Desperate Forensic Doctor

The weather was a bit gloomy and it was likely to rain tonight. The Meteorological Bureau issued an early warning. 

Shen Junci entered the room and sat on the sofa for a while before regaining his composure. 

He habitually lit a stick of Tibetan incense and watched the white smoke rising. Smelling the aroma of Tibetan incense, his heart gradually calmed down. 

He remembered coming across a saying that people died three times. The first death was death in a biological sense, the second death was in a social sense, and the third death was the real death where everyone forgot who they were. 

Lin Xianglan had been the Police Chief of the Bin Yuan City Bureau for nearly ten years. In those ten years, Bin Yuan City had undergone earth-shaking changes. 

Such a person had been dead for so long now, but fortunately there were still people in this city who remembered him. 

Shen Junci packed his work bag, which contained his forensic work permit. 

He remembered that when his college entrance examination scores came out, Lin Xianglan had just been discharged from the hospital and his face was not very good. He showed rare concern for him and called him to the living room and asked: “What do you want to study in college?”

At that time, he had already chosen his major: “I want to study communications, Bin Yuan City University of Posts and Telecommunications.”

Lin Xianglan was stunned, not expecting his son’s reply: “I see you following the old forensic doctor every day. You have seen all kinds of corpses. I thought you wanted to study forensic medicine.”

Seeing that he didn’t speak, Lin Xianglan continued with a bit of regret: “Hey, why don’t you think about it? Dr Zhao said that you are born to be a forensic doctor……You are not afraid of those corpses. You are very talented in identifying bones. After many years, even forensic doctors are not as accurate as you.”

At that time, he lowered his head and whispered: “I don’t want to be a policeman anymore. It’s enough to have you as a policeman in the family.”

Lin Xianglan said: “I really think it’s a bit of a pity.”

He didn’t explain anymore. 

Lin Xianglan only knew that he would be excellent in the field of forensic medicine, but he did not know that what he was best at was prediction. 

When he was a child, he discovered that he had a special talent. If someone told him the beginning and the necessary conditions, he could predict the outcome of the matter. 

There were many examples of this. For example, if he saw a cloudy day, he could predict which intersection will be blocked by water due to rain and traffic jams, and he would know to change the route. Another example, if he saw the cast and crew of a movie, he could determine whether it was good to watch and how much the box office would be. 

It’s like there were countless dominoes in front of him, and he knew which one to knock down that would cause a chain reaction. 

He thought that many people had this ability, but then he discovered that other people, or most people, did not have this ability, so they would make wrong choices when encountering things, thus causing the consequences of their own lives. Change, even tragedy. 

He didn’t want to be a forensic doctor because he could see his life as a forensic doctor at a glance. 

Forensic medicine was tiring and difficult, and the income was not high. 

He was not afraid of these things. His mother died young, and as a child who grew up in a police family, he was deeply affected. During the holidays since childhood, other children were the happiest, but he was the most lonely. 

He also felt that it was not easy for his father to raise him alone. 

The time of forensic doctors and police officers never belonged to themselves or their families, but to their work and the corpses. 

Also, what happened during his college entrance examination made him so sad. 

He thought that if he wanted to start a family in the future, he would not want to be burdened by his career again. 

Lin Xianglan ran around every day, and someone had to take care of this home. 

There was another reason why he did not choose to be a forensic doctor, and that was that he knew Lin Xianglan wanted him to be a policeman, at least as a forensic doctor. In this way, the mantle could be inherited, and the son could inherit the father’s legacy. 

Lin Xianglan had told him stories about solving crimes by himself since he was a child, and bought him a bunch of related books. 

Lao Lin told him that the truth was the most important thing and told him what to remember as a policeman. 

But with a little bit of adolescent rebellion, he just wanted to see Lin Xianglan’s hopes fail and make him feel that things were going against his wishes. 

Lin Xianglan touched his hair, digested it for a moment, and accepted it happily. He smiled and said: “It’s good to learn communication. Dad agrees.”

After choosing his major, Lin Xianglan was not too sad, but he was a little disappointed. 

It’s like there’s an empty space in his heart. 

It wasn’t until many years later that he realised that the ability to predict could only predict other people and other things, but it was never accurate to predict oneself. 

Just like now, going round and round, he still embarked on this road. He felt that being a forensic doctor would not be as bad as he originally thought. 

After recalling this point, Shen Junci withdrew his gaze. 

The Tibetan fragrance in the room was already floating in the air, like a veil covering it. 

Shen Junci selected a Tripitaka, poured golden ink on it, and began to copy scriptures. 

The writing was in small regular script, and he copied it with concentration, stroke by stroke, and wholeheartedly. 

It wasn’t until thunder started outside that he stopped, closed his scriptures, opened his laptop, and skillfully logged into a software account. 

Shen Junci left messages to the people above one by one. 

Finally, a dialog box opened. The name on it was Lin Xianglan: “Dad, I reported to the city bureau today. Everything went well. I entered the Special Criminal Division and will start official work tomorrow.”

