Miss Forensics 我亲爱的法医小姐 Read Along: Chapters 1 to 10

[yuerstruly]

Welcome to the read-along for Miss Forensics by Jiu Nuan Chun Shen! As previously stated, we will be reading FIVE (5) chapters a week, so a new read-along post will go up every 2 weeks. Each chapter summary will be posted and serve as parent threads for each chapter, so please do your best to keep your comments under the correct ones!

One chapter will go up per day, Monday through Friday, and I will do my best to slip them in before it's evening in Asia. Of course, if you are up for it, please feel free to post the chapter summaries to get the read-along going!

The link to the novel on JJWXC can be found here.

You can also follow the novel through the audiobook on Himalaya, though there may be slight changes and ommissions from the original.

Comments

Chapter 1

[yuerstruly]

The story kicks off with Lin Yan's nightmare of Chu Nan, who appears to be close to Lin Yan, and a confrontation of unanswered mysteries. Lin Yan then awakens from it, and goes about her (grumpy) morning before heading out.

Re: Chapter 1

[laine4466]

Confession: I won't be going into this fully blind as I have listened to all three seasons of the audio drama, so while I don't fully know/remember the details, I do remember all the major dramatic moments that happen in the story. As such, I will sometimes mention story details that are not yet revealed, but I will use white colour for spoiler texts

Regarding Lin Yan's nightmare: Was there ever a reason why nightmare Chunan seems to blame Lin Yan for her death? I can understand it if it was blaming her for still not finding her murderer, but blaming her directly for her death seems unnecessary. I vaguely remember Lin Yan angsting over this later on in the story for being technically true (no, not really) but current Lin Yan does not know that yet. I guess this is something I'll have to keep in mind and come back to when we reach the finale

Wow, Lin Yan is immediately presented as immensely unlikable. I can't remember a single time outside of this story where one of the main leads in baihe isn't first presented as incredibly appealing, and it's hard to imagine such a story existing with the current audience. It definitely makes me wonder how this story in particular was able to gain such mainstream popularity

Re: Chapter 1

[douqi]

I have to ask: when the author was writing this novel, did she know she'd assembled the perfect combination of story elements for making the radfems mad? In particular, a canonically bi protagonist who has canonically slept with multiple men who opens the novel by 'defending a rapist in court' (she's an expert witness, not defence counsel, and only in relation to the murder charge, and also even people who have almost certainly committed rape are entitled to legal representation, but these are not the sorts of things radfems pay attention to), and a love interest with masc-of-centre presentation (though it is interesting that the specific label the author uses is 双御姐).

When I first read this chapter, I spent most of it going, 'OMG Lin Yan STOP WASTING food/culturally significant antique rugs/expensive cars/the hard work of your assistant who is probably just doing his best.' On this reread, I did exactly the same thing. Also how is she a PROFESSOR?? My friends who are adjuncts/slowly crawling their way towards tenure would like a word???

Re: Chapter 1

[sleepyneedle]

I let the audio book run while working on other stuff so hpefully it's not too different from the text so far. I'm so weak to 御姐 voices so might as well start the audio drama along with this soon. Would love to see if someone on weibo or anywhere has kept track of all the money Lin Yan wasted. I hope Lin Yan's attitude continues on like this throughout the novel I want to see her metaphorically kimchi slap all her haters.

Chapter 2

[yuerstruly]

Lin Yan arrives at the courthouse and is immediately swarmed by the media's questions, from asking about her professional capabilities to her family background. She is met with haters and death threats, but she does not seem to care as she carries on with what she's been paid to do. When the session wraps up, she comes out and is once again thrown questions of doubt, to which she bites back.

Re: Chapter 2

[laine4466]

I think I'm starting to go from "I can see why others might dislike Lin Yan" to "I am personally starting to dislike Lin Yan". The way she snaps back at the reporter with the "穷人就都是值得同情怜悯的，富人就都是为富不仁罪大恶极心狠手辣的" made it look like it is going to be a "there are two sides to every story" angle to establish that she isn't the "cruel chaebol that treats others like dirt" that she seemed to be so far. Except that she then immediately uses her poor assistant as a shield to protect herself and the text even basically outright says that she would not care if the assistant were to die from it, which just further confirms that she is, in fact, a cruel chaebol that treats others like dirt. #JusticeForThePoorAssistant

From my understanding, it seems that Lin Yan gets established as someone who always cared for others with a sense of justice all along later on, just that she has her own understanding of what justice means to her (especially with the quote that I always see fans of this story use "为生者权，替死者言"). I've never understood how the shift in perception actually happens and always felt that there was a disconnect in how Lin Yan is like in the beginning and somewhere halfway through the story. This scene unfortunately does not inspire any confidence that there was actually a smooth development in the story to me.

