Chapter 402

Noon.

The sun blazed fiercely, golden light showcasing its full power.

In three bowls the size of osmanthus flowers, pork intestines, pig stomach, and chicken stewed together steamed hot, glistening with oil—a supremely unhealthy yet supremely delicious dish, packed with ultra-high fat, ultra-high protein, and ultra-high purine.

"Come on, everyone, dig in! The last time we ate this pork intestines and pig stomach stew was during the scavenger case. Looking back now, it feels like ages ago..." Hou Lejia sighed deeply.

To him, Ningtai County had changed too much. His old rival Huang Qiang had been promoted to deputy director—nothing surprising really; many city criminal investigation team leaders had been upgraded to deputy directors, just a title change, the work remained the same. Besides, there was Jiang Yuan's cold case task force, and the arrival of Director Chai and others...

In the past, a couple of uneventful months had felt ordinary, but because of Ningtai County, Hou Lejia felt time had sped up.

In the past, Hou Lejia was the most frugal man—he would never treat people to a lavish meal like pork intestines and pig stomach stew on the spot. He'd always start with a simple meal, save where he could, then treat himself later, skip a meal to save more, and over time, he could easily save the cost of three meals.

This time, it was different. The municipal bureau was launching the "Cold Case Breakthrough Year," and in Hou Lejia's understanding, it meant every county bureau had to go to Huang Qiang or Jiang Yuan to cross-check cases.

Otherwise, requiring every county and district to solve even one cold homicide case was too high a demand!

In Hou Lejia's view, the only viable way was to get Jiang Yuan involved. Jiang Yuan and his cold case task force solved twenty to thirty cold homicide cases a year; even a small allocation of their time and energy could fulfill the entire Qinghe City's quota.

Without thinking, the Qinghe City Bureau leadership must have thought the same—only they made the assignment seem especially democratic.

If you had ability or luck, solve a cold homicide case yourself. If you lacked both, go beg Huang Qiang and Jiang Yuan.

Once Hou Lejia understood it this way, he acted accordingly—smoothly, calmly.

His Longli County had always ranked at the bottom in criminal investigations, but being last was one thing; being the absolute bottom was another.

Cold homicide cases were binary: solved was 1, unsolved was 0. The worst fear was that everyone else went to Jiang Yuan, leaving Longli County with nothing—Hou Lejia seriously doubted that if everyone started panicking by the second half of the year, Huang Qiang would really push him to the very end.

"Team Leader Jiang, I toast you." Hou Lejia raised his cup, his tone nearly reverent.

Jiang Yuan drank along—he was off-duty today, it was the weekend. Though half of Jiang Yuan's cold case task force had come.

More officers from the Longli County Criminal Investigation Brigade arrived, each eager, ready to make a big push.

Hou Lejia had already made it clear: no matter who commanded or ordered, as long as the signal didn't stop, the charge wouldn't cease...

The officers were genuinely motivated. Solving cases was most demoralizing when progress stalled, but continuous victories—even without material rewards—were enough to sustain morale through long hardships.

Jiang Yuan's cold case task force had already earned enough reputation to serve as the officers' mobilization fee.

"Team Leader Jiang, I'll go around and toast you first." Cui Xiaohu waited until the senior officers had raised their cups, then began circulating for drinks.

"Good." Jiang Yuan drank without hesitation.

His mindset was unusually relaxed. On one hand, his work in Miaohé County had been overly intense. Not to mention Case 503 was a Ministry-supervised major case, even finding Guihua was a race against time—he feared delay might cost Guihua her life.

But coming to Longli County to handle cold cases, Jiang Yuan's tension eased.

After all, these were cold cases—especially before formal investigation began. Cases that had been dormant for three, five, or even one or two years didn't demand immediate results within days.

On the other hand, Jiang Yuan was waiting for equipment to arrive.

The skull reconstruction technique required a CT scanner most of all; without one, an X-ray machine could still be used, but a CT scanner was best.

The original technique's greatest need is a CT machine; without one, an X-ray machine can still be used, but a CT machine is best.

Currently, a domestic CT scanner cost just under six digits, and with installation and maintenance, its price was comparable to a Passat—same difference between high and low configurations. This part fell squarely on Director Hou of Longli County.

Of course, this required Longli County to have corpses suitable for skull reconstruction.

