Miss Forensics – Chapter 7
by Little PandaPart One
The Blind Date
I’m marrying him, not your family, and certainly not you
“How boring, how boring. When will a case finally come…” Lin Yan squirmed restlessly in her chair, applying her nail polish.
Duan Cheng turned around from the desk in front of her. “Jie, about yesterday’s injury assessment…”
“How does an injury assessment count as a case? I’m a forensic doctor, not a physician.”
Lin Yan blew on her freshly painted nails, holding them up against the setting sun. Her fingers were slender and well-defined, her pale skin accentuating the bright red nail polish. She was highly satisfied.
Zheng Chengrui turned around, his face slick with oil. “Then what counts as a case?”
He spoke out of pure curiosity, before Fang Xin had a chance to stop him.
Sure enough.
“Serial killings, dismemberment and cannibalism, family massacres… Only things of that caliber count as real cases, right?”
Silence descended upon the room after she spoke. The others stared at her without a word. Fang Xin clearly wore a disapproving expression but, for some reason, held her tongue.
The atmosphere grew palpably tense.
Yet Lin Yan had never cared about what others thought of her. In fact, she wished the whole world would view her as a lunatic and a monster, keeping their distance from her forever.
The moment the clock on the wall ticked past six, this grand lady stood up with a whoosh and tossed her uniform onto her chair. “Ah, freedom at last! I’m off. Bye-bye, everyone.”
She left with a carefree, resolute stride, entirely unaware of the hushed gossip starting up behind her back.
“This Lin Yan arrives late and leaves early, does absolutely nothing all day, and has the nerve to say things like that. She is a total degenerate among public servants.”
Someone grumbled indignantly.
“Just yesterday, I saw her kissing someone right at the municipal bureau’s entrance. She really treats the PSB like her own front door.”
“A tree without bark will surely die; a person without shame is invincible. But hey, she has a wealthy family backing her. I took the exams for three years just to get into the municipal bureau, while she… heh.”
Seeing that the rumors were about to spiral, Song Yuhang quietly rose and hung her coat on the rack.
The voices cut off instantly, and the topic quickly shifted to her.
“Captain Song, you’re leaving so early today?”
“Yes, I have some things to attend to.”
Just then, Zhang Jinhai walked in carrying his teacup. “A blind date, is it?”
She gave a mild, noncommittal reply. “Mhm.”
“Makes sense. Captain Song, you’re in your thirties now, aren’t you? It’s time to get married and have kids. Set an example for the youngsters so the Economic Investigation Detachment next door stops calling us the bachelor squad every day.”
There weren’t many people in the Criminal Investigation Detachment. Aside from Zhang Jinhai, who was married with a child, everyone else was single. Consequently, he rarely pulled active shifts, almost never personally investigated cases, let alone conducted door-to-door inquiries.
The crowd burst into laughter. Song Yuhang remained expressionless, nodding to indicate for him to step aside before taking her car keys and heading out.
As was her custom, Lin Yan intended to grab a few drinks after work. She opened her phone and sent a message to Lin Ge.
“Eight o’clock. Meet at Landy’s?”
The reply came quickly: “Can’t. I have plans.”
“A blind date?”
Lin Ge replied with a deeply miserable emoji.
Lin Yan was itching to try. “Want me to come along and size them up for you?”
“Please don’t. Have mercy, grand lady. I’d actually like to have a pleasant dinner.”
With Lin Yan’s temperament, there was no telling what kind of chaos she would unleash.
Lin Yan typed out a line, deleted it, and sent: “Alright then. Best of luck.”
There was no further reply from him. Lin Yan tossed her phone aside and leaned gently against the seat. The city lights drifted across her eyes, casting a somewhat lonely reflection on the car window.
The butler turned around and asked, “Miss, are we heading back?”
“No. Just drive around.” If she went home, she would only lock herself in her attic again, getting by on alcohol and sleeping pills.
She was truly growing weary of this existence, yet she remained trapped in a constant internal struggle, living like a lunatic.
