Miss Forensics – Chapter 69

Volume One: First Scroll

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Adopting seventeen or eighteen of them…

Since she hadn’t fully recovered, Song Yuhang had used a designated driver to get there. Naturally, Duan Cheng drove on the way back.

A few people were squeezed into the back seat. Zheng Chengrui opened his laptop and gulped as he looked at the internal network login screen.

Song Yuhang handed over her account card. “Use mine.”

Seeing they had arrived at Jiangcheng Central Hospital, Fang Xin smoothed her clothes, loosened her hair to make it look a bit messy, and pushed open the car door to get out.

Duan Cheng went with her.

“Captain Song, we’re heading in.”

Song Yuhang made an “OK” sign through the car window.

“To be honest with you, my wife… she’s a little…” Duan Cheng, squeezed into the crowd at the registration, had his arm linked with Fang Xin’s. He tapped his head with a finger, his smile a bit forced. He was dressed very ordinarily, looking like a young, down-on-his-luck man.

“Could you recommend a good neurology hospital in the city? We can’t go to ones that are too far. We’d be incredibly grateful, incredibly grateful…” Duan Cheng said, bowing and scraping, while pulling a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes from his sleeve and offering it.

Fang Xin leaned on his shoulder, clutching her head in discomfort, and secretly rolled her eyes. Damn it, weren’t we supposed to be siblings?

He even changed the script on his own.

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“How did it go?” Seeing them come out from a distance, Song Yuhang opened the car door to welcome them in.

Duan Cheng twisted open a bottle of mineral water and took a couple of swigs before turning back to them. “Got it. There are two. One is Huasheng Psychiatric Hospital. The other is private and has a teaching affiliation with a major hospital in Beijing. Its neurology department is considered top-tier in the province and quite well-known nationally.”

Zheng Chengrui also had progress. “These few cars are very suspicious. I’ll pull up the surveillance footage along the routes.”

His fingertips tapped on the keyboard, his glasses reflecting a faint blue light. He compared the routes to the two hospitals with the vehicles’ travel paths and quickly eliminated the other cars, leaving only one ambulance.

Duan Cheng turned the steering wheel and stepped on the gas. “Let’s go.”

A slight smile touched Song Yuhang’s lips. “Thank you all.”

“Captain Song, how did you know Lin-jie wouldn’t leave the province?” Duan Cheng was still curious.

Song Yuhang lowered her eyes, her voice a bit muffled. “Her injuries are severe. She couldn’t possibly endure another long, bumpy journey. Unless…”

Lin Youyuan really wanted her dead.

“Besides, when she called me that day, I heard a sound outside her window, something like a cuckoo bird, but not quite when I listened closely. Professional habit made me record the call. I looked it up online later and found that this type of bird is only found locally in Jiangcheng. So, she couldn’t have left the province.”

After hearing this, they were all dumbfounded. Indeed, Captain Song was still Captain Song.

Zheng Chengrui handed the account card back to her. “I’ll write a quick program to clear the browsing history. It’ll be trouble if the internet surveillance guys find out.”

Logging into the public security internal network always required a legitimate reason. Although Song Yuhang could come up with an excuse if caught, it was better to avoid unnecessary trouble.

She nodded. “Sorry to trouble you.”

They soon arrived in front of the well-known private hospital. With about five hundred meters to go, they got out of the car and proceeded on foot.

Duan Cheng pushed aside some bushes. “Wow, what kind of hospital has such tight security?”

The entrance was guarded by a uniform line of bodyguards in black suits. They had communicators in their jacket pockets, tactical pens hidden in their belts at the hem, and were carrying civilian electric batons.

Any one of them, aside from not being armed with guns, could match their standard single-officer equipment.

Song Yuhang crouched in the shadows behind a tree, observing carefully. She gestured to the others. “Plan A.”

Duan Cheng put on a baseball cap and walked out.

A short while later, an argument broke out at the entrance.

“Why won’t you let me in? I’m her colleague! I just want to see how she’s doing! Or are you hiding her here because you have a guilty conscience and something shady to hide?”

