Chapter 73 The Research Institute's Activities [VIP]

The next morning, the alarm clock rang, which was unusual for Cheng You. According to his usual routine, Cheng You's biological clock would usually wake him up before the alarm rang and then he would turn it off.

Today was unusual; Cheng woke up feeling not tired, but rather incredibly relaxed.

After washing up, he made a simple sandwich and heated milk for breakfast. Once everything was ready, he glanced at the time, tidied his clothes, and prepared to go to work.

As soon as I got off the elevator and came out of the building, I saw a familiar boy squatting by the green belt on the side of the road.

Cheng squinted and looked him over for a while, confirming that it was someone he knew, before walking over.

Hearing the noise, Yu turned around and looked around. When he saw the person he wanted to see, he quickly stood up with a smile on his face.

Cheng didn't need to ask him why he was there; he already knew without being asked. So he simply asked, "Have you had breakfast?"

Yuichi shook his head: "No."

Cheng nodded, turned and walked into the high-rise building. Youyi was a little confused when she saw this, but then Cheng waved his hand and said, "Follow me."

"Huh?" Youyi was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but smile, and happily chased after him.

After getting into the elevator, Cheng pressed the button for his floor: "That person from last night..."

“He’s fine,” Yuichi said. “I’ve also noted down the side effects of that medication. He’s currently in good health, and he’ll recover quickly if he takes the new medication I gave him on time.”

"Oh, you can come stay at my place if you don't have anything else to do in the future." The elevator arrived at the floor quickly, and Cheng You didn't avoid Youyi, directly entering the code to open the door. He was indeed very worried about Youyi. Although he might be leaving in a few days after his mission ended, he still hoped to take good care of Youyi while he was there.

"Is it okay? Matsushita-nii, will it be inconvenient for you?" Yuichi tilted his head and asked, but his eyes were full of undisguised joy.

"It's alright, I'm just staying here temporarily. I'll be leaving the country again in a few days." Cheng You said, opening the door and taking out eggs, bread, and milk from the refrigerator before heading into the kitchen to get busy.

"Oh? Is that so..." Yuichi was a little disappointed, but he quickly cheered up and went into the kitchen to say that he was cooking with Matsushita-nii.

“My name is Hirata Yan now,” Cheng You said with a smile.

Yu nodded: "I see."

Soon, Cheng brought up the sandwiches and hot milk. After watching Youyi eat obediently, he went to the balcony to make a phone call. He was talking to Date Kou, explaining that he was too tired last night and had overslept this morning, so he wanted to ask for a day off.

Ida Hang naturally knew that what happened yesterday was indeed very unexpected, and Cheng You had been working day and night with him, organizing information, investigating cases, and looking for clues.

Besides, Cheng Youlai only came to the Metropolitan Police Department to learn. As a trainee police officer, he doesn't receive a salary, and it's truly hard on him to work so diligently every day.

Finally, Ida Kou agreed, adding, "Aren't you here to learn from me? You don't need to treat this like a class. You're free to do this, you don't need to ask for leave."

"Okay, thank you, Mr. Date." Cheng You said and hung up the phone.

Back in the living room, Youyi had almost finished eating. Cheng You, thinking that he didn't have anything planned for the time being, suggested taking Youyi out for a stroll. Cheng You proposed taking Youyi to buy clothes and accessories. Youyi initially didn't want to go to crowded places, but seeing Cheng You's expectant gaze, she agreed.

Cheng Youye isn't very good at picking out clothes. In his eyes, Youyi will always be a child, so the styles of clothes he chooses are inevitably childish and may not suit a teenager.

But Yuichi nodded in agreement every time: "Wow, this outfit is really nice, with such cute cartoon patterns."

However, during the process, he saw a boy who was about the same age as Yuichi trying on clothes in the store, and then he realized that Yuichi was no longer a child and that he should try on more mature clothes.

Youyi doesn't care much about clothes. When Cheng hands him clothes, he obediently tries them on. After trying them on, Cheng asks him how he feels and if he's satisfied, and Youyi always nods and says he's satisfied.

After all, Yuichi is a scientist who is obsessed with drug research, and his usual clothes are nothing more than a white shirt and jeans.

Cheng Youye noticed that Youyi wasn't interested in the latest trendy clothes, so he bought him a few casual shirts and a few white coats.

After leaving the clothing store, Cheng You took Youyi to the arcade. However, Youyi wasn't very interested in it, but seeing that Cheng You really liked it, she smiled and played with him.

Both of them are very smart and capable people, and some games that test intelligence and hand speed are no challenge for them at all.

After playing for a while, Cheng took Youyi to lunch. There were no particularly special activities that day, but Youyi was very happy, for reasons that were hard to explain.

In the afternoon, Cheng You took Youyi home. After a short nap, Cheng You dealt with a case for a while. The two of them sat on the sofa watching TV. There was a fruit platter on the coffee table, and a lighthearted and funny anime was playing on the TV.

The two were amused from time to time.

Yuichi had never been so happy. He didn't even want Cheng You to leave. He wanted Cheng You to stay by his side forever. During his free time watching anime, Yuichi secretly glanced at Cheng You, who was watching the show intently with a smile in his eyes. He was filled with reluctance.

Noticing Youyi's gaze, Cheng You smiled gently and looked over: "What's wrong?"

"Brother Hirata, are you leaving this time too?" Yuichi tried his best to keep his expression and tone calm.

Cheng nodded: "I also have a mission, but I won't leave again after a year. When I find you then, I can stay with you forever."

He didn't say "maybe," he didn't say "perhaps," he didn't use any ambiguous words.

Yu-yi paused for a few seconds, then burst out laughing: "Okay."

