This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

Hearing Wu Buwei’s evaluation of You Fang, Du Heng chuckled. The unpleasantness from Yang Yuansheng’s situation also dissipated significantly.

”Doesn’t the old saying go, ’don’t judge a book by its cover’? We also have a saying in Central Lake: ’Still waters run deep.’ Alright, let’s hurry inside and take a look. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can get back to our meal.”

As he spoke, Du Heng stepped onto the clinic’s stairs.

The village clinic’s business was quite good. Upon entering, he saw three old ladies on IV drips. Further in, a middle-aged woman was attempting to insert an IV needle into a child’s arm.

However, her technique seemed poor. She had tried to insert the needle several times without success, causing the child to cry out in pain and constantly recoil, wailing nonstop.

Du Heng glanced around the small clinic but didn’t see Yang Zhengnong. The woman attempting the IV also looked unfamiliar.

The woman didn’t notice them behind her. She forcefully grabbed the child’s hand again, muttering at the child’s parent, ”Hold your child still! Look, he keeps moving. How many times have I missed because of that? Let me tell you, if I miss again, I’m not trying anymore.”

The child, only five or six years old, was held tightly by his parent, his face a mask of pure fear.

The child’s mother looked equally distressed. Scolded by the woman with the needle, she was clearly upset but dared not voice her anger. Her heart ached as she looked at her crying child.

The woman’s actions were rough. She grabbed the child’s arm, yanking it hard, her voice fierce. ”Stop crying! Cry again, and I’ll poke your hand full of holes!”

The child shivered in fear. Seeing the needle in the woman’s hand, he cried even louder, trying harder to pull his hand away.

Just as the woman was about to lose her patience, Du Heng tapped the medicine cabinet in front of him. ”Doctor?”

The woman heard him and looked back. Seeing new arrivals, she immediately forced a smile. ”Just a moment, I’ll be right there.”

She glanced back at the still-crying child, roughly pushed his arm aside, stuck the needle into the IV bag, and walked over to the counter.

Now, the woman wore a broad smile. ”Are you two here to buy medicine or see a doctor?”

Wu Buwei stepped forward, about to speak, when Du Heng stopped him. Smiling, Du Heng said to the woman, ”I’m feeling unwell. I’d like to see the doctor.”

The woman looked Du Heng up and down. ”What’s wrong with you?”

”My back hurts, and I often feel very tired and weak.”

”Oh, you’ve caught a cold. We’ve been having a late spring cold snap, with the weather shifting between cold and hot. You’re dressed so lightly; you must have caught a chill from the wind.”

Saying this, she turned and took two boxes of medicine from the cabinet behind her. ”Take these two medicines together. You’ll be fine after a couple of doses.”

Du Heng touched his nose. ”Aren’t you going to examine me? I don’t think it’s a cold.”

”If you think it’s that serious, why come to the clinic? You could just treat yourself, couldn’t you? Trust me, I’m right. Look at those people behind you; they all have the same symptoms as you.”

The woman spoke with such conviction, she almost patted her chest in assurance.

Du Heng felt his anger rising but took a deep breath and managed to suppress it. ”How much is this medicine?”

”Seventy-eight.” The woman had just finished speaking when she saw Du Heng’s expression change and hurriedly added, ”Let me tell you, you get what you pay for. This medicine is expensive for a reason—it has fewer side effects and works quickly.”

Wu Buwei was already finding it hard to hold back, but seeing Du Heng still wanted to ask something, he could only stand behind him, fuming silently.

The angrier Du Heng became, the calmer he appeared. His voice even lightened considerably. ”The Cold Capsules I took before worked well. Just give me some of those.”

The woman’s face fell. She reluctantly put the two boxes of medicine back and then took two blister packs of Cold Capsules from a plastic basket under the counter, slapping them onto the countertop. ”You people just want what’s cheap. Don’t you know these cheap medicines are very harmful to the liver and kidneys?”

Listening to the woman’s nonsense, Du Heng still managed a smile. ”Really? So, can I get an IV drip then?”

