webnovelfull Chapter 1293 The Boss Cooked Me Two Dishes
Chapter 1293 The Boss Cooked Me Two Dishes
Chapter 1293 The Boss Cooked Two Dishes for Me
"Ever since Amuro-kun came, it feels like Poirot's business has gotten so good that it's affecting the operations of other shops around here," Kogoro Mouri said enthusiastically while recommending the seafood pasta, adding with a touch of regret, "Thank goodness this is just a cafe—"
If this were a proper restaurant, the harmonious and friendly business environment of Mihua Commercial Street might have turned into a simple and honest business battle.
Although it sounds like things have become more professional and relevant, I would feel bad if it affected our past friendship too much.
"I remember Mr. Amuro hasn't been here for very long?" Hattori Heiji, who was sitting opposite Kudo Shinichi with Toyama Kazuha in tow, paused, looked up, and exchanged glances with Kudo Shinichi.
Now, considering Goro Akechi's true identity and intentions, the identity of Tooru Amuro, who came to work here and became Karasawa's guardian in a short time, is also quite suspicious.
Tang Ze seemed to trust him a lot, and after staying here for so long without any problems, which seemed to prove his trustworthiness. However, when Kogoro Mouri brought it up, they still instinctively became wary.
At this stage, it's impossible to leave everything to Goro Akechi to handle regarding the organization's actions and tasks related to Tang Ze's resistance. Thorough investigation and preparation are essential.
"So, does that mean the treatment at Polo Café is very good? With Mr. Amuro's skills being so good, it's a waste for him to just be a waiter at a café—" Hattori Heiji asked tentatively, adopting a slightly feigned tone of concern.
"As for salary? I can't really inquire about that. Polo's previous boss was a pretty nice guy; he often went out drinking and playing baseball with people from the street. But I heard his son had become successful in business and took him overseas. The current boss doesn't have much contact with us." Kogoro Mouri answered casually, handing the menu to Azusa Enomoto. "Right, Ms. Azusa? How's your compensation?"
"I actually asked Amuro that question. He said that being a waiter was more about getting hands-on experience with coffee shops and understanding the industry than making a living. I guess he wants to open a similar shop himself to familiarize himself with the business processes," Enomoto Azusa said with a smile, unsuspecting. "He's busy with other things now, so he doesn't come to the shop every day. You guys are lucky today. What about you? Would you like some seafood pasta?"
"I want beef curry rice," Kazuha Toyama said, raising her hand. "I just saw Karasawa go to the back to help out. Will he be the one making it?"
"Curry? Sure. Tang Ze is a very hardworking and good kid. Whenever he comes back to the shop, he helps out when things get busy." Enomoto Azusa nodded.
"Then I'll have the curry! Tang Ze's curry is really delicious!" Toyama Kazuha exclaimed excitedly.
Although it might be a bit impolite to ask a friend to cook for you at a place where you're staying, Toyama Kazuha still honestly respected her own taste buds when she thought of Tang Ze's cooking skills.
After running around like this, watching a few detectives busy all day, there should be some personal gain to be made.
"Really? Then I'll have a curry too, with chili." Hattori Heiji, who had never tried it before, became curious and ordered his own.
"Heiji, are you serious? Karasawa's curry is supposed to be spicy—" Toyama Kazuha quickly pulled him back.
"It's okay, I can handle spicy food very well." Hattori Heiji patted his chest and said confidently.
"Then you'd better watch out." Having experienced firsthand Tang Ze's understanding of spiciness, Kogoro Mouri said this meaningfully. Turning his head, he saw that Akechi Goro hadn't reacted for a while, so he raised his hand and patted the other's shoulder. "Why didn't you order anything? You should come here often, right? Aren't you familiar with the menu?"
Hoshikawa Teru, who had almost buried himself in the menu, slowly raised his head.
You're right, that seems to be the case logically, if it weren't for Tang Ze himself being the wise one to come to Polo.
Hoshikawa Teru, who once had an instinctive fear of Amuro Tooru, has improved a lot over the course of working together for so long. However, when he sees Amuro Tooru, he still feels uneasy, as if he were seeing his boss.
Even though he was quite close to Morofushi Kagemitsu, and theoretically should have felt some affinity for Furuya Rei, who was Morofushi Kagemitsu's childhood friend and best friend, he still felt breathless whenever he actually stood in front of Amuro Tooru.
