Model worker and his little darling

Chapter 446 Another Day of Eating Dog Food

Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture.

"Caviar, foie gras...it's mouthwatering."

Seeing the table full of delicious food, Uncle Mori quickly grabbed a plate.

Seeing this, Professor Agasa swallowed hard and was about to pick up some food when he was interrupted by Ai Haibara.

"Doctor, I think you should know..."

Dr. Agasa chuckled awkwardly, "You should eat low-calorie foods."

Just then, Officer Shiratori walked over with two plates of food. "Officer Sato, this time I've prepared something special for you since you're not used to French cuisine. Please enjoy."

Sato smiled as he took the food from Shiratori's hand. "Thank you, it looks delicious."

Inspector Megure pulled out a bottle of champagne. "Here you go, Mori, buddy."

"Thank you for your help, officer."

Seeing this, Eri stopped Uncle Mori, "Wait a minute, you've got the wrong glass. This is the kind of glass you use to drink champagne." As she spoke, she replaced Uncle Mori's glass with a smaller one.

Uncle Mori was a little annoyed. "Don't nitpick. You can't really enjoy your drink with a cup like this."

"Because it's for drinking, this kind of glass is just right."

Meanwhile, Conan and his friends were chatting on the balcony.

Pingqing sipped her juice, admiring the red maple leaves—another day of being fed dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection).

"Officer Shiratori, where is that bottle of wine?"

Hearing Sonoko's words, Shiratori also remembered the true purpose of today's party: to celebrate the completion of the new villa and to enjoy Château Latour wines at the party.

"Then, I'll take you all to see it."

Upon hearing this, Pingqing blinked; none of the wine cellars he had visited had ended well.

A group of people followed Officer Shiratori to his family's underground wine cellar.

Wearing gloves, Shiratori introduced his specially treasured wines to the crowd: "This is a 79 Chateau Margaux, a 85 Chateau Lafite, and a 92 Le Pin."

"Then, this is the star of today's show, a 61 Chateau Latour."

As the white bird explained, exclamations of admiration rang out.

Looking at the overflowing wine cellar, Pingqing felt a little itchy and wanted to return to his old profession—selling wine.

After admiring the wine cellar collection, everyone returned to the hall for free time.

After seeing Shiratori's collection, Takagi sighed; he was no match for it at all.

Sato happened to hear the sigh and patted Takagi on the shoulder, "Takagi, what's wrong?"

Takagi scratched his head. "Officer Shiratori is amazing."

"The Shiratori family is the real threat, not Officer Shiratori himself. Men shouldn't bother with such things."

Takagi felt bitter inside; it was only because he was a man that he would be so calculating.

"Officer Takagi, you need to have confidence."

Takagi turned around and saw Hirakiyo encouraging him. "Hirakiyo, did you hear everything?"

Ping Qing shrugged. Takagi's love life was indeed heartbreaking. Luckily, she was tough, otherwise she wouldn't have made it this far.

"Heiji, would you like to go for a walk around here?"

"But I'm not familiar with this area."

Hearing this, Xiaolan smiled and said, "Then I'll lead the way, let's all go together."

Sonoko waved her hand, "I have something to do, so I won't be joining you."

"Where is Pingqing?"

"You guys go ahead, I don't want to move." He had no interest in being a third wheel.

And so, only two couples went out for a walk together.

Pingqing stared at the blue sky and white clouds, feeling so bored. He thought to himself, "I wish I hadn't come. I would have preferred to stay home and sleep."

Hearing Haibara approach, Taira Kiyoshi raised an eyebrow.

"what happened?"

Haibara was silent for a moment before softly asking, "When can I see my sister?"

Hmm... he forgot about it.

"How about I send your sister to Teitan Elementary School so she can go to school with you?"

Haibara's eyes lit up, but quickly dimmed; she knew it was impossible.

Ping Qing gently tapped the table. "Amusement park, zoo, shopping mall, movie theater...where would you like to meet?"

"It will be all right."

As long as I can see my sister, that's enough.

"Okay, I'll pick you up then."

Haibara was visibly pleased to receive Taira's reply.

……

The four walked along the path. Conan felt a little sad. The last time he came here was with his parents and Ran. Now…

"The scenery here is really beautiful."

"Yes, this path is called Whispering Path."

Hearing this, Kazuha looked at Hattori beside her and said, "Heiji, why don't you say something too?"

Hattori gave a strange laugh. "Alright, come closer."