The other party’s avatar was naturally black. 

“Gu Yanchen is now the captain of the Special Criminal Division. I rented his house and he will take care of me. Don’t worry.”

After he finished writing, he put the back of his hand against his chin and thought for a moment. 

Looking at the symbols flashing before his eyes, he was absorbed in thought that his long eyelashes drooped and he could not even breathe. 

After a long time, he added: “Good night.”

The next morning, after Shen Junci got up and washed up, he changed into sportswear and went for a jog in the yard twice. As soon as he took a shower, changed clothes and went out, he saw Gu Yanchen walking out of the opposite door. 

When they met outside, he greeted Gu Yanchen: “Good morning, Captain Gu.”

Gu Yanchen shook the car key: “Good morning, do you want to ride in the car?”

Shen Junci shook his head and said, “I can just walk there in the morning. It rained last night and there’s likely a flood. If you want to park, you have to cross the intersection. There may be a traffic jam today. I might walk there faster than you can drive.”

Gu Yanchen looked at him and said, “Come up, it’s along the way.”

By some strange coincidence, Shen Junci followed him into the car.

The two of them didn’t talk much along the way. 

Gu Yanchen turned on the car stereo and played music. 

Shen Junci was watching short videos by himself. 

The water on the road hadn’t receded yet. When the car went out, it was blocked at the intersection in front. There was a long queue in front of the traffic light. It took a long time to move forward a little. 

Gu Yanchen was listening to the song, holding the steering wheel with one hand and looking straight ahead, not caring. 

Shen Junci leaned on the passenger seat, looking at his phone while paying attention to the flow of people outside the car. They were travelling at a turtle-like speed and were constantly being overtaken by people walking. 

Dr Shen thought to himself that he was really a crow’s mouth. Sometimes the ability to  predict is too strong is not a good thing. 

T/N: 乌鸦嘴: whatever the person said would come true (usually referring to unlucky things)

While he was bored, he came across a video. His hand suddenly shook, he touched the sound button and watched it. 

Then a woman’s shrill scream suddenly echoed through the car. 

Gu Yanchen was a little surprised and turned to look at him. 

Shen Junci hurriedly turned off the sound: “I’m sorry, it was an accident. I just saw a trailer for a horror movie.”

Gu Yanchen said, “Do you like watching horror movies?”

Shen Junci said: “I like it, but I am a bit picky and need something with a stronger taste.”

Gu Yanchen said: “Generally terrifying things are probably not enough to scare forensic doctors like you.”

Shen Junci said: “I like to watch movies such as American Horror Story, Dead Man, The Grudge, or zombie movies.”

Gu Yanchen felt that Shen Junci’s expression was always calm and without any disturbance, and the scene of Dr Shen watching a horror movie with a calm expression automatically appeared in his mind. He might even complain that the intestines were too fake and the brain was not realistic enough.

They arrived at the city bureau soon, and they headed to the conference room. Before they entered, they heard someone chatting inside. 

Gu Yanchen pushed open the door of the conference room. 

Several people in the conference room saw them coming in, hurriedly put away their mobile phones, and stood up. 

Then he heard Gu Yanchen say: “I am Gu Yanchen, the captain of the Special Criminal Division. Please introduce yourselves.” He pointed at a police officer and said, “Lu Ying, you go first.”

The detective named Lu Ying looked to be about thirty-five years old. He looked to have both physical strength and experience. 

He was tall: “My name is Lu Ying, and I have been a criminal police officer for twelve years. In the past, everyone said that I am a nice person, so if you have any questions, just come to me.”

Next to him was a short-haired police woman with a delicate face and glasses. She took the initiative and said, “My name is Bai Meng. Three generations of my family have been police officers. I studied computer criminal investigation and surveillance in college.”

This time the Special Criminal Division was established. Considering some work conveniences, Gu Yanchen requested a quota for a female police officer. 

When female police officers faced female suspects, it was more appropriate to conduct questioning, body searches and surveillance. They could also comfort family members and handle paperwork and detailed issues. 

Qi Yian was sitting in the corner and had been staring at Bai Meng, feeling that she was a bit indiscriminate. Only then did he realise that she was a girl and blurted out: “So you are a girl.”

Bai Meng said: “In our city bureau, women have always acted like men, and men have acted like beasts. Don’t worry, I won’t hold you back.”

After Qi Yian finished speaking, he felt something was wrong and hurriedly waved his hand: “I’m not being sexist, I’m just…a little surprised…”

Bai Meng smiled, put her hands on the table, and said softly: “Little brother, I also provide a service of pretending to be a girlfriend in the city bureau. I can give you a 50% discount for a colleague.”

Qi Yian’s face turned red as he had never been teased like this before. 

Then he realised that Gu Yanchen’s eyes were on him. 

Qi Yian was a little nervous. He quickly stood up and bowed, introducing himself: “My name is Qi Yian, a forensic assistant. I am a pure 24k newbie. Please take good care of me in the future.”

