or two years!
To quickly earn this money, she could only rely on gambling.
But to gamble in order to leave this school that advocates gambling, doesn't that feel a bit like putting the cart before the horse?
"Perhaps, precisely because of this gambling culture, this school has such excellent chefs."
Ayanokoji was not surprised.
In Macau, many casinos are lavishly decorated, offering free song and dance performances and other entertainment, as well as free food and transportation.
Some casinos, in order to retain customers, even have sexy Dealers dealing cards online, where their clothes gradually disappear as they deal.
All these thoughtful services have only one purpose—to vigorously attract and retain gamblers with huge betting capabilities.
They believe that these services can earn greater profits from you.
This Private Hyakkaou Academy is less like a school and more like a huge casino with a school theme.
The children of these financial figures are gamblers carrying huge sums of money, and providing them with thoughtful services is only natural.
And gamblers like Saotome, who have some intelligence but not enough money, are more like an added bonus to make gambling more interesting—they don't affect the big picture, but sometimes they can be unexpected.
Ayanokoji suddenly asked, "Speaking of which, Saotome, did you guess how Aiura Kokoro cheated?"
"Anyway, it's nothing more than using invisible cameras hidden throughout the casino to see my hand, then transmitting it to their phones via the internet."
Saotome said while eating, "The method of cheating isn't important. What's important is what purpose she can achieve by cheating. I just need to do the opposite."
Saotome said, smiling triumphantly, "How about that, aren't I smart? I often use reverse deduction when solving problems too."
So Saotome had actually just stumbled upon it by chance; she had never suspected there was anything wrong with the poker cards...
Ayanokoji shook his head speechlessly and told her about the invisible contact lenses.
"Eh!? You mean everyone in the class was deceiving me!? No wonder their eyes were so green; they were looking at me like prey!"
Saotome, upon hearing Ayanokoji's explanation, was furious. She turned her anger and indignation into appetite, eating her meal while grumbling, "I should have gambled more earlier! I should have made Aiura Kokoro bleed properly!"
"Actually, you cheated too, didn't you?" Ayanokoji suddenly said.
Saotome was instantly flustered, nearly choking on a mouthful of rice, and started coughing, quickly pounding her chest.
Ayanokoji handed her a glass of water and said, "Aiura Kokoro thought she had markings on the playing cards, so she was confident no matter what cards she got, and she generously let you deal the cards.
At first, you didn't do anything, just dealt normally. Until you pretended to be angry and started to examine the cards with your head down.
At that moment, besides hiding a '3', you also deliberately pinpointed the positions of the two joker cards, and when shuffling, you intentionally inserted those two jokers into an appropriate position.
Aiura Kokoro, being arrogant from constantly winning, didn't even notice that you tampered with the cards while shuffling.
Your words to her, 'Gambling is about comparing luck,' seemed brilliant, but in reality, you had already made arrangements in secret, ensuring that you would get those two trump cards when dealing."
What Ayanokoji said was completely correct; she had indeed made such arrangements in secret.
As she spoke, Saotome's body had recovered. She nervously took another sip of water and gave a silly laugh.
"Hehe... I didn't think you'd find out."
Saotome quietly defended herself: "Since that guy cheated, it's not a big deal if I cheat too..."
"I'm not going to criticize you, why are you so guilty?"
Ayanokoji smiled and shook his head, then earnestly warned her.
"I just want to tell you that if you're going to cheat, you must be careful not to be discovered by others.
Otherwise, one day you'll be like Aiura Kokoro today, and someone will use your cheating to turn the tables on you."
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