531 Sweater Season

Winette cooked breakfast in the same state as when Mingmei was at home. It was still early, so she sent part of it to Dr. Agasa’s house. As expected, Ai locked herself in the room – she didn’t like to be disturbed when she was doing research, and the basement room had excellent sound insulation. In order to prevent Ai from having concerns when she was mentally exhausted, she didn’t stay to meet her. Dr. Agasa was deeply touched. He couldn’t help but feel nostalgic about his youth, and said that Ai was lucky to be loved by Winette.

He didn’t know the inside story, and Winette didn’t say a word. She shook her head slowly, lucky that she got it wrong. After leaving Dr. Agasa’s house, she began to prepare to go out. In her memory, Xiao Ai also started to prepare to rest between 7 and 8:30.

Winette received a call from Sonoko and set off on foot to the Mori Detective Agency.

He would drive them to the mall.

Winnet knew that Sonoko didn’t have the airs of a young lady, and she had the same impression of her. Sonoko was willing to invite her to travel and participate in ordinary people’s activities. Winnet walked while thinking about Sonoko’s previous strange behavior.

“Maybe there’s something that’s hard to talk about! Yeah, the possibility of it being a love trouble is higher.”

It’s not that she has a prejudice against Sonoko being love-brained. In Winette’s opinion, Sonoko has everything she needs, so she actively considers emotional issues.

Based on this, she was the only one who was different. She had already mobilized that kind of emotion to the point of putting out fires and chasing after the dead. The distance between Nimachime and Gomachime was not far. She walked there in about 20 minutes. After bypassing the cafe downstairs, Winette went up to the second floor. It was Conan who opened the door. He said that Xiaolan was still preparing.

He didn’t call Xiaolan “Sister” in a coquettish voice, and Winette was a little uncomfortable with it.

Conan and her are getting closer and closer to acquaintances, and there is no respect for the elders. Obviously, he is reluctant to pretend, and the arrogance of high school students is still affecting him. However, in front of Kogoro, he quickly changed his words.

The same thing happened to Kogoro. When he saw her coming, he put out the cigarette beside him and adjusted his collar in a proper manner, just like when he met all the people who could be called ladies, he put on a serious attitude and appearance. Their fickleness made them alike.

Then, Kogoro praised her a few words, saying that she was selfless, kind, and successful in her career.

“Please give me some advice for my useless daughter.”

“father!”

Xiaolan jumped out when she heard her words, very shy. But Winnet could hear his concern and appreciation for his daughter, but she couldn’t achieve empathy, so she probably hoped that she could continue to be Xiaolan’s friend.

As for why his attitude towards Sonoko is different, it really depends on whether he is an adult or not. Also, he watched the little girl grow up step by step.

“Excuse me, Miss Winnet. Would you like some tea or juice?”

She took the opportunity to blame Kogoro for not knowing how to entertain guests.

Winnet said no. She said that Yuanzi should be here soon. Just as she said, Xiaolan’s phone rang, and the ringtone of “Amazing Grace” came out. Winnet was familiar with this song, which should be said to be a hymn that every Christian can sing.

Xiaolan urged Yuanzi a little before hanging up the phone. She told Winnet that Yuanzi must have some hidden thoughts.

She sat down next to Winnett, her shoulders slightly closer, very close, touching Winnett’s shoulders. Her face was natural, but Winnett was hesitant about whether to sit a little further away; Mingmei’s advice was still effective; even if there was no special meaning of contact, it would still make the other party feel a little dissatisfied during the relationship.

It is the result of everyone’s desire for exclusivity.

Although Xiao Ai always holds on to her rationality, she is not much different from ordinary girls in many ways. Winnett was lost in thought. Such thoughts made her feel the difficulty of making a choice, but also made her feel happy. While she was in a daze, Xiaolan asked her while flipping through the brochure of the shopping mall:

“Miss Winnet, is there anything you would like to buy?”

“I want to see some children’s clothes.”

“Eh… you want to choose for Ai, right? Well, Professor Agasa is a man after all, so it would be difficult for him to prepare things for a little girl.”

Winnett did not break her beautiful imagination of the little girl. In fact, it was basically Ai who guided Dr. Agasa in matters of life, and he now loved to complain to her more and more.

Love can’t help.

The key is that Ai does have a reason and evidence to conduct a health assessment on Dr. Agasa. Looking around, those rich people have to pay someone to “torture” them.

Winnet’s attitude was natural. Xiaolan continued:

“What are her hobbies?”

“Hobby……”

“Well… like what colors, patterns, styles they like, and what areas they are interested in; for example, Conan is very similar to Shinichi, they are both interested in detective novels and football.”

Conan shuddered, as if an electric current ran through his spine; he immediately jumped to the edge of his vision. Winnett answered that it was red, with simple and elegant patterns, or simply simple casual clothes, which would be more interesting. She chose one that was not too out of the range of children’s choices: imitating the fashion of adults.

“Ah, a trend?”

“Yes, she likes to read fashion magazines.” Winnett replied, “I don’t understand them at all. Even if I look at the cover and the content, I can’t understand the charm of them.” She said it very tactfully.

