Decayed Vulgarian chapter 18

I believe you

On the other side, Shen Xun managed to persuade Liang Yan to return to the hotel for a good rest, stopping any further disturbance. He was utterly exhausted when he got home, and after freshening up, he lay down on his bed.

In theory, with work the next day and an early morning, Shen Xun’s best choice would be to turn off the light and rest to recharge. However, he didn’t feel sleepy at all. Images of the look Meng Yuan Cen had given him kept flashing in his mind. Shen Xun wished he was overthinking things, but at the same time, he didn’t want it to be just his imagination.

His body was ahead of his consciousness, and he automatically opened WeChat on his phone. Shen Xun found the response to his refusal of the invitation sent several hours ago. It was just one message, but he reread it over and over.

In the message, there was no mention of Liang Yan, his best friend returning from studying abroad and needing to catch up, or any genuine reasons for declining the invitation. The words seemed insincere.

Shen Xun recalled how he regretted not being more detailed when explaining his refusal. He had initially planned to provide a more thorough explanation, but Liang Yan and his kebabs had interrupted him, and the conversation had never resumed.

Would it seem hypocritical to explain these things to Meng Yuan Cen after he had witnessed the encounter?

After hesitating for a long time, Shen Xun decided to directly place his phone on the bedside table, pull up the blanket to cover his head, and curl up under it, hoping that “out of sight, out of mind” would apply.

However, he had forgotten that his brain wouldn’t stop working just because he wanted it to.

Half a minute later, Shen Xun suddenly threw off the blanket, sat up abruptly on the bed, and grabbed his phone.

He thought to himself that he might be acting hypocritical, but he began typing without further delay.

Shen Xun: Liang Yan is a friend of mine who returned from studying abroad. He hadn’t been back for many years. So, I went to the airport to pick him up. I’m really sorry I couldn’t accept your invitation. The reason we went to the university area was because he wanted to reminisce about his college days, and watching a movie was his spontaneous idea.

Shen Xun typed the message in one go, as if afraid that any hesitation might lead to regret.

Within a minute of sending the message, he didn’t receive a reply, nor did he see the status indicating that the other person was typing a response. Glancing at the time in the upper right corner, it was 11:45 PM. It was quite late, and it was a workday tomorrow, so Meng Yuan Cen might have already gone to sleep.

Thinking about this, Shen Xun placed his phone quietly on the bedside table again.

He turned off the small night light on the bedside, and the room dimmed. Only a faint moonlight filtered through the sparse curtains.

Shen Xun’s phone had never been set to silent at night, but this night was different. It remained eerily quiet throughout the night.

The next day at the Yuhai Sub-bureau.

Old Zhang was full of energy and greeted Shen Xun, “Good morning.”

Shen Xun yawned as he replied, “Good morning.”

Old Zhang asked, “What’s the matter? Didn’t sleep well last night?”

Shen Xun nodded honestly, “Yes,”

He looked around, wondering aloud, “Where’s Xiao Ruan?”

Old Zhang replied, “He’s at the Huafeng City Central Hospital.”

Shen Xun was taken aback and asked with concern, “What happened? Is he sick?”

Old Zhang burst into laughter, “Xiao Shen, I can tell you really didn’t sleep well last night.”

Shen Xun questioned, “Huh?”

Old Zhang said, “Didn’t we move the forensic clinic from the public security bureau to the central hospital a while ago? The forensic clinic for the Yuhai District also moved there. We all attended the unveiling ceremony, remember? It was about two weeks ago. You forgot?”

Shen Xun suddenly remembered, “Oh, right.”

“Xiao Ruan is on duty at the hospital. It should be our turn soon,” old Zhang said, rubbing his chin. “Although the city hospital is a bit far from my place, at least it resolves the issue of victims running back and forth between the police station and the hospital. It’s quite good. It resolves some of the conflicts.”

Shen Xun chuckled, “You’re precise with the word ‘some’.”

Old Zhang continued, “But knowing Lao Wang’s temper, if Xiao Ruan accompanies him, they might encounter some difficult-to-communicate-with family members, making them prone to complaints.”

Shen Xun couldn’t help but laugh, “Are you enjoying my misery?”

With a smile, Old Zhang replied, “Well, that’s your perspective. I haven’t said anything.”

After exchanging pleasantries, Old Zhang and Shen Xun worked on the presentation.

It turned out that their recent good luck had resulted in no unusual deaths and no cases. Additionally, there were fewer requests for injury assessments. It looked like the forensic experts would soon have some free time. The leaders had a brainstorm and decided to organize training for local police officers, focusing on crime scene protection and evidence collection. The guise was that they would also hold some meetings to share experiences and improve together.

While Old Zhang muttered about the need for this training, Shen Xun quietly retrieved the PowerPoint presentation from the previous year’s training materials. He sent it to Old Zhang, leaned toward him, and said, “I worked on this with Lao Wang last year. It’s a good thing I made a backup. Take a look and modify it as needed.”

Old Zhang couldn’t help but laugh, “You really have foresight!”

“But your file name…” Old Zhang squinted and read it closely. Then he said seriously, “I’ve learned something new. I’ll do the same from now on.”

He then opened the presentation, named “This might be useful in the future, delete it if there’s no space.pptx.”

The core of the training remained the same, but they used different materials, mainly replacing some older cases with more recent and representative ones.

Over an hour later, they had completed most of the work, and only some minor adjustments to the text were required. The text, of course, couldn’t be exactly the same as last year’s. The presentation needed a bit of subtlety.

After reaching this stage, they leaned back, and Shen Xun stretched, lifting his phone from the desk.

Meng Yuan Cen, perhaps?

Picking up his phone, he checked and found it was a message from Xiao Ruan.

