Reborn in 97, I solved a cold case at the Municipal Bureau

Chapter 383 Believe in Science (Second Update, Please Vote)
In the office of the Third Brigade.

Xu Nian peeked inside and found that Zhou Yi was the only person there.

Zhou Yi, who was looking down at Xiao Bing's information, noticed the movement and looked up.

"What's wrong? Any new discoveries?"

Xu Nian walked in and smiled faintly: "No, Teacher Song asked me to ask if we still need to buy pork."

Zhou Yi thought for a moment and said, "If Professor Song has the time, I think it's necessary to conduct a dismemberment simulation experiment. Perhaps it will come in handy sometime."

Xu Nian nodded slightly: "Okay, then I'll talk to him in a bit and ask him to find the cafeteria chef to buy a whole pig weighing about 100 jin."

"By the way, where are they? Why are you all alone?"

"Captain Wu went to Director Xie's office after the meeting and hasn't returned yet. Brother Biao is not only responsible for continuing the search for the body parts, but also for looking for someone, so he left after the meeting. As for Sister Qiao and Brother Yan, they went to the police station in the jurisdiction where Xiao Bing's family lives to find out the situation." The person Zhou Yi was looking for was naturally Lu Xiaoshuang.

The best way to confirm whether a missing person has been murdered is to find them alive or dead.

"Oh." Xu Nian raised her wrist to check her watch and asked, "You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

"Not hungry."

"You didn't eat lunch either, did you?"

Zhou Yi replied again, "I'm not hungry. I'll eat when I'm hungry."

"That won't do. Do you know that not eating will make you stupid?"

"what?"

"The human brain mainly relies on glucose for energy. Not eating will cause brain neurons to slow down signal transmission due to insufficient energy, which will lead to problems such as distraction, slow reaction and memory loss." Xu Nian said seriously, "You haven't eaten anything since last night, your brain is almost rusty."

He grabbed Zhou Yi and pulled her up. "Come on, let's go to the cafeteria and get something to eat."

Zhou Yi wanted to refuse, but he did feel that his mind was slowing down. Besides Xiao Bing's basic household registration information, he didn't have any other clues. He had looked at it over and over again, but still couldn't find any clues.

Just nodded.

Xu Nian smiled and said, "That's right, we should believe in science."

The two walked side by side toward the canteen and ran into Shi Tao. They greeted each other and Shi Tao said that all his men had been borrowed by Jiang Biao and he had nothing to do, so he might as well go out and run around, just in case he found something.

Although it was lunchtime, the canteen was almost empty because the majority of the troops had already been dispatched.

The cafeteria staff were overjoyed to see the two of them come to eat, and kept saying, "Finally, someone has come!"

The cafeteria received a notice last night that they would be working overtime during the May Day holiday. After all, such a big case has occurred, so the criminal investigation team can forget about taking a holiday.

Police officers need to work overtime, so the canteen can't be idle either, because when solving major cases, the police are basically working non-stop, so logistical support must be done well.

Therefore, the chef prepared no fewer dishes than usual, and even added two large meat dishes, but as a result, not many people came to eat.

Little did he know that many people who found the meat slices vomited on the spot, and had no appetite left to eat.

So when the two arrived, the cafeteria staff were quite excited and served them food enthusiastically, urging them to eat as much as possible.

Looking at the plate full of food in front of her, Xu Nian, holding her chopsticks, said helplessly, "To be honest, I don't have much of an appetite. Although I'm a forensic doctor, I still have little experience. I didn't have an appetite for several days after that case in Donghai Community. But Professor Song told me that if I don't eat, I won't have the physical and mental strength to work, and then I won't be a qualified forensic doctor."

Zhou Yi nodded; those were indeed words that Song Yiming would say.

"So after we finish eating, I'll have to get another meal for Teacher Song to take back."

"Eat in the forensic lab?" Zhou Yi asked in surprise.

"Yes, the workload was too heavy, so he said he could just grab a bite to eat."

Zhou Yi exclaimed, "Professor Song is really amazing."

Xu Nian smiled bitterly, "I can't, I'm afraid I'll throw up if I eat in front of a corpse..."

