National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 277 - 277 257 A Fulfilling Day

277: Chapter 257 A Fulfilling Day 277: Chapter 257 A Fulfilling Day Click click click click.

Jiang Yuan held a brick in one hand and lightly scored it twice with the trowel, then turned to another side, picked up the trowel, and with two quick chops, cut off a small piece of the brick.

The seven-tenths of the brick he had cut fit perfectly into the cement-smeared wall, seamless and precise to the last millimeter.

Pleased with himself, Jiang Yuan twirled the trowel, inadvertently sending his two dogs scurrying back a few steps.

“Cowards.

Come here!” Uncle Qiang, who was squatting nearby helping to mix the cement, was the family’s dog trainer.

Seeing the two dogs run without even looking back, he immediately started cursing at them.

Er Gou hung his head and shuffled back step by step.

“It’s just a trowel, what are you afraid of!” Uncle Qiang grabbed the collars of the two dogs with one hand and waved the trowel in front of them with the other.

The dogs bowed their heads, looking as if they dared not even glance at it.

“In a while, I’ll give these two a bit of intensified training,” Uncle Qiang said, a bit of his face having been lost, quickly making an excuse.

Jiang Yuan laughed heartily and said, “It’s best if they can guard the house.

If they can’t cut it, we’ll just buy new dogs for that.

These two can then be purely pet dogs.”

“No, they’re just not trained well enough yet,” Uncle Qiang said, gesturing toward the trowel in Jiang Yuan’s hand, “That thing does look really intimidating.

Back in the day, there were plenty of people who used it for robbery and murder around the country.”

Jiang Yuan was familiar with the story Uncle Qiang mentioned.

The so-called trowel is a small tool with one flat head and one wedge-shaped head.

The metal part at the head is usually only the size of a fist, with the wedge side usable for chiseling and the flat side functioning as a hammer or mallet.

The trowel isn’t very big overall.

The metal head is the size of a fist, and the handle is not even as long as a forearm.

It’s easy to carry and conceal.

Having it in hand is just like holding a tool, so in the mid-90s, there were numerous cases of trowel-wielding robberies.

The method of robbery was extremely bold and wild, often with the criminal eyeing someone on the street, suspecting they had money, then quietly following them.

When they got behind them, the trowel would slide out from their sleeve, they’d swing it in a circle and then smash it into the back of the target’s head.

The volume of the trowel is small, but its attacking power is quite significant.

A trip to the museum would reveal that it’s basically identical in shape to the copper mallets from the Tang and Song Dynasty, or the six-petal copper hammers.

Since ordinary people don’t walk around with eight-petal six-ridge copper helmets or similar protection, a hit on the head usually results in immediate loss of combat power.

There were often severe injuries or deaths, resulting in widespread fear.

Jiang Yuan nonchalantly flipped the trowel in his hand, thinking that now with video surveillance, such a tool wouldn’t be as dangerous.

A back approach, a single attack, quick disengagement, and a weapon that’s easy to hide—if unlucky, the victim wouldn’t even have a clear idea of what the attacker looked like.

That’s why this type of crime acquired its own name, “Trowel Gang” or “Trowel Gangsters.”

Of course, the trowel was still handy for laying bricks.

Jiang Yuan used it to adjust two bricks, then switched to a cement knife to apply more cement.

Watching a flower bed rise from the balcony as if sprouting from the ground, Uncle Qiang found it slightly odd but also impressive, saying, “Your work is better than the old hands in our village.

If you were still in the village, every family that built a house would want you as their foreman.”

Jiang Yuan, who had stayed in the village too, chuckled, “To be a foreman, you have to manage cigarettes, and I don’t smoke, so it’d be wasted on me.”

“A pack every three days, even if you don’t smoke, just taking them is enough.

Today’s foremen are expensive, and they can bring a junior worker whose daily wage is 150.

It’s a shame you’re from Jiang Village, where these wall-building skills go unused, it’s a bit of a waste,” said Uncle Qiang, with genuine regret in his tone.

Jiang Yuan laughed and said, “Well, since we have time today, let’s lay some more bricks.”

