“Ran once refused Sonoko’s invitation to go skiing together,” Conan recalled, lifting his chin. “I asked her why.”
She told me with some regret that it was because she didn't have much pocket money left this month.
Without interrupting Conan, Kōyū watched the grilled fish to prevent it from burning while attentively listening to Conan recount his past.
“Then I told her, ‘Sonoko’s family is so rich, why don’t you just ask her to pay for it for you?’” Conan continued.
"As a result, she got angry immediately, not only refusing me outright, but also giving me a very serious reply."
"That's what she told me: 'You absolutely can't do that, because I want to be best friends with Sonoko for life!'"
Hearing that the story was over, Kōyū spoke up, saying, "Ran values her friendship with Sonoko very much, so it's normal for her to say that."
“Yeah.” Conan smiled and said, “I didn’t think too much about it at the time. I just felt sorry for Ran because she couldn’t go skiing with Sonoko, so I just said it casually.”
"You didn't expect Ran to respond like that, did you?" Kousuke turned to look at Conan and asked.
"I really didn't expect that." Conan suddenly remembered that he had been stunned by Ran's serious attitude at the time, nodded, and said.
"And then?" Kōyū looked away, poked the fish with his knife to check if it was cooked, and then turned his gaze back to Conan and asked.
"What happened next?" Conan didn't react for a moment, thinking that Kouyu was asking about Ran's reaction after she said that, so he asked.
"Later, Lan told me not to say those kinds of things again."
"Who asked you that?" Kōyū glanced at Conan, pursed his lips, and explained, "I was asking whether Ran went skiing later."
"So that's what you're asking about." Conan nodded and said, "She still went in the end."
"Was it the money you gave her? Or was it her own pocket money?" Guangyou continued to ask.
“You know the situation at the agency,” Conan said, glancing at Kōyū. “Of course, it’s the money I paid.”
"Sure, Conan." Kouyu nudged Conan lightly with his shoulder, his tone full of teasing.
"I didn't think too much about it at the time. I just saw that Ran wanted to go skiing, and then I suddenly wanted to go too," Conan said with a light cough.
"I believe you." Guangyou smiled and shook his head. After looking away, he poked the fish with the knife again. When he felt it was about right, he sprinkled some seasoning on the fish.
"Ai, try it and see how it tastes?" Kōyū brought the skewer of fish to his mouth, blew on it to cool it down, and handed it to Ai, watching her open her mouth and take a small bite.
"It's delicious," Ai nodded and said.
"Then eat slowly, be careful it's hot."
"Um."
After receiving a response, Kōyū turned to Conan and asked, "Conan, would you like one too? It tastes really good."
"Sure." Conan didn't refuse. He hadn't eaten much of the grilled meat earlier, and his stomach was still empty. Eating a fish would be nice.
However, Conan didn't offer to cool the fish down; after Kōyū sprinkled the seasonings, he simply handed the fish to Conan.
Conan didn't mind. He took the fish from Kouyuki, took a small bite, and then said to Kouyuki, "It's really delicious."
"If that's not enough, there's more here." Guangyou picked up another skewer of fish sprinkled with seasoning, took a bite, and nodded in satisfaction.
The fish has very tender flesh and no small bones.
Unfortunately, conditions were limited. If he were at home, Guangyou would marinate the fish first, which would make them taste even better.
However, we are currently camping, so we lack the materials and conditions for pickling.
"So, I think it's rather pretentious that those guys would say such flattering things to rich heiresses and not even think anything of it." Conan said slowly while eating grilled fish.
"Moreover, that Shirafuji Yasumi only uses a respectful title for Tendo Haruka, who is a rich heiress, and she is shameless, taking money from Tendo Haruka as if it were her right."
While eating grilled fish, Guangyou turned his head and glanced in the direction of Tiantang Qinghua. The atmosphere over there seemed to be quite good, with laughter and cheerful voices frequently heard.
But in Guangyou's eyes, all of this atmosphere is based on money.
If the "foundation" of money is gone, the atmosphere will collapse instantly, and their friendship will break down.
“I have to say, their relationship is quite pathetic.” Guangyou shook his head, smiled, and said, “A friendship based on money was wrong from the start.”
He felt this very strongly.
That's how it used to be in his industry.
All interpersonal relationships are based on interests.
It doesn't necessarily have to be real money; it could be various secret intelligence or some kind of power.
If you accidentally infringe on someone's interests, the relationships you've built up will collapse instantly.
He had seen many people betray their so-called "friends" for personal gain, and he had even experienced it himself.
As the saying goes...
"There are no permanent friends, only permanent interests."
This statement applies not only to his previous line of work, but also to business.
Of course, this isn't absolute; there are true friends who don't consider personal gain, but they are far too few.
The most genuine relationships, free from self-interest, are mostly found in Ayumi's age group. They make friends not for personal gain, but because they genuinely want to be friends.
They won't start to look down on others just because they don't have money.
They won't fawn over others just because they have money.
As I get older, I meet more and more people.
When we were in elementary school, we played together simply because we got along well.
By the time they reach university, some students have already started making friends in order to achieve certain goals.
No one can stop this change.
Even at work, colleagues who seem to have a good relationship on the surface may secretly report on each other to achieve their own goals.
Or, to put it another way, there are even more outrageous people who appear very friendly on the surface, but secretly set traps to deliberately lure people into their schemes.
Their goal might be to do something and then find someone to take the blame for them.
Guangyou once met someone who dragged his boss down and then rose to power himself, living a very glamorous life.
It is precisely because of that glamorous lifestyle that it attracts people with impure motives.
And those who have been deceived may also become like the other person.
They develop a distorted mentality after being scammed.
"Why can others deceive me, but I can't deceive others?"
Even worse, some people, unable to accept the reality of being deceived, might jump off a building and end their own lives.
Some people, after being scammed, may develop thoughts of harming others.
In short, it means taking revenge on society.
...
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