Anyone with a discerning eye could see from the attitude that Machida had shown previously that he was just a pawn. No matter how much you said to him, it would not be as useful as explaining the interests directly to Katsuragi and then letting him speak.
However, Ibuki Mio didn't buy it.
"Then let's talk about it after you have reached an agreement with Class A. As long as everyone else has signed, I will sign as well. But if there is even one person who hasn't signed in the end, it won't matter if I sign."
"This……"
"It doesn't matter. I won't lose anything anyway. I'll just sign it first."
Hideo Sotomura didn't care about all this. He patted his round belly and wiped the sweat off his hands on his clothes. He was the first to take the paper and pen and wrote his name in the signature area.
Once there is a first, there will be a second. Soon, except for the three Machida people and Ibuki Mio, everyone else had signed their names without exception.
Taking the contract signed by the ten members of the group from Wu Yi, Ichinose Honami carefully put it away and gave everyone a reassuring smile.
"Then everyone should go back today. I will take some time to have a good talk with Katsuragi-san tomorrow morning."
Without further ado, let’s adjourn the meeting.
After leaving the Rabbit Group's meeting room, in the corridor, Karuizawa Hui pulled Wu Yi's sleeve and whispered.
"Hey, do you think Ichinose-san can convince that bald guy?"
“…I think so.”
Wu Yi thought about it seriously and said.
"Katsuragi is just a conservative person with a cautious style. If we sign all the contracts according to Ichinose, we will all have to answer together within the specified time, and there will be no risk. That bald guy will not refuse a benefit without risk."
"That's right."
Karuizawa Hui nodded as if she understood, then leaned forward, hugged Wu Yi's arm tightly, and shook her body happily twice.
"I really hope that Ichinose-san can quickly convince the bald guy to get that Machida to sign, so that everyone can get 500,000 points~"
"...Are you very short of numbers?" Wu Yi was curious.
"Well, a little bit." The girl was a little embarrassed.
"The main thing is that I bought a lot of summer clothes before the summer vacation, but before I had time to wear them, I was pulled here to an uninhabited island and a privileged person. Besides, it will be autumn soon, and I will have to buy new clothes by then."
Huh? Where are the spring and autumn clothes you bought?
Wu Yi really wanted to ask this, but after thinking about it for a while, he decided to forget it.
Come to think of it, his younger sister who is in junior high school in his hometown of Kyoto seems to be the same.
A normal person would think that when the season changes, they should take out the clothes they bought previously, but a girl would think that they should buy new clothes...it's very strange.
buzz-
At the same time, the cell phone in Wu Yi's pocket suddenly vibrated.
When I took it out and looked at it, a text message notification appeared on the screen.
[Can we chat? I'm in the cafe on the third floor of the cruise ship - Machida Koji]
Volume 126: Chapter : Negotiation at the Cafe, Another Date with Ichinose
After sending Karuizawa Kei back to the dormitory, Wu Yi followed the address in the text message to the cafe on the third floor of the cruise ship.
There weren't many people who came out to drink coffee so late at night, so when he arrived, there were only a few people in the cafe.
Warm lighting and melodious tunes.
Machida was sitting in a booth in the corner. When he saw Wu Yi come in, he didn't say anything. He just made eye contact and gave a look that said "here".
There was another person sitting next to him, with a shiny bald head that reflected light very well and could be seen from a long distance.
It was Kōhei Katsuragi.
The two of them didn't order anything, they just sat there.
Fortunately, everything on this cruise ship is free. If it were in one of those commercial coffee shops and there were still people sitting there without even ordering a glass of lemonade, they would have been "asked" to leave long ago as they were using the air conditioning for free.
"Oh, seeing you texting me at this hour, I thought you had some idea."
Wu Yi walked over with a mocking look on his face, not hiding his ridicule at all.
"In the end, the parents are still called."
"Humph……"
Machida just snorted coldly and remained unmoved.
Wu Yi sat down and Ge Cheng spoke. His voice, as deep as rock, contained unquestionable power.
"Machida has already told me everything about the Rabbit Group. Ichinose's contract does have unparalleled protection, but I have another suggestion... Wu Yi, our Class A hopes to establish a cooperative relationship with you in this special exam."
"Oh?"
Wu Yi seemed to be interested.
"Tell me, how can we cooperate?"
"like this--"
Katsuragi Kohei did not give a long-winded explanation, but took out a contract from under the table and pushed it on the table in front of Wu Yi with both hands to show his sincerity.
Wu Yi pointed at the corner of the printed paper with his index finger and moved it closer.
Like Ichinose, Katsuragi Kōhei also thought of using the contract system to prevent betrayal.
The content of the contract is even simpler than that of Ichinose. To summarize it, Wu Yi, as the person who has signed Ichinose's contract, needs to inform the members of Class A of the Rabbit Team of the candidates for preferential treatment announced by Ichinose before the end of the exam. If the answer is confirmed to be correct based on the subsequent results announced by the school, Katsuragi will pay 500,000 points to Wu Yi.
"I think you have no reason to refuse this contract." Katsuragi Kohei said firmly.
"...Are you so confident?" Wu Yi twisted his mouth and tried hard not to laugh out loud.
"Of course, I have my reasons for saying this."
Katsuragi Kōhei crossed his arms over his chest and spoke word by word.
"First of all, as far as I know, after the previous uninhabited island exam, Class C's class points should have surpassed Class B. If nothing unexpected happens, Ichinose's class will return to B after the new semester begins, and you will fall back to C."
"Secondly, according to the rules of this preferential treatment exam, as long as I let Machida and the others insist on not signing, then in the end, no matter whether others agree to sign or not, the final result will be the second one, and only Class C will benefit."
