The Phantom Thief of Heart! But Conan.

Chapter 1022: P5's Nest

"Another writer who can't create after losing his wife... It sounds like creators as a group really lose their creative motivation due to some trauma..."

"That means they have a good relationship, right? Well, even though he's a guy who attacks others when he gets emotional, he also had a happy family in the past."

Leaving their original home in Gaoping and returning to the court, several children expressed their feelings in this way.

Huihara Ai, who had been watching quietly for a long time, was now silently looking at the cat lying on Tang Ze's shoulder and snoring softly. When she heard them say this, she turned around and said calmly: "This clearly shows that creators who have made a name for themselves really earn a lot."

This was a rather cold answer, causing several people to look over involuntarily.

"Hey, Haibara..." Conan tugged at her sleeve and whispered.

"Isn't that right? He lost his wife, and his son has his own family and home after getting married and starting a career, so he can no longer maintain the energy and inspiration he had in the past. It was just what Man Tian Nianjiu said himself, right?" Huihara Ai shook her head and said softly, "The young man he hit wrote books for him for two or three years, which means that his decline in condition has only happened in the past few years. He could have chosen to stop writing and retire in time..."

"Indeed." Tang Ze chimed in. "He's 53 this year. Although he hasn't reached retirement age, the books he wrote in the past won't stop earning him any income. He could just switch to running his works. He has so many famous novels, so there's no problem with copyright income."

"That's right. It's easy to achieve outstanding results in adaptation of historical novels. He has plenty of opportunities to make good money." Haibara Ai nodded.

"He probably can't let go of that high income. After all, for newly published works, veteran writers like him can get a lot of publishing fees from the publisher." Huiyuan Ai crossed her arms and continued to analyze calmly, "Maybe he feels that he hasn't earned enough to stop writing in his 50s..."

Hey, hey, you two, don't have such an adult and cruel conversation...

Conan's eyebrows twitched a few times, and he was just about to stop the two people from having an overly calm and indifferent social discussion that could easily puncture a child's fantasy, when he heard a few children from the Junior Detective Team actually exclaim in sudden enlightenment.

"Oh, that makes sense." Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya nodded in understanding. "So writers earn so much? So, Mr. Manda made so much money from hiring ghostwriters that he couldn't let them go. That's a huge loss."

"Yeah, if this kind of thing gets out, his reputation will be ruined. It won't be easy to find a candidate." Yoshida Ayumi held her chin and thought seriously.

"How many eel meals is that?" Kojima Motota, who was counting on his fingers, didn't understand and just asked directly.

"If he publishes a book, the one-time amount he gets could be enough for you to eat eel rice every day for two years." Huihara Ai did a simple calculation for him.

"You can also add an egg." Tang Ze added.

"That's really a lot of money..." Kojima Genta showed a longing look.

"No wonder the hourly worker's wife didn't say that both houses belonged to him, but that both plots of land belonged to him, so he built two houses..."

"I've decided. When I grow up, I want to be a writer!"

"As for Genta, that won't work." Yoshida Ayumi curled her lips, "Genta's Chinese score was worse than mine last time."

"It's okay. You don't have to eat eel rice every meal. It's okay to eat it once a week..."

"Then it would be better for Conan or Ai to go... Ai is amazing, she knows all this!"

Conan was a little surprised when he saw the naughty kids who were quick to learn.

"Children are much more receptive than you think." Tang Ze, who was sitting on the bench, rubbed his cat's face against his arm again and glanced at Conan, "And writers do earn a lot, don't they?"

Yusaku Kudo is a world-renowned contemporary mystery novelist. Compared with him, Manda Nenjiu is far behind him.

There are many best-selling novelists who earn over 100 million yuan in royalties annually in the Japanese market alone. They even have extremely high exposure and receive star-like treatment.

A big part of the reason why Yukiko Kudo chose to retire after getting married and travel around the world with her husband is probably because Yusaku Kudo's income really doesn't require much effort.

Once a writer gets married, the intellectual property rights of the works completed during the marriage will be regarded as assets like stock investments. Even after divorce, the subsequent income needs to be divided equally between the former spouse...

After thinking for a while, Conan found that he really couldn't refute it: "..."

