Novice Forensic Doctor

Chapter 262: Chapter 259: Forensic Department 2_1

In the midst of the clamour, He Shancun and Zhou Xiaoyu’s wedding came to an end.

Many from the Eight Institutes and No. 1 Middle School attended, and virtually everyone from the sub-bureau went too, partly due to Zhou Ning’s second uncle and partly because of Zhou Ning himself. Mr. Sun, taking the initiative, served as the marriage officiant.

During the wedding, Zhou Xiaoyu remained composed, but He Shancun cried his eyes out.

Mr. Zhao and the others teased him quite a bit, but everyone understood. After all, He Shancun had no parents, and his relationships with relatives were very indifferent. When he faced difficulties, no one offered help. Not even now did they come to join the excitement.

Mr. Sun chatted with Doctor Lu and Zhou Ning for a long time, and only after Doctor Lu declared that the sub-bureau would be the initial test subject, agreeing to let them use the software from phase one to three for free, did Mr. Sun leave contentedly.

Liu Yongxin was quite dissatisfied, but since his apprentice didn’t object, he didn’t say much more. After all, the sub-bureau had indeed been among the first to collaborate with Doctor Lu.

...

February 29, 2012

As soon as he got to work, Zhou Ning was called to the office by Mr. Hu, who had moved his office to 501. Inside sat Xu Dayuan, Mr. Pang, and Mr. Peng.

Seeing these people, Zhou Ning realized what was happening and quickly took a seat next to Xu Dayuan, finding an empty spot.

Mr. Peng glanced at Zhou Ning and, seeing him sitting next to Xu Dayuan with a sweet smile towards Mr. Hu, said,

"Team Leader Zhou is here, so you make the announcement."

Hu Guangjian nodded, glanced at Zhou Ning, and said directly,

"Xu Dayuan’s appointment has been finalized. He will serve as the Deputy Director of Qindao City Public Security Bureau and concurrently as the Chief of the Criminal Investigation Brigade. As for the Technical Department, the existing forensic department will be split into two.

The first forensic department will mainly handle traffic cases, expanding the current two teams dealing with traffic accidents to four. After Team One and Cao Xuanming’s Team Three move over, the other two team leaders will be appointed by Mr. Pang. If there are any issues, Mr. Peng is the person to talk to;

The second forensic department will focus on handling criminal investigation cases. Zhou Ning, Zhu Zuozhang, and Zhijian’s Team Three will be moved there. As for the head of the second department, Zhou Ning will act as the interim head. As for the original second team which has fewer people, I don’t have new staff for you at this time.

The two forensic departments must collaborate closely. The traffic accident case from Jingkou District that you worked on together was well executed, managing to identify problems within the accident and actively cooperating without shifting blame, which is what I hope to see.

Keep up the good work because, according to the instructions from the provincial department, we will start clearing backlogged cases from March, and the relevant documents have already been sent to all sub-bureaus.

Director Zhou will be under a lot of pressure, and I hope you coordinate the work content well. Divide time to join the working group and assist with Dayuan’s work. Additionally, the laboratory staff stationed in Qindao are appointed as special advisors, which will also facilitate participation in subsequent work, and Qinda Software Development Department has agreed to this.

Although this is a tough nut to crack, it is also a good opportunity to re-establish the image of Qindao’s public security. We should take it seriously. That’s it for the appointments; the rest of the details you few discuss amongst yourselves. If you’re short on manpower, solve it on your own."

Mr. Peng had a troubled expression and hurriedly stood up.

"Mr. Hu, I agree with splitting it into two forensic departments, and I approve with both hands. But right now, that’s all the staff we have. Including the newcomers, there are only twelve forensic doctors. How are we supposed to distribute them?"

Hu Guangjian smiled, fully aware of the dilemma, and shook his head at Mr. Peng.

"Don’t rush. With the phoenix tree planted, we won’t worry about attracting the phoenix. The collaboration with Qin University has already spread throughout the system, so you can look forward to screening candidates this year. Moreover, from among these interns, you can select some with excellent abilities for priority consideration, right? Hang in there. It won’t be many months before new people come."

Mr. Peng’s face contorted as if he was constipated, but he also knew that Mr. Hu had given him considerable respect. Thinking back to the way things were during Huining Province’s inspection, Mr. Peng only sighed.

Zhou Ning didn’t say much either. He nodded to Mr. Hu and Xu Dayuan, then followed Mr. Pang and Mr. Peng out of the office and quickly returned to the Technical Department, heading to Mr. Peng’s office together.

Mr. Peng gestured for the two to sit, and Mr. Pang looked official, sighing as he looked at Zhou Ning.

"Let’s not talk about difficulties on my part. No matter how many issues we face, none can surpass the challenges Zhou Ning must tackle. Most of the backlog cleanup will still be led by Zhou Ning, but I really can’t spare any personnel from my side."

Seeing Mr. Pang’s defensive look, Zhou Ning almost laughed.

In fact, he didn’t feel much strain. Ever since his arrival in Qidong, it had been non-stop busy, one case flowing into another with no break in sight, leaving him no position to make demands. Instead, he had grown accustomed to the pace.

As for Zhu Zuozhang and Mr. Liang’s Team Zhijian, though they had not interacted much, they were experienced forensic doctors who had shown no problems in their work thus far. Nevertheless, as an ’acting director,’ albeit elated, he still felt slightly insecure.

"Mr. Peng, it would be better on my end to have newcomers. For now, without them, we’ll manage as we are. Although my team is small, we’ve been able to keep up, especially with the assistance of the laboratory.