The most promising case was Longli County's unidentified corpse case. After reviewing it, if suitable, he could ask Director Huang to chat with Director Hou. He hoped Director Hou wouldn't be too upset by then.

The pork intestines and pig stomach stew remained delicious.

The broth, heavily spiced with pepper, was hot, spicy, salty, and fragrant; the meat was tender yet chewy. A sip of liquor warmed the whole body, as if the body had just been pulled from an ice coffin—steam seemed to rise from it.

·······

When a decaying corpse was pulled from the ice coffin, it didn't just release white vapor—it also emitted a rising stench.

The volatility wasn't strong, but the odor was intensely concentrated, like taking a piece of rotten meat straight from the fridge: you held it, barely smelled anything, but when you leaned close and inhaled sharply, the concentrated stench instantly made you regret it.

"Unidentified Corpse 122. Found on January 22 last year, just over a year ago. Time of death likely another two months earlier." Longli County's forensic expert, Old Ye, pulled the corpse from the ice coffin and checked the label to confirm accuracy.

He knew he was careless and prone to mistakes, so he forced himself to pay attention to certain details—though the effect was mediocre.

Jiang Yuan, wearing a disposable full-body suit, a 3M mask, and double rubber gloves, directed Wang Zhong to push the corpse into the autopsy room and place it on the table.

Wang Zhong, as a trace evidence technician, always had endless work, yet Jiang Yuan still brought him along. On one hand, using a trace evidence technician as an assistant for skull reconstruction improved efficiency by 0.1; on the other, Wang Zhong's skill level was too low—his LV0.9 wouldn't improve if he didn't act while young, and in old age he'd become another Old Yan.

Old Yan was near retirement, still a high-level LV1 trace evidence technician, with no room for growth and no motivation to improve. With Ningtai County's workload light, serving as a tool was fitting enough.

With Wang Zhong's help, Old Ye quickly verified the corpse and said: "The body was found in a river bend south of Lishou River. At the time, it was in a reed bed; the river had frozen over. Some young people went in to play and discovered the corpse face-up, half-frozen on the ice surface."

"Half-frozen?" Jiang Yuan asked.

"The water in the reed bed wasn't deep. During daytime noon, it thawed slightly; at night, it froze again. So the decomposition levels differed between the upper and lower parts of the body. Provincial Bureau experts who came to inspect also found it unusual and planned to use it as a case study." Old Ye continued: "The body likely drifted down from upstream and got stuck in the reeds. By the time it reached me, it was already 70% decomposed—much of the flesh had rotted into the bag, the face was unrecognizable, fingerprints couldn't be retrieved..."

, by the time it reached me, it was already seventy percent decomposed; much of the flesh had rotted into the bag, the face was unrecognizable, and no fingerprints could be retrieved...."

Old Ye recalled, shaking his head, and showed Jiang Yuan and Wang Zhong the decayed parts.

Both remained expressionless. The corpse was in terrible condition—eyeballs swollen and bulging, the face no longer human. Such a corpse, carefully preserved yet still decaying, was rare outside forensic circles, distinct from the more common rural corpses that decayed continuously from start to finish.

Jiang Yuan reached out, gently turned the corpse's head, and carefully assessed the condition of the skull.

This corpse had already been autopsied by Old Ye; the perishable organs had been removed and preserved as wax specimens. Now, attempting a secondary autopsy to extract new clues from muscles and tissues was extremely difficult.

"No personal clothing was found, correct?" Jiang Yuan confirmed. Some details weren't clearly documented but could still yield results if directly asked.

Old Ye shook his head. "When found, there was almost no clothing left. The most intact item was the socks on the feet—faded. Photos are in the report—you should've seen them."

"Still, it's a clue," Jiang Yuan sighed, recalling the report. "Female suffocated, dumped into the river—likely a person known to her. Alright, boil it."

Jiang Yuan made his decision.

When the corpse was found, the face was already rotted away. Without fingerprints or DNA matches, the only way to identify the victim was through forensic anthropology.

Old Ye wasn't surprised. He turned and called Wang Zhong to retrieve a large steel pot from the cabinet, place it on the stove, then take out an electric pressure cooker, add water, plug it in, and bring out two clay pots to place on the induction cooker.

Wang Zhong stared at the clay pots—they looked familiar. He turned around and saw clearly written in red letters: Pork Intestines and Pig Stomach Stew.

Wang Zhong silently added water to the clay pots, then turned them around so the words faced the back.