“The scene, the polite and nice words.”

“Haha, that’s really harsh.”

Winnet was amused by Ai’s words. If she had to say who hadn’t changed, it would be Ai. Even though her body had become smaller, her speech was still as sharp and just right as before.

Ai unbuttoned her shirt, “I suddenly changed my mind. Let me take a hot bath before going to bed.”

“Then I too…”

“get out.”

Winnett pointed at herself and froze there. She waited for Xiao Ai to repeat it again before she left the bathroom awkwardly. Maybe she felt shy, Winnett thought uncertainly. After all, when she was a teenager, Xiao Ai didn’t feel shy at all. But she couldn’t go to bed early by herself. Winnett sat on the sofa and turned on the TV with the remote control.

The movie on TV was a European thriller, probably because the disc that was played before was not taken out. The plot of the movie was full of mistakes and the pictures were shoddy, with only vulgar and bizarre scenes. Winnet was looking at the screen, but her mind was not on it. Perhaps the bathroom was deliberately designed like this, she could hear it clearly from outside, the crackling sound of water. The sound of water had a sense of rhythm that made people empty. For Winnet, who had supernormal hearing, she could even judge every movement of Xiao Ai: moving, turning off the shower, wiping her body, turning on the faucet, the initial splashing and then filling. Then, she heard Xiao Ai enter the bathtub, heard the sound of her feet rubbing against the bathtub, and then it became quiet, leaving only the crisp echo of the faucet occasionally dripping into the bathtub.

In a sense, the imagination was more powerful than seeing it with one’s own eyes, which made Winnett feel lost. Of course, she was not imagining the little Ai when she was a child, but the appearance of the little Ai when she was 18 years old. After knowing that little Ai was fine, she was really relieved. Perhaps it was this feeling of complete relaxation that made her have some unnecessary imagination and a strange feeling. However, when she thought that the little Ai was just a child now, she quickly shook off the picture in her mind.

She turned off the TV, put her hands on her cheeks to soothe her muscles, then found the bathrobe provided in the cupboard, hung it on the bathroom door handle, and reminded Xiao Ai who was still in the bathtub.

Fifteen minutes later, Xiao Ai opened the door and put on the nightgown that Winnett had taken out. It was not the size for children, and to Xiao Ai, it was no different from a fur coat.

The bed was not far from the sofa, and the light was still on. Xiao Ai saw Winnet lying on the bed, so she turned off the light, stepped on her slippers, and slowly sat down on the bed. Although she used a hair dryer, she still felt her hair was wet. She didn’t lie down immediately, and asked softly, “Are you asleep?” She crossed her legs and supported her cheek with her left palm, feeling the bed move. “Sure enough, you’re not asleep… I don’t know if it’s because of the movement, or if you’re waiting for me? You’d better relax. Even if we’re in the same bed, we can’t do anything.”

Seeing Xiao Ai joking again, Winette bit her lower lip and said, “Go to sleep quickly, Xiao Ai. Judging from today’s situation, the police will come to bother you early tomorrow morning.”

“That’s right.”

Since the class time was not early, her night owl habit had not been corrected. Even after taking a hot bath, she was still not very sleepy. After a pause, Xiao Ai lay down and saw a little flesh color on the side through the weak light.

Winnett felt her arms being hugged, and her body stiffened for a moment. But when she thought that Xiao Ai was a child now, she didn’t have any grudges, and completely leaned towards her side, letting her stay in her arms. Not long after, she heard steady breathing – children of this age always like to sleep.

The next morning, the police arrived again. The salvage operation began at daybreak, but no results were found until noon.

Xiao Ai, who was lying on the sofa, asked casually: “Didn’t the murderer throw them into the river?”

“Well, it’s possible that they are hiding on the ship. It’s difficult for the police who are not familiar with it to search every corner carefully.”

