Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

Lin Xiuyi thought the old man would just say a few words of advice and that would be the end of it.

Unexpectedly, Takeshita Matsufumi got so engrossed in his speech that he seemed to forget he wasn't at school and started rambling on and on, almost as if he wouldn't stop.

Lin Xiuyi listened helplessly, feeling like her ears were about to fall off, but she couldn't just interrupt.

Fortunately, at that moment, Mrs. Orikasa's gentle voice, tinged with a hint of a smile, came from the side: "Teacher Takeshita, I have something to discuss with Mr. Hayashi."

Takeshita Matsufumi, whose interest had been interrupted, showed a hint of displeasure on his face.

He gave Lady Orisaka a cold look, then waved his hand dismissively, as if shooing away an annoying fly.

Lady Orikasa didn't seem to mind. She smiled and nodded, then pulled Lin Xiuyi to sit down in a corner.

Relieved, Lin Xiuyi couldn't help but ask curiously, "Does Madam also know Mr. Takeshita?"

Mrs. Orikasa nodded, a hint of reminiscence in her eyes: "Teacher Takeshita's family used to run a general store in the shopping district. After his father passed away, Teacher Takeshita rented out the store."

"Back then, there weren't as many supermarkets as there are now. Takeshita General Store was a paradise for the children in our area. Everyone often went there to buy snacks, and once inside, we didn't want to leave."

"Has Takeshita-sensei always been this fond of lecturing?" Lin Xiuyi asked helplessly. "Even after leaving the school, he still..."

"Don't worry about it, Mr. Takeshita is just an old-fashioned guy, he hasn't changed at all over the years,"

Mrs. Orikasa chuckled.
“When I was in school, even though I wasn’t his student, if he saw me on the street, he would stop me and give me a lecture, telling me to stay away from those delinquents and hooligans.”

"I remember when I was sixteen, I dyed my hair brown, and he cornered me on a street corner and lectured me for a full half hour. He kept saying things like, 'A girl should act like a girl,' which made me so angry that I went home and dyed my hair even lighter."

As she spoke, she sighed softly, a hint of emotion flashing in her eyes.
"If I had listened to him back then, things might not be like this now..."

Her voice gradually lowered, and a look of loneliness appeared on her face.

Lin Xiuyi noticed the change in Madam Zheli's expression and considerately changed the subject.
"Xiao Lü's cooking skills have improved rapidly. She can already make some simple dishes on her own. I tried her tamagoyaki last time, and it tasted very good."

“Haha, that child didn’t like cooking when she was little,” Mrs. Orikasa said with a smile. “When I first learned that she wanted to learn cooking, I was shocked. I thought something had happened to her and she had changed her personality.”

During their casual conversation, the residents of the commercial street quickly gathered and began to discuss how to reject the Shimadzu Group's acquisition offer.

Lin Xiu listened to the discussion with great boredom. He had seen plenty of demolition projects in his previous life.

While a small number of residents oppose the acquisition and demolition because they are reluctant to leave their hometowns, the main reason for the opposition of most residents boils down to one word—money.

In this materialistic society, the temptation of money is too great. Many people are willing to give up the places they used to live for a large sum of compensation for demolition.

Once most people have reached an agreement with the Shimadzu Group, the remaining holdouts will likely be dealt with by the Shimadzu Group through coercion and inducement by the yakuza. If that fails, they will carry out forced demolitions.

Although forced demolition is illegal, the compensation is negligible compared to the current exorbitant profits in the real estate market.

Just like now, Mr. Kojima is standing on the stage, giving a passionate speech. He is emotional, his face is flushed, and he is waving his hands vigorously in the air, recounting the glorious history of the commercial street, trying to remind everyone of that pride and honor.

However, there were clearly not many people listening attentively in the audience. Many were whispering and discussing something amongst themselves.

Lin Xiuyi noticed that they were all talking about the acquisition price of Shimadzu Corporation.

"In the past two days, quite a few people have already started talking to the Shimadzu Group,"

Mrs. Orikasa sighed softly, her face revealing her uncertainty about the future of the shopping street.

"Shimadzu Corporation's offer was very high, and many people wavered. They felt that this was a rare opportunity to change their lives."

"What about Madam?" Lin Xiuyi asked. "Are you also willing to sell the flower shop?"

Without hesitation, Lady Orikasa shook her head.
“I inherited the flower shop from my parents. They worked hard all their lives, and this was the only shop they had left.”

“When I was young, I was immature and often made them angry and worried about me. Now that they have passed away, the flower shop is their only legacy, and I will never let it be demolished.”

Seeing Madam Zhe Li's resolute expression, Lin Xiuyi didn't want her to become a holdout and be threatened by the underworld in the future.

“Madam, if you don’t want the flower shop to be demolished, we can’t just hold meetings like this.”

"In a couple of days, we will protest in front of the Shimadzu Corporation's company."

“Protests are useless in this kind of thing,” Lin Xiuyi sneered. “Shimadzu Group dared to acquire such a large piece of land as the commercial street, so they must have already bribed the government officials at all levels.”

“But we have no other choice but to protest,” Mrs. Orikasa sighed.

“If we don’t want the commercial street to be acquired by the Shimadzu Group, the residents of the commercial street must work together,” Lin Xiuyi said with a smile. “The reason why some people are willing to talk to the Shimadzu Group now is simply because they are tempted by the price they are offering.”

"Land and housing prices in Tokyo have been skyrocketing in the past two years. Who knows how high they will rise next year or the year after?"

"Madam, why don't you and Mr. Kojima find an economics expert and have them tell the residents of the commercial street how much their land prices can rise in the future?"

"Humans are inherently greedy. Once people realize that selling land to the Shimadzu Group now will definitely lead to huge losses in the future, naturally fewer people will be willing to sell their land."

Mrs. Orikasa's eyes lit up, and a look of surprise appeared on her face: "This method is indeed excellent, much more useful than reminiscing about the past like this. Mr. Lin, you are truly clever; how come Mr. Kojima and I didn't think of that?"

Just as the two were talking, the hotel door was suddenly pushed open, and a group of people in suits walked in.

The man in the lead, with his hair neatly combed back, walked over arrogantly.

Upon seeing the other person, Mr. Kojima's face immediately darkened: "Ichikawa, what are you doing here!"

The man with slicked-back hair, Ichikawa, was the person in charge sent by the Shimadzu Group to acquire the shopping street. Faced with questioning, he smiled nonchalantly.
"Mr. Kojima, your question is rather ridiculous. This hotel hasn't been acquired by you, has it? Since you can come, naturally we can too..." (End of Chapter)