Du Heng had a headache after the meeting.

He hadn’t expected that not only Li Qingde but also the District Hospital would show up to divide the money.

Where did they get the nerve to come for a share? he wondered.

However, as unhappy as he was, he had to play by the rules and engage in a verbal battle with the others.

He had An Chunhui supporting him, and the others had their backers too. If he couldn’t convince everyone, he wouldn’t get the funds.

By the end of the workday that afternoon, the dust had settled, and he had managed to secure the second allotment of funds.

As he was about to hail a taxi home, he suddenly remembered he had hung up on Wang Shuqiu. He immediately called her back, only to find that no one answered.

Du Heng thought for a moment and then dialed Zhao Xinfang’s number, but this time, her phone was off.

Standing outside the bureau entrance, he thought, They must be busy right now. I don’t really want to see that family anyway. Wang Shuqiu will probably call me back once she’s free. So, he simply took a taxi home.

...

Wu Shengnan was incredibly excited, thrilled, and equally nervous. It had been two months since her transfer to the First Brigade, but during that time, she had mostly handled paperwork and hadn’t independently taken on a case.

She eagerly awaited her first case but knew that the First Brigade, as the major case team, dealt with homicides. Without sufficient experience, the team wouldn’t trust her with a case, and she knew herself that she wasn’t yet capable of handling an investigation independently.

Therefore, for two months, she had been very diligent, constantly assisting her colleagues, learning from their investigative processes, and rapidly improving her skills.

She believed that once her abilities were up to par, she would definitely step onto the true front lines of investigations.

Today, at 4:30 in the afternoon, her opportunity finally came.

The Huajin West Road Police Station reported a homicide in a residential building within their jurisdiction: three dead, two seriously injured, and one unconscious. Both critically injured individuals were women. One had abdominal and eye injuries and was currently undergoing emergency resuscitation.

The other seriously injured woman had facial lacerations and a split lip; she had also been rushed to the Emergency Room.

The unconscious person was not in life-threatening danger but showed no signs of waking.

Upon receiving the assignment, Wu Shengnan’s legs trembled with excitement.

However, she wasn’t going alone; a veteran officer was assigned to the mission with her.

They split up, one heading to the crime scene and the other to the hospital.

Since Wu Shengnan had no field experience, she was assigned to the hospital.

But when she arrived, she was stunned.

There were three survivors, but none could be questioned.

One was unconscious, and two were in the Emergency Room.

All Wu Shengnan could do was wait. It wasn’t until midnight that she received news from the other team.

Then, Wu Shengnan promptly confirmed the information with the hospital.

Han Ying, female, 48 years old, from Linzhou, a farmer, suffering from gastric rupture, liver rupture, and damage to the left eye, currently in the ICU.

Wang Shuqiu, female, 25 years old, registered in Jinzhou, a teacher at Huajin West Road Primary School, face cut with a knife, upper lip detached, currently in the ICU.

Zhao Mei, female, 53 years old, from Linzhou, unconscious.

Wu Shengnan felt nothing for the other names, but one struck a chord of familiarity.

Wang Shuqiu!!!

After racking her brains, she suddenly remembered: that was Du Heng’s girlfriend’s name.

Her heart clenched. She quickly reviewed Wang Shuqiu’s information, which matched what she had learned previously.

Wu Shengnan found Wang Shuqiu’s phone, which the police had collected. She asked a doctor to take it into the ICU and help her turn it on.

When Wu Shengnan took out the phone, opened the contact list, found the "husband" contact, and compared the number with Du Heng’s on her own phone, she suddenly felt at a loss.

At midnight, Du Heng was infuriated by the incessant ringing of his phone. Groggy, he saw Wu Shengnan’s name and hung up without a second thought.

He wanted nothing to do with this woman who burned bridges after crossing them.

But the phone rang again. Just as he was about to hang up, he saw the caller ID had changed to "Qiuqiu."

Why would she call in the middle of the night?

Half-asleep, Du Heng answered the call, but it was Wu Shengnan’s voice on the other end.

