This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

After Du Yi’s little episode, Du Heng discussed the current state of Oral Medicine and its future employment prospects with his brother and sister-in-law.

However, Du Yi wasn’t interested in listening. He wanted to find Wang Shuqiu and Du Xuejing, so he kept pestering Zhang Sumei to take him there.

Zhang Sumei, exasperated, had no choice but to take Du Yi. Besides, she also wanted to see what kind of curtains Wang Shuqiu had bought.

With only the two brothers left, the scope of their conversation broadened somewhat.

Halfway through, Du Ping suddenly said, ”You weren’t back yesterday, so you wouldn’t know. Du Bing got beaten up by his former brother-in-law—his wife’s sister’s ex-husband.”

”What happened? Is it serious?”

Du Bing was the cousin who had introduced Du Heng to his own wife’s younger sister three months ago.

His family and Du Heng’s family had a very poor relationship. So, when Du Ping mentioned Du Bing being beaten, his tone was that of an onlooker anticipating drama, devoid of any concern.

”I heard he’s been having an affair with his wife’s younger sister.”

Du Heng casually asked, ”Hasn’t his wife’s younger sister been divorced for a long time? Besides, he (Du Bing) was beaten by him (the ex-husband) once before, so why did it flare up again?”

”It’s all that same damn mess. Before, it was just a rumor that he and his wife’s younger sister weren’t on good terms, and it supposedly blew over after that fight. Recently, I heard they were going to remarry for the sake of their child. But somehow, they got caught together at home, and Du Bing nearly had his brains beaten out.”

He deserves it. Du Heng thought, feeling not a shred of sympathy.

The things their family had done to his own were unimaginable, even though they were descendants of the same great-grandfather.

Du Ping felt the same way, recounting it merely as gossip. ”Du Bing and his wife had a huge fight today too. It threw the whole village into an uproar and gave everyone quite a spectacle. You should have seen it; Du Bing’s wife was like a madwoman, her nails leaving bloody scratches all over Du Bing’s face.”

”Du Bing’s wife is no pushover. In our village, she’s picked fights with everyone, from ninety-nine-year-olds down to teenagers. I don’t think this is over yet.”

”Why don’t you skip work tomorrow and stick around for the show?” Du Ping joked, a rare instance of him teasing Du Heng.

Du Heng chuckled. ”I’m not interested in watching.” He stood up and started walking out. ”Big Brother, come take a look with me. Xiao Qiu mentioned wanting to renovate the rooms on the second floor as well, and I’d like your input on how to go about it.”

Du Ping laughed along, knowing it was just a jest; he didn’t really expect Du Heng to skip work for village drama. ”Alright, let’s go see.”

The two brothers were chatting and laughing as they walked out, only to bump squarely into someone right as they exited.

Du Heng stumbled back a step, thankfully steadied by Du Ping beside him. The newcomer fared worse, knocked right off their feet and onto the ground.

When they saw who it was, it turned out to be Liang Lihai from their village. The two brothers quickly reached out to help him up, asking with a smile, ”Lihai, what’s the rush?”

Liang Lihai didn’t smile. He didn’t even bother to brush the dirt off his butt. He said urgently, ”Du Bing’s wife hanged herself! Hurry, go take a look!” With that, he grabbed Du Heng’s arm and started to pull him along.

This news stunned them both.

Just moments ago, they were gossiping about that family’s affairs. How could she have hanged herself so suddenly?

”Lihai, you can’t spread rumors about something like this. You know what kind of person Du Bing’s wife is. If you’re talking nonsense, she’ll make you regret it.”

”This is a matter of life and death! How could I talk nonsense?” Liang Lihai urged, not slowing his pace. ”You know their backyard is just separated from ours by a wall, and it’s not a high one. I had just gone to load some grass for the mule when I saw something hanging from the pear tree in their backyard.

At first, I thought it was a piece of plastic or something and paid it no mind. But after a few more steps, I realized it looked like a person. I moved closer and saw clearly it was Du Bing’s wife, just hanging there, her legs still kicking!

To be honest, it scared the living daylights out of me; I nearly peed my pants.”

At this, Du Heng and Du Ping could no longer doubt him.

Du Heng quickened his pace, breaking into a near jog. ”How is she?”

”I tried to lift her by myself to get her down, but you know Du Bing’s wife, she’s too heavy. I couldn’t manage it alone. I could only try to hold her up from below and yelled for my wife to go get Du Bing.

By the time they got her down, her face was already blue.

Du Bing and the others carried her into the house. I didn’t even stop to check if she was breathing; I just rushed over to find you.”

As Du Heng jogged, he said to Du Ping running beside him, ”Big Brother, grab my needle tool kit for me, will you? It’s in that bag on the sofa. I’ll go on ahead.”

Du Ping stopped short. ”Okay!” he said, then turned and ran back towards the house.

By the time Du Heng and Liang Lihai, panting, reached Du Bing’s house, less than a minute had passed.

The house was already crammed with people, all neighbors from the vicinity.

”Make way, make way! Let me through!” Du Heng, stuck at the doorway, yelled anxiously.

Hearing Du Heng’s voice, the crowd quickly parted to make a narrow path for him.

Without a word, Du Heng squeezed through the small opening.

In the innermost circle of people, Du Bing and his father stood frozen, staring blankly at the bed like headless flies.

On the bed, besides Du Bing’s wife, was Liang Limin, who was repeatedly pressing her philtrum.

Seeing no response, he anxiously yelled, ”Child’s urine! Quickly, get a bowl of child’s urine!”

Believe it or not, someone actually turned to fetch some.

It seemed saving Ma, the one who bought the sheep, had given Liang Limin a peculiar faith in child’s urine.

Seeing the stunned Du Bing and his father, and then Liang Limin’s futile rescue attempts, Du Heng put aside any past grievances with their family. He lunged towards the bed in a single stride, pushing Liang Limin aside.

Up close, Du Heng took in the situation.

The woman lay flat, her face cyanotic, lips blue, and her entire face smeared with saliva and mucus.

Du Heng’s heart plummeted.

He recalled Liang Lihai saying that her legs were still kicking when he found her, so Du Heng had assumed she was still breathing when they got her down.

But seeing her condition now, a chill ran down Du Heng’s spine.

Shoving Liang Limin aside, the first thing Du Heng did was quickly pull out the pillow from under her head.

A pillow? Were they trying to make sure she couldn’t be saved?

But these people were all farmers; how would they know not to use a pillow? They didn’t even have basic first aid knowledge.

Du Heng first felt the back of her neck; it wasn’t broken.

He checked her breathing—nothing.

Her pulse—gone.

He checked for a heartbeat—absent.

Damn it, is she dead?

Damn it! Du Heng cursed inwardly and immediately began cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). While performing compressions, he yelled, ”Du Bing, what are you standing there for? Get over here and do artificial respiration!”

Startled by Du Heng’s shout, Du Bing seemed to snap out of his stupor. He scrambled clumsily to his wife’s side and began blowing air into her mouth, heedless of the saliva and mucus covering her face.