Knowing about the opponent's glorious achievements, facing Amuro Tooru as a former enemy and a member of Tang Ze's secret team is incredibly stressful.
Now, Amuro Tooru was clearly unhappy that Tang Ze had brought his gang to increase his workload just before he was about to leave work, so he dragged Tang Ze to the back to help out.
Unlike everyone else, for Hoshikawa Teru, it wasn't just about having his boss cook two dishes for him, but about having both his junior and senior superiors cook two dishes for him. He was sweating profusely while eating.
"Curry, please." In the end, Hoshikawa Teru could only manage a dry reply, "Anything is fine."
If you had to choose between the two, at least Tang Ze cooked for the group quite frequently, so there wouldn't be any worry about the other person pouring vomit into the food.
"Why don't you try the pasta? Polo's signature dishes are seafood pasta and sandwiches, right? Especially since Amuro is here—" Kogoro Mouri was still dissatisfied when he realized that his recommendation hadn't sold.
"Okay, Dad, stop teasing him. If you keep talking like that, Akechi-kun will have to go to the back and help with the cooking too." Ran Mouri gave her father a couple of shoves, both amused and exasperated.
Even if Mr. Amuro likes to use humble and polite language, he is still a superior who holds Goro Akechi's contract and has access to many business secrets. It's a bit too far-fetched for Goro Akechi to feel at ease watching his boss being so busy that he can't leave work.
"Oh, Amuro himself said they're just business partners. And it's just cooking, right? I think people who enjoy cooking are happy to share their creations with friends." Kogoro Mouri waved his hand dismissively. "Back in the day, some of the older officers in the police force would invite us to their homes for meals, and we'd all visit each other's houses—"
In Japan, workplaces often foster a community-like environment. In addition to work-related interactions, socializing after get off work and family members getting to know each other and forming social circles are also important aspects of interpersonal relationships.
For many companies that offer lifetime employment, the workplace almost represents the rest of one's life and lifestyle. However, the police station is an environment that is even more unique.
"That's true." Hattori Heiji nodded in agreement. "My dad is good friends with many police officers, otherwise Kazuha and I wouldn't have been so close since we were little —"
"Really?" Ran Mouri hesitated, recalling, "I don't think I've ever seen you and your colleagues come over for dinner before."
"Well, there was nothing we could do about it," Kogoro Mouri scoffed, bringing it up. "Back then, I couldn't cook, and your mother did all the cooking at home. Would I dare bring them home for dinner?"
Given Eri Kisaki's cooking skills, bringing her police colleagues home for a meal could easily lead to misunderstandings such as discord among them leading to a potential poisoning attempt, or causing her colleagues to work overtime and create further problems after get off work.
Ran Mouri, who truly couldn't refute this: "————"
"When I come to a coffee shop, I usually only order coffee, maybe with a sandwich at most." Hoshikawa Teru, unable to bear it any longer, quickly clarified, "It's already troublesome enough that I came here without permission."
Goro Akechi is anything but low-key; he's the kind of person who's very eye-catching. His everyday clothes are always more flamboyant than Shinichi Kudo's, who always wears a blue and white school uniform.
So whether it's him or Tang Ze, when they appear at Polo Cafe under this identity, they only dare to sit in the outdoor seats outside the door. Otherwise, if they accidentally bring the fans who have followed them into the store, it will really affect the business.
"That's a rare opportunity, why don't you order a few more to try? There's no harm in the numbers." Kogoro Mouri was stirring things up relentlessly.
"I'll go help chop the vegetables."
Hoshikawa Teru stood up and ran into the bar in a panic. Kogoro Mouri, having teased him enough, stopped teasing him with a laugh, which made Ran Mouri shake her head for a while.
She knew that her father was deliberately playing dumb.
To be fair, perhaps because he was tired after a busy day, or perhaps because he was in an environment where he didn't have to put on airs, Mingzhi seemed much quieter today. He was nothing like his usual self, who always seemed to be trying to attract attention. He looked a bit younger than usual, which explains why his father wanted to tease him.
"How long will Shinichi stay in Tokyo this time?" Too lazy to deal with her childish father, Ran Mouri turned to Shinichi Kudo, who was seemingly arguing with Heiji Hattori about something. "Will he show up at school?"
She also knew that Shinichi's frequent appearances were not a good thing. Last time was during the school festival, when the Black Knight appeared in front of everyone. The situation was special, so it was natural for him to be able to stay at school for a few days. This time, it was hard to say.
