Five accidental deaths at once threw the three main administrative units of small Zhonghu into turmoil. Dong Yuezhang was the most troubled among them. When the last body was pulled up and its death confirmed by Yu Haiting and the others, Dong Yuezhang’s face turned ashen. Five people—three men and two women—all from the most vital labor force in the village. How were these families going to survive?

Du Heng, however, was the most composed of the three; his only remaining task was to handle the deceased. But the visual shock from earlier had left him deeply unsettled. His forehead began to throb at the mere thought of facing the wailing, grieving families.

Yu Haiting had been holding up relatively well, but that changed after he came out of the mortuary. He had never expected to see bodies in such a "mangled" state. By the time he entered Du Heng’s office, his cheeks were pale and his lips colorless, whether from fright or the biting cold, he couldn’t tell.

The warmth from the heater in Du Heng’s office slowly brought some color back to his face. He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing, then asked, "Dean, what’s the procedure for the bodies now?"

Du Heng fought to suppress the gruesome images, but they kept flashing through his mind, growing clearer the more he tried to push them away. His own Adam’s apple bobbed twice. "The families should be here to claim them soon," he said, his voice strained.

Yu Haiting forced a swallow, trying to moisten his parched throat. "Dean," he began, "what I mean is, should we... prepare the bodies? I’m worried the families will be horrified."

Du Heng’s mind jolted. He’s right. Do the bodies need some preparation? He knew the circumstances of these families. Bing, for instance, only had his mother and child left. He had no siblings, no one to spare his mother the ordeal of identifying the body.

Du Heng let out a long sigh. "Have Dean Ruoge contact the funeral home."

"Dean Ruoge suggested that too," Yu Haiting said, "but what about the expenses?"

We can’t possibly ask the families for money at a time like this, can we? Given the state of two of the bodies, the funeral home’s services wouldn’t be cheap; it could easily run into the tens of thousands. That was a difficult sum to manage. If it were less, the Health Clinic might absorb the cost, but such a large amount would be hard to justify in the accounts. And who would dare present a bill to the grieving families now?

This was why Cui Guanghaia was so troubled. He didn’t want to take on this particular problem, so he’d passed it to Yu Haiting. After all, Yu Haiting was the head of medical operations, and even if this wasn’t strictly his purview, Cui Guanghaia felt it should be pushed his way. Yu Haiting, similarly, wanted nothing to do with it. He wasn’t in charge of finances and steered clear of monetary matters; he knew his role. And so, the thorny issue bounced back to Du Heng.

Du Heng’s head throbbed. This is a hundred times harder than diagnosing a patient, he thought. Rubbing his temples, he said wearily, "Get someone. The bodies must be made presentable. As for the cost, once it’s done, have Vice Dean Cui Guanghaia send the bill to Mayor Dong’s office. This is something the Administrative Department should handle."

Yu Haiting frowned. "And if Mayor Dong refuses to handle it?"

"Don’t worry, he’ll handle it," Du Heng said. "Also, tell Dean Ruoge we can cover twenty percent of the expenses. Mayor Dong can figure out the rest."

Du Heng rubbed his temples again, still feeling out of sorts. He stood up to leave. "Old Yu, please keep an eye on things today. I’m not feeling well; I need to get some rest."

Yu Haiting nodded. "Dean," he added, "I noticed the others who went to the ravine with you don’t look too good either. Should they rest as well?"

Du Heng paused. What Yu Haiting had seen were bodies that had already undergone initial cleaning. Even so, Yu Haiting had clearly been physically affected. How much more so for the young doctors and nurses who had faced the raw, initial scene for the first time?

"Alright. Let them take the day off. They should get some proper sleep, or go out and do something enjoyable to clear their heads." Since Du Heng was taking time off himself, he couldn’t expect the others to remain at their posts, especially the younger ones who had been with him at the ravine. A leader needs to be considerate of their staff, he thought.

After Yu Haiting left, Du Heng locked himself in his dormitory room, pulled the covers over his head, and tried to sleep. Initially, his mind reeled with a chaotic succession of images, flashing by so quickly they made him dizzy. Amidst the dizziness, he eventually drifted into a heavy, disorienting sleep, losing all track of time. When he next opened his eyes, darkness had fallen outside his window.

Du Heng shook his groggy, aching head. He sat on the edge of his bed for a long moment, trying to clear the fog, before it suddenly struck him: he’d completely forgotten to make arrangements for his niece. He scrambled out of bed, threw on his shoes and a padded cotton coat, and hurried outside.