Winnet glanced at the paintings hanging on the walls of the room. The colors were dark. She couldn’t tell the specific artistic features, but she knew that they were graphic art paintings with blocks of color squeezed together. There was a picture of the same kind in each room. She thought that if the murderer really acted on impulse, then wearing gloves and protective gear would be a bit unreasonable. But if the murderer was impulsive enough, the police would not have been bothered for so long.

In the end, the police still couldn’t determine who the murderer was.

The solution was to temporarily let everyone go back and wait until the investigation was over before summoning them again. Today happened to be a holiday, and Winette would normally stay in the church, but with Xiao Ai around, she couldn’t help but think a little more.

“I don’t know when the doctor will be back.”

Winette said, “Probably tonight.”

Ai was surprised by her answer. “So it was you who arranged it… I was wondering how the doctor could be invited to such an academic conference with his crappy inventions…”

Winnet actually planned to visit the doctor’s house today. Xiaolan and Sonoko’s visit disrupted her plan, but the result was good, as they met in advance. Before leaving the ship, she met with Xiaolan and Sonoko again and offered to send them off. Clyde was already waiting nearby in his car.

Xiaolan was still feeling scared after getting on the car.

“The case hasn’t been solved yet…”

“Well, it would be nice if Shinichi was here too. This would definitely be a piece of cake for him.”

Sonoko continued to mention Kudo Shinichi in front of Xiaolan. She rarely mentioned it when Xiaolan was depressed before, but seeing that Xiaolan had made up her mind to go on a date with Kudo Shinichi on his birthday, she spoke with confidence.

“Why mention him! My dad can definitely solve the case, he doesn’t need that egomaniac who suddenly disappeared!”

Winnett sat quietly in the front row and listened without saying a word.

It was not until they arrived at the Maori Detective Agency that Winette mentioned the matter about Ai.

“By the way, Xiaolan. I think it would be better for Xiaoai to stay at my place. My residence is very close to that Professor Agasa, and I would like to take this opportunity to get to know him. Besides, I’m bored staying alone, and I hope to have a little friend to keep me company. Can you agree to my request?”

Xiaolan didn’t seem to expect Winnet to say that. It seems that just as Sonoko said, their relationship has become very good, she thought. Xiaolan turned her eyes to Ai, and Ai nodded, tacitly agreeing to this. Xiaolan touched Ai’s head and told her to listen to Winnet. She also called Dr. Agasa, but the call didn’t go through, so she sent a text message.

After saying goodbye to Xiaolan, Winnet sent her back to the garden and finally went to her residence.

“Let’s go to church,” Xiao Ai pulled Winnet’s sleeve. After sending the two away, Winnet had already moved to the back seat. “If we go to your residence, I’m afraid she will recognize me. Seeing me like this, she will definitely be worried.”

Winnet understood what Ai meant.

“Do you want to keep hiding this from her?”

“Don’t I have you? As long as you pass on my letter and convey my words, she will believe it and be able to live her current life with peace of mind. Maybe I will tell her, but I don’t think now is a good time.”

Seeing Xiao Ai’s insistence, Winnet changed direction. On weekends, the newly recruited staff had gone out to organize activities, and there was no one in the church. They came to the spacious reception room, and Winnet poured a glass of water for Xiao Ai. “There’s not much here,” she said, and then she thought of the recent changes, “but I plan to make changes recently.”

Winnett showed Xiao Ai the layout of the church and the “new room” built by Akane Fantian. She was going to show off her skills in the experience baking room and solve the problem of lunch at the same time.

“Bake bread… in church?”

“Well, prepare some trial courses. This will also allow young people and interested elderly people to participate.”

Xiao Ai didn’t know what to say, so she walked to the window and opened the curtains to brighten the room. Winnet showed off her bread baking skills, but she hadn’t done it for a long time and her skills were a little rusty. Xiao Ai saw this and followed to help. After putting the finished dough into the oven, when the time was up, Winnet took out the bread, untied the string and paper, and the orange-yellow bread appeared in front of her eyes, exuding a rich aroma.

“how is the taste?”

“It is too sweet.”

“No way, the only ingredients left are raisins.”

