"This..." Soma Taku hesitated, not replying for a long time.
"Professor, you can consider it. The work won't be too tiring. Zhenchi Group will have people skilled in management to assist," Chi Feichi didn't rush him.
He originally wasn't confident in persuading Soma Taku.
Being a university professor wasn't a bad gig; it paid well and was respected. Why bother changing jobs and challenging oneself in a new position at such an old age?
His idea was also to let Soma Taku recommend someone. Given Soma Taku's character, the person recommended shouldn't be bad.
However, since Soma Taku didn't refuse outright and was hesitating, it meant there was a chance.
Soma Taku weighed his options. He was approaching retirement age anyway. Thinking about how going home later would just be retirement, he also wanted to try working at the pet hospital.
Put bluntly, having been in school all his life, he yearned a bit for a different life.
Changing industries entirely would make him uncomfortable, and he didn't have the energy for it. But being the director of a pet hospital, as long as it wasn't too strenuous, he was quite willing.
"Mainly because I'm not young anymore. I'm afraid I can't be the director for many years. When I retire and leave, I don't know if it will delay the hospital's development..." Soma Taku hesitated. "At most seven years. I can only serve as director for seven years."
Chi Feichi nodded. "Seven years is enough."
Let the capable rise, the average step aside, and the incapable step down. By then, someone competitive would naturally emerge to take over as director.
Soma Taku was still hesitating. "Then what about the school? I can apply for early retirement, but your and other students' graduation theses still need my review. It will take a year before I can free myself."
"Someone from the school will handle the greetings. The Zhenchi Group will provide job opportunities for many students in the future, not just in pet hospitals, but also in some breeding farms and feed factories. It's a good thing for the school as well. Presumably, the school won't mind the Professor holding the title of director first."
After Chi Feichi finished speaking, he didn't discuss this topic further and started eating with Soma Taku.
The quality of students at Toto University was high. Cooperating with Toto University would be a good thing. However, specific treatments, job arrangements, annual quotas, and whether there were other subsidies were matters for negotiation. Even on Soma Taku's side, there were likely many issues waiting to be resolved.
Leaving these to the relevant personnel to negotiate would suffice. He just waited to see if the result was satisfactory.
If he had to worry about each of these things one by one, with such a large setup as the Zhenchi Group, his cheap dad wouldn't just be too busy to come home; splitting into ten people probably wouldn't be enough.
After starting to eat, Soma Taku relaxed a lot. However, due to Chi Feichi's quiet personality, he kept his voice low. "Ryusuitei's fugu caviar is very famous. The other sashimi dishes also taste good, paired with authentic sake..."
"Ah—!"
A woman's scream rang out from outside. The soundproofing of the private rooms was unsatisfactory, immediately causing Soma Taku's hand pouring sake to tremble.
Chi Feichi froze for a moment, looking down at the dish he had only been eating for a short while.
This kind of scream from a crime scene was very familiar. Could it be...
Hearing the commotion, Feichi immediately poked his head up. "Master, why do I feel like that kid Conan is here too?"
Chi Feichi had black lines on his forehead. Coincidentally, he had the same feeling. But regarding the plot of this Japanese restaurant, he didn't have much impression and wasn't sure if the Grim Reaper Elementary Student was here to harvest lives again. "Let's go take a look."
Startled, the customers in the restaurant opened the doors of their private rooms one after another.
As soon as Chi Feichi stepped out, he saw a familiar elementary school student in a blue uniform in front of Room 8 opposite.
"Obviously, this is a murder case!" Mouri Kogoro came out of Room 8 and said sternly to the waitress in a pink kimono, "Please contact the police immediately!"
"Okay!" The waitress, who was likely the discoverer of the body, responded and immediately called the police.
Chi Feichi stepped forward. "Teacher Mouri."
"Eh?" Mouri Kogoro was somewhat surprised, muttering in his heart why he saw this guy Chi Feichi with a built-in cooling effect again. But after all, Chi Feichi was now his disciple, so he had to look like a teacher. "Ahem, you're here to eat too?"
"Yes, this is Professor Soma Taku from Toto University, also my teacher in the laboratory," Chi Feichi introduced with a voice devoid of emotion. "This is the famous detective Mouri Kogoro, also my teacher in learning deduction."
"Hello, so you are the famous detective Mouri Kogoro!" Soma Taku was surprised, actively stepping forward to shake hands, his eyes full of admiration.
Being with Chi Feichi, he didn't feel like a teacher at all. It was as if Chi Feichi was his direct superior.
But he was only guiding Chi Feichi for a period. After Chi Feichi graduated and he became the director of the pet hospital, they would indeed be in a superior-subordinate relationship. He should just send Chi Feichi off as soon as possible.
However, Mouri Kogoro was Chi Feichi's teacher for learning deduction. There was no graduation charter for learning deduction; it was likely a lifelong matter.
Thinking of this, he admired Mouri Kogoro. As expected of a famous detective, what a hard head!
Presumably, the pressure he felt from Chi Feichi was nothing to a famous detective...
Feeling the sincere admiration in Soma Taku's eyes, Mouri Kogoro felt a bit embarrassed. He smiled and shook hands with Soma Taku. "Not at all, just some undeserved reputation."
Before the two started praising each other, Conan pulled Chi Feichi's clothes, signaling Chi Feichi to talk aside.
Walking into the room with the dead body, Conan gave him half-moon eyes. "Speaking of which, why are you here too?"
"I should be the one asking that question," Chi Feichi said.
"Fine," Conan turned to look outside the door. "Which room were you in just now?"
"Room 1." Chi Feichi looked at the scene.
The deceased was slumped over the table with a knife stabbed in his chest. Blood had stained the shirt and suit jacket on his chest red.
"Just directly opposite," Conan walked towards the deceased. "Did you see any suspicious people?"
"No. Professor Soma and I arrived around 6:30 PM," Chi Feichi recalled. "The one receiving us was that waitress. She arrived almost at the same time as the guests in Room 7. There were seven of them, seemingly just a group gathering for a meal. Didn't notice anything unusual. After that, we were talking in the room the whole time and started eating around 7:45 PM."
"Mn, Uncle Mouri and I arrived here around 7:00 PM. Because the reservation time hadn't arrived, we waited outside for a while. Didn't see any suspicious people. We started eating around 7:50 PM as well. You guys chatted for quite a long time," Conan complained, then continued to tell Chi Feichi the situation. "While we were waiting outside, we saw the deceased, Mr. Kaneda. Hearing their chat, he was a newly promoted associate professor at Jomon University. He came here to eat with Professor Iwama from the same university and Lecturer Arai from the same intake to celebrate his promotion."
"How was the relationship between the three?" Chi Feichi asked subconsciously. From Conan's plot, the probability of a crime committed by an acquaintance was high.
"The relationship didn't seem very good, but not terrible either. Otherwise, they wouldn't have come to eat together. However, the deceased Mr. Kaneda's attitude towards the other two wasn't very good. He seemed to be a very arrogant person, somewhat looking down on Mr. Arai who was in the same intake but still a lecturer, and not respectful enough to Professor Iwama, his senior," Conan didn't think there was anything wrong with speaking ill of the deceased, trying to tell Chi Feichi the situation in detail. "Do you think it's a crime committed by an acquaintance?"