Chapter Eighty-One: An Unexpected Discovery

Everything gradually settled down. After Lu Jing was relieved of her heavy burdens, her spirits improved day by day. Since Zheng Yi took over the factory, she would bring Qu Mengmeng and Lu Jing to visit every couple of days. Seeing the business thriving and the workers carrying out their tasks in an orderly fashion, Zheng Yi was always filled with gratitude and often expressed how much she owed Lu Jing, for which the generous Lu Jing would frequently scold her.

As soon as Yusheng returned to the factory, before he could even put down his bag, he ran gleefully to Kang Ning and handed over his technician’s certificate. “Big Brother, look!”

“What’s the use in showing me the cover? Open it up and let me see what’s inside.” Kang Ning’s hands were stained with oil, and he quickly urged Yusheng to open the certificate. After confirming that all the information and seals were correct, Kang Ning praised him warmly, then called out to Old Li not far away, “Brother Li, could you come here for a moment?”

Old Li hurried over. Seeing Yusheng still fumbling with the certificate, he glanced at it and said happily, “I knew it, Yusheng is making something of himself! Ha! I know why your master called me over. Don’t worry! I’ll call the boss later and have her give you a raise starting next month! Ha, got to get back to work now!”

“Yusheng, you don’t need to rush to start work today. Go home and tell your parents the good news so they can be happy for you!” Kang Ning advised kindly.

“I’ll do as you say, Big Brother! I’m off now, but I’ll hurry back tonight to cover your shift.” With that, Yusheng ran off in high spirits, leaving Kang Ning no time to refuse.

Old Qu watched Yusheng disappear into the distance, then walked over to Kang Ning. “Brother, I don’t easily admire people, but today I have to say I admire you. Whether it’s your skills or your character, I can’t find a single fault. It’s a pleasure to work alongside you.”

Kang Ning was just about to reply politely when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He wiped his hands, gave Old Qu an apologetic smile, and stepped aside to answer. The call was from Gao Qinghua, informing him that Uncle Wang would be cremated the next day, and that the ashes would be taken together to the countryside fifty kilometers away, where the villagers had already chosen a burial spot and dug the grave.

When they returned that afternoon, a heavy sorrow weighed on everyone’s hearts. Three days earlier, the villagers had unanimously decided to bury Uncle Wang beside Lu Jing’s mother’s grave, and his funeral was solemn and grand. Kang Ning was surprised to see just how highly respected Uncle Wang was in the village, the bonds he’d formed with so many people. A vast crowd of all ages, candles in hand, filled the cemetery; hundreds of his students, friends, and relatives wept bitterly, and even those who had once opposed his union with Lu Jing’s mother came, full of remorse, to pay their respects. These two ill-fated souls, denied happiness in life, were finally together in death—a small comfort to the living.

After saying goodbye to Gao Qinghua and his wife, Kang Ning and Mengmeng helped the tearful Lu Jing home, comforting her deep into the night until she finally fell asleep from exhaustion. With their own hearts heavy, Mengmeng and Kang Ning embraced for a while, before Kang Ning drove her home.

Qu Mengmeng kissed Kang Ning lightly before getting out at the city government dormitory. Kang Ning drove back alone, his mind replaying the horror of Uncle Wang’s murder, frustrated and angry at the lack of progress in finding the killer. Distracted, he drove slowly, lost in thought.

Turning a corner, Kang Ning saw a figure sprawled between the sidewalk and the bike lane under the dim streetlight. The person was struggling to get up but fell again into a muddy puddle.

Kang Ning glanced around warily; under the weak glow of the streetlights, there was not another soul within a hundred meters. He quickly drove up and stopped beside the person.

He jumped from the car and hurried over, lifting the face-down figure and carrying him under a dry tree to check his injuries. To his shock, the man's right hand had been severed cleanly at the forearm, gripped tightly in his left. His left calf was also broken, twisted at an unnatural angle.

