“What’s up with Li Meng these days? He seems out of it.”

On the rooftop, Xiao Ze stood next to Wang Yue, holding an unlit cigarette between his fingers. Remembering that Wang Yue and Li Meng were pretty close, he took the chance to ask about Li Meng’s recent situation while pretending to smoke.

“You noticed too, Captain. Something did happen at Li Meng’s home. His dad was diagnosed with stomach cancer, and it’s already in the middle to late stages. I heard him calling the hospital a few days ago, and he just got admitted yesterday for surgery.”

As Xiao Ze listened, he lit his cigarette with a lighter and took a deep drag. “I remember Li Meng is the only child in his family, right?”

Wang Yue nodded, “Yeah, he’s the only son for five generations.”

“Treating this illness is gonna cost a lot,” Xiao Ze said. “Let’s organize a donation among our team. Every little bit helps.”

Wang Yue sighed, “I have a classmate whose father also had cancer. The family went broke trying to pay for treatment. They sold their house and took out loans. It’s been two years since his father passed, and he’s still paying off the debt…”

Xiao Ze: “It’s tough for everyone…”

*

During lunch, Gu Yuan checked his phone and saw a message in the group chat calling for donations, with a link attached. He clicked on it and found it was a charity fundraiser organized by a well-known institution.

The first thing he saw was a photo of a man in his 50s lying in a hospital bed, his face pale and an oxygen mask pulled away from his mouth and nose.

Attached was a long string of identification and a detailed account of the situation:

“Hello everyone, my name is Li Meng, and I’m a criminal police officer at the Yan Hai City Public Security Bureau. The man in the photo is my father, Li Jun. A few days ago, he was diagnosed with middle to late-stage stomach cancer…”

There were many comments below.

Jianghu: [Police officers work hard to protect the people. I’m willing to offer a little help…]

A Curtain of Dreams: [This is a true story. Li Jun is my neighbor…]

Golden Years: [I hope he can overcome this illness…]

Gu Yuan tapped on the “donate” link, entered a five-digit number, and after donating, he put down his phone and continued eating.

After a while, Li Meng texted: [You didn’t have to donate so much. I sold our house in the countryside, so we can manage for a while.]

Gu Yuan ignored him, put his phone back in his pocket, and after a moment, took it out again to reply with two words: [Stop nagging.]

Li Meng: [I just feel really bad about it…]

Gu Yuan didn’t reply again.

As it was almost time to get off work, Li Meng sent another text: [I want to treat you and Mr. Mo to dinner tonight. Please come, or I won’t be able to sleep!]

Gu Yuan suddenly remembered the year Ms. Tang Yuan passed away. He had just started middle school when he found out his mother had liver cancer. He felt helpless, with no source of income at home, so he took a leave of absence from school to work at a construction site.

But the medical expenses were just too high, and the family’s money quickly ran out. He went door to door in the pouring rain, asking relatives for help. Everyone knew that lending money was basically a one-way street, and no one expected a middle schooler to pay it back.

Gu Yuan returned home with 500 yuan soaked through, feeling utterly useless as he looked at his mother lying in bed, her face yellowed.

The next day, when he came back from the construction site, he opened the door to find Tang Yuan’s body hanging…

*

Li Meng arrived at the barbecue restaurant they had agreed on and ordered a three-person set meal. If it wasn’t enough, they could order more later. The restaurant first brought out a few plates of appetizers.

He took a photo and sent it to Gu Yuan.

Li Meng: [I’m already at the restaurant.]

He attached the location of the barbecue place.

Li Meng created a group chat with just Gu Yuan, Mo Lin, and himself, and sent a voice message: “The dishes aren’t all here yet, you guys can take your time…”

Before he could finish speaking, an explosion sounded, shattering the glass, followed by screams, and then Li Meng was overwhelmed by a deafening ringing in his ears…

Everything seemed to play out in slow motion, as a wave of heat swept in from the entrance!

Li Meng’s mind felt like it had exploded. Before he could react, shattered glass had already cut across his face…

His phone fell to the tiled floor, the screen cracking like a spider web.

Li Meng sluggishly bent down to pick up his phone.

At that moment, Mo Lin’s call suddenly lit up, and Li Meng, feeling dizzy, answered it.

“Li Meng, are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine, but there seemed to be an explosion just now…”

*

“Fire trucks and police cars have arrived at the scene one after another. The number of casualties is being tallied, and the police have already launched an investigation. Our station will continue to follow up on this story…”

In the emergency hall, a silent broadcast was reporting the explosion from an hour ago. Injured people from the scene were being transferred to nearby hospitals’ emergency departments.

A four-story building at No. 44 Yumi Alley had a massive crater blasted into the ground.

