They aren't being proactive themselves right now. If we're too proactive, who knows what you might hear from her mouth."

Although she was his elder, Du Heng had to admit, her mouth was entirely in the wrong place. It should have been located in the middle of her butt; moreover, her masseter muscle shouldn't even be called that—it should be called a sphincter.

"Big Brother, should I go with you guys to look for her tomorrow?"

"Don't make trouble for yourself. Just focus on your own business." Du Ping directly rejected Du Heng's suggestion. "With your current small physique, if you go into the mountains to find someone, I'm afraid we might have to organize a search party to find you before we even find that person. Just don't add more trouble for us."

Listening to his Big Brother's undisguised contempt, Du Heng couldn't refute it because Du Ping was right. Since starting high school, Du Heng had barely spent any time working in the fields, let alone in the mountains.

Now, he couldn't even imagine venturing into the Linzi, let alone carrying two baskets of soil; he would probably be crushed to the ground, unable to get up.

Du Ping finished speaking, turned, and walked out of the kitchen. After a few steps, he asked, "How much longer will you take to finish? Do you need my help?"

Du Heng had already started decocting the second batch. Hearing Du Ping's words, he directly refused, "Nevermind. Your hands are more used to handling an iron shovel; they're not suited for such delicate work."

"I see you're itching for a beating, kid." Du Ping couldn't help but laugh and scold at his brother's contemptuous tone. "Fine, let this rascal work himself to death. I'm going to wash my feet and go to bed."

Du Heng chuckled, then lowered his head to resume his work.

「The next morning, when Du Heng woke up, Du Ping was nowhere to be seen.」 When he tried to call him and couldn't get through, Du Heng knew his Big Brother had already gone into the mountains.

Since his Big Brother was already gone, Du Heng stopped worrying about that matter and quickly began washing his face and brushing his teeth. Just as he finished, Lu Qiaoer arrived at the door.

Without any need for small talk, the two headed straight to the Health Clinic after meeting to see Lu Zhongjiang in his hospital room.

Lu Zhongjiang's complexion seemed better than yesterday, and he appeared to be in higher spirits. Du Heng wondered if it was due to the change of environment or some other reason.

"Secretary Lu, just maintain your current state. Trust me, it won't be long before you'll be apologizing to me," Du Heng joked after the check-up.

Lu Zhongjiang, lying on the sickbed, also laughed and said, "Apologize? Why would I have to apologize to you?"

"Because you underestimated me before; you didn't believe I could cure you. When I make you feel better and your health improves, won't you have to apologize to me then?"

Seeing Du Heng's half-joking, half-serious expression, Lu Zhongjiang couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Alright, forget about being cured. As long as you can stop me from needing painkillers for the pain, I'll apologize to you immediately."

But Du Heng shook his head. "That won't work. The prescription I gave you is for heat-clearing, pus-draining, and detoxifying. If you drink the medicine today, your pain will actually intensify.

So, if that's your condition, you're not being sincere about apologizing."

Lu Zhongjiang chuckled and asked, "Then set a time. When should I apologize?"

Du Heng stroked his chin, thinking for a moment. "This afternoon. If your pain has eased even a little by this afternoon, then you apologize to me." Before he could finish speaking, Du Heng himself started laughing.

Lu Zhongjiang laughed along with him. He knew Du Heng was joking to help him relax. And indeed, it worked; he felt genuinely relaxed, not at all like the oppressive atmosphere he'd experienced while hospitalized at the Provincial Oncology Hospital.

「Back in the office, Du Heng called Yu Haiting over.」 He handed him a prescription and a bag of roasted goat blood powder. "I've written the prescription. This is the goat blood powder for it. Take it to the Pharmacy and have them weigh out the dosage specified."

Yu Haiting took the prescription without any hesitation.

After handing over the items, Du Heng continued, "Pay attention when decocting the medicine. Use a low heat and simmer it slowly. Decoct three bowls of water down to one.

One dose per day, one bowl per dose. After he takes it, closely monitor Secretary Lu's condition. If there's blood and pus in his stool, don't panic; just observe carefully.

If there is hemorrhage without pus, or continuous hemorrhage, you must notify me immediately."

Yu Haiting nodded and then asked Du Heng, "Dean, you're not leaving today, are you?"

Du Heng shook his head. "I'll need to be away for a while. There are some things I must finalize today; I can't keep coming back here every day."

"Oh," Yu Haiting responded softly and turned to leave, but Du Heng called him back. "Old Yu, let me ask you something."

Yu Haiting stopped. "Dean, what is it?"

Du Heng hesitated for a moment before asking, "If someone were transferred from the Municipal Maternal and Child Health Hospital to be our dean, would you be able to accept that?"

Yu Haiting nodded decisively. "Of course. Isn't that how it should be?"

"Would Deputy Dean Zhang agree?"

Yu Haiting thought for a moment. "There shouldn't be an issue. Deputy Dean Zhang and I have discussed this before, so he likely anticipated this outcome."