"It's my fault..." Seeing that Akemi seemed to be going to the store to return or exchange the item, he could only say in a low voice.

"Feel sorry."

This time, both Akemi and Ai stared at him in surprise.

"What are you apologizing for?" Mingmei paused for a moment before smiling and saying, "Mr. Gao Yuan, you're always so overly polite."

Ai walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder face to face.

"If the clothes don't fit, it must be the clothes' fault; the manufacturer didn't take your body shape into account."

"You don't have three arms and four legs, you're not a monster."

"Don't be too arrogant."

Is this... arrogance?

Gao Yuan was momentarily stunned.

Mingmei pulled her younger sister aside and scolded her for going a bit too far.

Before the two of them could even take off their coats, the doorbell rang again.

"I'll do it, I'll do it!" Yoruichi Toyama ran out of the kitchen and went to open the door.

"Look how polite you are. You've already come, why did you bring anything..."

He kept rambling on and on, but suddenly choked up when he saw Mingzhi display his empty hands.

Then he let out a feigned snort of dissatisfaction.

"You really didn't bring anything, just came to freeload a meal!"

"Yoruichi!"

Despite Akemi's attempt to stop him, Akechi smiled and took a box of rice cakes from his coat pocket, handing it to Yoruichi Toyama.

Yoruichi Toyama glared at him with considerable hostility.

"I'm telling you, I make Chinese cuisine, and I don't know how to make this."

"Just bake it on the stove." Akechi smiled politely, as if Yoruichi Toyama were a waiter at the high-class hotel where he was dining. "No one celebrates the New Year without eating rice cakes."

"Go, Pikachu, I believe in your cooking skills."

Yoruichi Toyama only realized what was happening when she was pushed back into the kitchen. She stormed back angrily, just in time to see Akechi take a beautifully packaged cardboard box out of the other pocket of his coat.

"Are you a magician? How many things are you hiding on you?!"

Mingzhi politely handed the box to Mingmei before offering an apologetic smile.

"Thanks to that Ms. Tanaka, I had to work overtime until evening on the last day of the year, and all the shops I wanted to go to were already closed."

"These are just things you can find in the supermarket, I'm really sorry."

That being said, the unique silver foil on the outer packaging of the box still proves its quality.

Mingmei happily opened the package and found that it was a famous brand of chocolate, and it was a mixed flavor.

“Miss Akemi, Miss Ai, and…” Akechi said, glancing mischievously at Takato, “this gentleman.”

"It seems we've been through quite a lot together."

"I remember a line from a movie: 'Life was like a box of chocolates...'"

He paused there, seemingly waiting for someone to continue.

Akemi could only glance at Ai, while the female PhD student shrugged.

"I don't like watching movies."

Mingzhi didn't insist, but opened the box and let them choose.

After the two ladies each chose their favorite color, the box was handed to Gao Yuan.

The former murderer and the police officer who had been chasing him locked eyes for a second.

Gao Yuan lowered his eyes and casually picked up a candy wrapped in red paper.

“...you never know what you’re gonna get…” he muttered, “if that’s what you mean…”

“Yes,” Akechi said with a smile. “And this new coat is nice.”

...

The meal turned into a chaotic mess.

This is mainly thanks to Yoruichi Toyama and Akechi's increasingly skilled crosstalk.

Later, even Ai Haibara occasionally contributed a few sarcastic comments.

The fusion of Chinese and Japanese cuisine concluded with a mixed hot pot dish that Yoruichi Toyama called "Family Reunion."

During the meal, Yoruichi Toyama suggested watching TV, but this was met with collective opposition.

They said it was "some old person's habit".

Even Gao Yuan, who rarely speaks, rolled his eyes at him.

As a result, I lost track of time while eating, and just as I put down my chopsticks, I heard the distant and clear sound of bells.

"That must be the New Year's bell!" Mingmei said excitedly and happily, clapping her hands together. "The New Year has arrived! May you have good fortune and prosperity!"

"Great fortune!" Under her lead, the group of people disregarded their embarrassment and echoed in unison.

At the same time, faint sounds of cannons and continuous explosions could be heard.

Yoruichi Toyama's shoulders twitched as he realized that those weren't eight eggs, but rather fireworks.

The perpetrator who committed the crime on New Year's Eve is so tasteless!

"Oh, right!" Mingmei exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. "We went out shopping just now, and we heard there's a fireworks show tonight!"

"But we kept eating and forgot about it."

"We can go now!" Yoruichi Toyama naturally wouldn't object to her girlfriend's suggestion.

Mingzhi then grabbed the car keys.

"Let's go to the Mutsu River. There's just enough room in the car."

Yoruichi Toyama glanced at Ai, whose face was full of anticipation, but then showed a look of disgust.

Does your car have a child seat?

...

To persuade a detective who insists on his principles, a girlfriend is the most effective approach.

In the end, Yoruichi Toyama reluctantly gave in.

But in her heart she thought that if she hadn't been so persistent back then, she probably wouldn't have developed such close ties with Conan and the Metropolitan Police Department so early on.

That must be my "original aspiration".

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