vncnus Chapter 45: He just finished dealing with one old flame, and now he's ready to meet another?
Chapter 45: He just finished dealing with one old flame, and now he's ready to meet another?
"Hey! I just happened to see it, I didn't go to see it on purpose!" Shinichi Kudo hurriedly waved his hands in defense.
"How could it be such a coincidence that I could see it so clearly?"
Lin Xiuyi seized the opportunity to come over and deliberately undermine him in front of Xiao Lan.
"I bet you were staring at Miss Xiaotong's thighs the whole time, that's why you could see the calluses so clearly, right?"
"Uncle, don't talk nonsense! I didn't, I didn't!"
Shinichi Kudo panicked even more, waving his hands frantically, his face turning bright red, and he was so flustered that he was incoherent.
"I just happened to observe it while reasoning; it really wasn't intentional!"
Seeing Shinichi Kudo's embarrassed look, Ran couldn't help but burst out laughing, and her previous anger dissipated by more than half.
The three children laughed along, chattering and teasing Shinichi Kudo.
The atmosphere instantly became relaxed and pleasant, as if the earlier commotion had never happened.
Looking at the lively scene before him, Lin Xiuyi smiled gently and reached out to ruffle Xiaolan's hair. "Alright, stop teasing him. Let's go ride the roller coaster, or the line will get even longer."
"Yay!"
The three children cheered immediately and pulled Xiaolan along, running towards the entrance of the roller coaster.
Shinichi Kudo breathed a sigh of relief and quickly followed, muttering to himself, "That awful old man, he deliberately framed me..."
……
Because of Xiaotong and the others' delay, the roller coaster had already rumbled off several times already.
When Lin Xiuyi led Xiaolan into the platform, followed by the chattering trio of the Junior Detective Club, Gin's iconic black trench coat was nowhere to be seen, and even Vodka's burly figure had vanished without a trace.
He glanced discreetly at Shinichi Kudo, who was standing on tiptoe, peering into the queue.
This kid should be considered to have escaped a disaster, right?
Lin Xiuyi pondered to himself that he did not want Kudo Shinichi to become a shrunken version of Edogawa Conan.
It's not that I'm afraid this kid will get in the way, but with Shinichi Kudo's intelligence, once he becomes a child, he'll probably figure out Ran's abnormality in no time.
In that case, Xiaolan might also be dragged into danger by him.
As for Xiaolan shrinking, Lin Xiuyi has no plans to take any rash action for the time being.
He planned to wait for Vermouth to arrive in Japan, ask her about the whole story, and then decide what to do next.
……
The roaring roller coaster finally slowly drove into the finish line. When Lin Xiuyi and the children got off, the sunset on the horizon had already been swallowed by the twilight.
The streetlights in the tropical park lit up one by one, casting a warm yellow glow on the figures of passersby, while the music from the distant carousel still drifted intermittently over.
Under the streetlights at the park entrance, Judy was leaning against her car playing on her phone, her smart trench coat accentuating her upright posture.
Seeing Lin Xiuyi come out with a group of children, she put away her phone and quickly went to greet them.
Lin Xiuyi originally only planned to take Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta, those three unruly kids, home, but who knew that Shinichi Kudo would stick to him like a piece of chewing gum, grinning and coming over.
"Uncle, could you give me a ride? My house is near the Mouri Detective Agency, not far!"
Lin Xiuyi glanced at him sideways, her gaze sweeping over Xiao Lan, who was staring longingly at them from a distance, before finally managing a helpless twitch at the corner of her mouth.
For Xiaolan's sake, he couldn't very well just kick the kid out, so he reluctantly agreed, "Get in the car."
……
After dropping off the Detective Boys and Shinichi Kudo at their homes, Jodie drove towards Eri Kisaki's apartment.
The car stopped downstairs at the apartment building. Xiaolan said goodnight to Judy and got out of the car.
Just as Lin Xiuyi was about to follow, her cell phone suddenly rang in her pocket.
He took it out and saw that the screen displayed an unfamiliar phone number.
"Hello, who is this?" Lin Xiuyi pressed the answer button.
A woman's voice came from the other end of the phone, tinged with a hint of mockery: "Long time no see, Shuichi."
"Who are you?" Lin Xiuyi's heart skipped a beat.
The voice... the familiarity in its tone and the faint hint of laughter made him feel vaguely that it was familiar.
"hehe,"
The woman chuckled softly twice, the laughter coming through the receiver carrying a hint of nostalgia, and a complex, indescribable emotion.
"Can't you recognize my voice anymore? It was thanks to you back then that I was able to pull myself together again."
"Even though more than a decade has passed, you... have you really forgotten that month between us...?"
A month?
To get back on track?
These two words exploded in Lin Xiuyi's mind like a thunderclap. He gripped his phone tightly and almost blurted out,
"Are you Tomoko?"
The woman on the other end of the phone laughed, but her tone carried a hint of self-deprecation.
"Should I be happy that you still remember me after all these years?"
Lin Xiuyi didn't reply, but just silently held her phone.
Tomoko Suzuki stopped beating around the bush and her tone suddenly became serious.
"Tomorrow is the weekend, I have time, and I'd like to see you?"
"...I will go."
Lin Xiuyi thought for a few seconds and then immediately agreed.
When Suzuki Tomoko suddenly contacted him at this time, it was obvious even to a fool that it was probably about Sonoko, so how could he possibly refuse?
The two agreed on a time and place over the phone. As soon as Lin Xiuyi hung up, she looked up and met Judy's teasing eyes.
"Boss, you just finished dealing with one old flame, and you're already getting ready to meet another?"
"I think I only called out 'Tomoko' on the phone just now?"
Lin Xiuyi did not answer her question, but simply raised an eyebrow and asked a question in a flat tone.
Judy's smile froze instantly, and her heart skipped a beat.
Only then did she belatedly realize that her gossipy nature had gotten the better of her and she had accidentally let something slip!
Sonoko Suzuki's mother is Tomoko Suzuki, a fact she discovered through private investigation. Hideichi Hayashi never mentioned this to her.
"...Sorry, boss, I just..." Judy hurriedly tried to explain.
But Lin Xiuyi ignored her and simply pushed open the car door and got out.
Just before closing the door, he glanced back at Judy, his tone unreadable: "You heard the time we agreed on. Come pick me up half an hour early tomorrow."
After saying that, he turned around and strode into the apartment building.
Judy stood by the car, watching his departing figure, her heart pounding with anxiety.
Investigating your boss's privacy behind closed doors is clearly not something a qualified secretary should do.
But Lin Xiuyi had only given a vague reminder and hadn't said anything more.
Has he already discovered his true identity?
Or is it simply a matter of dissatisfaction with his secretary's overstepping of boundaries?