The Criminal Investigation Team is about three kilometers away from Friendship Road.
Inviting a beautiful woman to dinner, sharing a bike is not an option. Lu Chuan is no blockhead; he was prepared for this.
"Is... this your car?"
Shen Yan looked at the Bentley parked in the corner of the team's parking lot, her mouth slightly agape, showing her pearly teeth, and her mind a bit blank.
"It's my dad's. I usually commute with a shared bike."
Shen Yan gave Lu Chuan a deep look and sat in the already open passenger seat.
"I heard you made a contribution last time at the Outlets Pedestrian Street."
Starting the car, Lu Chuan drove slowly out of the Criminal Investigation Team, smiling indifferently: "It was just luck. I didn't expect there were three of them at the time."
Lu Chuan stretched out his arm: "The wound just healed last week."
There are endless topics among colleagues.
And among criminal police, the topic never strays far from cases.
The two chatted and laughed as they arrived at Friendship Road.
Meanwhile, inside the Criminal Investigation Team, many people watched Lu Chuan drive off in a Bentley with Shen Yan.
Wearing an inexplicable expression.
"Qiangsheng Group..."
"Being born into the right family is a skill."
Lu Chuan's family comes from the Qiangsheng Group; this isn't a secret.
This was spread after the last elders' dinner at the Crime Scene Investigation office.
Lu Chuan never intentionally hid it.
Having a wealthy family isn't a crime.
Moreover, his personal pursuits are likely beyond material dependence.
Lu Chuan's parents value his stable job more than money.
And the prestige from being sent home last time in a ten-year-old Land Cruiser police car.
Although the Bentley is much more expensive than the Land Cruiser.
The hot pot restaurant has nice decor. This type of hot pot has become popular in Haizhou City over the past two years.
With a rich soup base, the quality and freshness of the ingredients are tested.
This contrasts completely with the trends of a few years ago.
It used to be all about technology and strong flavors; now, people fear for their health.
The aromatic bone broth makes one's mouth water.
Lu Chuan and Shen Yan graduated from the same school. In recent cases, Lu Chuan even turned out to be the main contributor.
Their conversation became increasingly heated, and seeing Shen Yan's animated laughter made it as intense as the boiling soup.
"A couple of months ago, I heard you arrested the groom at your classmate's ex-girlfriend's wedding?"
This is big news. Shen Yan turned the electrocooker to its highest setting, full of gossip curiosity.
Speaking of which, Lu Chuan felt eager to share: "It was a coincidence, talking about that day..."
Everyone has a desire to express themselves.
Especially in front of attractive and beautiful people of the opposite sex.
Lu Chuan is handsome and wealthy, which makes Shen Yan very happy.
Shen Yan is beautiful and loves to laugh, making Lu Chuan very happy.
In the boiling pot were two large bones with little meat, yet seeing them rolling incited an appetite with a delicious aroma.
Shen Yan picked up her chopsticks, smiling as she looked at the dishes on the table: "Detective Lu, shall we start?"
Lu Chuan nodded: "I'm hungry; I haven't eaten all day. Today, I'm going to feast..."
Hmm?
Just as he was about to put a plate of mutton into the soup pot, Lu Chuan's brow furrowed, and his hand hesitated slightly.
Shen Yan, waiting for Lu Chuan to cook the meat, paused: "What's wrong?"
Lu Chuan put down the plate in his hand and gestured: "Hold on a moment, there seems to be an issue."
Shen Yan suspected nothing, thinking Lu Chuan found something unsanitary.
Lu Chuan picked up his chopsticks, reached into the hot pot, and clamped out a rolling bone, examining it closely.
"Is there something wrong with this bone?"
Shen Yan watched Lu Chuan's actions, puzzled, and moved closer.
Lu Chuan set down the bone and once again reached into the soup pot with his chopsticks, pulling out another piece.
This time, after just a glance, his expression turned extremely grim.
Shen Yan focused, initially clueless, but then her face turned ashen.
"Ugh..."
After two years of working, Shen Yan, as a forensic doctor, has already performed autopsies on four corpses.
If counting the two corpses she dissected during university, Shen Yan has worked on six bodies in total.
Though she can't be called a veteran forensic doctor yet, she has acquired some experience.
While facing most corpses, she wouldn't feel nausea or vomit.
However, at this moment, confronting the bone Lu Chuan fished out from the hot pot broth, Shen Yan only felt her stomach churn.
Performing autopsies is different from consuming soup made with human bones...
Her sentiments differ.
Indeed, what Lu Chuan clamped with his chopsticks was a piece of human bone.
Specifically, it was a small segment of the ulna, near the elbow joint.
Although this bone looked no different from a usual pig bone fragment, upon careful observation, Shen Yan, a forensic expert, recognized it.
Half an hour later.
Qin Yong had already brought dozens of people to take control of the entire restaurant.
At 6:30 in the afternoon, the restaurant was bustling with diners.
Many diners were initially annoyed. Anyone would be irked if their meal was interrupted.
But upon seeing dozens of police in uniforms, everyone chose to be silent.
Following on-site command, they orderly left the hot pot restaurant.
The curious ones asked about the incident but received no response.
What could they say—that the soup base you just enjoyed was cooked with human bones?
If that got out, by tomorrow—no, by tonight, the entire Haizhou City would go berserk.
Qin Yong's expression was as grim as it could get.
The reservoir dumping case from the team was unfinished; everyone was at their busiest. On top of that, another problem arose here.
Not only was there an incident, but its nature was so severe.
Using human bones for soup, is this restaurant's boss crazy?
If this gets out, the entire restaurant industry in Haizhou City would be catastrophically impacted.
Just thinking about it sent shivers down Qin Yong's spine.
Looking at Lu Chuan, he felt a mix of love and hate.
Why, when you're out for a meal, do you end up discovering human bone soup?
Nonetheless, Qin Yong was very satisfied with Lu Chuan's emergency response.
Qin Yong approached Lu Chuan, glancing at both him and Shen Yan: "What's the situation?"
"Captain Qin, we reported the issue to the team immediately without alerting anyone here."
By now, without Qin Yong's orders, all the restaurant staff were already controlled.
"Is it this piece?"
Captain Qin's gaze turned to the table beside Lu Chuan.
On a plate, there lay a bare bone.
"A small segment of the ulna near the elbow joint, boiled until any flesh is indiscernible."
Lu Chuan hadn't anticipated that just after acquiring an intermediate Skeleton Identification Analysis skill, he'd encounter such an incident.
Of course, it was also sheer luck.
After all, regardless of the skill Lu Chuan received as a reward for last time's advancement task, he'd come to eat today.
Two possibilities: they could have eaten and left as if nothing happened.
Or another possibility...
Shen Yan is a forensic expert. If she'd recognized it halfway through the meal...
Just the thought made Lu Chuan's stomach churn with acidity.