I'm in a real religion, why are all the people who confess to me girls?

"If elementary school students go there to do odd jobs, the police will definitely be called, right? The shop manager might even kneel down and beg us not to harm him. Also, Arisu, are you planning to put a news story in tomorrow's paper about the eldest daughter of the Sakayanagi family, a family with a long history of education, the eldest daughter of the Miyako family, and some unknown person from the Kiryuin family who is just passing by, being forced to work as maids for financial reasons, and that the three of them were arrested at an average age of twelve?"

Kiryuin's words made Sakayanagi shrug.

"Then we can only watch Tianyin's performance."

In an instant, both Sakayanagi and Kiryuin's gazes were focused on Amane.

"I've seen in teaching cases that banks have so much money they can't count it all, why don't we go there..."

"Stop!!! Let's consider the suggestion of working part-time at a maid cafe instead."

P.S.: Thank you so much for all the votes and tips! And a huge thank you to all the readers who have been subscribing to this book for your continued support! Thank you so much!!! orz

While expressing my gratitude, I'd like to answer a question from a friend who gave me a tip:

The reason I rarely update is partly because I don't have a stockpile of chapters and I'm not a full-time writer. I don't have enough energy to accumulate more chapters, and I can only apologize to everyone for that.

Secondly, to compensate everyone, I actually used another method. The word count of the chapters you subscribed to has already increased. From the initial 2,000 words per chapter, the minimum is now 4,000 words, and occasionally it will be around 4500 words, which is considered a half-chapter bonus. In addition, since last year, at least half of the update days each month have been 6000-word chapters, but I just forgot to mark them. Please rest assured, the author can see all the votes, razor blades, and rewards you have given.

Finally, thank you again to everyone who has supported me all this time!

Chapter 121: Her Back Then

"Waaaaaah..."

"Alright, now we can continue discussing how to earn money to buy food."

Kiryuin looked at Sakayanagi with a complicated expression as a hand covered Amane's mouth and she looked at him with a smile.

However, given the high risk factor of what Tianyin is thinking, it is normal to exclude her from the discussion. But when it comes to actually carrying out some plans, Tianyin's strength is indispensable to their three-person team.

"Right now, the only reliable option seems to be your part-time job, Sakayanagi, right? But we're not old enough, and they might not even want us... Besides, it's hard to say if there are even maid cafes in this town."

Kiryuin glanced at the desolate town outside the window and felt that Sakayanagi's plan might not have the desired effect.

Sakayanagi recalled what he had seen and heard along the way and nodded in deep agreement.

"The service industry here isn't developing very well because it can't retain tourists. Maple, your concerns are valid. But this makes it difficult for us to earn some pocket money at our age."

Obtaining financial support without their families knowing their whereabouts was quite difficult for the three of them.

The three of them looked at each other and couldn't help but sigh.

"I wish there were a job that didn't require considering age and that allowed me to earn money quickly."

Kiryuin lay back on the bed, staring dejectedly at the hotel ceiling.

"There's no such thing as a free lunch. The less developed a place is, the more important money is to people. Even if the kind of job you described, Maple, existed, it would definitely be overcrowded."

"That's why I recommended that you guys come with me to beg. Just by standing there, the three of us pretty girls should be able to get some alms, right? We can always pay it back later."

Are you sure we won't be arrested as streetwalkers?

Sakayanagi rolled her eyes at Kiryuin. She hadn't expected that Kaede, who was supposed to be from the Kiryuin family, would offer such... such indescribable suggestions.

"Wow! Little Arisu even knows about streetwalkers! But there's no way a streetwalker this young could be... Ugh, so annoying! How about we go to the next city first, withdraw some money from your card, and then we can talk about hiking?"

Kiryuin had completely lost his mind and decided to take a gamble and head to the next city to buy supplies before making a comeback.

“If we can’t go back within five days, Father will definitely be angry, and I might not be able to come out with you in the future.”

"Your body wasn't suited to going out in the first place."

"Maple Flower, why do you seem a bit strange today?"

"No, Arisu, you're being too sensitive. Besides, the time allotted for each step of our plan is just right. But given your physical condition, there will always be some deviation when executing individual plans. Isn't that the reality?"

Despite being criticized by Kiryuin, Sakayanagi's expression didn't change much, because in her opinion, what Kiryuin said was indeed correct. If it had been Kiryuin and Amane who were on this trip, they would probably already be returning by now, given their speed. The fact that she had slowed down the operation was an objective problem.

"We all agreed to come together before we set off, so there's nothing to complain about now. Even if we fail, we can just apologize to Uncle Sakayanagi and ask him to send some money so we can go back, right? But our plan hasn't failed yet. As long as we solve the food problem, we can continue."

Amane broke the awkward atmosphere between Kiryuin and Sakayanagi, bringing the topic back to food. But unlike before, Sakayanagi sat there silently, staring blankly at Amane, seemingly lost in thought.