T/N: 纯24K pure 24k is a Chinese slang that refers to the person being very pure (originated from 24k gold), so he;s saying that he’s very very new.

Lu Ying saw his work bag and felt it was a little special: “What’s on your bag?”

For a moment, other people’s eyes were also focused on Qi Yian’s bag. There were many badges on it, and there is a protective plastic film on the outside. 

Qi Yian said with a proud look on his face: “This is an itabag, and it is filled with my favourite manga characters.”

T/N: 痛包: bag that’s clipped full of people’s favourite manga characters on it.

Then he explained: “I have loved watching various cartoons and American suspense dramas since I was a child, such as Conan, Kindaichi, Sherlock Holmes, Criminal Minds, and Bones. I am occasionally a bit of a middle-class student. Originally, I wanted to apply for a criminal police job, but it turned out that I wasn’t physically strong enough, so I came to the forensic department.”

He paused for a moment, “Once I got into this field, I found that forensic medicine is different from what I imagined, but I still like this job very much.”

Finally, Shen Junci’s turn arrived. He introduced himself: “My name is Shen Junci. I used to work in forensic medicine at the Ruicheng Bureau. This time I was transferred here.”

Seeing that he was about to finish, Bai Meng said: “Dr Shen, please say a few more words.”

Shen Junci then added: “I don’t talk much. When the cases come, I will go all out. Please take care of me in the future.”

The five people got to know each other. The group was small and relatively young. There were civil and military personnel, reasonable distribution, forensic medicine, and network support. Although the team was small, it had all the internal departments needed. 

It could be seen that Chief Ding had really spent a lot of money this time, and the equipment of the entire team was the best. 

Five people were assigned to two police cars, one of which was a seven-seater business car. 

Except for the two forensic doctors, the others were armed with guns. 

There was a separate office over in the forensic room, and they also had conference rooms and offices in the criminal investigation building. 

Bai Meng helped Gu Yanchen to open the computer system. There were several softwares that were definitely beyond the reach of other criminal police teams. 

After installing it, Bai Meng gave an explanation to the team members. 

Some software could be directly integrated into all public surveillance in Bin Yuan City. 

Some could retrieve real estate information, bank information, etc. through their ID numbers. 

The most powerful software could directly access China Mobile system, retrieve mobile phone call records and locate them, and even monitor them. 

Qi Yian was surprised: “Doesn’t this mean that you can find out anything you want?”

Bai Meng said: “The highest authority is this. You can enter all groups, mainstream chat software, and see all shopping records, as well as…download records, browsing records, software usage records…”

Payments, group chats, almost everything that could leave traces of modern society were there. 

Qi Yian was surprised and said: “Look at it this way, this is happening in real time! Does that mean that the next film can be discovered thousands of miles away?”

Lu Ying patted him on the shoulder and said, “The theory is right. But don’t worry, if ordinary people don’t break the law and commit crimes, who cares about you?”

Qi Yian felt as if he had just entered the city. Seeing this was eye-opening. He looked at it for a moment and asked Bai Meng in a low voice: “You have superb computer skills. You are definitely at the top level among the Internet police, right?”

Bai Meng shook her head: “What do you mean? There is a man named Qi Shuo in the Internet police. He is simply the number 1 police officer.”

Qi Yian looked at it and turned to ask Bai Meng: “With these permissions, wouldn’t it be much easier to investigate the case?”

Gu Yanchen listened to their conversation and reminded: “These things will make the actual investigation of the case more efficient, but we cannot rely on them all the time.”

Qi Yian was a little confused and showed a puzzled expression. 

Bai Meng explained to him: “These things can only detect gentlemen, not villains. Also, the authenticity of a lot of the information above needs to be investigated. They can only help solve the case. Moreover, these channels are all official. In reality, when committing a crime, criminals always find various ways to avoid these surveillance. Sometimes they even mislead the police.”

Lu Ying nodded: “For example, if you hold a mobile phone card with someone else’s ID number, you won’t be able to find out at all.”

At this point, he complained again: “You still haven’t experienced it. When we are not investigating cases, w e usually feel that surveillance is everywhere. When we investigate cases, we see those people entering the blind spot.”

Shen Junci poured himself a glass of water and listened to their conversation while holding a disposable paper cup. 

After a while, everyone became familiar with each other. 

The entire Special Criminal Division was fully staffed and all office supplies were quickly in place. 

Gu Yanchen asked Lu Ying to apply for a sofa, which could be used as a sofa bed when opened. Bai Meng also specially applied for a set of potted plants for greenery, making the conference room of the Special Criminal Division extremely cosy. 

Qi Yian and Shen Junci basically stayed at the forensic building in the morning, on call at any time, and came to the Special Criminal Division when they were free in the afternoon. 

Everything was ready, except for the cases.

The author has something to say:

The idea of three deaths comes from David Eagleman’s ‘Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives’.