Duan Cheng stood on tiptoe, peering inside, and cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting, “Lin-jie! Lin-jie…”

A few bodyguards exchanged glances, then moved forward to grab him. During the pushing and shoving, one bodyguard raised an electric baton.

Duan Cheng remembered Song Yuhang’s earlier warning: “Civilian high-intensity stun baton. One jolt will numb your limbs, make you prostrate yourself, and you won’t know man from beast.”

The implication: Don’t fight them head-on.

Duan Cheng quickly raised his hands in surrender and took a step back. “Hey, hey, hey, don’t get physical! If you don’t want to let me in, just say so. Why be so aggressive?!”

As he spoke, he shook out his clothes, snorted coldly, and turned to leave.

The bodyguards watched him walk out of the compound and didn’t relax until he didn’t come back.

Duan Cheng circled around and returned to the bushes, whispering, “No good. Forget getting in, they wouldn’t even let me take a peek.”

Song Yuhang scanned her surroundings. The wall was about two meters high, topped with barbed wire. With her current physical condition, she definitely couldn’t get over it.

She stroked the large tree beside her, looked up, and suddenly had an idea.

“Old Zheng, has the intrusion been successful?”

Song Yuhang decided to copy what Lin Yan had done last time at the provincial capital’s funeral home—cut their power first.

The progress bar on the computer screen inched forward. Zheng Chengrui clenched his fists, slightly nervous.

“Done!”

Song Yuhang nodded. With a rope tied around her waist, she slowly climbed. Her injuries had just healed, and her movements weren’t very agile. Every pull on the tree trunk was a bit of a struggle, and large beads of sweat rolled down her temples.

Several times, Duan Cheng saw her hand slip, causing her to slide down a bit, but she gritted her teeth and climbed back up, bit by bit.

The dense crown of the banyan tree was perfectly aligned with a second-floor windowsill, providing a natural cover.

Song Yuhang had to jump to the exposed platform holding the outdoor air conditioning unit the instant the power went out to avoid being spotted by searchlights.

Song Yuhang untied the rope from her waist, threw it down, and gave an “OK” sign to those below, indicating she was ready.

Zheng Chengrui nodded and pressed the Enter key with a “thwack.” The entire brightly lit building instantly plunged into darkness.

Song Yuhang leaped from the tree, like an agile leopard in mid-air. But when she landed, a sharp pain shot through her knee. Her face turned pale, and cold sweat broke out instantly. She fell to her knees with a thud on the edge of the platform. If she hadn’t been clutching the air conditioner, she would have fallen.

“Who’s there?!” A bodyguard heard the noise and ran over. Duan Cheng whistled, luring them away.

Song Yuhang breathed a sigh of relief. Half-crouching, she shifted inward, her fingers gripping the windowsill as she peered inside.

After a brief period of darkness, light returned to the room. Through a gap in the curtains, Song Yuhang saw Lin Yan lying quietly in bed, surrounded by medical staff conducting an examination.

A nurse changed her IV drip, and a few junior doctors changed her dressing. When the gauze on her shoulder was removed, it revealed a bloody mess. A doctor used surgical scissors to debride the festering, inflamed flesh.

In her sleep, Lin Yan frowned in pain.

Song Yuhang clenched her fists. For a moment, she wanted to rush in and hold Lin Yan tightly, to stop her from suffering so much.

Her fingernails dug deep into her palms, and Song Yuhang bit her lip until she tasted blood. The long dressing change finally ended.

The doctor sprinkled medicinal powder on her wound, wrapped it with fresh gauze, then picked up the tray and left.

Once they were gone, Song Yuhang took a piece of wire from her pocket, jiggled the window latch twice, heard a soft click, gently pushed it open, and climbed in.

She practically stumbled and ran to the bedside. She wanted to cup Lin Yan’s face to look at her, but then she saw her own dirty hands and hesitated for a long moment before deciding against it.

Lin Yan was already thin, and this illness had made her look like a shadow of her former self. Her small face was deathly pale, and even her usually vibrant red lips had lost their color.

Song Yuhang’s heart ached watching her. She turned away to wipe the corner of her eye. She wanted to touch her, hug her, kiss her, but she was afraid of transferring germs and worsening her condition.