Kazuha blushed instantly, but still leaned her ear closer.

Hattori leaned close to Kazuha's ear and whispered, "You're a..." Then he suddenly raised his voice, "You big idiot!"

Kazuha rolled her eyes at Hattori, then took Ran's arm and walked ahead. They arrived at the former Karuizawa church, where a couple was holding a wedding ceremony.

"so beautiful!"

Seeing Ran's cheeks slightly flushed, Kazuha teased, "Ran-chan, you were just secretly fantasizing about your wedding with Kudo, weren't you?"

"What are you talking about? I didn't say anything." She said, glancing furtively at Conan, who was muttering something to Hattori.

"Really? Your face is like that of a girl in a dream."

Ran snorted and nudged Kazuha with her elbow. "So, Kazuha is the one who should be here, isn't she?"

"What? We don't have that."

The two joked with each other for a while and then continued their sightseeing.

Arriving at Cloud Pond, looking at the shimmering lake, Ran recalled the scene of her and Shinichi riding their bicycles past this place in the past.

Hattori glanced around casually and noticed that the original Shinichi Kudo was squatting at Ran's feet.

Kudo?

He rubbed his eyes in disbelief and found it was still Conan, that little devil.

Seeing Ran and Conan walking ahead, Hattori stopped Kazuha, who was about to follow, and said, "Let's go back."

And so, Kazuha followed Hattori, completely bewildered.

Ran and Conan walked quietly along the path, neither of them speaking.

……

"Sorry to keep you waiting, today's main course is about to begin."

Upon hearing this, the three members of the Junior Detective Team quickly surrounded Shiratori.

Looking at the delicious food that Shiratori had carefully prepared, everyone couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow, it looks so delicious!"

Did you make this too?

Shiratori nodded, "Yes, cooking is one of my hobbies."

Eri Kisaki smiled and said, "That's amazing, he's the best candidate for son-in-law."

Shiratori modestly declined for a moment, then went to the underground wine cellar.

A moment later, Shiratori rushed into the hall, shouting, "Oh no! My Chateau Latour has been smashed!"

"During the hour between our visit to the wine cellar and Shiratori's second entry into the cellar, did anyone go to the wine cellar?"

Upon hearing this, the three members of the detective team raised their hands.

“We explored the villa and went to the wine cellar, but we didn’t touch that bottle.”

Watching Takagi and Shiratori argue, Taira Kiyoshi glanced at Hattori, who was silent beside him, and asked, "What's wrong? You're completely different from usual."

Hattori shook his head and went to the side to whisper with Conan.

Looking at Hattori's unusual behavior, a guess popped into his mind: Could it be that he broke that bottle of wine?

After wandering around the villa for a while, the two returned to the living room and announced that they had solved the case.

"Huh? Do you know who broke the bottle?"

Hattori nodded. "Yes, actually the culprit was a mountain squirrel that sneaked into the villa."

"The squirrel entered the villa through a second-floor window and went to the wine cellar, where it joined Mitsuhiko and the others who were exploring the villa. Then, it was startled by its uncle and crawled into a hole in a specially made wine rack. The drunk uncle went into the wine cellar, took out Château Latour to examine it, and put it back in the hole where the squirrel was. After the uncle left, the squirrel pulled the bottle out and broke it."

After saying that, Conan pulled a small mountain squirrel out of his pocket.

"This is the evidence. I found it in the wine cellar. It's already in a semi-hibernation state."

Ran glared at Uncle Mori, "This is your fault, Dad, you have to pay for it."

"I don't think it's necessary, because that bottle of wine is a fake."

Upon hearing the word "counterfeit," even the heartbroken white bird was shocked. "Counterfeit?"

Hattori took the real Château Latour out of the paper bag. "The real thing is here."

Shiratori stepped forward, took the bottle, and saw that it was indeed his wine.

Everyone is confused. The genuine product is here, so what's the deal with the fake?

Conan looked at Sonoko, who had been watching the whole thing, and said, "Sonoko-neechan, you don't need to pretend anymore."

"I've been found out. We had the same wine at a party at home a while ago, so I had a bright idea and brought over a cheaper Latour with a different label. Sorry, I scared you."

"Thanks to the garden, the wine was safe."

The matter was resolved perfectly, and everyone enjoyed their dinner to the fullest.

Only Uncle Mori, who was forbidden from drinking by Eri Kisaki, sat sullenly to the side.