"...It's not so bad. My dad, uh, still publishes one or two new works a year." Conan looked away and said guiltily, "It's just an isolated case, an isolated case..."

----

But soon, Conan was speechless.

"What a beautiful ring."

Kogoro Mori sat opposite Yoshiki Morokuchi, and his eyes naturally fell on the conspicuous ring on Yoshiki Morokuchi's hand.

"The number of diamonds is really amazing. The cutting is also very delicate. It must be a test of skill, right?"

The jewelry that is deliberately worn on such occasions indicates that the person wearing it has a strong desire to show off. In social situations, it is best to make pleasantries and get closer to others. It is best to follow the other person's ideas and bring the topic to the upper part.

Morokuchi Yoshiki let out a few hearty laughs, obviously touched by Mori Kogoro's tactful compliment.

"Yes," he opened his palm and gently shook his fingers, letting the brilliant fire of the diamond reflect, "This is a ring specially made to commemorate the publication of my 100th work. I ordered it long in advance, and luckily, I got it just in time."

Conan looked at the ring inlaid with densely packed diamonds and observed it carefully for a while. He quickly confirmed that the diamonds on the ring, which were not small in size, were indeed cut with a lot of effort as Kogoro Maori said.

In short, expensive, very expensive, extremely expensive.

Conan looked at the somewhat deliberate and smug expression on Morokuchi Yoshiki's face, and thinking of the discussion in the afternoon, he was speechless for a moment.

Writers are really, really rich...

"There's a 100th engraved on this side. Since this style is not suitable for daily wear and will affect work to some extent, I still hope that it will have a stronger sense of commemoration of the collection." Zhukou Yiqi turned his palm with great satisfaction. "Originally, I asked for 100 diamonds to be inlaid, but because I wanted all the diamonds to be the same size, the designer thought that it would lack beauty and would look like a tailor's thimble, so he rejected my idea. Now it seems that the designer's suggestion is still very professional."

Kogoro Maori smacked his lips, said nothing, and silently picked up the tea in front of him.

What else can I say? It's obvious that this author is addicted to showing off. Just keep quiet and let him continue the show.

Zhukou Yigui seemed to be in high spirits and chatted a few more words about the interesting things that happened during the ring customization process, then he also picked up the tea with a look of unsatisfied interest.

The recorder in front of him made a clicking sound, and Kogoro Mouri, feeling a little bored, lowered his head and looked at the recording equipment.

"Sorry, I'll change the tape." Dejima Kakuji, who was sitting on the other side of the conference room, smiled apologetically and walked forward to take the tape recorder in front of them.

"Is it a tape recorder? It's so rare. I feel like no one uses this kind of device nowadays." Kogoro Mouri raised his eyebrows.

Dejima Kakuji was the newspaper writer who invited him, and the recording equipment was provided to facilitate him to sort out the conversation content and write press releases when he returned.

"Most recordings are now digital. I know it's not common." Dejima Kakuji smiled and explained, "It's mainly because I'm used to this kind of recorder. I always feel uneasy when I can't see the tape spinning. Besides, tape recording has a better sound reproduction effect, just like a vinyl record burned on the spot..."

"Oh, what you said makes sense." Kogoro Mouri didn't quite understand what he was thinking, but nodded anyway.

"I feel the same way." The photographer holding a camera next to them saw their master entering the intermission and said, "Maybe it's because I've worked on a film set before, I prefer film cameras."

"Won't this be inconvenient for work? If you use a film camera, you won't be able to directly confirm the finished film," asked Kogoro Mouri.

"To be honest, it is a little bit, but I am used to my camera and I am more confident in taking pictures." Tarumi Wataru raised the camera in his hand. "Besides, digital products always make me feel that it will be very troublesome if something goes wrong. If there is any problem, I don't know how to repair it."

"Indeed it is……"

Seeing them chatting about retro feelings, the woman standing next to them exhaled and interrupted: "Wait a minute, guys, I'm sorry to interrupt you talking about, um, outdated things, but Mr. Zhukou's deadline is very tight, and time is very precious now. The teacher has specially taken out his free time to accept your topic. Instead of chatting about this, why don't you hurry up and finish the work?"

"Don't be so old-fashioned, Anabuki." Morokuchi Mashiki waved his hand with a smile, "The formal discussion will not begin until tomorrow. It's just a rehearsal now. It's not good to be too strict. Everyone needs a relaxing social environment."