A mocking smile touched the corner of Lin Yan’s lips.
As the car glided along the road, Lin Yan tilted her head, catching brief, fleeting glimpses of the city’s true face amidst the kaleidoscopic lights.
Fourteen years had passed since she last left.
Skyscrapers now reached into the heavens, and the roads had widened significantly. The evening rush hour traffic was congested, traffic lights flashed incessantly, and white-collar workers in formal suits hurried past clutching briefcases.
Boys and girls clad in blue-and-white school uniforms bantered as they crossed the street. A girl in a ponytail walking behind mischievously reached out to tug at the braids of the girl in front of her.
The two of them laughed and played, their very smiles carrying the refreshing scent of the early summer breeze.
Lin Yan’s gaze was drawn to them involuntarily. She watched them stop in front of a Western restaurant, leaning against the glass display window to peer inside.
“Are you hungry?”
“Yeah, a little.”
“Then let’s go eat.”
“We’d better not. This place is really expensive.”
For a moment, she could not tell if she was looking at the past or the future.
By the time she snapped out of it, she had already stepped out of the car and was standing at the restaurant’s entrance.
Seeing someone approach, the two kids scrambled and vanished without a trace.
Lin Yan looked up at the restaurant’s sign, “Nanchan Restaurant”. It was a somewhat poetic name, and an establishment with a long history in Jiangcheng.
The shop had been renovated, but the quaint, old-fashioned sign still hung there. After so many years, it had neither changed its name nor relocated.
For some reason, a wave of melancholy arose in her heart, a sense of shared plight, but also a sliver of relief.
It turned out she wasn’t the only one who remembered this city, who clung to the past.
“A sirloin steak, a Caesar salad, and your most expensive red wine, please.” Lin Yan closed the menu and handed it to the waiter.
“Miss, what sauce would you like with your steak?”
“Black truffle butter sauce.”
She blurted it out almost instinctively, only to frown deeply a moment later.
Observing her expression, the waiter assumed she wanted to change her order and scrambled to recommend other options. Lin Yan opened her mouth, but in the end, simply waved her hand to dismiss him.
“Mr. Lin, right this way, please. We’ve reserved a table for you. Shall we serve the food now?” It was peak dining hour, and the restaurant was packed. A waiter was leading Lin Ge toward her direction.
“No need. The person I’m meeting hasn’t arrived yet. I’ll take a look at the menu with her later to see what she’d like.”
The voice sounded rather familiar. Lin Yan put down her knife and fork, turning her head to look. “Lin Ge?”
“Lin Yan!” The man dressed in a sharp suit, his eyes lighting up the moment he saw her, walked over quickly and sat down opposite her.
“This is too much of a coincidence.”
“Indeed it is.”
The two had not seen each other since Lin Yan went abroad to study. Reunited after many years of separation, both had shed their youthful naivety.
She still remembered that Lin Ge’s nickname back then had been “Four-Eyed Terrapin.” He used to have a bowl cut, wore thick glasses, and would sniffle after every sentence he spoke. Even when bullied by her, he would only offer a silly, good-natured smile. Unlike a mischievous girl like her, Lin Ge had been a genuine, exemplary young overachiever.
Years later, he truly looked like a member of the social elite. His glasses were gone, replaced by a neat, clean-cut buzz cut, a well-tailored suit, and a perfectly tied necktie.
Lin Yan smacked her lips twice. “Are you sure you went abroad to study and not to get plastic surgery?”
He had just been immersed in the illusion of how beautiful she had grown after all these years, only to be yanked right back to reality by her opening remark.
Lin Yan was still the same sharp-tongued, disagreeable Lin Yan.
“Your older cousin is a man of striking talent, in the prime of his youth, suave, elegant, and peerless…”
His voice was bright and clear; although his tone was playful, it didn’t make anyone dislike him.
As if because he was Lin Ge, he was meant to be exactly like this—noble and pure.
