Conan: Ran turns into an elementary school student and calls me dad.

Chapter 88 Valentine's Day Chocolate

"How are you, Xiaolan?"

As Eri Kisaki quickly walked to the stove, she asked in a low voice,

"You've been chatting for so long, nothing bad has happened, right? And the food in the pot, is it burnt?"

"It was cooked in a cup, and the heat was turned down low, how could it possibly burn!"

Xiao Lan looked at her mother speechlessly. Her mother was absolutely top-notch in terms of legal skills.

But when it comes to cooking, it's absolutely terrible. No matter how she teaches him, he just can't learn it, and every time he cooks, something goes wrong.

"So what should I do now? Teach me quickly..." Eri urged anxiously, reaching out to touch the glass in the pot.

"Pour out the contents of the cup first, let it cool..."

Before Xiaolan could finish speaking, there was a crisp "crack" sound.

The glass that had been boiling in the pot for a long time cracked open and shattered completely after Eri picked it up, spilling its contents all over the pot.

"...Mom, you go out too!"

Xiao Lan's face darkened, and the veins on her forehead throbbed.

Before Eri could protest, he reached out and pushed her shoulder, shoving her out of the kitchen as well.

"Leave this to me. If you stay here any longer, I'm afraid you'll tear the kitchen apart!"

After saying that, she slammed the kitchen door shut and busied herself in the kitchen.

……

The next morning, accompanied by the crisp "ding-a-ling" of the alarm clock, Lin Xiuyi yawned widely, stretched, and slowly crawled out of bed.

He rubbed his sleepy eyes, habitually turning his head to look at the seat beside him: "Eri, get up..."

Lin Xiuyi stopped abruptly halfway through her sentence, the seat next to her was empty, there was no one there anymore.

He reached out and touched the bedding; it was slightly cool to the touch, indicating that Eri had been up for quite some time.

"Strange, why did I get up so early today?" Lin Xiuyi muttered with amusement.

Eri Kisaki has always had the habit of sleeping in late, often unable to wake up in the morning, and is particularly grumpy when she gets up.

When she lived alone, she had to rely on her assistant, Midori Kuriyama, to call her repeatedly every morning to urge her to get up for work.

Since reconciling with Hayashi Hideichi, the task of waking up Eri Kisaki naturally fell to Hayashi Hideichi.

Normally, it would take him a lot of effort to drag this proud female lawyer out of bed.

Who would have thought that the sun would rise in the west today, and Eri Kisaki actually got up earlier than him.

Driven by curiosity, Lin Xiuyi lost all interest in sleeping. Wearing loose pajamas and slippers, she walked out of the bedroom.

As soon as I opened the door, I heard a soft, sweet "meow..."

Shuichi, the black cat who shared his name but had been cruelly neutered, was lazily lying on the carpet by the bedroom door.

Upon seeing Lin Xiuyi emerge, the black cat immediately raised its head, its golden pupils coldly glancing at him with disdain and aloofness, as if looking at some irreconcilable enemy.

Then, it stretched, quickly turned around, and ran downstairs without even stopping.

"This cat really doesn't like me..." Lin Xiuyi shook his head helplessly.

I wonder if Black Cat Shuichi knew that it was because of Lin Shuichi that it was cruelly neutered.

It was very affectionate towards Ran and Eri throughout the house.

However, he always kept a cold, cat-like face towards Lin Xiuyi, refusing to get close to her or even get a little bit closer.

Lin Xiuyi slowly made her way down the stairs to the restaurant on the first floor.

Eri Kisaki was sitting at the dining table, reading a newspaper with great interest.

A soft, busy sound came from the kitchen; it was obvious that Xiaolan was preparing breakfast.

"I'll do it, you go and rest."

Lin Xiuyi walked into the kitchen, smiling as she lifted the girl, who was tiptoeing to reach the cupboard, off the chair.

"You didn't even fall asleep today? How come you got up so early? Did the sun rise in the west?"

"It's not like I can only get up early because of you!"

Eri didn't even look up, still looking at the newspaper in her hand, her tone carrying a hint of arrogant stubbornness.

She said that, but out of the corner of her eye, she secretly glanced at the kitchen and winked at her daughter, giving her a cryptic look.

Xiao Lan immediately understood, suppressed a smile, and tiptoed out of the kitchen, quietly leaving the dining room. She made sure to gently close the dining room door behind her, giving her parents some space to be alone.

Lin Xiu quickly prepared breakfast, placing the fried toast and heated milk on the table. Just as she was about to turn around and call Xiao Lan, she found that her daughter was nowhere to be seen.

Just as he was wondering, Eri Kisaki suddenly put down her newspaper, took out a gift box carefully wrapped in colored paper from under the table, and handed it to Hideaki Hayashi.

"What is this?"

Lin Xiu instinctively took it; it was warm to the touch.

He glanced at Eri Kisaki, who was pretending to be mysterious by pursing her lips and refusing to answer, so he simply unwrapped the colored paper.

Upon opening the box, he found a heart-shaped chocolate with his and Eri's names clearly printed on it.

"Uh, it's Valentine's Day chocolate..."

Lin Xiuyi's face turned pale instantly, and the hand holding the chocolate trembled slightly.

He looked cautiously at Eri and tentatively asked, "Eri, um... can I not eat it?"

Eri Kisaki was eagerly anticipating sweet words from Hideaki Hayashi, or praise for the chocolates she had made herself.

To everyone's surprise, his first reaction upon seeing the chocolate was to refuse it!

The lawyer's pretty face instantly turned ashen with anger. She clenched her fist tightly around the newspaper and slammed it on the table.

What do you think?

"Okay, don't be angry, I'll eat it, okay?"

Lin Xiuyi gave a wry smile, his smile filled with helplessness and apprehension.

In his memory, none of the chocolates Eri Aki gave him ever tasted normal.

It was either so bitter it made you frown, or so sweet it was cloying. The most amazing time, he even tasted five flavors in chocolate: sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty.

That complex taste perfectly captured the essence of a person's life, leaving a lasting impression on him.

With a heart pounding with apprehension, as if facing certain death, Lin Xiuyi slowly picked up the heart-shaped chocolate and brought it close to her lips, just like a death row inmate facing his final judgment, her heart pounding with nervousness.

He silently prayed, "I hope it tastes normal," before steeling himself and taking a small bite of the chocolate.

"Hmm? Huh? This taste... is actually pretty good?" Lin Xiuyi's eyes lit up, his face full of surprise.

He chewed the chocolate slowly, the rich cocoa aroma spreading across his tongue, the sweetness just right, the texture delicate, completely without the strange taste he used to have.

"Eri, where did you buy this? It tastes so good."