This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

”Director Gong, you’re finally here.” Seeing Gong Daoyang, the village cadre seemed to have seen a savior.

Without bothering to scold or drive people away, he hurried over to Gong Daoyang’s side, as if being near Gong Daoyang could give him a sense of security.

”Hurry up and tell me, what’s going on?” Gong Daoyang asked with a frown, but he didn’t stop walking. Instead, he continued towards the familiar courtyard.

”I don’t know the specifics.”

”Then just tell me what you know.”

The village cadre took a deep breath. ”Yesterday evening, Du Da came home. From what I heard, he seemed like a normal person, even knowing how to greet people when he saw them. We don’t know what happened after he got home, but everything was reportedly normal and quiet until sometime today. Half an hour ago, his uncle suddenly burst out yelling, saying that Du Da was holding a gas cylinder and had trapped his mother in the room, threatening to die with her.”

Gong Daoyang’s face darkened, and he quickly entered the courtyard.

Inside the courtyard were the village director, Du Fei, and Du Fei’s father; everyone else had been driven away.

Having not heard anything useful from the village cadre, Gong Daoyang turned back and said, ”Don’t come in. Go out and disperse the crowd. The farther, the better. Preferably, make them all scram. Don’t let them gather here to watch.”

Gong Daoyang was annoyed, even disgusted, by those villagers who liked to watch the excitement. Every time he came to the village to handle a case, a group of people would gather around him, not only obstructing the investigation but also providing irrelevant information. They were the top disturbers of the investigation and leakers of case progress. But if you didn’t let these people watch, they were also the best at spreading rumors. Every time something like this happened, as long as they weren’t allowed to watch, various rumors would spread throughout the village within an hour, and even the surrounding villages would be affected. So, Gong Daoyang’s dislike for these people came from the bottom of his heart.

”Who found out about the situation?” Gong Daoyang stood at the doorway and looked inside, but he couldn’t see anything.

”It was me, I found out,” Du Fei’s father hurriedly stepped forward.

Unable to see clearly inside the room or hear any sound from within, Gong Daoyang stepped back. ”How did you find out? What does Du Da want to do?”

Du Fei’s father trembled slightly, his voice strained. ”I heard Du Da was back at noon today, so I hurried over to see if everything was okay at home. But when I came over at noon, Du Da seemed to have genuinely quit drugs. He was acting just like a normal person, and I was quite happy at the time. Afraid he might overthink things, I didn’t ask much and just left. In the afternoon, I thought the family could have dinner together and listen to his plans. If there was anything I could help with, I, as an elder, would lend a hand.”

As Du Fei’s father spoke, his face turned red with shame, and his eyes moistened. ”But... but who knew that as soon as I entered, I saw him holding a gas cylinder, trapping his mother in the room, threatening to die together.”

Gong Daoyang’s brow furrowed, and he asked quietly, ”Where did the gas cylinder come from?”

The village director chimed in, ”Now with all the talk about environmental pollution, coal and charcoal sales are banned. Ordinary people can only use gas cylinders or induction cookers for cooking.”

Hearing this answer, Gong Daoyang’s eyelids twitched a few times; he didn’t want to comment further on the policy issue.

”Is there gas in the cylinder?” Gong Daoyang looked at the closed doors and windows and asked the most concerning question.

Du Fei’s father nodded. ”Yes, I just had it filled and brought it back the day before yesterday.”

Gong Daoyang again muttered, ”****,” under his breath.

During their conversation, a faint smell of gas had begun to fill the courtyard, making Gong Daoyang even more anxious.

Gong Daoyang stared fixedly at the tightly closed doors and windows of the room. ”Du Da won’t just drag his mother to death like this,” he said in a low voice to Du Fei’s father. ”If he truly wanted to die, he would’ve lit the gas by now. Besides, people like him are cowardly and terrified of death. He must have a demand to pull a stunt like this. Tell me, did he make any demands?”

Du Fei’s father’s face flushed an even deeper red. He stammered, ”Yes, he did. When he was shouting earlier, he told me to send money in to him.”

Gong Daoyang’s face turned colder. Du Fei’s father’s words confirmed his own suspicions. People like him are only after money, he thought. And judging by the current situation, he probably relapsed as soon as he got out yesterday.

Smelling the increasingly strong gas odor, Gong Daoyang couldn’t wait any longer. He shouted, ”Du Da, I am Gong Daoyang from the police station! Let your mother out first. With such a strong smell of gas, you’ll both be poisoned, and then you won’t get anything you want!”

As soon as Gong Daoyang finished speaking, Du Da’s voice responded from inside the room, ”Letting her go is impossible. If I don’t even get money, what’s the use of her being alive?”

Gong Daoyang listened to Du Da’s calm voice, and his heart lurched. This meant Du Da was clear-headed now, fully aware of his actions—unlike last time when he was completely high.

”Du Da, you can state your demands. But think carefully: if your mother dies, any other demands you have will be useless.”

”Fine. Give me 100,000 yuan right now, and I’ll let her go.”