Miss Forensics – Chapter 144

Extra

The Dream Maker

This is a dream.

“Uncle, my dad isn’t a murderer. Please, I beg you, investigate it again…”

At the entrance of the Public Security Bureau, a thin, frail girl clutched a police officer’s arm, pleading bitterly. The man was wearing a brand-new white lab coat over his uniform, and her sweat-dampened hands immediately left several dirty fingerprints on it.

The officer frowned and pushed her away.

“Go back, just go back. It’s been years. You keep coming here; aren’t you annoying?”

“Please, just do one more forensic test. My dad wouldn’t kill anyone…”

“The body has already turned to ash; what kind of test are we supposed to do? I’m telling you, little girl, you really are something! Instead of going to school properly, you run to the police station every day. Watch out, or I’ll tell your teachers and parents!”

Chen Chunan wanted to say something more, but his fierce demeanor scared it out of her. Her eyes reddened, and she took a step back.

The man turned around and walked inside with his colleague, chatting and laughing. “I really don’t get it. This case is years old, the court verdict is out, and she’s still dwelling on it? If you ask me, people need to look forward.”

“Oh, look forward, or look towards money¹?”

The midsummer sunlight filtered through the leaves of the plane trees, the dappled light slowly shifting until it rested in front of her.

Chunan felt scorched by the sun. She gripped her backpack straps tightly, pursed her lips, and was about to turn and leave when several male students riding bicycles passed by, ringing their bells frantically.

“Yo, the murderer’s daughter is at the police station begging for an explanation again?”

“Even the victim’s family doesn’t run here as often as you do!”

On the empty street, the boys’ raucous laughter carried far into the distance.

Chen Chunan usually ignored such gossip, keeping her head down and focusing on the cracks in the sidewalk bricks as she walked. But there was someone else who was different.

Lin Yan, riding a motorcycle that was rare for that era, shot out diagonally from the street corner. She drove straight at the group without slowing down as she approached them head-on.

“Whoa, whoa! Fuck, do you know how to ride?!”

With a loud bang, the lead boy fell to the ground, bike and all, trying to dodge her.

Lin Yan propped the bike up with one leg, took off her helmet, hung it on the handlebar, and walked over with a murderous aura.

This was the notorious school tyrant² of Jiangcheng No. 1 High School. The boy swallowed hard and shrank back.

“Wh… what do you want!”

His buddies gathered around as well. “Think you’re all that just because your family has money? What, you want to hit someone?”

Lin Yan grabbed the speaker by his clothes and shoved him toward herself. “Get the hell out of my way, or I’ll beat you up too!”

As she spoke, her pupils were pitch black and bottomless, exuding a cold ruthlessness that didn’t match her age.

The boy froze and was shoved aside.

Lin Yan strode over, grabbed the fallen boy by his hair, and dragged him onto the sidewalk.

“You started the provocation just now, didn’t you? Apologize!”

“Let go of me! Psycho! Lin Yan, you psycho! It hurts… it hurts…”

The boy cried for his father and shouted for his mother³. He was kicked in the back of the knee, forcing him to kneel with a thud. He fell face-first onto the pavement, chipping a tooth and causing a nosebleed.

Lin Yan grabbed his hair and forced his head down. She spoke through slightly gritted teeth, revealing a hint of viciousness.

“Apologize. I’ll say it one more time. Apologize.”

The boy was in agony and squeezed his eyes shut. “Okay, I apologize! Chen Chunan, I’m sorry!!!”

“Sorry for what?”

“Sorry for speaking ill of you!”

“What will you do when you see her in the future?”

The boy’s face was covered in tears and snot as he sobbed, “I’ll walk around her! I’ll take a detour, okay?!”

Lin Yan yanked his hair to pull him up a bit. “Of course that’s not enough. In the future, if I hear even a whisper of gossip in school, I’ll assume you said it.”

“If anyone touches a hair on her head, I’ll assume you did it.”

Lin Yan patted his face. “When that happens, it won’t be as simple as losing a tooth.”