Re: Chapter 2

[douqi]

I continued to roll my eyes at Lin Yan here, although I found her response to the funeral wreath thing quite cool (somewhat against my better judgment). The using her assistant to block a literal shower of shit part would of course be appalling irl but I found it extremely in-character here.

I also, honestly, check in with myself every now and then as to whether I would hold a typical male protagonist in an action thriller up to the same level of 'moral' behaviour as I'm probably subconsciously holding Lin Yan to. Because I can envision registers of thriller writing where a male lead doing more or less the same thing would be portrayed as unequivocally badass (and an interesting thing here is that it ISN'T portrayed as unequivocally badass, what with the shaken assistant's musings about how Lin Yan would probably leave him for dead).

Re: Chapter 2

[hanlinacademic]

Ehhh I honestly don't get why the media and general public is giving Lin Yan so much hate for providing evidence for the defendant team. She's just doing her job?? Do they not understand the concept of presumed innocence? The only valid media question was the one asking whether her company has any business dealing with the defendant's.

If they should be angry at anyone, it should be the police and the original coroner for completely botching the victim's cause of death, not the independent consultant who came to weigh in at the trial with their expertise.

Also, you'd think Lin Yan would have received some media training, given her family status and her line of work. =.=

Chapter 3

[yuerstruly]

Lin Yan meets with a man who has promised to help her investigate a closed case, but it seems like nothing helpful has turned up. Song Yuhang makes her first appearance in the novel in conversation with Zhao Junfeng, her mentor, who later also invites her home for a meal with him and his wife.

Re: Chapter 3

[hanlinacademic]

I see this novel will be going for an 'opposites attract' sort of dynamic? Song Yuhang seems refreshingly normal (though perhaps a little strict), compared to how wildly glamorous and annoyingly in-your-face all-caps RICH Lin Yan is.

Re: Chapter 3

[douqi]

Things I enjoyed: Lin Yan's chronic inability to sit properly, the first appearance of her murder board/wall.

Also all the ominous 'IF ONLY SONG YUHANG HAD KNOWN' stuff. 酒大 you are not being subtle.

I'd forgotten that her provision of expert evidence in the 18th April case was supposedly part of a transaction with this guy.

This chapter also shows why the radfems screaming 'SONG YUHANG IS BASICALLY A MAN' are bad at reading. I'm sure it is extremely manly to have gone on a series of 相亲 dates with a guy.

Chapter 4

[yuerstruly]

Lin Yan's driver nearly crashes into an old lady crossing the street, which causes an uproar amongst the witnesses. After getting her day ruined by Song Yuhang, she leaves for the police station, only to be met with … Song Yuhang.

Re: Chapter 4

[douqi]

Ahah a classic meet cute. Or should that be a meet ugly? I love the early Lin/Song dynamic of 'Lin Yan implodes at Song Yuhang, Song Yuhang flummoxes her by being perfectly calm and by-the-book', and we get the first instance of it here.

For me Lin Yan leaned more 'entertainingly bitchy' than 'really bad employer' here. She could have been a lot meaner to the other members of the police force when they were asking her those personal questions.

The scene when Lin Yan walks into the police station and is quizzed by the rest of the Scooby gang, I mean her future colleagues on the force, is very visual. It's set up like a scene in a TV show or movie, from the 'each character gets a brief description with a defining trait and takes turns asking her a question' part right up to the bit at the end where she smiles sweetly at Zheng Chengrui's offer of his leftover baozi and then tells him to fuck off. Which leads me to my crack theory that the author mainly learned about storytelling from TV/movies rather than prose works, which also accounts for why her dialogue is generally several cuts above the narration.

It's interesting that the manhua adaptation softens (and IMO flattens) Lin Yan's encounter with the old lady, because the manhua makes it very clear that the old lady was indeed engaging in 碰瓷, while there's nothing definite about it in the novel.

Re: Chapter 4

[laine4466]

Putting a pin in the "含着我的钱就是大风刮来的吗？" to see if this gets revisited in the future when it is revealed that her family business made money off of illegal drug deals

I also enjoyed how despite everyone else on the team is introducing themselves and trying to get Lin Yan's attention, she still paid more attention to Song Yuhang who is quietly sitting in an inconspicuous corner

Chapter 5

[yuerstruly]

Lin Yan immediately makes herself comfortable as a new addition to the team, not forgetting to stick to her routine of coffee and face masks. It's revealed here via a phone call that she hasn't been in direct contact with her father, and much of the contact she does make with the Lin family is through her cousin, Lin Ge. Her phone call is interrupted by Song Yuhang who comes around for some materials, but they end up getting into a heated argument.

Re: Chapter 5

[douqi]

Gee I WONDER who Lin Ge's 相亲对象 will turn out to be, I really do.

I have to say I enjoyed Lin Yan's coffee/face mask/soft music shenanigans. Was it deeply unprofessional, yes. Was it deeply on-brand, also yes.

