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

Chen Ping paused for a moment, then shook his head. He wasn't a government employee, so how would he know where a leader would be detained if they were isolated for investigation?

"Director Su is being held at the disciplinary committee's detention center. If you want to see her, just go there," Xu Wenshan told Chen Ping.

Upon hearing this, Chen Ping thanked him and turned to leave.

Watching Chen Ping's retreating figure, Xu Wenshan and Fang Hai both smiled. The two chatted as they walked into the building!

The detention center was located on a quiet street in the west of the city. The storefront was inconspicuous, the iron gate was tightly closed, and a sign for the Discipline Inspection Commission was hanging at the entrance.

He rang the doorbell and waited for a while before the side door opened a crack. A uniformed staff member poked his head out, his expression as hard as a door panel.

"Who should I look for?"

"Su Meng is from the Municipal Health Bureau and is being investigated here. I am her family member and would like to see her," Chen Ping asked with a smile.

The staff member looked Chen Ping up and down without even raising his eyelids. "No meetings are allowed during the investigation period. That's the rule. Go back."

He was about to close the door after saying that.

Chen Ping reached out and pressed down on the door panel. "I'm her ex-husband. I want to see if she needs anything. Could you please make an exception for me?"

"If I say no, then no. Rules are rules."

The other person pushed his hand away from the door, and the door slammed shut, extinguishing the sliver of light that had been filtering through the crack.

Chen Ping stood outside the door, staring at the cold iron gate, his hands hanging at his sides, his face filled with anger and helplessness.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, he heard the sound of brakes behind him.

A black Audi A6 was parked on the side of the road. The door opened and Xiao Lei climbed out.

He was wearing a dark gray cashmere coat, shiny leather shoes, and his hair was neatly combed. He was carrying an insulated bag and looked like he was there to deliver something.

He saw Chen Ping standing at the door, paused for a moment, then slowly smiled and walked over to Chen Ping.

"Oh, isn't this Dr. Chen?"

Xiao Lei's voice was loud, shattering the tranquility of the secluded street. "Weren't you giving a report yesterday? What, you're here today? Want to see Su Meng?"

Chen Ping looked at him without saying a word.

"You can't see them, right? That's normal. During the investigation period, family members can't visit. But..."

Xiao Lei lifted the insulated bag in his hand and waved it in front of Chen Ping, his smile widening. "You're not a family member, and neither am I, but I can go in."

He turned around and walked towards the iron gate, then rang the doorbell.

The side door opened quickly, and it was the same staff member who, upon seeing Xiao Lei, immediately softened his expression.

"Young Master Xiao is here, please come in..." The staff member stepped aside to let Xiao Lei in.

As Xiao Lei stepped across the threshold, he glanced back at Chen Ping with disdain in his eyes. What use was Chen Ping's superior medical skills?

Compared to him, I'm just trash.

The iron gate closed in front of Chen Ping.

Chen Ping stood outside the door and heard faint laughter and voices coming from inside, completely different from the cold and businesslike tone he had just received.

He looked down at his hands. These hands could detect the most subtle changes in pulse and save women suffering from amniotic fluid embolism, but they couldn't open the iron door in front of him.

He turned around and slowly walked back the way he came. These experiences of being turned down several times made Chen Ping realize that no matter how good his medical skills were, without connections and relationships, he was worthless in the eyes of these grassroots government staff.

Chen Ping returned to the hotel. The door clicked shut behind him. He casually tossed the room key on the table, flopped onto the bed, and stared blankly at the ceiling.

The same thought kept swirling in his mind: what should he do?

He could only place his hopes on Cui Ying's father.

Cui Ying's father has been doing business in Tianhai City for many years and knows all sorts of people. Although the Discipline Inspection Commission is a difficult place to get close to, it's not impossible to connect with them completely.

Chen Ping turned over, took his phone out of his pocket and placed it next to his pillow, turning on the screen every few minutes to check for new messages.

The time on the screen jumped from nine o'clock to twelve o'clock, and the phone remained quiet, without even a single spam text message.

He couldn't wait any longer, so he opened WeChat and sent Cui Ying a message: "Any news from Uncle?"

About two minutes later, Cui Ying came back.

Chen Ping stared at the few lines of text on the screen, reading them word by word. With each additional word he read, his heart sank a little deeper.

"My dad went to several places this morning. He talked to several leaders who had done business with him before, but as soon as they heard it was a case involving the Discipline Inspection Commission, they all shook their heads."

"Someone who's on good terms with my dad privately told me the truth: Su Meng's case was pressured by someone in the municipal party committee, and was pushed down from the top; the municipal discipline inspection commission was just carrying it out."

"If you want to get someone out of trouble through the disciplinary committee, you need someone in the province to speak up; you can't get anything done at the city level. My dad said that as a businessman, all he can do is pull strings at the city and county levels; he can't reach the provincial level."

Chen Ping placed his phone on his chest and lay on his back.

Helplessness, despair, and all sorts of negative emotions began to engulf Chen Ping.

He lay there for an unknown amount of time until the afternoon, when Chen Ping suddenly sat up in bed.

The pillow slid off the head of the bed and onto the floor, but he didn't pick it up.

He held the phone in his hand and scrolled to a name.

Mr. Song.

I saved this number when I was drinking at Lao Zhou's restaurant last time. The WeChat profile picture is an old black and white photo. In the photo, Old Song is wearing a military uniform, as thin as a knife, and his eyes are frighteningly bright.

When the clinic was ordered to stop operating by the enforcement team last time, he made a phone call to Old Song. Without saying a word, Old Song contacted the secretary of the Tianhai Municipal Party Committee, and that afternoon the enforcement team personally returned the confiscated tools.

But that matter is completely different from Su Meng's. The clinic's shutdown was an administrative dispute. To put it bluntly, construction started before the procedures were completed, and someone in higher up could easily get things done with a word from them.

Su Meng's case was investigated by the Discipline Inspection Commission. The determination of its nature, the collection of evidence, and the handling of the case were all tough official matters.

Even if it were Elder Song, the other party might not be willing to accept.

Chen Ping stared at the black-and-white photo of the portrait, his finger hovering above the screen, hesitant to press the button.

Retired leaders aren't omnipotent; favors are something you can only use once.

Old Song helped him last time because the favor wasn't big; for Old Song, it was just a matter of making a phone call.

But this time is different.

Chen Ping stood up, walked to the window, and drew back the curtains.

The afternoon sun suddenly flooded in, shining hotly on my face.

He squinted at the window, watching people come and go on the street. Some were buying groceries, some were walking their dogs, and some were sitting in the shade of trees with their children in their arms.

These people went about their lives as usual, doing whatever they were supposed to do. No one knew that in a certain room of this hotel, a man named Chen Ping was tearing his hair out trying to save his ex-wife.

Chen Ping didn't know whether he should make that call or not.

Even if you hit them, they might not care, and it could leave them with a grudge.

If he didn't call, Chen Ping really couldn't find any connections he could turn to for help.

After much hesitation, Chen Ping finally dialed the number.