National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 832 - 773 Labor Achievements

Chapter 832: Chapter 773 Labor Achievements

"Let’s have a video call," Cui Qishan said after taking a sip of tea, not seeming in any hurry.

Xiao Si ended the call and did as he was told. When they reconnected, he saw chunks of meat at the corner of Cui Qishan’s mouth.

"This is the spot," Xiao Si said, turning the camera toward the pit in front of him.

Digging in the woods, they couldn’t use machinery, only traditional tools like hoes and shovels.

Several workers took turns to work, now wiping sweat from their brows by the pit. Two police officers squatted beside two suitcases, collecting evidence and taking photographs.

"Did you only find two suitcases? Is there anything else inside?" Cui Qishan pressed.

"The ground below is hard; there shouldn’t be anything buried. We’re planning to collect the evidence and then expand the area a bit. If you come over now, you can catch it," Xiao Si said, shaking the camera to give Cui Qishan and the others a clearer view.

"There are no bodies, right?" Cui Qishan confirmed.

"No, and there are no signs of bodies either," Xiao Si replied, sounding relieved.

Cui Qishan thus remained nonchalant, "Xiao Si, in that case, you just take command there. I’ll listen to your report tomorrow."

"Huh?" Xiao Si was taken aback for a moment.

"Look around some more, see if there are any other traces. If there’s more contraband, bring it all out," Cui Qishan instructed with feigned importance.

Xiao Si bewilderedly asked, "Aren’t you coming over?"

"What would I do there?" Cui Qishan smiled.

"It’s not that... aren’t you coming because there’s no body? The porcelains and copper Buddhas are also impressive. These copper Buddhas, if auctioned, fetch millions each. We found two here; this could well be an antique case worth tens of millions!" Xiao Si vented into the phone.

What’s with the captain? Can the captain just not show up on the scene?

So what if there’s no body? Does that mean it’s no longer interesting?

"Xiao Si, make sure you keep the scene under control, and keep updating the group with ongoing messages, okay?" Cui Qishan’s voice was lukewarm, as if he had something in his mouth.

Xiao Si glanced and saw it wasn’t just something; Cui Qishan was indeed chewing on a chunk of meat.

"Captain Cui, have you started dinner?" Xiao Si touched his stomach. He had been looking forward to having a big knuckle to eat as well.

Cui Qishan gave an indulgent smile, "Helplessly, as you called, I had to work while eating... Alright, have someone appraise the antiques to see if they’re genuine. If they are, go ahead and open a case. We’ll talk if there’s an update tomorrow."

Then, Cui Qishan hung up the call.

Xiao Si slowly put away his phone.

In the evening cool of Beijing, there was a slight chill in the room and a gentle breeze outside that sent shivers down his spine.

But no coldness in the air could match the coldness in Xiao Si’s heart.

"Xiao Si, should we continue digging?" the leader of the excavation team asked with a smile over his tea.

"Keep digging."

"That would mean starting a new hole."

"Fine."

"Alright then, let’s carry on. It’s overtime from this point on!"

The excavation team once again began swinging their hoes.

Xiao Si sighed, sent another short video to the group, and started making various calls.

The next day.

The team that had been digging all night went back to rest.

The new shifts came to familiarize themselves with the situation, and incidentally took care of a drowsy Xiao Si.

He never pulled all-nighters, always trying to avoid work if possible, feigning misery and stubbornness if he couldn’t escape—truly an early practitioner of the lying-flat lifestyle.

But today’s task, which he misunderstood when taking it on, meant he couldn’t shake it off after unearthing the antiques.

So he had to endure.

Sipping some tea and munching on a weird breakfast from who-knows-where, Xiao Si sighed again, replied to a few messages on his phone, and then saw the botanists climbing up the case like monkeys on a pole—escalating the case sky-high and starting to entangle various minor details.

Even newbies were added to the group.

But noticing that the approvals came from Jiang Yuan, and the new members appeared to be botanists from either a school or a research institute, Xiao Si was too lazy to care.

"There’s no body at this spot, so we’re moving to the next one," Xiao Si mumbled wearily, leading his team to the next location.

In the group chat, someone excitedly sent a red packet, "My turn, my turn!"