“I think Sonoko should know all this… probably…”

“Sonoko is really concerned about these things.”

“But recently her mind should be on Mr. Kyogoku.”

“Mr. Kyogoku? Is that the karate master?”

“Yes, it’s him. After he went abroad, Yuanzi and he exchanged many letters. I guess they must have had very heated conversations. Yuanzi was reluctant to show me his letters!”

“So that’s it.”

At this time, Winnett remembered that Xiaolan prepared a sweater for Kudo Shinichi. During the knitting class, Xiaolan’s joyful anticipation and wholehearted dedication left a deep impression on her. At this time, she realized that instead of buying so-called fashionable clothes for Xiaoai, it would be better to make them by herself, which could also kill free time.

The city lacks the leisurely atmosphere of the countryside, and Winnet is also affected by it and can’t stay idle.

After chatting for a while, Sonoko also arrived. Kogoro put on a brown coat over his suit, wrapped himself in a green scarf, and wore a brown round knitted hat. Winette saw this and noticed the rapid change in temperature, so she thought it would be best to give him a warm sweater.

Kogoro sat in the driver’s seat, Conan sat in the passenger seat, and the three girls sat in the back seat. Winette wanted to sit on the side, but the enthusiastic Sonoko pulled her in between her and Xiaolan. She seemed extremely enthusiastic again at this time. After the engine started, she said:

“Miss Winnet, you are just too cold, that’s not a good thing!”

……

Conan, who was sitting in the front seat, thought to himself, “Haha, you’re not Haibara, of course she’s indifferent.”

532 Yuanzi’s Sharp Comments on Xiaoai

However, she always felt that her performance was very enthusiastic, and although there was a certain gap between her and a social phobia, she was definitely not cold. Winnet was very surprised by such comments.

After two seconds of silence, she asked:

“Ah, do I make you feel this way?”

“It seems not, but should I say it’s his temperament or his manners that give off that feeling!”

“temperament?”

“because……”

Yuanzi fell into deep thought. She lowered her head and said:

“It’s a bit of an intimidating atmosphere.”

At this time, Xiaolan came out to smooth things over and expressed her own opinion. Xiaolan said that Winnet’s appearance was special, and she also had the feeling of a girl from a religious traditional family in the movie. Sonoko nodded in agreement. The two of them described Winnet in a few words, saying that she was childish and immature. Sonoko finally praised her:

“Especially those who are good at knitting and cooking, and are super feminine!”

Conan’s mouth twitched when he heard this. If you ignore her terrifying skills, this is not wrong. Thinking about it carefully, he felt that Sonoko was right, because Haibara was quite lacking in this aspect.

They sat close together and chatted. The longer the chat lasted, the more Winnett could hear a special meaning in it. After unraveling the mystery, she finally understood that Sonoko was asking for something. The wind whistled against the car window, and the car smelled of lavender laundry detergent. Winnett couldn’t help but feel that these high school girls lacked a sense of distance. But she soon got relieved. This was how it was in East Asia. Outside the window, the autumn wind swept across the street, but the sun was still bright. The colorful flags and banners of the merchants were fluttering, and the glass of the tall buildings was hidden under the blue sky, like a piece of silver yarn spread vertically. Gradually, more and more people walked on the road, and they merged into a chaotic torrent in front of the entrance of the mall.

At this time, Kogoro muttered that there are still so many people here even in such a cold weather.

In fact, the weather was not that cold, but the sudden change of seasons made people unaccustomed. Winnet felt that she was in the season of change, so she was confused and unaccustomed.

“It’s warmer inside the mall.”

Xiaolan responded to Kogoro’s complaint. Sonoko was not so kind. She was still wearing shorts and said that Kogoro lacked exercise.

The car drove into the mall’s underground garage.

The three of them were still a little crowded because the car Kogoro rented was quite small. She used to think it was strange that Kogoro didn’t have his own car, but after learning that he loved horse racing, pachinko, and mahjong, it was not difficult to understand.

Kogoro and Conan stayed in the car and refused to get out.

He waved his hand to indicate that he would not interfere with women shopping.

As for Conan, seeing that Sonoko was there, he stopped sticking to Xiaolan all the time. And he also had places he wanted to go, and Sonoko’s destination was the sixth floor of the mall – where women’s clothing was sold.

After closing the car door, Yuanzi waved his hand and said:

“See you later then!”

Xiaolan said goodbye to them.

Winette was placed in the middle because Sonoko discovered that she always liked to walk behind them.

“By the way, Miss Winnett said she wanted to see some children’s clothes.”

After reaching the stairwell, Sonoko pressed the button for the sixth floor. Xiaolan saw the floor signs of the mall and reminded Sonoko.

“Well, I was planning to visit the seventh floor as well,” she said.

The goods on the seventh floor are much more complete, including clothes, children’s clothing, toys, and glasses.

However, the shopping process was still not interesting, and Winnet felt a headache. Because Sonoko and Xiaolan both asked for her opinion, and in order to not seem to be perfunctory, Winnet racked her brains and used exaggerated literary descriptions to analyze the uniqueness and mystery of each piece of clothing. After she said that, they were reluctant to part with those clothes and found it difficult to make a decision.

