The next morning, Baishi Hui attended classes as usual.
When it was lunchtime, he took his bento and went to eat with Ran and the others.
During lunch, Ran made a suggestion: "Shinichi, Shirashi-kun, and Sonoko, how about coming to my house for dinner after school today?"
"Huh!! I'd love to go! With so many people, it'll definitely be lively!" Sonoko's face was full of anticipation, but then her expression dimmed, and she said, "But... I'm still grounded right now and can't leave school."
"It's such a pity you can't come, Sonoko." Ran was deeply regretful that her good friend couldn't join them.
So, she turned to Shinichi, her eyes filled with hope.
"Tsk, I'd rather not," Shinichi complained while eating his bento. "If I go, Mouri Detective will definitely say I'm stealing his work."
"It's clearly his own lack of skill, yet he blames me!!"
This gave Ran a huge headache. This was indeed why Shinichi didn't like going to her house.
Her father and Shinichi really didn't get along; they'd argue every time they met.
Baishi Hui spoke up, "It's not too late to have a get-together after the competition!"
"Mm-hmm, that's the only way." Ran was quite helpless, especially thinking about the issues between Shinichi and her father. She felt an even bigger headache and didn't know how to handle it.
This problem bothered Ran throughout the entire afternoon.
So much so that she was somewhat distracted during training.
Baishi Hui noticed but said nothing.
Instead, he seized the opportunity and threw a punch towards Ran's eyes.
"Ah!" Ran looked at the enlarging fist and was startled!
Fortunately, the fist stopped right in front of her face and didn't hit her.
"Can you focus now?" Baishi Hui retracted his fist and asked.
"Y-yes... I can." Ran said, blushing and ashamed.
"Then let's continue." Baishi Hui gestured for Ran to attack, then beat her up again to make her focus.
...
In the afternoon, after training, Ran bowed and apologized to Baishi Hui on the way home: "I'm really sorry, Shirashi-kun. I was distracted during training today."
She felt very guilty, feeling that she had let down Baishi Hui's efforts.
He was willing to sacrifice his time to train her, yet she was distracted.
"Learning to focus is also a required course," Baishi Hui comforted her before saying, "What were you just thinking about?"
"I was thinking... why can't Shinichi and Dad get along?" Ran voiced her troubles, softly saying, "It feels like every time they meet, they have an argument."
Baishi Hui thought it was something serious, but it was just this?
He chuckled, "No father wants to see his daughter, whom he raised with great hardship, just snatched away by another man."
"And this man's attitude towards him is so bad, and his own daughter even speaks up for him!"
"If it were me, I wouldn't be happy either."
Upon hearing this, Ran immediately understood.
She quickly pressed, "Then... is there any way to solve it?"
Baishi Hui shrugged, saying, "There's no solution! Shinichi just has to figure it out himself."
After a pause, he reminded her, "Also, Ran, you're biased. You can't always side with Shinichi."
"Occasionally, you also need to think about things from your father's perspective."
Facing Baishi Hui's scolding, Ran lowered her head guiltily and said, "I... I know."
She wasn't stupid; it was just raging teenage hormones.
Making her subconsciously pay more attention to Shinichi and ignore her old father's feelings.
"Um... Shirashi-kun, are you still coming to my house for dinner tonight?" Ran said somewhat awkwardly, "Because after you came yesterday, Dad was very happy."
"I haven't seen him so happy in a long time!"
"I was planning on it even if you didn't say anything." Baishi Hui smiled, "I found that Kogoro Mouri and I hit it off immediately."
"Really? That's great!" Ran was overjoyed that Baishi Hui was willing to come!
However, she thought of something and quickly said, "This time, don't buy alcohol!"
"Okay." Baishi Hui nodded.
But upon arriving at the Mouri Detective Agency, while Ran was making dinner, he still took the opportunity to drink beer with Kogoro Mouri, chugging it down!
Are you kidding me?
If men don't drink, how can they have topics of conversation? How can they get closer? How can they make progress?
Most importantly, he had just spent 500,000 yen yesterday to buy [Never Drunk].
If he didn't drink, wouldn't that be a waste of money?
"Dad, Shirashi-kun, dinner's r-r-ready...! Ah! Why are you two drinking again?" Ran came downstairs after making dinner and saw them, her face full of helplessness.
She was both happy and helpless now!
Kogoro Mouri immediately retorted, "This beer only has 5% alcohol by volume; it's not even real beer, just water! How is it any different from drinking tea?"
Saying that, he quickly urged Baishi Hui to come upstairs for dinner.
During dinner, Baishi Hui praised Ran's cooking, saying, "Ran, your Chinese food is very good, much more authentic than those so-called Chinese restaurants outside!"
"Really?" Ran, being praised, was very happy. She said, "Then Shirashi-kun, please eat more!!"
After the setup, Baishi Hui finally revealed his intention: "Ran, I was wondering if I could have dinner here from now on? Don't worry, I'll pay for the food expenses!"
He had to admit, Ran's cooking was truly amazing; her Chinese food was authentic... This was also why he wanted to come over.
When you have money, who wants to cook?
"Huh?" Ran was a bit caught off guard by the sudden suggestion.
At the same time, she was very happy, feeling that her cooking skills were recognized!
"Of course, no problem!" Kogoro Mouri readily agreed, saying, "From now on, after school, just come over with Ran!!"
"As for food expenses, 10,000 yen a month will do!"
He didn't charge too much, just a token amount.
Baishi Hui also knew that Kogoro Mouri was trying to look out for him, so he nodded and agreed.
He wasn't short on money; he could just buy them some gifts later to make up for it.
After dinner, he and Kogoro Mouri started chatting.
But just then, his phone rang.
Baishi Hui took out his phone and saw a message from Akemi.
She had just intercepted some intelligence: an illegal transaction would take place at Mihua Wharf an hour later.
Baishi Hui's eyes lit up immediately upon seeing it!
Finally, there was some action!
He couldn't bother chatting with Kogoro Mouri anymore. After excusing himself and leaving, he headed to Akemi's location.