Lin Yan mimed gagging, then brought the topic back. “And stop with the ‘older cousin’ stuff. I have nothing to do with the Lin family.”
“Then what do you actually care about?”
“Money, obviously. It’s not like you don’t know. The only thing I’m close to is money.”
“…” He had truly witnessed the epitome of ‘whoever feeds me is my mother, whoever pays me is my father.’
Lin Yan really drew a crystal-clear line; she was unwilling to return and inherit the family business, yet she refused to let go of the Lin family’s massive fortune.
She wanted to have her cake and eat it too, and she felt entirely entitled to do so.
The phone in his hand buzzed. Lin Ge glanced at his watch and stood up. “Alright, I won’t waste any more breath on you. Are you done eating?”
The steak on the table had only been touched for a few bites; Lin Yan had already lost her appetite. “Just about ready to head out.”
“I’ll order you another bottle of Lafite. Just sit and drink. Since you’re already here, don’t rush off. Aren’t you usually an expert at sizing people up? Help me evaluate her. My mom said if it doesn’t work out this time, she’ll break my legs.”
“…” Was “sizing people up” supposed to be a compliment?
Lin Yan made a motion to strike him. Lin Ge dodged with a racing heart, then gestured for the waiter to come over to take the order, watching with immense pain as she ordered the most expensive red wine.
“You really are merciless. Just wait until you get married. If I don’t squeeze you for a fortune, my last name isn’t Lin.”
Lin Yan leaned back against the sofa, holding her 48,000-yuan bottle of red wine. “In your next life, maybe.”
“…” Lin Ge muttered. “I regret this. Can I tell you to get lost?”
Lin Yan took a sip of the red wine and raised her glass to him. “It’s easy to invite a deity, but hard to send them away, Young Master Lin.”
At 7:55 PM, Song Yuhang parked her car nearby. The moment eight o’clock struck, she stepped into the restaurant right on time.
Lin Ge stood up and waved. “Miss Song, over here.”
In the adjacent booth, Lin Yan raised an eyebrow. A surname of Song… She couldn’t help but think of a certain police officer who constantly wore a sour expression. Shivering, she quickly took a sip of red wine to steady her nerves.
After a soft rustle of chairs and tables, the woman handed the menu back. “Just this, thank you.”
The voice was lovely—composed and very pleasant to the ear.
But why did it sound more and more familiar?
“I’m terribly sorry. My mother took matters into her own hands and caused you quite some trouble…”
Lin Ge smiled. Knowing that drinking coffee at night was a bad idea, he took the initiative to pour her a glass of plain water and placed it by her hand.
“To tell you the truth, my mom also…”
A look of mild distress crossed the man’s face, and the two exchanged a knowing smile.
It seemed that both sides had been forced into this setup today.
Song Yuhang breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
Following the usual routine, since they had already exchanged details about their age and occupation last time, was it time to ask about hobbies?
Song Yuhang searched her mind. “Mr. Lin, what are your usual hobbies?”
“Not many. I play bowling, swim, work out, or just stay at home and read. What about you, Miss Song?”
“Free sparring, reading, things like that.”
Free sparring? That intense?
If domestic violence ever happened in the future, would Lin Ge even stand a chance?
Lin Yan groaned in distress.
Even separated by a half-height sofa wall, Lin Yan could feel the sheer awkwardness radiating through the air.
She heard Lin Ge give a couple of dry laughs. “Miss Song, what books do you usually read? Perhaps we share some common ground.”
Song Yuhang hesitated for a moment before replying, “《The Interpretation of Dreams》, 《Crime and Personality》, 《Criminal Psychological Profiling》, and some other miscellaneous books.”
These were already the most non-professional books in her reading repertoire, yet most people had probably never even heard of their titles.
She had intended to steer the conversation away, but to her surprise, Lin Ge smiled and smoothly followed her lead.
“No wonder. You’re amazing, Miss Song. Out of Freud’s original works, I’ve only ever read 《A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis》, and I was so sleepy halfway through that I couldn’t go on.”
