This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

On one side was an official, and on the other, a farmer. For such families to be joined by marriage was something Du Ping could never have dreamed of, yet now, Du Heng was at their front door with the girl from this very family.

Seeing it was about time, Du Ping hurriedly walked out the main gate to greet Wu Shengnan, just as he had when he first welcomed Wang Shuqiu.

As soon as Du Heng got out of the car, he saw his reserved elder brother and noticed Wu Shengnan also seemed a little uncomfortable. He quickly smiled and introduced them.

After an awkward round of pleasantries, the two tense individuals relaxed slightly, then picked up their things and prepared to head home.

”Brother, where’s Sister-in-law?”

”She’s cooking; she didn’t come out.”

”Oh.” With that, he started walking home with his elder brother. Just as they reached the entrance, they saw Liang Hehai and his two sons standing on their door platform, shouting loudly at someone below.

Looking past Liang Hehai, they saw a massive pit where their house’s entrance had collapsed. Not only was the main door gone, but even the path into their home had disappeared.

Du Heng asked curiously, ”Big brother, what happened to Liang Hehai’s house?”

Du Ping chuckled. ”What else? It collapsed.”

Du Heng was speechless at his brother’s reply. ”I’m asking *how* it collapsed.”

”Liang Lihai was trying to dig a cave dwelling underneath to use as a sheepfold. But halfway through, the cave collapsed, taking the central gate’s platform and the entrance platform of Liang Hehai’s house down with it. It even swallowed their main door.”

Glancing at the arguing people below, Du Ping added with a smile, ”Now Liang Hehai and his two sons are demanding compensation from Liang Lihai.”

Du Heng pursed his lips. ”Liang Hehai is no pushover, and his two sons are no good either. I hope they don’t beat up Lihai.”

”They won’t. The village head is down there watching. At most, they’ll argue for a while; it won’t come to blows.”

”As long as it doesn’t come to blows.”

With that, he stopped watching the arguing group and turned to follow his elder brother home.

Things like this happened every day in the countryside.

However, it wasn’t often you saw a father and his sons, like Liang Hehai and his two boys, all engaged in a shouting match. Ninety-nine percent of the time, it was the women who started cursing first, and then the men would come out to fight.

It was rare to see men, especially a father and his two sons, all hurling insults together like this.

Wu Shengnan found it fascinating and wanted to watch a bit longer. But seeing Du Heng and his brother about to go inside, she could only suppress her curiosity and follow. Still, she couldn’t help but ask, ”You said those people arguing are all surnamed Liang, right? So they should be related? How can they curse each other so viciously?”

”Viciously? In the countryside, curses don’t have much impact unless they’re aimed at your ancestors’ graves. Although they’re all surnamed Liang, strictly speaking, they can’t be considered one family anymore. At most, their great-grandfathers’ fathers were paternal cousins.”

”So, as long as they don’t hurl curses like ’shame on your ancestors’ or ’damn your entire lineage for eight generations,’ it doesn’t count as cursing themselves.”

Wu Shengnan quietly stuck out her tongue. She had never witnessed such a scene in a village before.

Once inside, his sister-in-law (Du Ping’s wife), wiping her hands, came to greet Wu Shengnan briefly before rushing back to the kitchen to make dinner. Wu Shengnan felt a bit awkward waiting in the main hall alone, so she volunteered to help in the kitchen, hoping to make a good impression.

After Wu Shengnan had gone to the kitchen, Du Heng recounted his conversation with her father to Du Ping. ”Big brother, that’s the gist of it. You’ll still need to discuss the specifics, like the betrothal gifts and the wedding date, with him.”

Du Ping silently pulled out a cigarette. The thought of discussing betrothal gifts with an important official like Wu Shengnan’s father made his hand tremble uncontrollably.

After taking a couple of harsh drags, Du Ping suddenly looked up. ”They don’t want your house, so they probably won’t ask for much in betrothal gifts. A token amount might be enough. But we can’t be too shabby. How much do you think is appropriate?”

Du Heng smiled. ”That’s not for me to say. You should discuss it with Nannan’s dad. But I also don’t think they’ll ask for much. They’re in a different position; they have to be mindful of their image.”

His younger brother was getting married. It should have been a happy occasion, but now it had become quite a dilemma.

Du Ping’s brow furrowed so deeply it almost twisted into a knot.