Honestly, regular folks spend money on blind boxes and can never get this kind of thrill.

The botanists who joined later were especially envious, bombarding the chat with messages:

"Can we still choose?"

"Is it too late to mark it now?"

"Who has the materials? I’ll send a student to collect them!"

Xiao Si, feeling quite helpless, took the opportunity while filming a new site to multitask, saying as he recorded, "If it’s a professional, report to Captain Jiang first. If you get permission, you can also mark the locations."

He was originally sent out here to dig up corpses, although he hadn’t found any to date, but didn’t he uncover an antique box?

By police standards, this was considered a win.

A person who would bury two suitcases in the wilderness like this, what kind of good guy could they be? It was likely a high-profile case that cost millions and remained unsolved!

The crowd in the group chat naturally became even more excited.

Botanists usually seem dull and not good with words, just like plants. In fact, they are.

But according to the well-known law of contrast, such people become talkative and social when online, with maxed-out social attributes.

Soon enough, the botanists who arrived earlier began sharing their experiences:

Engineering University, Pang Shiqiang: [Don’t hesitate to choose if you want, no one has ever hit the target anyway.]

Agricultural Research Institute, Sulei: [Jiang Yuan will explain to everyone. It’s best to include your reasons when you mark your selections. That way, it’s easier to analyze during the explanations. Especially for later marks, as over time, initial thoughts and feelings change and can be easily forgotten.]

Engineering University, Pang Shiqiang: [Right, I have a template here, friends who need it can come to me.]

...

Xiao Si rubbed his head, finding these botanists way too abnormal. As their chat got hotter, he also typed: [This is serious police work, let’s not treat it as something fun. Maintain respect. Also, marking potential corpse locations is a very tough job, involving long hours in front of a computer, don’t think of it as play!]

The buzzing WeChat group only quietened down for a few seconds before someone quietly posted:

Wang Yongchao of Agriculture & Forestry: [Digging up a body at a place you have chosen yourself, isn’t it more interesting than eating the corn you’ve planted?]

Xiao Si, taken aback, thought... that actually makes some sense!

The WeChat group immediately exploded in activity:

Science and Technology University, Zhao Tian: [Professor Wang makes too much sense.]

Agricultural Research Institute, Sulei: [Agreed.]

Engineering University, Pang Shiqiang: [Turning stone into a corpse? Or is it a case of you reap what you sow?]

Snap!

Xiao Si threw his phone into his bag. This kind of group chat, if you read too much, can turn your thinking upside down.

The excavation team was rather happy.

They came to work for digging up bodies, and with no corpses to be found, they were clean work, a clear gain. And seeing the number of holes being dug increasing, they were feeling more hopeful about society.

"Xiao Si, Big Boss and Jiang Yuan are coming over," Li Jiang came over and said.

"Let’s go meet them," Xiao Si sighed.

"Surrendering to authority?" Li Jiang chuckled.

Xiao Si smirked, "Giving Jiang Yuan some face."

It took a while before Jiang Yuan and Cui Qishan and the others managed to climb up the slope.

"Let’s go straight to see the spot where the antiques were uncovered," Jiang Yuan gasped for air, then looked behind, "Carrying two suitcases this far to bury them, what was the other party after?"

"People from Beijing are quite special, burying bodies so deep in the woods. Unlike us from Shan Nan, just burying them by the roadside is good enough," Mu Zhiyang also analyzed with emotion.

"Two suitcases, at least two people needed to carry them," Captain Jiang analyzed, saying, "Digging is tiring, let’s go have a look."

Cui Qishan followed silently. From his perspective, this case was tough to crack.

There were probably no fingerprints on the luggage, and the antiques were wiped clean, even though the formal appraisal reports were not yet out. But it was already certain they were genuine.

Such valuable antiques, lying here for so many years, the origins and destinations unknown, the owners don’t come to claim them... maybe the person already met with an accident.

"How’s it?" Cui Qishan waited until Jiang Yuan had finished inspecting the large pit where the antiques were found to ask again, emphasizing, "Let’s get it straight, this case isn’t worth an investigation."

"Then it’s a job for legal botany," Captain Jiang mumbled, and everyone turned to look at Xiao Si.