Song Yuhang was slightly startled. It wasn’t as if she had never been on blind dates before, but whenever she mentioned these topics in the past, her dates would either look completely blank and bewildered or dismissive, eager to correct her and suggest that women should read books about relationships or parenting.
Lin Ge was the first man outside the force to praise her for something small like this.
“Really? Being able to get halfway through 《A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis》 is already highly impressive.”
《Criminal Psychological Profiling》? What kind of bizarre reading list is this? Could this person be some kind of psychopath?
Lin Yan perked up her ears, starting to feel a bit curious.
The atmosphere gradually warmed up, and Lin Ge began to open up. He wasn’t a stiff or reserved person by nature, and knowing that her goal wasn’t marriage either made him relax considerably. His conversation became much more natural.
“Speaking of which, when Auntie Wang came to my clinic to get her tooth filled, I had no idea she was a friend of your mother’s. And then you happened to find my mom’s wallet… it really is fate.”
Song Yuhang’s lips curved into a slight smile, and she laughed along with him. “Indeed. Though as a police officer, returning lost property to its rightful owner is just what we do, regardless of whose it is.”
Lin Yan’s eyebrows twitched twice. How utterly devoid of romance!
Where on earth had Lin Ge found such an eccentric woman?
Wait!
A police officer—
And surnamed Song!
How could there be such a coincidence in the world?
Every hair on Lin Yan’s body stood on end. Before she could swallow her mouthful of wine, she broke into an earth-shattering cough.
The commotion next door was rather loud, but Lin Ge kept his composure, slicing the steak for her. “We’ve been talking for a while, you must be hungry. Go ahead and eat.”
Lin Yan, what the hell are you playing at?
The cursed Lin Yan sneezed again. Wiping her nose with a tissue, she stood up shakily with a resolute look of do-or-die determination and climbed onto the sofa seat.
As Song Yuhang ate, she kept feeling a gaze on her, making her feel uneasy. She lifted her eyes to glance at Lin Ge opposite her, only to see him concentrated fully on battling his steak.
It couldn’t be him.
Song Yuhang frowned slightly and slowly raised her head.
Lin Yan climbed up the sofa chair inch by inch, slowly lowering her head.
When their eyes met, Song Yuhang remained expressionless. “Forensic Examiner Lin.”
Lin Yan let out an earth-shattering shriek, “Ge, I don’t agree to you two being together!!!”
Lin Ge sacrificed a whole glass of red wine to his expensive suit. “Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough!”
For a moment, he coughed as if he had tuberculosis.
Lin Ge looked at Lin Yan sitting next to him, and then at the unfazed Song Yuhang opposite him. “You two…?”
A question mark slowly materialized in his mind.
“Are you after our family’s money? I’ll give you ten million to leave my Ge. Never see him again.” Lin Yan never in her wildest dreams expected that lines from an eight-o’clock soap opera would ever come out of her own mouth.
Lin Ge opened his mouth. “Um…”
Lin Yan shot him a vicious glare. He picked up his wine glass, took a sip, and sealed his mouth with invisible tape.
Song Yuhang watched her with a half-smile. Looking closely, Lin Yan and Lin Ge didn’t look much alike, but both had an innate air of aristocratic nobility that naturally came from being born into a wealthy, prominent family.
Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t have bothered to waste her breath and would have simply turned and walked away. Yet, for some reason, she felt like taking her down a notch, to make her understand that not everything could be settled with money.
“I don’t care about money; I have hands and feet and can earn my own living. I think your Ge is a very good man—attentive, gentle, and caring. He would make an excellent husband.”
Lin Yan groaned in distress. “That’s because you haven’t seen his other side! In the dead of summer, he doesn’t wash his socks or his feet and runs all over the house! He even pulled up a neighbor girl’s skirt once! He has a whole room full of smutty manga—”
Before she could finish, Lin Ge firmly clamped a hand over her mouth. “My apologies, Miss Song. I’ve made a fool of myself… a complete fool of myself…”
Immediately after, he gave a fake smile and hissed to Lin Yan, “You’re dead. Just wait until I tell Uncle Lin about this.”
