Miwa Chisei felt inexplicably more at ease. On her way back to the dorm from the school gates, she received a call from Mei Mei.
They had only exchanged contact details at noon. Given the timing of the call, Mei Mei must have already experienced what she had predicted.
"Mei Mei, it's me."
The young woman's laughter came through the phone. She was clearly in a good mood.
"You were right, Qianxing. Half the bills were counterfeit, mixed in with the real ones. Their faces went white when I made them check the money with a bill counter."
"Oh, so everything went smoothly?"
"Don't worry. They paid the full amount and gave me twice that much in compensation."
"They got beaten up pretty badly, didn't they?"
"They needed a little punishment, didn't they-"
In truth, Mei Mei wasn't all that in love with money. What she enjoyed was the process of saving it, which felt wonderful.
Having received an unexpected windfall, Mei Mei's attitude toward Miwa Chisei had shifted a little. It seemed she kept earning extra income thanks to her.
Those ten thousand yen had been the starting point. Helping someone now and then really did bring good karma.
"If you want to make money, Qianxing, I can help. But we'll have to have a proper talk about how to split the profits."
Miwa Chisei's ears perked up, and ripples stirred in her calm eyes.
"If possible, I'm free tonight."
Mei Mei laughed. What an impatient child.
"It'll be a little late. I need to put the cash in my secret hideout."
"Then see you later-"
Miwa Chisei felt fortunate to have met a like-minded girl such as Mei Mei, especially in Jujutsu Society.
At eleven that night, Mei Mei finally arrived, carrying a plastic bag from a twenty-four-hour convenience store. She handed it to Miwa Chisei.
"A little thank-you."
Inside were a few cans of juice, some candy, and other snacks.
Mei Mei was quite adept at such social niceties with business partners, especially since Miwa Chisei's fortune-telling had benefited her so much.
"Are all your ways of making money connected to Jujutsu Society?"
Miwa Chisei neatly arranged the contents of the plastic bag on the table to share with Mei Mei.
"Not all of them. To be precise, intelligence makes up the bulk of it."
Mei Mei's Cursed Technique was Black Bird Manipulation. One of its abilities allowed her to share a crow's vision, giving her access to intelligence that others could not obtain.
Intelligence mattered far more than people realized. Valuable intelligence could even be beyond any monetary measure.
Miwa Chisei looked at the woman before her. Sure enough, this was her business opportunity.
"Let me guess. You want to turn my fortunes into intelligence?"
Mei Mei gave her an approving smile.
"You're very clever. Give fortune-telling a different label, and the profits become something else entirely, especially with Jujutsu as accurate as yours."
Turning fortunes into intelligence would better suit the tastes of those at the top. Miwa Chisei had never had access to such connections before, but things were different now.
All she needed was a sample of a target's handwriting to divine their past and future, extract useful intelligence from it, and sell it to a buyer.
It was a highly novel approach, and only the Miwa family's Jujutsu wielded with Miwa Chisei's ability could accomplish it. If Miwa Riona performed it, the span of time she could see would be shorter, and the accuracy would drop as well.
Mei Mei had begun building her connections while attending Jujutsu High. Several years had passed since her graduation, and she had taken on more missions outside the school. Being an adult had also given her access to more resources.
She had even begun talks with certain companies, using her funds to buy shares in businesses with promising prospects.
Mei Mei therefore had a keen nose for business. She had also personally tested Miwa Chisei's Jujutsu before feeling confident enough to work with her.
"I'll provide the connections and resources, and I'll handle dealing with the clients. Getting the targets' handwriting will be your responsibility."
Mei Mei briefly divided up their responsibilities, then a gleam appeared in her eyes.
"As for the split..."
"Thirty percent for me, seventy for you."
Mei Mei was a little surprised, but she couldn't keep a smile from spreading across her lips.
"It feels like I'm taking advantage of a child."
Miwa Chisei shook her head, her tone earnest.
"Connections and resources matter a lot. All I have to do is perform my Jujutsu. If anything, I'm the one getting the better deal."
Mei Mei liked Miwa Chisei's clear head. Talking to her was effortless and straightforward, and, more unusually, she wasn't greedy.
That made Mei Mei a little curious.
"This might be a bit inappropriate to ask, but why do you want to make money? After all, a Jujutsu Sorcerer's job pays well, but you might not live to spend it."
Miwa Chisei answered without hesitation.
"To save up a dowry. I'll need to find a man willing to marry into my family and carry on the family line."
Even the worldly Mei Mei froze for three seconds before covering her face and bursting into laughter.
"Qianxing, you're too funny."
Miwa Chisei didn't mind. This was a family matter, after all. She couldn't let the Miwa family's line die out with her generation. If that happened, the Miwa family's history would truly vanish for good.
The older woman at the entrance to Fortune-Telling Street had told her that getting married and raising children both cost a great deal of money. She had to plan ahead.
"Then here's to a happy partnership?"
Mei Mei raised her drink, and Miwa Chisei clinked hers against it. In the student apartments at Jujutsu High, the two girls plotted their savings plans and quietly reached an agreement.
After Mei Mei left, Miwa Chisei unlocked the drawer beside her bed and took out a pink cloth pouch. Inside were neatly rolled ten-thousand-yen bills.
Including what Uncle Gojo Yu had given her this time, she had a total of 280,000 yen.
She also had Satoru Gojo and Miwa Riona to thank for contributing 50,000 yen each a little while ago.
Living alone wasn't easy, and Miwa Chisei had been very frugal to save this much. Still, she had a feeling she might soon need a bigger cloth pouch.
At that thought, a rare, heartfelt smile appeared on the usually cool-faced girl's features.
She was beginning to look forward to life at Jujutsu High. It seemed far more interesting than she had imagined.
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