National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 580 - 527: Just So-So

Chapter 580: Chapter 527: Just So-So

Jiang Fuzhen had a principle when hosting a feast: all who could come, should come. The emphasis was on boisterous and harmonious celebration.

Normally, each family would send one member to attend with a gift in hand. However, Jiang Fuzhen didn’t follow this rule; each family was allowed to contribute a gift, and any number of people could come.

Being able to contribute a gift meant that Jiang Fuzhen’s gift table typically didn’t keep track of offerings. If a guest wanted to give a gift, they could simply slip it onto the table, and if not, that was fine too—they could just stride confidently to their seat, no questions asked.

The reason for having a gift table was so those who wanted to give more could write their name on the envelope.

There were many wealthy folks in Jiang Village, and naturally, they had more customs to follow. For instance, Jiang Yuan’s great-uncle, also known as the eighth uncle of Jiang Fuzhen, enjoyed giving generous gifts around the region. As he grew older, he lost interest in joining the feasts but revelled in giving gifts, and would often give quite a bit, delighting in the joyful looks and sincere gratitude from those he gave to.

On a busy day, the eighth uncle might visit seven or eight places just to give gifts. There was no need to worry that he wouldn’t know where a feast was happening, as professional event companies and individuals made sure to have him in their WeChat contacts—that’s the least they could do.

Jiang Yuan and the others used to be puzzled by the eighth uncle’s behavior, but with the rise of live streaming, they came to understand. Compared to online tipping of female streamers, each of the eighth uncle’s gifts was only a few hundred to a couple of thousand yuan at most, but what he received in return was more than just one woman’s gratitude—it was the thanks of entire families, and sometimes even the gratitude of the ancestor’s entire clan.

In Jiang Fuzhen, things were simpler. Not just people from Jiang Village, but those from outside could join the feast without restrictions. With a fixed number of seats available, locals would just pull up extra chairs for recognized guests once the seats filled up.

Today, Jiang Village had its share of people who had ruined their fortunes as well as outsiders looking for a free meal, but Jiang Fuzhen never inquired. Jiang Yuan himself had enjoyed "meals at a hundred homes" for years, and now that he was well-off, it didn’t matter to him who came to dine.

Jiang Fuzhen personally took charge of cooking, stirring up a lively atmosphere. He even set up a stage, inviting local bands and singers to perform, and Jiang Village’s own band took the stage with Jiang Yongxin, the village’s entrepreneurial star and owner of a used car dealership and rental service, pounding on the drums.

Watching Jiang Yongxin’s excited head-banging, Jiang Yuan felt as if he were transported back to his college days. College is often the happiest time in many people’s lives, and if one were to give this period a "buff," it would be that wealthy college students are the happiest people in the world.

After becoming an adult, achieving the same level of happiness requires much more, at the very least a halo of successful career, and ideally, some form of commendation.

Buzz... Buzz...

Jiang Yuan’s cellphone started to ring.

Glancing at the call, he saw it was Huang Qiangmin.

"Director Huang," Jiang Yuan said, his mood not particularly uplifted, tinged with the fatigue of the day and a reluctance to be bothered.

Huang Qiangmin, sensing Jiang Yuan’s mood, laughed and said, "You don’t have to step out today; it’s good news. It’s pretty noisy there. Are you in a nightclub experiencing life?"

"I’m at a feast in Jiang Village," replied Jiang Yuan.

Huang Qiangmin was obviously taken aback by the answer and, after a slight pause where he couldn’t be bothered to ask more, he said, "Let me start with the good news. The special-case team has submitted a recommendation for a first-class merit for you. If this gets approved, you’ll be quite something—two first-class merits in just over a year, that’d rank you nationally."

Recognition and commendation in the police force are different from the military. In the military, after a major battle, dozens or even hundreds of medals might be awarded. But in the police, commendations are relatively limited.

Take, for example, the Criminal Investigation’s "Eight Tigers" who might solve over 200 cases a year, with major ones getting wide recognition. But when it comes to awards, getting two first-class merits in one year would be considered quite an achievement.

Starting from a lower point gave Jiang Yuan more opportunities for recognition. Although not every case resulted in full credit, the attention he received was quite significant. For a regular officer who worked high-profile cases all year and stayed up nights on major incidents, going the entire year without any commendation was quite normal.

Jiang Yuan naturally thanked Huang Qiangmin following this lead.

Huang Qiangmin laughed again, saying, "It looks like they’re trying to organize an event in Changyang City. We’ll discuss the specifics once there’s a result. Now that’s the good news, let’s talk about the task at hand. Director Song from the ministry has taken a liking to you."

Jiang Yuan remarked, "Director Song has a good eye."

"Don’t worry, it’s work you can do from home," Huang Qiangmin added, knowing that Jiang Yuan preferred staying at home, or at least in Ningtai. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have stayed working at the Ningtai County Bureau.

However, having a position doesn’t necessarily mean being physically present there. Large units like the ministry or provincial departments can’t make room in their structures since their quotas are already filled.

For example, most of the "Eight Tigers" of the Criminal Investigation Department don’t have positions within the ministry; they maintain their original titles and duties in their home units.

This arrangement is mutually beneficial. The ministry may lack the manpower, but the police officers there—even with a position—wouldn’t want to give up their duties, would they?

And how many official roles could the ministry offer? Furthermore, a skilled detective might at best reach the rank of a bureau-level position within the Criminal Investigation Department. How many of those exist, and how many subordinates could they possibly have?

