Miss Forensics – Chapter 57

Volume One: First Scroll

The Past

Pummeling hooligan scambags, kicking the direct superior, and from a rich and powerful family.

Lin Yan slept comfortably in the latter half of the night, but Song Yuhang suffered, half-asleep and half-awake until dawn. When she woke up in the early morning, her arm was numb. She moved it slightly, and Lin Yan snuggled in closer again.

One hand was clutching the front of her shirt¹, the other resting on her waist, and a leg was also on her thigh. Her sleeping posture was truly not very well-behaved.

The shirt collar had been rubbed a bit loose. Song Yuhang inadvertently caught a glimpse, and her breath hitched.

Seeing that it was broad daylight outside and the rain had stopped, faint voices could be heard from beyond the door.

Song Yuhang pinched her nose. “Lazy Cat, time to get up.”

Lin Yan subconsciously slapped her across the face, muttering something about not disturbing her.

Song Yuhang chuckled, grasping her hand and squeezing it. “If you don’t get up soon, someone will be here.”

Only then did Lin Yan groggily open her eyes, rubbing them, still a bit dazed. When she clearly saw Song Yuhang’s face, she abruptly pulled her hand back and was about to get up.

Song Yuhang held her without letting go. “Let’s hug a little longer, just a little longer. Didn’t you hug me all last night?”

Lin Yan, flustered and exasperated, with her wrists pinned down, was about to bite her without a second thought.

Song Yuhang dodged, and the quilt was tossed into a tangled mess.

Just as Duan Cheng pushed the door open, he saw Song Yuhang pinning Lin Yan beneath her, while Lin Yan was biting her shoulder. The person holding an enamel mug² covered his eyes, exclaimed, “Aiyo!” and quickly stepped back as if he’d stepped on a landmine.

The two people on the bed looked over in unison. Lin Yan’s hand gripped her mechanical baton.

Duan Cheng retreated as if taking flight, bowing and scraping as he closed the door for them. “You two continue, continue. I didn’t see anything.”

The moment his voice fell, the mechanical baton slammed against the door with a bang.

Meanwhile.

“Smack—” Song Yuhang sat up, clutching her face, looking aggrieved. The pain made her speech unclear.

“Lin Yan, didn’t we agree? No hitting the face?”

Lin Yan snorted coldly, got out of bed, and sat on the edge, buttoning her shirt. “Old habits die hard. You deserve to be hit.”

Song Yuhang opened her mouth, watching Lin Yan’s slender, fair fingers unhurriedly buttoning up, her neck slowly tilting back with the movement. No matter how you looked at it, there was a hint of that sort of thing³ in the air.

She was still reminiscing about the feel of pinching the nape of her neck, smacking her lips.

A vein throbbed on Lin Yan’s temple. She directly buttoned her shirt to the very top, picked up her mechanical baton, and stormed out, radiating killing intent.

Duan Cheng was squatting by the well, gossiping⁴ animatedly with everyone. Seeing her approach from a distance, he put the enamel cup in his hand on the ground and ran, circling the house beams.

“Lin-jie, Lin-jie, I was wrong! No, no, I really knocked, I knocked! You guys just didn’t hear it! Aaaah, murder! Help!!!!”

Listening to the mournful howls⁵ outside, Song Yuhang shook her head with a helpless smile and prepared to tidy up the bedding to return it to the old lady.

Last night it was pitch dark, so she hadn’t seen clearly. Now, touching the quilt, she found it exceptionally clean and tidy. The pattern was simple, but the stitching was fine and dense, without a single loose thread. It didn’t look handmade.

She looked around the dilapidated thatched hut. No matter how she thought about it, this old lady didn’t seem like someone who could afford such a quilt.

She bent down, turned on her flashlight, and fumbled with the quilt, turning it over. Finally, at the very bottom, she found a small label: Jiangbei Textiles.

Song Yuhang took out her phone and took a picture of it.

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There was a lot of farm work in autumn. If the old lady worked alone, she would have to work late into the night. Now that many able-bodied young laborers had arrived, the local policeman and another criminal investigator had gone out to herd sheep early in the morning.

Zheng Chengrui was helping chop firewood; though he was fat, he still had some strength. Fang Xin, on the other hand, had taken a basket to help the old lady gather fruits and vegetables from the garden, apply fertilizer, and so on.

After washing up, Lin Yan had nothing to do. She picked up a handful of pebbles and sat on the veranda, throwing them at the lively frogs in the garden, which were jumping around after the rain. From time to time, she also tossed a few at Duan Cheng’s head, thoroughly enjoying herself.

