Naturally, Lin Xinyi could not possibly accept that kind of job.
He was just a part-time Forensic Consultant, without even an assistant who understood the field, and they wanted him to prop up an entire Autopsy Department?
They were obviously trying to work him to death with overtime.
Calling him the head of Autopsy Department Three was really just tossing him a department no one else would take over, hoping that an ambitious young man like him would come here and burn away his youth.
The pressure of this job was probably a hundred times worse than anything he had experienced in his previous life.
"Ha ha, Inspector Megure, I have something to take care of, so I'll be leaving first."
"We can talk about this later."
With a smile on his face, Lin Xinyi turned around and started walking away.
Miyano Shiho, who had been waiting for a long time, left with him.
"Brother Lin! Think it over a little more! We can discuss the salary!" Inspector Megure called persistently from behind them.
"Of course, of course."
Lin Xinyi smiled brightly as his retreating steps quickened.
After briefly saying goodbye to Kudo and Mouri Ran, he and Miyano Shiho squeezed through the crowd of onlookers and quietly left the crime scene.
"Sorry, this took up quite a bit of time."
Lin Xinyi spoke with some apology as they walked.
"Mm, it's fine."
Miss Miyano shook her head. Rarely, she did not give him a cold look.
Not only did she not look at Lin Xinyi coldly, she was carefully studying him with a meaningful gaze.
There was thirty percent shock, thirty percent curiosity, and forty percent of some other kind of interest in her eyes.
Miyano Shiho did not try to hide her emotions, either.
She looked at the man openly and frankly, but Lin Xinyi grew slightly uneasy under her stare. "What is it, Miyano?"
After pondering for a moment, Miyano Shiho asked:
"Why do you care about other people's deaths?"
"That clearly has nothing to do with you, does it?"
That was a good question.
Lin Xinyi thought about it seriously before finally answering:
"Maybe it's always been an instinct buried deep inside me."
"As long as I see death, I can't help wanting to uncover the truth for the deceased."
It could be called a kind of idealism, the kind many clever people would mock.
But without some idealism, one really could not keep doing forensic work.
After all, compared to doctors, aside from having more stable doctor-patient relationships and not needing to worry about medical disputes, forensic examiners were worse off in terms of pay, prospects, and working conditions.
Yet the cost of their education and the effort they put in were almost the same.
If there were more smart people and fewer fools, who would still become a forensic examiner?
Without forensic examiners, how could they fight crime, maintain peace, deter potential murderers, and let ordinary people live safely without fearing that someone might kill them at any moment?
The normal operation of society depended on these idealistic "fools."
So Lin Xinyi had always believed that his idealism was not laughable at all.
"Hahahaha!"
Miyano Shiho laughed out loud without the slightest restraint.
Lin Xinyi: "..."
He had not even known that this gloomy, iceberg-like young lady could laugh.
Was it really that funny?
What I said was clearly a positive, inspiring line, not a comedy routine!
"Ahem."
Miyano Shiho quickly realized that she had lost control in an unprecedented way.
"Sorry. I suddenly thought of something funny."
Miyano Shiho lightly covered her mouth, trying hard to restrain her laughter.
But no matter how hard she tried, that faint smile lingered at the corners of her lips:
Lin Xinyi's words were not funny at all.
But hearing such a positive speech come from people like them really did carry a sense of black humor.
"Hey, hey, stop laughing."
Lin Xinyi's face darkened.
Even this cold-faced girl, whose lips could barely be bothered to move when she spoke, was laughing at him. It was inexplicably irritating.
"By the way, speaking of that."
Lin Xinyi suddenly thought of a way to strike back.
"When Ishikawa charged at you just now, why didn't you dodge?"
"Were you simply spacing out? Or..."
"Did you instinctively want to help stop that criminal?"
A stretch of silence followed.
For some reason, Miss Miyano suddenly could not laugh anymore.
"Perhaps that was it."
She looked away from Lin Xinyi, keeping the emotions in her eyes hidden.
"Perhaps even I subconsciously want to become one of those hopelessly kind people who live in the sunlight and fight against the darkness."
"..."
Her voice gradually lowered, and the air fell quiet.
After a brief silence, Miyano Shiho gave Lin Xinyi a meaningful look.
"You're not quite the same as before."
Lin Xinyi calmly met her gaze.
