The establishment of the Time Travelers Alliance began in the first year of Conan

Chapter 183: Sure enough, Shinichi was cuter when he was little (two in one, please vote)
In the afternoon, the sun gradually changed from a dazzling golden color to a warm orange-red.

Ran Mao Li was walking on the pedestrian street, holding an empty shopping bag in one hand and holding Conan's hand in the other.

Although Mao Lilan also felt that the current situation was a bit strange——

She felt like one of those high school students in anime who saved the world, but even though they had saved the world, the next day they still had to go back to their daily lives and go to school as if nothing had happened.

Just like now——

She had just completed the discharge procedures this morning, but now she was holding Conan's hand and coming to this street to buy things, or to be more precise, to buy ingredients for tonight.

The food in the office is almost gone, even though my dad has been telling me to just buy some lunch boxes these days.

"Xiao Lan, we can buy some lunch boxes these days. The doctor said it's best not to do any strenuous exercise this month!"

"It's okay! If it's just grocery shopping and cooking, it's totally fine!"

In short, considering Shinichi's situation, Mao Lilan finally decided to make some steaming hot meals to try to cheer him up.

According to her original plan, she should have completed the process of renewing the passbook yesterday, and then took Conan to the mall to buy the Sherlock Holmes hat he had always wanted, and bought some more ingredients to celebrate the fact that her father finally received another large commission.

Unfortunately, the plan could not keep up with the changes.

Glancing calmly at Conan beside her, Ran Mouri saw that he had his head down and looked a little depressed, as if he had lost all contact with the outside world and refused to participate in any communication with anyone.

He has been like this since he was discharged from the hospital this morning.

Ran Mao Li tried to talk to Conan about the topic that he was most interested in.

"I'm sorry, Conan, you might have to wait a few days for the Sherlock Holmes hat, but Sonoko seems to have a Sherlock Holmes book at home..."

Conan's shoulders shifted slightly.

He seemed to come back to his senses, but still didn't look up. He just lowered his head and said "hmm" in a muffled response.

Looking down at Conan who was thinking about something with his head down, Ran Mouri bit her lip lightly and subconsciously held Conan's hand tighter.

Mao Lilan really didn't know how to comfort him.

This really made her feel powerless.

The warning in her heart warned her not to directly ask Conan what happened that night——

The dual timeline requires Ran Mouri to dilute Shinichi Kodo's anger, rather than adding fuel to the anger and even hatred.

She gave herself a little encouragement in her heart, and Mao Lilan tried to adjust her tone, trying to make the atmosphere more relaxed.

"What would you like for dinner, Conan?"

Conan paused, raised his head, and gave Xiaolan an innocent smile, "Anything is fine."

But Mao Lilan could still see that hint of gloom in his eyes.

Mao Lilan blinked and sighed softly in her heart——

It seems that I still need to work harder.

She tried to cheer herself up and said as she walked: "Actually, I was planning to make hot pot, but..."

She paused, waiting until Conan looked up at her because of her pause before continuing.

There was a hint of helplessness in Mao Lilan's tone.

"But the passbook and check I just replaced are lost. It may take the bank several months to repair them, and that Sonoko guy hasn't come back yet."

Thinking of this, Xiaolan couldn't help but sigh.

My father had just earned such a huge sum of commission, but now he can't take it out.

Fortunately, due to Kogoro Mouri's usual extravagance, she has long been accustomed to such a life.

There was a hint of helplessness in her tone, and she said to Conan apologetically:

"That means we have to cut back on our food expenses until the commission fee arrives again."

As she spoke, Xiaolan took Conan to a butcher's shop on the outside of the street.

There was a striking promotional flyer on the hanging sheet, with big red bold letters saying:

"Today's Special: Ground Beef on Sale!"

Daisuke Yokoyama, who was standing behind the counter, saw the familiar figure at a glance. He immediately greeted Ran Mouri with a smile.

"Xiao Lan, today's ground beef is on sale! Would you like to buy some?"

Looking at the fresh ground beef in the glass counter, Xiaolan thought for a moment, then she turned her head and shook the hand holding Conan: "Then let's make fried meat patties today, Conan?"

Conan raised his head suddenly as if waking up from a dream, and tried hard to put on a childlike and natural smile.

"Uh-huh!"

After getting Conan's response, Xiaolan turned to look at Mr. Yokoyama who had been looking at her with a smile.

"Then let's start with 150g," she said. After thinking about the other ingredients she needed to buy today, she hesitated for a moment and finally changed her mind, "Let's go with 100g."

"Okay, 100g ground beef!"