Kang Ning quickly took off his jacket, tore open his shirt, and tightly bound the bleeding wrist. Seeing that the man was not in immediate danger, he pulled out his phone and called Du Jianwu. By chance, Du Jianwu had just returned from a case in the county and was entering the city, planning to go home to sleep. Upon hearing Kang Ning’s location, he arrived in less than five minutes, and with his assistant, Xiao Shen, helped carry the injured man into the police car, sirens blaring as they rushed to the hospital.

After cleaning the mud from his hands and feet, Kang Ning got back into his car, but just as he was about to start the engine, he remembered that the injured man was the lobby manager of the "Destination" bar—the very man he’d met when he first arrived in Leijiang, someone who was also well acquainted with Lu Jing, Zheng Yi, and Qu Mengmeng. After a moment’s thought, he drove straight to the hospital Du Jianwu had mentioned.

It was a small company hospital, the nearest one, which was why Du Jianwu had chosen it. Kang Ning hurried into the emergency room to find the injured man still lying on a stretcher in the corridor, while two nurses hopped anxiously from foot to foot. After speaking with Du Jianwu, Kang Ning learned that the on-call doctor had gone out drinking and returned so drunk he couldn’t be roused, while the other two doctors had just received urgent calls and wouldn’t be back for at least twenty or thirty minutes.

Kang Ning suggested transferring hospitals, but Du Jianwu replied helplessly, “It’s the same everywhere. If we move him, it’ll take at least another half hour. We might as well wait.”

Looking at the man’s agony and the tourniquet that had loosened during the move, with blood now gushing from the wound, Kang Ning made a snap decision. He barked at the two panicking nurses, “One of you—stop the bleeding! The other—test his blood and prepare plasma! Du, help me get him into the operating room!”

Du Jianwu hesitated but obeyed. The two of them wheeled the man onto the simple operating table. Kang Ning scanned the room, grabbed a white coat, and put it on. He washed his hands thoroughly at the sink, instructing the nurses to cut off the patient’s clothes, then selected a pair of latex gloves and snapped them on, moving to the operating table with the ease of long practice.

Du Jianwu and Xiao Shen watched in stunned silence as Kang Ning worked with the calm authority and skill of a seasoned surgeon. Du Jianwu only knew Kang Ning as a mechanic, but now, watching him perform with such expertise, he was dumbfounded. After a long pause, he exchanged a bewildered glance with his colleague.

“Captain, didn’t you say your friend was a mechanic? How can this be?” Xiao Shen looked at his commander in disbelief.

Du Jianwu glanced back at Kang Ning, who was deftly cleaning the wounds, and after a moment said, “Why would I lie to you? How could I know my friend could fix people as well as cars? To be honest, he’s better than any doctor I’ve seen!”

Both men turned to watch Kang Ning as he directed the nurses and operated, unable to fathom how a young mechanic could possess such remarkable skills.

Soon, the two doctors rushed in, changing into their scrubs and asking about the patient’s condition as they prepared. But by the time they donned their gloves, Kang Ning had already finished, pulling off his gloves and turning away. The two doctors, puzzled by the unfamiliar face, hurried to the table and examined the wounds, astonished to find both the severed leg and arm had been handled with precision and ingenuity, each blood vessel expertly clamped in ways they’d never seen before.

Kang Ning gave them a slight smile. “I just did some preliminary work. I’ll leave the rest to you.”

The doctors, though a bit put out by his modesty—he’d done more than most surgeons—nonetheless thanked him politely and asked his name and which hospital he worked at.

Kang Ning merely smiled and did not answer, intending to make a quiet exit. Just then, the injured man, who had not lost consciousness, called out weakly, “Brother, I know you. Come here—I have something to tell you.”

Kang Ning hesitated, then came over and bent close. The man whispered to him for nearly a minute. Kang Ning’s face remained impassive, though his eyes flashed sharply. Luckily, with his back to the others, neither Du Jianwu nor Xiao Shen noticed his reaction.

Kang Ning returned to Du Jianwu. “Du, this man is the lobby manager at ‘Destination’ Bar. He asked me to let them know he won’t be able to work for some time.”

Du Jianwu nodded. “Leijiang isn’t big—I know him, too. Let’s step outside and talk.”