Chapter 33: Lost Vehicle

Evening.

In the noble, heavy, and huge traditional firewood stove, a sheep was boiling with a bubbling sound.

Comrade Jiangfuzhen was generous by nature. When he was young, he was willing to share half of any wild rabbit he caught with friends, and now that he had money, treating people to sheep and the like was naturally a matter of course.

Having treated people many times, Comrade Jiangfuzhen's sheep-boiling skills had improved exceptionally, which in turn attracted more friends to come and share. In a daze, he had actually entered a near-perfect positive cycle, and apart from spending money and time, he could hardly find any loopholes.

As soon as Jiang Yuan entered the house, he smelled the fresh aroma of mutton. Unlike chefs outside who pursued efficiency, Father Jiang, who stayed at home, always had plenty of time to do various preparatory work, such as skimming the blood foam. Many people always waited for the foam to accumulate before skimming it off with a few spoonfuls, then letting a small amount of foam float with the mutton.

Father Jiang didn't do it that way; he always guarded the pot, skimming the foam from the very beginning, skimming as much as was produced. Sometimes, this process would last for half an hour.

Such an operation not only reduced the gamey smell of the mutton but also controlled the degree of tenderness. After all, although boiling a sheep was simpler than roasting one, it still required considerable skill.

In the large pot, which was as wide as a sheep and a goose, the mutton, white with red and red with white, swayed and floated gently... Just looking at this, it was impossible to realize that this was a proper residential kitchen.

"Yuanzi is back." Relatives and friends who came to sponge off the sheep greeted him casually. Two of them brought their own bowls, chopsticks, and seasonings, while the rest were not so particular.

"It's made a mess of your house." Some people also said a polite word or two.

Jiang Yuan waved his hand naturally: "There are only two men in the house; it can't get any messier."

When he was in the village before, he often ate from a hundred families. At that time, every family didn't just bring things when they came to eat rabbit; they would send things over for no reason. Often, the things sent by several families would make up a meal.

Jiangfuzhen also came out of the kitchen to take a look and said, "Back just in time, it's almost ready to eat. Did you dissect anyone today?"

"No corpses today," Jiang Yuan said.

"If there are no corpses, you can eat with your hands. Don't touch the large basin of mutton after dissecting people. Whether you've dissected people or not, remember to wash your hands." Jiangfuzhen drew a line for Jiang Yuan, and after a while, he brought out a large basin of mutton.

Jiang Yuan sat mixed in the crowd, holding chopsticks, eager to try.

"You can eat the ribs first." Jiangfuzhen said happily, "We have a 32-jin castrated sheep today. I reckon the small ribs here should taste better."

Jiangfuzhen made two virtual strokes in the air, and when he pulled his elbows back, the small ribs were all in everyone's bowls and plates.

Jiang Yuan took a plate, sprinkled salt and pepper on it. The white-mixed-with-black salt grains, known as pepper-salt, were sprinkled on the mutton, and the fresh flavor seemed to be enhanced.

The mutton was tender but not soft, chewy but not tough. With the first bite, the fresh flavor rushed straight to the nasal cavity, and the satisfaction of the fat rushed straight to the brain.

"Uncle Jiang's mutton is still the best, not gamey at all. And fragrant." Someone evaluated in the midst of being busy.

The rest of the people were burying their heads and eating first.

Jiangfuzhen also just smiled in the kitchen, incidentally fussing over the remaining mutton.

He was old and couldn't eat more than two pieces of meat, especially mutton, which was greasy and rich. If he ate it for two days in a row, his stomach wouldn't be able to take it. But he still liked to cook it and liked to watch his son eat with the villagers. This was a dream he had had since he was a teenager, a sense of happiness that only dared to exist in his imagination.

Jiang Yuan was completely different. He was only 22 years old this year and was in a job that required heavy mental and physical labor, so he was at the age where he could eat. Regardless of whether it was beef, mutton, pork, or chicken, as long as it was cooked well, he wouldn't refuse. Even if it wasn't cooked well, he could eat until he was 70% full before putting down his chopsticks to comment.

Everyone chatted while eating, and the atmosphere was quite harmonious.

Speaking of familiarity, everyone present today was at least a relative or neighbor who had known each other for ten or twenty years. Perhaps because they were too familiar, the topic quickly turned to the recent fresh news—the forensic doctor Jiang Yuan.

"Jiang Yuan, you're a policeman now. How many cases have you solved?" Auntie Hua didn't eat much, but her interest in chatting was stronger.

Jiang Yuan laughed twice and said, "I'm a forensic doctor; I've only participated in a few cases."

"What cases?" Auntie Hua immediately followed up, incidentally getting up to scoop a bowl of soup.

Jiang Yuan said, "I can't talk about cases."

"The police have requirements." A young man next to him explained understandingly.

Jiang Yuan nodded in agreement and said, "Case content must be kept confidential."

"By the way, Yuanzi is a policeman now, do your uncle a favor." Thirteenth Uncle, who had buried his head and eaten several pieces of mutton, raised his head, drank two sips of soup, breathed comfortably, and said, "I lost an electric scooter. It's been lost for half a year. I reported it to the police, but they didn't find it back. Can you help me find it?"

Since the demolition, the people of Jiang Village had become rich, and many families had bought cars. However, given the road conditions and distances in the county town, many people preferred to ride electric scooters for daily travel. This included Jiang Yuan, who also rode an electric scooter to work.

And electric scooter theft cases... had always been high-incidence and had an extremely low clearance rate.

Jiang Yuan put down the mutton and said, "Thirteenth Uncle, the things police are responsible for are different. Electric scooter theft cases are generally under the jurisdiction of the police station."

"But they're all colleagues."

"I can help ask." Jiang Yuan pondered. If he asked his master Wu Jun for help, perhaps he could give the police station a heads-up. After all, forensic doctors had to be dispatched for any abnormal deaths within the jurisdiction, and Wu Jun knew quite a few people.

Thirteenth Uncle frowned and said, "Whether you ask or not doesn't matter; I just want my electric scooter back. It was a Yashitai, over five thousand yuan. I specifically chose a good one at the time, and it was lost not long after I started riding it. Your auntie has been complaining to death about me."

Jiang Yuan was helpless: "Just being a policeman doesn't mean you can help people find things. Electric scooter cases are relatively complex cases among theft cases."

"I reckon it was stolen by the scrap collector who often comes to our side. Why don't you help me check these people?" Thirteenth Uncle's eyebrows moved, and he said flexibly, "The property management side records names and such. I'll ask..."

Hearing that he wanted to check people, Jiang Yuan was already startled. Nowadays, checking people wasn't just a violation of discipline; it was directly illegal. He quickly stopped Thirteenth Uncle: "Don't... don't be in a hurry, I'll help you ask."

Not to mention whether he could find the electric scooter, helping to check people was a big taboo. Jiang Yuan, who was still a newcomer, didn't want the topic to advance to this level at all.

Jiang Yongxin, who ran a car wash downstairs, raised his hand while eating meat: "Count me in too. I've lost two."

"Does the one lost the year before last count? I also lost one the year before last." Auntie Hua looked like she wouldn't miss any excitement. ===== CHAPTER 34 =====