Chapter 133 - 133 130 Business Trip

133: Chapter 130 Business Trip 133: Chapter 130 Business Trip Police dog squadron. Red bricks, black tiles. The sunlight filtered through the dense leaves and into the yard. Dazhuang enjoyed the dappled sunlight while craning his neck in anticipation. The bubbling steam rushed towards the roof, as if the rafters themselves were drooling. Dazhuang was also salivating, squatting at the door, gazing at Jiang Yuan’s figure in the kitchen. The intelligence of an ordinary dog can reach that of a three-year-old child, while a specially trained police dog like Dazhuang can reach that of at least a five-year-old, and perhaps even a six or seven-year-old. Dazhuang raised his head attentively, his eyes focused, and his mouth seemed to split into a smile. He emitted gentle humming sounds, and the fur on his belly rippled, showing how extremely happy and excited he was at that moment. Actually, Dazhuang couldn’t see the pot, let alone the freezer, fridge, or any sort of food; all he could see was the busy figure of Jiang Yuan. A figure radiating brilliance! Now Dazhuang would drool just at the sight of Jiang Yuan, enough to choke his robust throat. “You little rascal, waiting to eat again,” Li Li came out and casually stroked Dazhuang’s head. Dazhuang tilted his head to the side. Dressed in his specially tailored police vest, Dazhuang looked handsome with his cool tilted head, but he didn’t even glance at Li Li. Li Li, already two steps out the door, couldn’t help but stiffen in surprise. You’re acting strange, buddy. “Dazhuang,” Li Li’s tone became slightly more serious as she fixed her gaze on Dazhuang. “Woof.” Dazhuang quickly turned his head to look at Li Li, his face full of enthusiasm and obedience, almost a complete turnaround from just moments before. “You sneaky little thing, you’re quite clever, aren’t you?” Li Li’s slender fingers vigorously rubbed Dazhuang’s slightly balding forehead. Dazhuang let her do as she wished. For him, the trainers would have days each month when they were particularly stern and difficult to please. He used to be able to smell danger in the air, and although he hadn’t detected it this time, the trainer’s tone of voice still revealed her mood. Dazhuang was pleased that he had navigated the situation successfully. Next up, it was time to enjoy. Jiang Yuan prepared a full basin of dog food for Dazhuang, based on a hot stewed meat meal. In addition to traditional ribs and chicken breast, Jiang Yuan had also brought some beef steak out of his own pocket today. Dazhuang sniffed the aroma of the dog food, tears of bliss welling in his eyes. It was truly damp. “Go ahead and eat,” Li Li couldn’t bear to watch any longer and waved her hand, allowing Dazhuang to start eating. Dazhuang gave a thud of a bow, plunging his head into the bowl and making a loud noise. He didn’t feel any pain, or perhaps there wasn’t time to show it, as he opened his mouth wide and started eating fervently. The fragrant soup soaked the fresh vegetables, the fresh ribs stirred up the fresh beef steak, and the strong scent and rich taste layered upon each other, all conveyed through a sense of smell 1,200 times stronger than a human’s, taking Dazhuang’s delight straight to the heavens. A dog’s life, with no regrets! Jiang Yuan shared the beef steak with Li Li and Master Wu Jun. And he buried his head in eating as well. Li Li sat at the table, her back straight and elegant due to the need to cut her steak; the sunlight on her neck made her figure even softer and more attractive. She was also engrossed in her struggle with the steak. Her bun swayed gently, just as cute as Dazhuang. Wu Jun, on the other hand, cut the steak as if dissecting a body, first trimming the edges and setting them aside, then cutting the remaining steak into neat squares. Jiang Yuan recalled how Master Wu Jun liked to arrange things when dissecting... Never mind, I can’t think about it anymore, or the steak won’t taste good. He concentrated on eating his own steak in front of him. On the plate was the steak along with two slices of onion, a mushroom cap, a piece of broccoli, and two slices of carrot (the vegetables were all scrounged from Dazhuang’s meals). The slightly charred steak was a wonderful sensation when bitten into. There was a sense of pleasure with each tear of the teeth. Though Jiang Yuan didn’t have Dazhuang’s nose, he was quite the foodie too. The three humans and one dog chewed their food earnestly. Pacific times. After eating, Wu Jun leaned back lazily, picking his teeth. Dazhuang lay down lazily as well. Li Li stood up to clear the dishes; carrying bowls inside, her silhouette was incredibly attractive, her police uniform figure-hugging, and her legs appeared to measure at least a meter two in length. Wu Jun noticed Jiang Yuan’s gaze and joked, “Do you have a thing for the young lass? Xiao Li is not bad at all, very reliable and hardworking.” Gazing at her silhouette, Jiang Yuan felt a bit of a ripple, but thinking of her eating manner, as if there was another Dazhuang beside him, he shook his head firmly. After the meal. Jiang Yuan received a big red apple that was originally meant for Dazhuang. Carrying the apple, he headed to his office. Wu Jun also took an apple, muttering, “Apples are good, signifying safety and peace. If there are no cases, we can rest more. After lunch, we can finish work early.” Jiang Yuan thought that sounded quite nice and decided to go back and continue reading the novel he hadn’t finished last time. During his student days, he had plenty of time to read novels; after starting work, he hadn’t even finished one book – “Great Physician Ling Ran”. Wu Jun began flipping through the newspapers. Jiang Yuan went to clear a batch of cigarette butts for the devil’s ivy and watered it as well. He then turned on his brand-new computer. “Ding-a-ling-a-ling...” The telephone rang. Wu Jun frowned as he answered the call. His expression then turned serious. “Yes.” “Received.” “Alright, we’ll leave right away.” Jiang Yuan also closed the novel interface; at this rate, he was reading slower than the author could update. “Xiao Yuan, pack up a bit, we’re going on a trip to Longli County together.” Jiang Yuan: ... “A murder case?” Jiang Yuan asked. “Yes, there’s a somewhat tricky case. Doctor Wang from the city will also be going, calling us to help out.” Jiang Yuan’s