Duan Cheng, with tears in his eyes, said, “Captain Song, Lin-jie is not only restless but also has violent tendencies. How have you put up with her for so long?”

The slap mark on Song Yuhang’s face was still clearly visible. Because her face was swollen, her speech was somewhat mumbled, and she felt like crying but had no tears.

“Stop talking about it already. Let’s fix the door…”

Chasing girls is indeed so hard. You not only need a strong mental fortitude but also a robust physique.

The moment they finished speaking, two more pebbles came flying through the air and hit them on the head.

Lin Yan tossed a stone in her hand and said irritably, “You thought I couldn’t hear you, didn’t you?”

The two of them turned their faces away in unison.

Just as they were talking, the old woman came out of the kitchen⁶ carrying a bowl of boiled goat’s milk for her, gesturing for her to drink it.

Lin Yan was taken aback. “This…”

The old woman firmly pressed the bowl into her hands, making gestures in the air, her expression somewhat anxious.

She knew this girl from the city was delicate, but her heart was good. She was afraid the girl wouldn’t be used to rural food, so she had specially gone to milk the goat for her that morning.

Everything from last night was still vivid in her mind. Lin Yan felt a little embarrassed. Seeing that no one was looking at her, she finally picked up the bowl and took a small sip.

It was unexpectedly delicious. It didn’t have the cloying sweetness of cow’s milk, and she didn’t know what the old woman had added while boiling it, but there seemed to be a delicate fragrance of tea leaves, which perfectly neutralized the gamey taste of the goat’s milk.

Lin Yan liked it very much. Her eyes curved, and a smile appeared.

Seeing that she liked it, the old woman also smiled with satisfaction. After Lin Yan finished drinking, the old woman patted her hand and returned to the kitchen.

Lin Yan didn’t understand her meaning until the old woman brought out another bowl for her, holding a cloth dampened with well water in her hand. She pointed at Song Yuhang, indicating for Lin Yan to take it to her.

Lin Yan dawdled. “I’m not going…”

The old woman firmly pressed the bowl and cloth into her hands and pushed her forward a few steps.

Facing an old woman in her seventies or eighties, Lin Yan couldn’t possibly resort to force, so she was passively pushed a few steps forward.

Song Yuhang had already seen her.

“Here—” Lin Yan reluctantly stretched out her arm and handed it to her.

Song Yuhang was propping up the rickety wooden door, her hands full. “I won’t drink it, you have it.”

“If I tell you to drink it, then drink it!” Lin Yan’s ‘young miss’ temper flared up again. Duan Cheng snickered. Just then, Fang Xin called them for a meal, leaving all the work to Song Yuhang as he scurried away.

Suddenly, only the two of them were left outside the door.

Song Yuhang smiled, a thin layer of sweat on her forehead. “Look at me, I really don’t have a free hand. If I let go, the door will collapse.”

The kitchen door had been damaged by Lin Yan’s mechanical baton that morning, leaving a gash. So, they had found some more firewood, planed it into planks. Anyway, the door was already rickety; it was better to dismantle it and repair it properly.

Thinking of this, Lin Yan averted her gaze, feeling a little uncomfortable. “Then you turn around.”

Song Yuhang put down the iron hammer in her hand, not understanding what Lin Yan meant, but she still did as told and turned around, propping the door with her back.

“What’s wrong—”

Before she could finish her sentence, Lin Yan had already brought the bowl to her lips. “Drink.”

Song Yuhang was startled, then a gentle curve appeared on her lips. She sipped from the bowl, guided by Lin Yan’s hand. As she neared the bottom of the bowl, because Song Yuhang was tall, Lin Yan had to stand on her tiptoes slightly, carefully holding the bowl to avoid spilling it on her.

Inside the inner room, Duan Cheng, picking at noodles in his bowl with chopsticks, peeked through the crack in the door. “It looks like she’s feeding a dog.”

The local policeman sighed. “Captain Song and Forensic Doctor Lin have such a good relationship.”

Several people exchanged knowing smiles. He found it strange and asked, “What are you laughing at? Isn’t it true?”

Fang Xin nodded solemnly. “I think you’re right. The revolutionary camaraderie between Captain Song and Forensic Doctor Lin, as close as sisters, is truly enviable.”

The others laughed so hard they couldn’t lift their heads, leaving the policeman even more confused. He had no choice but to chuckle along with them.

The bowl of goat’s milk was empty. Song Yuhang was content, a warm feeling spreading in her stomach. She licked the corner of her lips, seemingly still wanting more.

