Daily Spy Life in the Detective Conan World

Chapter 207 It's a pity we can't have mixed bathing.
Five o'clock in the evening.

Xia Chuan, wearing a long trench coat, silently looked at the flowerbeds on the balcony, which had been battered by rain, snow, and frost, in the cold wind.

"You've all had a tough time, dealing with such unpredictable weather."

The flowerbed in front of me had already wilted from the cold wind and falling snow.

It was sunny and bright this morning.
Seeing this weather, Xia Chuan had already figured out the reason.

It seems Conan has triggered another plot point, and it's a winter-themed one at that.

I walked to the edge of the fence, pushed aside the withered ivy, and looked at the Maori house across the way.

The doors and windows were closed, and the lights were off, so they probably weren't home.

The thought of heading out to the hot spring inn in Mikamachi soon gave Natsukawa a bad feeling.

"I hope not."

Xia Chuan sighed. Encountering a murder case while soaking in a hot spring was not the outcome he wanted, but the weather also made him feel uneasy.

I should have asked Uncle Mori about his schedule today beforehand.

However, since things have come to this point, Xia Chuan has no choice but to face the challenge head-on.

Besides, what are the chances of such a coincidence? You can't expect to run into Conan everywhere you go.

"Father, let's go! Let's go to the hot springs in Mikamachi!"

Anya grabbed Xia Chuan's big hand with her little one from behind: "Auntie Joel is home, let's leave right away!"

We originally planned to go again tomorrow, but Anya insisted on soaking in the hot spring one more time, so Natsukawa decided to leave in the evening.

Seeing Anya wearing a thick pink sweater when he turned around, Natsukawa felt much better.

At this moment, Anya looked like a plush doll, with the magic hat on her head and the earmuffs hanging on her ears adding to her cuteness.

Xia Chuan nodded, acknowledging his own keen eye; he was always at the forefront of fashion.

The little girl's pale green eyes sparkled with excitement and joy, clearly indicating that she had been looking forward to the hot spring trip for a long time. She coaxed Xia Chuan for a while, urging him to hurry downstairs and out the door.

"Ania is so cute!" Xia Chuan turned around, picked up the little girl, and walked down the stairs.

Downstairs, Joel, wearing a pink coat, had clearly just arrived, with a few specks of snow still on his head.

Xia Chuan stepped forward to help him brush his hair aside, then took the other man's soft hand and smiled, "Even a coat can't hide your charm."

Joel lightly punched Xia Chuan in the chest, and the two stared at each other for a few seconds, their eyes filled with the sweet and sour smell of love.

Anya was getting a little anxious. The bathing time agreed upon with the hot spring inn was seven o'clock, and it would take an hour to get to Mikamachi from here. If her father and Aunt Yoel continued their sweet talk, that time might not be enough.

After being "devilishly educated" by Ai Haibara for a few days, Anya's math skills improved to a certain extent. She can now clearly calculate addition and subtraction within 100, and calculating time is no problem for her.

“Father, Aunt Joel, let’s go quickly. We can talk about our lovemaking at the hot spring hotel later.”

When Joel heard the words "lovey-dovey," his face instantly turned red. He glared at Xia Chuan, then looked at Anya, a little shy.

Xia Chuan chuckled, took Joel's little hand and squeezed it twice, feeling the warmth from his hand, before walking towards the living room with satisfaction.

"I'm going to get my luggage, wait for me for a minute."

"Hmm." Joel nodded, then glanced around the living room and asked, "Where did Ai go? She's about to leave and I still haven't seen her?"

Over the past few days, Joel and Ai Haibara have become quite familiar with each other.

Seeing that the other person was not there, I was a little confused.

Xia Chuan had told her the whole story beforehand, and she didn't object to it.

Having grown up without parents, she deeply understood Ai Haibara's feelings at this moment. The indifference the other party showed was probably a form of self-protection born from insecurity.

Therefore, Joel felt great sympathy for Ai Haibara. In recent days, she has been coming to Natsukawa's house every day after get off work to chat with Ai Haibara in an attempt to open her heart.

She also asked a colleague in the class to help her find the other party's parents.

However, after several days, no one reported the child missing.

During this period, I went through a lot of paper files, but I couldn't find any information about Ai Haibara.

Japan's identification system is very outdated. If a child goes missing, it is very difficult to find him in the Metropolitan Police Department's files, so Joel had to give up.

They are hoping that Ai Haibara's parents will report the case to the Metropolitan Police Department.

However, three or four days passed and the other party's parents still hadn't appeared. Either Ai Haibara had been abandoned, or something had happened to her parents.

Since there are no clues and no way to investigate, we can only leave it for now.
Xia Chuan shook his head: "Ai has to go to Professor Agasa's house, so she won't be coming with us. I've already arranged for nearby restaurants to deliver the meals to our house for the next two days."

