章 27: Chapter 27 Someone Jumped Off a Building_1
Doctor Lu blinked, his mouth moving slightly, unsure how to respond at the moment.
It seemed nobody shared his current joy, leaving him stuck in an awkward limbo, like having prepared for an entire month to pay his dues, only to find at the doorstep...
He had spilled everything, without a single satisfied person around.
However, he rebounded quickly. The Doctor Zhou he faced was in his twenties, a rookie who had just started working a few months ago. Having such thoughts showed he was genuine, and there was nothing wrong with that.
Xu Dayuan wanted to chime in, but Doctor Lu, with a smile on his face, took an envelope from his briefcase and pushed it towards Zhou Ning.
"The fee for that reprint is higher, I'll let you know the amount the moment I know. This is the manuscript fee from the 'Forensic Medicine Journal,' I originally paid an 800 layout fee, but to my surprise, after they refunded it, they gave an extra eight thousand."
Zhou Ning felt somewhat embarrassed. If it had been just him and Doctor Lu, he would have just taken it, but now... with Xu Dayuan and his mentor present, to take it...
"Giving it all to me doesn't seem right, since Doctor Lu did the experiment. Let's split it half and half."
Doctor Lu waved his hands, his smile as awkward as it could be.
"Just being granted the second author's position is enough to make me secretly happy. Alright, I won't stay any longer, I need to go back and reply to some emails. If you, Doctor Zhou, have any ideas, feel free to contact me anytime."
Xu Dayuan wanted to see him out, but he didn't even let him go downstairs, pointing instead to the car below.
"No need for anyone to send me off. The institute sent a car for me. I'll report back to the institute later, and if there's relevant research, they will set up a dedicated lab and even expand this discipline. But of course, that's all for later discussion; we still need to continue working hard."
Standing at the entrance of the small two-story building, Zhou Ning still felt it wasn't real, even though the feel of the banknotes in his hands was quite nice.
It seemed Xu Dayuan had things to do, as he left soon after without much delay.
Doctor Liu pulled at his sleeve, dragging Zhou Ning back into the room. Watching Zhou Ning who looked dazed, Doctor Liu poked his head with a finger, a look of tough love on his face.
"You're normally so sharp and alert, what's gotten into you today? Getting obsessed with the manuscript fee? We are at the county criminal police team's forensic office. Doctor Lu is from Qindao University; if you want to get to know colleagues in the city, you could easily find someone else. Why come to you?
It's because your selected topics and research directions overlap with his, and they're after the recognition! Getting fixated on the manuscript fee, why don't you just move into a money pit?"
Zhou Ning, holding the envelope, couldn't help but smile more and more without paying attention to Doctor Liu's nagging. He knew his mentor meant well.
"Don't worry, master, it won't happen again. I'll work diligently and prepare a good paper for Doctor Lu when a good subject comes along."
Liu Yongxin finally breathed a sigh of relief, patting Zhou Ning's shoulder.
"Young people should have higher standards for themselves. Unlike me, I'll retire in a few months and go home to be with my grandchildren. Alright, think it through on your own. I'm off to the hospital for a prescription. If anyone looks for me, give them my phone number."
Zhou Ning nodded, and after watching Liu Yongxin leave, he finally put the envelope in his drawer.
Who would have thought, a casual remark made to Xu Dayuan would lead to such an outcome. Glancing at the monitor displaying "Bone Age Identification - Chinese Adolescents Skeletal X-Ray Atlas," Zhou Ning opened the book.
He had already finished "The Grave Robbery Note," and recently he was following a new book by Higashino Keigo; although the suspense was thrilling, there was almost no coverage of forensic science.
Suddenly, an idea appeared before Zhou Ning's eyes. If he were to write a book on forensic criminal investigation, naturally it would be more professional than these authors', and perhaps the manuscript fee would be more generous?
With this thought, Zhou Ning became restless. He was extremely busy with his job at times, but when things slowed down, he often had nothing to do for extended periods.
In his spare time, apart from learning painting with Mr. Xia, he was just sleeping at home. Of course, the system's abuse during sleep could be disregarded.
With that in mind, Zhou Ning opened a blank document on his computer and stared blankly for a while as a phrase drifted through his mind.
"Speak for the living, and speak for the dead."
In an instant, the faces of Su Manli, Sun Wenxuan, Li Delin, Zhu Meifeng, Wang Chengjuan, and others appeared before Zhou Ning's eyes. Some were crying, some screaming, some continuously recounting their grievances.
Zhou Ning felt as if something was stuck in his chest. His fingers danced across the keyboard, and lines of text began to leap forth. After who knows how long, a wave of hunger interrupted his train of thought.
Only then did Zhou Ning realize he had written nearly ten thousand words. He glanced at the time, and it was almost five thirty. He quickly saved the document.
No wonder he was hungry. He had skipped lunch and been typing for hours, but the feeling of pressure in his chest had lessened somewhat. It seemed this method was not bad; it at least kept him from being emotionally affected by the cases.
He remembered what his psychology professor said in college: A good forensic doctor must learn to soothe their own emotions because the more cases they encounter, the more negative emotions they accumulate. If not relieved over time, this can affect one's psyche.