Lin Yan turned to leave with the bowl but was suddenly pulled back.

“Hey—” Song Yuhang pointed to her face. “It hurts.”

Lin Yan bit her lip, seemingly wanting to ignore her and walk away, but looking at her slightly bruised cheek, she couldn’t bring herself to be harsh.

Song Yuhang revealed a slight smile of a successful scheme, obediently turned around, and picked up the iron hammer again to start repairing the door panel.

Lin Yan looked at her, then at the towel in her hand, and then at the empty surroundings.

The early morning sunlight was beautiful, filtering down through the woods. Occasional frog croaks and insect chirps could be heard. Everywhere was a scene of lush, vibrant greenery. Water droplets falling from the leaves splashed into small puddles, creating ripples.

In such an environment, even the most agitated mood would become unusually peaceful.

Lin Yan was no exception. Actually, in the beginning, she hadn’t liked Song Yuhang either.

She found her old-fashioned, inflexible, meddlesome, and always fighting for justice for others—her values and way of dealing with the world were worlds apart⁷ from her own.

But after spending this time together, she had gradually discovered her good qualities.

Behind the old-fashioned demeanor was a day-in, day-out meticulous and serious approach to her duties.

Behind the inflexibility was a principled person establishing herself in the world, following her heart’s desires without overstepping boundaries.⁸

Behind the meddling and fighting for justice was a kindness deeply ingrained in her bones.

Gentle, kind, rigorous, serious, pragmatic, with occasional flashes of youthful spirit, and always maintaining enthusiasm and original aspiration for life.

All the beautiful adjectives Lin Yan could think of could be used to describe her.

In this early morning, she suddenly felt a heartfelt flutter, one that had been there for a long time and was gradually growing stronger.

Even the uneven, fluffy, somewhat prickly short hair behind her ears had become endearing.

Lin Yan took a step forward.

Song Yuhang turned her head. “Wha—”

Before she could finish, a cool sensation touched her face. Lin Yan had already gently placed the towel on her cheek, wadding it up and pressing it back and forth, asking softly, “Does it hurt?”

The well water was very cold, but her heart warmed.

Song Yuhang shook her head. “It doesn’t hurt.”

Lin Yan kept her eyes downcast, not looking at her. “Next time, if there is a next time, don’t indulge me like this. My temper isn’t very good to begin with…”

“Growing up, no one ever taught me these things. My father only ever held Lin Cheng, coaxed Lin Cheng. Towards me, it was either beatings or scoldings. The servants all said strict discipline was for my own good, that ‘to beat is to cherish, to scold is to love,’⁹ that he still cared for me in his heart.”

“I believed it, and I treated those around me the same way, until I got a bit older…” She paused slightly, her long lashes trembling. “Someone told me that doing so was wrong, that love should be expressed in the correct way. But I can’t change anymore.”

Lin Yan gave a bitter smile. “So, don’t indulge me. I’m the type to get worse if given an inch, to take a mile if given an inch¹⁰.”

Song Yuhang stopped what she was doing, tilted her head slightly to look at her, and softly called her name, “Lin Yan—”

“What is it?” Lin Yan wiped away the sweat that had trickled down her cheek.

Song Yuhang grabbed her hand and swallowed. “I… I want to kiss you.”

Lin Yan’s expression changed dramatically¹¹. She slapped the towel onto Song Yuhang’s face with one hand, and at the same time, fiercely kicked her in the knee. Song Yuhang hopped around, and the wooden planks that hadn’t been properly installed yet came crashing down on her head and face. Amidst a cloud of dust, her wails could be heard.

The few people inside the room exchanged glances and shook their heads in unison. “Captain Song, such a pitiful woman.”

Fang Xin had an expression of exasperation, as if disappointed in someone who failed to live up to expectations.¹² “To think I even considered Captain Song my role model when I first joined the Jiangcheng City Bureau. She’s the pride of all our female police officers in Jiangcheng City. What is this now, a Husky?”¹³

Duan Cheng studied her for a long moment. “Not a Husky, more like a ‘little milk dog,’¹⁴ the kind that only barks ‘woof woof’ at Lin-jie.”

Zheng Chengrui adjusted his glasses and said decisively¹⁵, “If you’re going to be someone, be like Forensic Doctor Lin.”

“Pummeling hooligan scambags, kicking the direct superior, and from a rich and powerful family.”

The three of them nodded in unison. “I think you’re right.”

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After breakfast, the door was also fixed. Song Yuhang drew some water from the well to wash her hands, wiped them on her clothes, and went into the kitchen to get the quilt for the old grandma, intending to ask her about it at the same time.

