Guns and Coffee in the World of Science

In the early morning, sunlight streamed into Mao Lilan's room. She stood before the mirror, meticulously combing her long black hair. Today, she looked different than usual. Not only had she changed into a black dress, she had even put on light makeup. All of this seemed a bit novel to her.

Mao Lilan looked at herself in the mirror, a subtle hint of nervousness and anticipation on her face. She pursed her lips and sighed softly. Today was an important day for her.

She left the room as quietly as possible, silently praying not to disturb anyone, especially the seemingly childish Conan, who was actually her childhood sweetheart. However, fate always played tricks on her, and just as she gently closed the door, Conan's voice suddenly came from behind her.

"Ran, you've dressed up so well today. Are you going to meet someone?" Conan's voice was filled with curiosity, but there was a glint of inquiry in his eyes. As Kudo Shinichi, he had a keen eye for observation and could tell at a glance that Ran Mouri seemed unusual today.

Mao Lilan paused, then smiled faintly, trying to hide her inner fluctuations: "Nothing, I just have an important date."

"A date?" Conan frowned slightly, feeling confused and uneasy. Who was this date? Although he pretended to be indifferent, an inexplicable jealousy had already quietly surged in his heart. He had always had special feelings for Mao Lilan, although he would not admit it.

"Huh, it must be that guy Chen Shuo!" Conan couldn't help but mutter in his heart. Ever since Chen Shuo appeared in their lives, Mao Lilan and him seemed to be getting closer and closer. Although Mao Lilan never expressed anything clearly, he always felt that Chen Shuo's existence made him feel a sense of crisis.

"Whose date is it?" Conan asked casually, but in his heart he was nervously waiting for Ran Mouri's response.

Mao Lilan smiled and patted Conan's head gently: "Don't think too much, it's my own business." After that, she turned and left in a hurry, without giving Conan a chance to ask any more questions.

Conan watched Ran Maoli's back as she left, his suspicions growing. With that outfit, that expression, and the word "date," he was almost certain she was going to see Chen Shuo. That guy always seemed indifferent to everything, especially solving crimes; he had no interest in anything, yet he seemed to get along well with Ran Maoli.

"I can't just let her go!" Conan thought to himself, he must follow her to see who Mao Lilan was going to meet. He quickly ran downstairs and came to the "Quiet Coffee Shop" to confirm Chen Shuo's whereabouts. As expected, there was no sign of Chen Shuo in the coffee shop, only Amuro Toru was busy.

"Mr. Amuro, where is Chen Shuo?" Conan asked anxiously, his heart beating fast, fearing that he had missed some important clues.

Amuro Toru looked up at him and replied casually: "Oh, the boss went out early in the morning. He must be dealing with personal matters." His tone was relaxed, as if he didn't care where Chen Shuo was going.

"He went out?" Conan's heart tightened. Sure enough, Chen Shuo must have gone to see Xiaolan! The two must be having a secret date somewhere. Thinking of this, his mood became more complicated, with both jealousy and resentment.

"This is not right, I have to follow her and see." Conan thought as he ran back quickly, secretly following Mao Lilan. Although he was smaller in size, his intuition and tailing skills were not weakened at all. He carefully hid on the side of the road, staring at Mao Lilan intently, afraid of missing any details.

Mao Lilan walked briskly with a faint smile on her face, and seemed to be in a good mood. Conan was watching from behind and said, "Huh, you look so happy, you must be going to see Chen Shuo."

---

Conan quietly followed Mao Lilan, his heart full of doubts and uneasiness. When he saw Mao Lilan walk into an unfamiliar cafe, his brows furrowed slightly, and the alarm bells in his heart rang even louder.

"Strange, why did Mao Lilan come here? Chen Shuo's 'Calm Café' is right downstairs from her house, so why did she come all the way here?" Conan muttered to himself, his suspicions reaching a peak. She must be secretly meeting with Chen Shuo! The thought of this made Conan's emotions so complicated that he almost exploded. Jealousy and resentment were mixed in, but he was stubborn and refused to admit that he cared.

The cafe looked ordinary, even a little shabby, and was a far cry from Chen Shuo's "Jing Xin". Conan felt even more uncomfortable: "This shop is obviously not as good as 'Jing Xin'. Why did Xiaolan choose this place? Surely she wanted to hide from the public with Chen Shuo!"

He gritted his teeth and decided not to hide anymore. He followed her directly and appeared in front of Mao Lilan with an "innocent" face. "Xiaolan, what are you doing?" His tone was pretending to be relaxed, but with obvious curiosity.

Mao Lilan was stunned. She didn't expect Conan to follow her. Her brows knitted slightly, and a hint of helplessness flashed in her eyes. "Conan, why are you here?" Mao Lilan asked with some displeasure. She had thought she could come to this place quietly without being discovered, but she was caught by the detective.

"I... I just happened to pass by." Conan explained stubbornly, but his eyes were looking around restlessly, trying to find clues about who Mouri Ran was dating.

