Yan Sha was in her growing phase, and as her mother, Jiang Qinghan felt that she should talk to her. Women generally mature early, and it would be troublesome if they fell into puppy love. Jiang Qinghan could tell that Yan Sha had a favourable impression of Su Tao, but she just did not expose it, since she felt that it was good to let it flow naturally. When she was young, she also had a puppy love, but as she grew older, the feeling slowly became faint as she grew more mature.
However, Yan Sha's feelings for Su Tao were too much. Hence, Jiang Qinghan had to remind her that she was no longer a child, and she had to take precautions. Although Su Tao might be her Senior Brother, he's still a man. So she shouldn't take it too far.
Su Tao had considered Yan Sha as his younger sister, and in his eyes, she was still a child.
However, he wasn't in agreement with Jiang Qinghan's education method. The more she suppressed Yan Sha's feelings, the more it might fire back and create the rebellious phase in the lass.
After an entire morning of work, Su Tao whipped up a table of dishes. In the end, Yan Sha only took two bites before she placed down her chopsticks and returned to her own room. "I'm done!"
Doting his granddaughter, Yan Wujin locked his brows together. "Qinghan, Yan Sha has been pretty sensible, so don't give her too much pressure."
He misunderstood that Jiang Qinghan was putting pressure on Yan Sha in the latter's studies, so he spoke a few words up for his granddaughter.
"Dad, don't interfere in this matter." Jiang Qinghan sighed with complicated emotions. Yan Sha was her daughter, so how could she let her daughter suffer? Her reminder now was ultimately for Yan Sha's benefit.
Since Su Tao wanted to change the awkward atmosphere, he smiled. "Master, I heard that you're recently promoted?"
Because of the several big cases last year, Jiang Qinghan was promoted to the Chief of Criminal Investigation Division, which was rare for females.
"You got the news pretty quickly!" A smile spread on Jiang Qinghan's lips. She had to thank Su Tao for that. It was under his help that she managed to solve the case to SG Chaebol's food poisoning incident last year, which made Secretary Zhang have high appraisal of her.
In fact, Jiang Qinghan broke many cases, with some of them even being dangerous. But that was the reality. In some cases, it's nothing significant in the eyes of leaders, even if you risked your life. But the SG Chaebol's food poisoning case concerned a major project with a worth of over ¥100,000,000, and the worth it brought to both the economy and society was greater than the usual cases.
Her promotion was something Du Ping told her, since the latter knew that Jiang Qinghan and Su Tao were related as master and disciple. Hence, he did her a favour at little cost.
While they were eating, Jiang Qinghan's phone suddenly vibrated, so she walked to the coffee desk and answered it.
By rights, Jiang Qinghan no longer had to investigate cases herself after her promotion, and she was mainly overseeing the overall situation. However, she still chose to personally investigate cases. Different people have different callings in life, and Jiang Qinghan wasn't after promotion and wealth. She liked it when she was fully immersed in the case. Although a factor of it was due to her talent in this field, the other factor was the fulfillment she felt when she's working.
"What…" Jiang Qinghan's tone turned solemn as she replied, "I'll head over immediately!"
When Jiang Qinghan ended the call, Su Tao's eyelid twitched. He had an ill premonition.
After donning her uniform, she turned to Su Tao and Yan Wujin. "Dad, something's come up ,so I have to go. I might not be back for dinner, so don't bother preparing for me!"
Su Tao's ears were keen, and he managed to eavesdrop. It was a call from Zhang Zhen. It was a homicide case. Zhang Zhen was already present with his men, but the victim's family wasn't cooperative and even had a physical conflict when they wanted to bring the corpse back to the station for an autopsy.
Generally speaking, criminal officers hardly got obstructed by the locals and Jiang Qinghan's sensitive senses told her that there might be a complicated story behind this situation, so she had to make a trip over.
Just when Jiang Qinghan started the vehicle, Su Tao came over and was waving his hand at her.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Qinghan knitted her brows. She was now racing against time, and she had to rush there.
"I'll come with you!" Su Tao's complexion wasn't too good. He had spent some time in metaphysics. So when his eyelid twitched earlier, he felt a sense of panic rising in his heart.
Human sense concerning future danger wasn't something that could be explained through science.
For some reason, Su Tao felt that Jiang Qinghan's dispatch this time wouldn't be the same as the past. Hence, he took the initiative to go with her.
Biting down on her lips, Jiang Qinghan hesitated for a few seconds before she unlocked the door. "Quick, get in, then!"
Su Tao was a physician with brilliant skills, and he might be able to play an unusual chemical effect.
Dongyi Village was a village remotely located from Hanzhou City, and it was just beside the Tianhe City of Huaibei Province. This was only a small village with roughly a dozen households. The able people have all gone out to work, leaving the elderly and children in the village.
As the sun started to set, twilight enveloped the mountain and forest, which added a gentle glow to this bleak village.
The jeep wasn't able to drive into the city because a group of people has clogged the path. Zhang Zhen and his men did not withdraw but stood in confrontation with the villagers.
When Jiang Qinghan and Su Tao got out of the jeep, Zhang Zhen came over with a smile. "Chief, you're finally here! Divine Physician Su, you as well!"
Seeing the wound on Zhang Zhen's head, Jiang Qinghan knitted her brows. "What's wrong with your injury?"
"When we said that we want to take the corpses with us, they instantly went into chaos. In the process of the conflict, someone threw a stone at me." Zhang Zhen spat a mouthful of phlegm on the ground. He could only swallow it up since it was the norm.