In contrast, personnel remaining in local police units not only save the hassle of dealing with staffing issues but also enjoy rapid promotion prospects.

It is at the local police bureaus where there are enough human and material resources to develop talent. Later on, even as a squadron leader, having a hundred subordinates is an asset hard to come by in the ministry.

And when they need someone, they just need to ask.

Most city and county bureaus have no real resistance in this aspect.

Jiang Yuan could only ask, "What’s the task that doesn’t require going out?"

"They have a batch of footprints they want you to examine," Huang Qiangmin said.

Jiang Yuan’s skill in footprint analysis had reached Level 5, and had further been temporarily promoted to Level 6 during the investigation of the Huang Li gang’s building. Director Song Tiancheng recognized talent when he saw it: he may not have witnessed Jiang Yuan’s fingerprint analysis or other techniques, but he had seen his footprint analysis firsthand—and he wanted that skill.

Hearing it was about reading footprints, Jiang Yuan agreed without hesitation. This task could be done anywhere, and as long as it didn’t require a business trip, it wasn’t going to be too much trouble.

"I’ll head back to the station tomorrow morning and take a look at it then. Could you have them send me an email or something?" said Jiang Yuan.

"That can be done." Huang Qiangmin, having confirmed this matter, felt much relieved and then added, "I’ll have someone clean up your office..."

Jiang Yuan quickly interjected, "That’s not necessary..."

"Dudu..."

The call on Huang Qiangmin’s end had already been disconnected.

...

The next day.

Jiang Yuan set an early alarm and, as soon as it rang, he climbed out of bed.

He didn’t really feel comfortable having someone else clean his office. Moreover, a civil servant with a special status should ideally have ample time, time to leisurely clean the office himself, take a rest to have a sip of tea, and then get up and continue the diligent cleaning.

If one didn’t even have leisure time to clean the office, then the level of hardship was too high.

After getting up, bathing, and changing clothes, when he came out of his room, he saw his father, Jiang Fuzhen, sitting in the kitchen, flipping and inspecting several pieces of meat.

Jiang Yuan checked the clock – it wasn’t even eight o’clock yet. Was he going to start cooking meat now?

"Dad, you got up so early today? What are you looking at?" Jiang Yuan approached and asked.

"Oh... The meat I’ve cooked these past few days hasn’t been as tasty as before." Jiang Fuzhen came back to his senses, pinching the meat, "I’m trying to figure out what the problem is."

"What’s the issue?"

"This cattle from Old Zhu’s ranch, the quality has declined a bit, you see. Look at the muscle fibers, it’s degraded more than just one level from before. I need to have a talk with that kid," Jiang Fuzhen put down a piece of half-cooked beef.

Jiang Yuan caught the drift, "So, someone commented that the meat you made wasn’t up to par yesterday?"

"Well, they didn’t say it wasn’t up to par... just that it wasn’t as good as before!" Jiang Fuzhen frowned as he spoke.

"At least it’s not your fault," Jiang Yuan consoled his father.

Jiang Fuzhen nodded in satisfaction, then sighed, "In the end, I wasn’t vigilant enough! This Old Zhu, I’ll have to give him a good talking to!"

Jiang Yuan chuckled and exchanged a few more words before leaving first. Jiang Fuzhen did have a few familiar ranches to utilize, but when it came to control, that was still not on the table. At most, he could probably scold the other party until they apologized.

...

Jiang Yuan’s Accumulated Case Team.

The office and desk had indeed been cleaned spotlessly. He wasn’t sure whether the newcomers had suffered, or whether a subordinate of the specialized team had been singled out.

Jiang Yuan didn’t worry about such details. First, he sat in his chair and took a couple of spins, feeling the long-missed office atmosphere.

On someone else’s turf, it certainly wasn’t as carefree as on his own.

Thud, thud.

Huang Qiangmin knocked and entered. Without saying, it was clear that as soon as Jiang Yuan entered, someone had reported to him.

Jiang Yuan wasn’t surprised and even rose to tease, "Director Huang, in such a rush?"

"Let me introduce you, these are two comrades from the ministry, Cui Xiaohu and Li Haochen," Huang Qiangmin bypassed Jiang Yuan’s joke, introducing them quite formally.

To Ningtai County Bureau, the arrival of two officials from the ministry, regardless of their youthful appearance as if they had just graduated, meant no discussion about ranks necessary – they were naturally regarded as superiors.

Jiang Yuan greeted them accordingly, then said with some surprise, "Director Huang mentioned reading footprints yesterday. I thought an email or something would suffice..."

"Since the data volume is quite large, we brought it with us," Cui Xiaohu said, smiling to reveal two tiger-like teeth, his round face appearing rather honest. He placed his briefcase on the desk, opened it, and then took out a hard drive.

Jiang Yuan blinked, "A whole hard drive of footprints?"

"Not that much, just of one town," Cui Xiaohu set down the hard drive and continued, "It’s a murder case from Jingji, active for over three months without resolution. The scene had a half-print left in blood. We had almost given up hope, but then Director Song saw your footprint identification and suggested we give it another shot."

When Cui Xiaohu spoke, his demeanor was calm, without much expectation or resistance. After all, he was an experienced man, working at the ministry and having seen countless experts. Regarding Jiang Yuan’s abilities, he wasn’t optimistic, but he would dutifully proceed with the tasks as instructed by his leader.

"Alright then, let’s give it a shot," Jiang Yuan replied calmly, footprints after all, were just that.