Lin Yan pried his hand off with a huff. “Our family has so many rules! You’ll regret marrying into it!”
Song Yuhang shifted into a more comfortable posture. “That doesn’t matter. I’m marrying him, not your family, and certainly not you.”
Her underlying implication was that Lin Yan was busy eating salty radishes and worrying about bland food1.
The mere thought of this person actually marrying into the Lin family meant they would inevitably meet during holidays. She would have to call her “sister-in-law” over and over again. And Song Yuhang disliked her so much that she would surely give her nothing but sour looks, perhaps even putting on the airs of an elder to order her around.
A mouthful of old blood clogged Lin Yan’s throat, nearly choking her to death.
In her desperation, blood rushed to her head, and she blurted out, “You can’t marry him! He’s a fucking gay! There’s no happiness in a form marriage2!”
Every patron in the restaurant whipped their heads around in unison. The waiter coming over to serve their food tripped, the tray nearly flying out of his hands.
Lin Ge erupted in fury, “Lin Yan, have you made enough of a scene?!”
“I—” Knowing she was in the wrong, Lin Yan pouted. “It’s not… I… sigh…”
For some reason, seeing her look somewhat aggrieved brought a flicker of amused interest to Song Yuhang’s eyes.
However, she concealed it extremely well, maintaining her calm, indifferent facade on the surface.
“So what if he’s straight, and so what if he’s gay? I’m not that young anymore, Forensic Examiner Lin. I think your Ge will make a responsible, good man.”
Lin Yan took a deep breath, barely suppressing the national curse that was about to escape her lips, and turned her rigid face toward Lin Ge.
“Didn’t you say you like smart, clever, lively, and cute girls?!”
Which of those traits did Song Yuhang possess?!
“I think someone like Miss Song is wonderful. Marriage isn’t the same as dating, after all.”
Song Yuhang lowered her head, letting out a soft chuckle. The moment Lin Yan shot her a gnashing-of-teeth glare, she immediately reverted to her serious, solemn expression.
As a man, and an accomplished, prideful one at that, since she had just praised him so highly, Lin Ge would certainly not let her lose face.
Thus, no matter what Lin Yan said, as long as it was in front of her, Lin Ge would absolutely contradict his cousin.
“She is extremely pedantic and rigid! She’ll definitely keep you under a tight leash in the future!”
“That’s fine. Someone like Miss Song is bound to be very family-oriented.”
“She practices free sparring! Aren’t you afraid she’ll domestically abuse you?!”
Lin Ge cast an affectionate look over. “I believe she won’t.”
Song Yuhang lowered her head to take a sip of water, avoiding the awkwardness of meeting his gaze.
At the mention of free sparring, the back of Lin Yan’s head throbbed with a faint, lingering ache. Her teeth itched with hatred; she hadn’t even settled the score with her for what happened this morning.
Just as she was about to say more, Song Yuhang set down her glass of water, turning a calm gaze toward her.
Her eyes were light-colored, and under the warm lighting of the restaurant, they possessed a glass-like warmth and clarity.
Because of the date, she wasn’t wearing her uniform today, but rather a simple white shirt. It accentuated her sharp shoulders and narrow waist, looking incredibly stylish on her.
When she isn’t teasing people, she’s actually quite good-looking.
Just as this thought floated into Lin Yan’s mind, the other woman spoke: “Forensic Examiner Lin, do you really hate me that much?”
Footnotes
- A northern Chinese colloquial idiom, xián chī luóbo dàn cāoxīn, meaning to meddle in others' business or worry pointlessly about things that do not concern oneself.
- A marriage of convenience, xínghūn, typically contracted between a gay man and a lesbian to satisfy conservative family and societal expectations in modern China.
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