"Perhaps you simply didn't know much about me before."
Miyano Shiho was lightly choked by that.
Indeed, she had known almost nothing about Lin Xinyi in the past.
The old Lin Xinyi had been someone who shut himself away. Even Miyano Shiho, who had spent the most time with him in the organization, had basically known nothing about his inner thoughts.
Of course, Miyano Shiho had never been interested in understanding the tool the organization had sent to watch her anyway.
The two of them had probably spoken more today than they had in the entire previous year combined.
And today, after seeing Lin Xinyi's unknown side, Miyano Shiho gradually realized that this guy did not seem quite so unpleasant.
Not only was he not unpleasant, there was even a strange feeling that they shared the same affliction:
Living in darkness, yet carrying light in their hearts—
It turned out that, in this respect, Lin Xinyi was actually very much like her.
And perhaps the self-isolation he had displayed before, like her own cold personality, was a product of the conflict between darkness and light, of feeling torn and pained.
Thinking of this, Miyano Shiho's gaze toward Lin Xinyi softened considerably.
The faint hostility had vanished from her eyes, leaving only calmness.
But—
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Miyano Shiho suddenly realized that while she had been observing Lin Xinyi, he had also been staring deeply at her with a complicated, indescribable gaze.
That look was difficult to read.
But from the slight movement of Lin Xinyi's lips, it was clear that he had something on his mind he wanted to say, yet hesitated to voice.
Wait—
Miss Miyano suddenly felt that something was off about the atmosphere.
Could it be that Lin Xinyi, seeing her attitude soften, thought he had an opening and wanted to confess to her again?
Hey, hey, I just thought our tragedies were somewhat similar, so I was a little nicer to you. That doesn't mean I want to huddle together for warmth with you!
Miyano Shiho, who had absolutely no romantic experience, suddenly felt her scalp tingle.
Men really are troublesome.
They're like bacteria in a culture dish. Give them even a little nourishment, and they start thinking about reproduction.
"You..."
Miss Miyano quickly cooled her expression.
"If there's something you want to say, just say it."
She never dragged things out. If she did not like someone, she would never give them the chance to keep pestering her.
So this time, Miyano Shiho intended to let Lin Xinyi lay everything out plainly, then reject him clearly and seriously.
Come on, don't be so coy.
If you want to confess, just say it!
With such a fierce thought in mind, Miyano Shiho stared intensely at Lin Xinyi.
Lin Xinyi felt very uncomfortable under her gaze. "I..."
"I?" Miss Miyano raised an eyebrow.
"I just wanted to ask..."
"Ask what?" Miss Miyano held her breath, ready to fire back at any moment.
"Uh, I was just asking..."
Lin Xinyi carefully chose his words.
"Are you not buying that coffee anymore?"
Miyano Shiho: "..."
Does he not have the courage to say it?
This guy was actually acting so timid and hesitant, nothing like how resolute and confident he had been during the autopsy.
Fine. That was understandable.
After all, once the prefrontal cortex determined that someone liked another person, neurons would continuously send signals to the adrenal glands, producing norepinephrine that maintained a state of excitement.
The limbic system would secrete dopamine, making people addicted to that feeling, while suppressing the amygdala, which governed emotions and rational decision-making, causing those in love to lose their usual reason and calmness.
Miyano Shiho studied biology. She understood this.
Looking at Lin Xinyi's nervous, hesitant, tongue-tied appearance, he was probably already completely controlled by his hormones. Rejecting him would likely take quite some effort.
"Sigh..."
Miss Miyano sighed helplessly and even rolled her pretty eyes.
"I'm not drinking the coffee."
"But is coffee really what you wanted to ask me about?"
"If there's anything else, you'd better say it now. Otherwise, don't bring it up again in the future."
She made her stance very clear.
"Uh... forget it." After struggling for a while, Lin Xinyi gave up.
"Forget it? Good."
Miss Miyano got the result she wanted, but for some reason, she felt an inexplicable sense of loss.
Lin Xinyi's expression quickly returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.
But that was only on the surface.
Inside, he was anything but calm.
The words he had failed to say remained trapped in his heart like a stone that would never fall to the ground:
You stupid woman.
I made it so obvious.
If you're not drinking the coffee, then give me back my 1,000 yen!!
(╯°Д°)╯︵┻━┻
Before you continue