This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

”Report a case? Why? It’s been peaceful these past few days. After those migrant workers left, we’ve finally had some peace and quiet. You better not talk nonsense and stir up trouble for me,” Gong Daoyang’s tone on the other end of the phone was very unpleasant, as if Du Heng’s words were a curse.

”Gong, it’s like this: Qi Gang, the village doctor from Xia Zhuang, can’t be found. He’s been missing for five days. I wanted to ask, did you guys arrest him?”

”What are you thinking? If we arrested someone, we would definitely notify their family.” As he spoke, Gong Daoyang’s tone changed slightly. ”You just said he’s been missing for five days? How can you be sure he’s missing and not off doing something else?”

Du Heng immediately recounted what had happened to Gong Daoyang. ”Gong, does this situation count as a missing person case?”

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line before Gong Daoyang responded, ”Does he owe money or something? Or did he say he won a lot of money from someone else?”

”He didn’t win any money. According to his son, he actually lost quite a bit.”

”Lost? How much exactly? And who did he lose to? Where is the person who won the money now?”

The series of questions completely baffled Du Heng. He knew nothing about any of it.

When Gong Daoyang didn’t hear a reply from Du Heng, he realized he had asked the wrong person and hurriedly said, ”This matter could be serious or minor. Wait for me. I’ll be there immediately.”

Serious or minor? What does that mean?

Du Heng was still a bit confused. Just as he was about to ask again, Gong Daoyang hung up the phone.

Du Heng looked at his disconnected phone and said to Qi Gang’s wife, ”Sister-in-law, there’s no news of Old Qi at the police station either, and his phone is still on. This means Old Qi must be hiding in some corner playing cards.”

Qi Gang’s wife felt slightly reassured by Du Heng’s words. ”Then I’ll make some more calls. Son, go and check the houses where your dad usually plays cards.”

Seeing Qi Gang’s wife start making phone calls again, Du Heng felt restless staying in the house. ”Sister-in-law, I’ll help by making some calls too. Besides, I need to wait for someone outside.”

At this point, Qi Gang’s wife was too preoccupied to pay Du Heng any mind and started another round of calls.

Du Heng didn’t insist on waiting for a response. After saying his piece, he walked out with his phone.

He was genuinely puzzled. Where could Qi Gang have gone? It’s just playing cards; surely he wouldn’t stay away from home for five days, right?

As soon as he returned to the car, Wang Lili asked, ”Are you done with your business?”

”No, Qi Gang can’t be found. His phone is reachable, but he hasn’t been home for five days, and no one has seen him during that time.”

Wang Lili said, ”Oh. I heard that Qi Gang, that big fellow, loves to play cards. Could he be hiding somewhere playing cards to avoid his wife’s nagging?”

”His wife has already asked around. Everyone says he’s not there and that he actually came back five days ago.”

”Those card-playing buddies of his are all cut from the same cloth. They might just be lying to cover for him.”

Du Heng shook his head. ”Not necessarily. The family that hosted the game that day also said Qi Gang returned home in the middle of the night.”

After a brief pause, Du Heng continued, ”Never mind, I’ll make some calls too. I doubt anyone would dare to lie to me.”

In the surrounding villages, Du Heng was now considered a person of some standing. If he asked, people in the village wouldn’t necessarily dare to lie to him.

After making a round of calls, he received two types of responses: one was that they didn’t know, and the other was that Qi Gang had returned home in the middle of the night.

This has turned into a strange affair. Where is the man?

About twenty minutes later, Du Heng saw Qi Gang’s son returning and got out of the car to ask, ”Did you find your dad?”

”No. They all said My Dad came back that night. I checked their houses too; there was no sign of anyone playing cards or drinking.”

After saying this, he quickly ran into the house to tell his mother the news.

Watching the child’s retreating figure, Du Heng followed him inside. By now, he had completely forgotten his original reason for coming.

”Sister-in-law, I asked everyone who knows him, and they all said they don’t know; they haven’t been in contact with him recently. Have you asked other relatives if Old Qi went to visit one of them?”

