Slow to mature after marriage

After finishing breakfast, Mu Siwan picked up her phone and opened her chat window with Bo Yan.

The last message was from yesterday noon—his "Arrived," and her reply "Okay."

She wanted to ask about Grace. How much to feed her, how to feed her, and whether there were any precautions.

I also want to ask, why did you say you were going to take Grace away, but you didn't even leave her a piece of snakeskin?

In the end, Grace stayed with her at Muyan Garden.

I typed a few lines, then deleted them.

Forget it.

In case he's busy.

They do not interfere with each other.

She tried her best not to bother him.

-

The next two weeks proceeded as planned.

I get up at 7:30 in the morning, wash up, and go downstairs. Aunt Chen has already set out breakfast. I sit down to eat, and Grace sits cross-legged at my feet, occasionally nuzzling my leg. After eating, I go to the testing center to write reports, go to crime scenes, and process samples. I eat lunch in the cafeteria, and Xiao Qin chatters away beside me. I listen and occasionally respond. I continue working in the afternoon, finishing at 5 pm, go home, feed Grace, let her draw, give her a bath, and put her to bed.

Life is like a copy-paste job.

Mu Siwan has also readjusted to living alone.

Her connection with Bo Yan ultimately ended with the word "good".

The dialog box never lit up again.

She didn't open it again.

-

Two weeks later, the variety show that Liu Jiliang had mentioned to her began filming.

Five interns arrived at the forensic center—three men and two women, all students majoring in forensic medicine. The program set up a kind of observation room format, having them accompany their supervising teachers to crime scenes and conduct examinations, filming the entire process.

Mu Siwan was assigned to take care of one of them.

The boy, with curly hair, looks a bit like a popular idol. He's talkative and outgoing, and he became familiar with everyone on the first day. His eyes light up when he calls her "Teacher Mu".

The first case was in a rural suburb.

A body is buried in the cemetery and needs to be exhumed for examination. The villagers have a taboo against this, so they forbid any activity during the day and must wait until nightfall.

It was 11 p.m., and the bread truck was bumping along the country road. Mu Siwan leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes to rest, while the curly-haired intern sat next to her.

He peered out the car window for a while, then turned his head back.

"Teacher Mu, were you scared to be there on-site?"

Mu Siwan opened her eyes.

"I'm not afraid."

Curly-haired guy nodded, then asked, "And what about the first time you were at the scene?"

She shook her head.

"I wasn't scared."

Why?

"Because I saw a lot of them in anatomy class when I was in school." She paused, "The first one was a rabbit."

Curly hair paused for a moment, then laughed.

"A rabbit? Dissecting a rabbit?"

"Um."

He laughed even harder and moved closer to her.

"Teacher Mu is so cute."

"After the rabbit, what was the second one?"

Mu Siwan stared at him: "People."

The smile on the curly-haired man's face froze.

She glanced at him, then looked away and closed her eyes to rest.

The bread cart jolted, and Curly was thrown towards her, bracing his hand on the back of her seat before quickly pulling it back.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"fine."

The car fell silent.

-

The car was parked next to a cemetery.

The pale moonlight illuminated a few earthen graves. Several villagers stood at a distance, holding flashlights, their faces grim.

Meng Qing was already there, dressed in a police uniform, talking to the village chief. When he saw her get out of the car, his gaze lingered for a second before returning to its original position.

"Open the coffin."

The coffin was pried open, and the smell of a corpse wafted out. Mu Siwan put on gloves, squatted down, and began to work. Curly Hair followed beside her, shining a flashlight on her; his face was a little pale, but he didn't flinch.

She was examining the hand bones of the corpse when a commotion suddenly broke out behind her.

"No! You can't touch her!" An old woman rushed over, but was stopped by the villagers. "She's one of our family members, what right do you have to touch her!"

The village chief tried to dissuade her, but to no avail. The old woman shouted louder and louder, pushing and shoving her way in.

"My poor son! He's dead and can't even have a proper body. You are all the murderers of my son!"

Several villagers nearby joined in the commotion.

"Exactly! They've already buried him, why dig him up? How shameless!"

"Get out of our village!"

"This is bad luck! Get out of here, all of you!"

The crowd drew closer and closer, the beams of flashlights swirling wildly, and shouts mingled together.

Mu Siwan squatted beside the coffin, her hands never stopping.

She kept her head down, her gaze fixed on the skeleton of the corpse's hand, as she used tweezers to place a small piece of tissue into an evidence bag. The surrounding shouts were intense, but they did not affect her at all.

Taking advantage of the chaos, the old woman broke free from the people blocking her way and rushed towards her.

"You—"

Before Mu Siwan could react, she was tackled to the ground.

His left foot struck a protruding rock.

A muffled thud.

A sharp pain shot up from my ankle.

Meng Qing, who was maintaining order, saw this scene and his expression changed. He rushed over and pulled the old lady away.

"Are you alright?"

His voice was lowered, but his concern was undeniable.

Mu Siwan shook her head.

He reached out and pulled her up from the ground.

Don't try to tough it out if something's wrong.

She didn't answer, but limped back to the coffin, squatted down, and continued her work.

Meng Qing stood there for two seconds and looked at her before turning around and coldly dealing with the troublemaking villagers.

-

The autopsy ended at 2 a.m.

When Mu Siwan was packing up her tools, she dared not put her left foot on the ground.

Meng Qing walked over and looked down at her.

"How is it?"

She didn't look up, put the last tool into the box, and spoke calmly.

"It's probably a fracture."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Curly Hair darted over from the side.

"A fracture?!" His voice trembled as he looked down at her foot, then at her face. "You need to go to the hospital! Quick, the production crew—Teacher Mu has a fracture!"

He turned around to call for help, but Meng Qing grabbed him and held him down.

Meng Qing didn't look at him, but stared down at Mu Siwan.

That face was still the same: calm, pale, with fine beads of sweat on its forehead.

"I'll take you to the hospital."

Mu Siwan looked up at him.

"Need not--"

"Stop wasting time," he interrupted her. "It'll be faster for a police car to take you there. If other cars go out now, they might be stopped by the villagers."

Think for only half a second.

She nodded: "Okay."

Mu Siwan stood up, and as soon as her left foot touched the ground, she gasped in pain.

Meng Qing looked down at her feet, which were swollen and congested with blood. He frowned, bent down, and picked her up.

"you--"

"Don't move."

He walked quickly toward the police car parked by the roadside.

He put her in the passenger seat, closed the door, and went around to the driver's seat himself.

The headlights came on, cutting through the night, and the car drove towards the county town.

The test results were roughly as Mu Siwan had expected.

The X-ray showed a fracture in her left ankle. Surgery wasn't necessary, but a cast would be needed for immobilization. The doctor looked down at her swollen ankle and gave her the instructions.

"Avoid weight-bearing activities for the next six weeks, and use crutches if possible. Walking too much can easily lead to long-term effects, such as pain on rainy days."

Mu Siwan nodded.

"it is good."

The doctor wrote a few strokes on the medical record, then looked up at her.

"It would be best if a family member took care of you these next few days, instead of trying to tough it out on your own." He paused, "If it hurts, take some painkillers and apply ice to reduce the swelling."

Family members.

Mu Siwan lowered her eyes and remained silent for a long time.