Xiao Ruan: It’s over, Shen Ge! 😭😭😭

Xiao Ruan: I might get reported. 😭

Shen Xun: What happened?

Without responding with text, Xiao Ruan initiated a voice call instead. His voice sounded slightly distressed, “The victim who came in for an injury assessment today doesn’t meet the criteria for ‘Assessment Standards for Human Body Injuries.’ The family members had a direct argument with us, questioning whether their child’s suffering was all in vain, and they were in tears and snot…*”

“Then Lao Wang, speaking officially and calmly, said, ‘If you disagree with our assessment, you can go to the higher-level public security judicial assessment center for a reevaluation.’ However, the family kept emphasizing how painful their child’s injuries were when it happened. I admit that the ‘light injuries’ in judicial assessment and everyday life are not the same concept. But we didn’t set the standards, right? Can’t we find a mutual understanding?”

“In the end, we couldn’t come to an agreement.”

Shen Xun, also a veteran in the forensic clinic, had encountered such situations frequently, so he wasn’t surprised. He asked, “Did they threaten to complain about you?”

Xiao Ruan: “No.”

Shen Xun comforted Xiao Ruan, “Then don’t think about it so negatively. As long as you follow the rules, you’ll be fine.”

Xiao Ruan concluded in a hushed tone, “I just wanted to vent to you, actually. I haven’t experienced such difficult family members before. Lao Wang and I explained things politely, but they wouldn’t budge.”

Old Zhang, overhearing the conversation, asked, “Did they really get a complaint?”

Shen Xun responded, “No, they just had a heated argument with some stubborn family members. Xiao Ruan is worried he’ll be reported.”

Old Zhang said, “Don’t worry, even if they do get reported, it’s just the superiors inviting them for a chat. They might just dock a bit of their bonus.”

Shen Xun relayed Xiao Ruan’s words to Old Zhang. Old Zhang stated, “From an emotional perspective, I understand the family’s feelings, but we have to follow the rules. Mutual respect is essential. Forensic experts can’t avoid medical disputes; our working environment isn’t any better than clinical practice.”

Shen Xun playfully called him out, “But you used to say otherwise. You mentioned that you majored in clinical medicine during your undergraduate years, yet you pursued forensic medicine because of your passion for it. You embarked on this path to uphold justice and make contributions.”

Old Zhang feigned ignorance, saying, “Really? Did I say something that naive before?”

Shen Xun contradicted, “No, no, no. I believe that passion is never a naive thing.”

After Shen Xun dealt with Xiao Ruan’s issue, he looked at the time; it was almost lunchtime. To save on delivery costs, he and Old Zhang decided to order takeout together.

At 12:01, Shen Xun’s phone rang.

Old Zhang, starving and thinking it was the food delivery, asked excitedly, “Did the food arrive so quickly? I thought it would take at least twenty minutes!”

Shen Xun checked and replied, “It’s not the food.”

Old Zhang was disappointed, “Tell me when it’s here, and I’ll join you to pick it up at the guardhouse.”

Shen Xun answered the call while moving to a quiet, unoccupied corner, “Hello?”

The voice on the other end of the line was unmistakably Meng Yuan Cen’s, “I hope I’m not bothering you with this call. It seems like you’re usually quite busy.”

Shen Xun spoke softly to ensure privacy, “I haven’t been very busy lately. It’s lunchtime now, so everyone’s having their meals.”

“Have you eaten yet?”

Shen Xun admitted, “Not yet, my food delivery hasn’t arrived.”

“Last night, when you messaged me, I was already asleep. I had classes this morning, four in a row, and didn’t get a chance to respond to your message during breaks. Several classmates kept asking me questions, and by the time I could reply, the class bell rang, so I couldn’t find the time.”

 Shen Xun replied, “I see.”

Meng Yuan Cen continued, “I’m calling because I wanted to talk to you about last night. I feel like I should apologize.”

The first part of his sentence made Shen Xun anxious, but as Meng Yuan Cen continued, he felt like he should be the one apologizing.

Meng Yuan Cen added, “My attitude last night wasn’t great because I thought you had casually made up an excuse to reject me. After running into you at the cinema, I thought you were avoiding me because you got caught and felt guilty.”

Meng Yuan Cen’s voice became softer, “But later, I calmed down and thought it through. Your decision whether to watch a movie with me is entirely your choice. Since I asked for your opinion, I should be prepared to be rejected.”

Shen Xun suddenly confessed, “I didn’t reject you because I didn’t want to watch a movie with you.”

Meng Yuan Cen was leaning against a wall in a school corridor. When he heard this, he covered his mouth to suppress laughter. He replied, “I believe you.”

“But since it’s about asking an innocent question, why didn’t you say hello to us? Oh, sorry, I forgot that you thought you mistook us.”

Honesty compelled Shen Xun to admit, “Actually… I mistook your sister for your girlfriend. Your sister jokingly calls you ‘teacher,’ right? I was really foolish; I truly believed she was your student, and I thought you were in a teacher-student relationship. That’s why I didn’t approach you to say hello. I thought maybe you didn’t want to be seen.”

Meng Yuan Cen couldn’t help but laugh loudly this time, “You didn’t check my sister’s moments on WeChat, did you? She has several selfies. I thought you recognized her.”

Shen Xun replied, “I… didn’t check. After we exchanged WeChat, I didn’t even look at her Moments. I know it was wrong; I should have seen my potential match’s social life. I’m embarrassed.”

But Meng Yuan Cen didn’t mind at all. In fact, he seemed to find it amusing, “I never knew you thought that way.”

Meng Yuan Cen said with a genuine and amused tone, “Here’s the thing: I have never considered having a teacher-student relationship.”

“And I’ve never had a girlfriend, and I won’t have one in the future either.”