Mao Lilan sighed helplessly, crossed her arms, and seemed to be suppressing the dissatisfaction in her heart. "Conan, this is none of your business." Her tone was a little serious. After all, she knew how curious Conan was. This time she was only here to deal with some personal matters, and there was really no need for him to get involved. "You can go back and don't follow me."

Conan's heart tightened when he heard this, and he felt more and more that something fishy was going on: "It's none of my business? You even dressed up specially, are you going to meet Chen Shuo? Or is there something else you don't want me to know?"

"Conan!" Mao Lilan was a little angry. She was so suspicious of Kudo Shinichi's shrinking appearance that she felt a little embarrassed. "I have something to do. It has nothing to do with Chen Shuo. Don't make random guesses." She patted Conan's head gently. "It's not good for you to follow others like this. Go back."

Conan was still unwilling to give in, his brows furrowed: "But..."

Mao Lilan knew that if she didn't send him away quickly, Conan would probably keep pestering her, so she had an idea: "Forget it, I want to buy some cakes. Don't you like sweets? I'll go buy some cakes, you go back quickly, otherwise I won't buy anything for you later."

Conan licked his lips subconsciously when he heard the word "cake," but then realized that this was just Ran trying to change the subject. He snorted reluctantly, "Hmph, forget it, I'll go back by myself." After saying that, he turned and left, but he secretly made up his mind to find a way to find out the truth about this "date."

Mao Lilan looked at Conan's back and couldn't help but smile helplessly. Then she breathed a sigh of relief and hurried out of the cafe to buy a cake. As for Conan, let him go back obediently.

---

Conan looked at Mao Lilan's figure walking away, the corners of his mouth raised slightly, and a cunning light flashed in his eyes: "Want to get rid of me? It's not that easy."

He quickly turned around and quietly slipped back into the cafe, finding a seat in a corner. His eyes occasionally glanced towards the entrance, carefully observing every customer who came in. He didn't believe that Mao Lilan had put on makeup and dressed so beautifully today just to buy a cake. She had obviously scanned everyone in the cafe just now, but there was no response, which meant that the person she was waiting for had not arrived yet. In this case, Conan only needed to stay here and wait for the next customers.

Time passed little by little, the atmosphere in the cafe remained quiet, and occasionally a customer came in, and Conan did not miss any details.

The first person to come in was a woman wearing large sunglasses. She was dressed very fashionably, but her temper was not very good. As soon as she entered the door, she started yelling at the waiter and kept looking down at her watch, appearing very impatient. Conan narrowed his eyes and immediately ruled her out: "Looking at her like this, Xiaolan would never have a date with such a person."

The next person to come in was a young man with an unshaven beard, dressed in tattered clothes, holding a pile of books. After a brief conversation with the waiter, he said he was there to write a paper. Conan looked at the messy pile of books and twitched his mouth. "This guy doesn't look like he has any idea at all. The quality is so poor, Xiaolan would not be interested in such a guy."

Just when Conan was about to lose his patience, the third person who came in completely stunned him - Kisaki Eri! She appeared at the door of the cafe in a smart business suit with a strong aura, her eyes swept around, obviously looking for someone.

"What? It's actually Ran's mother?" Conan's heart skipped a beat as he suddenly realized what was going on. Ran's so-called 'date' today was actually with Eri Kisaki. They were having a date, and it wasn't the secret meeting he'd been worried about. Conan heaved a sigh of relief at the thought.

Kisaki Eri walked to the counter, spoke briefly with the waiter, and then chose a seat by the window. Her expression was calm and composed, without any trace of nervousness.

"I can rest assured now." Conan waited for a while, and two more people came in one after another. However, they didn't look like people Xiaolan would like, so he quietly stood up and prepared to sneak away. However, just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard a calm voice: "Conan? Why are you here?"

Conan stiffened and slowly turned around. It was indeed Kisaki Eri who had spotted him. Although she didn't often stay at the detective agency, she was already familiar with Conan, her boarder. She raised her eyebrows slightly, a hint of doubt in her eyes.

"Uh, Aunt Eri!" Conan immediately showed his signature smile and waved his hand casually, "I was just passing by and saw a cafe here, so I came in to sit down."

"Really?" Kisaki Eri smiled slightly, her eyes revealing a hint of insight. "You like coming to the cafe so much. This is the first time I've heard of it. Chen Shuo's cafe is right downstairs from the detective agency, and I haven't seen you like it there."

Conan felt a tightness in his heart, thinking that he might have let something slip, but on the surface he still pretended to be calm: "Yeah, it's nice to change places occasionally and try the cakes here." He changed the subject, hoping that Kisaki Eri would not ask any more questions.

Kisaki Eri looked at him, the corners of her lips slightly raised, as if she didn't take Conan's explanation too seriously. She nodded, but didn't ask any further questions: "In that case, then please don't disturb others."

Conan nodded hurriedly and said goodbye quickly: "Of course not, Aunt Eri, I'm leaving now!"

When Conan was about to leave, he heard a scream, breaking the silence of the cafe. He stopped in his tracks and looked in the direction of the sound. Sure enough, another case had occurred.