Chapter 8 Interested in Becoming a Detective?
"Are you working here?" Inspector Samezaki surveyed the restaurant's interior, finally settling his gaze on Lin Xiuyi. "It looks like business isn't very good."
"Something happened a while ago, and the store was closed for some time," Lin Xiuyi explained simply. "What would the four of you like to eat?"
"Just bring out whatever is filling, quickly," Officer Matsumoto said, looking impatient.
"We've been busy all day," Detective Morimura said with a smile. "Everyone is starving."
There was still a good amount of curry rice left, and since they were closing, Lin Xiuyi simply served it all to the four of them.
The four Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department officers picked up their spoons and began to devour their food.
"Hmm, this curry is really good," Inspector Megure said in surprise. "When I saw no one in the restaurant earlier, I thought..."
He gave a dry laugh at the end, apparently realizing he had spoken out of turn.
Lin Xiuyi didn't mind and, at their request, poured each of them a glass of iced beer.
"Gulp, gulp..."
Officer Matsumoto picked up his beer and chugged it down, then let out a long sigh.
"Refreshing! Kid, give me another one!"
"Drink a little less," Inspector Samezaki reminded him. "We still have to work overtime when we go back. The materials for this morning's case must be submitted tomorrow."
"Don't worry, Mr.," Officer Matsumoto waved his hand dismissively. "The more I drink, the more energetic I get."
Inspector Samezaki didn't say anything more. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Investigation First Division was known for having few people and a lot of work, so sometimes they had to let the officers relax to work better.
...
Inspector Samezaki was the first to finish his curry rice. While drinking Oolong tea, he watched Lin Xiuyi clear the dishes and asked,
"Lin Jun, have you thought about what you want to do in the future?"
"First, get into a good university, then take the civil service exam," Lin Xiuyi replied casually.
"Civil servant..." Inspector Samezaki's eyes lit up. "Are you interested in becoming a detective? You have a great talent for case deduction. If you could join the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Investigation First Division, you would definitely be able to utilize your abilities."
"Sorry, I don't plan on becoming a police officer," Lin Xiuyi refused directly.
Inspector Samezaki frowned, about to ask for the reason, when Officer Matsumoto beside him angrily slammed the table.
"Kid, what do you mean by that? Is there something wrong with being a police officer?"
"I have no prejudice against the police," Lin Xiuyi shook his head. "I just don't want to live too tiring a life."
"Live too tiring a life?" Detective Morimura didn't quite understand.
"This Inspector Megure just started today, and he has to work overtime tonight," Lin Xiuyi said. "Compared to the demanding work of a police officer, I'd prefer to do something more relaxed."
"Hmph, no ambition," Officer Matsumoto pouted.
"I want to be a police officer!" Kogoro couldn't help but interject. "If I could join Search Division One as a detective, that would be even better."
"You?"
Inspector Samezaki recalled Kogoro's panicked reaction when he saw the corpse earlier that morning and couldn't help but chuckle softly.
"To be a detective, you can't be too timid."
"I'm not a coward!" Kogoro Mouri retorted indignantly.
"This morning was Kogoro's first time seeing a victim's corpse, so it's normal for him to be a bit unaccustomed," Lin Xiuyi helped his friend explain.
"What about you?" Detective Morimura looked at Lin Xiuyi with a strange expression. "You seemed calmer than even Inspector Megure at the time."
"Ah?" Inspector Megure looked up in surprise. "Mr., I..."
"You didn't even dare to look at the corpse directly. Did you think we didn't notice?" Officer Matsumoto said irritably. "The Mr. asked you to take the report from the caller because he didn't want you to be too stressed on your first day of work."
"So that's how it is," Inspector Megure paused, then quickly promised, "Mr., don't worry, I will adapt to... corpses as soon as possible."
"Alright, don't pay too much attention to what Matsumoto said," Inspector Samezaki chuckled. "When that guy first saw a murder scene, he acted even worse than you, he threw up directly..."
"Mr., that was a dismembered body case!" Officer Matsumoto argued.
"When I first saw a dead body, I didn't feel much better," Detective Morimura recalled. "It was only because I was afraid of being looked down upon that I forced myself to observe the body carefully."
At this, Detective Morimura's gaze returned to Lin Xiuyi, clearly still waiting for his answer.
Generally speaking, normal people feel scared the first time they see a corpse, which is caused by various factors such as biology, psychology, culture, and society.
On the contrary, people who appear calm are the anomalies. These people either have physiological or psychological problems, or they have definitely seen a dead body before.
Detective Morimura was concerned about this question, clearly somewhat suspicious as to whether Lin Xiuyi had psychological or physiological problems, as such people are often potential criminals.
Lin Xiuyi was a detective in his previous life, so he immediately understood Detective Morimura's intention.
But he couldn't tell the other party that in his previous life, he had become accustomed to crime scenes and dead bodies, which was why he appeared so calm.
"That year, when I was four, my parents took me out for a drive, and we got into a car accident," Lin Xiuyi quickly thought of a reason. "They both died in front of me; I was the only one who survived."
"When I first met Shuichi in kindergarten, he didn't talk much and didn't like to play with other children; he was often alone," Eri Kisaki clearly noticed Detective Morimura's abnormality and helped Lin Xiuyi provide proof. "The kindergarten teachers all said that Shuichi at that time might have suffered from autism due to his parents' car accident."
"Thanks to Eri and me constantly pestering Shuichi, he recovered and gradually started talking more," Kogoro Mouri didn't think too much and proudly boasted about his contribution.
That wasn't autism! Lin Xiuyi found it somewhat amusing and frustrating.
The truth was, when Lin Xiuyi first transmigrated, he couldn't understand the Japanese spoken by those around him at all. The only Japanese words he had in his mind were things like 'yamete' and 'iku'.
So he could only remain silent, secretly paying attention to what people around him were saying, and it took him about half a year to be able to conduct basic Japanese conversations.
"So that's how it is," Detective Morimura's wary gaze immediately turned to sympathy. "I'm sorry, I made you recall past events."
...
After paying the bill, Inspector Samezaki and his three subordinates stood up to leave. As they reached the door, he told the others to go out first, while he turned back to look at Lin Xiuyi, who was clearing the dishes.
"Lin Jun, I hope you can..."
Before he could finish his sentence, a "crunch" of breaking glass suddenly came from outside the restaurant.
"Mr., two women are fighting on the balcony of the apartment building across the street and broke the glass!" Inspector Megure poked his head in to report.