"Connie, what's wrong? You don't look so good," the observant Mike asked at the Cooper family dinner table.
Connie's face was filled with regret and anger; the last time she looked so bad was after she broke up with Dr. Sturgis.
And as far as Mike knew, Connie had now completely moved on from that relationship.
"I... I'm fine..." Connie forced a smile and replied, feigning composure.
However, her trembling hands holding the cutlery showed anyone that she was suppressing her anger at that moment.
The Cooper family naturally also noticed that the old woman was different today.
"Alright." Facing everyone's concerned gazes, Connie chose to be frank: "It's Collison, he swindled all my retirement money. Mike, you were right, Collison is a hateful thief..."
Previously, after learning that Connie had won money at the arcade, Mike had advised her to quit while she was ahead.
Connie had agreed at the time.
But looking at the current situation, she obviously hadn't resisted the "temptation" of winning money.
"Mom, I warned you a long time ago that gambling is bad," Mary interrupted her mother's rambling 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 only bit of dignity, Connie, who had come to her senses, immediately put on a nonchalant air.
"Four thousand dollars! My goodness! Where did you get so much money?" Mary exclaimed.
In an era when the average monthly salary was only two to three thousand, over four thousand dollars was no small sum, especially for a retired old woman.
"That was my retirement fund saved by being frugal this year." Losing such a large sum of money for nothing, Connie still couldn't help but feel regret.
"Collison went too far this time, why don't we call the police? I've long suspected that arcade isn't legitimate..." Seeing her mother suffer such a great loss, Mary immediately joined the ranks of those denouncing the arcade.
And indeed, the basement arcade at the street entrance was indeed illegitimate; calling the police would definitely give Collison a hard time.
"We can't call the police, I don't want to get arrested," Connie retorted.
If the police were called to resolve the matter, Connie, who had visited the arcade, would also be implicated.
"Can you tell me how you lost so much money?" After the conversation hit a dead end, Mike asked the question he was concerned about.
Generally speaking, the financing system of small arcades wouldn't be that large, and the payout rate of the dragon-tiger machine's gambling would probably remain around forty to fifty percent.
While ensuring entertainment, they would unknowingly earn some money.
The emphasis was on a steady stream.
Yet, Connie lost over four thousand dollars in just a few days at such a small arcade, which was clearly abnormal.
"I don't know why I've been so unlucky lately; I clearly won a lot of money before. But from a few days ago, I've been losing and losing..." The situation had become so bad that Connie threw caution to the wind and recounted the entire process of her losses.
At this point, Mike could confirm that Connie had indeed encountered a "fishing" scam.
On the other side, Paige and Sheldon, who also had super high IQs, also figured out the problem.
"Probability!"
Paige and Sheldon gave the answer simultaneously.
"What?" Connie, who had just finished recounting her losing experience, hadn't reacted yet.
"The problem is with the game machine; the boss must have tampered with the winning probability," Paige explained briefly.
"That shouldn't be, that arcade has been open for so long..." Connie's voice grew less confident as she spoke.
I don't blame Meemaw for not realizing it; for a small arcade to survive, there generally isn't too much scamming involved.
After all, most of the people who go there are regulars, and reputation is very important.
"Is Mr. Collison planning to sell the arcade?" Mike made the same judgment as Paige and her.
However, being more experienced, he thought more deeply.
"That arcade is quite profitable, so it probably won't be sold, but I did hear Collison mention that he plans to go live with his son at the end of this year to enjoy his golden years. Oh, and I heard his son has a respectable job in a big city..." Connie gossiped.
Alright, the case is solved now.
Collison might not have intended to transfer the arcade, but he definitely planned to make a quick buck and leave before the end of the year.
It's only October now, and there are still two months until the end of the year, so Collison's greed is too obvious.
"The problem should be with the probabilities; Mr. Collison has probably already prepared to leave..." Mike expressed his speculation.
"I knew my luck wouldn't be that bad; turns out Collison was behind it all." Connie's perspective on the problem seemed a bit strange. Then, she asked for help, "So what should I do?"
Suffering a big loss in silence was not Connie's style.
"How about I go with you this weekend?" Mike suggested.
