Chapter 22

After a few days of recuperation, Xingchuan Heming got up early today. After a simple breakfast, he dug out the casual clothes that he had worn for a long time but washed very cleanly.

Today is the day I return to work at the Polo Cafe. I am grateful to the owner of the cafe for his tolerance and understanding, allowing me to return to work after such a long leave.

Xingchuan Heming looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was almost 7:30. So he packed up his things in a hurry and ran to the elevator.

Date Kou would be waiting for me downstairs at 7:30 on time, and it would be very embarrassing if he was late.

Yes, Date Ko is now waiting downstairs of Hoshikawa Kazuaki like a pervert waiting to pick up his girlfriend from get off work, intending to take him to work in the cafe.

Such treatment made Xingchuan and Ming wish they could find a hole to hide in, but Date Kou was not surprised by it.

"Don't be so shy. You can just treat this as a normal friend going to and from get off work together. After I drop you off, I'm going to work at the Metropolitan Police Department anyway, so it doesn't make any difference."

Ida Hang started the car and explained casually:

"Besides, the person who secretly poisoned you has not been found yet, so you'd better be careful at this time. Don't go out except for work. I'll accompany you on the road, so it will be much safer."

When it comes to the poisoning case, Xingchuan and Ming immediately become interested.

He turned slightly to look at Date Kou, and asked in a manner that seemed to show great concern, but in fact was a subtle reminder to Date Kou that he had a personal relationship with the criminal:

"So, what about those notices? Have you found the source? Who is the person who calls himself 'Xiaozhi'?"

"That's still under investigation. Of course, if you can remember anything, that would be great."

Since he was a person related to the case, Date Ko did not hide anything.

However, just when Hoshikawa Kazuaki was about to continue to lead the topic to his own doubts so that Date Kou could send out backup to investigate him, Date Kou comforted him first:

"Of course, no matter how much you know, you don't have to be nervous. We can all see that you, as the victim, may have known the other party before, but you were simply deceived by the other party in some way. In this case, we will not doubt you just because you have had an intersection before."

Xingchuan and Ming's faces froze. All their previous efforts were like a punch hitting cotton. They felt powerless.

He couldn't help but start to doubt his acting skills. Was it really that bad? He tried so hard to splash dirty water on himself, but he was still treated as an innocent victim deceived by the criminal?

Of course, he is indeed innocent.

Yi Dahang glanced at him from the rearview mirror and asked in confusion, "Huh? Why do you look like that?"

Xingchuan Heming forced a smile and said perfunctorily:

"It suddenly occurred to me that Officer Ida, why don't you just come to the coffee shop and sit down for a while, and let me make you a cup of coffee as a thank you."

Date Kou smiled brightly:

"Well, thank you for your hospitality. I've heard that your coffee making skills are as good as rice krispie!"

The coffee shop opens at eight o'clock, and it was only seven forty when they arrived outside the store.

If it was at this time on normal days, another employee, Ms. Xiaozi, would not have arrived yet. But today, not only was the store door opened, but even the cafe sign had been put up.

Xingchuan and Ming stood outside the store in silence for a moment.

I didn't expect that Miss Xiaozi would become so diligent even though I only took a few months off.

Yes, all the work was piled on her alone, she must have had a very hard time during this period!

Ida Kou, who was behind him, also parked his car and followed. Xingchuan Heming quickly opened the door for him with a sense of service and invited him in.

However, at the same time, there was also a cheerful welcome from inside the store:

"Good morning! Is Mr. Xingchuan back?"

Hearing this voice, Date Kou, who was about to walk into the store, suddenly froze.

Hoshikawa and Mingyi didn't react for a moment. They stretched their heads over Date Kou's broad shoulders and looked inside curiously.

Then he saw a handsome waiter with blond hair and dark skin wearing a dark apron just walked out of the warehouse, holding a basin of water for cleaning and looking over here. He naturally gave the two of them a bright and sunny smile.

Unlike Ida Ko's obviously stiff reaction, his gaze didn't even stay on Ida Ko for half a second longer.

"Good morning, I'm the new waiter, Toru Amuro. Which of the two of you is Senior Hoshikawa? The boss informed us yesterday that Senior Hoshikawa, who had been on sick leave, will be back to work today. Miss Azusa and I both breathed a sigh of relief."

The blond-haired, dark-skinned young man in front of him had a handsome face with a baby look. At this moment, he was blinking his big blue-purple eyes curiously, and his gaze swept back and forth between Xingchuan Kazuaki and Ida Kou.

The friendliness in his words immediately impressed Xingchuan and Ming.

However, after recognizing who the person in front of him was, Xingchuan and Ming began to complain wildly in their hearts.

Toru Amuro, the blond-haired and dark-skinned man who works at Poirot, who else could this person be but the public security undercover agent Rei Furuya?

