Your comments, reviews, and votes really help me out so much and they make me super motivated to keep working on this story!
Pat*eon : Belamy20
Naruto: Uchiha Shiroge Rebellion
"Meemaw Connie, what happened? You don't look so good," the attentive Mike asked at the Cooper family dinner table.
Meemaw Connie's face was filled with regret and anger. The last time she looked this bad was after breaking up with Professor John. And as far as Mike knew, Connie had completely moved on from that relationship.
"I, I'm fine..." Meemaw Connie forced a smile, pretending to be calm. But anyone could see from her trembling hand holding the cutlery that she was suppressing her anger.
The Cooper family naturally also noticed that the old lady was different today.
"Alright~" Facing everyone's concerned gazes, Meemaw Connie chose to confess: "It's Collison; he cheated me out of my retirement money. Mike, you were right, Chris is a hateful thief..."
Knowing that Meemaw Connie had won money at the arcade before, Mike had advised her to quit while she was ahead. Meemaw Connie had agreed at the time. But looking at the situation now, she obviously hadn't withstood the "temptation" of winning.
"Mom, I warned you long ago that gambling is bad." Mary interrupted her mother's ramblings and asked worriedly: "How much did you lose this time?"
"Not much, just a little over four thousand." Since the money was already lost, to maintain her remaining dignity, Meemaw Connie reacted and put on a carefree appearance.
"Four thousand dollars! OMG~ Where did you get so much money?" Mary exclaimed.
In an era where the average monthly salary was only two or three thousand, over four thousand dollars was not a small amount, especially for a retired old lady.
"That's my pension I saved up by living frugally this year." Having lost such a large sum of money for nothing, Meemaw Connie couldn't help but feel remorse.
"Collison went too far this time; how about we call the police? I saw long ago that arcade wasn't legitimate..." Seeing her mother suffer such a big loss, Mary immediately joined the ranks of denouncing the arcade.
It must be said that the basement arcade at the intersection was indeed not legitimate; calling the police would definitely give Collison a hard time.
"We can't call the police; I don't want to get arrested." Meemaw Connie retorted. If the police were called to solve this matter, Meemaw Connie, who had been to the arcade, would also be implicated.
"Can you tell us how you lost so much money?" After the topic hit a dead end, Mike asked the question he was concerned about.
Generally speaking, the financing system of small arcades isn't that large, and the payout rate of slot machines would probably be maintained at around forty to fifty percent. While ensuring entertainment, they unknowingly make some money. The emphasis is on a steady stream.
But Meemaw Connie losing over four thousand dollars in such a small arcade in just a few days was obviously abnormal.
"I don't know why I've been so unlucky recently. I clearly won a lot of money before. But starting a few days ago, I just kept losing, kept losing..." Things had gotten this bad, so Meemaw Connie threw caution to the wind and told the whole story of how she lost money.
Now Mike could be sure that Meemaw Connie had indeed encountered a "fishing" scheme.
On the other side, Paige and Young Sheldon, who also had super high IQs, heard the problem.
"Probability!" Paige and Young Sheldon gave the answer simultaneously.
"What?" Meemaw Connie, who had finished recounting her losing experience, didn't react for a moment.
"The problem lies with the gaming machines; the boss definitely tampered with the winning probability." Paige explained briefly.
"It shouldn't be; that arcade has been open for so long..." Meemaw Connie became less confident as she spoke.
It's not Meemaw's fault for not realizing it; for a small arcade to survive, generally, there wouldn't be overly cheating situations. After all, most of the people who go to play are acquaintances, and reputation is very important.
"Is that Mr. Chris planning to sell the arcade?" Mike also made the same judgment as Paige and Sheldon. However, being knowledgeable, he thought more about it.
"That arcade makes quite a bit of money, so he shouldn't be selling it. But I did hear Collison mention that he plans to go to his son's place to enjoy retirement at the end of this year. By the way, I heard his son has a decent job in the big city..." Meemaw Connie gossiped.
Okay, the case is solved. Chris might not have thought about transferring the arcade, but he definitely intended to take a sum of money and leave before the end of the year. It's just that it's only October now, two months before the end of the year; Collison's greed is too ugly.
"The problem should be with the probability; that Mr. Chris is probably already prepared to leave..." Mike voiced his guess.
"I said my luck couldn't be that bad; it turns out Collison was behind it all." Meemaw Connie's angle of concern seemed a bit strange. Then, she asked for help: "Then what should I do?" Suffering a loss in silence is not Meemaw Connie's style.