……

247 Church Anecdotes

They both tasted it and came to the unanimous conclusion that the bread was too sweet.

So, Winnett put the kettle on the gas stove, prepared to boil water for tea, and took out a lighter from the cupboard.

“Your memory is really scary. You even remember its location clearly,” Xiao Ai watched Winnett prepare everything. “Sometimes I almost doubt that your eyes are no different from those of ordinary people. I have studied it privately, but due to the supervision of the organization, there is no specific experiment.”

“that’s right.”

Winnet said.

Although her eyes did have problems from a physiological point of view, she did not feel too much of an obstacle because of the supernatural gift. Before accepting this gift, she was used to using hearing to identify the life around her.

She was hesitant to confess in front of Ai because she had no way to explain it. She couldn’t come up with a magical drug like ATPX4869 to show that she had partially recovered her vision.

“If I study hard, I will always find a way.” Xiao Ai said, making up her mind.

Once there is a breakthrough or stagnation in the research on the antidote, she will turn to researching drugs to treat amblyopia, which at least makes sense in theory and has a certain possibility of success.

“Right now, the most important thing is the antidote that can turn you back into an adult…” Winette was halfway through her speech when she felt something was wrong. Even if such a drug was developed, it would only put Ai in danger. “I will also try to solve the issue of ‘Miyano Shiho’. Before that, I have to let you continue to be the way you are now.”

Xiao Ai understood what Winnet meant. She was not the one who was eager to turn back into an adult. She shrugged and said, “There is already the best guinea pig waiting. I guess he is willing to take any risk of the antidote in order to turn back.”

“That’s true.”

Winette felt that Kudo Shinichi’s value had increased a lot.

She asked Xiao Ai to wait for a moment and walked to her private room in the church. The room had curtains drawn, which was completely different from her attitude in the church. The interior was dark and damp, simple in style, but the curtains were dark gray and opaque. There were piles of books and newspapers on the floor, and except for the stool, there was almost nothing in its place.

When Xiao Ai disappeared, she had no intention to tidy up the room. Fortunately, she had used this place as a temporary residence before, and there was a refrigerator, plates, and dirty mugs in it.

Winette washed and dried the plate and mug, poured some milk that had not expired into the mug, returned to Ai, and used a knife to cut the bread into slices of reasonable sizes.

Xiao Ai had no objection to this breakfast-like lunch. Although going out to find a restaurant might be the right choice, she still did not want to appear on the street due to psychological factors, let alone a place like a restaurant that could easily leave an impression.

“It’s so-so.” Xiao Ai commented.

“Under the current conditions, we can only make do with this.”

Winnett didn’t prepare any fresh food, and there was no such thing as a wok in the church. So far, the plan to put together a team of people who need to prepare meals on their own is still only in the planning stage.

The water in the kettle boiled, Winette filled the teapot with water, and considering Xiao Ai’s acceptance, she found some butter. “Well, it feels good.” She spread it on the small pieces of bread and sat on the chairs side by side with Xiao Ai. Xiao Ai saw that the handles of the knife and fork were engraved with an animated character, a blue cat playing the violin exaggeratedly.

She carefully turned the bread slices with her fingers, then spread thick butter on them, and when eating, she placed the plate directly under the bread to catch the falling crumbs. Because she had been in Japan for a long time, this way of eating gave her a strange sense of freshness – just like her daily life with Winnet now.

“The doctor said he will be back tonight,” Xiao Ai gathered the leftover bread crumbs and fiddled with her knife and fork. When she said this, she couldn’t help but feel a little reluctant. According to the pace of the past, this kind of time together was undoubtedly precious, so it seemed contradictory – they would have more opportunities to meet and spend time together in the future.

“Tell me about him? I remember one day I passed by his house and heard a big explosion, a boom, like an old-fashioned ‘earth bomb’, and then I saw a big hole in his house like a temple without worshippers.” At least she knew that he was an inventor, and the content of his research was curious. However, Xiao Ai couldn’t tell what the doctor was researching. Some practical small items were fine, like the ones he prepared for Kudo Shinichi, which were always useful, but if the items were larger in size and more certain in purpose, the doctor’s research would inevitably fail – seriously inconsistent with expectations.