She could understand why Xiaolan did this, but Yuanzi obviously had the financial resources to buy them all, as if she was just experiencing the fun of choosing. But Winnet didn’t think there was any fun in it at all. In her opinion, they were all the same, and she regretted not using the excuse that she couldn’t see clearly, even though the focus of her description was on color and shape.

“It’s almost time, let’s go to the tenth floor to rest for a while.” Yuanzi suggested, and she said she would go to the seventh floor to shop in the afternoon.

Winnet thought they were going back, but they were caught off guard by the magic of shopping. No wonder Kogoro and Conan didn’t follow them. They were probably going to spend time in the streets and shops near the mall. They chose a semi-open fast food restaurant on the tenth floor. The meal was a three-piece set of hamburgers, fries, and cola. There were very few choices, very American. During the meal, Sonoko and Xiaolan talked about love again, but they were not honest with each other, but in a form of spying, which made Winnet confused.

Xiaolan is concerned about how far Sonoko and Kyogoku Makoto have progressed, while Sonoko is curious about the details of the night at the lookout restaurant.

Sonoko analyzed Kudo Shinichi’s various arrangements and said sarcastically:

“He’s definitely planning on proposing!”

Winnet was shocked by Sonoko’s words. Her analysis was so precise. Although Kudo Shinichi was ready to confess at that time, the detective boy lacked sense of propriety and took a step back from proposing. Winnet thought to herself:

“It would be nice if I could get some guidance from Sonoko.”

Xiaolan’s face flushed and she denied it in panic. She took a big bite of her hamburger and turned the topic to Winette, taking the opportunity to go downhill.

Yuanzi stopped when she saw that she was ahead. She took Xiaolan’s fries as if she had won, and then turned her eyes to Winnet; she still hit the nail on the head:

“No need to think, it must be for that super cold little girl.”

“Yes,…” Winette was trying to defend herself, “I think… well, it’s too hard for Dr. Agasa to take care of the child alone.”

“I understand, I understand! Although she has a bad attitude and vicious words, she makes you feel very pitiful and you are not at all at ease. I’m not saying that Miss Winnet is too kind. You are very easy to be deceived by those men who pretend to be pitiful! However, that little girl is not a liar. She always looks down on everyone, but she is different to you, Miss Winnet, which shows that she still knows how to be grateful!”

Yuanzi praised and criticized. She put the hand that was not holding the chips on Winnet’s shoulder so that she could see her expression from the front. She said solemnly:

“Do you feel like she’s like a sister or a younger version of yourself?”

Very close.

It’s lovers.

Winnett always felt that her lover was very similar to another self in her imagination. Of course, using “herself” was not accurate, but an unknown yet known existence – more or less imaginable. The angel sent to save her was her most primitive and simple imagination. Sometimes he was a food angel, sometimes a music angel, but he was no match for the girl she loved – the one who led her out of the emotional abyss.

……

533 The Garden That Sees Through Everything

Sonoko asked Winnet to focus more on herself, but also gave her some advice.

She said that people with a personality like Ai, whether adults or children, are easily touched by sincerity, and Winnet has taken good care of her. In fact, she already likes her very much, but she is very obscure in her expression. They usually can’t bring themselves to speak in a roundabout way. Winnet was very moved to hear this, and she really wanted to tell Sonoko the truth: to ask her to give her advice on her love.

Xiaolan saw Winnett was so serious that she was about to take notes and was lost in thought. She was really afraid that Winnett would be led astray by Yuanzi, so she interrupted Yuanzi’s talk again and said that it was almost time for a break.

Miss Winnett felt a little regretful. In her heart, she had already regarded Sonoko as a master. Her previous blind love behavior only taught Winnett that she was too greedy and hoped that the other party would have more of the qualities she expected. She thought about Sonoko’s words and remained natural – indeed, the closer she got to Xiaoai, the more she understood her feelings.

At first, they accompanied her to choose children’s clothes. Winette made up a lie; she couldn’t see clearly, so she was troubled by the choice of clothes, and used this to get the opinions of the two. Xiaolan pushed the “trend” to Yuanzi, and Yuanzi thought that Xiaoai was suitable for casual and handsome clothes – insisting that cold and cool are connected – an outdated joke. As a result, some neutral clothes were selected in the boy’s area.

There was also a beautiful beret with feathers, which reminded Winnet of a little magician girl.

Winnet bought all the ones that the gardener highly recommended.

Xiaolan smiled at the somewhat excited Winnet, and whispered to Sonoko:

“This is the first time I’ve seen Miss Winnett look so happy.”

“right.”

Yuanzi narrowed her eyes, as if she wanted to see through Winnett as she was checking out. She said:

“Although her smile is usually warm and polite, it always seems to lack some liveliness and joy. It seems that she really likes that cold little girl. Could it be that she wants her to inherit her mantle?”

“No way? I think it’s just a pure emotional thing.”

“That’s right!”

Sonoko teased Xiaolan with a teasing smile, saying that Conan had a crush on her, and not only did he stick to Xiaolan all day long, but he also risked his life to save her many times.

Xiaolan smiled foolishly.