Conan: Ran turns into an elementary school student and calls me dad.

Chapter 46 The Story of 2 Years Ago

Judy leaned back in her chair, her brow furrowed, her mind a jumbled mess.

On the other side, Lin Xiuyi stood in the corridor of the apartment, and could see the cars parked downstairs through the window.

Seeing that Judy had been sitting in the car for a long time without moving, Lin Xiuyi couldn't help but chuckle.

This Judy is beautiful, has a great figure, is quick-witted, and incredibly efficient.

Overall, she is an exceptionally capable assistant, more than qualified to be a secretary.

The only downside is that sometimes she loves gossip too much and easily forgets her own identity.

Lin Xiuyi kept her by her side not simply because she considered her a secretary.

He did this so that in case he ever fell out with Vermouth, he would have another ally to deal with the Black Organization.

As for his own privacy, he had no intention of letting Judy know too much.

That's why he deliberately tapped her just now.

Someone as smart as Judy, if she wants to continue infiltrating his inner circle, will likely become much more restrained in the future.

……

When the apartment door was pushed open, Eri Kisaki was sitting on the sofa reading documents.

Hearing the noise, she looked up and saw the father and daughter walking in. Just as she was about to ask how her day went, her gaze was drawn to Lin Xiuyi's smug expression.

Lin Xiuyi quickly flashed a victory sign at her, his eyes gleaming with smugness.

Eri Kisaki raised an eyebrow but remained silent.

When Xiaolan excitedly ran into her bedroom, ready to share the souvenirs she had bought that day, Eri immediately put down the documents in her hand, quickly walked to Lin Xiuyi's side, and asked in a low voice,

"How did it go? Nothing went wrong at the tropical park today, right?"

Lin Xiuyi leaned close to her ear and briefly recounted what had happened during the day.

When she heard that the man had tried to harm Xiaolan but ended up having his leg broken by her daughter, Fei Yingli was so angry that her eyebrows furrowed, and she couldn't help but raise her fist, her voice rising several decibels.

"That bastard! How dare he lay a hand on such a young child! I'm going to teach him a lesson!"

"Hehe," Lin Xiuyi couldn't help but laugh out loud, reaching out to pinch her puffed-up cheeks, "Right now, he's the one whose leg was broken by Xiaolan and is lying in the hospital."

"I don't care!" Eri Kisaki snorted, speaking with righteous indignation. "Ran was acting in self-defense! Even if she crippled him, he deserved it!"

As the female lawyer spoke indignantly, she naturally reached out to help Lin Xiuyi remove the coat draped over her shoulder.

Having just taken off her coat, Lin Xiuyi bent down to unbutton her shirt, preparing to change into some comfortable loungewear.

But just as she unbuttoned two buttons, revealing her chest, the bedroom door was suddenly pushed open with a creak.

Xiaolan walked out excitedly, holding a doll in her hand: "Mom, I had fun at the amusement park today..."

She stopped abruptly as if a pause button had been pressed, halfway through her sentence.

His gaze was fixed on Lin Xiuyi's open shirt collar, his eyes filled with shock.

On that well-defined chest, a hideous scar was clearly visible.

The scar was the size of a fist, with twisted and crisscrossing dark red lines, clinging tightly to the side of the heart, a shocking sight.

"What's wrong?"

Lin Xiuyi noticed her daughter's gaze, looked down at herself with some puzzlement, then looked up at Xiaolan and waved her hand in front of her eyes.

Xiaolan then came to her senses, quickly walked to his side, reached out her small hand, and carefully touched the scar. The touch of her fingertips was rough and painful.

The girl's voice trembled almost imperceptibly: "...How...how did this wound get like this?"

"Oh, you mean this scar?"

Lin Xiuyi glanced down at the scar on his chest, showing no concern whatsoever, but instead revealing a smug smile.

He reached out and ruffled Xiaolan's hair, his tone carrying a hint of smugness.

"If it weren't for this scar, your mother wouldn't be so devoted to me."

"Mother?"

Ran was stunned. She turned her head and looked at Eri Kisaki standing to the side with a puzzled expression.

Eri's cheeks flushed slightly. She sighed helplessly, gently brushing a stray hair behind her ear, her eyes filled with tender apology and guilt.

"...He's right, this scar is indeed because of me."

As she spoke, she pulled Xiaolan to sit down on the sofa and slowly began to recount that long-forgotten past.

……

That was almost twenty years ago.

At the time, Eri Kisaki and Shuichi Hayashi were still in high school, a time of youthful exuberance and high spirits.

That summer, the "Big Three" of the Teitan High School student council—Hayashi Shuichi, Kisaki Eri, and Kudo Yukiko—made a pact to go to the beach together.

As a result, on the very night they arrived at the beach, Eri Kisaki and Yukiko got into an argument over a trivial matter.

Yukiko was always good at acting. Her eyes reddened, and she put on a pitiful look. Lin Xiuyi naturally took her side and said a few words to reconcile them.

But Eri Kisaki, who was in a fit of anger, wouldn't listen to anything.

Feeling that both of them were bullying her, she was furious and immediately packed her bags, deciding to leave the beach that very night and return to Tokyo alone.

As a result, she hadn't gone far from the guesthouse when she saw a suspicious-looking man using tools to pick the lock in front of an ATM on the street corner.

Eri Kisaki was seething with anger when she saw that the thief only had a crowbar in his hand and no other powerful weapon.

Relying on her judo training, which she considered quite skilled, she impulsively rushed forward without thinking, intending to stop the other person's actions.

"and then?"

Xiaolan listened intently and couldn't help but ask more questions.

"Mom, you couldn't beat that thief, and Dad just arrived to save you, but he got stabbed in the process?"

"He's just a safe-pickup thief, how could I possibly lose?"

Eri Kisaki immediately dismissed her daughter's guess, a hint of defiance on her face.

"I had already subdued him on the ground...who knew that the thief had a backup plan, suddenly pulling a handgun out of his pocket!"

At this point, Eri Kisaki's voice lowered, a hint of lingering fear flashing in her eyes.

"I was so scared that I stood there and didn't dare to move."

"The thief, already enraged that I had subdued him earlier, saw me standing there dumbfounded and raised his gun without a word, pointing it at me. Yes..."

She paused, her gaze falling on Lin Xiuyi, her eyes brimming with deep apology and guilt, her voice trembling with emotion.

"It was Shuichi who rushed out and took that bullet for me."

"ah?!"

Xiao Lan screamed in fright, jumped up from the sofa, grabbed Lin Xiuyi's arm, her face full of panic.

"Is...is he alright?"