In Xiao Ai’s impression, he was preparing to invent a rocket that could fly in the sky to solve the problem of congestion on the ground, but it ended up “flying into the sky” and running around everywhere, causing all kinds of accidents. She told Winnet about this, and then saw a frank smile on Winnet’s face.

Ai thought, is it really interesting? When she got to this point, she realized that there was very little she could share with Wen Nuantie. The only things Shirley in the laboratory could share with her were the raising of mice and the troubles revealed in some experiments. When it comes to fashion magazines, Winnett can’t keep up with the pace at all. It’s not that she doesn’t understand them at all, but she always has strange ideas, such as color combinations that are difficult to accept, and “too fashionable” hairstyles and accessories, but she is as conservative as the most common old maid in the book.

Even if Winnett took a handmade cake and sat in a cafe for an afternoon tea, she would not feel anything surprising. If she was not around, Winnett would be so quiet and boring.

There was only the school thing to talk about – Xiao Ai gathered the bread crumbs into a cone, not sure whether to talk about that aspect. Because it was still the term “calloused” – the place of evil in Winnet’s words. In a way, she spent more time in school than Winnet, but she didn’t feel the same way as Winnet. It’s better to say that among all the children, except for the weird body of Edogawa Conan, they were all quite cute, which made her see the kind and pure side of children.

Ai yawned, stretched her legs, put one foot on the ankle of the other, and said, “If I have to find a topic, the only thing I can talk about is my time at Teitan Elementary School. But I’ve only been in school for a few days, and I haven’t encountered anything particularly interesting, but the children are still cute.” She turned her head and looked at Winnet, “I think it’s your loss that you didn’t go to school much. In fact, it’s easy to meet nice people.”

Winnett replied, “I’ve met the best person.”

“You’re just being nagging. I mean, it’s a good thing to get in touch with the people around you. Don’t think I don’t know you. You look harmless, but you’re actually very cunning. You may be able to deceive those two ignorant girls, but you’re too cunning to fool me.”

“Uh……”

Winnet was speechless after hearing what Ai said. The words in her head were washed away, but soon a fascinating fantasy emerged. That is, she and Ai went to school together, but because of the age difference, the fantasy was quickly shattered. After that, she slowly said: “How can it be called deception? I am dating them sincerely.”

“Oh, dating.”

“In the sense of ordinary friends. If you insist, like two little sisters?”

“Your usual arrogant attitude. After all, seventeen is no longer a child. Some people are not as mature as eighteen.”

Seeing the milk stains on Xiaoai’s lips, Winnet felt that these words lacked some persuasiveness.

It seems that maturity has a certain relationship with appearance age. Even if Ai behaves maturely, she is still just a little kid in the eyes of others.

QQ: 914 9 0 37 98

“By the way, you are living with my sister now?” asked Ai.

This sentence sounded very ambiguous to Winnet’s ears.

“Probably…”

“It’s hard to say what I will feel when facing such a gentle and lovely sister who looks somewhat like me.” Seeing Winnet hesitate in speaking, Xiao Ai provoked her again.

However, she knew in her heart that there was no spark between the two of them. One was still obsessed with a man who had betrayed her, and the other probably only had her in her mind. But this did not stop her from teasing Winnet. The so-called small talk could not be established when there was no interest, and when there was interest, it would turn into uneven routines and gossip.

“No, I swear I don’t have that thought.”

Winnet cares a lot about the word “loyalty”. Even if Xiao Ai shows the slightest suspicion, she feels vaguely uneasy.

“I didn’t say I had one. So tell me about her.”