"Have you notified our colleagues at the county?" Jiang Qinghan had a clear line of thought. They could only rely on the local authorities in such a situation.
"We did, and they sent two people over." Zhang Zhen pointed in a direction and added, "But it's futile. There's nothing they could do as well!"
Jiang Qinghan's face sank as she contemplated. She couldn't figure out a better idea for the time being.
There was often news where officers would snatch corpses, but that was under special circumstances. In handling the case, they had to use the proper method not to disturb the citizens; that was the principle of handling cases.
"Has the forensic doctor examined the corpse?" Su Tao's voice abruptly resounded.
"We only did an initial investigation, and the villagers' deaths were fishy. But from the looks of it, it seems to be a heart attack without any physical injuries. So that's why we wanted to bring the corpse back with us for a detailed examination." Zhang Zhen explained.
A detailed examination meant autopsy. The victims were already dead, and the family was definitely not willing to let the victims once more suffer after their deaths. This was the reason why they weren't cooperative.
"Can I take a look at it?" Su Tao threw out a request.
Zhang Zhen knew that Su Tao was skilled, but their relationship with the villagers was already stiff. So it wouldn't be easy to take another look at the corpse.
"I'll give it a try!" Zhang Zhen said as he headed towards the county's officers.
A long time later, the county officers headed over with reluctance. But after a series of discussions, he returned while helplessly shaking his head.
At this moment, Zhang Zhen's mood was terrible, so he took a cigarette and lit it up. But after just taking a few breaths, he threw it on the ground and extinguished it.
Seeing the result, Su Tao straightforwardly headed over to the villagers without even telling Zhang Zhen.
The latter was shocked and wanted to follow beside Su Tao, fearing that he might be attacked by the villagers. However, he was stopped by Jiang Qinghan.
"Chief, those villagers aren't reasonable, and I'm worried that Little Su might be in trouble!" Zhang Zhen solemnly said.
"Don't worry about it, Su Tao is not a reckless person. He must definitely have his own considerations." After a brief pondering, Jiang Qinghan felt that they couldn't just go after a single direction, and they had to try investigating from other angles as well. Thus, she immediately gave an order to Zhang Zhen, "Get all the recent documents related to Dongyi Village and go through them to see if there's any link to this case."
Seeing that Su Tao and Jiang Qinghan have walked a distance out, Zhang Zhen immediately followed. He had a good impression of Su Tao. Not only was the latter Jiang Qinghan's disciple, Su Tao even saved his life. If it wasn't for Su Tao, he would've probably lost his life in Qiongjin People's Hospital from the mercenaries.
Although Su Tao might be young, he was someone with a heroic heart, which made Zhang Zhen fond of the young man.
"This is Old Sun, the Forensic Doctor!" Zhang Zhen introduced to Su Tao.
Old Sun was a man who seemed to be in his forties and had a cold gaze. Su Tao knew that this was an occupational disease. After all, there would be a slow change in a person's character after constant interactions with corpses.
"Who is this? Your relative?" Old Sun casually glanced at Su Tao.
"This is Divine Physician Su of the Three Flavour Hall, and Chief Jiang is his master!" Zhang Zhen introduced with a smile, then continued, "You guys can be considered somewhat similar in the profession!"
With a self-ridicule smile, Old Sun replied, "Not the same. He deals with the living, while I deal with the dead."
"Master Sun, can I take a look at the forensic report?" Su Tao could hear Old Sun's unusual tone, but he wanted to resolve the case swiftly, so he did not pay much attention to it.
"Sure!" Old Sun glanced at Jiang Qinghan and added, "With Chief Jiang as the guarantor, I'm not afraid of anyone alleging that I'm revealing any sensitive information."
Jiang Qinghan knitted her brows. She has always found Old Sun's character weird, but there was nothing she could do about it. Despite working for over a decade as a forensic doctor, he's still an ordinary staff, while she has become a Division Chief. So it was unavoidable for him to feel unbalanced in his heart.
The report was simple. There was a total of two dead, and they were young. One of them was only twenty, while the other one was twenty-one. From the initial investigation, the two of them died from cardiac arrest, which was the reason why Old Sun requested an autopsy. He couldn't find the cause of their death from external observation, and he had to retrieve a fragment of the heart to be tested under apparatuses to find it.
"Can you understand it?" Old Sun smiled as he continued, "Our forensic report isn't as simple as how you doctors give out prescriptions!"
His words contained thorns due to the discomfort in his heart. Although a forensic doctor and physician were both doctors, Old Sun didn't share the same view. Hence, he was unhappy that Jiang Qinghan brought an outsider to dip into his world.
A forensic doctor was considered part of the technical department of the Criminal Investigation Division, and it was a different department from Zhang Zhen. Hence, Old Sun did not have to give any face to Zhang Zhen. If it wasn't for Jiang Qinghan's presence, he wouldn't have paid any attention to Zhang Zhen. Truth be told, he was also partly responsible for the tense relationship with the villagers, due to his words.
Handing over the report back to Old Sun, Su Tao walked towards the villagers and yelled, "We've decided that we will not bring the corpses away, but for us to understand the case better, we need another examination on the deceased. So, please, do us a favour!"
When Jiang Qinghan heard Su Tao's words, she knitted her brows. What was Su Tao saying? Not bringing the corpse away? Then how were they going to make a detailed examination on the corpses?
At this moment, Old Sun snorted, "What a big tone. The talented are truly bold!"