"School...maybe not so good—" Kudo Shinichi, whose gaze had been following Akechi Goro as he looked behind the bar, snapped out of his reverie and chuckled dryly. "You're on a long break this time, aren't you?"
"yes."
"Well, then I guess there's no time. There's no point in rushing back for a day or two, and it'd be hard to explain what I've been doing all this time."
"Oh, so that means you'll stay for another three or four days?"
"Almost, about the same."
"Forget it, you don't seem like you can give me a definite answer. Do you want to go see Sonoko? You haven't seen her in ages. Sonoko got tickets to a really good concert, VIP tickets that even allow her to watch rehearsals."
"Hey, do you want to come along?"
"Oh? What kind of concert?"
"It looks like it's some kind of opening ceremony. Sonoko goes to these kinds of events all the time, you know—"
Heiji Hattori listened for a few moments, but when he saw the two talking about music, he quickly lost interest and shifted his attention back to the busy kitchen counter behind the bar.
With their backs to them, Tang Ze and Amuro Tooru were huddled together, stirring and fiddling with something. The air was filled with the rich aroma of smoke and ingredients, wafting out a warm fragrance.
Goro Akechi, who had hurriedly joined in, was obviously not in a position to actually cook anything. He simply did as he said, holding a cleaver and standing by the side of the cutting board, chopping vegetables.
Pasta and curry both require a lot of diced and shredded ingredients for garnishing and plating, which won't affect the core flavor and can indeed lend a hand. However, his attempt to avoid Amuro Tooru and Tang Ze next to him revealed a hint of timidity, which looked particularly comical.
Looking at him, Akechi Goro seemed harmless and even had a timid air about him, as if he didn't dare to speak in front of his superiors. However, Hattori Heiji still carefully observed Akechi Goro's actions for a while.
He seemed quite unfamiliar with the kitchen; his movements when picking up vegetables and adjusting the cutting board were hesitant and clumsy. However, his hand holding the cleaver was incredibly steady, and he chopped vegetables very quickly and with extremely consistent movements.
Considering Goro Akechi's dangerous true identity, Hattori Heiji had a rather unsettling thought: the piece of meat or tissue on the board didn't seem like carrots and cabbage, but rather something far more difficult to handle.
To avoid ruining his appetite, Hattori Heiji quickly shook his head, hastily pulling his wandering thoughts back into focus.
Forget it, it's best not to think about such strange things at a time like this. Even if Goro Akechi is in danger, he wouldn't stoop to messing around with such things in the kitchen.
----I guess so.
Behind the bar, at the kitchen counter, Hoshikawa Teru, chopping vegetables with an almost tragic intensity, was trying to ignore the conversation between the two people next to him.
"Why have you been so relaxed lately? Did Sherry come up with something amazing that gave you dangerous ideas?" Amuro Tooru, skillfully bending pasta, sprinkled olive oil and sea salt into boiling water, making a rather ominous remark, "You're not planning to use this on Rum, are you?"
Seeing such a large Shinichi Kudo standing in the restaurant, and with Tang Ze not using that nerve-wracking title, it was clear that this was Shinichi Kudo himself and not a disguise. Amuro Tooru couldn't help but overthink things.
Tang Ze would share many of Sherry's research findings with him, mainly about the drugs developed by the organization. Amuro Tooru also knew that these were likely byproducts of the special drugs that led to Shinichi Kudo and Shiho Miyano becoming who they are today.
It's perfectly logical to connect Tang Ze's illness, his parents' research, the organization's drug trials, and Rum, who is inextricably linked to it.
"No, not at all." Tang Ze said casually as he slowly stirred the curry. "This little bit of stuff won't be enough to attract Rum. I'm not so sure."
"But you can't just do nothing." Amuro Tooru wasn't buying it, and immediately blurted out a sentence that almost made Hoshikawa Teru drop his cleaver: "Rum has already decided to come to Beika Town himself to investigate the situation. Binga is dead at your hands, I don't believe you were completely unaware."
Of course, Binga's current record with the organization is "defected or missing"—although most people have already assumed he's gone.
Gin didn't publicize it, but he definitely thought it was his own masterpiece. However, Amuro Tooru, who knew how deeply Karasawa was involved, wasn't so naive.
Who would believe that Tang Ze wasn't behind this?