National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 1038 - 971: Love on Both Sides of the Tai River

Chapter 1038: Chapter 971: Love on Both Sides of the Tai River

Shen Yaoguo stayed in Ningtai County for two days, enjoying several meals with Jiang Yuan before packing up and preparing to go home.

Shen Yaowei helped with the luggage, sending Shen Yaoguo out the door.

As they walked, Shen Yaoguo advised, "The atmosphere in your Cold Case Squad is quite good. Everyone has a bright future with little infighting. It’s good as it is. Try to invite your colleagues for meals or buy cigarettes regularly. Spend your salary and don’t be too stingy. If it’s not enough, just ask your parents for more."

"As an adult, it feels a bit awkward to ask my parents for money..." Shen Yaowei said, slightly embarrassed.

"If you feel awkward, I can say it for you," Shen Yaoguo glanced at him and continued, "If you want to be an official, don’t dream of becoming rich. Understand? Only by spending all your money do you qualify to be an official."

"Then I’ll say it myself." Shen Yaowei said with a laugh, "It’s embarrassing, but I often ask for money anyway."

"Right, look at Captain Jiang. Doesn’t he eat and drink at home, stay in his family’s house, and serve you all with meat cooked by his father?"

Shen Yaowei quickly looked around: "Bro, that’s not something we should talk about."

"Mm-hmm..." Shen Yaoguo laughed, then changed the topic, "Alright, I’m going to stop by the neighboring city for a stroll. Since the public security rectification campaign has started, we can’t play favorites."

With that, Shen Yaoguo climbed into his beloved jeep, put on his sunglasses, and drove off personally.

Compared to sports convertibles, the convertible jeep looked much more low-key, yet the wind blowing from both sides felt the same.

The accompanying police cars included Passats and Iveco, all top-of-the-line vehicles from recent years. Shen Yaoguo’s visit was mainly for scrutinizing and enhancing the police force of the Ningtai County Bureau, essentially bolstering Ningtai County’s law enforcement using the forces from Changyang City Bureau and Ningtai County Bureau for a major clean-up at the urban-rural interface.

The county leaders specially escorted Shen Yaoguo to the county border.

Shen Yaoguo’s convoy headed east and soon arrived at Jianjiang City, where another convoy awaited by the roadside.

Shen Yaoguo stopped the car, skillfully jumped out of the door, and was immediately greeted with applause.

"Shen shows great agility!" those from Jianjiang Municipal Bureau cheered in coordination.

Shen Yaoguo laughed heartily and greeted everyone, exchanging pleasantries before talking about Jiang Yuan.

In a setting where not everyone was familiar with each other, mentioning a mutual acquaintance like Jiang Yuan was a great way to engage in conversation.

Zheng Ao, head of the public security squad in Jianjiang, had limited interactions with Jiang Yuan, but being in Lin City, he almost heard legends about Jiang Yuan every week at dinner tables, making him well-versed in the topic.

These days, in an ordinary prefecture-level city, it might take several years to encounter a premeditated, challenging, and noteworthy murder case, but Jiang Yuan often handled such cases — which were weirdly resolved quicker than those dealt with by teams dedicated to major significant cases.

By now, within Shannan Province, there was a general consensus on Jiang Yuan from the perspective of case-solving.

Hence, although Shen Yaoguo and Zheng Ao both worked in public security, they found plenty to discuss about Jiang Yuan. As the conversation continued, they felt increasingly like-minded.

As veteran and shrewd... no, deeply worldly police officers, such an interaction was quite rare for them. With a slap on his thigh, Zheng Ao exclaimed, "Shen, you can’t leave tonight..."

...

The next day.

Bright and early, Zheng Ao excitedly woke Shen Yaoguo with a phone call, saying, "Yaoguo, come see Jiang Yuan."

Jiang Yuan seemed like a link between the two, so Shen Yaoguo responded with a smile, asking, "Has Jiang Yuan come to Qingyuan City?"

"Across the street. Freshen up, and I’ll come to pick you up," Zheng Ao said, hanging up the phone.

Shortly after, Zheng Ao arrived in his Passat to pick him up.

"Where are we going?" Shen Yaoguo asked, buckling his seat belt.

"To Taihe," answered Zheng Ao as he started the car.

In just a few words, the winding and lovely Tai River came into view.

At the same time, several conspicuous cordon tapes, pulled from one side of the road, completely sealed off a section along the river.

"Is there a case? Did Jiang Yuan come over?" Shen Yaoguo exclaimed in surprise.

"Jiang Yuan is on the opposite side." Zheng Ao parked the car, then led Shen Yaoguo past the cordon tape, and walked a long distance forward, where they saw an increasing number of police gathering.

By the river, there were at least two large teams of people, staring solemnly at the center of the river.

Looking up, there were also many police gathering on the other side of the river.

"Jiang Yuan is over there." Zheng Ao pointed.

Shen Yaoguo looked over, and indeed, Jiang Yuan was on the opposite side of the river, but the distance of over a hundred meters made it hard to see clearly.

Shen Yaoguo followed everyone’s gaze, and saw that their focus was on a floating corpse in the water.

The corpse was facing upwards, its face swollen from soaking, bobbing up and down, swaying unsteadily...

Shen Yaoguo immediately understood: "Is this the boundary line between your two cities?"

"Yes, if the body drifts to the opposite side, it belongs to Qinghe City; if it drifts this side, it belongs to our Jianjiang City." Zheng Ao whispered, "Qinghe City has set up the Taihe Working Group, and our Jianjiang hasn’t joined yet, so if the floating corpse drifts to the opposite bank, Jiang Yuan will handle it."

"If it drifts to this side, then the case belongs to Jianjiang City?" Shen Yaoguo interpreted, "Then Jiang Yuan is pretty proactive, coming over and waiting, with a fifty percent chance it could be in vain."

The floating corpse drifted downstream, swaying left and right, seemingly indecisive about where to go.

People on the bank followed the body, and from a distance, some were moving the cordon lines.

Zheng Ao shook his head, saying, "If it drifts to our side, Jiang Yuan will still handle it, but since we haven’t joined the Taihe Working Group, we will have to spend a lot of money."

"Ah? You won’t handle it yourselves?" Shen Yaoguo was surprised.

Zheng Ao chuckled, "The combined harvester has come right to our doorstep, we can’t just use a sickle to save money and do it ourselves."

Shen Yaoguo realized and nodded repeatedly, "You’ve thought this through well."

"No need to think." Zheng Ao mockingly pursed his lips, "Handle a few cases and see the expenses, then you’ll understand naturally, and not be even worse off than country old-timers."

"There are more people worse off than country old-timers. Hey... It’s drifting over!" Shen Yaoguo pointed.

Indeed, an undercurrent surged in the water, pushing the floating corpse toward the northern bank on Jianjiang City’s side.

"Ah..." Zheng Ao couldn’t help but sigh.

Shen Yaoguo looked at him curiously, "Aren’t you from the Public Security Brigade?"

Zheng Ao laughed, "How much funding can the Criminal Police Team have, in the end, it still depends on the bureau to coordinate the funding. I hope Captain Jiang can handle this quickly..."

Roar...

The police from Qinghe City across the river cheered, many turning around and walking away.

The floating corpse had now rushed onto the northern shore’s beach.

The detectives from Jianjiang City reluctantly got busy.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yuan and others also took a rubber dinghy, and drove over with a puttering sound.