Ichinose fell into thought, her face clouding with indecision.
"Honestly, no matter how you look at it, I wouldn't be able to accept it either."
"Exactly. So, Ichinose, since you can't accept it, why not go on a spending spree at the school store? You could use up all your points buying the latest phones, then take them off campus and sell them as like-new to recoup the cost."
"That approach... does seem completely aboveboard."
Ichinose thought over the rules she knew so far and was surprised to realize the plan was entirely compliant. "Is that what you're planning to do, Dongfang?"
"Didn't I tell you? The school pays us in cash when it converts our points back." Dongfang Yi smiled. "Buying electronics and selling them off campus as barely used—that's such an obvious loophole. You and I can both think of it. How could the school, after running things for so many years, not know about it?"
"And yet they haven't imposed any restrictions on purchases. Isn't that strange?"
"So... that's how it is." Ichinose frowned in confusion. "But why would the school have the teachers lie to us?"
"Why do you think?"
Dongfang Yi tossed the question back to her. He resumed listening to the recording, giving Ichinose plenty of room to think.
Since he had chosen Ichinose as his partner, he had to make sure she could think independently and handle problems on her own. Only then could she be an asset.
He already had a silly airhead to act as eye candy.
"The school's goal is to select talented students. It gives us points to cover our daily expenses. Points are equivalent to cash, and we can exchange them for cash when they're converted back. But why lie to the students about that...?"
Ichinose scribbled notes,