The boy wailed, “Mom! I’ll protect her like she’s my own mother, is that enough?!”

Lin Yan looked at him with a faint smile.

“No, no, no! I’ll worship her like a Great-aunt⁴, is that enough?!!!”

Chunan, who had been pale with fright at the scene, suddenly burst out laughing.

Lin Yan let go of him, clapped her hands, and stood up. “Scram!”

The boy picked up his fallen bicycle and fled in a panic with his farts rolling and urine flowing⁵ alongside his useless brothers.

Chen Chunan dug a handkerchief out of her uniform pocket and handed it to her—one she couldn’t even bear to use to wipe her own sweat.

“Here, wipe the blood off your hands.”

Lin Yan came back to her senses and noticed a few specks of blood on the back of her hand. She wiped them casually on her clothes.

“It’s fine, no need. Let’s go, I’ll take you to school. Want to sit on my new bike?”

The girl dangled a set of shiny keys from her fingertips, and Chen Chunan’s eyes went wide.

When she climbed onto the back of the motorcycle, the hot summer wind brushed past the ends of their hair.

Chen Chunan wore the helmet and gripped the fabric at Lin Yan’s waist tightly. Watching Lin Yan weave left and right through the traffic, her heart was in her throat.

But watching the decorative trees along the road fly backward, the motorcycle wheels crushing the dappled light on the ground, and even the boys who had mocked her falling far behind, she felt an indescribable joy.

“Your dad is so good to you, giving you gifts again.”

Lin Yan was noncommittal. Over the roar of the engine, she raised her voice slightly. “The Gaokao⁶ is coming up. He gave me a gift to make me settle down so I’ll listen to him in everything. He’s afraid I won’t even enter the exam hall.”

Chen Chunan smiled. “What about you? What school do you want to apply to? If you test into a school far away, you can get away from him.”

Lin Yan frowned deeply. “I don’t know. There’s nothing I want to study. He wants me to apply for economics and management, but I get a headache just looking at damn numbers!”

The girl sitting on the back seat finally laughed heartily.

“But your math isn’t bad. If you ask me, since you love standing up for justice so much and you study martial arts, you should apply to a military academy or become a police officer.”

Lin Yan shouted over the wind while riding, “What standing up for justice? This old man⁷ is too lazy to mind other people’s business. I just couldn’t stand those guys’ disgusting faces. I’ve wanted to teach them a lesson for a long time!”

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After dropping her off at school and enduring a drowsy class, the teacher stood at the podium and called roll.

“Chen Chunan, Lin Yan, come with me.”

Chen Chunan, sitting in the first row, looked back. Lin Yan was leaning against the back blackboard wall, sitting carelessly, chewing gum and blowing bubbles, her eyes fixed out the window where shouts from a basketball game on the playground could be heard.

The teacher on the podium was furious. “Lin Yan! I’m calling you. Are you deaf?!”

Chen Chunan quickly stood up. “Teacher, I’ll help you carry the homework to the office.”

They left the classroom one after the other. Only then did Lin Yan slowly stuff the book on her desk into the drawer and get up to walk out.

Once in the office, they were met with a torrent of abuse.

“You don’t listen in class, you act improper, and you fight after school! The teacher from Class 7 came to complain to me today, saying you beat up two boys from their class on the way to school at noon!”

Lin Yan chewed her bubble gum and rolled her eyes. It was clearly one boy, okay?

Even the snitches didn’t stick to the facts.

The homeroom teacher banged on the desk loud enough to shake the heavens. “The Gaokao is coming up, and you still won’t settle down! Why did you hit someone this time?!”

Chen Chunan stood beside her, stealing glances at her out of the corner of her eye.

Lin Yan maintained that careless, slacker attitude.

Chunan swallowed and took a step forward. “Teacher…”

Lin Yan reached out from behind and tugged on the hem of her shirt. “No reason. I just didn’t like the look of him.”

Standing close, the homeroom teacher’s eyes bulged with rage, spittle nearly spraying onto Lin Yan’s face.

“If it weren’t for your father…”

Her pride as an educator made her swallow the words “donating a building to us” just in time.

