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Due to the addition of Wei Linghui, the bicycles that had arrived earlier were no longer sufficient. Jiang He proactively suggested that he would walk first and take a taxi back to the City Bureau later. At that moment, Xu Yiman proposed to stay behind and accompany Jiang He on the walk back. Old Shao glanced at Jiang He, then at Xu Yiman, and nodded in agreement.
Yuan Jun took Old Shao, Scavenger Elder, and Wei Linghui on one bicycle.
After Wei Linghui arrived at the City Bureau, she would definitely take a shower and change clothes. By the time Xu Yiman and Jiang He returned, she would be just in time for the interrogation.
Watching the figures of the few people riding away gradually fade into the distance, Jiang He turned to Xu Yiman and asked, "Why do you want to stay?"
As they walked, Xu Yiman replied to Jiang He, "When Wei Linghui attacked you earlier, I was right there watching closely. I felt that after you said those words, she genuinely wanted to kill you. I saw the anger in her eyes; somehow, she really likes Lu Zhengye."
Jiang He looked at Xu Yiman and said, "I think there's something suspicious about this situation, but this case is too complicated with too many people involved. The clues I see now are fragmented and disconnected. I'm waiting for a key point that can connect these clues into a coherent line."
Xu Yiman nodded. In truth, she rarely saw Jiang He like this; usually, he was confident and composed. When she first met Jiang He, he only needed a glance to analyze countless useful clues. But now, Xu Yiman felt that Jiang He was changing.
She sensed that Jiang He had begun to carry worries, and this marked the beginning of reclaiming emotions. Xu Yiman thought that if Jiang He became more like an ordinary person, perhaps he would lose some of his extraordinary abilities. She didn't know whether this was good or bad for him.
"You won't cry, will you?" Xu Yiman asked.
Jiang He looked at Xu Yiman and nodded. "I won't cry. When I was six years old, my parents died. My neighbors said my tears ran dry when I was six. By the time I was twenty-eight, I had failed to pass the police exam for five consecutive years."
Jiang He spoke plainly as if these events had nothing to do with him. "My great-aunt thought I would never pass it in my lifetime; she also passed away that year. When she died, I didn't cry; I felt nothing at all. My neighbors said my great-aunt raised a White-eyed Wolf; from six to twenty-eight years old, she took care of me for twenty-two years."
"I don't know what sadness is; I don't know how to cry," Jiang He continued. "When she left, she worried about how I would live afterward. At that time, I knew I should feel sad, but for some reason, I just couldn't."
"I don't know if anyone can understand me," Jiang He said. "What I love most is watching others cry because it's so easy for ordinary people. But for me, that's something I might never be able to do."
Jiang He had never shared so much with Xu Yiman before, which made her feel quite touched.
"I'm actually a weirdo just like you," Xu Yiman said as she looked at Jiang He.
"I know," Jiang He replied as he looked back at her. "I've noticed that whenever you're faced with someone on the brink of death who could die at any moment, you can't help but tremble uncontrollably and end up unable to do anything. But you're a doctor; your duty is to save those who are dying. At the very least, you should offer them comfort."
Xu Yiman nodded seriously as she gazed at Jiang He and slowly said, "I've never talked about this with anyone else before, but today, I suddenly really want to share it with you."
"Is it because of trust?" Jiang He said, "I can't quite understand such feelings either."
Xu Yiman shook her head. "Rather than trust, it's more like we are both misunderstood oddballs. You know, I didn't become a forensic doctor right after graduation. I spent many years as a surgeon before I transitioned to forensic medicine two years ago, and then I moved to Dragon City."
"I know," Jiang He nodded.
"A few years ago, I was still a surgeon. One day, a patient was brought in after a car accident, with multiple fractures and some crushed bones. The patient's life was hanging by a thread; without immediate treatment, death was inevitable," Xu Yiman recounted. "The driver had fled the scene, and we couldn't reach the family at first. After reporting the situation, the hospital's duty officer signed off on the surgery."
"The surgery proceeded under intense pressure, but there was no way to save him. By the time he arrived, he was already in critical condition. An hour later, despite our efforts, he passed away," Xu Yiman recalled. "Soon after, we finally managed to contact the deceased's family. We informed them of the situation and offered our condolences."