Zhou Yi remembered asking Xu Nian in her previous life why she chose to become a forensic doctor. At that time, Xu Nian did not answer directly, but instead gave a vague and perfunctory answer.

At the time, Zhou Yi was inexperienced and failed to notice anything unusual. Now, looking at Xu Nian's bitter smile, he realized that deep down, Xu Nian might not like the profession of forensic medicine.

Given that her parents are a bureau chief and a professor, respectively, the likelihood of them supporting their daughter's study of forensic medicine is theoretically slim, since such families have more options.

So perhaps, Xu Nian's decision to study forensic medicine stemmed from her rebellion against her parents?

Seeing Zhou Yi in a daze, Xu Nian thought he was thinking about the case again, so she said, "Eat quickly."

The two ate in silence, heads bowed.

Zhou Yi felt like he couldn't taste the food. He knew his mind wasn't on eating, but he also knew Xu Nian was right, so he forced himself to swallow every bite.

“I was raised by my grandma when I was little,” Xu Nian suddenly said. “My parents were very busy and basically had no time to take care of me, so I lived at my grandma’s house until I was twelve years old.”

Zhou Yi didn't understand what she was trying to say. Was it because he was a forensic doctor?
“When I was little, I had nightmares, and my grandma told me that dreams are the opposite of reality. If I had a nightmare at night, it meant that something good would happen during the day. And one time, my grandma was right. The next day, I found a very beautiful big shuttlecock.”

Xu Nian put down her chopsticks, looked up at Zhou Yi and said, "You dreamt last night that Lu Xiaoshuang had an accident, didn't you? I heard you call her name."

Zhou Yi was stunned.

"Dreams are the opposite of reality, don't worry, Lu Xiaoshuang will definitely be fine."

……

Back in the office from the cafeteria, Wu Yongcheng brought Zhou Yi some good news.

After Director Xie reported to the Municipal Party Committee, the Municipal Party Committee intervened and Hongda agreed to assign a dedicated person to assist their investigation. All student and faculty information was made available to them, and the school would arrange any necessary interviews.

The only requirement is that the investigation progress be kept in sync with the school at all times, meaning this designated person has to stay on the case constantly.

Zhou Yi felt there was absolutely no problem. The school itself had its own considerations, and as long as it didn't affect or hinder the investigation, it was fine. Because, in fact, the massive case that remained unsolved in his previous life had a very significant negative impact on Hongcheng University.

The school's reputation has been severely damaged, it faces immense pressure from public opinion, there are concerns about campus safety, and students' mental well-being is also a concern.

The most immediate effect was on the enrollment situation that year; compared to previous years, the number of applicants for Hongda University decreased significantly.

Moreover, this impact was lasting, as Grand Group clearly fell behind in its later development.

It has even had a certain impact on the image and development of Hongcheng city.

"Team Leader Wu, since the school has made the request, we will definitely comply strictly. Please rest assured, leader. Could you please ask Hongda to provide Xu Liu's academic records first? Also, there's a girl named Gao Xiaofang in the neighboring dormitory 309 who needs to be questioned, because Gao Xiaofang and Xu Liu are quite close."

Wu Yongcheng said, "Don't worry, Hongda hasn't given me the contact information for the person in charge yet. Make a list of everything you need to investigate and ask. I'm going to have lunch in the cafeteria first, and we'll assign the follow-up work when Xiao Qiao and the others come back."

"Have you eaten yet?"

Zhou Yi nodded: "Xu Nian just dragged me to the cafeteria for a bite to eat."

As Wu Yongcheng walked out, he affirmed, "That's right. As the old saying goes, even an emperor doesn't starve his soldiers. You organize the list first, and we'll talk about it later."

Wu Yongcheng walked out with a smile, but as soon as he stepped out of the Third Brigade's office, his expression immediately changed.

Just recently, Xie Guoqiang, Ni Jianrong, and Wu Yongcheng, the three heads of criminal investigation work in Hongcheng, were all in Xie Guoqiang's office.

