Conan: I'm a zaibatsu in Tokyo

The night is getting darker.

Zheng Yi sat on the leather sofa in the living room, a silver fountain pen between his fingers, comparing the two love letters back and forth.

On the left is Sonoko's confession filled with heart symbols, while on the right is Ai's logically meticulous "academic love letter."

"They really are...very different styles."

He sighed softly and tapped the table with his fingertips.

Ai Haibara was holding the book "A Selection of Love Letters from the Past Century," wearing pajamas with cartoon patterns, her hair slightly disheveled.

His eyes, however, were surprisingly bright.

That was all driven by a desire for money.

Zheng Yi raised an eyebrow, pushed the two letters aside, and poured himself a glass of warm water.

Ai's ears turned slightly red, but she quickly regained her composure.

"Um... what was the evaluation?"

She tried to make her voice sound like she was discussing homework.

Although her purpose in writing the love letter was very simple.

But since it was a love letter, she couldn't completely remain calm about it.

Zheng Yi put down his water glass, leaned forward, crossed his hands and rested them on his chin, his gaze lingering on Ai's face for a moment.

Ai blushed when she looked at him.

She slowly began to speak: "Sonoko's writing... is very energetic, full of youthful restlessness."

He paused, a mocking smile playing on his lips: "As for your piece... it's utterly devoid of emotion."

Ai's face instantly fell.

"I put a lot of effort into writing this," she said defiantly.

"You've put your heart into it; I can truly see your sincerity," Zheng Yi said, drawing out his words.
"But this is all about your feelings for money, not for me!"

Zheng Yi's tone was somewhat dissatisfied.

You're only after my money.

Pooh!
Superficial woman!
No, she's a shallow girl.

Moreover, Masakazu felt that Ai was subtly mocking him.

What does it mean when it says, "Your leg-shaking behavior is like a symphony of fate"?
Zheng Yi just doesn't seem right.

"Go back and rewrite it."

As Zheng Yi spoke, he placed the first draft on the table.

"Rewrite it then," Ai said, dissatisfied.

……

The next day, Ai stayed home writing love letters.

He hadn't written anything he was satisfied with by evening.

While writing, she looked at what she had written and realized how intense her desire for money was.

If this passion were transferred to Zheng Yi, he would surely win the heart of the beauty.

After dinner.

Zheng Yi went to the wine cabinet to get his after-dinner drink and casually draped his pajamas coat over the sofa.

Just then, a neatly folded piece of paper slipped out of the coat pocket and fell onto the carpet.

"Yeah, what is this?"

Akemi Miyano, with her sharp eyes, didn't pick it up directly out of curiosity and politeness, but instead pointed to the letter.

Zheng Yi turned around and saw the letter on the ground. His eyes flickered almost imperceptibly, but he remained calm on the surface.

Ai's heart jumped into her throat at that moment.

"A love letter? Written for Mr. Zhengyi?"

Miyano Akemi was somewhat surprised, and her gaze instinctively turned to her younger sister.

Could it be my sister...?

"No! It wasn't me!"

Ai immediately noticed her sister's gaze and almost reflexively denied it loudly, her face turning bright red.

"This is...this was written by Sonoko Suzuki from Teitan High School. She...she was too shy to give it to Shoichi herself, so she asked me to pass it on."

Ai spoke with great seriousness.

Zheng Yi walked over with a wine glass in his hand and happened to hear this.

He smiled, a hint of helplessness on his face, but said nothing.

He simply bent down casually, picked up the love letter, and placed it on the table with a natural movement.

Xiao Ai kicked Zheng Yi.

Why are you making such a big face?
Are you trying to make my sister misunderstand?

"Oh, that's how it is."

Akemi Miyano nodded with some doubt, but the doubts in her heart did not dissipate.

She always felt something was wrong.

The younger sister's hasty explanation, Zheng Yi's silence and expression, all proved that this love letter was unusual.

Akemi kept looking at the love letters on the table, then suddenly reached out.

Ai's heart leaped into her throat as she prepared to explain the truth.

“The garden,” Zheng Yi said at this moment.

Xiao Ai was finally relieved.

Mingmei looked at the words on the love letter; they were so cheesy, unlike anything her sister would write.

Moreover, the handwriting is different.

“Shoichi is quite charming,” Akemi said with a smile.

Zheng Yi smiled reservedly, not at all narcissistic.

Ai pouted and said, "Shoichi can only fool naive little girls."