With his intelligence, it wouldn't be difficult to win money using probability theory. However, he was a person with principles and would never touch gambling or drugs.
His decision to go to the arcade this time was mainly to help Connie get some revenge.
"I can help too..." Sheldon, who was idle, developed some interest in the arcade after understanding the whole situation.
"And me!" Paige looked at Mike and raised her hand, indicating.
At this point, George and his wife wanted to stop them, but it was too late.
"How about this, George. We'll also go with Mom this weekend..." After some thought, Mary decided to bring her husband along to protect Sheldon and the others.
"Great, this time we'll teach Collison a good lesson." With the think tank and bodyguard team in place, the trouble-loving Connie immediately smiled.
Thus, the plan to go to the street entrance arcade this weekend was confirmed.
"Um, can someone tell me what happened?" Missy, who had been listening in a fog, hadn't caught up with everyone's thought process.
"Haha... It's okay, Missy. You just need to know that Meemaw will fulfill her promise to buy you ice cream this weekend." Looking at her innocent little granddaughter, Connie laughed happily.
Time flew by, and it was the weekend.
As time passed, more and more people were getting scammed at the street entrance arcade.
However, compared to Connie, the scamming of those other people was not as obvious.
In the dim basement arcade at the street entrance, when Connie arrived with a large group of people, the boss, Collison, was truly startled.
At this moment, Mike and his group, who had come to seek justice, looked like trouble.
"Connie, long time no see, are you planning to make a comeback?" Collison, with an oily appearance and a strong man's haircut, asked nervously.
Connie, who frequently visited the arcade, could be considered an acquaintance of Collison.
And Collison's previous act of scamming a familiar customer was indeed a bit unethical.
"Of course, today I'm going to win back all the money I lost. What, am I not welcome?" Connie, backed by a large group of people, seemed full of confidence.
Connie, with her cowboy demeanor, did not choose to immediately expose Collison's true colors.
She firmly believed that grudges from the gambling table should be settled at the gambling table.
This was called an eye for an eye.
"Of course you're welcome, good luck!" Collison was very confident in his little tricks, and seeing that Connie wasn't specifically there to cause trouble, he immediately showed a professional smile.
Moreover, in a place like an arcade, as long as there isn't an unexpected big jackpot, the more people who come to play, the better.
Anyway, most of them are there to give money to the boss.
"Next, what should I do?" After saying goodbye to Collison, Connie quietly sought Mike's opinion.
"No rush, let's see the situation first," Mike shook his head, telling Connie to be patient.
This group of people was now subtly tending to follow Mike's lead.
The underground arcade at the street entrance wasn't very big, and there weren't many games to play, mainly simple ones like slot machines, coin pushers, and pachinko.
The main selling point was simplicity and ease of use, so most of the people who came to play were elderly.
At this moment, seeing Connie return, many elderly people sitting in front of the game machines greeted her.
"What are your thoughts?" Ten minutes later, Mike, who had observed the arcade, turned to Paige and Sheldon.
"From my observation, the winning probability of most of the game machines here has been adjusted down by the boss to less than thirty percent..." 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 opinion," Paige immediately stated. "As far as I know, every game machine has a winning rate threshold. The boss here cleverly lowered the probability of small prizes, but this approach will definitely increase the probability of big prizes. My suggestion is to place heavy bets on the same machine."
"No, a big prize is not a certainty. I still insist that we shouldn't gamble on luck here..." Upon hearing little Paige's statement, Sheldon expressed his dissatisfaction and retorted.
In Sheldon's mind, science was about being realistic.
Connie, acting as a mascot on the side, saw that the two young geniuses had different opinions, so she handed the decision-making power to the more reliable Mike.
"My opinion is similar to Paige's, and I've already picked a good spot. As long as we bet mindlessly, there's a very high chance of a big prize," Mike declared decisively. "Let's go, let's exchange some game tokens."
"Very good, I've already prepared," This time, returning to the arcade was also a way for Connie to redeem herself.
Therefore, she declined Mike's offer to help buy game tokens and then pulled out a large handful of change from her person.
A lean camel is still bigger than a horse; although Connie sounded pathetic last time, her personal stash was far from depleted.