Chapter 143 - 143 139 Stacking Gold Ingots

Words : 1875 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

143: Chapter 139 Stacking Gold Ingots 143: Chapter 139 Stacking Gold Ingots “Captain Hou, we’re going back today,” Wu Jun said while smoking the Zhonghua cigarette provided by his apprentice as he lethargically made a phone call to Captain Hou Lejia of the Longli County criminal police. For the captain of the criminal police in his own Ningtai County, Wu Jun could mostly maintain a proper attitude, but when it came to the captain of the neighboring county, he treated him as an “equal.” Besides, wasn’t the hospitality in Longli County subpar? Hou Lejia was naturally a bit embarrassed and repeatedly said, “This case has just been cracked, don’t rush off, I’ve really been too busy here. You know how it is, with current murder cases, the leaders are on our tails asking about progress. If I were to have a drink, I’d get hung up and whipped...” “We understand, mainly because our work here is also done, and we should get back to report,” Wu Jun said sycophantically, still smoking as he spoke, the epitome of worldliness. “Stay a few more days, just two more days. I’ll treat everyone to a good drink, guaranteed to be a good time...” Hou Lejia’s voice sounded like he was pleading with a wealthy patroness, equally worldly in emotion. “We appreciate the thought, but we really should head back. It’s rare to get two days off; we can’t waste them at the guest house,” Wu Jun said cheerfully, with polite empty words. After Hou Lejia tried persuading a couple more times to no avail, he hung up the phone reluctantly. Wu Jun also put away his phone and said to Jiang Yuan, “Alright, let’s head out. Things are wrapped up here.” “Okay, I’ll call for the car,” Jiang Yuan replied, dialing out on his phone. Wu Jun asked, “What about our car?” “No air conditioning, do you still want to ride back in that?” Jiang Yuan gave Wu Jun a puzzled look. As Jiang Yuan spoke, he lit another cigarette for his master just as Jiang Yongxin’s Alphard pulled up in front of them. “Yuan,” Jiang Yongxin called out as he stepped out of the car, then opened the automatic door in the middle and proactively helped Wu Jun with his luggage. Wu Jun, looking at the sparkling new minivan, felt greatly pleased and said, “Next time we go on a business trip for an autopsy, they should send a car to pick us up. It won’t do if the car isn’t good.” “Keep dreaming,” Jiang Yuan said, smiling as he got in the car. Jiang Yongxin went around to the other side and climbed into the driver’s seat. “Why did you come to pick us up yourself? You could’ve just sent a lackey,” Jiang Yuan thanked Jiang Yongxin. Jiang Yongxin chuckled and replied, “I usually drive clients around, mostly female clients primarily. I made an exception for you.” “You’re really stepping up your game then,” Wu Jun teased. Jiang Yongxin paused for a moment, then understanding, laughed loudly, “You don’t know, us Jiang Village People were known for being daredevils back in the day. If our place hadn’t been demolished, I would’ve ventured out to start my own business a long time ago.” “You should’ve gone to work at the demolition office from the start,” Wu Jun said, shaking his head with a smirk. Jiang Yuan also felt a sense of nostalgia. The older generation of Jiang Village used to work outside; daring or not, if they didn’t take the risk, the whole family would have nothing to eat but the wind from the northwest. Unlike now, where everyone stays at home doing nothing, in good health and full of vigor. They returned all the way on the highway. Jiang Yuan only dozed off for a little over half an hour in the car before they entered the territory of Ningtai County. Though the landscape of the two counties was quite similar, returning to Ningtai gave Jiang Yuan a more relaxed and comfortable feeling. Jiang Yuan stretched lazily, extended his legs, and opened a bottle of Nongfu Spring, gulping down nearly half before exhaling a breath and saying, “I always feel like we’ve been taken advantage of.” “Not at all, we could’ve at least made 1000,” Wu Jun gesturing to himself and then to Jiang Yuan, said, “I take 400, you take 600.” Jiang Yuan almost choked on the water. “I take 300, you take 700 would also be fair,” Wu Jun laughed, then added, “This trip, let’s chalk it up on Captain Huang’s tab. Over at Longli, we’re repaying his favor this time; let’s just say we two are...” “Labour export,” Jiang Yongxin understood quicker. Jiang Yuan couldn’t help but smile. The Alphard dropped Master Wu Jun off at his home first, then took Jiang Yuan back to his place. When they got back to the Jiangcun Residential Area, they saw the small square bustling with noise. The women weren’t doing the square dance, the men weren’t drinking morning and evening; there was an atmosphere of harmony. “What’s going on today?” Jiang Yuan had been away reading books for so long, he had no idea what new fads had taken over the village. Jiang Yongxin chuckled: “I thought you knew, otherwise why pick today to come back? Today is the folding of gold and silver.” Folding gold and silver is a ritual where people hand-make gold sycees and ingots, then burn them as an offering to their ancestors. The