"On the contrary, as long as you do what is written in this contract, not only will Class C lose 50 points and be unable to surpass Class B, but you will also get 500,000 personal points."
Katsuragi Kohei concluded with the momentum of sending out nine coins.
"This is a good thing that can kill two or even three birds with one stone. I don't believe you will just refuse it like that."
Well, that's correct.
But the prerequisite is that the beneficiary must really be in Class C...
Wu Yi scratched the corner of his eye, thinking that if someone else was here, he might have been fooled by this bald guy.
"Okay, okay, okay. I admit that what you said makes sense, but there is still a very crucial issue that has not been made clear. That is, how should I give you the answer? It can't be through text messages or verbal communication, right? Then wouldn't I just make up something to fool you?"
"Of course not, because it won't do you any good."
Katsuragi Kōhei shook his head calmly.
"If we answer first and get it wrong, not only will you not get the 500,000 individual points, but Class C's points will increase by another 50 points. Not only will you not be able to maintain your position as Class B, but the gap will be further widened... However, the most basic insurance is still necessary."
As he said this, he calmly pushed another ultra-miniature pinhole camera across the table.
"Tsk, it's amazing that you guys would go out of your way to make something like this."
Wu Yi picked it up in his hand and looked at it for a while.
"But to be honest, I was a little worried that you would ask me to do something like steal Ichinose's phone. After all, the exam rules clearly state that you cannot snatch or steal from other students. Those who violate this will be expelled directly."
"So, what's your answer?" Katsuragi Kohei raised his eyes and said in a deep voice.
"Well, of course it's a deal. I'll still make the calculation that it's a trade-off between 500,000 and nothing."
Wu Yi put away the pinhole camera and shrugged, imitating his expression.
"So, do you have a pen?"
"Give."
Machida very politely handed over the ballpoint pen that he had prepared a long time ago.
Wu Yi took it, quickly signed his name on the contract, and then returned the paper and pen.
"All right."
"Um……"
Kōhei Katsuragi glanced at the paper, confirmed that it was correct and put it away.
"Then, I wish us happy cooperation."
After saying this, he stood up from his seat and left with Machida Koji.
Crisp and neat, without any sloppiness.
Wu Yi sat on the sofa from beginning to end, and only after watching the two of them completely disappear from his sight did he finally unable to resist and raised the corners of his mouth almost twitchingly.
"Pfft... Cooperation, and even a contract... These people are so interesting..."
It was not until a long time later that Wu Yi gradually calmed down, his shoulders stopped shaking, and he slowly breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, considering that they were in a public place, he didn't just laugh out loud without paying attention to anyone else. At least he was restrained and didn't attract other people's attention.
Looking up at the ceiling of the cafe, Wu Yi lay on the sofa for a while. After thinking for a moment, he took out his mobile phone from his pocket and made a call.
"Ah, Ichinose, are you free now? I'm at the cafe... um, it's about the exam... Got it, I'll wait for you."
About twenty minutes later, a pink figure hurriedly appeared at the door of the cafe.
Ichinose Hoba obviously looked like she had just taken a shower and had changed into casual clothes. Her long hair looked a little wet because she hadn't had time to blow-dry it.
She walked quickly to Wu Yi with a faint scent of shower gel, and sat down hastily on the sofa where Katsuragi Kohei and Machida had just sat, fiddling with her hair with her hands.
"Sorry, sorry. I was taking a shower when you called me just now, Wu Yi. Did you keep me waiting for a long time?"
"It's okay. I don't have anything to do tonight anyway."
Wu Yi said generously that it didn't matter.
"Anyway, to make a long story short, I'll get straight to the point."
"Ichinose, I know that your class has no preferential treatment in the Rabbit Group."
Volume 127: Chapter I'll Just Consider That I Met the Wrong Person
"Uh... no, this..."
This sudden remark froze the girl.
Mainly due to the non-cooperation of Class A within the Rabbit Group, Ichinose Honami had to find a way to persuade Katsuragi Kōhei. Even when she was taking a bath before, she had been constantly simulating in her mind the bargaining chips that might be used in negotiations with the other party tomorrow and preparing in advance.
So when Wu Yi called, Ichinose naturally took it as the former wanting to discuss the negotiation matters with her.
But she never expected that the first sentence would be like this, directly exposing the lie she had carefully prepared with great difficulty, and she was inevitably caught off guard for a moment.
"Um, Wu Yi, why did you suddenly say something like that? I don't understand."
"There's nothing difficult to understand, right? It's just what it means literally. There's no one in your class who is given preferential treatment in the Rabbit Group." Wu Yi repeated.
"I already said I would prove it with a text message..." Ichinose was still trying to cover up.
"Text messages? That's just the last of my tricks."
Wu Yi shook his head.
"I've already asked about this. Mobile phone cards can be untied by paying points. All you need to do is untie the mobile phone card of a classmate in another group and install it in your own phone. It's very simple."
"If you want to be more meticulous, you can also delete all the synced text messages, leaving only the text message of the person who was selected as the preferential recipient and the text messages that were originally cached in the phone. This way, even if you check it, you won't find any problems."
"But this operation has a fatal weakness. At the end of the text message notification sent to everyone's mobile phone, there will be a message stating which room to gather in for discussion... For example, if the one being treated favorably is you, Ichinose, do you think it is reasonable if your text message ends with you going to the Tiger Group's room for discussion?"
"If you don't believe it, you can open it and take a look now."
"I……"
Ichinose was stunned.
Even without opening her phone, she knew that Wu Yi was right. She had already noticed this when she thought of changing her SIM card.
However, she still had a lucky mentality at the time, thinking that she could cover it up by just relying on angles and gestures.
"Of course, I certainly can't say that without any basis."
