Chapter 447: The Final Day

"Director Huang, Director Liu, Captain Jiang, let's not rush. We've just arrived in Shiting County and haven't even rested—how can we skip a meal? Let's eat first, and have a drink together." The director, lacking the thick skin and blunt mouth of Bai Liu Jian, quickly eased the tension.

The deputy director promptly chimed in: "The venue's already booked, and the time is perfect…"

"Zhengyang Restaurant in Shiting County is very famous. Historically, this area was home to prominent clans, and the Shi family has lived here for centuries. Zhengyang Restaurant itself has been operating for over a hundred years…" The director introduced Zhengyang Restaurant, effectively changing the dining location.

The original venue had suddenly felt inappropriate to him. As he said, Zhengyang Restaurant in Shiting County was indeed famous—a place people traveled specifically to visit. Normally, the bureau wouldn't host banquets there: it was inconvenient, expensive, and risked running into other officials, contradicting the current policy of cutting three public expenses.

But after this unexpected morning, the director felt the originally chosen restaurant was unsuitable. To show Shiting County Bureau's hospitality, there was only one option: Zhengyang Restaurant.

The deputy director understood instantly and immediately called to change the reservation.

Jiang Yuan and Liu Liu Jinghui and the others offered mild protest, then readily agreed.

The director hurriedly ushered everyone out the door and downstairs, including all members of Jiang Yuan's cold case team, all swept away together.

Senior Captain Bai hesitated a few seconds, then said: "I'll stay behind to reorganize the task force and conduct a sweep in Ma Family Village…"

"Fine." The director agreed immediately, thinking the stubborn man had finally grown a brain.

The group left Senior Captain Bai behind and headed en masse for Zhengyang Restaurant.

On the way, the director personally called to request that Zhengyang Restaurant's head chef personally handle the cooking.

As everyone knew, a chef's skill, like a forensic examiner's, was critically important. Zhengyang Restaurant's head chef had been renowned for years; though he'd never left Shiting County, within its small domain, he still held extraordinary influence.

Zhengyang Restaurant's most famous and longest-traditioned dish was stone frog.

What the Shi family ate and used a hundred years ago was now lost to history, but after Zhengyang Restaurant returned to Shi family ownership, its most renowned dish became the preparation of stone frog.

Stone frog is called a mountain delicacy, slightly different from common frogs. Because its body is covered in fleshy spines, it's said to hunt and eat snakes.

To modern palates, because it must live in clear, clean water and frequently dies under captivity, its flesh has become exceptionally pure and expensive.

As for preparation, it's surprisingly simple—whether stir-fried, stewed in soup, or most popularly, spicy and numbing—it's delicious every way.

Jiang Yuan ate happily. Stone frog, as Shiting County's specialty, could be bought in Ningtai too, but truthfully, the head chef's handmade version was like a high-level forensic examiner: unheralded, balanced in flavor—neither overpowering the spice and numbing nor diminishing its tender freshness.

After a satisfying meal, Jiang Yuan disliked the leaders' business drinking sessions. Seizing the mood, he told Mu Mu Zhiyang: "Go get the PAD and laptop from the car—I'll pick a few cases to work on now."

In the past, he'd been more restrained. After all, LV3 skills were already excessive; finding the right breakthrough could easily solve most cases. Jiang Yuan had turned to cold cases precisely because, had he focused only on current cases, Ningtai County had already proven its criminals couldn't sustain such overkill.

But now, Jiang Yuan was still accumulating "genuine admiration" from colleagues, so he should widen the scale a bit.

After all, the opinions of Shiting County Bureau's senior inspectors were minor; acquiring skills was the priority.

Mu Mu Zhiyang had nothing to say—he hurried off to fetch Jiang Yuan's PAD and laptop.

Jiang Yuan, full and satisfied, immediately opened his files on the spot.

The senior officials felt slightly uneasy; their drinking motions slowed.

Jiang Yuan checked his system interface—Task Progress: 335/X.

It has to be said that the police officers in Shiting County are truly difficult to motivate, and the leaders are no exception.

"Give me a coffee," Jiang Yuan told the server, put on his headphones, and began reading his screen alone.

Huang Huang Qiangmin's ability to withstand awkwardness surged—he laughed loudly and stood up: "Let's drink our drinks. Jiang Yuan's a tech guy; sometimes his thinking's different from ours, but he means no harm. Let's just go with the flow, okay?"

"Absolutely."

"It's precisely because he has ideas that he solves cases."

"We fully understand, and we should understand."

The leaders' inner thoughts were one thing; their words were always perfectly polished.

Huang Huang Qiangmin raised his glass again, and soon the table's atmosphere revived.

Jiang Yuan knew exactly what was happening—he just didn't care.

With more skills acquired, his case-solving efficiency and ability had improved, and as a technician, his interest in interpersonal interactions had diminished.

On another level, he was simply being more unrestrained.

In many people's minds, technicians or highly educated individuals carry a sense of social isolation—aloof, low-emotional-intelligence. In truth, this is simply arrogance naturally displayed in a high-security environment.

The unrestrained, low-emotional-intelligence expression of "I know how to do it, but I'm too lazy to cater to you" is precisely the arrogance of the highly educated.

In an unsafe environment—say, during turbulent times or with poor economic conditions—even if unwilling, one would still smile when needed, sell one's dignity when needed.

But with choice, technicians like Jiang Yuan preferred to release their emotions freely.

The freedom to do as one pleases—to examine corpses when one wishes, to ignore people when one wishes—is a higher form of enjoyment.

Jiang Yuan opened his laptop and began taking notes again.

This time, he chose a particularly unusual case.

A landslide near Mitan Village in the area exposed a Qing Dynasty tomb, but during subsequent excavation, two bodies were found—one with fresh bone structure, clearly not belonging to the original burial…

To be fair, among all body-disposal cases, burying a corpse in an existing tomb is a relatively clever method—it reduces many complications. For instance, it cuts down on the time and effort needed to dig a grave, further minimizing trace evidence.

Also, tombs are rarely dug up again, reducing the chance of discovery.

But the drawbacks are obvious.

First, the number of people who know about the tomb is limited, which restricts the suspect pool. Just this one point, when cross-referencing, becomes a death sentence.

Yet Shiting County Bureau clearly failed to leverage this. After the bodies were discovered, they hit a wall in identifying the victims.

While most buried-body cold cases face similar issues, Jiang Yuan believed Shiting County Bureau's forensic team was still far from being "at a loss."

"I found it," Jiang Yuan said to Huang Huang Qiangmin after he was free, handing him the PAD.

Huang Huang Qiangmin immediately saw the photo, quickly took a sip of wine to calm himself, and sighed: "I'll tell them next time, just send the name—no need to send photos."

"Fine," Jiang Yuan replied, poured himself another glass of wine, and drank alone, feeling utterly at ease.

The Shiting County Bureau officials had begun to understand Jiang Yuan's temperament and no longer bothered trying to cold-shoulder him—he was too hot to handle. They pretended not to notice, whispering quietly with Huang Huang Qiangmin.

Huang Huang Qiangmin's price was high, but compared to Jiang Yuan's ability, it was worth every penny.

Some drank, some ate frog, some studied corpses, some negotiated prices—each got what they wanted, each found their pleasure. Another peaceful, pleasant day.

For some, perhaps, the last peaceful day.