âIt looks pretty good,â Miao Qingfeng said. âI didnât expect you to have these kinds of skills, Captain Lu! Iâve brought a chicken from home. It has been air-dried.â
âOh, there was no need for you to bring the chicken,â Lu Xiufeng said with a smile. âWe were waiting for your bottle of wine!â
âI have it with me. Itâs enough for all of us here,â Miao Qingfeng said. He had brought a big bottle of wine that was at least two pounds.
âCome, have a taste of my cooking skills!â
âMmm, not bad!â Miao Qingfeng raised his thumb after eating the food prepared by Lu Xiufeng.
âHow is it? Does it taste alright?â
âIt tastes pretty good!â
âCome on, letâs drink.â
âDrink up!â
The three of them did not drink with glasses but with big bowls. It looked very bold and generous.
âDonât mind me being nosy, Captains, but how far has the case progressed?â
âThat is supposed to be confidential and canât be disclosed casually, but since you have asked about it, Brother, it would do no harm to tell you just a little. It has now been determined that the suspect is Miao Qingshan, but weâre not sure whether he was just him or if there were accomplices.â
âHave you confirmed it yet?â
âNot yet, Brother Miao. Have you noticed anyone who has been acting abnormally recently?â
âAh, about that, there are really none.â
âWho are the ones who often go out of the stockade?â
âTo be honest, itâs me,â Miao Qingfeng seriously said. âRecently, I have been the one out for the longest time and the most number of times. The other people in the stockade rarely go out.â
âYou, hmm.â Lu Xiufeng smiled as he waved his hands.
âAre there any schools in the stockade?â
âIt can only be considered a primary school.â
âWhat do they do when they have to go to junior and senior high schools?â Yang Guanfeng asked.
âThey still go, but it is according to the rules,â Miao Qingfeng said with a smile.
âThey have to go out if they want to go to school, but they canât come back if they go out.â
âIsnât that too harsh on them?â
âItâs not considered that harsh, and it is not that strict. In fact, some time ago, the chief was actually quite happy when two students returned. When he heard them say that they wanted to change the stockade and attract investment from outside to make the people in the village rich, he was extremely unhappy.â
âTheir thoughts were wrong.â
âI think that it is wrong,â Miao Qingfeng said. âThey donât know what the people in this stockade want or what their parents want at all. Since then, the chief has been firm in his previous ideas. Anyone who has gone out can no longer return. At most, they can only return to stay for a couple of days to see their parents.â
âIn fact, they can also take their parents out. A few families have done that. I saw them when I went out, and they were living quite well outside.â
âDid they become doctors?â
âTo be a doctor outside requires relevant qualification certificates,â Miao Qingfeng said. âThere are some opened restaurants and some who became doctors. Iâve talked with them. The young people donât regret it. They think the outside world is very wonderful and that it was much more interesting than this small mountain village. Most of their parents regretted it. They did not like living in big cities. They hoped to come back. They went to find the chief more than once, but they were all rejected by him.â
âWell, I can understand that,â Lu Xiufeng said.
The three of them ate the food and drank the wine. They had a great afternoon.
In Renhe Clinic, thousands of miles away in Lianshan County...
âXiao Pan, donât you have work today?â
âIâm on duty in the morning, but I am free in the afternoon,â Pan Jun replied. âWhatâs ailing you, Uncle?â
âWell, I donât know whatâs going on recently, but my body is getting worse. I canât muster the energy to do anything. Can you take a look at me?â
âHave you been to a hospital?â
âI have already been there. I had checked everything, and my body is fine.â
âWhatâs the matter then?â Pan Jun gave the old man a preliminary examination. He knew the old manâs condition quite well. He had undergone an operation the previous year. Although it was not a major surgery, he had gone under the knife, which affected his vitality. It was also during winter, so he had taken a long time to recover.
âThere shouldnât be any major problems.â Pan Jun suddenly thought of the batch of new medicine. âOh, by the way, I happen to have a new medicine here. It can help consolidate your corporeity. Would you like to try it?â
âSure,â the old man said with a smile. Deep in his heart, he did not hold much hope.
âJust a moment. Iâll get it for you now.â Pan Jun quickly returned with a bottle of medicine.
âThis is it.â
âPrimordial Spirit Soup?â
âYes, just follow the instructions above when taking it,â Pan Jun said.
âOK, I got it,â the old man said. âThank you so much, Xiao Pan.â
âYou are welcome.â
The old man left with the medicine and went home.
His son was at home and asked, âDad, where have you been?â
âI went to the clinic below and got some medicine.â
âDidnât I say that I was going to take you out for a checkup today? Why did you go to that small clinic again?â
âWhat small clinic? Xiao Pan is the director of the county hospitalâs emergency department.â
âYes, I know, but he is just in the emergency department, not in a specialized department.â
âAlright, since Iâve already gotten the medicine, Iâll give it a try.â The old man waved his hands in the air.
âWhat kind of medicine is it?â His son took the medicine and looked at it carefully.
âThis is... Itâs produced here?â He found that this Primordial Spirit Soup was actually produced by a newly built pharmaceutical factory in Lianshan County. He indeed heard about that pharmaceutical factory some time ago. It wasnât that he looked down on the local enterprises, but could the medicine produced by a newly built pharmaceutical factory be credible?
âDad, I donât think you should drink this medicine.â
âWhy? Itâs already paid for!â
âIâm worried. Look at it, itâs locally produced.â
âSo what if it was produced locally?â The old manâs brows furrowed. He felt that his son and his views were steadily becoming very different. His son looked down on this and that after he had made some money.
âI...â
âForget it. Go do your stuff if there is nothing else. I am fine.â
The man did not say anything more. He just said a few words to his mother. âMom, please take some time to coax my father.â
âAlright, I got it. Donât take it to heart either. Itâs not like you donât know your fatherâs temper.â
âYes.â
After her son had left, the woman said to her old partner, âAs for you, your son is just showing concern for you. Why are you always like this?â
âI just canât stand him like that. He doesnât even know his roots after becoming rich,â the man said.
âHe is your son, and he is filial to you.â
âI know,â the man said.
âBy the way, did you get this medicine from Xiao Pan?â
âYes, Iâll give it a try. Maybe it will work.â
In the village, Wang Yao received several patients in the afternoon. They were all minor afflictions like colds and headaches. There were no major illnesses.
âAre you free tonight, Sir?â