At the dinner table, Mouri Kogoro had mostly sobered up, purely startled awake by Chi Feichi's seriousness. Seeing Chi Feichi talking to Conan, he hesitated to speak to Mouri Ran, starting and stopping...
After drinking, his thoughts jumped from one thing to another, but now that Chi Feichi was so serious, he didn't want to go back on his word; it was just that the formality made him nervous.
Mouri Ran originally didn't want to interfere, intending to let Mouri Kogoro learn a lesson about drinking in the future. But seeing Mouri Kogoro's conflicted face, she couldn't help but ask, "Dad, what exactly are you thinking? Brother Feichi is serious now. Going back on your word wouldn't be good..."
"I didn't think of going back on my word," Mouri Kogoro immediately defended. "What's there to regret about having the young master of a large conglomerate as a disciple? Besides, in terms of deduction, with me, the famous detective, teaching him, he won't be losing out either!"
Seeing Mouri Kogoro about to get cocky again, Mouri Ran hurriedly interrupted, "Since you don't regret it, then what are you conflicted about?"
Mouri Kogoro froze for a moment, mumbling in a low voice, "I just feel it's too sudden..."
"Weren't you the one who proposed it first?" Mouri Ran felt helpless about her dad.
After chatting with his daughter, Mouri Kogoro wasn't nervous anymore and laughed again. "Anyway, it's a good thing!"
Mouri Ran: "..."
She couldn't refute that; it was indeed a good thing...
While they were talking, Chi Feichi and Conan came over.
"Teacher, there's no problem on my end," Chi Feichi changed his address directly.
Mouri Kogoro was drafting a speech in his mind when he looked up at Chi Feichi. "Ahem..."
What is with this indifference, looking at me like a stranger?
Clearly, when Chi Feichi called me 'Teacher', his tone was so serious. Why didn't I feel like I was being treated as a teacher at all?
Chi Feichi sat down, quietly looking at Mouri Kogoro, waiting for what followed.
Mouri Kogoro: "..."
He suddenly understood why he was nervous earlier. Probably a premonition that having such an apprentice might make his future life a bit weird. Regretful, perhaps...
Chi Feichi looked at Mouri Kogoro, waiting patiently for him to continue.
Mouri Kogoro: "..."
Is it too late to return the goods now?
Alright, since I said it myself, I have to stick with it even if I have to kneel. But now there seems to be an awkward silence. What should I say next?
Conan didn't notice the awkward silence here. After returning to his seat, he lowered his head, pondering what Chi Feichi meant.
He didn't believe Chi Feichi couldn't see how much Mouri Kogoro was actually worth. Why would he still want to take Mouri Kogoro as his master?
Is Chi Feichi drunk? Or did I drink too much last night and haven't sobered up yet?
Did Chi Feichi see something? Is the old man hiding his true abilities? Or does Chi Feichi have some hidden agenda?
Mouri Ran looked over there; Chi Feichi and her dad were staring at each other calmly without a word. She looked to the side; Conan had his head down in silence like an autistic child. For a moment, she didn't know what to say either.
Silence.
A minute later, Conan snapped back to reality. Looking up, he realized everyone was silent and felt a bit uncomfortable. "Um... aren't we going to continue eating?"
"Ah, sorry, Conan," Mouri Ran snapped back, picked up her chopsticks, and turned to smile. "Dad, Brother Feichi, you eat too. We aren't strangers; we can talk while eating."
"Right," Mouri Kogoro greeted Chi Feichi, rarely serious. "Let's eat. Since you call me teacher, I will definitely teach you what I can. What I said earlier about introducing wealthy clients was a joke, but... ahem... if it's convenient, it's still better to introduce them to me, right?"
Chi Feichi nodded. "Fertile water should not flow into others' fields."
Mouri Kogoro laughed. "That's right! And having a famous detective like me handle their commissions is a good thing for them too!"
Conan looked at the atmosphere at the dinner table returning to normal, without a trace of the awkward silence just now, his expression weird.
Why did it feel like the world was paused earlier, and after my sentence, the pause was cancelled?
"Teacher Mouri, I'm busy with graduation matters recently, and there are some other things to handle. I might not be able to follow you to study all the time," Chi Feichi said.
"It doesn't matter, go busy yourself with your things," Mouri Kogoro felt this wasn't a big deal, and the fact that his apprentice informed him made him feel respected again. "Anyway, you won't be a detective in the future; you'll eventually inherit the family business. I can just give you some pointers when I have time. Learning detective skills isn't a bad thing; it can exercise your thinking and observation skills..."
Huh?
Conan was surprised. It was rare for the uncle to be so serious, and what he said actually made sense.
Indeed, people are different when they have disciples?
"There are many other benefits, such as broadening your horizons, and for example..." Mouri Kogoro paused, then laughed. "If someone tries to murder you in the future, with experience, you can detect it in advance... Hahaha!"
Conan: "..."
Okay, the uncle is still the same uncle...
After finishing the meal peacefully, Conan breathed a sigh of relief. He felt that this meal was a bit tiring, but why did he feel tired?
Can't figure it out!
Chi Feichi didn't feel much.
It was just awkward silence twice. At Aoyama Fourth Hospital, he had seen many situations where people were chatting and suddenly fell silent, or people were silent and suddenly started chatting irrelevantly.
Is it strange? Not strange!
"Conan, why do you look so listless?" Mouri Ran asked. "Played all morning and then rushed back from Izu, are you tired?"
"A little tired..." Conan nodded. True, probably played too long, and a child's body stamina couldn't keep up, feeling sleepy.
"Then you rest early, I'll go back first." Chi Feichi stood up, exchanged contact information with Mouri Kogoro, and bid farewell.
Downstairs, he drove away.
Feichi slipped into the passenger seat by himself and stretched his body. "I was almost suffocated. Master, why did you take that uncle as your master? At the Morizono house, he even suspected you were the murderer. I think he's not as capable as you at all!"
"Mouri Kogoro..." Chi Feichi watched the road ahead while driving and paused. "When he graduated from the police academy, he was first in marksmanship. After becoming a police officer, he often proposed wrong ideas for solving cases, leading other officers astray..."
Feichi: "..."
This...
Did Master say it wrong?
Shouldn't he summarize Mouri Kogoro's strengths?
"However, when people he cares about are involved, he is quite capable in solving cases," Chi Feichi said. "It's hard to say if he's muddled or hiding something."
"Master is curious?" Feichi leaned close to the passenger seat, lowered his voice, and said mysteriously, "Then should we investigate?"
Chi Feichi: "..."
We are in the car, and no one can hear our conversation. Even if there are people or bugs, they can't hear Feichi's voice.
Feimo can't avoid the crow's 'caw-caw' sound when speaking, but even if Feichi speaks, to others it just looks like flicking his tongue, without any sound at all.
So the question is, why does Feichi deliberately lower his voice?
"They won't be guarded against a snake. As long as I spend some time alone with him, I can definitely hear some secrets," Feichi continued in a hushed voice.
"No need to investigate specifically," Chi Feichi said. "And I don't think you can succeed. Don't forget, Conan has lived with him for so long. If Mr. Mouri was abnormal, Conan would have suspected it long ago."
"That's true. Humans are really complicated," Feichi sighed with emotion, then added, "By the way, Master, I seem to have discovered something incredible yesterday!"
"Yesterday?" Chi Feichi recalled. "That time you wanted to stay in the car after I scared Conan?"