This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

Where is he?

This was the question on everyone’s mind.

A large, living, breathing man had just vanished without a trace.

But the strange thing was, despite so many people calling his phone repeatedly, it was still on; it hadn’t powered off due to a dead battery.

This puzzled not only the searchers but also Gong Daoyang and his team.

By the time Du Heng and Gong Daoyang regrouped, the sun had completely set.

The villagers who had been helping with the search had returned home. Qi Gang’s wife, having received no news, had collapsed onto the bed, overwhelmed by her own terrifying thoughts about what might have happened. She couldn’t bring herself to get up.

Du Heng planned to suggest to Gong Daoyang that they send Wang Lili and her companion home first. The two women had been searching with them all afternoon and were now exhausted and famished.

Meanwhile, Gong Daoyang was making one last desperate effort. If they still couldn’t find Qi Gang or get any leads, he would have to request technical support, starting by trying to trace the man’s mobile phone.

Gazing at Qi Gang’s wife, prostrate on the bed and unable to rise, Gong Daoyang pinned his last hope on their son, a ninth-grader.

After taking the boy to another room, Gong Daoyang asked softly, ”Do your parents argue?”

”They do. Whenever I’m home, I can hear them arguing.”

”What about?”

”My dad loves to play cards and drink, and he always loses money. My mom scolds him for it.”

”Has your father ever disappeared like this before?”

”I don’t know. When I’m home, I’ve never known my dad to be gone for this long.”

The day’s events had frightened the boy. He was worried about his father and his mother, yet he had to force himself to appear calm. ”But I’ve been at school most of the time these past two years, so I don’t know the specifics.”

”Do your parents ever get physical when they argue?”

”When their arguments get really heated, yes. My mom always starts the physical fights, but she’s no match for my dad.”

”When your dad hits your mom, does he hit her hard?”

Du Heng shot a sharp look at Gong Daoyang.

The boy might not have understood what Gong Daoyang was implying, but Du Heng sensed that Gong Daoyang’s questions were heading in the wrong direction.

Was he suspecting Qi Gang’s wife?

The boy shook his head. ”Not really. My mom always starts it, and my dad just holds her back until she calms down. Then it’s over.”

Gong Daoyang’s frown deepened. This wasn’t what he had anticipated.

Du Heng suddenly interjected, ”Do your parents argue often?”

”A lot. Whenever my dad goes out to play cards or drink, they definitely argue. Even though it’s wrong for my dad to go out drinking and playing cards, sometimes I find my mom too naggy.”

Du Heng looked at Gong Daoyang. ”Gong, is it possible Qi Gang finds his wife too overbearing and that’s why he doesn’t want to come home?”

Gong Daoyang considered this. ”Unlikely. They’ve argued before, so why would he suddenly be too afraid of an argument to come home this time? Besides, it’s been several days. He’s not answering his phone, and he’s not home. That’s even more suspicious.”

Du Heng said, ”Maybe their previous arguments were just minor squabbles, but this time he lost over ten thousand yuan. He could be hiding somewhere right now, trying to figure out how to get the money.”

Gong Daoyang mulled over Du Heng’s suggestion, then shook his head. ”No, that doesn’t add up.”

Du Heng sighed. Well, if it wasn’t right, it wasn’t right. ”Gong, you carry on here for a bit. I’ll take the two ladies back first.”

”Okay, you go ahead. We’ll keep trying to figure something out.”

Without further delay, Du Heng left.

This whole situation today... he thought. It was distressing, frustrating, and deeply worrying.

”Let’s go. I’ll take you home. Thank you both for your hard work,” Du Heng said to the two women, then quickly started the car to drive them back.

”Lili, did Doctor Su call today? How’s Qi Cai?”

”Doctor Su said his condition is critical. He had a brainstem hemorrhage exceeding 20 milliliters. If it weren’t for your emergency treatment, Qi Cai wouldn’t have even had a chance of survival. He was moved to the ICU after surgery, but it’s uncertain if he’ll ever regain consciousness.”

Wang Lili looked at Du Heng with a complex expression. ”And even if he does wake up, he’ll likely have permanent neurological damage, with a ninety-nine percent chance of total paralysis.”

Du Heng’s hands trembled, and the car swerved slightly, but he quickly corrected its course.

His face, however, had turned frighteningly pale.

Clinically, a brainstem hemorrhage of ten milliliters meant an almost zero survival rate, let alone one now exceeding twenty milliliters.

It sounded like a remarkable achievement, he thought with bitter irony.

But complete paralysis... Apart from being able to swallow and move his eyes, he wouldn’t be able to do anything else. He wouldn’t even be able to speak. And the damage would be permanent; the chances of any functional recovery were infinitesimally small.

And Qi Cai was only in his forties, living in a rural village... This...

Would his family want him to live like this?

Would he himself want to live like this?

Had he made a mistake by saving him?

Du Heng felt utterly lost.

He suddenly recalled the reactions of the villagers and Qi Cai’s wife when he’d entered their home earlier that day. Perhaps, even back then, they had already decided not to try to save Qi Cai.

In a situation like that, was it right to save him?

He mulled it over for a long time. It seemed that both saving him and not saving him were the wrong choices.

Du Heng had the unsettling premonition that he was going to go mad.

Just as his mind was becoming thoroughly dazed, his phone, lying on the seat beside him, suddenly rang, instantly jolting him back to his senses.

Du Heng’s eyes snapped back into focus. He took several deep, ragged breaths and slowly, carefully, pulled the car over to the side of the road.

He realized he’d driven a considerable distance with no conscious memory of how he’d managed it.

Gazing at the road shoulder that seemed to drop off into an abyss on the other side, the image of Bing recklessly driving the tricycle flashed vividly through his mind. A cold sweat instantly drenched his back.