Daisuke Yokoyama responded cheerfully and was just about to get the ground beef when an aunt in a chef's uniform came over with a smile - it was Odayako.

She put her hands on her hips and looked at Conan, who was being held by Xiaolan, with a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

"Xiaolan! Who is this child?"

Xiaolan was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Aunt Miko, this is Conan who is staying at my house."

After staring at Conan who was being led by Ran Mouri for a few seconds, Odayako winked at Ran with a teasing smile.

"Could it be Mr. Maori's illegitimate child, hahaha."

Odayako's joke even made Xiaolan forget her worries for a moment. She was choked and quickly waved her hands.

"how could be!"

Conan, who was standing aside, looked ashamed.

He had been thinking about the pointer with his head down, but Odayako's words made a few black lines appear on his forehead. As he spoke, the corners of his mouth twitched, and he finally couldn't help but complain in his heart.

"Aunt Miko still loves gossip so much..."

"Alright! 100g of beef, and I'll give you 20g as a bonus!"

Xiaolan took the packaged beef and put it in the bag, then said thank you to Mr. Yokoyama who gave her 20g as a gift, and prepared to pay.

Then she heard Aunt Miko calling her again.

"Xiaolan, these are very fresh vegetables! I've been saving them for you!"

Before Xiaolan could react, Aunt Yazi had already started picking food from the shelf skillfully, as if she was preparing ingredients for her own children.

"Potatoes, onions, cabbage. This one has a hole in it. No, let me look at this one..."

"Oh, and tomatoes too. You have to buy these every time."

The big plastic bag was almost full in a moment.

But Aunt Miko didn't stop yet. She picked up a fresh cabbage from the shelf next to her, squeezed it into the gap in the plastic bag, and then said with a smile.

“This is a free gift!”

"Ah!" Xiaolan was stunned, then smiled gratefully, "Thank you, Aunt Miko!"

"Oh, thank you! The price is the same as before. Just take the lowest one!"

Aunt Miko's call of "Xiao Lan" seemed to trigger a chain reaction. Xiao Lan had just taken the shopping bag full of vegetables when she heard a familiar and cheerful voice coming from the side.

"Ah! It's Xiaolan!"

It’s Okamura Nagamoto, the owner of the fish shop. He is always so full of energy.

"Yeah, it's time to restock the refrigerator today!"

While shouting, Okamura even rushed out of the store with the fish in his hand and ran to Xiaolan.

"Hey, Xiaolan! Would you like a salmon?"

This was a salmon that was at least one meter long, its silver scales shining under the light. It even looked like it had just been taken out of the tank. It tried to break free from Okamura's clutches with great energy, throwing the water attached to its body everywhere.

Okamura patted the fish he was holding proudly, then held it in front of Xiaolan as if showing off his trophy, his excitement and pride almost undisguised. "Hey! Today's salmon is super fresh! Especially this one!"

The heartwarming scene before him finally pulled him away from his thoughts and brought him back to reality. The gloom that had been weighing on his heart seemed to be slightly diluted.

Those bustling streets, familiar faces, enthusiastic shouts...

I looked at the fruits stuffed into my left and right hands and the small black bag of mussels that an aunt had just hung on my index finger.

Conan couldn't help but twitch his mouth. The current situation...

It's exactly the same as when I used to come here with Xiaolan to buy groceries...

As expected, Xiaolan’s popularity is still so high.

Then the curious looks from those familiar aunts and uncles made Conan's heart sink.

Not good——!
Sure enough, someone spoke the next second.

"Eh? Who is this child?"

Faced with everyone's enthusiastic questions, Mao Lilan had to patiently explain it again.

"This child is boarding at my house. He should be—should be Shinichi's younger brother!"

Everyone showed an expression of sudden enlightenment.

"I didn't expect that child actually had such a little brother!"

"call--"

Conan breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and he quietly lowered his head to avoid further attention from the aunts and uncles who surrounded him.

He just remembered why he had always refused to go shopping with Xiaolan before -

Because I have always come to this street with Xiaolan to buy vegetables since I was a child!
Conan couldn't help but let out a drop of sweat on his forehead, thinking to himself that something was wrong.

This is bad. I was thinking about the case all morning and didn’t notice that Xiaolan had just suggested taking me here to buy groceries.

If the uncles and aunts here recognize that I look exactly like Shinichi when he was a child...

And what Okamura said next almost made Mouri Ran and Conan fall to the ground.

After recalling it uncertainly, Okamura scratched his head a little embarrassedly.

"To be honest, when I first saw this child, I thought it was yours and that Shinichi kid's child!"