Over the phone, after hearing about the extent of the dismemberment in the case, the municipal leaders explicitly instructed Xie Guoqiang to immediately report to the provincial department and request the establishment of a special task force, as well as criminal investigation and technical support.

The city's stance is clear: for extremely serious cases, reporting them immediately and requesting intervention from the provincial department is the safest course of action.

As for whether the provincial department approves that you should handle it yourselves, or directly intervenes and takes the lead, providing guidance and supervision, that is the provincial department's business.

What those above do is their business, but if those below don't speak up, then any problems that arise will be the responsibility of those below.

For the city leaders of Hongcheng, whose economy ranks in the middle of the province, being without faults is far more important than being meritorious.

So after he and Ni Jianrong left, Xie Guoqiang called the provincial department, and they're probably still reporting on their work right now.

As for the special task force, whether the provincial department takes the lead or provides guidance and supervision will likely depend on whether the victim is a student from Hongda University.

If the deceased is indeed Lu Xiaoshuang, Zhou Yi will probably have to recuse himself from the case.

Although Director Xie may not be aware of some details, how could a seasoned veteran like him not see through the trickery?
Today's sudden question was a warning to them, and my explanation was also a response to the bureau chief.

Police officers are most afraid that cases will lead to the involvement of people close to them, which is difficult to handle due to both personal feelings and legal regulations.

"Alas... these are turbulent times..."

In the corridor, Wu Yongcheng let out a long sigh.

……

Hongcheng, Yongding County.

There is a town in the far north called Xinbei Town.

This place was once very prosperous because the first coal mine in Hongcheng was dug here.

At that time, Hongcheng's steel industry was in its early, difficult development stage. Because the blast furnaces and converters used by steel mills to produce iron and steel required a lot of fuel, and since Hongcheng did not produce its own coal, No. 1 Steel and No. 2 Steel had to keep purchasing from other places and hauling them back by truckload, which was very costly.

The discovery of a coal mine in Xinbei Town undoubtedly gave Hongcheng's steel industry a strong boost, greatly reducing costs and shortening the cycle.

In a short time, the once barren land of Xinbei Town was filled with mine shafts and tunnels.

This also brought a large population and boosted local development. In order to support the development of the local coal mining industry, the local government also invested resources in township construction. Soon, Xinbei Township became a place that the surrounding townships envied.

But the good times didn't last long. After only a little over a decade of digging, people suddenly discovered that they couldn't find any coal underground anymore.

Back when the local government was bidding, it's said that experts were invited to conduct surveys, and they confidently asserted that there was enough coal under Xinbei Town to last for at least a hundred years.

However, in just over a decade, the coal resources were depleted.

As a result, the original coal mine owners either withdrew their investments or dissolved their businesses.

Xinbei Town, which had been prosperous for more than a decade, became unusually quiet and desolate in just three months.

Only a few local indigenous people remained, looking at the empty buildings and the mines scattered all over the mountains, at a loss.

This place gradually became dust in history and was forgotten by most people.

However, the local children were quite happy because they could take a bag and go near the mine to collect coal cinders, which was not only fun, but they could also sell them at the convenience store to exchange for soft drinks.

The adults would warn us never to go into the mine, because there were ghosts inside, and if you were taken away by them, you would never come back.

An eight- or nine-year-old boy, wearing a school uniform and a red scarf, was covered in dirt and holding a plastic bag. He was intently bending over, searching for coal ash on the ground.

He already had some in the bag, and although it was getting dark, he wanted to pick up a little more so that he could have enough to exchange for a bottle of soda at the convenience store.

After all, he was experienced; he often came to the neighborhood to collect coal cinders after school.

Suddenly, he vaguely heard a voice calling out, but it was barely audible.

The sound was coming from a dark, abandoned mine shaft ahead.

Filled with curiosity, he mustered his courage and took a few steps forward, pricking up his ears to listen carefully.

There seemed to be a woman's voice inside the cave, calling for help.

The little boy was so frightened that his hair stood on end, and he dropped the plastic bag and ran away.

He ran while shouting, "Mom, there's a ghost!"

(End of this chapter)