The fire at the scene had been extinguished, water from the fourth floor dripped down the broken eaves, and the air was filled with the smell of burning. Gu Yuan squatted in front of a charred corpse, using his gloved fingers to examine the only body at the scene.

The clothes on the corpse had been burned away, and the skin was charred black. The charred hands were clenched into fists. After an explosion, the fire’s intensity can cause the soft tissues in the hands to contract, resulting in this clenched fist appearance.

However, this doesn’t necessarily mean the person was burned to death, as post-mortem burning can also cause this clenched fist shape.

Gu Yuan moved the charred lips of the deceased, and a piece of charred skin fell off, making a sound similar to peeling a roasted sweet potato.

“The mouth looks clean. This person was already dead before the explosion.” Gu Yuan stood up. “The body needs to be taken back for an autopsy.”

Another criminal case had the detectives busy again…

Li Meng had a cut near his right cheekbone from glass shards, but the bleeding had stopped, and the wound wasn’t deep. Gu Yuan took him to a street vendor to buy disinfectant and gauze, treating the wound simply: “The wound is shallow, it won’t leave a scar.”

Li Meng held his face, looking dejected: “I’m sorry, I wanted to treat you to dinner, but this happened… We didn’t even get to eat…”

Gu Yuan: “It’s just a meal.”

Li Meng thought: It’s not just about a meal…

“What are you guys doing here?”

Mo Lin walked into the pharmacy, pausing for a second when he saw Li Meng: “You’re hurt? Who bandaged you?”

“It’s just a small injury, nothing serious. Gu Yuan already took care of it!”

Mo Lin gave Gu Yuan a complicated look: “You really are handy…” He then took out his car keys: “Let’s go, I’m here to pick you up.”

Gu Yuan: “Isn’t there anyone else at the bureau?”

“Everyone’s busy right now, I’m the only one free, so you have no choice.”

“I just performed an autopsy…”

Gu Yuan was about to say he hadn’t showered yet when he saw a police car parked outside the pharmacy.

Mo Lin stood in front of the police car, grinning smugly: “I drove the police car here, get in!”

The three of them returned to the police station. Gu Yuan, dressed in his autopsy gear, only had his eyes exposed. Mo Lin sat on a swivel stool not far from the autopsy table, arms crossed, watching Gu Yuan meticulously perform the autopsy.

The air was filled with the smell of barbecue, and Li Meng, standing nearby, looked unwell, reminded of the barbecue he saw at Yumi Alley today.

He thought he wouldn’t be able to eat barbecue for at least three months.

Using tweezers, Gu Yuan carefully peeled back the charred scalp, revealing the fractured skull.

The books mentioned that people who die in fires often have skull fractures. The skull becomes brittle from the fire, and the brain tissue swells, causing this phenomenon.

The fracture lines on the skull should be linear, like the cracks on an egg when it’s boiled. However, this skull had comminuted fractures with noticeable depressions, likely caused by blunt force trauma.

“The head has blunt force trauma, with a depressed comminuted fracture in the occipital bone and severe subcutaneous bleeding, indicating the person was struck before death. Even if they didn’t die immediately, they would have been knocked unconscious.”

Gu Yuan moved the lower jaw to examine the oral cavity. He shone a flashlight inside: “The mouth is clean, no traces of soot or foreign objects. Judging by the wear on the teeth, the deceased was around 55 years old and had a habit of grinding their teeth, possibly due to mental stress.”

To further clarify the cause of death, Gu Yuan decided to “extract the tongue” (removing the tongue from the neck along with the trachea and lungs), which is crucial for examining the entire respiratory tract.

He cut along the jawline, severing the neck muscles, and made an incision in the neck to reach in and extract the tongue along with the posterior pharyngeal wall.

The tongue, pharyngeal wall, trachea, and lungs were removed from the chest cavity and placed on a tray, resembling a large food display!

“The entire respiratory tract is clean, with no signs of soot or smoke inhalation.”

Mo Lin stood beside him, rubbing his nose and coughing lightly, without saying a word.

Li Meng, pale-faced, shakily took a photo.

Gu Yuan searched the abdominal cavity for a long time and noticed something missing from the body.

After confirming several times, Gu Yuan was certain: “The deceased has no stomach.”

“No stomach? How did they eat?” Li Meng exclaimed.

“There are surgical scars where the esophagus connects to the small intestine. The deceased underwent a total gastrectomy before death.”

Li Meng was familiar with this term because the doctor had just discussed it with him yesterday, saying his father’s condition might require a total gastrectomy.

“Stomach cancer or severe gastric diseases might necessitate removing the stomach,” Gu Yuan explained.

Author’s Note: I’m back~ Thank you all for your comments and support!