Zheng Yi reached out and gave Ai's head a good rub.

I think you're quite ignorant.

Ai also reached out and playfully wrestled with Masakazu, but ended up getting bullied badly.

After teaching Ai a lesson.

Zheng Yi sat down on the sofa, ready to enjoy his after-dinner drink.

When he adjusted his posture, his hand accidentally touched the seam of the sofa.

There was a snap.

Another love letter fell out.

But the letter had no envelope; it simply fell out of Zheng Yi's trouser pocket.

Akemi Miyano was closest, and she instinctively reached out to pick it up, intending to hand it to Masakazu.

However, she stopped when her gaze swept over the words on the letter.

That familiar handwriting...that's Ai's handwriting!

She suddenly looked up at Ai, then looked down at the letter.

Yes, it's definitely Ai's handwriting!
As she read further, the contents of the letter made her cheeks burn even more.

Why does the writing on it seem like something my younger sister would write?

But, is that possible?
Zheng Yi felt somewhat embarrassed when he saw the second letter fall out.

He coughed lightly, quickly snatched the letter away, and explained with feigned composure:

"Ahem... This was probably slipped in by some mysterious admirer of yours."

"You know, Miss Akemi, someone as outstanding as me always attracts some naive little girls."

He was vague and tried to cover up his past with narcissism.

But the more he tried to cover it up, the more Akemi started to overthink.

"Yes...really?"

Miyano Akemi looked at Masakazu's serious and handsome face.

She glanced at her younger sister next to her, who was looking down and picking at her hands, pretending to be invisible.

The doubts in my mind grew stronger.

She pretended to believe her and said nothing.

After dinner, in Ai's room.

Ai was sitting at her desk, furiously writing in front of a book titled "How to Write a Touching Love Letter," preparing for the next draft.

Her little face was full of focus, and the pen tip scratched on the paper.

She was determined to get that money.

"Dong dong dong."

"Come in," Ai said without looking up.

But he was quickly taken aback.

When did Zheng Yi become so polite?
Why would you knock before coming in? The door was gently pushed open, and Akemi Miyano walked in carrying a cup of hot milk.

"Ai, I've heated up some milk for you." Miyano Akemi placed the milk on the table, but her gaze fell on Ai's open notebook.

"Sister!? You haven't gone back to rest yet?"

Ai quickly closed the notebook, looking at her sister uncomfortably with evasive eyes.

“Ai,” Akemi Miyano said, sitting on the edge of the bed, seemingly unintentionally.

"The second letter that fell down in Zheng Yi today, the handwriting looks a bit familiar to me."

Xiao Ai's hand holding the pen froze.

Akemi Miyano smiled and reached out to touch Ai's hair:
"I'm so happy, I never expected you to be like this..."

Xiao Ai: “???”

Ai's face instantly darkened.

"I didn't!" Ai almost shouted, quickly interrupting Akemi.

Her face flushed red: "Sister, what are you thinking about?!"

“Mr. Shoichi is sometimes a bit… well.” Miyano Akemi carefully chose her words.

"But he's actually a very nice person, and he's very generous to us."

"Besides, he is indeed very outstanding, and it's normal for him to attract a girl your age."

My sister also has no contact with normal people within the organization.

After they got out, it was normal for them to develop feelings for each other as they spent every day together.

She said earnestly, "If you really like him, I can give you some advice."

Akemi gave a mischievous smile: "By the way, what did Masakazu say after he saw your love letter? Did he...?"

"No no!"

Ai reached out and covered Akemi's mouth with both hands, not wanting her to continue talking.

“It’s not like that! It’s definitely not!” Ai said.

Stop letting your thoughts wander.

She grabbed the book "How to Write a Touching Love Letter" from the table and slammed it down.

"I wrote this to complete the task assigned by Zheng Yi!"

"He said if I could write a love letter that satisfied him, he would let me participate in his autobiography campaign."

"As long as I can satisfy him, I can earn tens of millions of yen, or even hundreds of millions of yen."

"I'm only after the money! For designer bags! So that I can go on vacation to Hawaii with you, sister! It's not that I like him!"

Ai glared angrily at her sister, her chest heaving violently.

Although Ai's chest was rising and falling, it was impossible to tell.

But she was indeed quite angry.

If it weren't for money, would she have written love letters to Zheng Yi?
Don't take this as a joke.

Her aesthetic sense is perfectly normal.

