Chapter 156 A New Case

Chapter 156 A New Case

Before they knew it, July rolled around, putting them at the year's halfway mark.

After the conclusion of the Liang family case, the Major Case Division finally caught a few days' breather. Everyone spent their days reviewing case files and drafting reports, staying productive.

For Shen Qingye, the biggest event during this period was probably Gao Ruiyang joining the team as an intern.

The Forensic Team had been given advance notice. Their leader, Qin Yilang, was notorious for being nitpicky and exacting. On the surface, he seemed agreeable and easygoing, but in reality, he was extremely strict—holding Gao Ruiyang to even higher standards than his own team members.

On Gao Ruiyang’s first day, the Forensic Team was examining a body that had just been retrieved from the bottom of a river.

The corpse had been submerged for a long time and was already unrecognizable, its interior filled with gases. To both the eyes and nose, it was pure torture.

The first time Gao Ruiyang saw the body, his face turned pale, and he lost his breakfast. Qin Yilang, putting on a friendly smile at the time, appeared understanding and told him to go back, rest, and start by learning from written materials—formal autopsies could wait.

But when Gao Ruiyang met Qin Yilang’s seemingly gentle yet cold gaze, he dug in his heels. He insisted on staying and following through with the examination.

That morning, he kept throwing up, nearly bringing up bile by the end. By lunchtime, he couldn't stomach a bite, and by the time work ended, his face was ghostly pale.

Seeing this, Shen Qingye couldn’t help feeling bad for him and advised him not to push himself too hard, suggesting he take things step by step. But Gao Ruiyang snorted and declared:

"No way. That guy clearly looks down on me. If I back down now, wouldn’t I just be playing into his hands?"

Shen Qingye sighed. "Captain Qin has always been strict—that’s no secret in the team. He knows about your background, and he probably does want to test you, but it’s not like he’s deliberately trying to make things hard for you."

"I know," Gao Ruiyang said, rummaging through her drawer and pulling out a pack of dried plums. The sweet and sour taste helped settle his stomach. "He’s got a sharp tongue and isn’t exactly Mr. Congeniality, but he really does teach when he’s guiding someone."

Gao Ruiyang scowled and grudgingly admitted, "After just one day with him, I’ve learned more than I ever could from books or videos. I’d say I’ve gained a lot."

"Captain Qin is indeed serious about his work," Shen Qingye said. "He has high expectations for you, but he also knows his limits. After all, no one starts off completely unfazed by corpses—there’s always a learning curve."

"You don’t have to push yourself so hard. Take it slow."

Gao Ruiyang shook his head. "Don’t worry, sis. I know what I’m doing. Today was rough, but over time, I’ll get used to it. Eventually, it’ll be no big deal."

"I got this gig through connections, so I have to work even harder to avoid embarrassing my dad."

"Besides, facing this kind of corpse from the get-go isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Among all the cases, ones like this are actually rare. If I can handle this, I’ll be even more prepared for anything else that comes my way."

Shen Qingye knew the stubbornness hidden beneath his carefree demeanor. Seeing that, despite his pallor, his spirits were still high, she didn’t press further. She just patted his shoulder—some things didn’t need to be said aloud.

·

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye. During this time, Gao Ruiyang gradually adapted to the daily routine of his internship. He even went from resenting Qin Yilang to becoming his shadow, calling him "Brother Qin" nonstop—driving Qin Yilang up the wall, who felt less like he'd taken on a trainee and more like he'd gained a dependent.

Gao Ruiyang was quick on the uptake. While mastering basic forensic knowledge during this period, he also figured out Qin Yilang’s personality.

Despite Qin Yilang’s constant exasperation with him, he hardly ever turned Gao Ruiyang down. Even now, when going out on field assignments, he made sure to bring him along.

Shen Qingye looked on in amazement.

The Major Case Division hadn’t exactly been twiddling their thumbs during these two weeks either. Captain Yang had taken on a new case, and Shen Qingye had originally planned to observe and learn from it. But before long, a homicide occurred in a village under the city’s jurisdiction, and the case was assigned to their team.

