He's in Detective Conan, and he's the mastermind behind everything.

Ying Sheng suggested, "How about our two teams have a friendly match after the game? It'll be free of charge, and the location..."

Ying Sheng looked towards the garden.

Sonoko excitedly suggested, "How about going to a villa in the mountains of Kanagawa Prefecture? Surrounded by nature, we're sure to have a great time!"

"What?! A social gathering?!"

Oh! Kanagawa Prefecture!

"Hiss—! A villa!"

The high school students of Beika High School whispered excitedly to each other, and almost all of them immediately agreed. After Teitan High School's karate club finished their morning match and left the stadium, Hotaru told them about it, and everyone responded excitedly.

"And so the matter was settled amicably."

Ying Sheng clapped his hands and raised his hand to the pile of support signs that had just been delivered from the Dimensional Store:

"Everyone, let's get into a good mood! The girl on the other side is really cute!"

"Wow!!! It's on fire!!!"

So, three minutes later, a girl with black, side-swept bangs appeared on stage, and all that could be heard was enthusiastic cheering from strangers in the stands:

"Go, Yang Nai!!!"

"Long live Haruna!!!"

"Must win!!!"

Wada Haruna's previously serious face immediately turned helpless. What kind of silly agreement did those boys reach with the other schools?

but……

Wada Haruna raised her head and looked at her opponent, who seemed somewhat uneasy under this inexplicable aura. A slight smile appeared on her lips; this feeling seemed not so bad after all.

"Prepare!"

The referee outside the field shouted loudly.

In the audience, Makoto Kyogoku smiled and said, "Mizuki-kun, because of you, Wada has become more relaxed, and her winning percentage is increasing."

"Haha, Xiaolan, did you hear that? You need to cheer up and not lose!"

Ying Sheng looked at Xiao Lan, who had come to the audience seats after leaving the stage. Perhaps because of the embarrassing exercise and the surrounding cheers, her face was flushed, like...

Like a strawberry cake?

"Most definitely."

Xiao Lan stared intently at the game, her eyes filled with pure enthusiasm.

Ying Sheng looked at her profile and smiled slightly.

Xiaolan is doing quite well at this moment.

pity.

The match ended quickly, a complete rout by Wada Haruna. Ran turned to look at Hotaru, a hint of unease in her eyes.

"Mr. Shuiyue, can I ask you something?"

Chapter 171 Xiaolan has always longed for her parents' approval.

"Do you want to invite your parents to watch the game?" Ying Sheng asked.

Xiaolan nodded quickly, then hesitated and said, "But after what happened before, I don't know if it's good to let them meet, so... I want to ask Shuiyue-kun for advice."

Her words drew sidelong glances from Sonoko and Makoto Kyogoku, but Hotaru remained unfazed, calmly retorting:

"Haven't you always wanted them to reconcile?"

"Sigh, that possibility is no longer possible."

"Let's take this opportunity to confirm again. When you tell them, don't mention the other party. See if they come together and how they communicate when they arrive."

"…………oh."

Seeing that Xiaolan looked a little disappointed, Yingsheng smiled and shook his head: "I'm saying, you actually want their approval and cheers more, right? You hope they are proud to have such an outstanding daughter as you."

Xiaolan sighed softly, without arguing, "Yes, isn't this acceptable?"

"Of course, almost everyone goes through such a stage in their growth process. But if you don't just maintain expectations from an emotional perspective, but rationally analyze the source and feasibility of everything, you will gain more."

Xiaolan turned her head, clasped her hands together, and bowed her head:

"Please, Master Shuiyue, enlighten me!"

"Ah…"

Hotaru chuckled: "I've talked about why you crave recognition many times, so I won't go into details. So how do you gain their recognition? Ran, in what situations would you recognize someone? Take Wada and Suzuki as examples."

Sonoko Suzuki glared at Hotaru with displeasure, then quickly cast a curious glance at Ran.

Xiao Lan pondered for two seconds, but did not mention any specifics. She simply stated, "Having strengths in personality, ability, and actions will earn you recognition."

Ying Sheng nodded: "Then let me ask you, if there were a top-notch assassin who takes money to do things and is extremely skilled at killing, would you approve of him?"

"Uh, no."

Is it a lack of recognition of his abilities, or a lack of recognition of his actions and his beliefs?

"Hmm...it should be the latter two."

"Then the answer is obvious: acceptance of something depends on one's own values ​​and beliefs."

Ying Sheng shrugged: "I think you know your parents very well. You should know their attitude towards your achievements in karate, and their attitude after you win the championship or even after you fail. Don't you know all of that?"

