"See, I told you this dress suits you very well."
Baishi Hui nodded in satisfaction after seeing Ran come out of the fitting room.
As the saying goes, the completeness of fashion truly depends entirely on one's face.
With Ran's beautiful face, she could wear a sack and still look fashionable!
"Re... really?" Ran looked at herself in the mirror, unable to stop the corners of her mouth from curving upwards.
"You'll know if I was lying when you get to the flower tea party... You'll definitely be the brightest star in the crowd then." Baishi Hui said, turning to the waiting female sales assistant, "I'll take this dress... This three-fold coupon should work here, right?"
As he spoke, he handed the brand-new three-fold discount coupon to her.
The female sales assistant took it and examined it carefully, then said with a smile, "Yes, sir! You can get an unconditional 70% discount with this three-fold coupon."
Ran, who was standing nearby, immediately let out a long sigh of relief upon hearing this.
After paying and leaving the luxury store, Ran changed back into her previous clothes.
Looking at the light bag in her hand, she couldn't help but feel a bit burdened despite her happiness.
Finally, Ran couldn't help but say, "Shirashi-kun, I think... it's still too expensive."
"There won't be many chances to wear it after buying it."
"How about we return it?"
"..."
Baishi Hui looked at Ran's reluctant expression, knowing she really liked it.
He thought for a moment and said, "If you really feel bad about it, how about I don't give the agency living expenses for the next year?"
Ran thought about it, and realized that way he would save 120,000 yen in living expenses over a year!
She nodded repeatedly and smiled brightly, "Okay, it's settled then!!"
Without the burden, Ran's mood was excellent, and she couldn't help but skip as she walked.
Two afternoons later, on the way to the flower tea party by car.
Conan, looking at Ran frequently past Baishi Hui, exclaimed in admiration, "Ran, your dress is so pretty!"
He "accidentally" appeared at the agency and insisted on going.
"Really?" Ran said with an unstoppable smile on her face, "Shirashi-kun picked it out! He has really good taste."
"You picked it out, Shirashi?" Conan looked at him in surprise, not expecting him to buy Ran such a beautiful dress!
Baishi Hui said, "Sonoko said we should dress appropriately, so I went and picked out a nice one for Ran. This dress wasn't cheap, it cost over 600,000 yen!"
"Six... over 600,000? That expensive." Conan was immediately startled upon hearing this number.
"Isn't it?" Baishi Hui said with emotion, "I thought about it carefully, we're going to this flower tea party on Shinichi's behalf, so no matter what, this money should be reimbursed by Shinichi! Don't you think so, Conan?"
"Ah, this... this..." Conan immediately broke out in a sweat upon hearing this.
Over 600,000? Where could he possibly get that much money?
Just as he was about to find an excuse to decline, he heard Baishi Hui say, "This dress was bought for Ran, he wouldn't refuse to pay, would he?"
"..." As soon as these words were spoken, Conan was silenced.
If he reimbursed this money, wouldn't that mean he bought this dress for Ran?
Thinking this way, he felt much better inside!
Ran, seeing this, was about to say something when her small hand was held by Baishi Hui, causing her heart to tremble slightly.
Baishi Hui leaned close to Ran's ear and whispered, "Don't worry, I was just teasing Conan."
Ran showed a look of realization. She smiled sweetly and said, "Shirashi-kun, you really are something. Teasing Conan when he's so young."
Conan, standing nearby, watched the two of them whispering and laughing, feeling quite depressed.
He felt like he should be under the car, not in the car.
Sigh... I shouldn't have come along.
...
The taxi stopped at the gate of Mori Valley's villa.
After Baishi Hui announced the name "Kudo Shinichi," someone led the three of them into the villa's backyard garden.
A garden tea party was being held here, attended by many social elites.
During this time, Baishi Hui saw some people he recognized from television but couldn't recall their names.
"Oh, Shirashi-kun, Conan!" Ran suddenly noticed something at this moment and excitedly tugged at Baishi Hui's clothes, exclaiming, "It's Miss Rena Mizunashi, the announcer from Nichiuri TV!"
"Wow, it's true!" After seeing her, Conan couldn't help but exclaim, "She's much prettier than she is on TV!!"
"..." Baishi Hui followed his gaze and indeed spotted Rena Mizunashi.
He was very surprised, not expecting this CIA undercover agent to appear here!
But on second thought, the circle of high society is only so big, so it wasn't strange for her to be here.
He didn't know if she was here as an individual, representing the CIA, or the Liquor Organization.
Thinking of this, Baishi Hui remained vigilant.
At this moment, Mori Valley Teiji came over.
He held a glass of champagne and greeted them, laughing, "Kudo Shinichi? Seeing is believing... You're much more handsome than you are on TV news!"
As soon as he said this, Conan looked displeased... What kind of taste did these people have? He was clearly the more handsome one!
Baishi Hui was very happy, not expecting this old man to have such good taste and speak so pleasantly... He'll definitely leave you a whole corpse when the time comes!!
