This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

At the case handling area by the big iron gate, Du Heng saw Gong Daoyang, who was clutching his left shoulder while still reviewing a case in his office.

However, the two individuals he was dealing with were in a rather poor state.

Actually, "reviewing" wasn’t quite right either; Gong Daoyang and another police officer weren’t questioning them, just continuously flipping through files.

Those two didn’t have small stools to sit on; instead, they were handcuffed to the radiator in a rather awkward posture.

In the room across the hall, several other people were faring much better, squatting in a row beside the radiator.

"Gong, where are you injured?" Du Heng quickly scanned the room and, accompanied by Liu Gong, hurried in to check on Gong Daoyang’s condition.

Hearing Du Heng’s voice, Gong Daoyang was slightly surprised. After a moment of astonishment, he stood up, glared at the two men handcuffed to the radiator, then turned and walked out. "Why are you here? Did Liu Gong call you?"

Du Heng wanted to check the injury, but Gong Daoyang refused. "Let’s go to my office to look at it."

Seeing Gong Daoyang insist, Du Heng had no choice but to follow. "Gong, how did this happen?"

"Did you see those two brats just now? They did it."

"What did they do? How dare they attack a police officer?"

With every movement, pain shot through Gong Daoyang, causing him to grit his teeth. "Those two were running a gambling den in their house. When they saw us, they tried to flee. During the arrest, I wasn’t paying attention and got hit by a swinging hoe."

「 」

While talking, they arrived at the office. Du Heng quickly had Gong Daoyang sit down and immediately began the examination.

Since Gong Daoyang had been clutching his shoulder the whole time, Du Heng checked it first, but upon manual examination, he found no apparent issues with the shoulder joint itself.

"A hoe? Where did it hit you?"

Gong Daoyang frowned and pointed to his collarbone.

Du Heng looked puzzled. "If it hit your collarbone, why are you holding your shoulder?"

"My shoulder hurts." As Du Heng slowly reached out to touch the indicated area, Gong Daoyang’s expression changed slightly again. "It must be bruised. I think the tissue here is a bit swollen, but it shouldn’t be anything serious."

Gong Daoyang was wearing thick clothing, including two crew-neck sweaters underneath, and the collars were tight, making it difficult to see the specific situation. However, judging by the swelling at the outer end of the collarbone and Gong Daoyang’s constant complaints of shoulder pain, Du Heng guessed it was a fracture of the distal clavicle.

Seeing Gong Daoyang’s pained expression, Du Heng couldn’t bring himself to confirm it manually. "Let’s go to the Health Clinic and get an X-ray."

If Zhu Heizi and the student Du Heng had treated earlier knew of this decision, they would probably curse him out.

After all, with those two, Du Heng had diagnosed their injuries directly by hand.

Actually, Du Heng couldn’t be blamed for being direct, especially when treating that student. The student had been injured right in front of him, and Du Heng had assessed the situation before the muscles even had a chance to swell.

But Gong Daoyang’s injury had been left for too long; the site was completely swollen, making a manual examination difficult. Moreover, a key difference between a collarbone fracture and a tibia fracture is that one to the collarbone, if caused by violence, can puncture the pleura and become life-threatening.

Especially considering Gong Daoyang’s physical signs and the noticeable protrusion indicating a shoulder deformity, Du Heng felt sure it was a collarbone fracture. As a precaution, he didn’t dare to proceed with a direct manual examination.

However, to his surprise, Gong Daoyang refused the suggestion. "No need. It’s probably nothing serious. Just prescribe me some medicine."

Du Heng frowned, displeased. "Gong, I’m not joking. I think you’ve fractured your collarbone. Do you understand the consequences of improper treatment?"

He looked at Gong Daoyang angrily. "If it’s not treated promptly, your collarbone will heal deformed, and one side of your body will be higher than the other. Can you accept that? Enough, I’m not arguing anymore. Put on your cotton coat; we’re going to the Health Clinic for an X-ray."

Du Heng didn’t want to waste any more words with Gong Daoyang and grabbed the cotton coat to put it on him.

Gong Daoyang was still hesitant, fidgeting and unwilling to move. This exasperated Du Heng. "What’s with you? Should I call Zhen and have her come support you to the clinic, big belly and all?"

"No, no, no! I just don’t want her to know," Gong Daoyang said, panicking. "She’s only a month from her due date. If I suddenly need surgery, I’m afraid it’ll scare her and something might go wrong."

Du Heng gritted his teeth and shook his head. "So you’re just going to endure it for a month? Did that hoe hit your shoulder, or did it hit your head?"

He picked up the cotton coat again and put it on Gong Daoyang. "Let’s go. Clavicle fractures don’t usually require surgery."

Gong Daoyang couldn’t win against Du Heng and had no choice but to get up and head out. He still harbored a glimmer of hope, asking Du Heng tentatively, "It’s not necessarily a fracture, right? It could just be badly bruised?"

Du Heng said irritably, "Don’t even think about it. I can tell you with certainty it’s a fracture. We’re getting an X-ray now to see if the pleura is damaged, how many fragments there are, and the extent of the displacement."

Hearing Du Heng’s definitive words, a flicker of worry crossed Gong Daoyang’s eyes. "If it’s too serious, please don’t tell Zhen. I don’t want her to worry."