“We’ve tried talking sense into you, but No. 1 High School should have expelled you long ago! If you ask me, with a temper and character like yours, you should be sent to a juvenile detention center for proper reform and education!”

Perhaps out of sheer anger, and seeing no one else around, the female teacher launched into a rhythmic, impassioned, and unstoppable tirade, scolding Lin Yan until her head was soaked in dog’s blood⁸.

The person standing in the center of the storm curled her lip in disdain. She let the teacher scold her without bowing her head, staring straight back at her with a brazen gaze, showing no remorse.

Blood rushed to the female teacher’s head. She grabbed a crumpled test paper near her hand and threw it.

“Look at this science composite⁹ test you did. At the start of the semester, passing was a problem for you, but on this mock exam, you actually scored 210?! I have taught for decades and never met a student like you. It’s one thing to test poorly, but copying other people’s answers? Have you no shame?!”

Lin Yan’s expression turned cold. “I didn’t copy anyone.”

After scolding for so long, getting a response made the teacher feel she had hit a sore spot, and she looked triumphant.

“Hmph, you still say you didn’t copy? Several students reported to me that you brought cheat sheets, and the proctor also said you were whispering to the people around you during the exam that day.”

Lin Yan clenched her fists. “That was someone borrowing an eraser from me. I didn’t copy. I just didn’t copy.”

“Who would believe that? Who? You, getting over two hundred on the science composite? Where did you run off to play last night? You must still be dreaming, right?”

The female teacher’s mouth opened and closed, her tone full of disdain, her expression a mix of contempt and disgust.

The test paper, covered in handwriting, lay at her feet.

Chen Chunan knew she hadn’t copied because they had spent many days and nights reviewing together. Lin Yan wasn’t actually stupid; she just refused to apply herself.

With a little effort, her grades would improve by leaps and bounds.

Just as she was about to explain, the female teacher pulled a blank test paper from the desk and handed it to Lin Yan.

“Didn’t you say you didn’t copy? Go. Do this paper again. Write it right there on the balcony outside the office. If you get a better score than this one, I’ll believe you.”

The thing Lin Yan could tolerate least in her life was being insulted. At that moment, she gritted her teeth, and a few words popped out through the cracks. At the same time, she grabbed the test paper, tore it to shreds, and threw it into the air.

“I fuck your mother’s…”

The teacher slammed the table and stood up, her face flushed red. “Lin Yan, don’t go too far! I’m calling your father!”

Lin Yan refused to back down. She was taller than the teacher, and if Chunan hadn’t been clutching her clothes tightly, she would have pounced on her already.

“Call him! Who’s afraid of who?! If you have the guts, tell him to beat me to death! Who do you think you are, teaching and educating people? I spit on you!”

“Lin Yan, Lin Yan, stop talking, get out quickly…” Seeing the teacher grab the teacup on the desk, Chunan desperately pushed Lin Yan backward, shoving her all the way out the office door.

The teacup smashed against the wall beside them with a bang, splashing tea everywhere and scattering broken porcelain on the floor.

Lin Yan lifted the door curtain, stepped out, and spat on the ground. “Pah!”

The class bell rang. Students looked at her curiously, wondering why she hadn’t returned to the classroom. Lin Yan leaned against the wall, arms cushioned behind her head, waiting nonchalantly for Chunan to come out.

The homeroom teacher might give her a hard time, but she would absolutely never give Chen Chunan a hard time. After all, Chunan was a top student, the class monitor, and had a well-behaved, sensible, and obedient personality.

Sure enough, the voices inside slowly died down.

Chen Chunan poured another cup of tea for the teacher and placed it by her hand. “Teacher, I understand everything you said…”

Lin Yan turned over, clinging to the window, pricking up her ears to listen.

The teacher slowly blew on the foam in the teacup. After a long while, she spoke earnestly. “It’s not that I want to lecture you, but with your grades, you could go to Peking University or Tsinghua. Why do you want to apply to a medical university, and specifically the forensic medicine department? Do you know what people in that line of work do?”