mood instantly heightened, slightly nervous, a bit excited, ready to show what he was capable of. Then he saw Master Wu Jun displaying a deep contemplative expression, musing for quite a while before saying, “I remember there’s a place in Longli County that makes really good pig intestine and chicken stomach stew... What was its name again... I’m getting old, can’t seem to recall it, but we’ll go eat there together once we arrive.” Jiang Yuan: ... ... Since they were going dozens of kilometers away on business, Jiang Yuan passed by his family home to inform his father, grabbed some clean clothes, and then his dad stuffed him with a lot of food. They still took the department’s Skoda. No air conditioning. Wu Jun was used to it, but passing by the entrance of Jiang Village and seeing so many luxury cars, then watching his silly disciple getting into the noisy Skoda, he felt a bit sorry for him and found himself liking Jiang Yuan even more. Jiang Yuan and Wu Jun went straight to the criminal police brigade in Longli County and just happened to run into Doctor Wang from the city bureau. Doctor Wang from Qinghe City Bureau, Wang Lan, was a female forensic expert with short ear-length hair, appearing to be in her forties, rather thin, her dryness only a notch better than a dried corpse, yet her eyes were very sharp. The Qinghe City Bureau, as the supervisory unit of the Longli County Bureau, would be the first to send forensic support in the event of a murder. In fact, because the city bureau almost never got involved directly in case investigations anymore, the city bureau’s forensic experts’ main job was to provide support to various counties and districts. As a result, they accumulated experience very quickly, and over time, this led to an actual improvement in their professional abilities. In smaller county towns like Ningtai, there are a dozen or so unnatural deaths per year, with murder cases amounting to about three or four. The number of autopsies falls between the two figures, but it’s still in single digits for the entire year. The situation for forensic experts at the Qinghe City Bureau is different. They travel all over the city. If a county bureau has a murder case, they head to the county bureau; if a district bureau has a murder case, they go to the district bureau, and often they only perform autopsies on the most important parts, which is both efficient and comfortable. If Doctor Wang Lan from the city bureau were to handle all the work that Wu Jun used to do, she alone definitely couldn’t cope with it. There was a considerable amount of physical labor involved. However, as a forensic expert at the city bureau, Wang Lan’s overall workload might be roughly the same, or even higher, but the physical labor decreased significantly, which actually allowed female forensic experts to capitalize on their strengths and enhance the meticulousness of the autopsy process. Most autopsies are sufficiently thorough with just meticulous attention to detail. But the current situation was somewhat different. Wang Lan spoke succinctly as soon as she met Wu Jun: “We’ve called you here because we have a difficult task this time.” “What, is the corpse heavily decayed?” Wu Jun, who had been a forensic doctor for twenty or thirty years, was also not keen on performing autopsies on highly decayed bodies. After finishing, he would feel sick for several days and couldn’t even eat. But duty called, and there was no helping it. Wang Lan, however, shook her head, saying, “The condition of the body is rather good, just one day’s time. The main issue is the complexity of the environment of death. With just the forensic doctor and crime scene investigators from Longli County, it’s impossible to handle everything. That’s why I’ve called you to assist.” “What makes it complex?” Wu Jun asked. The forensic doctor from Longli County was named Ye, famously careless. Although by professional nature, a forensic doctor should be extremely meticulous or even nitpicky, Doctor Ye was careless, never making major blunders but continually small ones, and there was nothing anyone could do. So when Doctor Wang mentioned complexities, Wu Jun didn’t take it too seriously. He remained very calm, an image of seasoned stability. Wang Lan knew the situation with Old Ye from Longli County’s forensic department as well. It was like there was always a student in class with poor grades. It wasn’t that they couldn’t learn, but they were just careless and sloppy in their work, yet it wasn’t reasonable to just expel them for that. Wang Lan explained, “This case is different. The victim was an elderly scavenger who died in his own yard. He had signs of being beaten while alive. And his yard... there were multiple shelves with items overturned...” At this point, Wu Jun already understood, with a sense of clarity, why he was summoned — manual labor. “The items collected by the scavenger must be full of DNA information,” Wu Jun sighed. Wang Lan nodded, “DNA and fingerprints are everywhere. Moreover, this old man had a bit of a personal hobby; he collected a lot of women’s underwear and lingerie, which also contains a lot of DNA information.” “All of this... needs to be checked?” “Yes, but currently there are no clues, so... any piece of evidence that the murderer might have touched, we’ll need to examine everything.” Wang Lan emphasized, “A thorough examination.” “Hmm,” Wu Jun finally understood the situation at Longli: they had hit a DNA goldmine. You could imagine, the work of collecting biological samples here was still relatively straightforward. Once DNA or fingerprints from various items matched, or if a match was found, they would likely need to bring people in for a second verification, followed by an in-depth investigation into whether there was an opportunity and motive for the crime, leading to a whole new set of complications. “This task is really...” Wu Jun shook his head vigorously. All Wang Lan could do was encourage, “Let’s work hard and try to process all the samples within 72 hours.” After speaking, she looked at the tall young man beside Old Wu. Wang Lan showed a warmly desiccated smile, “You must be Forensic Expert Jiang Yuan, right? Winning the second-class merit in the last fingerprint campaign, that’s truly impressive.” Jiang Yuan nodded politely, “Thank you for the compliment, Teacher. I will continue to work hard.”