Zhou Ning stood up, stretching his limbs, when suddenly his phone started ringing.
He grabbed the phone, and Mr. Xia's name flashed on the screen. Zhou Ning looked confused—today was Friday, and he hadn't arranged a class with Mr. Xia, had he?
With the confusion in mind, he quickly answered the phone.
"Hello, Mr. Xia?"
The voice of Xia Momo on the other end of the line was trembling and frantic as she spoke at a rapid pace:
"Zhou Ning, come quickly, I have a student who's about to jump off a building, he's climbed up to the rooftop of the Cultural Palace."
Zhou Ning was taken aback, he knew Xia Momo was panicked, and at this time it would be pointless to tell her he was a forensic doctor, this situation required a call to 110, and that would only panic Xia Momo even more.
"Don't worry, I'm contacting my colleagues to come over now, and make sure that the teachers and students around don't provoke him, we'll be there in ten... no, five minutes!"
Xia Momo made two sounds of acknowledgment.
"Hmm-hmm, hurry over."
Then the line went dead, and Zhou Ning dialed Xu Dayuan's mobile phone, which was promptly answered.
"What's up, Doctor Zhou? Not sneaking off early on a Friday, are you?"
"Xu Da, there's a kid who's going to jump off a building at the Cultural Palace, his teacher is my friend, she just called me. She must have panicked and didn't call 110. Can you send someone over to have a look?"
There was a noise of a chair moving, audible through the receiver.
"Get downstairs, and let Zhao Xinli drive you to the scene. I'm calling the command center now, we can get there before you from the station."
After hanging up, Zhou Ning grabbed his down jacket and dashed out of the office.
As he reached the ground floor, he saw Zhao Xinli answering his phone, opening the car door, and Zhou Ning promptly sat in the front passenger seat, with Liu Yong seated in the back.
Zhao Xinli ended the call, put the car in gear, and sped off.
"What exactly is going on? The boss said someone's jumping off a building, but that's not our department, is it?"
Zhou Ning quickly explained the situation and Liu Yong leaned forward from the back.
"Is this Teacher Xia pretty?"
Zhao Xinli spat in disgust.
"Are you in heat, kid? Stop spouting nonsense. Don't you see Doctor Zhou is on pins and needles here? Right, call the fire brigade. If the boss has contacted them, even better, if not, we'll help make the contact. They might have some kind of rescue cushion or something."
Liu Yong hurriedly made the call, and Zhou Ning finally let out a sigh of relief. Despite Zhao Xinli appearing foolhardy at times, he was calm and collected when it mattered.
The car had now pulled up in front of the Cultural Palace, and without it coming to a complete stop, Zhou Ning bolted out. Xu Dayuan was already there with a number of people, holding a megaphone and continually speaking to the youth, trying his best to counsel him.
There were quite a few onlookers gathered, all pointing and looking upward.
Zhou Ning looked up to see a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy sitting on the edge of the beautiful glazed tile roofing of the Cultural Palace, expressionless, holding a notebook from which he kept tearing pages, shredding them, and tossing the pieces down.
Xia Momo was held back at the caution tape, but upon seeing Zhou Ning, she immediately grabbed his hand, her face filled with panic.
"Zhou Ning, quickly think of something. This student, Zhang Guolin, is a repeat student. His family is very wealthy, his father took a mistress, and his mother was kicked out of the house. The police are already here and have been trying to talk him down, but Zhang Guolin seems completely unreceptive and even more agitated. It looks like he could jump at any moment."
Zhou Ning patted Xia Momo's back; her hands were cold and trembling. Clearly, she was terrified by the situation. The sound of a fire engine's siren reached them, and Zhou Ning turned to see the fire brigade had arrived and started setting up the rescue air cushion from a distance.
He had seen it on the news many times; it took a long time to inflate such a device, and if the counseling on the other end didn't buy enough time, it was all going to be too late. From the height of the five-story building, a fall would mean certain death or injury that would leave someone disabled for life.
"Don't panic, I'll think of something."
Though he said that, Zhou Ning began to survey the area in front of the entrance to the Cultural Palace. There were numerous electric bikes and motorcycles parked, mostly moved aside, except for a brand-new BMW F650GS motorcycle parked right there. Pointing at the motorcycle, Zhou Ning asked:
"Whose bike is that?"
Xia Momo glanced at it.
"It's Zhang Guolin's."
On hearing this, Zhou Ning strode over to Xu Dayuan's side, snatched the megaphone, and shouted loud enough for everyone around to hear:
"Who does this motorcycle belong to? Move it quickly, don't you see the fire truck needs to get through? Do you want your bike impounded?"
Xu Dayuan was startled, quickly gripping the megaphone and giving Zhou Ning a fierce look, as though he thought Zhou Ning was messing around and ready to devour him. Zhou Ning shuddered and backed away behind the caution tape.
But before he could be rebuked, Zhang Guolin, who was standing on the rooftop, had already got up, retreated to the top of the building, and desperately shouted:
"Mine, it's my bike, please officer, don't impound it, I'll come down and move it right away!"
...
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