There was no cell phone signal in the mountains; they had already lost contact with the outside world. Only a satellite phone could get through now. Zheng Chengrui was still fiddling with his computer.

The others had sat down around the brazier to warm themselves.

Song Yuhang took her hand and asked, “Grandma, do you have any other relatives? Why don’t you go live in the city?”

As soon as this was mentioned, the old woman’s eyes reddened again. She wiped away a tear, tremblingly got down from the kang, took a photo album from the dilapidated five-drawer chest, opened it, and flipped through the pages.

The outside of the album was very worn, but the inside was very clean, filled entirely with black and white photographs.

Having spent the night together, the local policeman had some basic understanding of the local dialect and could barely understand a few words, translating for them.

“Grandma says her family members are all gone. This is her husband…” The policeman pointed to a man with a crew cut in the photo. The old woman nodded, wiping her tears.

“This is her daughter…” The policeman paused again before saying, “She married and went to the provincial capital, and never came back.”

Lin Yan snorted coldly. “Heartless bastard.¹⁶ Maybe she died outside long ago.”

Song Yuhang pulled her arm, signaling her not to speak recklessly. Lin Yan was still unconvinced. Song Yuhang narrowed her eyes slightly, a hint of threat in them, and put her index finger to her lips.

“I…” Lin Yan gritted her teeth and swallowed her anger.

Song Yuhang then pointed to a young boy in a photo. “And this one?”

The old woman pressed her eyes, wiping away tears, and waved her hand. Fang Xin quickly handed her a tissue.

Speaking of her son, the old woman completely broke down in tears. “Seven or eight years old… he got a sudden illness, and before we could get him to the clinic…”

The policeman looked up at Song Yuhang and relayed it to her.

Song Yuhang gently patted the old woman’s back to comfort her. Lin Yan took the photo album from the old woman’s lap and continued flipping through it. Suddenly, her wrist froze.

As if in disbelief, she took out her phone, opened her photo album, and looked at it a few more times before handing both the phone and the album to Song Yuhang.

“Take a look. Is this the same person?”

Several people gathered around.

In the photo, three young men stood with their arms around each other’s shoulders, around twenty years old. They were all wearing tank tops and shorts, with straw sandals on their feet and straw hats on their heads. The background was a vast expanse of golden farmland.

The two on the left and right looked extremely similar; one could tell at a glance they were brothers. The one in the middle, however, had a foxtail grass¹⁷ dangling from his mouth, his eyes somewhat wild and unrestrained. His facial features closely resembled the photo on Lin Yan’s phone.

That was Yu Xinye in his youth.

The old woman looked at the photo on the phone, also exclaiming “Ah!” in slight surprise. She reached out and wiped away a tear. “This… this is my nephew…”

It was truly a case of “wearing out iron shoes in a fruitless search, only to find it effortlessly.”¹⁸

Song Yuhang said with some excitement, “Are you sure? Did your nephew also die in that mining accident twenty years ago?”

The old woman nodded haltingly. Looking at the roomful of people in uniform, she grabbed Song Yuhang’s hand, her expression somewhat alarmed, and asked in the local dialect, “Ye… Ye Wazi efn_note]葉娃子 | Yè wázi | “Ye Wazi”; ‘Wazi’ (娃子) is a dialectal term for ‘child’ or ‘young person,’ often used affectionately or familiarly as part of a nickname. Here, it refers to Yu Xinye.[/efn_note, what happened to him?”

The group exchanged glances. Song Yuhang reassured her, “It’s nothing, we’re just making routine inquiries. So, these past few years, with no close relatives and little income, how have you managed to get by?”

At this, a trace of relief finally appeared on the old woman’s face. “The government provides a minimum living allowance¹⁹, and the crops I grow are enough to eat. Besides… my nephew’s wife also sends things to the post office in town every now and then…”²⁰

Song Yuhang touched the quilt on the bed. “Did she send this too?”

The old woman nodded, making two “ah” sounds.

“Since Yu Xinye had a wife, why wasn’t it written on his household registration?” Lin Yan sharply picked up on a point of suspicion.

The old woman looked somewhat embarrassed. “They married young. Back then, it wasn’t common in rural areas to get a marriage certificate; they just held a running banquet.”²¹

Song Yuhang pointed to the remaining two young men in the photo and asked her, “And these two?”

The old woman looked at the photo, a hint of nostalgia in her expression.

Her son had died young, and her daughter had also married early. The dozen or so mu²² of farmland, both at home and outside, were all managed by this nephew and her together. Every day, they worked from dawn till dusk, from morning till night.