A whistle from downstairs urged her to hurry.

She had to go.

Song Yuhang knelt by the bed, gently hugged her over the blanket, and rested her head on Lin Yan’s chest.

“Lin Yan, I miss you so much. Wake up soon. Don’t leave me alone.”

But no one answered her, only the ECG monitor beside the bed, operating as usual, emitting beeping sounds.

Song Yuhang stood up. Looking at Lin Yan’s pale, colorless lips, she leaned down slightly. When she was about three cun¹ away, she paused, then kissed her forehead instead.

Just like Lin Yan had done to her that day.

Song Yuhang closed her eyes, allowing herself a moment of indulgence, lingering a little longer.

She silently pleaded in her heart, You… don’t die.

Another whistle came from downstairs.

Song Yuhang knew she couldn’t delay any longer.

She stood up, wiped her tears, pulled a metal button from her own collar, pressed it into Lin Yan’s palm, curled her fingers around it, and tucked her hand back under the covers.

Song Yuhang looked back every few steps as she climbed out of the window.

The others were already waiting downstairs. The way back was harder; jumping over had been easy, jumping back would be difficult.

Song Yuhang had no choice but to grip a drainpipe and climb down. Halfway down, a bright flashlight beam shone on her. She instinctively covered her face, slipped, and slid the rest of the way down, pursued by the bodyguards close behind like a stray dog.

Zheng Chengrui’s voice came through her earpiece: “Captain Song, southeast. Go around a flowerbed. There’s a doggy door at the base of the wall. We’re waiting for you there.”

Damn it, the distinguished criminal investigation captain actually had to crawl through a doggy door one day.

Song Yuhang gritted her teeth and dived in. Duan Cheng reached out and pulled her through. The others had expressions of barely suppressed amusement on their faces.

Song Yuhang’s face flushed. Great. Not only had she crawled through a doggy door, but she’d also acted like a “gentleman on the rafters².” Her lifelong reputation was ruined.

She brushed off her dusty clothes, picked a few stray blades of grass from her hair, and took the lead, turning to walk away.

“Don’t tell anyone about what happened today.”

Duan Cheng drawled, “Ehh—Is Captain Song asking us for a favor? If you treat us to hotpot, maybe…”

Before he could finish, the person walking ahead forced out a few words through gritted teeth.

“This is an order.”

“…”

The people behind her all grinned and grimaced at her back.

No wonder they say “birds of a feather flock together.” Captain Song had been spending too much time with Lin-jie; her way of speaking and doing things was becoming more and more like hers.

Unacceptable, unacceptable.

While inwardly scorning it, Duan Cheng also sighed at this “damned sweet socialist sisterly affection³” and hurried to catch up.

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After dropping everyone off at their homes, Song Yuhang called for a designated driver to take her back to the hospital.

Just as she got out of the car, Lin Ge’s car also arrived.

It was impossible not to notice him. Whether it was his appearance or his aura, the man stood out exceptionally in any crowd.

Lin Ge was carrying some nutritional supplements, apparently also here to visit a patient.

Lin Yan had already been transferred to another hospital. Who could he know here?

Song Yuhang touched her nose and walked with her head down.

Lin Ge caught up from behind.

“Are you feeling better? You look much better. With Lin Yan’s situation a while ago… things were busy at home, so I haven’t been able to visit you.”

Originally, she could have asked Lin Ge about Lin Yan’s whereabouts. But on second thought, since she had already decided to draw a clear line with Lin Ge, there was no need to proactively contact him. It was best to avoid giving him any false hope or leading him on, which wouldn’t be good for him.

After all, he was Lin Yan’s relative. If possible, Song Yuhang didn’t want to hurt him.

With this in mind, she spoke up, “Have you eaten? Want to go sit over there for a bit?”

Lin Ge’s gaze fell on a roadside stall nearby. “Okay, okay. I ate a little on the way here, but we can treat it as a late-night snack.”

Song Yuhang ordered a bowl of rice noodles⁴, while Lin Ge ordered a small portion of wontons⁵. The two sat on opposite sides of a greasy tabletop.