“With the way you are, if you really want to lay more bricks, we could do it downstairs, make a big, sturdy wall,” said Jiang Fuzhen, coming over with a strainer.

“Make a big wall…

What for?”

“To create a wall for medals and awards.

When you receive more honors, I’ll hang them on that wall.

Just like when you were studying and our living room had that white wall.

It’s too small by the door; your ‘Second-Class Merit Home’ plaque has already been hung up there,” Jiang Fuzhen explained with growing pride.

“What kind of wall?”

“Any wall that’s convenient for people to see,” said Jiang Fuzhen, beaming, “We’ll build it on the empty space in front of our building so everyone in the complex can see it.”

“Wouldn’t that invite criticism?” asked Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Fuzhen snorted, “Criticize me for what?”

“For showing off?”

“I’m not doing it to show off.

Who posts on social media?

They allow others to brag on social media but disallow me to show off on my own awards wall?

Our ancestors even allowed future generations to hang plaques in ancestral halls.

We’re honoring our family legacy; what’s there to fear?”

“Afraid of people…

being jealous?”

“Our family received so much in demolition compensation; aren’t others already jealous?” Jiang Fuzhen laughed, “Those who like to feel jealous can just hold it in.”

Jiang Yuan felt this made sense but also didn’t, and with consideration, he suggested, “Then let’s build one at home.

If we put it outside, it’ll be exposed to wind and rain…

but we have walls at home too, so it’s not really needed…”

“You could build a cover for it, like a pavilion, with a roof or something.”

“What if there’s a storm?”

“Then add another layer of windows?”

“Wouldn’t that just be another room?” Jiang Yuan thought to himself, I can’t build houses, I’ve only just learned how to lay bricks.

Jiang Fuzhen slapped his forehead, “Never mind, I’ll find a room on the first floor of our complex and set it up there.”

Uncle Qiang reminded him from the side, “If you move all the plaques and awards there, wouldn’t it leave our house bare?

What would we show to visitors then?”

At once, Jiang Fuzhen’s enthusiasm fizzled out, his heart sinking into a rare anxiety and indecision.

Jiang Yuan reminded, “The meat must be ready.”

“Oh, I’ll go stir it,” said Jiang Fuzhen, hurrying back to his task.

So, Jiang Yuan went back to laying bricks for the flower bed, feeling far more at ease at home than when traveling for work.

He was actually involved in engineering projects outside, mainly pumping water out of mine shafts, digging and landfilling mine garbage, and eventually excavating collapsed mine entrances.

The stress involved in this kind of work is quite high, especially when you’re always thinking about gaining something from it, your mood becomes different.

It’s so much more relaxing to be at home, just building flower beds.

Jiang Yuan can even do without planting winter melons and just keep the flower beds as they are.

If he gets really bored, he can put a table in there and work exclusively on official documents, and after he’s finished, burn them as offerings to his ancestors.

Some of the older generation like to study, so they could read more official documents under the spring, and later on take the exam to become a better-qualified civil servant in the underworld, and in doing so, take care of the younger generation too.

It’s quite a reasonable thing to do.

When tired of building walls, Jiang Yuan would swipe through his phone.

In the ten-plus groups he had joined, there was lively discussion about the Zifeng Mountain case.

In those groups that didn’t include Liu Jinghui, people talked about him and the case simultaneously.

But in the groups with Liu Jinghui in them, the conversation was mainly about the case.

Jiang Yuan casually opened a group chat to find someone sharing their experience:

Everyday Lethargy: [I remember one time while on duty, I encountered someone who had fallen into a latrine.

It was quite deep, reaching up to an adult’s chest.

Standing up, only their head would show, and they couldn’t climb out by themselves.

The scene at the time…]

Became Famous in One Battle: [Did they die?]

Everyday Lethargy: [No, the person didn’t die, but I guess they died socially.

The guy was a scholar from the village who’d gone out to study.

He came back during the New Year with his kid to visit relatives and ended up like that.

When we pulled him out, his belt was still Gucci.]