...

Du Heng’s mind went blank. He vaguely remembered his eldest brother taking him somewhere on a tricycle, and he didn’t know when Wu Shengnan had picked him up.

Now, he just stood silently outside the ICU.

He couldn’t register anything Wu Shengnan was saying; he just wanted to be left alone for a while.

The next afternoon, Wang Shuqiu, having developed no infection, was moved out of the ICU and into a regular ward.

But when Wang Shuqiu woke up, she didn’t say a word to Du Heng. Her eyes just stared blankly at the ceiling.

The doctor told Du Heng that because the wound was deep and the knife unclean, a scar might remain after she recovered.

Du Heng was silent. After a long while, he returned to the Health Clinic and spent a day and a night preparing an ointment.

When he brought it to the hospital for Wang Shuqiu to use, the doctors refused to use it.

He wanted to transfer Wang Shuqiu to another hospital—perhaps the Health Clinic, the Municipal First Hospital, or the Provincial First Hospital—but as merely her boyfriend, he had no right to request a transfer unless the patient herself applied for one.

Left with no choice, Du Heng had to pull strings again. Finally, his ointment was applied to Wang Shuqiu.

Wang Shuqiu’s mother woke up, but she wasn’t herself. She would stare blankly one moment and then suddenly descend into nonsensical ravings.

After a week in the hospital, a check-up showed she was generally fine physically, so Wang Shuqiu’s father, who had been waiting outside all along, took her home.

As he was leaving, Mr. Wang gripped Du Heng’s hand tightly. "My child," he said, "I feel at ease with you here. I want to stay with my daughter, but her mother needs to be taken home now. So, I’m entrusting my daughter to you."

Du Heng said nothing but nodded firmly, watching Wang Shuqiu’s father walk away, his figure stooped like an old man’s.

Her father had temporarily taken her mother away, but Wang Shuqiu still hadn’t spoken a single word to Du Heng.

More than two weeks later, on December 17th, Wang Shuqiu was discharged from the hospital and moved into the new house Du Heng had rented nearby.

In the room, the gauze on Wang Shuqiu’s face had been removed, revealing a thin, tender-looking pink mark.

There were no horrifying, raised scars; it had healed remarkably well.

Du Heng wanted to hug Wang Shuqiu, but she resisted slightly.

Frowning, Du Heng asked softly, "What’s wrong?"

Wang Shuqiu looked up at Du Heng for a long time before suddenly saying, "Let’s break up."

Du Heng was taken aback. He had never expected her to say that.

He reached for Wang Shuqiu again, wanting to pull her into his embrace.

This time, Wang Shuqiu didn’t resist.

"Don’t be silly, it’s all in the past," Du Heng said gently.

"No, I’m serious. Let’s break up."

Du Heng released her and looked at her earnestly. "Why?"

Wang Shuqiu must have been thinking about this for a long time. Once Du Heng asked, she began to speak slowly, "My brother is a murderer, my mom has gone mad, and I’m a jinx. I can’t drag you down. You should find a girl better than me."

She probably hasn’t recovered from what happened yet, Du Heng reckoned. After all, witnessing her own brother exchange his life for three others, only to then collapse in a pool of blood himself... that would be too much for anyone to bear.

"Stop overthinking it and get some rest," Du Heng said. "We’ll talk about this later, after you’ve had some time to calm down."

Wang Shuqiu said nothing more, just nodded calmly, then turned, entered the bedroom, and closed the door.

With Wang Shuqiu discharged from the hospital, a great weight was finally lifted from Du Heng’s heart.

After a good night’s sleep, Du Heng woke up early. Seeing Wang Shuqiu was still asleep, he left a note and went to work.

At the office, Lu Zhongjiang walked in with a document. "Dean, are you okay?"

Du Heng shook his head. "I’m fine. What’s up?"

Lu Zhongjiang glanced at Du Heng again, suppressing his concern.

He then placed the document on Du Heng’s desk. "This is an invitation from the Chinese Medicine Department of the Capital XX Good Friend Hospital. They want you to go for an academic exchange."