He said, "Mr. Mori Valley, you've misunderstood. I'm not Kudo Shinichi, my name is Baishi Hui, and I'm here on behalf of Kudo Shinichi... He had something come up and couldn't make it."
"He didn't come?" Mori Valley Teiji was quite disappointed upon hearing this.
However, he quickly adjusted his mindset and said, "Since you're here on behalf of Kudo Shinichi, you must have some extraordinary qualities, right?"
"I've prepared a riddle, let's see if you can figure it out."
"Of course, everyone here can also participate."
"Write the answer on a piece of paper, and if you answer correctly, you can view my collection room!"
"..."
As Mori Valley Teiji spoke, he motioned for the servants to hand out the riddles that had been prepared in advance.
Rena Mizunashi took the pen and paper from the servant's hand and looked closely: Based on the information of three partners, guess the computer password for the company run by these three people: Oyamada Riki (Blood Type A) Born October, Showa 31; Soratobi Sasuke (Blood Type B) Born June, Showa 32; Horikoshi Jiro (Blood Type O) Born January, Showa 33.
With such a simple riddle, she immediately knew the answer: Showa 31 is the Year of the Monkey, Showa 32 is the Year of the Rooster, and Showa 33 is the Year of the Dog. The monkey, rooster, and dog are all followers of Momotaro, so the password is Momotaro.
At this moment, a middle-aged man's voice came through the invisible earpiece hidden in her ear: "Do you know the answer?"
"A riddle of this level isn't difficult for me." As Rena Mizunashi spoke, she casually wrote down the answer. She then whispered, "Aren't you going to tell me what I'm here for?"
The middle-aged man on the other end of the earpiece said, "I can tell you now... We suspect Mori Valley Teiji is Azu the Bandit!"
"Are you sure?" Rena Mizunashi was startled. She glanced at the middle-aged man, then withdrew her gaze and said, "I don't think his height matches."
"Height can be faked, but actions cannot," the middle-aged man on the other end of the earpiece replied. "We've already investigated, and he's the one who stole the explosives for plastic bombs from the arsenal recently!"
"Coincidentally, Mori Valley Teiji is in the construction industry and owns several construction factories. Maybe those guns and ammunition were handcrafted in those factories!"
Handcrafted?
Rena Mizunashi frowned slightly, but then she thought that the other party was a perfectionist, requiring all data to be precise down to the 'si' (one hundred 'si' equals one millimeter).
Handcrafting might not be impossible!
She quietly inquired, "Didn't you send anyone to investigate his factories?"
The middle-aged man on the other end of the earpiece replied, "The higher-ups are rushing us, so we won't investigate. We'll arrest him first!"
"We had you come here so you could get firsthand news material."
"I see." Rena Mizunashi finally understood why she had to attend this flower tea party.
She looked at Mori Valley Teiji and didn't think he was Azu the Bandit.
The people above were just grasping at straws, arresting anyone who looked suspicious... It seemed they were very angry.
Just as Rena Mizunashi was talking, Mori Valley Teiji also announced the answer: "The answer is Momotaro... Mr. Baishi is truly intelligent, worthy of being recommended by Shinichi. Who else answered correctly?"
"I did." Rena Mizunashi came back to her senses and stepped forward with her paper.
Mori Valley Teiji took the paper, looked at it, and praised, "Miss Mizunashi is indeed the top female announcer at Nichiuri TV, truly intelligent! Come, I'll take you to see the collection room."
He motioned for everyone to follow him.
Rena Mizunashi smiled and asked, "Mr. Mori Valley, can I record this?"
"Of course!" Mori Valley Teiji readily agreed.
He didn't find her request to record strange; she wasn't just a female announcer but also an excellent reporter!
"Thank you~~~" Rena Mizunashi took out a portable camcorder and began recording, standing slightly behind the crowd.
This way, when something happened later, she could "accidentally" film the crime scene.
Rena Mizunashi was already skilled at doing things like this.
It was by relying on these sensational stories that she was able to stand out in the fiercely competitive position of female announcer.
No matter how much other female announcers took off their clothes or slept with people, they couldn't shake her position.
Baishi Hui watched Rena Mizunashi also enter the collection room; even if he was slow to react, he knew something was wrong at this point.
However, in his current identity, it wasn't convenient for him to do anything. He could only act according to the situation, quietly listening as Mori Valley Teiji introduced his proud works.
"Oh? Did you also design the Mi Hua Municipal Building, Mr. Mori Valley?" Ran was quite surprised upon hearing this!
This provided Mori Valley Teiji with considerable emotional value. He laughed and said, "It was a work from my younger days. It's a bit outdated now and not very well-known, so it's normal that you haven't heard of it."
"That doesn't count as well-known?" Baishi Hui frowned slightly upon hearing this.
Mori Valley Teiji nodded and said, "Of course not. Even locals in Tokyo might not have heard of it. Buildings like Tokyo Tower and Skytree are considered well-known!"
"..." Baishi Hui's frown deepened upon hearing this.