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

The courtyard was quiet.

The patient stood at the door of the examination room, watching all of this, and no one spoke.

An old man whispered to the person next to him, "What's going on?"

The person next to him shook his head, also unsure.

Zhao Guosheng stood in the middle of the courtyard. He looked at Chen Ping, opened his mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed his words.

He finally sighed, turned around, and went back to his office.

Chen Ping had only been at the Siping Township Health Center for less than a month when he got into such a big mess!

Liu Mazi was alright, just a local thug, but Ma Hu was known to everyone as the local bully.

Moreover, he has considerable connections in the county; otherwise, he wouldn't dare to act so arrogantly and run a casino here!

Wang Tao squatted at the door of the clinic, watching the direction the police car had disappeared in, and suddenly said, "Dr. Chen, what you did just now was brilliant."

Chen Ping didn't reply and turned back to the consultation room.

He sat down, picked up the mug on the table. The water was cold. He took a sip, and the cold water went down his throat, making him shiver.

Cui Ying stood at the door, looking at him, but didn't come in.

After a while, she came in, picked up a cup, filled a cup with hot water from the water dispenser, and placed it in front of him.

"Have something hot to drink."

Chen Ping glanced at her, picked up his cup, and took a sip.

The water was lukewarm, hot enough to burn his tongue, but he didn't spit it out; he swallowed it.

"Aren't you afraid?" Cui Ying asked.

"What are you afraid of?"

"careless."

Chen Ping put down the cup, leaned back in his chair, and looked at the ceiling.

He looked at it for a while before speaking, "I'm afraid, but I can't let fear delay things."

"Should I call my dad and ask him to look for someone? He has some friends in the city," Cui Ying asked.

Chen Ping shook his head. "I can handle this myself, so don't worry about it."

Chen Ping knew that Cui Ying's father owned a company in Tianhai City and must know some government leaders!

However, Chen Ping didn't want Cui Ying to interfere, and he especially didn't want Cui Ying to beg her family for his sake!

Originally, Cui Ying's parents did not agree to her working here. If Cui Ying were to ask her father for help, he would definitely use it as leverage to force her to return to Tianhai City.

Cui Ying looked at him without saying anything, stood there for a while, then turned and left.

…………

Ma Hu was playing mahjong at a mahjong parlor.

He had just drawn a good card, and he rubbed his fingers together while muttering to himself. The three people next to him were getting impatient, waiting for him to play his card.

A young man with a buzz cut ran in from outside, bent down, and whispered in his ear.

"Brother Tiger, something's happened. Er Mao and San Luzi have been arrested."

The careless fingers stopped.

He held the card in his hand, rubbed his thumb on the surface twice, and then slammed it on the table.

The card table shook, and the person opposite knocked over their teacup, spilling water all over the table. No one dared to clean it up.

"Arrested?" Ma Hu's voice wasn't loud, but everyone in the mahjong parlor heard it.

No one dared to look at him. Those playing cards looked down at their cards, while those not playing looked down at their phones. Even the proprietress shrank behind the counter, pretending to be doing accounts.

The man with the buzz cut nodded, his voice even lower: "The police went, and they took both of them away. Apparently, they confessed on the spot, and they arrested you..."

"Did you tell him?" Ma Hu answered for him.

The man with the buzz cut didn't dare nod or shake his head, but his expression said it all.

Careless, he pushed over the row of mahjong tiles in front of him, and with a crash, the tiles scattered all over the table.

He stood up, the chair tipped backward with a thud, and no one dared to help him up.

He walked to the door, lit a cigarette, took a puff, and the red glow of the cigarette butt flickered in the smoke.

"Damn it." He exhaled smoke, his face trembling. "A doctor from a lousy clinic, and I can't even handle him?"

The man with the buzz cut followed him out and stood behind him, cautiously asking, "Brother Tiger, how about we get a few more guys and go straight to the clinic dormitory tonight, corner him in his bed, and give him a good beating?"

Ma Hu turned around, glanced at him, and looked at him as if he were a fool.

What's next to the health center?

The man with the buzz cut paused for a moment, then thought for a second, his expression changing: "Police station."

"Yes, the police station."

Ma Hu took a deep drag of his cigarette, his face cold, and said, "The moment you make a move, they'll be here in three minutes. Are you going to beat someone up, or to turn yourself in?"

The man with the buzz cut fell silent.

Ma Hu took two more breaths, then suddenly stopped, and the corners of his mouth slowly turned up.

It wasn't laughter, but a sense of relaxation that came from figuring something out.

"Is that Zhao Dezhu in Sunjiagou?"

The man with the buzz cut paused for a moment, then said, "Zhao Dezhu? The one who took that doctor to the casino last time..."

"Yes." Ma Hu held the cigarette between his fingers, squinting. "He was the one who brought Chen Ping here. If it weren't for him, the casino wouldn't have been raided, and I wouldn't have spent those few days in jail. I haven't settled that score with him yet."

The man with the buzz cut was quick-witted, his eyes lighting up: "Brother Tiger, you mean, let Zhao Dezhu lure Chen Ping out?"

Ma Hu didn't answer, but he smiled.

This time he really laughed, a cold laugh, like the winter wind scraping through a sheet of metal.

"Let's go to Sunjiagou."

A black Santana and a white van set off, driving along the mountain road towards Sunjiagou.

Ma Hu sat in the passenger seat of the Santana, his eyes closed, his fingers tapping on his knees slowly and deliberately, as if he were playing a tune.

There were seven or eight people sitting in the van behind. Some were bald, some had long hair, and some had gold chains around their necks. They were all burly and strong.

When the car arrived at Sunjiagou, it was still not dark.

The sun hung over the western mountains, red like a dying fire.

The village was very quiet. Chickens were scratching for food in the yard, dogs were panting at the door, and several old women were sitting by the wall picking vegetables. When they saw two cars drive in, they looked up, then looked down again and continued picking vegetables.

Ma Hu got out of the car and stood in front of the third house at the east end of the village.

Half of the courtyard wall had collapsed, and the gate, made of two wooden planks, hung crookedly on the door frame.

He glanced at it, curled his lip, and kicked the door open.

There was a pile of chopped firewood in the yard, and several pieces of clothing, both men's and women's, hanging on the clothesline, washed until they were almost white.

Zhao Dezhu was squatting in the yard smoking when he heard the door open. He looked up and saw Ma Hu. Ma Hu dropped his cigarette, which landed on his pants, burning a hole in them, but Ma Hu didn't seem to notice.

"Boss Ma...Boss Ma..." Zhao Dezhu stood up, his legs trembling and his voice shaking.

Sun Xiuying came out of the house carrying a basin of water. When she saw the people standing in the yard, she dropped the basin, spilling water all over the ground and wetting her shoes.

She took a step back, behind Zhao Dezhu, grabbed his arm, and trembled all over.

Ma Hu didn't say anything, walked to the middle of the yard, pulled up a chair and sat down.

The chair was made of bamboo, old and creaking. He leaned back, crossed his legs, and looked at Zhao Dezhu.

"Zhao Dezhu, when are you going to pay me back the 30,000 yuan you owe me?"