Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

After lunch, the three little devils had already cleaned up the dishes on the table and arranged them neatly. Although there were still a few water stains that hadn't been wiped clean, it still showed a bit of childlike seriousness.

Lin Xiuyi glanced at the three little devils who were chattering and playing around the sofa.

"You guys go out and have fun. Qian Su and I will stay here and set up the scene for the birthday party tonight."

Matsuda Jinpei's eyes lit up immediately. Going out to play was certainly better than staying at home, but he still coughed to appear reserved: "Really? You don't need our help?"

"I'll call you back when I need you," Lin Xiu said with a smile. "Now, disappear for at least two hours."

Rei Furuya and Kenji Ogihara exchanged a glance, both seeing eagerness in each other's eyes.

After all, it's a summer afternoon, which boy would want to stay cooped up indoors?
"Then let's go to the nearby park!" Matsuda Jinpei jumped up. "I discovered yesterday that they installed a new horizontal bar there. I'm sure I can break my pull-up record!"

The three boys rushed out the door like a gust of wind, leaving only the swaying curtain in the entryway and the gradually fading sounds of their laughter.

The room suddenly fell silent. Lin Xiuyi turned his head and found Ogiwara Chisato standing at the kitchen door, holding a rag in her hand, looking at him somewhat helplessly.

“Well then,” Lin Xiuyi smiled and walked to the locker, opened the door to reveal the ribbons, balloons and decorations that had been prepared beforehand, “let’s begin.”

Ogiwara Chisato then came to her senses and quickly came over to help.

The two carried boxes of decorations to the center of the living room and began discussing how to arrange them.

"It would be better to hang ribbons here," Lin Xiuyi pointed to the top of the window frame. "Balloons can be tied to the back of chairs, and when Zhenping blows out the candles, we can suddenly let them go and let the balloons fly all over the room."

“That sounds amazing!” Ogiwara Chisato’s eyes lit up as she picked up a string of gold ribbons. “This color matches Jinpei’s curly hair perfectly.”

Lin Xiu was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh out loud: "What kind of strange matching theory is this?"

"Intuition!" Ogiwara Chisato said confidently, though her cheeks were slightly flushed.

She didn't know why she said those words, but she always felt she should say something in front of Lin Xiuyi, even if it sounded a little silly.

The two got busy.

Lin Xiuyi was tall enough to be in charge of hanging the decorations high up.
Ogiwara Chisato carefully tied balloons of different colors to the back of each chair.

They occasionally touch hands or brush past each other in narrow spaces.

Every unintentional touch made Ogiwara Chisato's heart race.
But she tried to hide it, pretending to be focused on the work at hand.

"Qiansu, could you get me some scissors?" Lin Xiuyi stood on a chair, holding a string of colorful ribbons in her hand.

"Ah good."

Ogiwara Chisato hurriedly turned around to look for it, but accidentally kicked the balloon box on the ground, causing her to stumble forward a few steps.

A pair of hands firmly supported her shoulders.

Be careful.

Lin Xiuyi had jumped off the chair at some point.
His hands were warm and strong, penetrating her skin through her thin summer shirt.

Ogiwara Chisato froze.

She could feel the temperature of her cheeks rising, her mind went blank, and even her breathing became cautious.

"Th-thank you..." the girl stammered, not even daring to look up at him.

Lin Xiuyi released her hand and took a step back, giving her some space.

"The scissors are on that table over there," he said, pointing to the other end of the living room.

“Oh, right…” Ogiwara Chisato practically fled to the table, her fingers trembling slightly as she picked up the scissors and handed them to him. Hayashi Shuichi took the scissors, and a barely perceptible smile appeared on his lips as he looked at her flushed cheeks and darting eyes.

But he said nothing, and simply climbed back onto the chair to continue hanging the ribbons.

The room fell silent again, with only the rustling of ribbons unfurling and the soft rustling of balloons.

……

Meanwhile, the three boys had already run to a nearby park.

It's called a park, but it's really just a small green space in the community with a few old trees, a sandpit, a simple set of fitness equipment, and a new horizontal bar that was just installed yesterday.

The small park was quiet in the afternoon, with only the chirping of cicadas echoing among the treetops.

"Watch this!" Matsuda Jinpei rushed to the horizontal bar, jumped and grabbed the bar, and began doing pull-ups. "One, two, three..."

Rei Furuya and Kenji Ogihara stood to the side counting.

Just as Matsuda Jinpei was doing his seventh, a familiar figure appeared at the park entrance.

“Ida?”

Matsuda Jinpei released his grip and jumped down, looking in surprise at the tall, hesitant boy.

"Didn't I tell you to go straight to my house? Why are you here?"

Ida Kou scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly, his other hand holding a box carefully wrapped in wrapping paper.

"My dad has to go to work today, and I had nothing to do at home, so I came out."

"But I felt it was a bit too early, so I didn't go..."

Ida Wataru and Matsuda Jinpei only met yesterday. Although they get along well and have made plans to attend each other's birthday parties, they are not yet very familiar with each other.

It was obviously inappropriate to visit someone's house too early, which is why he lingered in the small park.

Matsuda Jinpei glanced at the bag beside his leg.

That was clearly a birthday gift prepared for him. Then, looking at the embarrassed expression on Date Wataru's face, he suddenly understood.

"If you go earlier, you can still get to eat the curry made by Brother Xiuyi, it's delicious." Matsuda Jinpei said deliberately in a regretful tone, as if Date Wataru had missed out on a great meal.

Sure enough, Date Kou's eyes lit up: "Brother Xiuyi can cook?"

"Master runs an izakaya (Japanese pub) in Tokyo, and business is booming!"

Rei Furuya immediately chimed in, starting to "brag" for Hideaki Hayashi.
"His cooking is better than many restaurant chefs! The curry rice I had for lunch today was the best I've ever had!"

He described it so vividly that even Kenji Ogihara couldn't help but glance at him, as if to say, "Is it really that exaggerated?"

But Rei Furuya's expression was so serious that Wataru Date clearly regretted his decision.

If I had known, I wouldn't have hesitated and would have gone straight to the Matsuda family's house!
"Oh, right," Matsuda Jinpei suddenly remembered something, his eyes darting between his three friends, "what birthday presents are you all planning to give me?"

He wasn't polite at all and asked directly.

"Let me make this clear first, I don't like dolls or other things that girls play with."

"Hey, how can you just ask someone for a birthday present like that?" Rei Furuya said irritably. "You're so shameless." (End of Chapter)