"Dean, sothing happened in the Hall."
Kang Zhirong once again spoke so vaguely, leaving Du Heng speechless. Whatever the issue was, Kang Zhirong had yet to explain it clearly.
Du Heng sighed. He picked up his mobile phone again to briefly speak with Wu Shengnan. After hanging up, he walked out, asking, "Explain it slowly. What exactly has happened?"
This short pause gave Kang Zhirong a mont to realize his confusing wording. He took a deep breath, recomposed himself, and finally said, "Dean, the father of the child you treated has appeared."
"What?"
Du Heng paused, then turned his head back to look at Kang Zhirong. "Tell slowly."
"Here’s what happened. After we finished the paperwork with the people from Civil Affairs, Doctor Ma handed the child over to the welfare institution staff.
When the staff from the welfare institution were taking the child to the Hall, a man suddenly rushed out, claiming the child was his and insisting on taking him."
Kang Zhirong swallowed. "Now, the welfare institution’s staff won’t hand over the child, and the man is still insisting on taking him. Our security guards have separated everyone and brought both parties to the duty room."
Du Heng furrowed his brows. So, what Lu Guangying ntioned before has really happened, he thought. "Did we call the police?"
"We did."
"That’s good. Let’s go take a look."
Du Heng and Kang Zhirong quickly arrived at the duty room. Upon entering, they saw a middle-aged man in ragged clothes sitting there.
The man’s attire startled Du Heng. To call him ragged might be an overstatent, but looking at him from head to toe, it wasn’t far off.
His clothes were old and slightly torn, but most importantly, they were dirty.
Dirty clothes, dirty trousers, dirty shoes—from head to toe, he was covered in spots of grease and sweat stains.
However, his face and hair were clean.
Frankly, observing his attire, if one ignored his face and hair, anyone would assu he was a holess scavenger, possibly with so ntal illness. But seeing his clean face and hair would make anyone revoke that assumption.
This created a very contradictory, almost jarring, and unpleasant feeling.
"What happened?" After entering the room, Du Heng looked at everyone there and asked softly, "Also, have the police arrived yet?"
Just as Du Heng spoke, the man who had given him such a contradictory impression stood up, walked over to Du Heng, and then, with a THUD, he knelt. His movents were remarkably quick and fluid.
"President Du, thank you! Thank you for saving my child!"
As the man knelt, his voice, choked with tears, rang out.
However, this act didn’t bring Du Heng any joy. Instead, he frowned and pulled the man up. "Stand up and talk."
He found this way of expressing gratitude—kneeling—unacceptable. Moreover, regardless of the man’s reasons, he had, after all, abandoned his own child. This left Du Heng with no goodwill towards him.
With Du Heng and Kang Zhirong’s help, the man finally sat down. He continued to babble his thanks, forcing Du Heng to interrupt him. "How do you know I was the one who saved your child?"
The man, his face full of sha, answered quietly, "I never left Jinzhou. I ca to the hospital every day to see my child.
Doctor Du, I saw all the kindness you showed my child."
As he spoke, the man lowered his head, and his voice gradually faded until it was inaudible.
Du Heng felt a complex mix of emotions, so intricate it was hard to describe.
Seeing that Doctor Ma was looking after the child, Du Heng walked over to him and gently asked, "Is this your father?"
The child nodded excitedly. "Yes, Mr. Du, he’s my dad! My dad finished his farm work and ca to pick up."
Seeing the child so happy, Du Heng smiled faintly. "Mr. Du didn’t lie to you, did he? You have to be good and listen, alright?"
The child nodded emphatically. "Mhm, I’ll definitely be good. But Mr. Du, why aren’t they letting us go ho yet?"
Du Heng glanced back at the man, then turned to the child and continued smiling. "There are still a few discharge procedures that aren’t finished. Plus, I need to talk to your dad about so things. After everything is done, you can go ho with him.
Don’t worry, just wait a little longer."
"Mhm, okay, I’ll be good."
"Such a good boy."
Du Heng smiled and patted the child’s head. But when he turned around, his smile vanished instantly.
Walking back to the man, Du Heng asked expressionlessly, "Why did you abandon your child at our hospital?"
"I had no money. Not a single penny left," the man replied, his head bowed, his voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz. "If I hadn’t left the child at the hospital, forget about treatnt—I wouldn’t even have known what to feed him that night."
The duty room was very quiet. Once the door closed, the only sound was everyone’s breathing. Even so, Du Heng had to listen very carefully to hear the man speak.
"Where is the child’s mother? Isn’t there anyone else at ho?"
"She ran away. She left with soone else three months after this child was born." The man seed to have overco his initial awkwardness, and his voice grew slightly louder. "There was nothing left at ho. I rented out all our land and sold the newly built house. Only the old courtyard remained, and no one wanted it."
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