Li Rui: [A return to the hometown in honor but ended up in cold manure water?]

Jiang Yuan had some impression of the last speaker, Li Rui, the forensic doctor.

When they were at Zifeng Mountain, this person was an active chatter.

The group he was currently in might have been one that Li Rui had pulled him into.

Everyday Lethargy: [No joke, the water in the latrine is really corrosive and not good for the skin.

I wouldn’t recommend soaking in it.

It’s very dangerous in hot weather, lots of toxic substances, and pretty uncomfortable in cold weather too, can easily lead to frostbite.]

Li Rui: [I understand the part about hot weather, but the cold weather should be the most comfortable scenario, right?]

Everyday Lethargy: [Please elucidate on how a latrine in cold weather could be comfortable!]

As Jiang Yuan was enjoying the banter, he saw another familiar person join the conversation:

Medical Examiner Wang Lan: [Speaking of a true story, I once came across someone who fell into a latrine in winter.

The night temperature was just below zero degrees, so there were slight signs of frosting.

When they fell in, the ice slashed their skin, causing extensive ulcerations, and hypothermia happens quite quickly in winter, so that’s how I came into the picture…]

Everyday Lethargy: [From what you’re saying, to only be a withered flower or damaged willow is quite lucky indeed.]

Li Rui: [Three people’s worth of material definitely doesn’t drown anyone.]

Medical Examiner Wang Lan: [All thanks to Jiang Yuan, if not for him, the withered willow would have had to stay in the hole at least another week.]

Everyday Lethargy: [Shocked.gif, another week, and I’m afraid they’d be unable to even pee.]

Li Rui: [I’ve seen the fingerprints Jiang Yuan did, and they were really strong.

I haven’t had the chance to see anything else though.]

Medical Examiner Wang Lan: [His crime scene investigations are so detailed it’s like they’ve been licked clean by a dog.]

Everyday Lethargy: [Detailed…

like a dog?]

Jiang Yuan was a bit unable to continue reading at this point.

To say Medical Examiner Wang Lan was a serious person when they met normally, but now his choice of words was too careless.

Of course, the one who was least careful was this “Everyday Lethargy.” Jiang Yuan clicked on his profile picture but did not recognize the person.

Jiang Yuan decided to check out other groups for a while before returning to the home page, only to see that this “Qinghe Skill Sharing Group” had actually tagged him.

Everyday Lethargy: [@Hydraulic Engineer, is that Jiang Yuan?

I have a fingerprint here; can you take a look and see if you can match it?]

Li Rui: [I can do fingerprints too…]

Everyday Lethargy: [Then try doing it.

If you succeed, I’ll commend your work.]

Jiang Yuan shook his head as he saw this but, honestly, stood up and went to the bathroom to wash his hands.

He then returned to the room and turned on his computer.

Jiang Yuan copied down the fingerprint and enlarged it on the screen, starting to study it closely.

It was indeed a difficult partial fingerprint.

After looking at it for a while, Jiang Yuan tried to mark it twice, both attempts ending in failure.

Thus, two hours had already passed.

Jiang Yuan was not in a hurry.

After a few more attempts, he made a successful match before dinner time.

Compared to the simple task of matching a full fingerprint, it took a lot of time, but for a partial fingerprint, just being able to make a match was quite significant.

This kind of thing naturally couldn’t wait.

Jiang Yuan took out his phone and reopened the “Qinghe Skill Sharing Group,”

Hydraulic Engineer: [@Everyday Lethargy, this is Jiang Yuan.

The fingerprint matched.

How would you like me to send it to you?]

Everyday Lethargy, who had just been chatting in the group, suddenly disappeared.

After a while, Everyday Lethargy finally spoke: [You’re not joking?

This case involves a murder!]

As soon as these words appeared, the group went silent.

Jiang Yuan arched his eyebrows but didn’t hesitate to type: [Indeed, it matched.

The suspect is a habitual offender.

How should I send the details to you?]

Everyday Lethargy: [Hold on, I sent you a friend request and am already kneeling.

Once you accept, you can send it over.]