That was so good, your reaction made me cry too π
I think your analysis on Maomao's thoughts on romance is spot on!
Regarding the pipe and Lakan: that was a slight misconception. He never actually owned the pipe, he just found it when investigating the explosion, smirked (probably realising what it meant) and put it back. Maomao did mention that he is lazy, but intuitive π
As for Maomao's thoughts on Lakan and why she made such a scary face in episode 18... The anime very briefly showed a few flashes in this episode without explaining them. Basically, while Maomao understands the logical reasoning behind what happened, she still feels traumatised. Specifically, when Maomao was 3 years old, she actually met Lakan right after he rushed to the Verdigris House and got beat up by the Madam with a broom. Lakan immediately recognised who Maomao was and, while covered in blood and tears, tried to reach out to her, which scared the hell out of her. Lakan also repeatedly tried to buy Maomao from the Verdigris House over the years, but, at that point, she already saw Luomen as her father.