”I’ve called them all. They all said they haven’t seen him.”

At this point, Qi Gang’s wife was on the verge of breaking down. A grown man had simply vanished.

Confusion filled the courtyard. The village director, having heard the news, walked in with his hands behind his back. After understanding the situation, he said, ”Maybe he went drinking that day and fell into a ditch? I’ll use the loudspeaker to ask everyone to help search.”

With that said, he clasped his hands behind his back again and hurriedly walked off.

At this, Qi Gang’s wife couldn’t stand any longer and slumped to the ground.

Five days! If he had fallen into some ditch, he wouldn’t just starve; he’d freeze to death.

The village party secretary had just left. Before Du Heng and the child could help Qi Gang’s wife up, Gong Daoyang arrived with his men.

His injuries had recovered well. He had removed the bandages from his arm, but for safety, he still wore a sling around his neck, supporting his injured arm when he wasn’t using it.

Seeing the police arrive, Qi Gang’s wife went limp. If Du Heng and the child hadn’t been supporting her, she would have collapsed to the ground again.

They helped her into the room and sat her down. Once she had caught her breath a little, Gong Daoyang began his questioning.

After asking about the basic situation and the results of their search so far, he said to the child, ”Child, you stay at home with your Mother. We’ll go out and help look for your dad.”

Once outside, Du Heng finally found a chance to ask Gong Daoyang, ”Gong, why did you bring people with you?”

”I had to come,” Gong Daoyang said, placing his arm, which he had just taken out, back into the sling. ”Around the New Year, there are especially many people in the villages who get desperate after losing at cards.

Remember New Year’s Eve? I was injured raiding a gambling den. And that night, a man over in Mubangou lost four thousand yuan in one evening.

He got desperate from losing, and after the game ended that evening, he killed the man who won his money and stuffed the body into someone else’s back kiln.

It happened to be snowing heavily those days. In one night, all traces were gone. Just like this situation, everyone assumed he had gone off to play somewhere else and didn’t pay it any mind.

After three days, that family ran out of things to burn for their heated bed and went to the back kiln to get firewood. That’s when they discovered the corpse and reported it.”

Gong Daoyang adjusted the position of his hand as he spoke. ”Given this situation, how could I not be worried? If he’s alright, we’ll just consider this a patrol. But if something truly bad has happened...”

He sighed. ”Anyway, let’s not dwell on it. We’ll go ask around at other houses first. If you’re not in a hurry to go back, help the villagers search. After all, he’s one of your Health Clinic people.”

Hearing Gong Daoyang finish, Du Heng also sighed.

Four thousand yuan for a life. Is it worth it?

For him now, it’s definitely not worth it.

But what about a year ago?

When he earned just over three thousand yuan a month, he would have definitely agonized over it for half a year. His big brother and sister-in-law would have nagged him for a whole year. But to risk one’s life for it? That still seemed not worth it.

To take a life—especially a young man’s life—for four thousand yuan, it’s really not worth it.

But that’s just his own way of thinking; it doesn’t represent the person who lost the money.

Besides, when people get desperate from gambling losses, sometimes other people’s lives truly might not seem as important as their own money.

Thinking of this, Du Heng felt a wave of helplessness. Gambling, it’s deadly.

Walking to the car, he called Wang Lili and her colleague out. ”Let’s not rush back just yet. Let’s help the villagers search too.”

Wang Lili and her colleague didn’t refuse. They took off their nurse uniforms, put their hats and gloves back on, and joined the search party.

They meticulously searched everywhere: the caves and cellars outside the houses, the haystacks in the wheat fields, and the ditches and gullies along the roadsides. No place was overlooked.

It was hard to say whether it was good news or not, but they found no trace of Qi Gang, nor any of his belongings.

While this brought a small sigh of relief, the search area was also expanded.

Later on, even people from the upper village heard the news and joined the search.

Meanwhile, Gong Daoyang and his team still hadn’t found any information about Qi Gang. However, as their inquiries deepened, they surprisingly managed to uncover two ”big fish” who specialized in organizing gambling operations. It was an unexpected bonus.