"Aren't you going?" Joel asked, somewhat worried.

Ai Haibara has amnesia, and she seems reluctant to socialize right now. Maybe we should take her to see a psychologist.

When a child is quiet and expressionless, it may be a form of self-protection, but it could also indicate feelings of inferiority or autistic tendencies.

Because of Anya, Joel has recently learned a lot about books on children's education and psychological growth, and Ai Haibara fits the autistic tendencies mentioned in the books.

Xia Chuan clearly saw Yoel's worry, shook his head and smiled: "Don't worry, Ai is fine. Professor Agasa also knows a little about psychology. He said Ai is fine, so she's definitely fine."

At most, it's just that I'm not used to the new living environment.

Today I'm going to Professor Agasa's office for another check-up to see if we can find the cause of my amnesia or restore my memories.

This is what Ai Haibara and Natsukawa said. Natsukawa didn't believe it, but she could tell others. And since Yoru didn't know Ai Haibara's situation, saying it this way would put the other party at ease.

"No, they're clearly going to do research," Anya muttered quietly beside them, so softly that neither of the adults heard her.

The thought of carrying that little backpack made her grit her teeth in frustration!

Ai Haibara! She's not human!

hateful!

Can this really be called experiencing hot springs and skiing? This is clearly just doing homework in a different place, okay?
Anya has already begun plotting to find an opportunity to dig up some dirt on Ai Haibara and use it to blackmail her.

Like Conan.

The current situation is too passive; we must find an opportunity to switch positions!
The road to Mikamachi is not easy to travel, and the snow has affected driving speed. Passing other vehicles on the single-lane road is sometimes quite troublesome.

"The hot spring hotel that was found somewhere in the Beihua Department Store is in a remote corner, and the road is so difficult to walk on."

Xia Chuan made a comment, feeling a little more at ease.

Given how difficult the path is, it's unlikely that the Grim Reaper Elementary School Student or the Grim Reaper "Famous" Detective will appear.

Most of the vehicles on the road were off-road vehicles, and many of them had a lot of things strapped to their roof racks, including some ski equipment, so it was clear that they were there to ski.

"So many people." As they passed the ski resort, Anya gripped the window with both hands, looking at the vast expanse of white snow, feeling somewhat eager to try it out.

"I'll take you skiing tomorrow. It's too late now, and it's not safe for beginners to ski at night."

"Thank you, Father!" Anya jumped for joy.

"Close the car windows. The temperature here is even lower than in Tokyo. We're still driving. It's not only dangerous for you to stick your head out like that, but the cold wind will also get into your clothes."

If you catch a cold, you'll be stuck in the hotel watching others ski tomorrow.

Xia Chuan's threat worked quite well; Anya immediately closed the window and sat down obediently. It was nearly seven o'clock when Xia Chuan and his group of three finally arrived at the hot spring inn.

The guesthouse wasn't very big, and the location wasn't great. In this day and age, there's no GPS navigation, so it took Xia Chuan quite a while to find it.

"Genbei Onsen Ryokan! We're here!"

Anya quickly got out of the car and ran around the hot spring hotel. When she returned, she saw Xia Chuan standing in the parking lot, deep in thought.

"Father, what's wrong?"

Yoel was equally curious. After Natsukawa got out of the car and saw the Mori family's car, he fell silent, as if he didn't want to see Mr. Mori.

It's a bit strange. They're neighbors, and you should be happy to run into each other from so far away.

She remembered that Natsukawa and the Mori family had a good relationship.

Xia Chuan was filled with mixed emotions. He sighed and looked up at the plaque above the gate—Genbei Hot Spring Inn.

Is this another location where a crime has occurred?
What you can't avoid will eventually come. Since you can't escape it, just endure it and enjoy it at the same time.

Xia Chuan also took it in stride, forcing a smile and shaking his head, saying, "It's nothing, it just feels a bit too coincidental."

"That's Uncle Mori's car!" Anya also spotted the Mercedes next to the GTR. Because it was a limited edition, its appearance was quite distinctive, and even someone like Anya who didn't know much about cars could recognize it quickly.

"Could Conan be here too?" Anya looked up at her father and noticed that he was sighing inwardly.

However, she wasn't curious or cared what she was thinking. Right now, all she wanted was to take a bath. She had arranged to meet the hotel owner at seven o'clock, and if she kept procrastinating, she would be late.

"Father, let's hurry inside to soak in the hot spring, it's so cold outside."

"it is good!"

Anya and Joel walked ahead, while the gentleman followed behind carrying two small suitcases.

One is Anya's, and the other is Yol's.

As for himself?
Sorry, it's only for one night. He only brought one set of clothes and left them in the back seat. He's too lazy to get them now, but he can get them tomorrow when he changes his clothes.

