National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 684 - 627: Eliminate Unhealthy Practices

Chapter 684: Chapter 627: Eliminate Unhealthy Practices

Liu Cheng had a quite pleasant stay in Ningtai County.

As the captain of the criminal police squad, Liu Cheng’s daily work was busy and came with tremendous pressure, and this pressure and busyness weren’t passive; there was a proactive element to them. After all, if current cases weren’t solved and became cold cases, it was still his responsibility. If the performance assessment tasks weren’t completed, the whole team would be affected.

Dozens of brothers followed him through thick and thin, and in the end, if they were inferior to others in every aspect, as a captain, he would lose face.

But in Ningtai County, Liu Cheng was responsible for communication, and this work was particularly simple; it was just too easy.

To say he should now go back and let someone else take over was certainly unnecessary. The travel expenses alone were not negligible. With a "when in Rome, do as the Romans do" attitude, a bit of work, and the occasional supply of delicious food, Liu Cheng was almost too content to think of home.

Speaking of home, one couldn’t help but mention hot pot... The local beef from Ningtai, sliced so thinly, dropped into the hot pot, briefly poached for a few seconds, and it was scorching hot in the mouth, unstoppable.

There was also tripe, omasum, duck blood, duck intestine, chicken, gizzards, goose intestines, goose feet, and a full set of pork belly slices, large cuts of kidney slices, pork intestine, pig stomach, pig’s trotters...

Liu Cheng now understood the concept that every part of the animal is precious, more clearly than he did in Beijing.

In Beijing, to specifically have food from a certain ranch would come at what price? Liu Cheng couldn’t be sure, but he’d only heard of it, never tasted it.

Moreover, there is one problem with the food in big cities: it is great for trying new things, as there is always a variety of flavors to satisfy everyone, from the tastes of obscure small towns to a collection of world-famous delicacies. But those that can truly focus and delve deeply are very rare.

In the end, most of these foods somehow become a compromised product, which may satisfy temporarily but cannot provide long-term fulfillment.

In contrast, a small town like Ningtai, where chefs labor day in and day out on this reasonably paid drudgery, are forced to improve their skills daily, unlike big city chefs and small shop owners who always have various opportunities, chances, and risks. And if these don’t beat them, the landlord will.

If Jiang Yuan were to inherit Liu Cheng’s boon at this time, he would most likely feel nostalgic for Ningtai County.

"From now on, Ningtai County is my second hometown."

Having another bowl of white kidney bean stew with pig’s trotters, Liu Cheng was so excited that his nose was about to run.

As a detective with a heavy palate, Liu Cheng was originally reluctant to eat something like clear stewed pig’s trotters. But at the Sichuan Aroma Small Store, the white kidney bean stew with pig’s trotters was cooked until the trotters were so tender they could be snapped with chopsticks. After rolling them in the bright red dipping sauce, the taste was truly a revelation for Liu Cheng’s taste buds.

The soup was not bad either, although it couldn’t compare with the pork stomach chicken soup he had a few days ago, it was still above standard.

However, with such delicious pig’s trotters available, it was a waste of stomach space to drink the soup.

Liu Cheng heartily ate, especially because he had nothing else to do today.

The bones were packed up, ready to be taken back any time, the interrogation at the station also went smoothly, and Changyang City Bureau was helping with evidence collection...

"Captain Liu, how about joining us for a bonfire tonight?" Wu Jun had also eaten two pig’s trotters and was now sipping pig trotter soup with relish.

Liu Cheng had nothing to do that evening and agreed without hesitation, then asked, "What’s the occasion for the bonfire?"

"It’s mainly for a sense of ceremony, nothing special really. There haven’t been big cases in Jiang Yuan lately, just a lot of petty ones, so we have to guard against the petty people making mischief," Wu Jun gestured with his mouth towards Jiang Yuan across from him.

Jiang Yuan smiled obediently and continued gnawing on the pig’s trotters.

Speaking of which, this pig’s trotter store was also brought up by the Jiang Village People. This was a good tradition formed since ancient times in Jiang Village, located at the foot of Siningshan. Even in the era when roads were unsafe, there were still visitors.

And where there are comings and goings, there’s a need for food and lodging. Any cook from anywhere, as long as they made delicious food, could set up a shop at the foot of Siningshan and always attract business. The village’s ingredients could be sold to restaurants and small shops, earning some pocket money. At the same time, because of the high exposure to outsiders, the villagers themselves had a strong desire to consume.