"How about I go with you this weekend?" Mike suggested. With his IQ, using probability to win money is not difficult. However, he is a person with a bottom line; he absolutely doesn't touch gambling or drugs. Deciding to go to the arcade to gamble this time was mainly to help Meemaw Connie vent her anger.
"I can help too..." Young Sheldon, who had nothing to do, became interested in the arcade after understanding the whole incident.
"And me~" Paige looked at Mike and raised her hand.
Now it was too late for George and Mary to stop them.
"How about this, George? We'll accompany Mom this weekend too..." After thinking, Mary decided to bring her husband along to protect Young Sheldon and the group.
"Great, let's teach Collison a good lesson this time." With the think tank and the bodyguard team, the trouble-loving Meemaw Connie smiled.
Thus, the trip to the intersection arcade this weekend was confirmed.
"Um, can anyone tell me what happened?" Missy, who was listening in confusion, hadn't kept up with everyone's train of thought.
"Haha... It doesn't matter, Missy. You just need to know that this weekend Meemaw will fulfill her promise to buy you ice cream." Looking at her clueless granddaughter, Meemaw Connie laughed happily.
Time flew to the weekend.
As time passed, more and more people were pitted in that arcade at the intersection. It's just that compared to Meemaw Connie, those other people weren't pitted so obviously.
In the dim basement arcade at the intersection, when Meemaw Connie brought a large group of people here, it really startled the boss, Collison. At this time, Mike and his group, who came to seek justice, looked unfriendly.
"Connie, long time no see. Are you preparing to regroup?" Collison, looking greasy with a balding hairstyle, asked guiltily. Meemaw Connie, who frequented the arcade, was considered an acquaintance of Collison. And Collison's previous act of cheating acquaintances was indeed a bit unethical.
"Of course, today I'm going to win back all the money I lost. What, not welcome?" With a large group of people supporting her, Meemaw Connie seemed full of confidence. Meemaw Connie, quite cowboy-style, didn't choose to expose Boss Collison's true face immediately. She firmly believed that grievances on the gambling table should be resolved on the gambling table. This is called an eye for an eye.
"Of course welcome, good luck!" Collison was very confident in his tricks. Seeing that Meemaw Connie didn't come specifically to cause trouble, he immediately showed a professional smile. Moreover, for a place like an arcade, as long as no big prizes are won unexpectedly, the more people who come to play, the better. Anyway, there is a high probability that they are here to give money to the boss.
"What should I do next?" After bidding farewell to Boss Collison, Meemaw Connie whispered for Mike's opinion.
"No rush, let's see the situation first." Mike shook his head, telling Meemaw Connie to stay calm. This group now vaguely had the trend of being led by Mike.
The area of this basement arcade at the intersection is not large, and there are not many playable items, mainly simple games like slot machines, coin pushers, and pachinko. The main feature is simplicity and ease of use, so most of the people who come in to play are elderly people. Seeing Meemaw Connie return, many old people sitting in front of the game machines greeted her.
"What do you think?" Ten minutes later, Mike, who had observed the arcade, turned to look at Paige and Young Sheldon.
"According to my observation, the winning probability of the game machines here has mostly been lowered by the boss to less than 30%..." Young Sheldon, who was sensitive to numbers but not good at games, finally concluded: "I don't recommend gambling here; it's equivalent to throwing money away."
"I have a different view." Paige spoke up immediately: "As far as I know, every game machine has a threshold for winning rate. The boss here cleverly lowered the probability of small prizes, but this practice will definitely increase the probability of big prizes. My suggestion is to bet heavily on the same machine."
"No, hitting the jackpot is not an inevitable event. I still insist that we shouldn't gamble on luck here..." Hearing Paige's speech, Young Sheldon retorted dissatisfiedly. In Young Sheldon's heart, science emphasizes seeking truth from facts.
Meemaw Connie, acting as a mascot on the side, saw the two little geniuses holding different opinions, so she handed the decision-making power to the more reliable Mike.
"My opinion is similar to Paige's, and I already have a favored spot. As long as we bet mindlessly, there is a high probability of hitting the jackpot." Mike made the final decision: "Let's go, let's exchange some game tokens."
"Very good, I've been ready for a long time." Returning to the arcade this time, for Meemaw Connie, was also to wipe out the previous shame. Therefore, she declined Mike's offer to help buy game tokens, and then took out a handful of change from her pocket. A starving camel is bigger than a horse; although Meemaw Connie sounded pitiful last time, her small treasury was far from being exhausted.