Chen Chunan buried her head and said shyly, “I know.”

The teacher felt a hatred that iron does not become steel¹⁰. “You know? You know, and you still apply? Leaving aside that it’s hard to find a job, how many normal families are willing to accept a girl who does this kind of work? Don’t ruin your whole life.”

Chen Chunan seemed soft as dough, easily molded by others, but in reality, she had a resilient tenacity in her bones, just like Lin Yan.

She kept her head down, picking at her fingers.

“Teacher, thank you for your kindness. My mom knows about this too. I only applied because she agreed. It wasn’t just my idea. If you don’t believe me, you can call her and ask.”

Seeing that she couldn’t be persuaded, the female teacher sighed deeply and waved her hand, signaling her to go back to class.

Chen Chunan bowed. “Teacher, thank you. I’ll pay you back for the teacup another day.”

Only then did a hint of a smile appear on the female teacher’s lips. “Alright, you child, how could a teacher ask for your things? And you, spend less time messing around with Lin Yan. Go back to class.”

Hearing the conversation inside coming to an end, Lin Yan turned her face back, leaning against the wall and murmuring, “Forensic medicine, huh…”

---

When it came time to fill out the application forms, Lin Yan stared blankly at the empty form in front of her.

Chen Chunan bumped her arm. “Hey, what are you thinking about? Hurry up and fill it out; we have to hand it in soon.”

“I…” Lin Yan twirled her pen, hesitated for a moment, then turned to ask, “Why do you want to be a forensic doctor?”

Chen Chunan shrugged with feigned lightness. There was a playful smile on her face, but Lin Yan saw a trace of bitterness in that smile.

“You know my dad is a ‘murderer.’ The onlookers said my dad snatched the butcher knife from that woman and stabbed her. The forensic doctor also said the wounds caused by actively lunging forward versus being passively stabbed are different.”

“I don’t know who is right, but I believe my dad wouldn’t kill anyone. No one can help me, Lin Yan, so I’ll investigate it myself.”

Lin Yan pursed her lower lip tightly. Before she could say anything, a classmate came to call Chunan to the office to help the teacher grade homework.

Chen Chunan stood up hurriedly, leaving her Gaokao application form on the desk.

Lin Yan looked in the direction she left for a long time. Finally, she took that application, copied it onto a blank sheet of paper, and handed it in.

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Later, much later, they truly became lifelong friends. Just as they had promised in the past, they got into the same major, interned together, graduated together, and even bought houses together to become neighbors. They kept their childhood agreement, celebrating each other’s birthdays every year. In their spare time, they agreed to travel together. Of course, after Lin Yan got together with Song Yuhang, this activity became a three-person commemoration. Sometimes others from the police station would tag along, making for a lively big family.

Of course, it wasn’t without regrets.

For example.

Lin Yan used a scalpel to open the deceased’s brain tissue to observe the exudate.

Chen Chunan stood on the other side wearing a protective suit, placing the extracted heart on the scale to weigh it.

After bending over for a while, Lin Yan felt uncomfortable and straightened up to catch her breath.

“I’m telling you, I’m already having a baby. You should get married too.”

Chunan laughed. “My mom isn’t even anxious about it, so why are you?”

Lin Yan put down the instrument and picked up a new one from the tray. “Can’t I be anxious on her behalf? Besides, we agreed back then. Boy or girl, I’m going to be the child’s godmother.”

Chen Chunan walked to the other side to dissect the body. “You have two in your belly; isn’t that enough for you to boss around?”

Speaking of children, a smile appeared in Lin Yan’s eyes. She hummed lightly and said, “I don’t care. You promised me.”

No matter how many years passed, she still had that young miss temper.

A helpless smile floated in Chen Chunan’s eyes, but she thought she would never be able to fulfill that promise.

“Alright, Miss High-and-Mighty, get to work. Your Director Song has been waiting at the door for you for a long time.”

When the two finally took off their heavy protective suits, changed clothes, and walked out, Song Yuhang was indeed waiting at the door.