Du Heng was stunned, finding it hard to believe. "Are you serious? The Capital? Good Friend Hospital? An exchange? I’m just an undergraduate, a village doctor. What could I possibly exchange with them? I’m probably not even qualified for further training there." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Not only did Du Heng find it incredible, but Lu Zhongjiang himself had also been skeptical.

He had received the document a while ago but hadn’t mentioned it because Du Heng had been too busy recently.

However, Lu Zhongjiang had specifically checked it out. He inquired with the forwarding unit and verified the phone numbers on the document. It was, indeed, from the Capital Good Friend Hospital.

He called to confirm, and they affirmed that they had sent the document and even provided another contact number. When he called that number, it was answered by the assistant to the renowned National Medical Master Lan Changhua, who also confirmed the matter.

At this point, Lu Zhongjiang had no choice but to believe it.

After listening to Lu Zhongjiang, Du Heng fell silent. This is too unbelievable.

It’s good news, fantastic news even.

But I can’t leave right now; I can’t go.

That evening, Du Heng returned to the rental house but couldn’t find Wang Shuqiu.

He called her, but there was no answer.

Du Heng began to panic.

After searching for three days without any news or response, Du Heng, out of desperation, went to Wang Shuqiu’s school.

"Wang Shuqiu asked us to help her with some procedures half a month ago, while she was still in the hospital," the principal explained. "She took her things and left two days ago."

"What procedures?"

"Are you familiar with the China-Africa Cultural Exchange?"

Du Heng furrowed his brow. "I’ve heard of it."

"The Confucius Institute, as part of the China-Africa Cultural Exchange, is recruiting a number of Chinese language teachers. Ms. Wang is a language teacher, and her English is quite good, so she signed up for the project."

Du Heng thought the principal was joking. How could the China-Africa Cultural Exchange possibly have any connection with a remote and underdeveloped place in the Northwest like this?

But before he could object, the principal produced the application documents Wang Shuqiu had filed.

Du Heng felt the situation was absurd and felt his anger rising. "Principal, Wang Shuqiu was injured! She was in the hospital just half a month ago! How could she possibly apply for something like this?"

"Doctor Du, please don’t be upset. I did try to dissuade her at the time, but she was insistent, and there was nothing we could do. I even have a video recording of our discussion about this matter. The video was a requirement for her application. Would you like to see it?"

Du Heng was fuming but couldn’t vent his anger.

I can’t believe she actually went through with it. Said she’d break up, and she did, even going straight to Africa!

This explanation was hard for Du Heng to accept. Finally, with no other recourse, he asked Wu Shengnan to check Wang Shuqiu’s movements. Sure enough, they found an exit record from yesterday.

Du Heng had to hand it to her. That woman was all action, doing exactly as she said.

Forget about whether I can accept this—how am I supposed to explain her running off to Big Brother Du Ping?

My girlfriend of a year has fled to Africa... Big Brother will be absolutely furious!

Furthermore, Du Heng was genuinely shaken by Wang Shuqiu’s actions. He couldn’t understand it, couldn’t accept it.

He muddled through the next three days, unsure if he felt happy or sad; he couldn’t sleep, and food was tasteless.

Suddenly, he noticed the document on his desk, the one he had neglected for several days. He picked it up and looked at it again.

"Damn," Du Heng muttered to himself. "You left, so I’m leaving too. I’m getting out of this heartbreaking place, and that’s final!"

His mind made up, Du Heng called Lu Zhongjiang and Yu Haiting to start arranging things for his departure.

Then he went to the Bureau to ask An Chunhui for leave.

With a magnanimous wave of his hand, An Chunhui approved it.

"Going to the Capital for an academic exchange! Listen to that, an exchange! This reflects wonderfully on you. Go with an easy mind, go boldly! The position of Dean at the Health Clinic will always be yours.

"But there’s one condition: even if you have to fly back and forth, you must ensure the Health Clinic continues to run smoothly. You must maintain this current upward momentum."