Chapter 449

"Dad, I can't just go up and ask those young ladies directly why they came to Teitan, can I?"

Hearing his daughter's complaint, Mao Li Kogoro also gave a slight nod.

"That wouldn't be appropriate."

The decisions those young ladies made were never something they needed to consider; moreover, transferring schools was entirely a matter of personal will — surely no one could have forced them, right? Who could force a group of young ladies to transfer schools?

It really was inappropriate, and yet also genuinely unreasonable.

Edogawa Conan also understood it was highly inappropriate, but where was the logic or reason behind such behavior? Without that many clues, he couldn't just speculate at will.

"Right."

While speaking, Mao Li Lan also gathered up the lunch boxes.

"Although I don't know the specific reason, the atmosphere within the club is still pretty good. Every weekend we go outdoors for club activities, and sometimes we also set out on free afternoons."

"Free afternoons…"

Mao Li Kogoro could not, under any circumstances, believe that a normal student's afternoon time was free.

"Taking leave this often — won't the school have objections?"

"Of course not. Not only does Kaguya Sigong invest in the school, her grades are also excellent."

"At Shuchiin, Kaguya Sigong's grades have always been in second place. The others aren't much worse either — Sonoko and I can keep up just fine. The only one who's bad at studying is Ren-Ren."

"Ren-Ren?"

It sounded a bit feminine, but no matter how Mao Li Kogoro thought, he couldn't figure out who this Ren-Ren was.

Seeing her dad unable to recall, Mao Li Lan gave him a hint.

"On Tsukikage Island, the boy who walked together with me and Sonoko. His name is Ren Amamiya. Because Sonoko and I have known him for a long time, last time Sonoko said calling him that was too distant, so we changed how we addressed him. Also, Ren-Ren has actually already started dating Sonoko."

"Oh!"

At first Mao Li Kogoro had thought it was his own daughter who had turned that way — he hadn't expected it was the other party who was dating Sonoko.

"No wonder he's the only boy in your circle."

I knew it… Edogawa Conan couldn't help but sigh in relief inwardly. From the very start he had guessed whether some young lady was dating a boy, and the first person he thought of was Sonoko — he hadn't expected to actually guess right.

He hadn't expected that loudmouth Sonoko to actually have someone who liked her — that wasn't easy.

A bit careless in personality, with a touch of that silly fangirl streak at her core — these traits were all part of Sonoko, and just these alone were enough to put off plenty of boys.

And once one knew Sonoko's family background, the odds were high that they simply couldn't resist the lure of money — in the end, what they liked wasn't Sonoko herself, but the Sonoko family's wealth.

This wasn't him thinking too extremely; it was because he had seen such situations before, which was why he could more rationally detect that this possibility was very high.

On top of that, as far as he knew, in the future the Suzuki zaibatsu would most likely be inherited by Sonoko. Put that way, Sonoko's other half would also have to inherit this behemoth, the Suzuki zaibatsu — naturally this directly affected Sonoko's choice of her future other half.

Perhaps in the end, the odds of Sonoko's future other half being designated for her were very high.

He didn't know if it was as he imagined. If it was, then Sonoko was in for a rough time — the final outcome was destined to be a breakup.

Anyway, as far as the current outcome went, Edogawa Conan wasn't very optimistic about that boy called Ren Amamiya.

"Alright then, Dad, Edogawa, I'll head back first."

After packing up the lunch boxes, Mao Li Lan was already ready to leave. The purpose of this visit had been achieved, and along the way she'd also improved her dad's meals.

In the future, when afternoons were free, she could prepare dinner for her dad too, so he wouldn't spend all day and night eating nothing but instant noodles.

Mao Li Kogoro glanced at the sky outside, then cautioned her.

"Ran, don't stay outside too long at night."

"Don't worry, Dad."

Mao Li Lan smiled, then raised her hand briefly, and walked out of the office carrying a bag with two lunch boxes inside.

Walking down the stairs, Mao Li Lan could feel a pair of eyes watching her from behind — from the direction of the office's second-floor window. Although she sensed it, she paid it no heed at all, and without pausing continued walking toward Station 137.

The person poking his head out of the office's second-floor window was naturally Edogawa Conan.

"Kid, what's up? Could it be that you've fallen for my daughter?"

Mao Li Kogoro, sitting on the sofa lighting a cigarette, teased with a smile.

"Ran-neesan… seems to really not like me."

"Well~ that girl isn't actually hostile to kids. She just can't accept that your face looks too much like that brat's. If your face didn't look so much like that stinking brat's, Ran wouldn't be reacting to you so strongly."

Mao Li Kogoro also knew this matter was still quite a blow to a child — a child's fragile, sensitive heart was still easily affected. Even if this kid's mind was very sharp, even sharper than that brat Kudou Shinichi's, he was still just a child in the end.

"One month apparently still isn't quite enough, but judging from Ran's attitude toward you today, she should be getting past it."

"Your brother's matter affected her quite deeply. But the dead are dead, and the living still have to go on living — it's already good enough that Ran can accept the current situation."

"Kid, don't hold it against Ran for being so cold to you."

"Mm."

Listening to Uncle Mao Li's words, Edogawa Conan could only swallow the ache in his heart and agree.

PS: New book on the shelves, please send data.