"Just as you said, he is excellent. For him to be your boyfriend would definitely be an underutilization of his talents. Instead of worrying if we approve of him, you should be more concerned about whether he approves of you."
She rubbed Meari's head and said meaningfully: "When he gets snatched away by someone else, then you'll have plenty of time to regret it."
Ayari's parents were very satisfied with Ayanokoji and strongly approved of their daughter dating him.
After finishing with the dishes, Meari saw Ayanokoji still chatting with her father, and heard words like "going abroad" and "studying abroad," and even that they were already considering his work after returning to the country, so she quickly pulled the two apart.
"I'll take Ayanokoji to see my room!"
With that, Meari pulled Ayanokoji's hand and walked into her room, quickly closing the door.
The room's soundproofing was quite good; the sound of the living room TV was immediately muffled.
This was Ayanokoji's first time entering a female peer's bedroom, but he didn't feel the slightest discomfort about entering a girl's room—
Her room only had a single bed, a desk with a computer and a few books, a bookshelf, and a wardrobe—these simple pieces of furniture. Besides that, there was nothing else superfluous, making it look exceptionally minimalist, completely unlike a girl's room.
"Is my room too simple?" Meari said, a little embarrassed.
"Not at all, my room is also like this." Ayanokoji shook his head.
Ayanokoji's "home" was full of listening devices, and he couldn't be bothered to buy anything. Compared to Meari's room, his was even more spartan.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka walked to the desk and casually picked up Meari's notebook.
This notebook wasn't filled with math problems, but it was densely covered with her calculation methods and some math and statistics problems—all related to gambling.
On the table, there were also gambling tools like dice and playing cards, and on the bookshelf, closest to her, there were several books about gambling.
"You study these at home?" Ayanokoji glanced at Meari.
"Since I came to this school, I have to work hard..." Meari sighed softly: "After all, this is related to 'money.' If I lose even once, the loss will be huge, so of course, I have to be serious."
From childhood, she had always strived to earn more money. Now that she had entered the casino, of course, she had to be fully prepared.
Gambling couldn't just rely on luck; one's own preparation was also necessary.
Ayanokoji put down the notebook in his hand.
Compared to other girls her age, Meari's life seemed quite monotonous, but this was also why her grades and intelligence far surpassed her peers.
Ayanokoji quite admired her ability to endure loneliness and research these things—but this wasn't what Ayanokoji wanted to see.
Ayanokoji hadn't forgotten that among the only two tasks issued by the system, one was to make Meari break free from the gambling abyss.
Ayanokoji had always thought about making Meari lose big, so she would realize the horror of gambling and leave the gambling table, but Meari's gambling talent seemed a bit too good; she always managed to "turn the tables at the last moment."
Not only did she not lose money, but she even made a large sum, and now she still had several million in hand.
Ayanokoji suddenly realized something at this moment.
The deeper Meari researched gambling, the more likely she was to win money at gambling, dominating the scene, and thus, she would be even less willing to leave the gambling table.
Even if she occasionally lost once, she would continue to win the money back from the gambling table—because gambling would become what she was best at.
In her opinion, perhaps she would only have one way to make money, and that was gambling.
Ayanokoji suddenly had an idea.
If Meari focused her attention elsewhere, and knew that there was more than one path in the future, wouldn't she stop being obsessed with gambling?
Ayanokoji's heart stirred. He pulled a chair over and sat on it, making Meari sit on the edge of the bed, and suddenly asked her: "Meari, have you ever thought about going abroad?"
Meari had also heard some of Ayanokoji's conversation with her father, and quickly clarified: "My father just likes to talk nonsense, don't take what he says seriously. I have no intention of studying abroad!"
She didn't want to study abroad right now; her sole focus was on making money and dating Ayanokoji.
Ayanokoji looked at her and said seriously: "Do you really have no intention of going abroad?... What if I want to go abroad?"
"Ayanokoji, you want to go abroad?" Meari was a little surprised; she had thought Ayanokoji was joking with her father.
"I have that thought. I want to see the outside world."
Ayanokoji nodded, and deliberately said: "But I'm someone who can't stand loneliness. It would be great if someone I know could go with me..."
Go, I want to go!
Meari subconsciously wanted to blurt out that she wanted to go too, but felt that saying so would be too forward. She thought for a moment and carefully said: "I'll have to check my grades. If there's a school that wants me then, going abroad isn't impossible..."
Meari's grades were among the best in the entire school, so saying this was an implicit answer to Ayanokoji's words.
"You said it, then. I'll take that as you being willing to go abroad with me." Ayanokoji smiled: "Schools abroad have very high scores. If you want to go together, then your grades can't be too bad and hold me back."
"I'm very good at studying, you don't have to worry about that!" Meari said confidently.
Having received Meari's promise, Ayanokoji nodded with satisfaction inwardly.
Since Meari said so, she should study hard, and at least not put all her focus on "gambling."
As long as she studied diligently, the effort she spent on gambling would naturally decrease.
Then... her chances of losing when gambling with others would also increase.
The more money she lost, the more she would doubt whether she had a talent for gambling.
At that time, he could make his appearance. He could temporarily lend her the money she lost and persuade her to focus all her attention on her studies.
When she returned from her studies, he could just make her his secretary and slowly repay the money...
This was definitely a good strategy.
Ayanokoji didn't expect to see immediate results. As long as there was a subtle, gradual effect, Meari would eventually move in the direction he wanted to see.
He had enough time to wait.
Looking at the excited Meari, Ayanokoji suddenly felt a little sorry for her, but soon, that bit of apology disappeared—who told Meari to be so addicted to gambling that she couldn't extricate herself? If persuasion worked, he wouldn't have to come up with such a method.
What he owed her, at most, he would slowly repay after she became his secretary...
"Ayanokoji, your phone." Meari's voice suddenly interrupted Ayanokoji's thoughts.
Ayanokoji's phone was on the bedside, vibrating—to be polite while visiting Meari's house, he had set his phone to vibrate.
The call was from an unknown number that Ayanokoji had never seen before.
He answered the phone: "May I ask who this is, and is there something you need?"
A calm, almost cold voice suddenly appeared on the phone.
"...It's me, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka."
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