At that moment, Mei Mei had a general uanding of the situation.
Her imagined one-oe with Ryuji wasn't happening. Instead, this hot spring trip would involve a crowd of other people—and all of them were beautiful girls.
To be ho, she wasn't angry.
When it came to charm and fidence, Mei Mei knew she was sed to none. How could a group of little girls possibly pare to her?
"What, don't want to e?"
Notig the silen her end, Ryuji teased her with a smile.
"Of course not!"
As expected, Mei Mei's voice came through the phone almost immediately.
Not go? What a joke.
After all, ces to meet up like this were rare, and Mei Mei wasn't about to let this one pass.
Besides, she had already e to terms with how Ryuji operated.
"Anyway, I already know what kind of person you are!" Mei Mei said, her tone pyful but ced with fidence.
She had been prepared for this sort of thing for a long time. It wasn't shog to her in the slightest.
"As long as you're not worried that your little girlfriends will feel inferior or jealous when they see me!"
Her words were bold, spoken with a mix of teasing and pride.
As expected of Mei Mei, her fidence was unmatched.
"Hahaha!"
Ryuji couldn't help but ugh at her respo had been a while sihey'd spoken like this. He had to admit, he missed her a little.
"Do you need me to e pick you up?" he asked.
"Sure!" Mei Mei agreed without hesitation.
After chatting for a bit longer, Ryuji hung up the phone.
---
At that moment, Mei Mei was attending a dinner party hosted by the Suzuki family.
Sihe existence of sorcerers had bee publiowledge, many powerful families had been trying to recruit sorcerers tthen their influence.
As a first-grade sorcerer with siderable strength, Mei Mei had naturally attracted attention. She had cooperated with the Suzuki family in the past, so their retionship was already quite friendly.
Retly, the Suzuki family had been invitio their gatherings in an effort to build a stronger bond.
For Mei Mei, these invitations weren't something to turn down.
After all, if someone ractically her money and es, why refuse?
Sitting beside her, Sonoko watched Mei Mei curiously.
"Was that a call from Mr. Ryuji?"
She hadn't heard much of the versation, but judging by Mei Mei's bright expression and the occasional ughter, it wasn't hard to guess.
"That's right," Mei Mei replied without denying it.
Aside from Sonoko, her parents, Suzuki Tomoko and Suzuki Shiro, were also present at the dinner.
As for Sonoko's older sister, Ayako, she had already married and rarely returned for family events.
Upon hearing Mei Mei's respoomoko smiled warmly and ented, "Miss Mei Mei, you're so beautiful, and Mr. Ryuji is so handsome. The two of you truly make a perfect match."
"Yes, yes! I agree pletely!" Shiro nodded with a grin.
The Suzuki family, as a top-tier glomerate, was aware of some of the rumors surrounding Ryuji. While they knew he had a reputation for having many girlfriends, they naturally wouldn't bring that up in front of Mei Mei.
Instead, they made sure to say things that would make her feel good.
"What does Mr. Ryuji want to see you for?" Sonoko asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"He invited me to join him for a hot spring trip," Mei Mei replied, her tone light and nont.
"A hot spring trip?"
Sonoko's eyes lit up with excitement.
" I e too? It sounds so fun!"
Taking a hot spring trip together was something Sonoko clearly found appealing.
The Suzuki family also saw this as a potential opportunity. If they could streheir retionship with Ryuji through this, they wouldn't want to miss the ce.
"Not this time," Mei Mei said, shaking her head with a small smile.
She was well aware of the Suzuki family's iions but didn't pay them much mind.
Her cooperation with the Suzukis was mainly because they were wealthy and generous with their resources.
More importantly, she genuinely found them to be det people.
Despite being a promi chaebol family, the Suzukis were polite and cultured, never overstepping their bounds or ag arrogantly.
Otherwise, no matter how rich they were, Mei Mei would have kept their retionship strictly professional.
"Why not?" Sonoko asked, visibly disappointed but not wanting to push too hard.
"Well…" Mei Mei paused before an expnation. "The main reason is that Ryuji isn't just inviting me. Sihere will be a lot of other people ing along, it might be a bit awkward for you to join."
"...???"
Sonoko blinked, her expression shifting to fusion.
Not just Mei Mei? Awkward?
Though Sonoko often acted carefree, as the future heir to the Suzuki family, she wasn't stupid. She quickly pieced things together.
Wait a sed. A group trip? A bunch of girls?
Sonoko had seen her share of scumbags before. But someone as bold as Ryuji? That was new.
He wasn't even trying to hide it!
Still, when she g Mei Mei and saw her calm, unbothered expression, Sonoko realized something important.
Sometimes, when you reached a certain level of power, you really could do whatever you wanted.
"Mr. Ryuji sure is… fident," Sonoko muttered, choosing her words carefully.
Suzuki Shiro, who had also caught on, couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head in admiration. "That's a man who knows what he wants."
But no sooner had those words left his mouth than he felt the sharp gaze of Tomoko on him.
Though she didn't say a word, the message in her eyes was crystal clear: Are you envious?
"Ahem!"
Clearing his throat nervously, Shirhtened up. It wasn't that he wasn't envious—he definitely was.
But at his age, even if he eaihe idea, his body wouldn't be able to keep up.
"I'm just making an observation," Shiro said with an awkward ugh, trying to diffuse the tension.
"Hmph," Tomoko snorted before turning away, clearly unimpressed.
Her reaade both Mei Mei and Sonoko ugh quietly.
No matter what else could be said about the Suzuki family, their dynamic was genuinely good.
***
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