"Hey, it sure seems like it!"

"Ugh?!"

Caught off guard, Mao Lilan's eyes widened and a blush instantly appeared on her cheeks. The topic changed too quickly!

"Mr. Okamura, what are you talking about?!"

Okamura waved his hand. Shinichi and Xiaolan were two children that they could be said to have grown up under their care. He showed an innocent smirk.

"Hey, don't get excited, I was just joking!"

Odayako on the side couldn't help laughing, "But now that you mention it, this child does look a lot like Shinichi when he was a kid."

She looked at Xiaolan with emotion, as if recalling memories of her youth.

"When I first saw you guys coming to buy groceries, you were still tiny."

"Yeah, it was probably more than ten years ago. A little kid suddenly came over and said he wanted to buy some onions or something. Oh, I remember it so clearly. At that time, you were not even as tall as Daisuke's counter."

"I almost cried because I couldn't figure out the change."

"Haha, really!"

Okamura laughed heartily. He looked at his hands holding the salmon. These hands were no longer as young and strong as they used to be. He almost let the fish slip away just now.

"Time flies! Ten years have already passed in a flash."

"Oh! I wish my child was as sensible as you."

Aunt Miko sighed, "Actually, I've always admired you, Xiaolan. It's really not easy."

Xiaolan was slightly stunned, then showed a warm smile: "Thank you, Auntie."

As for Conan, who was standing aside, he was trying hard to maintain a childlike smile on his face.

But in his heart, he was already devastated and held his forehead with his hands - how did the topic suddenly turn to this direction!!!

While there were not many customers in the store, Daisuke Yokoyama opened the partition leading to the street and walked out of the store.

He casually wiped the meat residue off his hands and asked curiously.

"But why didn't Shinichi come this time?"

Yokoyama pointed to the opposite side of Xiaolan and lowered his voice. His next words made Conan, who was standing beside him, feel a little embarrassed.

"If it's the same as before, that kid must be playing football across the street and secretly watching you."

Xiaolan glanced at Conan beside her. He was looking down at the tip of his shoes and pretending not to hear.

Xiaolan couldn't help but feel a little funny in her heart, and a gentle smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.

"Shinichi, he must have been entangled in some case recently."

"Oops, I forgot that kid was a famous high school detective."

The conversation was silent for a moment, and then Okamura's familiar loud voice broke the brief silence.

"I've packed it all for you, Xiaolan! Remember to come and patronize us next time! I'll definitely save the best fish for you!"

Okamura smiled and stuffed the processed fish into a bag filled with ice, then handed it to Xiaolan and gave her some instructions in a serious tone.

"Hehe, it will definitely be the freshest if we bring it back this way! Xiaolan, this good fish can't be wasted! I couldn't bear to eat it and left it for you!"

"Okamura! You're just talking nonsense. Just yesterday you said you were so sick of fish that you couldn't taste it anymore!"

"Yokoyama, what are you doing..."

Just like in the past, these enthusiastic people prepared everything Xiaolan wanted.

"Well, I just happened to have 50 yen left."

After paying, Xiaolan opened her wallet and looked at it. She didn't know what she thought of, but a smile suddenly appeared at the corner of her lips.

Conan looked up in confusion.

"Sister Xiaolan?"

Xiaolan shook her head slightly. She didn't explain anything. She sorted out the bags hanging on Conan and put them into her bag. Xiaolan took Conan's hand again.

"Conan, we'll go home next!"

It was almost evening, and Xiaolan felt that time had passed so quickly this afternoon. She glanced down at Conan beside her and saw that he still had a puzzled look on his face.

Suddenly, a thought of playing a prank came to her mind. Xiaolan suppressed her nervousness and tried to make her tone sound cheerful.

"Conan, just now Uncle Okamura actually mistook you for the child of me and Shinichi."

Conan paused slightly, his eyes flickering violently for a moment.

Could it be that Xiaolan has recognized me? !
Then he heard Xiaolan speak.

"Conan, what do you think if I and your brother Shinichi..."

What pointers, what cases...

For our poor elementary school detective, Mao Lilan's straight shot directly stopped Conan's brain from responding.
Xiaolan could clearly see that Conan's little face was turning red at a speed visible to the naked eye, and even the tips of his ears were turning a little red.

Conan felt his cheeks suddenly getting hot, and he even felt like steam was coming out of his head because of what Xiaolan had just said.

"I...how could I know...know!"

Looking at Conan's stammering rebuttal, Xiaolan blinked and couldn't help laughing.

——As expected, Shinichi was cuter when he was a child.

(End of this chapter)