elderly men and women of Jiang Village, with nothing else to do, often come up with various activities to keep busy. Like burning paper money for their ancestors, it’s a custom in Jiang Village to fold it themselves. Of course, many villages like to do it themselves, believing that it is more effective and shows greater devotion. “Are you going to fold some?” Jiang Yuan asked Jiang Yongxin. “Of course. My grandpa is still waiting down there, he might be thinking of buying a tractor or something,” Jiang Yongxin said nonchalantly. Jiang Yuan laughed too, “Then go ahead and fold, my grandpa also wanted to buy a bull back in the day.” Once Jiang Yongxin parked the car, the two of them went to the square together, found a random table and chairs to sit down at, and started folding the paper gold that was on the table. The paper gold was purchased by the village committee, and after folding, everyone could take it home or just leave it on the table. The people from Jiang Village folded whenever they felt like it; they would fold for a while and leave whenever they wanted to. In some households, husbands and wives took turns coming here; one would be at home helping the kids with homework, and when they got frustrated, they’d come and fold some gold ingots to vent before switching places. The peaceful time for the kids was the break between their parents’ frustrations. As usual, Jiang Yuan’s dad was in the big kitchen, boiling meat. The bubbling scent of the meat flew out along the air duct. As soon as Jiang Yuan smelled that familiar aroma, he knew his dad was inside. The spice formula and the cooking time used by others were different from Jiang Fuzhen’s, so the smell was not quite the same. After a while, Jiang Fuzhen came over like a real chef, one hand wiping a hand towel. “Dad,” Jiang Yuan called out as he saw him. “You’re back,” Jiang Fuzhen said, a man of few words in front of the other villagers. He sat next to Jiang Yuan before saying, “By the way, I bought a newspaper with you in it.” “A newspaper?” “The Qinghe Evening News. Hey, isn’t it on this table?” Jiang Fuzhen rummaged through the paper gold for a moment and indeed found a newspaper underneath, “This one.” Jiang Yuan leaned over to look and saw the bottom half of the newspaper’s headline, which boldly read “Young Forensic Doctor Catches Glimpse of Serial Killer’s Trail”... “This headline...” “This headline is quite good, it’s catchy, so people will want to read on,” said Jiang Fuzhen. “I bought 1,000 copies to give out to everyone for free.” Jiang Yuan smiled as expected. As long as his dad didn’t go from house to house forcing them on people, that would be a modest show-off. It made Jiang Yuan think of the time before social media, when something good happened in the village, people had to inform every household personally. From this perspective, social media had greatly improved the efficiency of showing off, saving everyone’s time, even though the saved time wasn’t really used for anything important. However, making it into the newspaper seemed too important to be just shared over social media. So it made sense for Jiang Fuzhen to buy the food and newspapers and give them away for free. “There’s another thing,” Jiang Fuzhen coughed artificially a few times before pulling someone from behind him and said, “This is your Uncle Yu Shan, remember him?” “Hello, Uncle Yu Shan,” Jiang Yuan of course remembered him. Compared to a close paternal uncle like the seventeenth uncle, Uncle Yu Shan was one more step removed; they had different great-grandfathers but shared the same great-great-grandfather. In terms of blood relation, he should be called a ‘distant uncle,’ but people no longer used that term. Uncle Yu Shan’s son, on the other hand, was a male cousin to Jiang Yuan and fell into the fifth degree of mourning in Chinese kinship, but because they lived in the same village, Jiang Yuan was more familiar with this cousin. “Your Uncle Yu Shan has a problem and wants your help,” said Jiang Fuzhen, then turned to a slightly embarrassed Jiang Yushan next to him, “Do you want to say it or should I?” “You say it,” Jiang Yushan replied, looking a bit inarticulate. “Alright,” Jiang Fuzhen pulled Jiang Yushan to sit down and continued, “Your uncle lent some money to someone, and now that person has disappeared, and the money can’t be retrieved. Your uncle has already reported it to the police, but there’s no news, and he wants your help to find him.” He spoke both swiftly and clearly, and Jiang Yushan nodded repeatedly. Jiang Yuan nodded and instinctively asked, “Is the person dead?” Jiang Fuzhen sighed, “If he were dead, it would have been better, your Uncle Yu Shan wouldn’t be so troubled.” Jiang Yushan nodded in agreement. “So, are we looking for the person or his money?” asked Jiang Yuan. “The person,” Jiang Yushan confirmed. “He’s a swindler, the police have said so, but he can’t be found.” Jiang Yuan nodded and before he could speak, a system interface appeared in front of him: Task: Find Person Task Description: A qualified forensic doctor should be able to use various details to locate a person (alive/dead). ...

Chapter 143 - 143 139 Stacking Gold Ingots

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