He hadn’t gone more than a few steps when he heard bursts of cheerful chatter and laughter coming from the adjacent dormitory room, punctuated by Du Xuejing’s distinct, clear laugh.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

"Come in!"

Du Heng pushed the door open. Inside, a group of young women were gathered in a circle, watching TV and enjoying a self-heating hot pot. The dormitory room was filled with the rich aroma of spicy broth and an air of youthful energy. At the sight of Du Heng, the newer nurses immediately grew reserved and stood up. Only two of the longer-serving staff members remained seated, smiling at him.

One of them gestured invitingly. "Dean, you haven’t eaten, have you? Join us!"

Du Xuejing put down her fork and hurried over to Du Heng. "Little Uncle, are you feeling better? You’ve slept the whole day through!"

Du Heng glanced at Du Xuejing but addressed the room with a smile. "What’s all this? No one’s heading home tonight?"

Li Nating, from amidst the group, explained, "There aren’t many of us on duty tonight, Dean, and everyone’s a little spooked. Plus, the snow is coming down really heavily. So we decided to stay and watch TV together in the dormitory."

"That sounds like a good idea," Du Heng said. "I won’t disturb you then. Enjoy your show." He then looked at Du Xuejing. "I was worried you might not have gotten dinner, but I see you’ve managed to join a hot pot party. Alright, have fun, and listen to your older sisters here. No mischief." With that, Du Heng didn’t stay any longer and turned to leave the dormitory room.

Du Xuejing quickly followed him out. "Little Uncle, wait! You must be starving after sleeping all day. I saved some food for you. Go to your room and wait; I’ll heat it up and bring it over." Then, she cheerfully bounced back into her dormitory room.

The cold night air outside helped clear Du Heng’s head considerably. Seeing his cheerful niece, who had remembered he hadn’t eaten, a warmth spread through his heart. Today had clearly taken a significant toll. After dinner, he idly flipped through a book for a short while before drifting off to sleep again.

「Early the next morning.」

Du Heng went to check on Liu Amei first. Her spirits, however, weren’t as good as they had been the past two days; she seemed quite listless. But judging from her pulse, Liu Amei’s overall condition was improving, so Du Heng wasn’t overly concerned. Upon inquiry, he learned that as her medication dosage increased and her bodily functions began to recover, Liu Amei had become more acutely aware of the pain from the tumor. This was, however, a normal phase; Zhu Minyan had experienced the same thing. Fortunately, this period was relatively short, lasting about a week. After that, the pain would gradually lessen, and her energy levels would slowly return.

Zhu Minyan, the patient with the thyroid tumor from the Capital, and now Liu Amei—all experienced an intensely painful phase about a week into Du Heng’s treatment. Now Du Heng was focused on one question: what about the patient with gastric lesser curvature cancer? Did he go through this phase too? If not, why not? And if he did, how did he endure it? The three patients Du Heng had treated in the hospital—including the significantly overweight woman from the Capital, who had such severe pain she required a pain-relief pump—had all received pain-relief injections during the worst part of this phase. He was truly curious how that patient with gastric lesser curvature cancer had managed to get through it.

This particular patient, however, had a peculiar habit. Ever since his condition had shown improvement at his last follow-up, he only came in for his scheduled check-ups. Any follow-up calls from the hospital were either ignored, disconnected, or met with a very brief update on his condition; he never elaborated. Consequently, Du Heng found it quite difficult to get detailed information from him.

「To the red brick building.」

After confirming Liu Amei was stable, Du Heng headed to the red brick building. Today was the day he hoped to witness a significant improvement—to see if Wang Wenlong, the patient with tinea versicolor, had truly gotten better. He felt quite confident. Apart from the system’s assistance, Han Yujian hadn’t sought him out at all yesterday, which strongly suggested the patient’s condition was indeed improving.

Just one day later, when Du Heng saw Wang Wenlong again, the red papules on his face had faded to almost imperceptible marks. Aside from the still-visible scratches where he had clawed at his skin, his face and exposed neck looked essentially back to normal. His hands, however, were another story and looked quite striking. Both hands were covered in a hard, shell-like casing. This wasn’t a dressing applied by Du Heng or his team; rather, it was a crust formed from the severe desquamation—the peeling skin—on his hands.

"Is your body still itchy?" Du Heng asked with a smile after completing his examination of Wang Wenlong.