The school year officially started in September, and Song Jun could have applied for a postgraduate dormitory at the dormitory management centre by now if he wanted to. However, he hadn’t thought about it. Apart from being very close to the lab, he was very satisfied with all the conditions of this dormitory now, and it was cheaper than the school dormitory. He felt that there was really no need to move to the dormitory.
And there was Senior Brother Xia across the hall. Of course, Senior Brother Bu was also very nice and took good care of him.
Official enrollment meant that classes were about to begin. Most of his postgraduate courses were concentrated in the first year, with more challenging subjects such as molecular biology. It was said that the failure rate for that subject was quite high, so he had to buckle down and focus on attending classes and studying.
The lab side had not relaxed at all. Zhou Yingchun was still waiting for his article to be published and his title to be evaluated. As Zhou Yingchun’s only disciple now, Song Jun was under a lot of pressure.
The experiment ran into bottlenecks from time to time. Song Jun couldn’t laugh or cry when he heard a fellow doctoral student in the same lab claim that he was going to burn incense and pray to Bodhisattva to bless the results of the experiment.
Fortunately, Song Jun had Xia Hongshen, who could help him.
Song Jun heard from a fellow doctoral student in the lab that Xia Hongshen used to be very good at physical evidence1In evidence law, physical evidence is any material object that plays some role in the matter that gave rise to the litigation, introduced as evidence in a judicial proceeding to prove a fact in issue based on the object’s physical characteristics.. In three years, he published four SCI2Science Citation Index, a database and indexing service that covers a wide range of academic disciplines. papers, and the head of the graduate school approached him early on, urging him to go straight to the doctorate. However, Dr Xia Hongshen, refused to continue studying physical evidence doctorate, stating that he wanted to pursue pathology.
As a result, in order to keep him, the college even agreed to recommend him to be exempted from the examination, and he went to study in the pathology programme of the same college.
With Xia Hongshen’s help, Song Jun felt that the experiment went much more smoothly. Every time the data came out, Xia Hongshen would help him analyse it and even help him adjust the experimental conditions, which was more effective than Zhou Yingchun’s suggestions.
One afternoon, Xia Hongshen helped Song Jun configure a system. Then someone from the pathology teaching and research office down below asked for him, so he put down his things and went down first.
Song Jun sat in front of the experimental table and continued to pack the system reagents. Suddenly, he heard a girl in the same grade next to him say, “Senior Brother Xia is treating you really well; my boyfriend isn’t even that good to me.”
Song Jun was stunned for a moment when he heard this. He actually knew that Xia Hongshen was very good to him, but he had never thought about being compared to a lover by a girl.
In fact, if he thought about it carefully, did Senior Brother Xia more or less like him? Song Jun thought maybe it was not the ordinary kind of love but the kind of love between lovers.
Strange, wasn’t it? Both of them were men. Song Jun had lived for more than 20 years and had never had anything to do with anyone of the same or opposite sex, but he vaguely felt that Xia Hongshen probably liked him. Just like him, he also liked Xia Hongshen.
Just like he also liked Xia Hongshen?!
At that instant, Song Jun’s ears turned red. Luckily, he was lying on his back in front of the lab bench, so no one could see him.
He was a little at a loss, but he felt that there was nothing surprising. It was true that he liked Xia Hongshen. He could feel it himself, otherwise, why would he care so much about Xia Hongshen’s identity and Xia Hongshen’s attitude towards him.
Song Jun felt a little complicated as if he was a little happy and a little uneasy at the same time.
He paused momentarily while holding the pipette in his hand, and he began to think that maybe it was a good thing that he was an orphan—no one would care whether he liked a man or a woman or whether he would get married and have children. However, what about Senior Brother Xia? But then, Senior Brother Xia was not a human at all; he was a deity. He was here looking for something, and maybe once he found it, he would leave. But then again, who knows? He wouldn’t age or die, and he may have a long life. It was possible that even when he grew old or passed away, Senior Brother Xia still hadn’t found what he was looking for.
But there was nothing to be happy about. At that time, he would already be an old man, and Senior Brother Xia would still be the same Senior Brother Xia.
Song Jun suddenly became sad and began to envy Feng Junyuan. Wasn’t Feng Junyuan Senior Brother Xia’s weapon? He would never grow old or die. He had been with Senior Brother Xia for a long time. The two of them would be together all the time…
Just like that, an afternoon passed, and the results of Song Jun’s experiment came out.
When Xia Hongshen came, she saw Song Jun sitting in front of the experimental table in a daze and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Song Jun was immediately in a hurry and started to pack his things, “Nothing.”
Xia Hongshen looked at the computer screen and said, “It will take another two hours for the results to come out.”
Song Jun was a little embarrassed. It was all because he wasted time in the afternoon thinking about it. As a result, the experimental data was too late and still couldn’t be released. “Let’s go eat first,” he said.
Xia Hongshen said, “Wait, let’s eat here.”
Song Jun was stunned.
Xia Hongshen had done this kind of thing before when he was studying for a master’s degree in the Physical Evidence Teaching and Research Office. In the cabinet, he still keeps the small pot he used to cook dumplings back then. He heated it on the lab’s induction cooker, bought frozen dumplings, and used disposable bowls and chopsticks.