The Wu family clearly thought highly of him and his brother. From what Du Heng said, they also respected him greatly. But this mismatch in social standing... it was truly an agonizing and nerve-wracking predicament.

Du Ping was so worried he felt like tearing his hair out. The betrothal gifts were already a difficult issue, and the thought of the subsequent wedding banquets made him even more troubled.

If they held the banquet in the city, many of their village relatives and acquaintances would probably just send gifts without attending in person. Even if they were driven to the city, it might not go over well; people might gossip that their family was putting on airs.

But if they didn’t invite them or arrange transport, there would be even more gossip and criticism.

On the other hand, if they held it in the village, Wu Shengnan’s family, along with Du Heng’s friends and colleagues, would feel completely out of place in the rural setting. They would likely feel awkward and even embarrassed.

”Big brother, stop. My head’s about to explode from all this. Let’s just have two banquets: one in the city and one here at home.”

”That could work, but will your girlfriend be okay with it?”

”She will be. I’ll talk to her and convince her.”

Du Heng rubbed his throbbing head, quickly ending the mentally exhausting and pointless discussion.

「After dinner, Du Heng took Wu Shengnan back to his courtyard.」

Wu Shengnan curiously wandered through each room. Although the decor wasn’t as lavish as in the city, it was by no means tacky, and she found it very much to her liking.

However, as she walked around, her expression suddenly grew listless, and her mood seemed to sour.

”What’s wrong?” Du Heng asked, noticing the change in her expression as he helped her tidy the bedroom.

Wu Shengnan slowly paced a couple of circles before saying hesitantly, ”This room of yours... Wang... Never mind, it’s nothing.”

Hearing the name ”Wang,” Du Heng knew what Wu Shengnan was about to say. But it was a tricky subject; the more he said, the more likely he was to misspeak. It was better to feign ignorance.

”Alright, you can sleep in this room tonight. No one has slept in it since it was renovated.”

”I’m afraid...”

Before she could finish, a loud BANG! BANG! BANG! came from the main gate. ”Du Heng, quick, quick! Lihai and the others are fighting!”

I thought they weren’t going to fight. Why have they started now?

Du Heng rushed to the gate in a few strides. Wu Shengnan quickly shouted, ”I’m going too! I want to go too!”

Du Heng thought for a moment. ”You can come, but you can only watch. Don’t make a sound, and don’t interfere.”

”Fine.” Wu Shengnan just wanted to see the commotion; she was very curious about what a fight between villagers looked like.

The three of them hurried along, following the sounds to Liang Lihai’s family’s place.

”You’re not going anywhere! Just lie there and behave!”

”Pay for our gate! And the back wall of our house is cracked too, you have to pay for that! If you don’t pay today, don’t even think about leaving!”

As soon as they arrived, Du Heng heard the arrogant voices of Liang Hehai’s two sons.

Getting closer, he saw the two of them, one wielding a shovel and the other a sledgehammer, standing menacingly at the entrance to Liang Lihai’s house, effectively trapping everyone inside.

From within Liang Lihai’s house, they could hear his wife’s heart-wrenching sobs, the helpless cries of a child, and Liang Lihai’s old mother cursing their ancestors back for eighteen generations.

Du Heng walked closer, thinking they were just blocking the gate, and said with a placating smile, ”What’s all this about? Calm down, everyone, calm down. Put your tools down and let’s talk things over properly.”

But as soon as he pushed through the crowd, Du Heng froze.

Liang Lihai lay on the ground, groaning softly. One of his legs was soaked in blood, hanging limp.

Just then, Liang Lihai’s wife saw Du Heng and burst into loud wails. ”There’s no justice! They broke his leg and won’t even let us take him to the hospital! This is outrageous!”

Du Heng’s heart leaped into his throat. He quickly rushed to Liang Lihai’s side. ”Brother Lihai, can you hear me?”

Liang Lihai looked at Du Heng in agony. ”Yes... That son of a bitch hit me with the sledgehammer he was holding, right on my lower leg. I even heard a ’CRACK’ sound myself.”

Du Heng quickly examined Liang Lihai’s lower leg. Lifting the blood-soaked trouser leg, he saw a clear gash, as if something had ripped it open.

Reaching out to feel the obviously injured area, with just one press, Du Heng knew: the tibiofibular bone was completely fractured, and the displacement was severe.