For boys, especially those who already have girlfriends, appearance isn't that important.

"Oh, it's Brother Xia Chuan and Sister Yue'er Yue'er."

Xiao Lan had just returned from somewhere and saw Xia Chuan and Yue Er standing at the door, about to knock. She waved to them.

"Ania is here too!"

Feeling ignored, Anya quickly climbed onto Xia Chuan to elevate her "status," waving and greeting Xiao Lan.

"Ania's here too—"

Ran clearly didn't expect to run into her neighbor outside of Tokyo; what a coincidence!

She jogged up to the family of three, smiling and greeting them, "Are you here for the hot springs today too?"

She glanced around but didn't see Ai Haibara, which made her feel puzzled.

Conan had told her about Ai Haibara, and they had met several times in the past two days, so he knew that the Natsukawa family had a very cute brown-haired girl.

She remembered Ai Haibara vividly because she felt that Ai Haibara and Sonoko looked a little bit alike when they were young.

"Yeah, I didn't expect Ran and you guys to come too." Natsukawa glanced behind Ran but didn't see Kogoro Mouri or Conan.

"Conan and his dad are watching TV in their room. There's a new drama called 'Snow Woman' that's been released recently, and his dad really likes it, so he's watching it now."

I originally wanted them to come with me to check out the ski resort, but they were both lazybones.

Xiao Lan made a comment.

"By the way, where is Ai?"

"Haibara went to Professor Agasa's house for a medical check-up. It's just Anya and her family of three today."

Anya emphasized the phrase "a family of three" to remind Ran across from her that Ai Haibara was an outsider.

Xiao Lan hummed in agreement, chatted with the others for a few more minutes, and then went into the guesthouse together.

At this time, an elderly man and woman had been waiting in the entrance hall for quite some time.

The owner and his wife had already heard the noise of parking and conversations outside, so they waited at the door in advance.

"Welcome! I am Kitamura Genbei, the owner of Genbei Onsen Boutique. This is my wife, Kitamura Kayo. Welcome to our onsen Boutique."

The old man glanced at Xiaolan, who seemed quite familiar with the new guest, and asked curiously, "Miss Xiaolan, do you know Mr. Xia Chuan and the other two?"

"Yes, Mr. Natsukawa lives right across from us. I never expected to run into him here."

“That’s quite a coincidence.” Kitamura Genbei nodded and continued:

"Mr. Mori and Conan are watching TV in the living room. You can wait in the guest rooms for a while. The hot spring area is still being cleaned. I will come and call you when it is finished."

"Okay." Xia Chuan glanced around. The entrance hall led directly to the corridor, and you could see all the way to the end. There were about seven or eight rooms scattered on the left and right, and it couldn't accommodate many guests.

There didn't seem to be any other guests.

Moreover, during their conversation just now, he heard Xiaolan mention the Snow Woman.

He vaguely remembered such a case, but he had no recollection of the specific details, nor did he know whether the deceased was the guesthouse owner or a guest.
Hopefully it's not the owner, otherwise we won't be able to enjoy the hot springs.

The Kitamura couple greeted the group and led them into the living room, where they found a large and a small couple lounging on the tatami mats, intently watching television.

Perhaps the TV was too loud, or perhaps the two were watching too intently, because Ran called out to Kogoro Mouri for a long time without getting a response.

"Her acting is truly outstanding." After the snow woman fell into the pool at the end of the story and the words "The End" appeared, Kogoro Mouri commented with deep emotion.

"Dad, I'm talking to you!" Xiaolan said indignantly, putting her hands on her hips and blocking the TV from the two of them.

"I heard it, Natsukawa is here—"

I heard you talking at the door just now, but the story is coming to an end, and such a wonderful scene is not to be missed.

I don't want to watch the replay tomorrow; live screenings and replays are two different things.

After watching the last scene, Kogoro turned around and greeted them, then sat up at the table and said, "I didn't expect you guys to come to this hot spring inn too, Natsukawa. What a coincidence! If I had known, we could have come together."

I don't want this kind of fate, damned Ke Xue's will.

Xia Chuan thought to himself, but he definitely couldn't say it out loud.

"Fate is predetermined."
When I was shopping at the Mihana Department Store, the manager gave me a voucher for a hot spring experience. I hadn't had time until today, and it was snowing, so soaking in a hot spring on a snowy day is really relaxing.

I didn't expect you all to be here. It's great, the more the merrier.

Conan felt that Natsukawa seemed a little insincere when she said that, but since what she said happened to be in line with his own thoughts, he nodded in agreement.

He had no interest in skiing, but he was very interested in hot springs on snowy days.

Winter hot springs, snow-covered mountains and forests—I'm really looking forward to it.
It's a pity this hot spring inn doesn't allow mixed bathing. If it did, hehehe—

(Ask for monthly ticket)

(End of this chapter)