"Ryoko... does it bother you if I call you that?"
Right after leaving Mori's office, Lin Yi started to employ his tactics, gradually getting closer to the other person.
The first step was to shorten the distance in their interactions, starting with how he addressed her.
"Mm, it's fine."
Ryoko couldn't resist Lin Yi's charm, and shyly nodded.
"Then, Ryoko, is your house far from here?"
"No, it's not far, it takes about half an hour to walk."
"Half an hour? Then we'd better take a taxi."
Lin Yi said this while signaling for a taxi.
"No need... with this distance, it's better to walk." Ryoko quickly waved her hand.
Readers who enjoy Japanese dramas might recognize a certain expression: the "Japanese drama race."
Running is a scene that's almost always present in Japanese dramas.
You can always see characters in these dramas running after a loved one who's walking away, chasing after a friend who's moving to another city, running after parents who are waving goodbye, or rushing to catch an opportunity that's about to slip away…
The "Japanese drama races" manage to stir up many emotions in the audience, such as adrenaline, excitement, and anticipation. But after watching so many of these scenes, many people probably ask the same question: "Why are they running?" "Can't they just take a taxi?"
In reality, it's not so easy to take a taxi in Tokyo.
The base fare is 730 yen (about 48 yuan) for the first two kilometers, and then every 280 meters costs 90 yen (around 16 yuan per kilometer).
The average walking speed of an adult is about five kilometers per hour.
Ryoko's apartment is half an hour away from here, meaning it's about 2.5 kilometers.
If they took a taxi, around 1,000 yen would be spent in the blink of an eye.
That's equivalent to working for an hour at a convenience store.
"I'm too lazy to walk... It's faster to take a taxi."
Lin Yi replied thoughtfully, and after calling a taxi, he opened the door for Ryoko to get in.
Since she wouldn't have to pay, Ryoko stopped insisting, nodded in thanks, and got into the vehicle.
After Ryoko gave the driver the address, Lin Yi sat beside her, which made Ryoko feel a little nervous.
Lin Yi couldn't get too close yet, as it wasn't the right time for that. He said, "So, while we're on the way, could you tell me about the problems you've encountered?"
Ryoko, seeing that Lin Yi was only asking her these questions, felt a great sense of relief, but at the same time, some disappointment.
She lowered her head and said, "This... let's talk about it when we get there."
Ryoko didn't mention the problems she had faced.
Lin Yi still remembered something about this murder case, more or less related to her brother. Was it her brother? Well, that wasn't the most important thing.
Her brother had been kidnapped, and the kidnappers demanded that he lose a soccer match, or they would kill him. They also insisted that this wasn't reported to the police...
If she didn't comply, they would kill him too.
Ryoko, still young and lacking much life experience, was easily intimidated by the kidnappers' words and didn't call the police.
But she couldn't think of any other way to act, so she came up with a strategy using her identity as "Kudo's girlfriend" to ask Kudo Shinichi for help.
From this perspective, she was still somewhat clever.
Lin Yi assumed that she hadn't directly told him about the difficulties she had faced because she wanted him to go to her house and see for himself before talking more about it.
Clearly, she feared that the detectives she had hired weren't competent enough and wanted to see if they could come to any conclusions based on the clues she could find.
Otherwise, if they messed things up and angered the kidnappers, causing them to follow through on their threat, she wouldn't have anywhere left to cry.
Understanding this, Lin Yi immediately switched into... no, detective mode.
He slowly stopped smiling, adopting an expression as if he were thinking, "I know what you're thinking," and said softly, "Ryoko, just now... you were lying, weren't you?"
"Eh?" Ryoko was surprised, looking at Lin Yi with some guilt: "What... what lie did I tell?"
"You're not Kudo's girlfriend, are you?"
"I... I was before, but we broke up, and I don't have his number anymore."
"Actually... what I said earlier was a lie." Lin Yi looked deeply at her as if he could see through her heart: "There's no rumor that he has a girlfriend, and he hasn't gone into a hotel with any of his girlfriends..."
"Ah?" Ryoko was stunned for a moment, not expecting it to be like this, but she refused to admit it, firmly saying, "I really am Kudo Shinichi's girlfriend!"
Lin Yi continued his game: "You probably don't know, but... Kudo's secret..."
"Kudo's... secret?"
"Yes."
Lin Yi answered slowly: "Actually... he's gay."
"Eh?" Ryoko was completely confused.
After a moment, she came to her senses, but couldn't believe it: "Kudo Shinichi... how could he be gay?"
"It's hard to believe, right?" said Lin Yi. "To be honest, when I found out, I was also devastated."
"But think about it for a moment, Kudo has been very famous since high school, and he always had girls around him."
"So... why has he never had a girlfriend?"
Lin Yi asked a question that struck Ryoko's heart.
"That... that..."
Ryoko opened her mouth and began to reflect on the question. It's true! Kudo Shinichi is handsome, smart, and many girls must have confessed to him, but why has he never had a girlfriend?
"This secret... please keep it." Lin Yi made a "shh" gesture and then continued: "The reason I insisted on following you was because I realized you were lying... but then I gave you a hint so you could talk about your problems."
"And you didn't... that means you're facing a big problem, one that not just anyone can solve. Am I right?"
Ryoko looked at him in surprise. She hadn't expected him to deduce so much from just those details.
At that moment, her gaze toward Lin Yi completely changed.
She nodded, and with one hand gripping her skirt, said, "You're right... Lin-kun."
"You can also just call me by my name, it sounds closer."
"Alright... okay, Yi... the thing is, last night..."
Lin Yi's outstanding performance as a "detective" won Ryoko over, and she ended up telling him all the information.
There were no major differences from what Lin Yi remembered.
Only some details about the relationships between the people involved. The kidnapped person was Akagi Mamoru, who was Akagi Hideo's brother.
As for Ryoko, she was his distant cousin.
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