**Chapter 144: Life Is Hard, Ai-Chan Sighs**

"Can you take me with you?" Suddenly, Haibara Ai spoke up from the bed, showing a typical little girl's expression.

"Huh?" Fujino exclaimed in surprise, then looked at Haibara Ai, somewhat stunned.

"I also want to see how a detective solves cases!" She continued with her little girl act.

Fujino: "..."

Fujino observed Haibara Ai's expectant expression and couldn't help but twitch his eyebrow.

What is she up to now?

His mind raced.

"Is it not okay?" Haibara Ai continued to maintain her little girl act when she saw Fujino wasn't responding for a long time, adding a pair of expectant eyes.

"..." Feeling a bit overwhelmed by the little girl's gaze, Fujino took a deep breath and then said, "It's not that you can't come, but you just woke up. You must be feeling very weak, right?"

"Not at all!" Haibara Ai got out of bed.

"In that case... you can come along... it's not a problem..." Although Fujino had seen Haibara Ai's collection of fake cute acts before, experiencing it in real life...

He was quite taken aback.

If Fujino didn't know she was an eighteen-year-old shut-in who had taken a drug to become smaller, he would have really thought the little girl in front of him was genuinely a cute little girl under ten.

All he could say was, the Miyano family were indeed all talented actors.

With such acting skills, it would be a pity if they didn't go to the Oscars.

After getting Fujino's permission, Haibara Ai went to the bathroom to change clothes.

In the bathroom, Haibara Ai looked at her slightly indifferent face in the mirror and sighed softly, "This kind of performance is really tiring..."

All her actions just now were part of her strategy to stay at Fujino's place.

To be honest, she wasn't quite sure why she wanted to stay here so badly. Maybe it was because of Fujino, or maybe it was because of Fujino Akemi...

Okay, mainly because of Fujino Akemi.

Fujino Akemi was too much like her sister. That kind of meticulous care made her recall the past more than once.

She cherished this feeling very much. Despite knowing it was a fake illusion, she still wanted it to continue.

If she wanted to stay, she obviously couldn't avoid Fujino.

Although Fujino was a good person, he was extremely mindful when it came to matters involving interest...

If she could show some value, the chances of her staying would definitely increase.

Maybe she could be of some help if she followed along.

Life is hard, Ai-chan sighs.

...

Soon, Fujino, Akemi Miyano, Haibara Ai, and Kaori Shinmei arrived at the detective Sōmonji's publishing office by car.

As for why Akemi Miyano also came along...

She thought that Haibara Ai needed someone to take care of her to avoid interfering with Fujino's work.

This reason seemed familiar.

The Ford Taurus slowly stopped. Fujino opened the car door and was greeted by the sight of a tall building with a few lights still on.

At the top of the building, there was a glowing sign that said 'Daigakukan'.

"Daigakukan?" Fujino muttered as he looked at the sign on the top of the building.

This Daigakukan was not a university library or a university building. It was a well-known publishing company in the Conan world.

If Fujino remembered correctly, in the anime, at the beginning of the novel adaptations, there was often a name 'Shōgakukan'.

At first, he thought it was an elementary school, but it was actually a publishing house in Japan.

This Daigakukan was likely equivalent to that Shōgakukan.

"Yes, this is the publishing house for my father's Detective Sōmonji series," Kaori Shinmei responded, having heard Fujino's murmur.

"Let's not waste any time and head in," Fujino nodded and led the three girls into the Daigakukan publishing office.

...

In the elevator, Fujino glanced at the two beautiful girls and a little girl around him, feeling a bit strange.

Why did this inexplicably feel like a family outing?

Thinking about it, he suddenly recalled the classic trio.

Come to think of it, he had also formed a trio, right?

The classic trio was a childhood friend, the childhood friend's dad, and a hapless elementary school student.

On his side, it was a would-be sister and her sister…

Conan: I've been replaced.

At that moment, Haibara Ai, standing at the front, suddenly turned her head.

It seemed she had noticed Fujino's gaze.

With a slightly indifferent face, she showed a puzzled expression and tilted her head.

Fujino coughed lightly and withdrew his gaze, then turned his attention to the flashing elevator operation indicator.

...

Soon, the elevator arrived on the fifth floor, where the editor's office for the Sōmonji series was located.

Publishing houses were hotspots for working overtime in this era.

So even though it was past seven in the evening, the office was still brightly lit.