Kiryuin knew that what she had just said was a bit too hurtful. In fact, Sakayanagi was probably the one who cared the most about this situation. However, it would be difficult for Kiryuin, the oldest of the three, to apologize to Sakayanagi, given her personality.

So the two of them just stared at Tianyin without saying a word.

We look forward to seeing what perfect solution Tianyin can come up with.

Tianyin finally felt relieved when she saw that the two had stopped arguing.

Amane views both Sakayanagi and Kiryuin as close friends. If the two of them were to quarrel, Amane, as their mutual friend, would be the one who would suffer. Handling such matters impartially would not only seem perfunctory but would also leave both of them dissatisfied.

However, if Amane were to favor one person, it would feel unfair to the other, especially since Amane had just made a breakthrough in her relationship with Sakayanagi yesterday. In addition, the cause of this argument was Kiryuin's slip of the tongue, so Amane subconsciously leaned towards Sakayanagi's side.

However, when Tenon saw the pitiful look on Kiryuin's face, she couldn't bring herself to say anything hurtful. So, for Tenon, the best outcome would be for the two of them to stop arguing.

As for solving the food problem, it wasn't the most important thing to Amane. If it was just about getting food, she had countless ways to do it. However, getting Sakayanagi and Kiryuin to accept it would be very difficult.

So what Amane wants now is a way to obtain food that is acceptable and legal to both Sakayanagi and Kiryuin.

"I just thought about it and I think what Maple Flower said makes some sense."

"what?!"

Sakayanagi and Kiryuin simultaneously widened their eyes in disbelief.

Kiryuin made this suggestion not because she really thought it was good, but because it was the only solution she could think of. It would feel a little inappropriate if Amane and Sakayanagi both came up with solutions while she had none.

So, even though she knew it wasn't a good idea, Kiryuin still brought it up anyway, since it was unlikely to be adopted. But to her surprise, Amane actually said that her idea made some sense. What was going on? What did Amane think made sense?

Compared to Kiryuin, whose head was already spinning, Sakayanagi did reconsider Kiryuin's suggestion, but no matter how you looked at it, the idea was absolutely awful.

Rather than risk being arrested and having her picture taken and posted online, Sakayanagi Ning chose to call her father directly and ask for his help.

"Tianyin, are you really planning to become a beggar?"

Sakayanagi looked at Amane with a strange expression.

"Begging? What am I begging for? No, that's not what I meant..."

It was only then that Amane realized why Kiryuin and Sakayanagi were looking at her so strangely. They had mistakenly thought she was going to take them both to beg. Amane couldn't help but laugh out loud. Even if she went to the next city to buy things and came back alone, there was no way she would take them both to beg.

Besides, what if they get kidnapped while begging? That would be a huge loss for them.

"You've misunderstood me. What I meant was that what Fenghua said about begging is essentially a performance, except that we're acting as people who are in trouble..."

"But aren't we really facing difficulties? Fine, I won't interrupt."

Guilongyuan covered his mouth and continued listening to Tianyin explain her plan.

"This reminds me that we can make money using our special talents, like... playing chess."

"Playing chess?"

"That's right, it's chess. The liveliest place here should be the ski resort. If we set up a chessboard there and earned food by playing chess challenges, it would be much easier, wouldn't it?"

Tianyin took out the black and white chess pieces she had originally intended to use as a pastime from her luggage, and a slight smile appeared on her lips.

When it comes to playing chess, there shouldn't be any professional players here. Even if you encounter a professional-level expert, as long as they aren't one of the world's top players, Tianyin won't be afraid.

In fact, even if those people came, Tianyin felt that she might not necessarily lose. Her teacher was a former world-class chess player, and Tianyin's winning percentage against him before he left was a terrifying 74.6%. This meant that even if she encountered a master of the same level as her teacher, Tianyin would have a considerable chance of winning.

"But what can we use to entice others to play chess with us?"

"If I remember correctly, there seems to be a small river nearby, right?"

"It seems there's a small river that doesn't have a name on the map."

Kiryuin took out a map and began to study it.

The river isn't far from here, and because it flows through half the town, you can see it very clearly even from the hotel.

"Could you please go along the riverbank and pick up some long, pretty pebbles that have been washed away by the river? And could you lend me your cosmetics, Arisu?"

Upon seeing the task assigned by Tianyin, Guilongyuan agreed without hesitation.

Although the clothes aren't completely dry yet, it's not a big deal to wear them out, since the river isn't too far from here anyway.

"No problem, leave the task of finding pebbles to me. How many pebbles do you need?"

"One bucket."

"A bucket?!"

Guilongyuan thought that Tianyin just wanted her to go and pick up a few to play with, but she didn't expect Tianyin to ask for a whole bucket right away.

"Yes, I need a whole bucket of pebbles. Let's get going before it gets dark."