I was so careless. I must have been influenced by my memory. I was so focused on going back to the cafe to work and earn money to play Conan. I completely forgot that such a great person would come in here.

Oh, by the way, when did Toru Amuro appear in the Café Poirot? Hoshikawa and Akira remembered that it seemed to be very late in the plot.

So, the timeline is actually very far along now, right?

So was it the right decision for me to go back to the café during such a sensitive period and run right under the nose of this intelligence expert?

Of course, no matter right or wrong, I can't escape now. In this case, it doesn't matter if I kill Conan alone or Toru Amuro.

It's just acting. I've even acted in front of the police before, so one more public security officer won't make a difference.

Then, Hoshikawa Kazuaki also showed his gentle signature smile and greeted Amuro Toru:

"Hello, Mr. Amuro, I am Hoshikawa Kazuaki, please just call me Hoshikawa. I'm really sorry for the trouble you and Ms. Azusa have had while I was away."

Hoshikawa Kazuaki walked out from behind Date Kou, and when he passed by Date Kou, he looked back curiously at his expression.

I saw that Ida Ko was trying hard to suppress the twitching of the corners of his mouth and keep his expression polite and curious.

However, his eyes just stayed somewhere in mid-air, not daring to look at that person who used to always have a serious expression, but now had a friendly and sunny smile, and exuded charming charm in every move.

Obviously, this was the only way to prevent him from laughing out loud on the spot.

Hoshikawa Kazuaki just casually glanced at Date Kou's reaction and did not dare to keep his eyes on him for too long.

Although he kept saying "it's just acting", Xingchuan and Ming knew clearly that they were facing the first and second best students in the entire police academy at that time.

Moreover, this happened during the extremely sensitive period when Rei Furuya was carrying out an undercover mission.

If I really show any suspicious behavior in front of them, I will be tracked down to the bottom.

I deliberately acted suspicious in front of Date Kou because I was planning to use some secret things behind him to activate the new copy. But if I acted suspicious in front of Amuro Toru, could it be that I felt that my current life was too comfortable and I wanted to actively seek excitement?

So Hoshikawa Kazuaki carefully gathered his unnecessary thoughts, and after briefly introducing himself, he pointed to Date Kou beside him.

"This is Officer Ida. He came to take me to work. I invited him to have a cup of coffee in the store before returning to the Metropolitan Police Department."

However, after hearing Hoshikawa and Akira introduce themselves, Date Ko suddenly regained his normal expression and his speech and movements became more casual.

He muttered:

"She has blonde hair like my girlfriend, which is rare!"

After saying this, he naturally skipped over his previous abnormality, and then he suddenly stretched out his hand to hook Xingchuan Heming's neck in a seemingly intimate manner, and retorted in a teasing tone:

"We are already friends who work together, why are you still addressing me in such a strange way? Xingchuan, you are my savior, so don't be polite to me, just call me by my name, or even Ida-sama."

As he said this, he reached out and ruffled Xingchuan and Ming's fluffy curly hair.

After all, he was someone who could lie to his instructors without batting an eyelid in order to cover up for his classmates while studying at the police academy.

Although Date Ko had not received special training like Furuya Rei and the others, he was able to quickly recover from the surprise of meeting his old friends and the shock of their new images and follow the scripts handed over by them.

Hoshikawa and Akiya immediately understood why Date Kou suddenly mentioned that matter.

He was hinting at the relationship between him and this friend who was not willing to reveal his identity. Maybe he was also hinting at the reason why he appeared with him.

So Xingchuan and Ming immediately cooperated and brought up the old matter again:

“Well… well, Ida-sama. But, Ida-sama, please don’t talk about savior or anything like that anymore. You did save me in that situation, and to be honest, the one who saved both of us at the last moment was…”

Xingchuan Heming stopped talking immediately after he said this, because he still remembered that after the matter was resolved, Date Kou had solemnly warned him that the matter should not be pursued any further and that it was over.

Seeing this, Date Ko nodded with relief and patted Hoshikawa Kazuaki's shoulder to comfort him.

However, in the brief gap between the pats on the shoulder, Date Kou glanced at Amuro Toru secretly, and in the blind spot behind Hoshikawa and Akira, he quickly made an "h" shape with his fingers.

Amuro Toru's heart sank as he saw this, and a look of surprise flashed across his eyes before he quickly withdrew it. From a hidden angle where Hoshikawa and Akira couldn't see, he shook his head slightly to Date Kou to show that he didn't know.

Then, he smiled warmly again, acted like a waiter, and said politely:

"Although it's not open yet, since you are a friend specially invited by Senior Hoshikawa, why don't you sit down and rest for a while and have a cup of coffee before leaving?"

The author has something to say:

A golden retriever police dog was found after being away from home for more than seven years.