I'm in Conan, I'm not a gangster

Chapter 363 Retreating to Advance (1st Update)
After dinner, Ran helped Eri wash the dishes and left so as not to disturb her mother's rest.

On her way home, she said helplessly to Kogoro Mouri, who was walking with a cane and huffing and puffing, "Dad... can't you say less? Mom isn't feeling well yet."

Kogoro Mouri rolled his eyes and couldn't help but say, "My health isn't better either!"

"And why do you always tell me to say less?"

"Why don't you go and tell your proud mother to tone it down a bit?"

Xiaolan looked at her father with a headache and reminded him, "Can't you be a little more considerate of Mom because she's a girl?"

She really didn't know how the other person, with such a stubborn and obnoxious personality, had managed to win over her mother when he was young.

She couldn't help but remind her, "And don't you want to make up with Mom? If you behave yourself, Mom will soften."

Kogoro Mouri knew this, of course, but he said somewhat unhappily, "It's because she doesn't want to make up!"

"Every time we meet, doesn't he start by mocking me?"

Xiaolan opened her mouth, but suddenly became speechless.

She carefully recalled the scene from tonight—it was indeed her mother who started the conversation, in that familiar, barbed tone.

This made Xiaolan feel a tightness in her chest, and she didn't know what to say.

You two both have problems!!!

Seeing his daughter's silence, Kogoro Mouri seemed to find confidence, raising his chin even higher: "See! You noticed too, didn't you?"

He slammed his cane on the ground. "You should be trying to persuade your mother, not me!"

After saying that, he turned around abruptly and strode forward, leaning on his cane.

Although his leg injury made his steps somewhat unsteady, he moved surprisingly fast, as if trying to shake off something unpleasant.

"Dad!" Xiaolan wanted to chase after him, but Shiraishi E gently pulled her wrist.

"Let him calm down," Shiraishi E said softly, her gaze following Kogoro Mouri's retreating figure. "Besides, there are many things that happened between them that you don't know about; it can't be resolved with just a few words."

"Ah...you're right." Xiaolan rubbed her temples, feeling a strong sense of helplessness, and said, "They clearly still care about each other."

Why must we hurt each other like this?

Shiraishi E felt the answer was obvious—it was simply a matter of personality, nothing more to say.

He didn't tell Xiaolan the answer; it wouldn't have mattered anyway.

Feeling like she couldn't handle it, Ran looked to Shiraishi E for help and said, "E, what should we do now?"

Shiraishi E offered Ran a suggestion, saying, "Actually, I do have a solution?"

Xiao Lan was overjoyed and kept asking, "What's the method?"

"Just make them divorce," Shiraishi Ei suggested.

"Huh?" Xiaolan stood there stunned after hearing this suggestion, thinking she must be hallucinating.

"Divorce?" Her voice trembled slightly, her expression and tone tinged with anger. "Hui! I want them to reconcile, not divorce!!"

Shiraishi E held Ran's hand, signaling her to calm down, and said, "Don't rush, let me finish."

"Sometimes, to rebuild, you have to demolish the dilapidated buildings first."

He looked at Kogoro Mouri's retreating figure and said, "Your parents are like two opposing city walls, neither willing to yield first."

This statement forced Xiaolan to accept it, but she still hesitated and her eyes flashed with a struggle.

Shiraishi E continued, "This move is called 'retreating to advance'... People only realize how much they care when they are about to lose something."

“I can see that your parents still have feelings for each other, but because of their personalities, neither of them is willing to swallow their pride and apologize first.” “So they keep dragging it out, and after all these years, there is still no resolution.”

"But if we let them get a divorce, they'll definitely panic. Neither of them wants to lose the other, and they certainly won't be so concerned about saving face or so stubborn anymore."

Xiaolan's brows gradually relaxed, and she realized that this was indeed the case.

She suddenly frowned, and said worriedly, "But... what if they really get divorced?"

"So what if you get a divorce? A marriage certificate is just a piece of paper anyway," Shiraishi E reminded him. "Besides, you can always remarry after a divorce!"

"As long as the feelings between the two people are still there, then there's no problem!!"

He still cautioned, "This method is a bit extreme. Use it with caution."

"If it succeeds, the two of them will definitely get back together; if it fails... they might really break up."

After hearing this idea, Xiaolan began to think about it.

She remembered that her father would secretly look at her mother's photos every time he got drunk!
In her mother's study, there was also a pocket watch that her father had given her years ago!
Even the cat in the office, Mom named Goro!

No matter how you look at it, they both have feelings for each other!

After thinking about this, Xiaolan's eyes hardened, and she said, "Hmm... I think we can take a gamble!"

She looked at Shiraishi E again and said, "So what should I do now?"

Seeing that Ran was willing to use this tactic, Shiraishi E offered a solution, saying, "When you go home to take care of Detective Mouri these past few days, deliberately bring up the topic of divorce."

"The reasons are things like, 'Forced happiness is not true happiness, you should separate sooner rather than later,' or 'Divorce while you're still young and can find another partner.'"

"Maybe at this point, Detective Mori will back down and take the initiative to reconcile with Attorney Kisaki, without having to go to the very end."

Xiaolan listened carefully and found it to be very reasonable, so she secretly wrote it down in her mind.

After returning to the Mouri Detective Agency, Ran said goodbye to Shiraishi E and then helped Mouri Kogoro upstairs.

After helping the other person to sit down on the sofa, Xiaolan went to pour water while adjusting her own emotions and expression.

At this moment, she was very grateful for her acting experience and for Yukiko's guidance on acting; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to get into character so smoothly.

"Dad, have some water." Ran handed a glass of water to Kogoro Mouri.

"Thank you." Kogoro Mouri took the water glass and gulped it down.

Xiaolan said softly, "Dad, I think... why don't you divorce Mom?"

"Pfft—cough cough cough…you…what did you say?" Kogoro Mouri turned around and spat out his drink. He stared at Ran in disbelief, never expecting her to say something like that!

Ran breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Kogoro Mouri's shocked face; she knew at a glance that her father didn't want a divorce.

This actually relieved her.

"I'm saying, why don't you and Mom get a divorce?" Xiaolan said with a worried and concerned expression. "I see that every time you two meet, it ends badly, and you're always so unhappy."

“It’s been ten years already… I think that if we continue to force things, you won’t be happy.”

"Why not take advantage of your youth and break up with him now to find someone new... It'll be better for all of you!"

"Ah, this..." Kogoro Mouri was a little stunned by this move, and stammered for a moment, not knowing what to say.

After witnessing this scene, Xiaolan became even more certain that he was the one who didn't want a divorce.

So she became even more enthusiastic in her persuasion, saying things like, "After I entered my senior year of high school, I was busy preparing for the college entrance examination and didn't have time to take care of you." "After I moved out of the university, you'll be all alone, and it's time to find someone else to take care of you."

This made Kogoro Mouri feel somewhat agitated, yet he didn't know what to do, and felt inexplicably irritated.

(End of this chapter)