Cheng You continued watching the anime, but he had other thoughts on his mind. If the timelines of these time travel missions formed a closed loop with the timeline of the first year of Detective Conan, then before the first year of Detective Conan, Cheng You and Yuichi were actually very familiar with each other, and their relationship was more like that of family than friends.

So when Cheng You first met Yuichi in the first year of Conan, and was very indifferent to Yuichi, and casually abandoned Yuichi downstairs for the sake of the mission, what was Yuichi thinking? He might wonder why Matsushita-nii and Hirata-nii, who used to be so good to him, became like this after becoming Cheng You-nii.

We were already very close several years ago. Back then, you trusted me a lot, and I liked you a lot. Why did things turn out like this? Why don't you trust me anymore?

There are things you don't want to tell me, and I don't know how to bring up my own issues with you. Have you lost your memory, Brother Cheng You?

“When we meet again in the future, I may look different, and my persona may change, but the only thing that will remain the same is that I really, really care about you.” Cheng You patted Youyi’s head and said, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be confused, I really won’t hurt you, and I won’t abandon you.”

"I know, Hirata-nii-san, I like you very much too. I just hope we can be together forever." Yuichi smiled sweetly.

Cheng smiled faintly, and the two continued watching the anime.

That night, Cheng received a call from Takagi Wataru, who said that Date Wataru was stuck with a case and might need Cheng's assistance. The call was not very clear, and Takagi Wataru was very anxious and did not explain clearly.

Cheng You was still very worried. Although it wasn't the day of Ida Hang's car accident yet, the strange timeline of this retrospective mission, especially the accidental death, was hard to avoid. The system had also reminded him that human-caused disasters were the hardest to avoid, the easiest to happen, and could occur at any time and place.

Yuuichi, who was enjoying a fruit platter and watching an anime series, noticed the commotion and turned around to see Cheng You's serious face.

Cheng You hurriedly got up, grabbed his coat, and said to Youyi while changing his shoes in the entryway, "There's some trouble at the Metropolitan Police Department. I have to go check it out. It's urgent. If you're hungry tonight, there's yogurt in the closet and cash in the bookshelf compartment. You can go out to eat."

Yu Yi nodded obediently, without trying to stop him, because he knew that even if he tried, he couldn't keep that person. Anyway, they would be together forever in a year. Yu Yi felt that he should behave himself now and not displease Cheng You.

"Bang—" The door closed, Cheng You left, leaving only You Yi in the room. His expression quickly calmed down, and hearing the occasional laughter coming from the TV, You Yi turned it off.

“It’s only fun when Hirata-nii is with us,” Yuichi said coldly.

"I really don't want Hirata-nii to get involved with the police..." he thought as he lay on the sofa, deciding to go out and see what was going on. In case something happened to Hirata-nii, he could help out, and he could also check on the research institute's recent activities...

Cheng You quickly arrived at the Metropolitan Police Department. He pushed open the door to Date Wataru's office and saw Takagi Wataru organizing case files. Upon seeing Cheng You, he said, "A kidnapping incident just happened. The person took a hostage and threatened Mr. Date with a gun, demanding a one-for-one exchange, or he would shoot the hostage—"

"Don't rush, speak slowly," Cheng You said with a smile, trying to calm Takagi Wataru down.

“When we went there, we didn’t know the killer was so vicious, so it was just me and Sergeant Date. Sergeant Date traded one hostage for another, telling me to hurry back and find him. But we don’t know Mr. Date’s location now, and we don’t know how long the search will take…”

"I see..."

Wataru Takagi: "Most of the Metropolitan Police Department's squads were out busy today, and some of them are not very reliable. That's when I remembered you. Mr. Date also trusts you."

"Don't worry, don't worry, this isn't too difficult." Cheng You smiled and reassured him. Ida Hang agreed to the one-for-one exchange because there were no other police officers at the scene, and the murderer had a hostage, so they couldn't act rashly.

Once we find Ida Hang's location and send some police officers to assist, there shouldn't be any problems.

With that in mind, Cheng obtained permission and sat down at Takagi Wataru's workstation, using his computer to track Date Wataru's phone.

Finding the location isn't difficult; the challenge lies in determining its accuracy, as it's uncertain whether Ida Wataru's phone was discarded by the perpetrator.

However, during the process of tracking the past, the phone was still moving, moving along the subway line?

This subway line?

Considering there was someone else with him, Cheng didn't try to hack into the subway's surveillance cameras. He looked up and smiled, "Senior Takagi, could you get me a glass of water?"

Takagi Wataru responded and hurried to get water. Cheng You took this opportunity to infiltrate the subway line and recognized Date Wataru in the crowd. There was indeed a person with his face covered up next to him.

Cheng suspected that the murderer used the hostage he had kidnapped as a threat to prevent Date from making any rash moves, and Date also wanted to risk his life to find the hostage.

After confirming the location, Cheng sent the real-time location to Takagi Wataru and deduced the location where the murderer would get off the subway based on the subway route, instructing him to quickly lead his men there to lie in ambush.

Cheng You originally thought this matter should be over soon, and it wasn't anything particularly difficult. He believed that having Takagi Wataru lead people there should be a successful solution.

Just as I was about to leave the Metropolitan Police Department, I received a text message from a stranger.

[Hirata-nii, this is Yuichi. I found out that the people from the research institute went to Higashino Ward; it seems there's some kind of transaction going on there.]

Higashino Ward?

Isn't this the place the murderer was taking Date Wataru to?

What a coincidence?

Regardless, it seems he has no choice but to go this time. He must figure out the research institute's mission. This is a good opportunity to find the institute's weaknesses. Once he returns to the first year of the Ke Xue era, he won't have such an opportunity.