Her hand tendons had only recently been repaired, so she still couldn’t manage delicate movements like buttoning buttons or tying a tie. Lin Ge had intended to help her break apart her disposable chopsticks.

Song Yuhang had already managed it by biting them apart. As she stirred the rice noodles and seasoning in her bowl, Lin Ge noticed a fresh scrape on the back of her hand.

“This is…”

Song Yuhang glanced at it, her expression unchanged, her heart steady. “Got it accidentally.”

Probably scraped it when I jumped onto the windowsill.

Lin Ge was about to say more, but Song Yuhang cut him off, gently but firmly rejecting him.

“The reason I haven’t actively contacted you lately isn’t just because I’ve been busy. I’ve also been thinking about whether we’re truly compatible. After much thought, you might be the most suitable marriage partner in the eyes of parents and relatives, but I’m not just looking to get married…”

Lin Ge smiled faintly, picked up the yellowed transparent water pitcher from the table, and poured her a glass of warm water. His own wontons remained untouched.

“I know. My pursuit of Miss Song isn’t just about finding a partner to marry either…”

Song Yuhang looked up at him, her eyes devoid of any superfluous emotion. It was like looking at a friend, a colleague, an ordinary person. Her gaze was open and honest, her expression clear and bright⁶. Even the earlier deliberate avoidance of eye contact to prevent misunderstanding was gone.

She truly had no romantic interest in him.

The smile on Lin Ge’s face faded.

“Since that’s the case, I believe Mr. Lin will understand me.”

Her form of address had also reverted to its most distant.

“Is there someone you like?” Lin Ge asked, holding the disposable plastic cup, watching the water inside ripple slightly.

Song Yuhang answered firmly, almost without a moment’s hesitation, “Yes.”

Lin Ge gave a bitter smile. “Can I ask who it is? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean anything by it. I just want to know… who could make you…”

Song Yuhang also smiled, but it was a very gentle smile, the kind she only showed when thinking of that person. The corners of her lips curved slightly, her “keep strangers away” aura dissipated, and the soft thorns she usually wore retracted, revealing her simplest side.

“She’s a very, very good person. Stubborn and proud, with her gentleness and kindness hidden beneath an intense and guarded exterior.”

“She’s a flower that bloomed from the mud. She deserves for me to protect her well, to love her well. So, I’m sorry.”

Song Yuhang took money from her pocket and called out to the owner to settle the bill. Until the very end, she didn’t tell him who the person was.

Although she and Lin Yan had already confessed their feelings for each other, Lin Yan was still unconscious. Song Yuhang couldn’t figure out Lin Yan’s thoughts on this relationship—whether to make it public or not, whether to tell their families or keep it secret.

Especially since, in the bamboo forest, Lin Yan had said that Lin Ge was one of the few people who treated her well. Therefore, Song Yuhang chose to tell a white lie, keeping it from him who she liked. It was better to let him have a vague idea of someone else and then completely give up on the notion.

As for matters between her and Lin Yan, there would be plenty of time in the future. It wouldn’t be too late to discuss it properly with Lin Yan after she woke up.

The gifts Lin Ge had brought for her were still at his feet, but Song Yuhang had already walked some distance away.

He stood up to chase after her and, just before she entered the hospital, managed to press the nutritional supplements into her hand.

“Take them. I only came today as a friend to visit. If we can’t be boyfriend and girlfriend, surely Miss Song wouldn’t refuse to even be ordinary friends with me?”

Due to the vigorous run, there was a thin layer of sweat on the man’s forehead. His eyes were dim, but he still forced a smile.

Song Yuhang tried to refuse, but he had already taken two steps back, down to the bottom of the stairs, and waved goodbye to her.

“You are, after all, my sister’s friend. Consider this as me thanking you on her behalf for saving her life. Don’t worry, I, Lin Ge, know when to take a hint. I’ll talk to my mom and your aunt. I won’t ask Miss Song out as a potential blind date partner anymore.”

As he spoke, Lin Ge’s car pulled up.

“Then, I wish Miss Song in advance that you and your lover will eventually be together.”