If we are to assist Deputy Director Xu in clearing backlogged cases, I plan to take the original members of my team and follow for a while. But I will still need Mr. Pang and Mr. Liang to keep an eye on things for me.

After all, I’m just an ordinary forensic doctor with no management skills. But don’t worry, even if I take people from the laboratory to join the task force, I will arrange for another group from Qin University to stay in the laboratory and support our Technical Department’s work, as we’ll also have visitors coming over at any time."

Hearing Zhou Ning’s declaration, the two visibly relaxed.

Zhou Ning paused for a moment, realizing his haste; the two had clearly been waiting for his statement. However, this had already been agreed upon with Doctor Lu in advance.

They couldn’t just have the software salesperson, leaving Xia Momo and Mr. Qu to demonstrate or assist in operation directly. Then there would be no need to continue research after the fourth phase.

As for personnel, all were selected outstanding graduate students from the university, majors in relevant fields. They were all eager to participate in such an esteemed laboratory. However, in the short term, Xia Momo would still need to lead the newcomers and couldn’t join them in the working group.

Mr. Liang, with a smile on his face, rose from his seat, rummaged through a cabinet behind him, and pulled out two red boxes, which he then handed over to the two of them.

"My wife went back to Lu’an and got some tea that was freshly roasted by her folks back home. It’s not some branded tea, but it’s definitely handpicked and hand-roasted with good quality. Here, I’m parting with these—a gift for each of you. I only have one request, complete cooperation.

During the period when Qin University is collaborating with us on the software, I want our Qindao Technical Division and the forensic department to be so outstanding that our counterparts in other provinces will give us a thumbs-up when they speak of us."

Zhou Ning laughed.

"I’ll follow the arrangements of Mr. Pang and Mr. Peng."

Mr. Peng chuckled and patted Zhou Ning on the shoulder, looking towards Mr. Pang.

"Mr. Pang, we’re lucky to have Zhou Ning in our Technical Division."

Mr. Pang nodded.

"I am indeed a fortunate person!"

With that, all three of them laughed. After chatting with the leaders for a while, which was actually to put them at ease, Zhou Ning quickly returned to office 302. The moment he walked in, Mr. Zhao zeroed in on him, his small eyes round and scanning Zhou Ning up and down.

Liu Yongxin pushed Mr. Zhao away and shooed the crowd that had gathered around.

"What’s all this crowding for?"

Zhou Ning was taken aback.

"Why are you all looking at me like this?"

"I’ve heard that there are going to be two forensic rooms now—one specifically handling traffic accident cases, still under Mr. Pang’s charge, and the other focusing on criminal cases, which you’ll be in charge of, isn’t that right, Director Zhou?"

Zhou Ning nodded. He was actually quite indifferent about this; his work remained the same as before, with the addition of some managerial responsibilities—which he was not particularly good at.

"Acting Director, you can just call me Zhou Xiaozhou. It feels a bit uncomfortable to be called that way; I always feel like you’re up to no good."

Mr. Zhao nudged Zhou Ning, and the group burst into laughter.

Zhu Xingxing came over with keen interest.

"Calling you ’Director Zhou’ feels weird to me too. I’ll do like Mrs. Liu and the others and call you ’boss.’ But are we still divided into first, second, and third teams?"

Zhou Ning nodded.

"In the future, the office will be rebranded: Criminal Investigation Team One, Two, Three. There are no newcomers yet, but Zhu Xingxing, I hope you’ll take the opportunity to clear the backlog of cases to train yourself well. After all, there are no shortcuts in this profession—you need to do more, practice more, and see more.

As for Sun Gaotie, you’re facing your post-graduation assignments. This year there’s a new policy; the city bureau is expanding, so you can apply early. I hope you can stay here, but just like Zhu Xingxing, you need to train your courage and overall abilities. I hope you both can stand on your own."

Zhu Xingxing and Sun Gaotie were both very excited; they knew exactly what Zhou Ning meant, and none of them were fools. freewebnoveℓ.com

Liu Yongxin stood behind, smiling, more pleased with his apprentice’s promotion than his own.

Mr. Hu’s arrangement didn’t surprise him, considering that over the past year, Zhou Ning had been involved in solving several major cases at the city bureau, and his capabilities were indisputable, especially now that he was also Li Chengbin’s prized pupil.

"Alright, enough ruckus. Get your current work sorted. The new Director Xu who is taking over is well known to you for his urgency in everything; we need to keep up with his pace."

No sooner had the words left his lips than the door burst open and Xu Dayuan strode in. He glanced at Liu Yongxin rubbing his nose, and the urge to retort someone instantly evaporated.

"Zhou Xiaozhou, hold the fort here for now; it’s likely you won’t be getting a separate office just yet. Starting tomorrow, the working group will be formally established. You’ll follow them to a meeting to select cases."

Zhou Ning paused, not expecting the materials to be ready so quickly right after they had just discussed it.

"That fast?"

Xu Dayuan hummed in agreement.

"Actually, the city bureau keeps records of all the backlogged cases from the various districts. A lot of the older ones are difficult to investigate due to missing evidence, and some are even unsolved mysteries, so we’re meeting to filter through them."

Xu Dayuan paused, then looked at Liu Yongxin.

"Mr. Liu, now you’re a special consultant. You’ve been stuck in Qidong due to your professional title issues, but this time you should come along as well, sort of to keep an eye on things for Zhou Xiaozhou, how about that?"

Liu Yongxin waved his hand dismissively.

"Such a tall hat you’re putting on me! Becoming a deputy director really changes things. Can I even refuse?"