Chapter 444

"Of course you can—!"

Saying this.

Her tone suddenly changed.

Natsume Ruri's fair face puffed up at a speed visible to the naked eye, like an angry little pufferfish, glaring at her brother angrily:

"However—Ruri has many, many things she wants to ask brother!"

Natsume Chikage looked at her appearance, and a layer of thin sweat couldn't help but seep from his forehead.

He knew it would be like this…

However, there was no escaping it.

Let her ask.

He was already mentally prepared, and at the same time, he planned to buy his sister some snacks she liked at the supermarket later to let her vent her anger.

Natsume Ruri started the "interrogation" angrily:

"First! Brother, why didn't you tell Ruri when you participated in the shogi tournament?"

"You have to know that the registration fee for this tournament is 20,000 yen! Brother, your shogi level clearly can't even beat Ruri, why did you participate?!"

Natsume Chikage knew his sister's temper well; if there wasn't a reasonable explanation, this matter would probably be endless and very difficult to coax.

If it weren't for this accidental exposure, he had actually thought of other more secure "bluffing" methods.

But since things had reached this point, he could only organize his language on the spot and make it up as he went.

"Uh… regarding this, I actually calculated the probability carefully."

"Look, no matter what, brother has won one or two games against you, Ruri, before."

"And your level, Ruri, is quite a bit stronger than Dad's before he passed away; Dad's rank was amateur 6-dan."

"And among the shogi association members participating, there are only two or three hundred people whose strength is clearly stronger than your brother."

"The remaining participants might not have very good levels."

"So according to probability, as long as the luck isn't too bad, earning back the cost, or even making a small profit of 10,000 yen, is a high-probability event."

Natsume Ruri was extremely intelligent, and for this kind of simple mathematical expectation calculation, even without a draft or calculator, she could calculate it instantly in her head.

But her cheeks were still puffed up, like two little steamed buns.

"According to probability, that is indeed correct."

"But brother, aren't you afraid of losing in the first round?"

"If you really lost, we would have lost 20,000 yen out of thin air, and we really wouldn't have money to pay this month's rent!"

Natsume Chikage took a deep breath and explained patiently:

"Actually, brother calculated it."

"In a place like Tokyo where every inch of land is worth gold, the consumption level is truly too high."

"Even if brother works normally, the first month might be able to pay the rent steadily."

"The second month might also be okay."

"But the third month, the fourth month, and even after that…"

"You have to know, brother working part-time at the coffee shop, no matter how hard I work in a month, the income only hovers between 50,000 and 80,000 yen."

"And this is still under the condition that I have sufficient time to work part-time. If I have to balance school and other activities, I'm afraid the income will only be less."

"If brother were just alone, I could still endure this hardship, but I still have you."

"If there are no other extra ways to make money, relying only on this money, it is absolutely impossible to support the two of us living in Tokyo."

"I must find another way!"

Natsume Ruri heard this, her voice becoming smaller and smaller involuntarily, her fingers pinching her brother's clothes unconsciously, muttering in a low voice:

"But… but no matter what, this is too risky."

"What if… what if the luck is really bad?"

Natsume Chikage stopped, turned around, placed his hands gently on his sister's shoulders, and looked into her eyes earnestly:

"Brother doesn't do things without certainty."

"So—I won't let that 'what if' happen."

"Since I decided to do it, then I definitely have a way to win."

"Whether it's shogi or writing novels, it's all like this."

"I can even say that I have already envisioned a backup plan in case of failure."

"Look, didn't Auntie Miyuki just say she would take care of us?"

"If it really doesn't work, brother will also put down his face to ask for help, asking her to lend some money to help us get through the most difficult period."

"Although it definitely won't be paid back in the short term, as long as we are still alive and still working hard, there will always be opportunities to repay it in the future."

Natsume Ruri lowered her eyes and thought about it, feeling that her brother was indeed right.

Now her brother had already earned back his cost in the shogi tournament; even if he lost in the third round later, he wouldn't lose money at least.

As for novels, they were also quite promising now, just waiting for them to be put on the shelves for sale and then the manuscript fee would be issued.

As for Auntie Miyuki, looking at her sincere attitude just now, she would indeed likely be willing to lend them money.

After all, Auntie Miyuki had mentioned more than once before that she was willing to sponsor them, and even willing to bear her brother's high tuition fees together.

Natsume Ruri hadn't expected that her brother, whom she had always felt was a bit of a "fool" and only cared about playing games, had matured so much after Dad passed away, even considering many problems and dilemmas that she hadn't thought about deeply…

For a moment.

Even if Natsume Ruri was still holding back her anger, after listening to this frank and realistic explanation, she really couldn't get angry anymore.

And Natsume Chikage, seeing that his sister's attitude seemed to have loosened, decided to "add some fuel to the fire".

"Back then, Dad started from scratch in Tokyo with only a few tens of thousands of yen."

"What your dad could do, your brother can do the same, and even—I will do better!"

"So Ruri… I hope you can forgive me for not telling you these things."

Natsume Ruri looked up, looking at her brother's extremely earnest, even with a hint of unquestionable firm expression close at hand, the anger in her heart couldn't help but dissipate for the most part.

But she still lowered her head, staring at her shoe tips, muttering in a low voice:

"Ruri… is willing to believe brother."

"But… Ruri also hopes that brother can try to tell Ruri things, instead of everyone else knowing about brother playing shogi, while Ruri is the only one kept in the dark."

"This really makes me very sad and very angry…"

"Brother, can you promise me that you won't hide things from Ruri in the future?"

Natsume Chikage was silent for a moment, his side profile under the night sky appearing exceptionally clear.

"Ruri, brother could casually lie to you and say 'okay' right now, but I don't want to."

"Because… some things I didn't say often mean that the matter is also very tricky for brother, or full of uncertainty."

"I don't want you to worry in vain after knowing."

"But I can tell you for sure that in the future, as long as it's something that can be said and is important, I will try my best to tell you, Ruri!"

Natsume Ruri wasn't an unreasonable, pedantic girl; she knew her brother also had his own worries, secrets, and troubles.

Asking her brother to tell her everything without reservation was indeed not very realistic and too difficult for him…

She thought about it, suddenly raised her little face, stretched out her slender, fair little finger, and muttered with a pout:

"Since brother said so… then let's pinky swear! You have to promise Ruri to try your best not to hide important things from Ruri."

"Yeah, I promise you."

Natsume Chikage looked at his sister's childish action and couldn't help but laugh, and also stretched out his own little finger, hooking it on solemnly.

The two little fingers were tightly hooked together in the cool night breeze, as if making a silent promise.

After the pinky swear.

Natsume Ruri's mood was clearly much better, and the haze between her brows was swept away.

But she still couldn't help but raise her little fist, gently hammering Natsume Chikage's arm, humming:

"Seeing that brother did win two games and didn't lose money, Ruri won't pursue it this time."

"But brother still has to promise Ruri that after we go back, you have to accompany Ruri for special training in shogi!"

"10,000 for the first round, 20,000 for the second round, 40,000 for the third round… since you've already won two rounds, if you have a chance to win the third round, you have to win it with all your strength!"

"After all, this is 40,000 yen! If you win, we won't have to worry so much about next month's rent."

Natsume Chikage smiled and rubbed his sister's hair:

"Yeah, okay."

After that.