After finishing her sentence, Tianyin didn't bother to explain to Guilongyuan and simply placed a small bucket in Guilongyuan's hand.

Looking at the deep plastic bucket in her hand, and remembering that Amane had asked her to pick out some pretty stones that had been washed away, Guilongyuan pouted with a pitiful expression.

"Whether we can complete this mountain climbing mission depends entirely on you, Fenghua. You can only find pretty rocks. I don't trust anyone else to do this kind of difficult task, so I can only entrust it to you, Fenghua."

With a serious expression, Tenon placed her hands on Kiryuin's shoulders.

As Guilongyuan looked at Tenon's face so close to his own, his own face began to burn.

"If the mission is this important, what if something happens to me..."

"I believe in Maple Flower. Only you, Maple Flower, can do this!"

"Ugh, how annoying! It's just picking up a stone, what's so difficult about that? Why make it sound so dramatic? Just leave it to me, I'll definitely bring back a whole bunch of pretty stones!!!"

With a flushed face, Kiryuin loudly finished speaking to Tenon, then turned around and slammed his head against the door.

"..."

Realizing that his current behavior was somewhat embarrassing, Kiryuin hurriedly opened the door and left without even uttering a sound of pain.

"I've noticed that Tianyin, you're getting worse and worse."

"Oh? Is that so?"

Sakayanagi squinted and moved closer to Amane. Unlike Kaede, who would blush and her heart would race just by looking at Amane, Sakayanagi only blushed slightly even when he was this close to Amane.

"Of course, it would be the fastest solution for you to do this, but you insist on using Maple as free labor. Could it be... that you just want to be alone with me?"

"...No way. You and Kaede are equally important to me. I won't deliberately bully Kaede just because I made a promise with you, Arisu."

"really?"

"..."

Sakayanagi looked down at the little paw that seemed eager to hold her hand but hesitated, appearing timid and shrinking back for a moment.

"Alright, I'll trust you this once. The cosmetics are all here. Tianyin, what are you planning to do?"

After handing the cosmetics to Amane one by one, Sakayanagi casually took Amane's restless little hand in his.

"Ahem, I'm planning to improve the pebbles and then use them as prizes..."

Amane coughed twice, trying to appear normal, and then confessed her plan to Sakayanagi. The plan was actually quite simple: to use decorated pebbles to attract others to challenge her to a game of Go, with food as the wager.

There's a reason why they chose the more difficult game of Go. If the game were simple, like Gomoku, most tourists would probably let their children play against Amane. Amane has to win the game to get food.

Fearing it would damage the children's self-confidence, Tianyin chose Go after careful consideration.

Go has a relatively high barrier to entry, and most of the people who come to challenge her have some basic skills. Moreover, many players with some strength are quite arrogant. When they see a girl like her setting up a Go challenge here, they will most likely think that Tianyin is too arrogant and choose to deliberately suppress Tianyin's arrogance by playing against her.

In short, the challenger's purpose is not important, as long as he can provide her with food, that is enough.

Amane's plan was simple, but logically sound; however, Sakayanagi's focus was entirely elsewhere.

She looked at Tianyin, whose face was flushed but who insisted on explaining her ideas in a serious manner, her eyes full of tenderness and smiles.

In the evening, Guilongyuan returned excitedly carrying a large bucket of pebbles, a speed that far exceeded Tianyin's expectations.

Just when Tenon thought that Kiryuin had simply picked up some pebbles and returned, she learned from Kiryuin that the nearby river was also a scenic spot, with blue-colored pebbles on both sides of the riverbank, and occasionally red and silver pebbles, but those were very rare.

After making inquiries, Guilongyuan learned that the town was converted from a former mine. Due to the presence of various minerals in the area, some of these minerals were mixed into the rocks. However, there were more rocks downstream, while those near the town had been mostly picked up by local residents and tourists.

After hearing the news, Guilongyuan hurriedly ran along the river for nearly ten kilometers before reaching the downstream area. Sure enough, there were pebbles of various colors everywhere downstream. Guilongyuan picked and chose and filled a large bucket before returning satisfied.

"See? I wasn't lying to you. These are all the most beautiful stones I've found. Oh, and this one is for you."

Guilongyuan awkwardly handed a small purple stone to Tianyin. This stone was not a pebble, but it had been polished very smooth by the water. Tianyin held it in her hand and examined it carefully, her face showing a look of fondness.

"Thank you for the gift, Maple. This stone is beautiful, and I like it very much."

Upon hearing Tenon say she liked it, Kiryuin's face lit up with a smug expression.

"I knew you would like it, Tianyin, because it's similar to the color of your eyes."

"My eyes? Maple, you wouldn't..."

"No way! Let me make this clear, I didn't bring this stone back specifically for you. I just... felt a sense of familiarity when I saw it, so I picked it up on a whim. It wasn't until I was halfway there that I remembered the stone was the same color as your eyes, Tianyin, so I..."