National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 1155 - 1086: A Big Bowl of Wide Noodles

Breakfast: meat buns with beef soup, potstickers dipped in vinegar, pancakes smeared with chili sauce—a carb-loaded feast, immensely satisfying.

The detectives, who are usually capable of wolfing down three bowls of rice a meal, were all rushing towards double-digit portions of buns and potstickers, turning their private dining room into the scene of a bustling small restaurant.

Jiang Yuan was also enjoying himself thoroughly. Eating piles of carbs after pulling an all-nighter is unbelievably unhealthy. But it’s unbelievably gratifying.

Step outside, get in the car, head back to the hotel—a bunch of people collapsing into sleep, completely ignoring the world.

Even though Jiang Yuan had Level 2 endurance for staying up, he was still exhausted. If it hadn’t been for the fact they were out of town and their targets happened to be corporate bosses, he wouldn’t have had to push himself this hard.

The arrests made, everything naturally became easier.

By the time Jiang Yuan woke up, it was still dark outside. Picking up his phone, he found that Dai Mingsheng had already set up a group chat. The group was buzzing with messages and images.

Jiang Yuan scrolled through quickly—most of it was information related to the suspects.

Seeing replies from Liu Jinghui and Huang Qiangmin in the group, Jiang Yuan didn’t bother looking too closely.

For crimes like these, sentences typically range from a few years. If repeat offenses and particularly egregious circumstances are involved, they could get up to 10 years. With some victim forgiveness letters in hand, along with factors like aiding authorities, whistleblowing on a few shady acquaintances, a sentence of 3 years isn’t too far-fetched.

Of course, what really cripples these pillars of society is having their "pillar" legs broken. If unlucky, their entire company might fall apart. With better luck, family or loyal staff might prop the company up, but it wouldn’t quite reach the former glory—look at Huang Guangyu, who struggled his way out of the kiln but lost much of his former shine.

Jiang Yuan wasn’t particularly interested in these matters. Being from Jiang Village, and choosing to work as a forensic doctor, he preferred his certainties when it came to human beings.

If it’s a death penalty case, then accept it; if not, there’ll be time to talk later.

Scrolling through the group chat, Jiang Yuan noticed a dinner invitation initiated by Dai Mingsheng.

The restaurant was conveniently located downstairs in the hotel, and the timing worked perfectly. Jiang Yuan threw on some casual clothes and headed downstairs.

Walking into the restaurant, the manager immediately led Jiang Yuan into a private dining room.

Jiang Yuan thought for a moment that he’d walked into the wrong place.

The room was filled with a mix of elegant women, some of whom bore unmistakably familiar celebrity faces.

"Captain Jiang! Captain Jiang is here. We were just talking about you." A man near the door noticed Jiang Yuan’s uncertainty and hastened to welcome him—it was Dong Xifeng, deputy general manager of the film and television city.

"Mr. Dong." Jiang Yuan nodded politely and then looked more closely. Sure enough, there were still a few men in the room, though some—including Dai Mingsheng—were tucked away in the shadows.

"Captain Jiang, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Yue Hongxu, our film and television city’s chairman!" Dong Xifeng pulled Jiang Yuan into the adjacent tea room and began introducing the people present one by one.

Dai Mingsheng also stood up, grinning, and approached Jiang Yuan, saying softly, "Everyone’s pretty shaken up and just wanted to meet you, scope things out, and calm their nerves—it’s nothing more than that."

"If they’re not involved, then there’s no problem," Jiang Yuan replied matter-of-factly.

Dai Mingsheng chuckled, "Before getting caught, everyone’s a law-abiding citizen."

After a brief exchange, Yue Hongxu also came over, smiling warmly to shake hands.

Yue Hongxu was a middle-aged man around 40, yet he looked younger. His round face and slightly chubby frame gave him the air of a good-natured homebody, but his sharp eyes exuded a charismatic vitality, easily winning people’s favor.