Miyano Akemi looked at her sister's face, which was flushed with anxiety, and then glanced at the book "How to Write a Love Letter That Touches People's Hearts".

For a moment, a deep silence fell.

She didn't feel that her sister was the kind of person who would sell her soul for money.

"So..." Akemi Miyano asked tentatively, "You write those cheesy lines just for pocket money?"

"Of course!" Ai answered decisively, then muttered to herself, "But it's not pocket money, it's a lot of money."

They have a lot of money.

Akemi Miyano: ...

She felt that her sister was just being stubborn.

Furthermore, even if what Ai said is true, she wouldn't sell her soul if she didn't have feelings for Shoichi.

They've already written love letters, how dare they claim to be innocent?
Anyway, Akemi doesn't believe it.

Seeing that her sister still didn't believe the handwriting, she thought she had some strange ideas about Zheng Yi.

She said with dissatisfaction, "How could I possibly have such thoughts in my current state?"

"You'll change back," Akemi whispered.

“I’ve suggested this to you before, that you should just do this, so you can relive your childhood.”

"But there seems to be a reason why you really want to change back."

Ai fell silent.

I want to change back because I don't want to be bullied like a child, not because I want to be in a relationship.

Ai took a deep breath.

She dragged her sister out of her bedroom.

“Since you don’t believe me, I’ll take you to find Zheng Yi,” Ai said.

She wrote love letters to Zheng Yi for money, which was actually quite shameful.

That's why she didn't explain when her sister saw Sonoko's love letter.

But to my surprise, my sister eventually discovered something.

If I had known this would happen, I would have just told my sister directly, and there wouldn't have been so much trouble.

Ai dragged Miyano Akemi to the door of Shoichi's bedroom.

Then, in a very rude manner, they kicked the door open and entered.

Hearing the noise, the person lying on the bed trembled, and a piece of paper fell onto the bed.

He looked up and saw Ai bringing Akemi in.

Silently, she pulled the blanket up a little higher before asking:

What are you doing here?

If it's for warm clothing, one person is enough; I get shy with more than one person.

Ai ran over, took the love letters from the bed, crumpled them up, and stuffed them into her pocket.

She looked at Zheng Yi and said, "Explain to me why I wrote you a love letter."

"Me?" Zheng Yi pointed to his face. "Should I explain?"

His face flushed slightly, as if he were embarrassed.

Ai glared at him.

What kind of deadpan expression is that?

It's clearly a perfectly legitimate business relationship, so why are you pretending to be so shy?
Ai, fearing Masakazu's mischief, said directly:
"Tell me! Didn't you say you'd give me a chance to participate in the competition to write your autobiography?"

"As long as my love letters satisfy you, you can let me compete."

Ai stared at Shoichi, afraid he would say something nonsensical.

Zheng Yi's face showed just the right amount of confusion.

He asked, somewhat puzzled, "Why do I give you a chance if you write a good love letter?"

"Because you're narcissistic!" Ai said, blushing.
"You narcissistic bastard said that someone as outstanding as you would fall in love with any woman who knows you."

"Therefore, words must be full of love, and only love letters can test whether they are full of love."

Masakazu was startled by Ai's words.

They seemed quite surprised that Ai could say such a thing.

"Isn't this utter nonsense?" Zheng Yi muttered under his breath.

Seeing Ai's murderous gaze, Masakazu nodded decisively.

"Yes, yes, Ai is right."

Shoichi looked at Ai and said, "That's what I said. I made Ai do everything."

Done.

He even reached out and scratched his face, which grew increasingly red.

There was shyness, and embarrassment at lying.

Ai wanted to go up and scratch Masakazu to death.

You bastard, why are you such a show-off!
What exactly do you mean?!
Ai took a deep breath, turned to Akemi and said, "Look, Sister, even Masakazu has admitted it."

Mingmei nodded with a half-smile.

Indeed, Zheng Yi himself admitted it.

But these words sound like something you made up.

Whatever you say, Zheng Yi is first bewildered, and then nods.

They clearly knew nothing about what you were saying.

"Alright, now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, I'll be going now," Mingmei said with a smile.

She glanced at Ai, then decisively left Masakazu's bedroom.

Ai watched her sister disappear through the door, feeling that the misunderstanding hadn't disappeared.

She stiffly turned her head to look at Zheng Yi.

"I was half asleep just now, and I didn't remember what you said for a moment," Zheng Yi said, hugging his blanket. (End of Chapter)