Seeing Xiao Ai say that, she also gave a general account of Mingmei’s situation. In daily life, except for the occasional meals prepared by Mingmei, the two of them almost did not interfere with each other, and there were also things like language learning. During the time that Mingmei lived in her house, the two of them did not communicate much. Winnett thought the reason was that Mingmei was too considerate and knew that she was not used to “deep conversations.”

Based on what Ai knew about her sister, she thought Mingmei might be using a flat glass cup on the wall to secretly listen to Winnet’s movements.

As they were talking, Winnet heard some other noises. She guessed that it was Akane Fanta who came. Only high heels could make such a unique sound, and the only person who would wear them in the church was Akane Fanta. Ai communicated with Winnet with her eyes, seeming to be shy. “It’s someone from the church.” Winnet said, “If you are worried, wear a hat, and no matter who sees you, they will think you are a handsome boy.”

When she was a teenager, Xiao Ai had the same temperament. Winnett always felt that Xiao Ai was very suitable for handsome and fashionable outfits. As for herself, she was completely different from those. Although she had one or two experiences in the United States, she didn’t want to dress up like a magazine cover – looking at herself in the mirror, she felt that it was too exaggerated.

Following the smell of bread, Akane found the bakery and saw Winnet sitting at the table, eating half of a piece of bread. She thought she was seeing things for a moment. After all, the pastor rarely appeared in the church recently. It seemed that he had something very important to do. His attitude was completely different from his previous laziness. He looked nervous. But now, he looked radiant as if he had just recovered from a serious illness, and he even made a strange move of baking bread and eating it in the church.

“I didn’t expect you to be here.” Akane Fanta commented.

“How are things?” Winnet asked, trying to change the subject and focus the discussion on church matters.

“It went pretty smoothly,” Akane Fantian naturally noticed the “little boy” who was quietly staying in the corner, but she did not mention it on her own initiative. Instead, she answered Winnett’s question, “We visited three hospitals in total, which had a pretty good publicity effect. However, the pastor himself was not here, so the effect was discounted. Fujita Satoshi and the newcomers were quite troubled by taking care of the children, and asked me about your arrangements more than once… As for the person Mr. Clyde wanted to find, we didn’t find him.”

“I understand.” Winette didn’t know what excuse Clyde made, so she simply said it.

She didn’t have much hope of “locking down Shuichi Akai from the hospital”, but she at least confirmed one thing – the FBI had a considerable presence in Japan, which was somewhat beyond her common sense. After all, the scope of special police activities was generally within the country, but this world seemed to be a little different. The FBI not only had its own people in the automotive industry, but also in the medical industry.

Given the extent of Shuichi Akai’s injuries, he must be treated with equipment from a large hospital. She has already placed personnel in qualified hospitals and implemented a “visiting patients” campaign to narrow the scope, but there is still no news – this means Shuichi Akai is being hidden by the hospital. The FBI cannot communicate with the Japanese police, so the only option is to use undercover and personal connections.

“By the way, who is that little boy?” Fantian Qian mentioned it again.

Winnett smiled and explained to Akane Fantian, “This is the child of a neighbor near my home. Because the guardian had to go out for something, he entrusted me to take care of him.”

Akane Fantian’s expression was still a little unnatural. “But why didn’t you bring him home, but to church instead?”

She also had the second half of the sentence: You should know that there are not many people in the church now.

No one…

Fantian Qian looked at Winnett strangely. After all, it was obvious that this pastor girl was not interested in men. She was not a Catholic who needed to abide by the doctrine, so there was no need for her to deliberately avoid relationships between men and women.

Could it be…

“Hello, sister.”

Xiao Ai came out and greeted me. Her hair was pressed out by the brim of her hat, making her look like a TV drama hero or a pop singer.

Although her appearance is very deceptive, Ai’s voice is very recognizable. Akane Hanada can tell right away that she is actually a girl. She then deeply feels that the pastor lady is unreliable – there are only bread and milk for lunch, and at least some vegetables and meat should be provided. However, when she thinks that Winette lives alone (and has never met Mingmei), she quickly understands.

Even if she is a pastor lady, she is not immune to the weaknesses of single women!