After saying this, Lin Ge got into his car, giving her no chance to speak or react.

Song Yuhang looked at the nutritional supplements in her hand and gave a wry smile. Lin Yan, oh Lin Yan, your dad isn’t much, but you really do have a good brother.

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Song Yuhang hadn’t even stepped into her hospital room when she heard Mother Song’s anxious voice, pacing back and forth.

“Where is she? Where did such a big living person go?” A group of medical staff surrounded her.

“Call the police… Yes, call the police.” The elderly woman took out her phone from her pocket and was dialing a number when someone pressed her hand down.

Song Yuhang couldn’t help but chuckle. “Mom, I’m here. I got permission from the hospital. I just went out to eat with a colleague.”

Mother Song looked her up and down. “Aiyo, how did your clothes get so dirty again? Did you get into another fight? Your injuries haven’t even healed, how could you…”

“It’s fine, it’s fine, Mom. Don’t worry.” Song Yuhang pulled her to sit by the bed, apologized to the medical staff, asked them to leave, then closed the door and returned.

Mother Song looked at the nutritional supplements she had brought back. “This is…”

Song Yuhang poured her a cup of hot water from a thermos to warm her hands. “From Lin Ge. It’s so late, why did you come?”

“To see you. Mom wasn’t at ease being home alone. On the way here, I saw someone selling roasted chestnuts⁷ and bought some for you.”

The old woman took a paper bag from her purse, placed it on the table, and put a napkin down as she began to peel chestnuts for her.

Song Yuhang wanted to take over, but her mother swatted her hand away.

“Go, go, go lie down on the bed. By the way, how are things between you and Lin Ge? Any progress?”

After all that, she finally got to the main point.

Song Yuhang picked up a chestnut and popped it into her mouth. It was still warm, indeed soft, delicious, fragrant, and sweet.

She narrowed her eyes contentedly. Having seen Lin Yan and resolved things with Lin Ge, she was in a rather good mood.

“We broke up⁸.”

Mother Song’s hand paused mid-peel. When Song Yuhang reached for a chestnut, her mother tossed a chestnut shell at her forehead.

Mother Song was quite angry. “You… why did you reject him this time? It’s so rare to find a man who doesn’t mind your profession…”

Even criminal investigators didn’t want to date other criminal investigators; they were too busy and neglected their families. Needless to say, others would shy away⁹ as soon as they heard her profession. Lin Ge had been the one she’d dated the longest in her matchmaking career.

Song Yuhang brushed the chestnut shell off her clothes and took her mother’s hand, choosing her words very carefully. “Mom, don’t be angry yet. Look, my older sister has been single for so many years, and she hasn’t looked for anyone either. She’s doing quite well on her own…”

“That’s different. Your sister has Xiao Wei, she has a companion. I’m not against her remarrying; in fact, I quite hope someone can take good care of her and her daughter. The key is, there isn’t anyone, is there?”

“If you get married and have children now, while I can still get around, I can help you take care of them for a few years. In a couple of years, when I can’t move much anymore, you’ll be an older mother. If you then have some minor illness, there won’t even be anyone by your bedside to pour you tea or water. That would be truly sad.”

Mother Song also grasped her hand, her eyes slightly red, speaking earnestly and patiently¹⁰.

In the end, she was still worried that Song Yuhang would have no one to care for her in her old age and would have a desolate later life.

Song Yuhang’s heart softened. She hugged her mother, gently patting her back to comfort her. Finally, she suddenly blurted out.

“Mom, our family isn’t patriarchal, right? We don’t have a throne to inherit, do we?”

Mother Song was so angry she wanted to hit her. “What are you talking about?! If we preferred boys over girls, would you even be here?”

Song Yuhang smiled. “Well, there you go. Our family doesn’t need to carry on the family line¹¹. Besides, even if we did, isn’t there still Xiao Wei?”

She looked at her mother with a slightly cautious gaze, as if giving her a “preventative shot” for her relationship with Lin Yan.

