The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 269 Medical Trouble
"By the way, my name is Zhong Kui, and this is my friend Qi Fei. May I ask your name?" Zhong Kui introduced.

"My name is Liu Dao. I am the head of the orthopedics department and a colleague of Dr. Li," the male doctor introduced himself.

"So what happened to Dr. Li that made her so depressed?" Zhong Kui continued to ask.

Dr. Liu looked slightly surprised upon hearing this question and asked Zhong Kui, "Didn't you see any short videos?"

Zhong Kui and Qi Fei looked at each other in bewilderment. Not to mention that Zhong Kui didn't like going online, the two of them had been exhausted and disheveled lately because of Xi He and Qi Dongjun's affairs, so they had no time to watch short videos.

Just then, a commotion arose downstairs.

I could vaguely hear someone shouting, "Call Li Jin out! A doctor from Nancheng Hospital has killed someone!"

Upon hearing this, Zhong Kui immediately asked, "Could Li Jin be the doctor who was about to jump off the building?"

Dr. Liu sighed, "Yes, Dr. Li is really pitiful. For the past month, patients' families have been posting videos online and causing trouble at the hospital, which has seriously interfered with Dr. Li's normal medical practice."

"Shouldn't we call the police in this situation?" Zhong Kui asked.

“I’ve called the police several times, and they’ve mediated, but they’ll still come back next time.” Dr. Liu said helplessly as he opened his phone and showed them a short video. “These accounts have been posting videos accusing Dr. Li of killing patients for a month now. The family members post them almost every day. At first, no one paid attention, but as more and more people post them, more and more people are paying attention, which is putting a lot of pressure on Dr. Li.”

The two watched these online bullying videos for a while. The main content was that an old lady named Luo Yongmei was admitted to Nancheng Hospital after a fall and was mistreated by Dr. Li, which led to her death. The extreme words and the family's tearful accusations easily stirred up netizens' emotions, and the comments were full of vile insults.

The noise downstairs continued, which annoyed Zhong Kui. The U-shaped corridor led directly down to the courtyard.

Not far away, a dark-skinned mother and son were holding a banner and making accusations to the crowd. They could be heard intermittently saying that Dr. Li had misdiagnosed and caused the death of their grandmother, and demanding compensation from the hospital.

Zhong Kui leaned against the stainless steel railing, observing the mother and son, and suddenly let out a cold laugh.

"What's wrong?" Qi Fei asked curiously.

"Don't you think their sadness and anger are too superficial?" Zhong Kui turned around, placed her hands on the railing, and faced downstairs so she could see the troublemaking mother and son more clearly.

"What does that mean?" Qi Fei asked, puzzled.

"Their eyebrows are wrong."

"Eyebrow?"

“There’s an expression we call ‘sad eyebrows.’ When a person is truly sad, the inner part of their eyebrows will gather upwards. But they don’t. The younger one, that should be the son, right? Do you see that look in his eyes right now?” Zhong Kui pointed at the man’s face and said to Qi Fei as if giving a live demonstration.

Following Zhong Kui's suggestion, Qi Fei looked and indeed found that, between those seemingly angry expressions, the man was observing the crowd's reactions.

“Only actors care about the audience’s feedback. A person immersed in their own grief won’t care about these things,” Zhong Kui said.

Qi Fei seemed to be deep in thought. He turned around and looked at Dr. Li, who was still sitting dejectedly in the corner, and suddenly felt a pang of pity.

He showed his identification to Dr. Liu: "I am Qi Fei from the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Nancheng Police Station. I would like to investigate Luo Yongmei's case."

Dr. Liu wasn't surprised to see Qi Fei's identity. Looking at his injuries, she said, "You're the unconscious policeman sent from Baicheng, right?" Then she shook her head. "I thank you for Dr. Li's kindness, but Luo Yongmei's family refused our request for an autopsy. The body has already been cremated."

"Right?" Zhong Kui raised an eyebrow, glanced at the mother and child downstairs, and suddenly smiled. The security guard downstairs finally "escorted" the mother and child out of the hospital.

The hospital has finally returned to its proper tranquility.

Unexpectedly, Dr. Li walked towards them.

Her eyes were red and swollen, but she tried her best to appear calm, as if emotional stability was an essential quality for a doctor.

However, when she spoke, her voice was still hoarse and trembling: "Thank you, otherwise I wouldn't be here today."

As she spoke, her eyes reddened. Qi Fei couldn't help but observe her eyebrows, and sure enough, just as Zhong Kui had said, they had developed a "sad eyebrow" appearance.

The truly saddened one is the haggard doctor before me.

"It's nothing. I hope this was just a momentary impulse on your part," Qi Fei said softly. "I am Qi Fei, a police officer from Nancheng Police Station. Dr. Liu just gave us a general account of what happened. If you're willing, I'd like to hear your story."

Dr. Li hesitated for a moment: "After Luo Yongmei's family came to the hospital to report me, the hospital has already investigated me." Then she took a deep breath, "I can say it again."

I remember what happened that day. Luo Yongmei came to the emergency room. She was an 85-year-old woman who had a fractured sternum when she arrived. Her family said she had fallen and injured herself while picking wild vegetables.

At the time, I raised the question: what kind of fall could lead to a fractured sternum?
My family said that all I need to do is get treatment and don't need to worry about anything else.

I am a doctor, not a police officer. Luo Yongmei's sternum is significantly displaced and she needs surgery as soon as possible.

However, the family insisted that I pursue conservative treatment, arguing that the old lady was too old and they did not want her to suffer.

Without the family's signature, the surgery couldn't be performed. I could only try my best to alleviate Luo Yongmei's pain while continuing to persuade the family during the treatment.

But they consistently disagreed.

I told them that if she didn't have surgery, Luo Yongmei could potentially face life-threatening complications from lung infections over time.

But no matter how much I tried to persuade them, it was no use.

Despite two weeks of conservative treatment, Luo Yongmei still developed a serious infection.

Because of his advanced age, despite our hospital's best efforts, we were unable to save him.

From the moment Luo Yongmei passed away, her family suddenly insisted that my treatment was flawed and caused her death, demanding compensation from the hospital.

"Who are the family members?" Qi Fei asked.

"It's Luo Yongmei's son, Sheng Dazhi, her daughter-in-law Zhang Yingdi, and her grandson Sheng Tianbao." Dr. Li recited the names of these three people without hesitation.

"The old man was seriously injured, but they insisted on not having surgery. Is it really because they're afraid he'll suffer? That's a bit strange," Zhong Kui said.

Dr. Li said, "What I find even stranger is the old lady's attitude towards her family. Her son and daughter-in-law take turns taking care of Luo Yongmei. Several times I saw the old lady enduring the pain and patting Sheng Dazhi with her hands."