"Oh, for heaven’s sake, Gong, just get going! I’m not an idiot. Why would I tell her?"

Du Heng supported Gong Daoyang by his side, and they headed directly for the Health Clinic.

「 」

Outside, snowflakes danced so thickly they obscured vision. Du Heng couldn’t help but sigh. What’s going on these past two years? Last spring, it rained continuously, but summer and autumn together only saw two rainfalls. Now it’s winter, and this must be the fourth snow, each heavier than the last.

Gong Daoyang hunched his shoulders. "You’re right. I don’t remember Jinzhou ever having snow like this in winter. But we’re still lucky. Look at other places; their bizarre weather is far more terrifying than Jinzhou’s."

The two walked cautiously, terrified of slipping and taking a nasty fall.

"Gong, with this weather being so abnormal, do you think the Earth is going to explode?" A ridiculous thought suddenly popped into Du Heng’s head, and he couldn’t help but ask.

"If it did explode, that might be for the best. At least I wouldn’t have to suffer this pain," Gong Daoyang replied.

Hearing this, Du Heng laughed. "If it really exploded, could you truly bear to leave everything behind?"

Gong Daoyang laughed too. "You know, you’re right. There really is a lot I couldn’t bear to leave. My parents are healthy, my wife is beautiful and capable, my daughter is obedient, and now we have two more babies on the way. There’s too much I’d miss."

"I think you left out the most important part."

"What did I leave out?"

"You and your wife both have stable jobs and good incomes, no mortgage, no car loans. Your life is basically stress-free. It’d be strange if you could bear to leave that."

Gong Daoyang roared with laughter at this, but the sudden movement made his shoulder throb, and he immediately sucked in a sharp breath as pain lanced through him. "You’re right. If I had a mortgage and car loans, I’d wish the Earth would explode right now."

After a few more minutes of idle chatter, they arrived at the Health Clinic across the street.

Seeing the locked main gate, Du Heng had no choice but to call Yu Haiting, rouse him to open up, and get him to prepare the X-ray equipment.

Apart from Xiao Liu and a newcomer, only Yu Haiting knew how to operate that machine properly.

「 」

After some commotion, Du Heng and Yu Haiting were looking at Gong Daoyang’s clavicle X-ray.

"Gong, see for yourself," Du Heng said, pointing to the film and carefully explaining. "It’s a distal clavicle fracture with severe displacement. Luckily, it hasn’t damaged the pleura."

"As long as I don’t need surgery, you can handle the rest," Gong Daoyang said, surprisingly resolute now that he knew the diagnosis.

Du Heng smiled and turned to Yu Haiting. "Yu, how are your anesthesia skills coming along?"

Yu Haiting smiled back. "Don’t worry, absolutely no problem. For Director Gong’s condition, three milliliters of 2% Prilocaine should do the trick."

"Alright, you can start preparing then."

Du Heng then had Gong Daoyang sit down and proceeded to remove his upper clothing. What couldn’t be easily taken off, he cut away with scissors.

Gong Daoyang looked pained. "Brother, is it really necessary to cut it all off? This is a new sweater my mom knitted for me."

"Don’t be sentimental about it. We need to apply bandages to immobilize the fracture and your arm. We can’t very well wrap bandages over your clothes, can we?" Du Heng ignored him and, with a couple of SNIPS from the scissors, exposed his upper body.

At this point, Du Heng paid no mind to Gong Daoyang’s pain. Looking at the X-ray beside them, he began to palpate the injured area. He needed to get a clear sense of the specific situation, primarily to gauge how much force would be needed for the reduction.

Although Du Heng tried to be as gentle as possible, Gong Daoyang still winced. "Brother, easy there."

"Gong, you’ll have to bear with it. This is a necessary part of manual reduction. Conservative treatment for fractures has three steps: reduction, immobilization, and functional rehabilitation."

As Du Heng spoke, his hands moved slowly from Gong Daoyang’s neck towards his shoulder.

"And reduction itself also has steps. The first step is this kind of palpation. I need to understand the exact nature of the fracture to find the most suitable reduction technique for you."

Gong Daoyang’s face contorted with pain, but he managed a pained joke. "Well, Brother, have you found the right technique for your older brother here?"

"Of course, I have. Can’t let you suffer for nothing, Gong." With that, Du Heng finally stopped his probing fingers and took off his own coat.

After stretching a bit, he said to Yu Haiting nearby, "Yu, get ready to administer the anesthetic. I’m about to begin."

Seeing Yu Haiting start his preparations, Du Heng turned back to Gong Daoyang and said, "There are roughly five types of manual reduction techniques: traction and counter-traction, rotational manipulation, compression and squeezing, distraction and separation, and angulation. For your situation, Gong, traction and counter-traction is the most suitable method."

Seeing Du Heng’s eager expression as he prepared, Gong Daoyang took a deep breath and turned his head away. "Alright, I’m ready."

He swallowed hard and added, "But Brother, please, try to be gentle."

Du Heng smiled faintly and instructed Gong Daoyang to sit up straight with his chest out and hands on his hips. "Thumbs forward, other four fingers back. Now, rotate your elbows outward forcefully... Don’t be afraid of the pain, rotate harder. That’s it. Now, pull both shoulders back."

As he spoke, he gently guided Gong Daoyang into the correct posture.