“You watched me grow up, you know me best. You should know my personality can’t stand ordinary men, and ordinary men can’t stand me either. I really don’t have any plans to get married. I’ll save more money when I’m young, and when I’m old, I’ll go live in a nursing home. I’ll go with you, and then I can accompany you every day to sunbathe and do square dancing¹².”

Mother Song was still quite angry at the first half of her speech, but the second half managed to coax a smile out of her.

“You, how would you still be able to dance then…”

“It’s okay. If we can’t dance, we’ll stay indoors, watch TV, drink tea, and play chess. If you like children, I’ll go out and adopt seventeen or eighteen for you. We can even choose their looks and personalities. They can line up every day to call you Grandma and make you happy…”

Mother Song was so amused she couldn’t stop smiling. “You, all you do is talk nonsense all day. How could I let you adopt seventeen or eighteen? Besides, could you even look after that many? I’m not helping you take care of them…”

Song Yuhang looked at the white hair at her mother’s temples and the wrinkles crisscrossing her face. She was no longer young. The successive pains of losing her husband and son had aged her considerably and quickly.

She had worked for two years after high school graduation before marrying her father. Perhaps she wasn’t highly educated, but she had always kept their family of four neat, tidy, and comfortable.

They were poor in those days. Her father’s salary was only a few hundred yuan, but Song Yuhang could still go to school every day in a clean school uniform, and when she came home from school, there would often be fish, shrimp, or meat on the dinner table every few days.

Only after she became independent and started working did she realize how incredibly difficult and hard to sustain it was for one person to manage household chores, cleaning, grocery shopping, and cooking delicious, visually appealing, and fragrant meals while also juggling a busy work and study schedule.

Mother Song had been like this for decades, including in her love for them.

Song Yuhang held the still-warm chestnuts, hugged her mother, and rested her head on her shoulder, feeling a heartfelt sense of relaxation and gratitude.

“Mom, thank you.”

She paused, then added, “And, I’m sorry for making you worry.”

Mother Song also placed her hand on her back, patting her gently. “Silly child, Mom just wants you to live well. Your dad passed away early, your brother is gone too. There aren’t many people left in our family. Mom will eventually leave you too. When that time comes, Mom is afraid you’ll be lonely. No matter who it is, it’s good to have a companion by your side.”

Song Yuhang hugged her mother tighter. “You won’t, Mom. You’ll live a long and healthy life.”

Mother Song helped her sit up, resting her hands on her daughter’s shoulders as she looked at her grown-up child. “There’s no such thing as living to be a hundred. Everyone gets old. But Mom’s greatest wish is for you to be safe and sound. That’s more important than anything.”

Song Yuhang’s eyes warmed, and she took the initiative to peel a chestnut for her mother. “Mom, don’t just focus on me. You eat too.”

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“Miss, Miss is awake!” The caregiver on duty overnight was dozing off when she suddenly saw Lin Yan’s hand move. She scrambled out to call for help.

Doctors rushed in with a flurry, checking her eyelids, listening to her heartbeat, and managed to pull Lin Yan out of her deep sleep.

She vaguely heard someone say, “The lung infection is under control.”

“Spontaneous breathing and heartbeat have returned.”

“Remove the ventilator, insert a nasogastric tube.”

Equipment was wheeled away from the bedside. The sharp pain and discomfort from the removal of the endotracheal tube made her open her eyes in a daze.

The world changed from black and white to color, from blurry to clear.

Lin Yan blinked a couple of times. She felt incredibly tired; her body had never been this exhausted. Her limbs ached all over, and her head throbbed with pain.

A doctor rolled up her sleeve and injected a clear painkiller.

Lin Yan frowned, a pained groan escaping her lips. She instinctively clenched her fist and suddenly felt something hard and uncomfortable in her palm.

It was cool and smooth.

She tilted her head slightly, opened her palm, and tried hard to see.

It was a button.

A button from a standard police uniform shirt.

It glinted with a faint silver light under the lamp.

Lin Yan knew. She had been here.

For some reason, when this thought surfaced, her heart relaxed, filled with an unprecedented warmth and peace of mind.

Lin Yan clenched the button in her palm again, closed her eyes slightly, and let darkness and exhaustion engulf her.

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LP: Re-translated on May 26, 2025

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