Village Doctor's Women-Chapter 40 Ren Yu Missing

It was normal for a young girl to have a temper, so Wang Jian didn’t think much of it. She would probably be back to her cheerful self by tomorrow, laughing and joking with him as if nothing had happened. It was just like when they were children; her tantrums never lasted through the night. With that in mind, Wang Jian wasn’t too worried about Ren Yu as he left the village committee office and headed straight for home.

As Wang Jian approached his house, the aroma of food wafted toward him, and he could almost see a table full of delicious dishes.

"You’re back?"

"Yeah."

Xu Qian’s voice carried over. Wang Jian looked up and saw her in a short skirt with an apron tied over it, carrying dishes from the yard into the air-conditioned room. The sight instantly eased the fatigue of his day.

"Tired, are you? Come and eat. The food is just ready," Xu Qian said gently. "If you hadn’t come back soon, I would have called you. Why are you a little late today?" she asked while setting the table, arranging bowls and chopsticks for them both.

Wang Jian shook his head and sighed as he sat down. "There was a bit of an incident while I was seeing patients today."

"What happened?" Xu Qian sat down across from him, asking naturally, "Did you run into a difficult case? Something hard to treat?"

"Not really."

Deep down, Wang Jian actually hoped to encounter some rare and complicated diseases. They were more challenging. But at the same time, he didn’t want his patients to suffer from such illnesses, as they were often difficult to diagnose and treat. It was a conflicting feeling.

This sigh, of course, wasn’t about that.

"Today, an old man came to see me, brought in by two thugs. He was describing symptoms that weren’t even his own. It was a real eye-opener to see someone try to get a diagnosis like that."

Xu Qian frowned, her expression clearly bewildered.

"I don’t know what those two thugs were thinking. They brought the old man over, but they actually wanted me to check them out."

Wang Jian laughed. "I can’t believe people still try to piggyback on someone else’s doctor’s visit. I could see it happening back when health insurance wasn’t comprehensive, but now? At a free clinic? I was completely baffled. At first, I actually thought I had misdiagnosed the symptoms."

"Hahaha! So you finally got your shoes wet after walking by the river so often, huh? I bet that was a shock."

"You’re not wrong. I really felt that way for a moment," Wang Jian said with a sheepish smile. "A doctor’s biggest fear is making a wrong diagnosis. A mistake like that would be a disaster. Fortunately, the thug’s symptoms were obvious. With one look, I could see they matched the description the old man had given me. I called them out on it right there, so thankfully I wasn’t embarrassed."

"Did those two thugs cause a scene?" Xu Qian asked in surprise. "They must have, right? As thugs, they probably felt humiliated. They might even hold a grudge against you now."

"Yeah, you’re right," Wang Jian nodded and smiled. "They even threatened me, told me to watch my back walking at night, said they’d break my legs."

"Then on your way back, did you..." Xu Qian gasped, grabbing Wang Jian’s hand and looking him over. "You didn’t run into them, did you?"

"Nope."

Wang Jian looked at her hand on his and grinned mischievously. "Even if I had, you should be checking my legs, not holding my hand. Are you taking this chance to get fresh with me?"

"Tch."

Xu Qian shot him a look and tried to pull her hand back, but he held it tight. She couldn’t possibly get it free. Not only did he refuse to let go, he also started tickling her palm.

He’s impossible.

"Can you be serious for a second?" Xu Qian tapped his hand away with the back of her chopsticks and continued, "So, today was your first day working with the young lady. How was it having a pretty girl keeping you company? Feeling good?"

"You mean Ren Yu? That girl was very well-behaved all day. She followed directions easily, so yes, it was quite pleasant." As Wang Jian spoke, he watched Xu Qian’s face. Noticing a hint of jealousy, he teased, "Weren’t you the one who told her to go with me? Why are you getting jealous now?"

"Who’s jealous? You’re talking nonsense." Xu Qian refused to admit it and changed the subject. "You came back with Xiao Yu today, so why didn’t you bring her home for dinner? It’s her first day; you should have had a meal together."

After all, Xu Qian had made breakfast and lunch for them, so one more meal wasn’t a big deal.

Wang Jian shook his head. "We didn’t come back together. I don’t know what got into her when we were leaving. She suddenly threw a fit and ran off on her own. She claimed Uncle Ren was rushing her home for dinner, then stormed off. I have no idea how I offended her."

"Look," he said, handing her his phone. "This girl can be so thoughtless. I told her to text me when she got home, and she still hasn’t."

Xu Qian felt something was wrong as she listened. She took the phone and, sure enough, apart from Wang Jian’s message asking if she was home, there was no reply. Just as she was wondering about it, the phone buzzed in her hand with a new WeChat message for Wang Jian.

"Uncle Ren: Xiao Jian, are you guys off work? I made dinner and have been waiting for a while, but Xiao Yu still isn’t back. Did she go over to your place?"