Xiaolan said dejectedly, "But it's different. Even if I know they care about me, I still want to hear them say it out loud."

"You probably have this thought because you're unsure about certain things. Especially Mr. Mori, who might have had reservations about your club activities in the past, just to get you home quickly to cook for him?"

"……No."

"Really?"

"Anyway, I'm just worried that I haven't done well enough; everything else is fine."

"Then what are you still hesitating about? Just do your best." Ying Sheng leaned back and gestured to the third person next to him, "Kyogoku-senpai, your senior, a towering figure in the field of karate, go and ask him for guidance."

Ran looked up and politely nodded to Makoto Kyogoku, then looked back at Hotaru:

"You know that's not what I meant, right?"

"Of course, the main thing is your parents' approval, right? Then it's even simpler."

Ying Sheng shrugged: "First, let's talk about Attorney Fei. If you can also get a perfect score into the law department of the University of Tokyo, her intimacy with you will definitely increase. If you can become a better lawyer than her in the future, or even defeat her in court, she will definitely recognize you and call you the strongest in court."

"........."

Xiaolan was speechless for a long time before weakly saying, "I think the possibility of me doing something like that is about zero. Besides, the case that Shuiyue-kun mentioned is too extreme. My mother's life isn't just about the law."

“But the law is the most important thing in her life. If you want to gain someone's long-term and profound recognition, you naturally have to demonstrate your strength, or even surpass them, in their area of ​​expertise. For example,” Hotaru looked at Makoto Kyogoku:

"Kyogoku-senpai, do you think someone who practices karate diligently but lacks natural talent and makes little progress deserves your recognition, or someone who defeats you fair and square in karate, regardless of the reason?"

Makoto Kyogoku said with a serious expression, "Both types of people deserve recognition, especially the former."

"But the former is actually extremely talented in physics research. If he continues to develop, he will at least become a renowned PhD in the scientific research field. Would you think that such a person is foolish or even wasting his talent by being so obsessed with karate, which has very little progress?"

"This……"

Makoto Kyogoku hesitated for two seconds: "If karate is what he wants to do, then it should be okay."

"But karate is actually something his family likes."

“Then I would think he is carrying too much on his shoulders, but the specific situation is different, so we can’t generalize.”

"Okay, and another thing, when that person finally turns to physics research and achieves great success, will you approve of him?"

"At that point, he probably wouldn't need my approval anymore, since we're in different fields."

"In other words, compared to his mediocrity in karate, your approval of him has actually decreased after he achieved success in his area of ​​expertise, right? Just like Shinya Yamanaka in yesterday's newspaper, who achieved great success in biology, but Kyogoku-senpai probably just glanced at him?"

"........."

Makoto Kyogoku was speechless: "Actually, I did read the newspaper yesterday, but I didn't notice this name at all."

"So, Xiaolan, do you understand?"

Ying Sheng turned her head to look to her left.

Xiao Lan snorted: "That's sophistry. You're using something that doesn't exist as an analogy."

"Tell me if this makes sense."

Ying Sheng shrugged: "Take Fei's cooking skills for example. There are master recipes all over the internet, and all kinds of seasonings can be bought at will. If you are worried about not getting the dosage right, you can buy a chef's scale. She is smart and has normal hands and feet. As long as she is willing to improve, it is impossible for her to always cook badly. It's not like there is some kind of rule-based weapon that has cursed her."

But according to what you said last time, ten years have passed and her cooking skills haven't improved at all. I think the answer is quite simple: she doesn't care about that at all.

So even if you're a great cook, do you think you can gain her approval in that regard?

At most, they'll say something like, "Xiao Lan, you're amazing," and then they'll probably forget about it.

Don't tell me you'd even expect this.

Xiaolan looked conflicted. She wanted to say that Yingsheng was just making excuses again, but the logic...

It is both clear and certain.

Xiaolan became dejected: "Does Shuiyue mean that I shouldn't have unrealistic expectations?"

Chapter 172 Xiaolan Wants to Know Yingsheng's Past

"I just think that other people's expectations are just a byproduct. Self-motivation, Xiaolan, that will always be the most important thing."

Hotaru turned his head to look at Kyogoku Makoto: "Just like Kyogoku-senpai, do you think he would give up his pursuit of martial arts because of such a strange thing?"

Makoto Kyogoku shook his head.

Hotaru picked up his phone again, turned on speakerphone, and spoke into it to Shinichi Kudo, who had just connected three seconds earlier: