novelhk Page 43
Page 43
Jiang Chengbei, in particular, a hater, used some dishonest means and his hypocritical face to deceive their goddess and become a good friend of Yoko Okino.
Occasionally, they would appear together, chatting and laughing, and be photographed by paparazzi and appear in the newspapers, which made them extremely resentful and determined to find an opportunity to get rid of Jiang Chengbei, their biggest hater.
Such peaceful days did not last long. When Jiang Chengbei saw on TV that the police had arrested Cabardino, the leader of the Italian Bank Maple Leaf Gold Coin robbery gang, and were on the run for the remaining three robbers, he immediately knew that the plot that appeared most often in fan fiction was about to unfold.
So, Jiang Chengbei took a big watermelon to visit the Mori family. When he saw Mori Kogoro drinking and Ran cleaning, he took on the air of the boss of the Mori Detective Agency and gave Mori Kogoro a good scolding for slacking off and drinking during work hours.
Because Kogoro Mouri still had some gambling integrity, and the Mouri Detective Agency wasn't making any money, he didn't want to ruin his gambling reputation because of this. So he obediently stood up and let Jiang Chengbei experience the thrill of being a foul-mouthed and unscrupulous boss, giving him a thorough dressing-down.
Unexpectedly, Kogoro Mouri listened to the reprimand so obediently that the stun gun brought by Jiang Chengbei became useless and could only be placed on the table as a decoration. It was a waste as it was never used.
After scolding Kogoro Mouri, Jiang Chengbei, as the boss on his first day in office, immediately began to tailor-make employee rules for the Mouri Detective Agency specifically for Kogoro Mouri.
After Jiang Chengbei wrote down regulations prohibiting employees from drinking alcohol, gambling on horse races, or playing pachinko during work hours, Xiaolan immediately became interested and joined the discussion to create employee rules specifically for Kogoro Mouri.
The Mori Detective Agency is no longer just a makeshift operation run by Kogoro Mori alone. Now it has a boss, Kita Eishi, and an employee detective named Kogoro Mori. Therefore, rules and regulations need to be established for the employees and enforced.
Considering that Kogoro Mouri is not a self-disciplined person, and that the boss, Jiang Chengbei, couldn't possibly come to the detective agency every day to supervise this lazy employee and make sure he worked diligently.
Therefore, the Mouri Detective Agency recruited a new mid-level manager to be specifically responsible for evaluating Kogoro Mouri's performance and supervising him.
The newly recruited mid-level manager, who is also the head of the Mouri Group at the Mouri Detective Agency, is Ran Mouri, who is specifically responsible for supervising Kogoro Mouri, a member of the Mouri Group, to work diligently.
The boss, Jiang Chengbei, and the team leader, Mao Lilan, are in cahoots. The only employee, Mao Li Xiaowulang, is now reluctantly taking over the cleaning duties from Xiaolan under their pressure.
Although the Mouri Detective Agency has grown significantly and tripled in size, it still only has one employee at the bottom: Kogoro Mouri. If he doesn't do any work, how can the boss or middle managers be expected to do it?
"What? The firm doesn't have much business, why is it so clean?"
My back hurts so much, and my legs are so sore! Xiaolan, can you help me? You can't just stand by and watch Dad do all the work, can you?
Kogoro Mouri was very unwilling to work, so he complained while working. However, his direct supervisor, Ran, was too tough, and the boss had a false sense of truth. He was in the wrong when it came to reasoning, so he obediently listened to her and worked while dawdling.
Hearing Kogoro Mouri's incessant complaints, Jiang Chengbei, who was lounging in his office chair watching TV, became displeased:
"How could there be no business? Gross profit, business is something you have to find yourself. If you act like this in the past, how could you possibly have any business?"
You want business, right?
Let me give you an example. Have you watched the news on TV?
The robber who stole 15000 maple leaf gold coins, worth 6 million yen, from Italy has come to Tokyo. If we can find these coins now, according to Japanese law, we can get at least 20%.
So, the business opportunity has arrived! A deal with a reward of 1.2 million is right in front of you. What are you waiting for? Hurry up and go find some Maple Leaf Coins!
Jiang Chengbei's reminder immediately roused Mao Li. His back pain and leg soreness disappeared, and his eyes lit up. Two dollar symbols glittered in his eyes, and he threw down his broom to go out and look for gold coins.
Chapter 71 Mori, I gave you a chance, but I didn't expect you to be so useless.
"But where am I supposed to find maple leaf coins? Japan is so big, there are so many places where coins can be hidden, how am I supposed to find them?"
"I'm not looking anymore."
As Kogoro Mouri was about to open the door and leave, he realized he had no clue whatsoever and had no idea where to even begin searching.
So the enthusiasm that Jiang Chengbei had just stirred up immediately cooled down, and he didn't want to do anything anymore, returning dejectedly.
Staying at home is more comfortable. Why bother looking for gold coins? Do I have any affinity for that stuff?
"Is Neon big? How come I didn't know?"
Moreover, the robber was Italian and unfamiliar with Tokyo. He could only hide things in a few places with landmarks, otherwise he wouldn't have been afraid of not being able to find them later.
"So, Mori, go look around the East Tower area first. I suspect the gold coins are there. If you find them, I'll give Ran a reward."
After listening to Jiang Chengbei's words, who was sitting in the boss's chair, Kogoro Mouri initially thought they made sense, but he disliked the last sentence. So, he looked at Jiang Chengbei with dissatisfaction and said angrily:
"Why should Xiaolan get the bonus for the gold coins I found, and what about mine?"
"She's your boss, so of course the boss gives all the bonuses to the managers under him, and then the middle managers distribute the bonuses. Do you have a problem with that?"
"No, we are very satisfied!"
Before Kogoro Mouri could refuse, Ran waved her fist in front of him, answering the boss Jiang Chengbei's question for him.
"Alright, then I'll go take a look around the East Capital Iron Tower. I hope you guessed right, Jiang Cheng. If I can't find any gold coins, I'll come back and fuss with you."
After saying that, Kogoro Mouri prepared to leave, but then he saw Jiang Chengbei lying motionless in the office chair, so he asked:
"Jiang Cheng, aren't you coming with us?"
"I'm the boss, you, the detective, can handle the errands."
"Damn capitalists..."
Kogoro Mouri muttered a curse under his breath before reluctantly leaving the Mouri Detective Agency.
After Kogoro Mouri left, Jiang Chengbei and Xiaolan had nothing to do but watch TV and discuss how to run a detective agency, how to manage disobedient employees, how to punish employees who make mistakes, how to use psychological manipulation on employees, what aspects the employee handbook should include, and so on.
And so, after a boring afternoon, a completely exhausted Kogoro Mouri returned as night fell.
Seeing Kogoro Mori return empty-handed, Jiang Chengbei gave him a strange look: Could this be the hopeless case of a good-for-nothing?
As soon as Kogoro Mouri entered the room, he lay down on the sofa, unwilling to move, and said weakly as if he were about to die:
"Xiao Lan, I'm exhausted. Quickly get me some water and something to eat. I'm thirsty, hungry, and tired. I have no strength left."
After drinking the water Xiaolan brought, Kogoro Mouri rested for a while and finally had the energy to complain. So he looked at Jiang Chengbei and said with an unfriendly expression:
"Jiang Chengbei, are you kidding me? I've searched the entire area around the East Capital Iron Tower, and apart from those four annoying brats, I haven't seen a single gold coin!"
"Four annoying brats? Who are they? What's so annoying about them?"
Upon hearing Ran's question, Kogoro Mouri continued to complain:
"It's all because of those four annoying kids, Conan. They said they found a treasure map, and I believed their lies and teamed up with them to search for the treasure."
While searching with those four reckless kids, I was the one who suffered the most and endured the most hardship. This afternoon was truly miserable for me.
They said the treasure was in the store, so I followed them in. But not only did I not find the treasure, I was also scolded and beaten by the owner and eventually kicked out. They even made me eat the leftovers. The four of them completely humiliated me.
Several times, they claimed to have solved the mystery, and I believed them, following them around and exhausting myself, only to find not a trace of the ghost.
What's most infuriating is that they were exhausted and hungry from running around, yet they still wanted me to treat them to a meal!
I've gone all that way with them for nothing. Can I really be the one to get ripped off?
No!
So I started using the excuse that it was still early and I would treat them to eel rice after dark to delay them.
Once it really got dark, I sneaked back, hehe...
They want me to treat them to a meal? Dream on!
Hahaha……"
"Heh heh, Mori, you've got a good plan!"
After hearing Kogoro Mouri's story, Jiang Chengbei looked at him with a pitiful expression:
You've already met Conan, and you've been running around with them all day, but in order to save money on a meal, you finally made it to nightfall, and the gold coins were right in front of you. But then you took advantage of the darkness and ran away by yourself. You really are not destined to have gold coins!
Looking back at the original series, Kogoro Mouri usually ended up entering a treasure trove only to leave empty-handed. Even when he did receive a large sum of money, he would quickly squander it all. So, Kogoro Mouri was destined to have no luck with money in his life.
The opportunity was given to you, but you were simply not capable of using it.
Jiang Chengbei wanted to ask if you noticed anyone following you when you were with Conan and the others, but then he thought that this might give him away and affect his ability to clean up the mess for Mori, so he didn't ask any further questions.
"Dad, Conan and the others are still children. How could you run off like that after dark? What if something happens to them?"
Hearing Ran loudly expressing her dissatisfaction, Kogoro Mouri waved his hand dismissively and said:
"Ran, have you forgotten that Conan is a kid who can take down murderers with his bare hands? He's taken down many, and even wiped out an armed criminal gang in one fell swoop. What do you have to worry about with such a strong Saiyan elementary school student?"
Hearing Kogoro Mouri say that, Ran was immediately relieved and went to prepare dinner.
As soon as Xiaolan left, Jiang Chengbei received a message from the infrared devices he had placed at the entrance and on the stairs of the Ghost Cherry Blossom Building.
So he said goodbye to Kogoro Mouri, made an excuse to go back to his neighbor's house to get something, and left temporarily.
After Jiang Chengbei returned to his neighbor's house, a little chubby bird flew out of Jiang Chengbei's window and soared into the sky.
At a speed of six or seven hundred kilometers per hour, he landed on the roof of the abandoned Ghost Cherry Building a minute later.
While Jiang Chengbei transformed into a human on the rooftop, holding a travel bag full of gold coins beside him, and sat on the edge of the rooftop watching the Tokyo night view, Conan and his three friends were panting as they climbed the stairs.
Due to the bursting of the real estate bubble, not only this Ghost Cherry Blossom Building, but also the surrounding high-rise buildings, are largely abandoned; otherwise, the leader of the robbery group would not have chosen this place to hide his gold coins.
The building was abandoned, so naturally the elevators were out of service.
After Conan and his three friends climbed dozens of floors and finally reached the rooftop, they saw a man dressed in white, wearing a white shirt, white hat, and white cloak, with a white mask on his face, sitting on the edge of the rooftop, looking at the scenery under the moonlight.
"You are here."
While Conan and the Teitan trio were still in a daze, Jiang Chengbei shook his white cloak, which was being blown about by the wind, and then, through the voice changer on his mask, gave a soft, magnetic greeting to Conan and the others.
"Meeting is fate, and such treasures as gold coins are meant to be shared by all who see them."
After saying that, Jiang Chengbei unzipped the travel bag next to him, reached inside, grabbed a handful of things, stood up, and threw them toward Conan and the others.
Clang, clang, clang—dozens of maple leaf coins rained down from above. Even though it hurt their heads, the Teitan trio didn't care. Instead, they were very excited and immediately cheered.
Only Conan stared intently at Jiang Chengbei with a serious expression and a hostile look. At the same time, through the unzipped travel bag, he saw that it was full of gold coins.
With Detective Conan around, the stolen goods obtained by the robbery group absolutely cannot be allowed to be taken away. They must be returned to the Italian bank. This concerns the country's reputation and is not negotiable!
That's what Conan said!
Chapter 72 You are all gifted; I will teach you the Leap of Faith.
The children weren't greedy; each of them was content with finding a few gold coins. So, just as the three Teitan fools were rejoicing over their newfound gold coins, three menacing voices suddenly rang out behind them:
"Step aside!"
"Put down the gold coins you're holding!"
"The gold coins are ours!"
Of course, the Teitan trio, including Conan and Jiang Chengbei, only understood "the gold coins are ours." They didn't understand the other two sentences because they weren't spoken in Japanese, nor were they spoken by Japanese people, but by a foreigner with a Western face.
When they saw the Teitan trio picking up gold coins on the ground, they also saw Jiang Chengbei in white at the edge of the rooftop, and the travel bag full of gold coins beside him.
In the original series, the three men in black from the robbery group immediately drew their guns when they saw Conan and the other three kids. Now, seeing Jiang Chengbei, the masked man in white, at the scene, they drew their guns even more immediately, all three pistols pointing at Jiang Chengbei.