Nowadays, the food atmosphere around Jiangcun Residential Area was gradually emerging. Even for storefronts on the same commercial street, the rent near Jiang Village was nearly as high as in Qinghe City, and they were hard to come by. The housing compensations received by Jiang Village People from demolitions were renting out stronger day by day.

In contrast, many houses and businesses in the south of Ningtai County had been vacant for many years.

This model could not be learned elsewhere. Just like this pig’s trotter store in front of us, even if the landlord was willing to reduce the rent, it couldn’t continue to operate. It had to rely on daily, stable consumption to support the owner to become more and more skilled.

Liu Cheng didn’t understand why, but he assumed it to be a ritual of either Jiang Village or Ningtai County. After having his fill of food and drink, he rested for a while and then, watching the time, headed to Jiangcun Residential Area.

Inside the area, the villagers were lining up to jump over bonfires.

There were three sizes of bonfires—large, medium, and small. The children only jumped over the small ones, and everyone else jumped however they liked, with the main goal being to have fun.

Liu Cheng and others just played along casually, only noticing Wu Jun seriously jumping three circles with Jiang Yuan before standing in front of a small bonfire, muttering something.

Liu Cheng looked up and was surprised to see that above the small bonfire, there were three pieces of cured meat hanging there.

"What are those?" Liu Cheng approached and asked.

"Black donkey hooves," Wu Jun replied truthfully.

Liu Cheng, not understanding, asked, "What’s the purpose of hanging black donkey hooves?"

"Recently, there’s been some ominous and evil influences in Ningtai. Grilling these few black donkey hooves can change the air for everyone," Wu Jun said, his speech calm and unhurried, as if recounting a common tale.

Liu Cheng didn’t know how to respond, so he simply assumed Wu Jun was making things up.

The next day.

As soon as Jiang Yuan arrived at the office, he saw Chai Tong coming to his door with a cup in hand.

"Jiang Yuan," Chai Tong called out with a smile, his tone very warm.

"Director Chai," Jiang Yuan stood up.

"No worries, no worries, I just wanted to chat with you for a bit," Chai Tong said. His voice gradually became more enticing, "I’ve been watching your Jiang Yuan’s Accumulated Case Team for some time now, and it’s been operating without any official status. What are you thinking?"

"I haven’t thought about that yet."

Chai Tong laughed and said, "I think we can set you up with a deputy director level position. That way, Jiang Yuan’s Accumulated Case Team will be singled out as a separate unit, which you will be responsible for, and you may choose the cases yourself."

Jiang Yuan just smiled and said nothing.

The deputy director position was something Wu Jun had struggled for days to secure before his retirement, a rarity within the county bureau...

The substantive deputy director position mentioned by Chai Tong was even tougher to achieve than the one Wu Jun wrangled for himself.

But for Jiang Yuan, these were just supplementary benefits.

Chai Tong knew this very well, and with a chuckle, he said, "I don’t want anything for it; I’m simply giving you this deputy director position. I hope you’ll remember me after I’m gone."

He did this purely to annoy Huang Qiangmin. Huang Qiangmin had already been working on securing this position for Jiang Yuan. For the county bureau’s police officers, the deputy director position was a threshold—vacancies were rare, and many couldn’t attain it until retirement, resulting in a significantly lower salary.

Moreover, unlike at the provincial and municipal level, promoting someone to deputy director in the county required a committee meeting. Some squad leaders, office heads, or station and deputy station chiefs within the police bureau would sometimes take office before their promotion.

However, Chai Tong’s influence was greater than Huang Qiangmin’s, and if he gave this deputy director level to Jiang Yuan, Huang Qiangmin would struggle to find an appropriate counter-reward for some time.

"I’m not going to do any ceremony; I’m just letting you know I’ve already reported it upwards, and we should have a response shortly," Chai Tong said, looking like the good guy, smiling at Jiang Yuan, "This settles us up. And in the future, if we have a chance, we can talk more."

Without waiting for Jiang Yuan’s response, Chai Tong turned gracefully and left.

He had offended both Jiang Yuan and Huang Qiangmin, meddled with Wu Junhao and others, but he still considered himself a good leader. At least, that’s what Chai Tong thought.