"Captain Jiang, thank you for safeguarding the safety of our film and television city. This afternoon, during our meeting, I told my colleagues that with officers like you around, our cast and crew, especially the actors and actresses, all feel very secure." Yue Hongxu’s voice was gentle but carried a strong sense of sincerity—words that sounded more genuine coming from him.

Jiang Yuan saw this and shook his hand lightly, saying, "With the support of the film and television city, it’s a lot easier for us to do our work."

Yue Hongxu immediately added, "Absolutely, I emphasized that today. Going forward, we’ll be using themes like ’Safe Lanyue’ to promote our Lanyue City Film and Television City. If Captain Jiang has free time..."

"If there’s a death, you can call me. For regular cases, let’s skip it," Jiang Yuan responded with blunt sincerity.

"A death..." Yue Hongxu faltered, unsure how to respond. To him, discussing billions of investments over dinner was routine, but death? That was rare and unfamiliar territory.

"Is your specialty solving homicides? That’s so cool!" A big-eyed young woman took advantage of her well-trained gaze, clinging directly onto Jiang Yuan’s arm.

Jiang Yuan gently brushed her hand off, saying, "My specialty is dissecting corpses—I’m a forensic doctor."

"Oh, I know what a forensic doctor does! I love forensic dramas!" The young woman refused to give up and latched onto Jiang Yuan’s arm again, asking, "Is it the kind where you gut people?"

"Dissection naturally involves gutting people." When it came to professional topics, Jiang Yuan’s interest picked up a little.

"What does a heart look like once it’s removed? Something like this?" The woman gestured with her hands to form a heart shape.

"Kind of. The heart is essentially two overlapping heart shapes joined together by a strip of cardiac muscle—like a wide noodle wrapped into shape..." Jiang Yuan grew more animated as he explained, and the room gradually quieted down.

Dong Xifeng suddenly broke into loud laughter, "Captain Jiang is truly something. But tonight, let’s not talk about wide noodles."

"You’re absolutely right."

"I don’t think I’ll be eating wide noodles at all this year," another chimed in.

"Can I order a bowl of wide noodles? I want to give it a try," the young woman next to him clung to Jiang Yuan again.

Yue Hongxu and a few others quietly nodded; indeed, talented actresses never shy away from performance opportunities.

Fuelled by their enthusiasm, Yue Hongxu laughed warmly and said, "We should film a show like that—opening with a wide noodle forming into a heart shape."

A nearby director immediately joined in, "The protagonist could be a noodle shop owner, mediocre at his craft but secretly a master forensic expert, adept at recreating crime scenes. Whenever the city faces an unsolvable murder, the police chief visits the noodle shop and orders a bowl of wide noodles..."

"That actually sounds pretty good. Dai Zhi, what’s your take?" Yue Hongxu grinned at Dai Mingsheng.

"Surprisingly realistic." Dai Mingsheng chuckled, "Only problem is, a bowl of wide noodles wouldn’t be enough to invite a top criminal investigator. Like us, we couldn’t even convince Captain Jiang to stay in Lanyue City longer."

"Ah... that’s..." Yue Hongxu thought of saying something supportive but suddenly held back.

"Actually, we should be staying a few more days in Lanyue City," Jiang Yuan replied casually to Dai Mingsheng. ƒrēenovelkiss.com

"That’s great!" Dai Mingsheng’s initial excitement quickly turned into apprehension, "What’s Captain Jiang working on?"

"You can check with Commissioner Huang later." Jiang Yuan, of course, wasn’t about to reveal in front of everyone how much evidence or how many suspects they’d caught in the past few days.

The more arrests made and evidence secured, the harsher the sentences, prompting detained suspects to cooperate and confess.

Though many such "achievements" are practically freebies, delving deeper into seemingly incomplete clues often leads to unexpected discoveries.

Yue Hongxu and the others were largely ignorant of criminal investigation matters, but they were nevertheless awed—even if they didn’t understand the particulars, most realized the chilling truth: Someone might indeed lose their life, all because of tonight’s dinner!