"Um?"
The melody that reached her ears made Xiaolan frown slightly. "This sounds like Guangyou's voice."
She glanced around, then suddenly tapped her palm: "Why hasn't Conan come back from the bathroom yet?"
"No, we have to go check on him, lest Conan wanders around and interferes with solving the case."
After saying that, she pushed open the door and ran out.
Following the corridor, Ran saw Conan leaning against a door.
She ran up to Conan, bent down, and asked, "Conan, what are you doing here?"
Conan was startled and blinked, seemingly trying to figure out how to handle the situation.
He seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly turned his head to Xiaolan and asked, "Sister Xiaolan, I want to ask if you have any chewing gum?"
He deliberately raised the pitch of the word "chewing gum" in an attempt to make Uncle Mori, who was reasoning in the room, hear him.
Xiaolan reached into her pocket and said, "If you mean those chewing gums that are deliberately designed to refresh and stimulate the mind, then yes, they do exist..."
After searching around, she said to Conan apologetically, "Sorry, I think I left my chewing gum in the car. If you want me to get it for you, please let me."
"It's alright." Conan hesitated for a moment, then tidied up and made Ran squat down. At the same time, he leaned close to Ran's ear and whispered, "Ran-neechan, can you tell me what XZ should wear?"
"XZ?"
Xiaolan's face immediately turned bright red, and she stood there stunned, unable to react for a moment.
Seeing Ran in a daze, Conan clenched his fists, his face flushed, and shouted, "Because I've never used it before, of course I don't know!"
Ran snapped out of her daze, stood up, hands on her hips, blushing, and glared at Conan, scolding, "It's not like it's a big deal for a boy not to know these things! Why do you want to know this stuff!"
Conan paused for a moment, seemingly realizing what he had just said, and chuckled awkwardly, "You're right..."
Ran frowned, a hint of threat in her voice: "Conan, you stay home and don't wander around outside. I'm going to find Mitsuyu and Ai."
"oh."
After responding, Conan could only walk back to the original room.
Just as he reached the corner, Conan seemed to hear something unbelievable. He paused for a second, then muttered, "I was wrong?"
Only after Conan had completely disappeared from sight did Ran turn back and continue walking downstairs: "Speaking of which, that singing was pretty good..."
...
"I think I just heard Conan's voice."
Kōyū tilted his chin up, carefully trying to decipher Conan's words, "Ran-neechan, tell me..."
After Guangyou finished listening to the gist of it, his expression became quite interesting.
What did he say?
Ai watched as Kousuke's expression gradually changed, and a little curiosity arose in her heart.
Guangyou lied and explained, "He was asking Xiaolan what to wear..."
Kōyū leaned close to Ai and said the last two words.
After understanding the meaning of the whole sentence, Ai's expression changed: "Is this guy out of his mind?"
“I think so too.” Kōyū nodded. “If Conan weren’t a child, he’d probably be beaten to death.”
"Let's not talk about him anymore."
Ai's eyelashes fluttered gently as she softly asked, "Could you sing it again?"
It wasn't a request, and Guangyou had no reason to refuse, so he nodded and started humming a melody.
Unlike before, as Guangyou hummed, he noticed that the person next to him was quietly echoing him.
He kept talking, humming a tune, while his eyes lingered on Ai's face out of the corner of his eye.
“The ever-extending shadows stand side by side on the red brick path.”
...
The song continued, and Kōyū's gaze remained fixed on Ai's face.
While they were singing, Ai was also softly singing along with Kousuke.
Although there were occasional mistakes due to unfamiliarity with the lyrics, there were no major problems overall.
In this song, Guangyou didn't hear the dramatic intensity of other love songs; instead, it was unusually calm.
Both the melody of the lyrics and the story the song tells.
Just like the lyrics say, all I want is to be with you for the rest of my life...
It sounds simple, but it seems difficult to do.
This is the dream of many couples, but the ending is always very realistic.
That's why he couldn't help but get teary-eyed when he first heard the song.
Many young couples start out all lovey-dovey, singing passionate love songs and saying cheesy sweet nothings, but after a year or two, once the novelty wears off, they start arguing about breaking up.
It's as if all the vows we made back then were just empty promises.
Love stories like that of the old man and his wife are truly rare, so much so that encountering one online or in real life always evokes admiration for the beauty of their love.
While admiring their love, I offer my heartfelt blessings.
Guangyou didn't crave a passionate, dramatic love affair. He didn't care about any exciting challenges in his future life; he only hoped that his old age would be like the one dream he had one day:
I don't know which day it was many years later, I only know that it was a sunny afternoon.
Perhaps it's in a villa in the suburbs, or perhaps it's in a small courtyard in the city.
Guangyou has also grown old, his face etched with the wrinkles of time. He sits in a chair, holding a steaming cup of hot tea, taking a sip now and then.
Occasionally, I would glance at the woman beside me, who had grown old and whom I had loved for decades, and then turn around with her to watch the next generation, or even the generation after that, playing and laughing together in the distance.
That's all...
Thinking of that scene, Guangyou's eyes welled up again. He lowered his eyelids slightly, and the lyrics he uttered became even more affectionate.
At this point, the song is no longer just a song; it can be considered a story, a story describing the future...
Guangyou felt the scene before him gradually clearer, and he seemed to hear the sounds of children playing and the helpless laughter of the beautiful woman beside him...
The song is about oneself, and it's also about the future...
As he pondered this, a tear welled up in Guangyou's eye.
At this point, the song was almost over.
"From this day forward, I will always be with you..."
As the last word was spoken, a single tear that had been welling up in Guangyou's eye rolled down his cheek and dripped onto the stone steps.
"What’s wrong with you?"
Ai noticed Kousuke's unusual behavior and, turning her head, saw a tear in the corner of his eye. She looked very concerned and asked, "Why suddenly..."
“Before, I felt I shouldn’t have come into this world.” Kwangyu took a deep breath, but tears still uncontrollably streamed down his face. “Back then, I felt that coming into this world was the worst thing that ever happened to me, because I had no choice in the matter.”
Ai pursed her lips, looked at Kyou with tender eyes, and asked, "And now?"
Hearing this, Kwang-yu smiled.
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