The woman immediately brightened. ”An IV drip is good! It delivers the medicine directly into the veins, so it’s fully absorbed and works quickly. Sit right there; I’ll set it up for you. After that, I still have to give that child his injection.”

This last statement truly stunned Du Heng. He felt a distinct buzzing in his head.

He looked at the woman uncertainly. ”Did you just say you’ll set up the IV for me? You’ll prepare the medication?”

”Of course. If I don’t prepare it, are you going to do it yourself? Sit down; it’ll just take a moment.”

With that, the woman went into an adjacent room, apparently to get the IV fluids.

Du Heng and Wu Buwei exchanged a look, their eyes reflecting mutual shock and bewilderment.

This clinic had only ever had one registered doctor, Yang Zhengnong. And he wasn’t even a fully qualified physician, just a medical practitioner—though that wasn’t the main issue here.

The question was, who was this woman? Where had she appeared from? And what gave her the audacity to administer IVs to patients?

Was she a relative of Yang Zhengnong who knew some medicine?

Or perhaps a nurse with some training?

Both were filled with doubt and confusion. While the woman was in the other room, Du Heng glanced at the IV bags hanging for the three old ladies. They had nothing on them but the original glucose labels.

All three IV bags were identical!

This meant no one knew what medication had been added to the IV bags.

He walked over to look at the child’s IV. The child’s IV bag was the same, just a smaller size than those of the three elderly women.

Looking down at the sobbing child, Du Heng saw that his left hand was already bruised and purplish, and his right hand had several needle marks.

This woman doesn’t know proper nursing procedures; she hasn’t learned how to administer an IV, the thought suddenly struck Du Heng.

”Excuse me, what’s wrong with the child?” Du Heng asked the child’s parent softly.

The woman holding the child looked at her son with heartache. ”He caught a cold,” she said.

”How many days?”

”Two days.”

Du Heng let out a soft breath, felt the child’s forehead, then took his small hand.

Pretending to examine the needle marks on the child’s hand, he discreetly took his pulse.

Just a cold, nothing serious, Du Heng concluded.

Du Heng looked up at the IV bag. ”Who prepared this IV for the child? Do you know what medicine is in it?”

”I don’t know what medicine it is. Sister-in-law Yang said it would be effective, so she set up the IV for him.”

Just as Du Heng was about to ask more, the woman returned, holding a bag of saline solution.

Seeing Du Heng near the child, she called out, ”You, come sit over here. The child’s afraid of needles and making a fuss.”

Looking at the shouting woman, Du Heng felt an unusual calm. He walked over to her and asked, ”What medicine have you put in this IV for me? I’m allergic to certain medications, you know.”

”Don’t worry, these are all common medicines for colds. You won’t be allergic.”

”You should still tell me. What if there’s something I’m allergic to?”

Du Heng kept insisting on knowing the medication, which clearly irritated the woman. ”Are you getting this IV or not?” she snapped.

”Just tell me what medicine you’re using, and I’ll get it.”

The woman clearly flinched, her gaze towards Du Heng turning suspicious.

Realizing he wouldn’t get a straight answer from her about the medicine, Du Heng asked directly, ”The doctor of this clinic is Yang Zhengnong, right? Where is he now?”

”You know my father-in-law?”

Du Heng’s eyelids twitched. ”Yang Zhengnong is your father-in-law? Where is he now?”

Sensing something was off about Du Heng’s tone, the woman stammered, remaining silent.

Du Heng pressed further, ”Since you’re administering IVs and prescribing medication, let me see your professional qualifications—doctor’s or nurse’s, either will do.”

The woman grew flustered. ”Who exactly are you? What do you want?”

Du Heng gave a slight smile. ”My name is Du Heng. Call your father-in-law right now. I’ll wait for him here.”

With that, he ignored the woman and turned to Wu Buwei. ”Remove the IVs for those three aunties, and also collect the IV fluid from the child’s drip. I want to see exactly what kind of concoction you’ve been giving everyone.”