Finding Hattori missing, Taira and Conan found him sitting on the floor in the corner of the balcony, gazing sadly at the sky.

"Hattori, why are you rolling up your socks? You're not a girl."

Hattori immediately pulled his leg back. "Hehe...this is very popular in Osaka."

Hirai clicked his tongue. "Hattori, you weren't the one who broke the sake, were you?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Seeing Hattori's flustered state, Taira Kiyoshi understood; he hadn't expected it to really be that dark-skinned guy who did it.

"Your rolled-up socks have wine stains from the broken bottle, right? That's solid evidence."

Hattori sighed, "As expected, you guys figured it out. When I went to the wine cellar, I found that the wine seemed to be in the wrong place. Just as I took the bottle out, the squirrel jumped out, and I smashed the wine on the ground."

Hattori slapped himself, "How embarrassing! This is the biggest failure of my life, Hattori Heiji. I wanted to admit it immediately, but..."

Conan gave a half-moon-shaped look and said, "You found Aunt Fei, but she said she wanted to take this opportunity to control her uncle's drinking habit and asked you to do her a favor."

"Hehe... We've been completely exposed."

Hirakiyo raised an eyebrow, rarely seeing Hattori so embarrassed.

"Hattori, it's all written on your face. This is for your uncle's own good, don't worry, we won't tell anyone."

Conan smiled and looked up at the starry sky.

……

base.

All the codenamed members in Japan came, a rare occurrence that made everyone a little uneasy.

"Brother, you've been at the base the whole time, do you know what's going on this time?"

Has anything major happened recently?

"Me? I've always been a lazy bum, how would I know?"

……

Can we still have a good chat?

In the corner of the conference room, Chianti nudged Silas next to her, "Do you know what we're supposed to do today?"

Sila slapped Chianti's hand away. "Just wait."

The moment the door was pushed open, the conference room fell silent, and everyone's eyes fell on Ping Qing.

Pingqing, with a slight smile, took the seat of honor.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. There's nothing important to discuss today; I just wanted to get to know you all."

Everyone kept their eyes down, seemingly lost in thought, and had no intention of saying anything.

After all, Yu Lu's reputation isn't very good. Even if you want to get closer to him because of his status, you don't need to casually strike up a conversation in this kind of setting, or it might backfire.

Pingqing's gaze swept over the crowd, finally landing on a man, and the man's information came to mind.

"Bacardi, I heard you've been having some problems lately."

Bacardi pursed his lips. "Yes, please rest assured, I will handle it."

"Yes, I look forward to your good news."

Then, Pingqing's gaze shifted to another person, "Gerapa, tell us."

His calm tone inexplicably made people's hearts tighten, and the others subconsciously glanced at Grapa.

Grapa: ...

What should he say?

Could it be that Yu Lu discovered something? But that shouldn't be the case, as this is the first time he has met Yu Lu.

While listening to Grapa's report on his work, Hirakiyo received a message.

[Lord Mishika, Conan and Ai Haibara are being watched—Sachiko Kawakami]

Ping Qing's eyes narrowed. Was he being watched?

The people present were not ordinary people, and they keenly sensed the change in Ping Qing's aura, causing the atmosphere in the conference room to become heavy.

Seeing this, Pingqing tapped the table, "Continue!"

I started to wonder who would be targeting Haibara and Conan. The only ones they've clashed with recently are the FBI and the Muddy Water Association, but the Muddy Water Association is unlikely.

If James revealed Haibara and Conan's situation, coupled with suspicion about his identity, and given the failure of this operation, it's indeed possible that he's targeting the two of them. Or is it related to Shuichi Akai and Jodie in the lab?

In the eyes of the FBI, who is more important, Conan or Ai Haibara?

Who else but the FBI would do this?

After the meeting, Pingqing approached Margot and said, "Do me a favor and check on the FBI's activities. I'll get Bourbon and Sheila to help you."

The FBI outposts they controlled were badly damaged during the last Full Moon Operation, and now nobody knows where they're hiding.

Margot pursed her lips. "What happened?"

"They want to cause trouble."

"it is good."

The FBI agents who came to Japan this time were acquaintances of theirs.

After making the arrangements, Pingqing left the base, determined not to let anyone harm his lab rats.

……

"Ding dong~"

Upon seeing Hiraiyoshi at the door, Mitsuhiko's eyes lit up as he opened it. "Hello, Hiraiyoshi-nii!"