Chapter 75: Chapter 75: A Helping Hand?
“The leaders in the city are taking this case very seriously, and they’ve specially dispatched Doctor Yan to assist. This is a rare opportunity, and you must all perform well.”
Cao Qi, with a stern face, finished instructing his two subordinates before turning his head to face Yan Qiying, where his expression immediately changed.
“Hehe, Doctor Yan, I’m afraid we’ll have to trouble you again.”
“It’s no bother, it’s what I should do.”
Seeing how much respect the director had for Yan Qiying, Ma Qiang felt doubtful. Why bring his son along too?
If it were just for a free trip, there were surely better places than Jinshan Village.
Unaware of his subordinate’s thoughts, Cao Qi, smiling, said to Yan Qiying, “You must be tired from the journey, shall we go have a meal first? The food at our office is quite good.”
But Yan Qiying waved his hand, “We’re here to handle business, let’s take a look at the situation first. After all, a body can’t wait, and the sooner we look, the more clues we might find.”
Ma Qiang became serious with respect, feeling that his previous internal doubts about the man were completely unreasonable.
Especially upon arriving at the location, Ma Qiang was even more taken aback when he saw the child, Yan Sinian, take a small box off his back and pull out a square toolbox.
Yan Qiying, clearly used to this kind of surprise, explained with a smile, “Don’t look at Sinian’s age; he has a real talent for medicine and is now my assistant.”
Fang Ming was stunned. An assistant? The child looked to be only seven or eight years old. Was he even in school?
Without even looking up, Sinian laid sterile gauze on top of the box and lined up a row of instruments of various sizes.
Sinian looked emotionlessly at Ma Qiang, who involuntarily answered and pointed toward a small coffin inside the house.
After coming to his senses, he scratched his head, wondering why he had been directed by a child.
The place they were currently in was an abandoned hut in the village, excessively cool due to its poor orientation.
Unable to bear seeing the child exposed so, Ma Qiang had spent his own money to buy a small coffin and had gotten some ice blocks used for cooling machinery from a nearby village factory.
Placed in the coffin, they could at least slow down the decay of the body.
However, opening the coffin released an indescribably foul odor that infiltrated everyone’s nostrils.
Ma Qiang had heard that a very peculiar substance dispersed from bodies, which when inhaled would stick to nose hairs and often linger for days.
Fang Ming couldn’t help but cover his mouth and nose with his sleeve, while the director took out an earlier prepared stack of surgical masks, putting one on.
He then offered one to Yan Qiying, signaling for him to wear it too.
Yan Qiying shook his head, “Although I’m not a professional forensic doctor, I know that sometimes, odors can be important pieces of information.”
Ma Qiang couldn’t help but glance at Sinian, “Doctor Yan, your son is so young, it’s not appropriate for him to witness this scene.”
“It’s fine, he’s used to it.”
The offhand comment from Yan Qiying left everyone present in shock.
Sinian walked up as if accustomed to it all, skillfully fixing the blade of a scalpel to its handle with forceps.
A child so loving of cleanliness, faced with a body covered in livor mortis, didn’t show the slightest sign of distress and directly handed the surgical knife to his father.
Yan Qiying took it, making an incision from the throat downward.
Sinian, composed, assisted, closely observing the condition of the body.
“The face, lips, and nails presented cyanosis.”
“There’s a distinct feeling of swelling in the face.”
“The lividity is dark deep purplish-red.”
One after another, professional terms spilled out of the child’s mouth, leaving Ma Qiang and the others too stunned to speak.
Sinian looked up, stating calmly, “Taking everything into consideration, the likelihood of a death caused by asphyxiation is as high as eighty percent.”