"Teacher Zhukou..." Anabuki Haruei sighed and looked at the watch again.

From the expression on her face, it's not hard to tell that the editor thinks the author in front of her is looking for excuses to delay submitting his manuscript.

"There's still plenty of time." Zhukou Yigui shook his head nonchalantly, "There are still three or four days before the official proofreading and publication. I'll have time to finish it."

"Teacher, the last time we sent the plates to the printing factory in the early morning was a special case. We are a literary magazine, not a newspaper. We can't always rush to publish on the day..." Anabuki Haruei looked quite helpless.

"It doesn't matter. It won't take much time." Zhukou Yigui looked determined to delay the manuscript until the end. "I will cook for you tonight. Please taste my cooking. Then tomorrow, you can attend the talk in the morning sun in the best condition. This is also a kind of publicity for the new series, isn't it?"

Anabuki Haruei slapped his forehead, looking completely helpless. In the end, he could only check his watch again, looked at Dejima Kakuji, and asked with a frown: "Since you want everyone to get to know each other first, what about the last participant? Although the time given is ample, we should still have a basic sense of time..."

"I just confirmed with him. He said he encountered an emergency on the road and is on his way here." Dejima Kakuji said quickly, "We will do our best to promote Mr. Morokuchi Masuki's new work. This is also something we have discussed with your magazine. You see, the preview page of this month has given this interview the largest space. The effect will definitely be very good."

"Oh? Has there been a preview? Let me see..." Morokuchi Masuki looked very interested and took the newspaper from Dejima Kakuji.

"...It feels a little different from what I imagined." Conan put down the cup in his hand and said softly.

"Imagination? Who, Mr. Morokuchi?" Ran Mouri, who was sitting with him next to the magazine rack, heard his low sigh and turned to look at him.

"Yes. Mr. Morokuchi Masuki is famous for his attention to detail in suspense and reasoning. For example, who calls someone first, some small differences in words, and even the tense changes that appear in combination with professional identities... He is a very famous writer of detailed reasoning." Conan, who is familiar with many mystery works, concluded, "Logically speaking, this kind of writer should usually have serious persecution delusions and be a neurotic type, right?"

"Not necessarily? Maybe it's just a writing style."

"No, there is a kind of obsessive anxiety in his writing, which is also one of the characteristics of his writing..."

While they were talking, Zhukou Yigui, who was reading the newspaper, suddenly had a changed expression and frowned.

"Editor Anabuki, do you have a ruler?"

"Eh? Now? If you need it, I'll go get it..." Anabuki Haruei obviously didn't expect his request, but immediately turned around and walked out.

Conan watched her hurried footsteps and vaguely felt that his prediction was correct.

Mr. Morokuchi Masuki is probably not a writer who is easy to get along with. The reason why he is polite to Mori Kogoro is probably because of Mori Kogoro's current fame and status.

He didn't ask anyone else but had to ask his editor, Xuebuki Qingrong, which not only shows how he gets along with his editor on a daily basis, but also reflects some of his personality traits.

Even when facing an unfamiliar celebrity like Kogoro Mori, he couldn't completely control his thoughts. When he showed the ring just now, his sense of pride was beyond words.

It was clearly a dialogue for the purpose of promoting a new mystery work, but it turned out that it was not a rehearsal at all. He just wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of first contact to show off...

"It should be in the study...ah!"

Anabuki Haruei opened the door of the reception room and walked out, but unexpectedly bumped into someone head-on. She staggered a few steps in her high heels and was about to fall.

"Be careful."

The person she bumped into reached out and hooked her shoulders in time to help her regain her balance.

"Is it because I'm so late that you're so anxious? I'm so sorry."

Anabuki Haruei stood up straight, raised his head, and saw a handsome face with a gentle smile.

"Detective Akechi... No, there is still some time before the dinner date. You are not late..."

When Dejima Kakuji saw who was coming, he immediately went to meet him.

Tang Ze let go of Anabuki Haruei who was still a little dazed, looked at the people in the field, and nodded and greeted Mouri Kogoro, or more precisely, Conan.

Look, what he said...

He knew that Conan had really disturbed P5 today.