"But you wouldn't believe how dark humanity can be," Xu Yiman's eyes glistened with tears. "When they learned about their loved one's death, their first reaction wasn't grief; it was to loudly demand to know who signed off on the surgery. They insisted that if we hadn't operated, he might still be alive. You see, I was the duty officer at that time; it was my signature."
"They acted as if they had caught a sheep and were determined to fleece it," Xu Yiman laughed bitterly. "They started causing a scene in the hospital, rolling on the floor and demanding that I compensate them with a million dollars. But where could I possibly find a million? I followed all the proper procedures; why should I cater to their unreasonable demands?"
Xu Yiman sighed. "But this world doesn't care if you're not at fault; you can't just stand your ground. At that time, I didn't realize that yet. Later on, they continued to make a fuss in the hospital until one day they surrounded me and stripped me of my clothes..."
"Do you know how many people were in that hospital?" Xu Yiman's face was already streaked with tears. "I felt like a monkey on display in a zoo, trapped and helpless. I waited for the hospital to provide a solution, but guess what happened?"
"It must have been something bad," Jiang He interjected.
Xu Yiman nodded. "Exactly. They subtly urged me to leave the hospital because my presence was causing negative repercussions for them. You see, I hadn't done anything wrong, but there was nothing I could do about it. Every gaze from those around me is etched in my memory; since then, I've never dared to go online again for fear someone would post photos of me."
"I became utterly disillusioned with living people," Xu Yiman said. "So I resigned and became a forensic doctor. Dealing with the dead is far better than dealing with the living; at least there won't be any grieving relatives causing chaos. When I've done everything possible to save someone only for it to be in vain, no one will strip me bare."
"You know?" Xu Yiman fixed her gaze on Jiang He. "At that time, I was the youngest head surgeon; I had a handsome and wealthy boyfriend and felt like everything in this world was within my grasp. Back then, I believed I could have everything I wanted."
"But then?" Xu Yiman took several deep breaths and said, "Everything changed—my job vanished, my boyfriend left me, and everything I had completely transformed. Since then, I've carried this burden; whenever I see someone in critical condition, my subconscious tells me not to intervene."
Xu Yiman smiled faintly. "I used to often criticize you for not respecting life. Part of it is because of this experience; part of it is because I truly don't know how to face it all. If it's a stranger, even though it pains me too, I can comfort myself."
"I can tell myself not to feel guilty because I don't know them; I'm not a doctor anymore—it's okay if I don't save them because I can't overcome my own fears. But what if that person is you? Yuan Jun? Wang Chao? Guan Deng? Or even Old Shao? What should I do? After spending over half a year with you all, we've become like family."
"Family?" Jiang He asked.
Xu Yiman nodded and said, "That's right, we're family. If you were hurt, especially in a way that could lead to death at any moment, I couldn't just stand by and watch you die. But I can't help it; at least I can't overcome my own mental barriers right now. I know you're very rational, so rational that if there's even a fifty percent chance, you'd go for it. So I really hope you won't joke around with us, and especially not with your own life."
Jiang He nodded, then shook his head. "I don't know if I can do that. It's like your mental barrier; it's become instinct for me. Sometimes decisions are made in a split second, before I even have time to react—my brain just tells me to do it. Like when I first saw you, my brain immediately told me you were a forensic doctor."
"I knew the conclusion first, and only afterward did my brain process what I was seeing to determine that you were a forensic doctor." Jiang He looked at Xu Yiman seriously and said, "So next time I might act that way again, but I'll try to be more mindful in the future."
Xu Yiman nodded, and nothing more was said.
The two odd individuals walked side by side through the garbage mountain, surrounded by waves of foul odor. The light was gradually dimming, and they were slowly being enveloped by the night, seemingly blending into the background.
Xu Yiman asked again, "Have you ever been in love?"
Jiang He nodded. "That's right; I don't know how to be in love. Women in love have so many emotions, and I can't even begin to understand what those emotions are."
"You could try dating," Xu Yiman suggested. "Maybe it would help you find those feelings."
"Really?"
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