Until those two educated youths²³ came to Xiaohe Village.

At that time, the responsibility field system²⁴ and the household responsibility system²⁵ were in vogue. As a widow with an orphaned nephew, naturally, no one was willing to help them.

“Aunt²⁶, one more mu, and we can go back and rest.” The moon was high in the sky. Yu Xinye wiped the sweat from his forehead and dug in with his shovel again.

“Alright! What do you want to eat when we get back? Auntie will make it for you.”

“Too much trouble. Just a bowl of noodles will do.”

As the two were talking, sounds of laughter and teasing came from the field ridge opposite them.

A few locals were bullying the newly arrived educated youths.

“Look at this delicate skin²⁷, isn’t this a girl!”

“Aiyoyo, look, look, he’s even shy!”

“Get lost! Don’t touch my younger brother!”

Following the boy’s shrill cry, the woman, still young at the time, grabbed a sickle and rushed out. “Hey?! What are you doing?! Finished all your work?! Shameless, bullying city folk!”

“Yo, isn’t this the old widow.” The young men resentfully withdrew their hands. Yu Xinye also jumped onto the field ridge with his shovel, wiping the sweat from his head with a towel.

“Quickly, scram! Or I’ll tell the village head.”

“Fine, you win.” The ruffian leading them violently shoved the young man he was holding by the collar to the ground, spat a few times, and swaggered off.

“Brother, brother, are you okay?”

The boy lying on the ground had a large bruise on his forehead. He shook his head, watching the old woman and the young man return to their own field to work without another word.

“If you’re okay, get up. If we don’t finish today, we won’t have rations tomorrow,” the older boy said, helping him up.

Until the moon gradually set in the west, they dragged their exhausted bodies, preparing to finish work. As they walked onto the field ridge, the others over there were still busy.

The young boy who had just been beaten looked back, but was pulled forward by the older one.

“Let’s go, let’s go, time to go back and sleep.”

The boy stopped. “Brother, let’s go help them.”

“Hey, you—” Before he could reply, the boy had already jumped down, dragging a hoe.

“Auntie²⁸, I’ll help you.”

And so, the two brothers worked their own responsibility fields during the day and secretly helped them at night. If Yu Xinye saw others bullying them, he would also step in to help. Aunt Yu, seeing that the two of them didn’t know how to cook and were starving and emaciated²⁹, would take out her meager rations and often invite them home for meals.

Over time, they also became good brothers with Yu Xinye. For the two young men, thousands of miles from home, Yu Xinye was not just a friend; Aunt Yu was even more like family.

In those times, the connections between strangers were just that miraculous. Sometimes, perhaps just a word of concern, a bowl of warm porridge, or a helping hand in times of difficulty was enough to constitute the greatest warmth and care in the hearts of two young city dwellers.

Thinking of this, the old woman felt somewhat emotional and her eyes quietly welled up. “They… they were all Ye Wazi’s friends… The three of them were so close they could share the same pair of underpants.”

Song Yuhang nodded, tore off a piece of paper, and got a pen, handing them to the old woman. “Grandma, can you write?”

The old woman nodded. “Yes… a little.”

“Could you please write down your nephew’s wife’s name, and the names of Yu Xinye’s two friends for us to see?”

The old woman became a little uneasy. “This… what does this mean?”

Lin Yan looked like she wanted to speak but stopped herself. Song Yuhang spoke first, telling a white lie, “It’s nothing. We’re from the county’s household registration department, conducting a census, and also gathering information about the deeds of the educated youths who went to the mountains and countryside back then for publicity.”

The old woman didn’t quite understand, only thinking that publicity was a good thing, so she took the pen and began to write, stroke by stroke.

Lin Yan gave her a look that said: Telling barefaced lies³⁰, doesn’t your conscience hurt?

Song Yuhang gave a wry smile: What else? Tell her that her nephew’s wife and her nephew’s good friends might all be involved in a serial murder case?

The old woman would have a heart attack on the spot if I did.

After she finished writing, the group took it and looked. The old woman’s handwriting was crooked and difficult to read; it took them a long time to make it out.

Song Yuhang: “Your nephew’s wife is named Wei Fengzhen³¹, correct?”

The old woman nodded, saying, “Ah, ah.”

Song Yuhang pointed to the boy on the left. “The older brother is called…”

Her pupils suddenly contracted. “Li Hai.”³²

“The younger brother is called… Li Yang?!”³³

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LP: It’s happening! (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄)

Re-translated on May 10, 2025

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