“Still alive?” Ran Mouri was startled: “What do you mean?”
“My cousin's son is also named Suzuki Byakuya. A few years ago, his house caught fire, and he seemed to have died in the fire. But no body was found, and no trace was found. In the end, he was treated as a missing person.”
This past event pulled Ran Mouri's thoughts back to their first meeting.
At that time, Mr. Suzuki was wearing a black coat and a black hat.
He was wrapped up tightly, was it to cover up burn marks?
Thinking about this, she suddenly felt a little sympathy for his situation.
Mr. Suzuki must have had a hard time all these years.
No wonder he was so resistant when he faced Shinichi Kudo.
Was it because of his feelings of inferiority that caused him to be so cold?
“There aren't many people with the surname Suzuki in Mita City. As for whether he is Byakuya-san, we won't know until we see him face-to-face. Ran, can you help me make an appointment with him? Just say you're inviting him to dinner.”
Facing her best friend's request, Ran Mouri readily agreed:
“Okay, but he’s working part-time at Dr. Agasa’s house. I’ll call him later and ask.”
The Suzuki Zaibatsu had bought this man's inventions before, so Sonoko had some impression:
“Dr. Agasa? The inventor next door to Kudo’s house?”
“Yes, it’s him.”
“Okay, then I'll contact the doctor directly.”
“Hmm.”
“Ran, how did you meet him?”
Faced with her best friend’s inquiry, Ran Mouri answered in detail.
She even told her about the home invasion murder case and the Mita Aquarium incident.
Hearing about Shinichi Kudo’s failure, Sonoko Suzuki laughed over the phone:
“Ran, I told you, what’s so good about that Kudo kid? All he does is think about reasoning, he doesn’t care about your feelings at all. I’ll introduce you to a few handsome guys next month, maybe there’s someone you like.”
Ran Mouri’s mind wasn’t on that, she quickly refused:
“No, no, no, Sonoko, thank you for your kindness.”
Sonoko Suzuki chatted with her for a while and hung up.
Shinichi Kudo put his hands in his pockets and raised his chin slightly:
“How did it go?”
“Sonoko said Mr. Suzuki is probably a relative, but we need to meet to be sure.”
Huh, a relative of the Suzuki family?
Shinichi Kudo narrowed his eyes, he had a feeling that they would meet again.
…
“Tut, tut, tut~”
The flying machine, which had risen into the air, suddenly died.
Suzuki Byakuya didn't panic, and he fell freely from a height of a few meters.
He landed with a roll and landed safely.
Soon, he got up and patted the dust off his clothes:
“Done.”
After two hours of testing, Dr. Agasa had obtained a lot of experimental data.
They had originally agreed on an eight-hour test flight for a salary of 50,000 yen.
Today's work was completed a quarter of the way through, and he would be paid a quarter of the amount.
Dr. Agasa would work overtime tonight to debug the flying machine, and they would test fly the second half tomorrow morning.
“Ring, ring.”
Hearing the home phone ringing, Dr. Agasa went to answer it.
Suzuki Byakuya waved his hand and signaled him to go ahead.
After resting for about five or six minutes, Dr. Agasa returned outside.
He was holding a wad of yen and smiled as he handed it over:
“Hello, Mr. Suzuki, this is your payment for today.”
Byakuya took it and counted it, then looked up:
“Fifty thousand?”
“Yes, I see you’re Shinichi’s friend, so I paid you in advance. Remember to come over at nine tomorrow morning for the test flight.”
“Alright, I’ll be on my way then.”
Byakuya waved his hand and turned to leave.
“Oh, Mr. Suzuki, wait a minute.”
“What’s wrong?”
Dr. Agasa took out a lunchbox and opened the lid, pointing with his finger:
“Why don’t you leave your contact information, I can introduce some work to you in the future.”
“Sure.”
Byakuya glanced at it and grinned.
That unremarkable lunchbox was actually a phone?!
After exchanging numbers, Dr. Agasa didn’t keep him any longer.
Suzuki Byakuya left the mansion and looked up at the scorching sun.
A daily salary of 50,000 yen…
This money was too easy to get, it was like being a gigolo.
No, to be precise, it was like playing a game with a cheat code.
Usually, grinding in a dungeon was like saving money, time-consuming and low-yield.
Once you have a cheat code, the speed of clearing the dungeon and the amount of wealth accumulated would be much faster, but the fun would also be greatly reduced.
However, with such a high daily salary, what more could you ask for?
Working two or three days a month could support his expenses, which was much better than working a job.
Money may lose some fun, but it also brings happiness:
“The weather is so good on a sunny day, the flowers are red and the grass is green. I happily run forward, traversing the mountains, my spirit still young…”
Suzuki Byakuya hummed a tune and happily went to the nearby Tokyo Metropolitan Bank.
Times have changed from the past, there is no convenient online banking payment. Carrying too much money has its risks.
Byakuya wasn't afraid of robbery, he was just annoyed by thieves. Sometimes, you don’t even know what happened, and the money is gone, it’s very hard to guard against.
Carrying 10,000 yen was enough, it was safer to keep the extra money on a card.
Byakuya had also thought about saving up some capital to start a business. However, the situation in Japan was different from that in China, the environment was special, and there were also gangsters. He was a stranger here and didn’t know anyone. To achieve financial freedom, he had to start by building relationships.
Anyway, these things wouldn’t happen overnight, he could take his time.
Byakuya walked into the Tokyo Metropolitan Bank and went straight to the ATM.
After seeing the notice about a malfunction, he reluctantly went to the counter to do his business.
He took a handwritten number tag and sat on a random chair to wait in line.
There were four people in front of him, so he wouldn't have to wait too long.
“Cough… cough.”
The cough sounded as if it could be contagious, and it spread from person to person.
Byakuya frowned slightly and looked at the staff who covered their mouths.
Since he traveled through time, it should be the flu, right?
The female employee at the counter leaned forward and shouted in a certain direction:
“Mr. Taniguchi, can you come here for a moment?”
“Okay.”
Seeing the customers’ slightly anxious appearance, it was probably a computer or system problem.
At the same time, a male employee got up from his desk, carrying a password box.
He had a polite smile on his face and reported to the leader wearing glasses:
“Branch Manager, I'm going out for a while.”
“Okay, thank you for your hard work, Maeda-kun.”
The male employee nodded and walked towards the back door.
As soon as he opened the door lock, he was forcefully broken into from outside!
The person was wearing a delivery man’s uniform and a blue motorcycle helmet, holding a gun of an unknown model.
He flashed into the bank, swung the butt of the gun, and hit the male employee in the face.
The latter was in pain and immediately fell to the ground.
Such a loud commotion instantly attracted the attention of everyone in the bank.
The robber raised his gun and aimed it left and right, threatening:
“All of you stay where you are, don’t move, or I’ll shoot!”
Mita City, this place was really toxic.
It was either murder or robbery, one incident every day?
Only now did Suzuki Byakuya understand what the fat old man had said: “People die every day in Mita City, it’s not normal if there are no murder cases.”
This place was a city of sin.