Sent to the countryside, I turned the health center into a top-tier hospital.

Chen Ping turned to the side, his fist grazing past his ear. He grabbed Ma Hu's wrist with his left hand and twisted it outward. Ma Hu cried out "Ah!" as his wrist was twisted behind his back, and he bent over, his face almost touching the ground.

Chen Ping thrust his right knee into Ma Hu's stomach. Ma Hu groaned, acid refluxed from his mouth, and his legs buckled, causing him to kneel on the ground.

The four behind him stood still, none of them daring to approach.

Chen Ping released his grip, looked at Ma Hu kneeling on the ground, and said nothing.

Ma Hu scrambled to his feet, clutching his stomach, his face flushed red—not from pain, but from anger.

He took out his phone, pressed a few buttons, and held it to his ear. The sound was so loud that the whole street could hear it, and even the windows of the upstairs residents opened to look out.

"Hey! I need to call the police! Someone's hitting me! On that small road east of the county hospital! Yes, right now! Come quick! I'm injured!"

After hanging up the phone, he looked at Chen Ping and smiled.

That smile was different from the one he had when he was arrested at the casino last time.

That time it was panic, the panic of being caught red-handed. This time it's confidence, the confidence of having a trump card in hand.

"Chen Ping, you just wait, you'll be sorry soon enough."

Chen Ping looked at him but didn't move.

He knew what Ma Hu was up to, but he didn't leave.

Leaving means you have a guilty conscience; if you haven't done anything wrong, you have nothing to fear.

Moreover, since the police have already been called, Chen Ping can no longer leave.

Less than ten minutes later, a police car arrived.

Two police officers got out of the car, one tall and one short, both in uniform with serious expressions.

The tall man glanced at Ma Hu, then at Chen Ping, his gaze sweeping over the two of them.

"Who called the police?"

"I, I signed up."

Ma Hu clutched his stomach, his expression shifting from fierce to aggrieved in a flash. His change of expression was faster than turning the pages of a book. "He hit me. Look at my body, it's all covered in his marks. I have no grudge against him, and he just started hitting me right away."

The tall police officer looked at Chen Ping: "You hit him?"

Chen Ping nodded: "He brought men to ambush me, so I acted in self-defense."

The short policeman walked up to Chen Ping, looked him up and down, patted his pocket, found his phone and wallet, took them out, and weighed them in his hand.

Do you have your ID card with you?

"It's in my wallet."

The short policeman opened his wallet, took out his ID card, glanced at it, then looked at Chen Ping's face, and put the ID card and mobile phone into an evidence bag.

The tall police officer took the handcuffs off his belt and walked up to Chen Ping.

"Come with us."

Chen Ping did not resist and reached out his hand.

The handcuffs snapped onto my wrists with a click; they were ice-cold.

Ma Hu stood to the side, watching this scene, and laughed.

He took out his phone and made another call, his voice very low, but Chen Ping heard him. "Uncle, the guy's been arrested. Yes, he's right here at the county hospital... Help me teach this kid a lesson. I'll never forget your kindness."

Chen Ping was taken to a police car.

Outside the car window, Ma Hu stood by the roadside, gave him the middle finger, and mouthed a few words. Chen Ping understood: "You're finished."

The police station was small, located in an alley on the west side of the county town, with a white sign with black characters hanging at the entrance.

Chen Ping was taken inside and sat in the interrogation room.

The light was very bright, an incandescent bulb, so bright it hurt your eyes.

The table was made of sheet metal, and several patches of the green paint had peeled off, revealing the rust underneath.

Two police officers were sitting opposite me; one was asking questions, and the other was taking notes.

"Name."

"Chen Ping."

"Profession."

"doctor."

Why did you hit him?

"I didn't hit anyone. They attacked first. I was defending myself."

"Self-defense? You beat them up like that, and you call that self-defense?"

Chen Ping looked at him without saying a word.

The interrogation lasted for more than an hour, with questions asked repeatedly, and Chen Ping's answers repeated over and over again.

Finally, the police officer who was taking the statement closed his notebook, stood up, glanced at Chen Ping, said "Lock him up first," and left.

Chen Ping was taken to the county public security bureau and locked in a detention cell. The iron door was closed, and the sound of the bolt snapping into the lock echoed loudly in the empty corridor.

The detention cell was small, with a metal bunk bed covered with a thin mattress, a squat toilet, and a stainless steel faucet in the corner.

The words "Confess and you will be treated leniently; resist and you will be punished severely" are written on the wall in red. The red has faded, and some strokes are blurred, resembling the color of dried blood.

Chen Ping sat down on the edge of the bed. The handcuffs had been removed, leaving two red marks on his wrists.

He touched his pockets; they were empty. His phone, wallet, and ID card had all been taken.

The small window on the iron gate opened, and a careless face appeared in the window.

He leaned over the iron gate, peering inside, his lips curled into a wide smile, his eyes shining with the light of a hunter finally catching his prey.

"Chen Ping, weren't you supposed to be a good fighter? Why aren't you fighting anymore? Show me what you can do!"

Ma Hu's voice came from outside the iron gate, tinged with barely suppressed smugness, "Let me tell you, my cousin is the deputy director of the Public Security Bureau. You'll never get out of here in your life. In Siping Township, you have connections, but in the county town, what are you?"

Chen Ping sat on the edge of the bed, not moving, not looking at him. Now Chen Ping understood why the Siping Township Police Station couldn't detain Ma Hu.

When Director Zhou said that Ma Hu had connections, it must be Ma Hu's cousin, who was the deputy director.

A deputy director of a public security bureau is definitely not someone that a local police station chief can contend with, so it's normal that Ma Hu was released.

Ma Hu talked for a while longer, but when he saw that Chen Ping ignored him, he cursed and left.

The footsteps faded into the distance, the motion-activated lights in the corridor went out, and the detention cell darkened, with only a small lamp overhead, casting a dim, yellowish glow, like a candle about to go out.

…………

County hospital, ward.

Dean Ma stood by the boy's bed, looking at the numbers on the electrocardiogram monitor, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

Blood oxygen saturation is 93%, body temperature is 38.5 degrees Celsius, which is higher than in the morning.

The boy's breathing quickened again, his brows furrowed, and his hands began to clench, as if he were struggling in a dream.

He glanced at his watch; it was 1:20 PM.

Chen Ping said he would come for acupuncture at noon, and he should have arrived at 12 o'clock, but it's past 1 o'clock now and he hasn't come. I can't get through to him on the phone.

"Have you found Dr. Chen yet?" Dean Ma turned around and looked at the nurse at the door.

The nurse shook her head, her voice a little panicked: "I've made several calls, but no one answers. I went to the dormitory, but no one was there. I searched around the hospital, but I couldn't find her either."

Dean Ma's face darkened.

He walked out of the ward, stood in the corridor, and dialed Chen Ping's number again.

Shut down.

He held his phone, stood there for three seconds, thought for a moment, then turned and went to the monitoring room.

When the security guard in the monitoring room saw the dean arrive in person, he quickly stood up.

Dean Ma ignored him, sat down at the computer, and pulled up the video footage from the hospital entrance that morning.

The scene fast-forwards, and he sees Chen Ping walk out of the hospital gate and turn right along the road.

He switched to the next camera, then the next, and kept chasing until he reached the intersection of that alley.

Then he saw it.

Ma Hu, along with four others, blocked Chen Ping's path.

Then came the physical altercation, then Chen Ping retaliated, then Ma Hu knelt on the ground, then the police arrived, handcuffs were put on Chen Ping's wrists, and he was taken away.

Dean Ma's face turned pale.

It wasn't fear, it was anger.