The two of them were cooking dumplings in the lab.
Song Jun found it very interesting. It was the first time for him to do such a thing.
In fact, the frozen dumplings were not very delicious, and there was no vinegar or other seasonings to dip them in, but the fact that they were cooked and eaten in the lab seems to add a layer of deliciousness to the food. Moreover, he was eating with Xia Hongshen.
Xia Hongshen was wearing a white lab coat, with one hand in his pocket and a chopstick in the other hand, gently stirring the pot.
Song Jun leaned over and asked, “Is it ready?”
“It’s almost ready,” Xia Hongshen said as he turned down the heat of the induction cooker.
When the dumplings were cooked, he first gave them to Song Jun to eat, “Be careful, it’s hot.”
Song Jun ate one, and it was indeed a little hot. He gasped for several breaths before he could swallow the dumpling.
“Is it done?” Xia Hongshen asked him.
Song Jun nodded, “It is, it’s delicious.”
Xia Hongshen then used the same pair of chopsticks to pick one up and put it into his mouth, then nodded, “Okay.”
Song Jun noticed his movements and couldn’t help but smile. This feeling made him feel very satisfied.
That night, the two of them finished a bag of frozen dumplings in the lab. As a result, Song Jun was a little full after eating. He felt sick to his stomach while lying in bed at night. He tossed and turned for a long time before falling asleep.
Before falling asleep, Song Jun was still thinking about how nice Senior Brother Xia was and that he liked him so much.
On the last day of September, Song Jun had no classes that afternoon and took a nap before going directly to the lab. Downstairs at Forensic Medicine, he met the young detective Long Xing again.
Probably because of a recent case, two police cars were parked below the Forensic Medicine building.
Long Xing, wearing a T-shirt and jeans, was squatting on the roadside playing with his mobile phone. He looked a bit like a high school student.
When Song Jun passed by, he took the initiative to greet Long Xing.
Long Xing raised his head and squinted his eyes slightly under the noon sun. Then he recognised Song Jun, stood up with a smile and said, “Teacher Song.”
These police officers often couldn’t tell whether they were teachers or students here, so they addressed them as ‘Teacher’ in general.
But Song Jun felt a little embarrassed. He said to Long Xing, “Stop calling me Teacher, Officer Long. Call me Song Jun.”
Long Xing immediately changed his words, “Song Jun. Then you can also call me Long Xing.”
Knowing that Long Xing was younger than himself, Song Jun didn’t think there was anything wrong with calling him by his name. He asked, “You got another case?”
Long Xing nodded, “I’m going to trouble Teacher Xia again.”
“Senior Brother Xia?” Song Jun turned to look at the people coming in and out of the Forensic Medicine building door and asked, “Is he here?”
Long Xing shook his head, “It seems that he hasn’t arrived yet. The body was brought here early in the morning. Now, in the autopsy room, two students seem to be there. They said they are waiting for Teacher Xia to come.”
Song Jun said, “Okay. Then I’ll go up first.”
Long Xing waved to him, “Bye.”
Song Jun walked forward, and Long Xing squatted down to play his mobile game again.
Suddenly, Song Jun heard Long Xing shout “Oh!”. He turned around and saw Xia Hongshen coming over. Xia Hongshen was holding a book in his hand. When he passed by Long Xing, he knocked on Long Xing’s head with the book.
Long Xing was very happy to see Xia Hongshen and stood up immediately, “Teacher Xia, you are finally here.”
The expression on Xia Hongshen’s face remained unchanged, and he glanced at the screen of his mobile phone, “You haven’t passed the level yet?”
Long Xing looked a little distressed, “I haven’t beaten this level for a week, and if I can’t beat it, there’s no way to beat the next level.”
Xia Hongshen stretched out her hand and said, “Give it to me.”
Long Xing quickly handed him the phone, then took his book and got closer to watch Xia Hongshen play games.
Xia Hongshen lowered his head and pressed his fingers on the screen of Long Xing’s mobile phone, but Long Xing had a nervous expression on his face.
After a while, Song Jun saw Long Xing laughing happily and shouted, “Passed!”
Xia Hongshen returned the phone to him.
Long Xing stared at the screen of his mobile phone with a smile on his face, “Why can’t I do it? Teacher Xia is indeed better!”
Xia Hongshen didn’t say anything, took his book back and walked towards the building.
Song Jun turned around and left when he saw Xia Hongshen returning the phone to Long Xing. When Xia Hongshen came in, Song Jun had already entered the elevator.
Long Xing was left alone outside, still immersed in the excitement of passing the game.
After a while, Long Xing’s colleague came over and kicked him, “I asked you to explain the situation to the victim’s family. Did you do it?”
Long Xing held the phone firmly and said, “They were crying very emotionally, and no one listened to me…”
“Just because nobody listens to you, does that mean you don’t have to speak? Does that mean you won’t take your salary for this month as well?”
Long Xing averted his gaze and pursed his lips.
“Don’t go in yet! The autopsy has already begun!”
Long Xing nodded, “I’m in.”
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