Chapter 7

Chapter 4

Master Old Hu

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"Are you sure you're a forensic doctor and not a cook!" An Kang almost spent over two hours teasing Lin Fei after hearing about the peculiar rule he encountered at the North District Police Station: "You must have been fooled. The North District Police Station might just be hiring a chef!"

"Hmph..." Regardless of whether the North District Police Station was really just hiring a chef or if it was truly a strange rule as they said, Lin Fei only knew that every time he thought about being led to the canteen by the police officer today, he felt both amused and puzzled!

...

Following the person's lead, Lin Fei was indeed taken to the kitchen!

"Brother Hai!" Lin Fei watched as the person found a man in his forties, dressed as a chef, and introduced him: "This is the one who's coming to be an intern forensic doctor! The usual rule! Three days!"

"Got it!" Old Hai laughed and replied to the person: "Leave him to me! You can go back to your work!"

Work? Lin Fei didn't think so. He watched as the young police officer yawned and walked back to his office, probably to continue the beautiful dream that Lin Fei had interrupted!

"Are you the new forensic doctor?" Old Hai looked at Lin Fei and greeted him warmly.

"Yes!" Lin Fei replied.

"Can you cook?" Old Hai asked.

After answering this question again, Old Hai began his routine. He assigned Lin Fei to wash certain vegetables and cook in a specific pot, while chatting non-stop: "Although our North District Police Station has few people, we have the highest case-solving rate in the entire South City! So, our meals must be top-notch, or it would be a shame to the brothers who run around outside!"

Old Hai's words sounded different to Lin Fei. Although Old Hai seemed very热情, his words were a bit off. It was as if he treated the North District Police Station like a bandit camp, using "brothers" to describe his colleagues. However, Lin Fei was very curious about the "case-solving rate" Old Hai mentioned. If the North District Police Station had a low case-solving rate, why were there so few people?

That night, after returning home, Lin Fei spent almost half the night searching for news about the North District Police Station online.

To his surprise, the North District Police Station was indeed a "strange among the strange" in South City!

Not to mention how amazing their case-solving was, just a quick search on the web showed that the first three pages of news about the North District Police Station were all... murder cases!

Clicking on any case news link, it would read: "A headless or bodiless female corpse found at XX River XX Road, handed over to the North District Police Station for full investigation!"

"Damn! This is almost like Conan, where someone dies in every case!"

Lin Fei took a sip of watermelon juice from the fridge, but immediately spat it out. After flipping through so many disgusting and bizarre murder news and bloody photos, he felt a chill down his spine, almost thinking he had swallowed blood instead of watermelon juice.

The next day, Lin Fei, who had only slept for half the night, was still troubled by the strange news about the North District Police Station. His eyes were tired from lack of sleep, and he almost chopped off his finger while cutting vegetables.

"Little Fei, are you okay?" Old Hai, seeing Lin Fei almost scared out of his wits, asked: "Did you not sleep well last night?"

"Indeed, I didn't sleep well! I spent half the night searching for news about our North District Police Station and found something strange!"

There weren't many people in the North District Police Station's kitchen, so it was easy to find a place to whisper. Seeing that only the two of them were around, and knowing that Old Hai was a straightforward person, Lin Fei asked directly: "Does our North District Police Station only handle murder cases?"

"Pretty much!" Old Hai answered without hesitation: "We don't bother with those petty thefts and other small cases!"

"Then aren't all of us here the elite of the police force?" Lin Fei asked, naturally wanting to know through some clues why the North District Police Station had hired him, a journalism graduate, as a forensic doctor.

"Not entirely!" Old Hai clicked his tongue and said: "Let me give you an example! In other police stations, most of the staff are either graduates of police academies or have connections to get in. The latter is very rare! But our station is different. Only three-quarters of our people are from formal police academies. The rest..."

Old Hai suddenly glanced at Lin Fei and said: "Like you, they are specially recruited from other places!"

"You know who I am..."

"Cough, cough, cough!" Old Hai coughed a few times, looked around to make sure no one was around, and then whispered to Lin Fei: "Some things you'll understand better as you get to know the place. For now, just know that the remaining one-quarter can't get into our station even with connections!"

Connections?

Lin Fei inwardly mocked: If they had connections, would they come to this strange place, the North District Police Station? If it weren't for the high salary, he wouldn't have come to this strange place either!

"Little Fei! I see you have a good heart, and you cook better than me! Let me give you a piece of advice!" Old Hai said seriously to Lin Fei: "You must perform well these three days! It will pay off in the future!"

"Pay off?" Lin Fei was puzzled.

"Cough, cough!" He looked around again to make sure no one was around and whispered: "Those who came to apply as forensic doctors were dismissed on the third day because they didn't cook well. That's why we've only had one forensic doctor for so many years!"

"Dismissed for not cooking well?" Lin Fei was surprised, his eyes wide as Old Hai continued:

"Of course, if you don't want to do it, you'll be dismissed right now!"