People in professional suits were busily working in the office, clearly working overtime.

With Kaori Shinmei leading the way, Fujino approached a middle-aged man who had gained some weight.

"Who might you be?" The man glanced at Fujino, who came with Kaori Shinmei, and asked curiously.

"My name is Fujino, I'm a detective," Fujino extended his hand and politely shook hands with the man.

"Fujino?" The man thought for a moment and then exclaimed in surprise, "Are you the high school detective Fujino?!"

"That's right. I'm here because... Miss Shinmei, may I explain the commission?" Fujino paused and looked at Kaori Shinmei.

Kaori Shinmei nodded understandingly.

With her approval, Fujino continued, "I accepted Miss Shinmei's commission to investigate her father's disappearance. I have a few questions to ask."

"Oh, it's about Mr. Shinmei's commission..." The man glanced at Kaori Shinmei and then at Fujino, "In that case, feel free to ask anything you need."

"Does Mr. Shinmei submit his manuscripts to your publishing house every week?"

"Yes, Mr. Shinmei sends in his manuscripts on time every week."

The man checked his watch, "Tonight is the submission date, I expect the manuscript will arrive soon."

"Can I take a look at those manuscripts?" Fujino asked.

"That's not a problem..." The man walked to the side, found a few stacks of manuscripts held together with paper clips, and handed them to Fujino.

Fujino took the manuscripts, glanced over them, and after a moment of silence, asked Kaori Shinmei, "Are you sure these signatures are your father's?"

Fujino was referring to the signature at the bottom right of the manuscript cover under the title.

In Japan, it's customary for authors to sign their manuscripts.

"Yes, these are my father's signatures," Kaori Shinmei confirmed, "I checked them last time I came."

"Kaori-chan, you don't need to worry too much," the man gave a reassuring smile, "I think Mr. Shinmei is probably so engrossed in his writing that he forgot to contact you."

"I don't think so," Fujino suddenly raised the manuscript, "Haven't you noticed? The signatures on the sixth and seventh installments are almost identical."

"The sixth and seventh installments..." Kaori Shinmei examined the manuscripts closely, "They do look identical. These two signatures are exactly the same."

"But what's the problem with that?" The man asked in confusion, "It could just be a coincidence."

"It can't be a coincidence," Fujino's voice turned serious, "Everyone's signature is unique, especially these cursive artistic signatures. While it's possible to sign similarly many times, this is a brush pen... The brush strokes can't be exactly the same twice."

"Identical signatures clearly indicate printing. If it was for convenience, why not use the same signature from the first installment? Why start from the sixth installment?"

"Could it be because..." Kaori Shinmei's face showed worry, "After the sixth installment, my father couldn't sign anymore?!"

"That seems to be the case," Fujino nodded.

Watching this scene, Haibara Ai's eyes showed some doubt.

If she remembered correctly, from the moment they entered until they obtained the manuscript, it had been less than ten minutes.

In just ten minutes, Fujino had discovered something unusual.

It was as if he already knew there was a problem with the manuscript...

How did he do that...

Thinking this, Ai narrowed her eyes slightly, feeling that things were not simple.

"Are you tired?" Akemi Miyano noticed Haibara Ai's squinting eyes, "If you're tired, I can take you home first... It looks like this case will take a long time."

"No," Haibara Ai shook her head, "I find this kind of work very interesting."

"Really?" Akemi Miyano smiled, "It seems you have the potential to become a detective."

"A detective?" Haibara Ai lowered her head, falling into thought.

"If that's the case, my father..." Nearby, a sobbing sound came. Kaori Shinmei's eyes were reddening, and tears were forming.

"There's no point in being sad until we find out what happened..." Fujino comforted Kaori Shinmei, then asked the man, "Has Mr. Shinmei shown any unusual behavior recently? You must have met him a few times before the series restarted, right?"

"Yes, we did meet Mr. Shinmei a few times before the series restarted," the man, now looking serious after realizing the matter

 wasn't simple, replied, "The unusual thing might be the resumption of the Sōmonji series...

Four years ago, we asked Mr. Shinmei to restart the series, but he said that Detective Sōmonji was dead... People can't come back from the dead."

"We were about to give up on the series, but two months ago, Mr. Shinmei suddenly called and said he wanted to restart the series...

Upon hearing the news, we immediately stopped a currently running novel to make room for Detective Sōmonji."