“It’s New Year’s Eve today. I booked a banquet at Huaihai Grand Hotel. Let’s have a reunion dinner with both our families.”

Song Yuhang invited Chen Chunan, and Lin Yan also turned her gaze toward her.

For some reason, she felt that Chunan was faint today—her smile was faint, her voice was faint, everything she did was faint, as if she would scatter with a puff of wind.

This feeling had grown stronger over the years of interacting with Chunan, and it was at its peak today.

Worry appeared in Lin Yan’s eyes. “Chunan…”

Chen Chunan turned around, carrying the shoulder bag she usually wore to work. “No thanks. My mom is still waiting for me to go home for dinner.”

Song Yuhang and Lin Yan exchanged a glance and didn’t insist.

“Alright. We’re off work anyway, let’s walk out together.”

When they reached the door, the sky had turned dark, and snow began to fall, drifting down under the streetlights.

The car lights and pedestrians in the distance were shadowy and indistinct.

Chunan’s mother, who knows how long she had been waiting there, stood on tiptoe when she saw her daughter come out and carefully tied a scarf around her.

Chen Chunan lowered her head, enjoying her mother’s tenderness, a smile on her lips. “Mom, why did you come?”

“Your dad came too. He went to the market early to buy groceries and made a table full of delicious food. He’s waiting for you at home.”

Years later, Chen Chunan’s father had finally been released from prison after serving his sentence. However, he had developed health issues in prison and wasn’t in good shape; he rarely went out, especially in such cold weather.

The man, wearing a jacket and holding a large black umbrella, walked over, trudging through the snow deep and shallow. He pulled his wife and daughter into his arms.

“Let’s go. Let’s go home and have our reunion dinner.”

Chen Chunan looked back. Snowflakes drifted on the road ahead of them, filled with unknowns. Her gaze was soft and sorrowful, with a trace of faint regret, as if she would never return.

Lin Yan’s heart tightened, and she chased after them a few steps.

“Chunan, where are you going?”

A smile rose on Chen Chunan’s lips. When she smiled, her eyes curved into crescents, her pupils pitch black and bright.

The north wind howled, and the sound of the bell striking the hour rang out in the distance. Snowflakes swirled toward her, and Chen Chunan began to turn transparent from head to toe.

She knew she didn’t have much time left. She just looked at Lin Yan.

“Lin Yan, thank you. I’m going home.”

“Will we meet again?”

Lin Yan heard her own voice beginning to choke up.

“We will. As long as you remember, I will always be there.”

Chen Chunan finished speaking with a smile and turned her gaze to Song Yuhang.

“I leave the days ahead to you.”

Song Yuhang silently held her wife’s shoulders tighter, pressing her weeping face against her chest.

“Don’t worry. I will take good care of her until the day we reunite with you.”

Chen Chunan smiled, waved goodbye, and walked away with her parents, gradually disappearing into the night.

“But you have to come a little later. Heaven is very crowded; if you come too early, I’m afraid there won’t be any seats.”

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The author has something to say:

This extra chapter was supposed to be posted on the Qingming Festival¹¹, but the day before Qingming, I fell ill. I’m feeling better today, so I wrote it and posted it here. A lot has happened recently: the rapidly changing international situation, the intensifying overseas epidemic… Caught in the torrent of the times, everyone’s life has been affected more or less, but some good things have still happened.

For example, a suspect in a certain case who had been hiding for 28 years was finally arrested recently; a certain case in Hebei that had been cold for 20 years was finally announced solved, and a seventeen-year-old girl’s grievances were redressed.

The solving of every cold case is inseparable from the efforts of generations of criminal police. Sincere thanks to those who are unwilling to give up on the truth.

I also know that there are many people like “Chunan.” I know that I am insignificant and can’t do anything, but at least I can use my pen to fulfill a dream for them.

A dream of family reunion, peace, and happiness.

I also wish you all well.

The author takes her leave. See you in the next book.

(Whisper: If it’s convenient, cuties who bought the whole story, please give me a rating. Love you, mwah!)

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LP: Re-translated on November 20, 2025

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