Old Hai patted Lin Fei's shoulder and instructed: "Listen to your big brother, work hard these three days!"

At this point, Lin Fei was thoroughly confused! Especially when he heard that this seemingly ridiculous rule was so real in Old Hai's mouth...

Cook well and stay?

Lin Fei sighed inwardly: Could it be that, as Xiao Kang said, I applied for a chef position, not a forensic doctor?

As the third day of his internship approached, everything was as uneventful as the previous two days. Except for a few new faces who seemed to have just returned from investigating a case in another county.

"Uncle Hu!"

"Brother Hu!"

A police officer in his forties, similar in age to Old Hai, walked briskly into the canteen, full of energy. Everyone who saw him greeted him with great respect. The older ones called him "Brother," and the younger ones called him "Uncle"!

Even the captain of the Criminal Investigation Team of the North District Police Station treated him with great respect, personally pulling out a chair and inviting him to sit down.

Lin Fei, who was helping serve the dishes, walked over to Old Hai and asked: "Who is that? He seems to have a high position!"

"Not just high position! Even the old chief of the South City Police Bureau would give way to him!" Old Hai said, looking up.

"So arrogant!" Lin Fei joked: "Is he related to the old chief?" He knew, of course, that even if he were related, he wouldn't be treated with such respect!

"Not related! He might be someone's future master!" Old Hai said, looking at Lin Fei with a smile.

Lin Fei, not a fool, was stunned for a moment but quickly understood.

He said in a panic: "The person you're talking about... isn't me, is it?"

Old Hai didn't wait for Lin Fei to figure out what he meant. He quickly picked up the braised lion's head that Lin Fei had prepared all morning and carefully walked over to the old police officer.

Before leaving, he whispered: "It all depends on this dish!"

At this point, Lin Fei didn't need Old Hai to explain. He was sure that the person Old Hai was talking about was him!

Is this old guy going to be my master? That would make him the forensic doctor here, right? Lin Fei's curiosity about this seemingly experienced old police officer grew. He thought to himself: "Even the old chief gives way to him. If I follow him, won't I have a bright future? But then again, the three-day kitchen internship rule already shows something is off. Not to mention the strange rumors about the North District Police Station from ten years ago. I should be cautious..."

While Lin Fei was deep in thought, a loud voice caught his attention.

He saw the old police officer, whom Old Hai had mentioned as his potential master, holding half a braised lion's head on his chopsticks and smiling at Old Hai:

"Old Hai! The food today is better than before!"

"Hehe!" Old Hai walked up to him and asked: "How's the lion's head?"

"Good!" The old police officer swallowed the remaining half and said with a smile: "Too damn good!"

Hearing this, Lin Fei couldn't help but laugh: "Does he even look like a police officer? He's like a country old man!"

Especially when he saw the old guy unbutton his shirt to reveal a round, bulging belly, he became even more skeptical: "Could he have also gotten in through connections? If he has connections and still chose the North District Police Station, he must be crazy! Can such a person really be my master, a rookie who knows nothing about forensics? It's really questionable!"

However, Old Hai looked pleased and continued: "Satisfied?"

"Satisfied!"

"Unfortunately, I didn't make it!"

"Huh?" The old police officer was puzzled and asked: "Who made it?"

"That kid did!" Old Hai pointed at Lin Fei and said.

"Who is he?" The old police officer asked, and Lin Fei's mind was blown. It seemed this old guy didn't know about the new intern forensic doctor at the North District Police Station!

"New here! Applied for the forensic doctor position! Today is the third day. Do you think he can...?" Old Hai hurriedly introduced and asked on Lin Fei's behalf.

The old police officer glanced at Lin Fei, hesitated for a few seconds, and then said: "Passed!"

Lin Fei was surprised: "Passed! This is a government department! How can there be no rules?"

That night, Lin Fei was kept at the North District Police Station until midnight before being driven home.

The reason was that his new master needed to reassess whether Lin Fei, who had passed the internship, was a good fit for him.

No one knew what would happen if Lin Fei didn't fit his temperament, but it was clear that Lin Fei had passed the old guy's second review.

From that moment on, Lin Fei learned that the old guy's name was "Hu Buwei." From then on, Lin Fei called him either "Old Hu" or "Master" until one of them passed away.

Lin Fei remembered every word Old Hu said that night, especially...

"Before you follow me, I have one more question! You must answer honestly!" Old Hu asked seriously: "Why did you come here to be a forensic doctor?"

"Money!" Lin Fei answered without hesitation.

"Frank and straightforward!" Old Hu slapped his thigh and laughed: "Be at the main gate at eight tomorrow, and follow me to the morgue for a simple apprenticeship ceremony!"

"Okay!" Lin Fei didn't know if every forensic doctor had an apprenticeship ceremony, but he knew he was probably the first to have one in a morgue!

He didn't understand why, in the 21st century, many industries still had this ancient tradition of apprenticeship.

Perhaps, as the old saying goes: "Society may change, but the virtue of respecting teachers and valuing the path will never change!"

...

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