"Xiao Jian, look!" Xu Qian’s face filled with alarm as she shoved the phone back at him. "Xiao Yu never went home! You have to check on this. What if something happened? It’s her first day working with you. If anything happened to her, it would be a huge problem."

Wang Jian’s expression changed the moment he read the message. He immediately thought of Li Long and Zhao Hu.

If those two were really planning to ambush him tonight, and Xiao Yu had left early, it was very possible she ran right into them. The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

Although Wang Jian hadn’t hung out with Ren Yu in years, he knew her personality. She could be mischievous, but she would never joke about something like this.

The thought had barely formed when Wang Jian slammed his chopsticks down. "I’m going out. If Uncle Ren shows up, tell him not to panic." Reaching the door, he stopped and added, "Call the police. Report her as a missing person."

"I’m going to the village entrance to look for her."

Xu Qian wanted to tell him to wait for the police, but thinking about Ren Yu, she just said, "Be careful."

Neither of them had any appetite left. Xu Qian simply picked up her phone and dialed 110.

When someone goes missing, you don’t actually have to wait twenty-four or forty-eight hours. A report can be filed as soon as there’s a reason for suspicion. But in the mountains, the police force wasn’t large or nearby. After making the call, it would take at least half an hour for officers to arrive on the scene. That was why Wang Jian had run out on his own.

「...」

Although roads had been built through the mountains, there were no streetlights. The only illumination came from the lights spilling out of the neighbors’ houses.

Wang Jian switched on his phone’s flashlight and hurried toward the village committee office.

Li Dayu and the others should still be there cleaning up. If Ren Yu was okay, maybe she was still with them. Clinging to that sliver of hope, Wang Jian ran.

He scanned the sides of the road as he went, but at this hour, almost all the villagers were inside. There was practically no one around. His hope of asking for information was dashed for now.

When he rushed to the village entrance, his face etched with anxiety, he saw Li Dayu sending some people off.

"Village Chief! Tell everyone not to leave!"

The sudden shout startled Li Dayu and his group.

"What happened to Doctor Wang?"

"Yeah, I’ve never seen him look like that."

"Is something wrong at home?"

"He told us not to leave... is this about us?"

"Oh, stop overthinking it. Doctor Wang must have a good reason to be like this."

The ten of them—a mix of nurses and male orderlies—had varied personalities. They were just ordinary people here to do a job, not much closer than strangers. Their unified reaction, all of them getting out of the car without a word, was entirely because of their experiences over the last two days.

While two days wasn’t long, it had been eventful, especially the incident with the two thugs that afternoon.

Doctor Wang was so young, yet he had taken on a three-day free clinic all by himself. Even Doctor Niu and Doctor Deng called him a genius. He had incredible medical skills, was handsome, and was beloved by his patients. He was simply amazing.

Wang Jian ran up to Li Dayu and blurted out his question, his eyes scanning the area. Seeing no sign of Ren Yu, his expression grew even more frantic.

"Village Chief, have you seen Xiao Yu?"

"Didn’t Xiao Yu go home early? We’ve been cleaning up at the village entrance this whole time and haven’t seen anyone leave. If you’re looking for her, why aren’t you checking her house?"

Without wasting a second, Wang Jian saw Li Dayu shake his head and quickly explained that Ren Yu might have been cornered by the two thugs.

"Why would they grab Xiao Yu?" Li Dayu exclaimed, shocked. "Li Long and Zhao Hu are bad news. If they have her, this is terrible. What if something happens..."

Li Dayu’s mind raced. Li Long and Zhao Hu had managed to evade the last police crackdown, which meant they weren’t idiots. So why would they do something like this now? If I had known, I would’ve asked Mr. Cai to send more people...

Li Dayu was filled with regret. After the earlier incident seemed resolved, he had called to say everything was fine, so of course, no backup had been sent.

Wang Jian’s brow was deeply furrowed, and he said nothing more.

He was just an ordinary man who happened to know a little about medicine. When it came to finding someone, he was completely at a loss. Could they only wait for the police? If so, he feared it would be too late.

As Wang Jian thought it over, he felt something wasn’t right.

Li Dayu’s question was a good one: why would Li Long and Zhao Hu capture Xiao Yu? At this time of night, where could they even take someone? The village exit is being watched, and trying to navigate the mountain paths in the dark is a good way to get killed. Besides, they only want revenge on me. There’s no reason for them to escalate things this much. That means the reason they grabbed Xiao Yu is still related to him.

The realization snapped Wang Jian back to his senses; he had been so frantic that he hadn’t stopped to think it through.

As he mulled it over, Wang Jian bid farewell to Li Dayu and the others, asking them to help search since there was strength in numbers. First, though, he had to go to Ren Yu’s house. No matter what, he had to tell Uncle Ren what was happening.