Also more fun 'Lin Yan implodes at Song Yuhang, Song Yuhang flummoxes her by being perfectly calm and by-the-book' banter.

Re: Chapter 5

[hanlinacademic]

Yay backstory!

I am so curious about where Lin Yan's fiery personality comes from. The book says she's always that way, but it seems to be a product of her childhood as well. Makes me curious about what happened to her mom and why she had to be brought back into her family by her dad. And it seems like her dad shows favoritism for the stepmother and that's why she was sent away?

Chapter 6

[yuerstruly]

Song Yuhang witnesses Lin Yan in her natural state while getting off work, much to her distaste, then heads home. She's then greeted by her mother who's set her up on a blind date with a Mr. Lin. At work, Lin Yan is occupied with shaking off her fling, and after successfully doing so, she heads to the file room, where things don't go as she planned.

Re: Chapter 6

[douqi]

I see we've advanced to the next stage in the evolution of the Lin/Song relationship, i.e. 'Lin Yan uses every trick at her disposal, including flirting, to get a reaction out of Song Yuhang, and Song Yuhang doesn't fall for it'. Deeply enjoyed the scene in the filing room, which would work so well as a scene in a drama.

Also enjoyable: Lin Yan's middle finger, the way she deals with her one-night-stand (I bet the radfems get regularly apoplectic over that scene).

Me @ Song Yuhang, when she's thinking about how two unrelated (as far as she knows) people named Lin are so different: there are lots of Lins, you know. It's not exactly a rare surname.

Re: Chapter 6

[hanlinacademic]

How is Lin Yan not fired from her job already? lmao

If I got a penny every time the author describes Lin Yan's perfect boobs and figure... ^^;;;;

Chapter 7

[yuerstruly]

Work bores Lin Yan, and to make matters worse, her dear cousin Lin Ge is not available to dilly-dally around with her. But do not fret! Lin Yan wanders around the city and happens to arrive at the same restaurant Lin Ge is having a blind date at. Lin Ge offers for her to stay aroun, and it goes well until her cousin's blind date happens to be with … Song Yuhang. DUN DUN DUN

(Sorry, I'm trying to be unserious so I don't tire myself out while writing these short summaries, but do let me know if they're not to your liking.)

Re: Chapter 7

[laine4466]

Personally, I think the summaries so far have been great!

I'm also really loving the dynamic between Lin Yan and Song Yuhang so far as both incredibly headstrong yet competent people constantly trying to one-up each other. I am mildly disappointed by Song Yuhang's interest being simply MMA and reading psych books though, surely she must have something she enjoys outside of police related activities, even Lin Ge has bowling.

The "他是个死gay" is an incredibly memorable line from this story, it cracked me up when I heard it in the audio drama and it still brings a smile to my face whenever I see/remember it

Chapter 8

[yuerstruly]

The tantrum Lin Yan brings to the date upsets Lin Ge, and they're only saved by work calling both Lin Yan and Song Yuhang—there's a new case. They head over after a brief exchange with Lin Ge, and are updated about the details on the way to the park. To Song Yuhang's surprise, Lin Yan seems to be competent at her job.

Re: Chapter 8

[hanlinacademic]

This chapter gives us the tidbit that when Lin Yan doesn't have a corpse to dissect, she dissects mice and rabbits for fun. Back in chapter 4, she mentions that she's dissected a thousand corpses in the past year -- How is she hitting those numbers? She's gotta be processing one or two bodies a day. o.o

Chapter 9

[yuerstruly]

A family argument breaks out in the mortuary over the death of Ding Xue, the woman who died. Her husband, Sun Xiangming, is then questioned about what happened the night she died.

Re: Chapter 9

[douqi]

I liked that Song Yuhang's first thought, upon hearing a scuffle, was basically 'is that Lin Yan??'

More Serious Lin Yan in this chapter (well, the bit where she's actually performing the dissection, not the bit where she's smirking as she watches Ding Xue's mother and mother-in-law fighting).

The part where Lin Yan and Song Yuhang mouth silent remarks at each other while Duan Cheng pokes Zheng Chengrui to ask 'what are they saying?' and Zheng Chengrui looks up in confusion from his computer and goes 'who's saying what?' — also very made-for-TV.

Chapter 10

[yuerstruly]

Lin Yan requests a diatom test for some of Ding Xue's organs, but the process appears to be a hassle. She takes matters into her own hands by requesting 10 centrifuges. Soon after she finishes up her work, Song Yuhang reminds her about the meeting they're set to have surrounding the case.

Re: Chapter 10

[laine4466]

I'm amazed that the author managed to hold themselves back in terms of foreshadowing Lin Yan's condition, no obvious pointing and going "hmm what could be her deal" hint hint wink wink

Also, the repeated mentions of ogling at Lin Yan is starting to make me feel uncomfortable