After half a month of downtime, the entire team jumped at the chance for the investigation.

Upon arrival, they gathered basic details about the case from the local police station.

The victim was a seventy-year-old man, and the cause of death was excessive blood loss from a stab wound to the chest—clearly a homicide.

Everyone started looking for leads, and fortunately, the victim’s cane at the scene had seen the whole thing.

Based on its account, Shen Qingye traced things backward from the outcome and eventually found several clues the killer had missed in the room, successfully identifying the suspect.

The police immediately apprehended the suspect, and after repeated interrogations, the killer cracked under pressure in under two hours, confessing to the crime.

It turned out that although the elderly man lived alone in the village, his kids had made something of themselves and worked in the city. They’d tried to move him to the city for an easier life, but he couldn’t adapt to urban living and insisted on staying in his hometown, passing the time shooting the breeze with his buddies.

Though his children reluctantly agreed, they remained concerned, dropping by every couple of weeks, loading him up with vitamins and spending money to ensure he lived comfortably.

Two days before the incident, the old man’s son had just visited, bringing gifts as usual.

The whole village noticed this, especially the killer, who lived next door. Knowing the old man’s children were well-off and often gave him substantial sums of money, the killer started getting greedy.

That night, in the dead of night, he sneaked into the old man’s house intending to steal. However, since he slept lightly, the slightest noise woke him up.

Upon seeing the familiar face of his neighbor and the drawers turned inside out, the old man froze in shock, realizing what was happening.

Fearing the man might cry out and draw attention, the killer stepped forward to cover his mouth. But the old man, having worked hard all his life in the fields, remained physically strong despite his age and wasn’t about to go down without a fight.

In the tussle that followed, the killer, afraid the old man wouldn’t let him go, grabbed a fruit knife from a nearby table and stabbed him.

Just like that, tragedy hit.

After the interrogation, the team was feeling down. A life had been lost, and no matter how smoothly the case had progressed, hearing the old man’s family sob tore at them.

Who could have imagined that after a lifetime of living, he would meet such an end?

Sometimes, the worst harm comes from the people you know.

·

Following this case, Shen Qingye’s rep shot up again.

From picking up the case to closing it, the entire process took only five hours—including two hours of round-trip travel.

In other words, they cracked the murder case in just three hours.

The key contributor was undoubtedly Shen Qingye.

She might not have realized it herself, but she had already gained a certain authority and leadership within the team. Beyond Luo Kaiyang and Wei Zhengyi, even the old-timers like Zhou Qiming and Jiang Cheng had started falling in line without realizing it.

Yue Lingchuan, naturally, was pleased to see this.

He had watched Shen Qingye grow step by step and knew better than anyone how exceptional she was.

Her achievements made him proud.

……

Before they knew it, July passed, and August arrived.

Shen Qingye had just finished reviewing an old case file and was chatting with Fang Yun in the administrative office, talking about how fast tech was moving—especially with the first successful artificial breeding of a giant panda. Just then, hurried footsteps echoed outside the door. Shen Qingye sensed it immediately and turned to see Yue Lingchuan standing at the doorway, his expression grave.

“There’s a case,” he said curtly.

She was on her feet and right behind him.

Only Fang Yun remained in the office, looking on in amazement.

...

The crime scene was in Xingfu Community, close to the office, less than a ten-minute drive away.

The specifics were still unclear to everyone. They just ducked under the police tape downstairs and headed straight for the fourth floor.

Upon reaching the target floor, Shen Qingye quickly scanned the area, confirmed the door number, and was just moving toward it when a white figure suddenly rushed out from inside the door. Leaning against the hallway wall, the figure was heaving violently.

It was Gao Ruiyang.

Shen Qingye's expression shifted slightly.

Over the past month of training, Gao Ruiyang had come a long way—no longer showing any initial fear toward corpses, staying completely cool. He had previously accompanied Captain Qin on two cases and held his own at the crime scenes.

...For him to react so strongly this time, what exactly was the situation inside?

Shen Qingye and Yue Lingchuan exchanged a glance, both getting a bad feeling.