From Evil Sect Leader to Doctor

Before they could arrive at the scene, another bad news came. The old man heard that his wife hanged herself. Filled with guilt and regret, he came to the scene and was overwhelmed with grief, which triggered a heart attack. He was rushed to Weishan Island Hospital, but it was too late.

In one day, the elderly couple died one after another, which was truly unacceptable for their family.

The elderly couple had two sons. The elder son, Liu Ximing, is a lawyer, and the younger son, Liu Xiliang, is a journalist.

As soon as Xu Chunliang heard of their identities, he realized that this matter might be a bit tricky.

Ding Si drove to the Ancient Spring Town pier, just parked the car when Xu Chunliang asked him to go back.

Ding Si thought he misheard: "What?"

Xu Chunliang said, "You should go back. Since the person is already dead, there’s no point in you going. Now is not the time to discuss compensation. It’s better for you to avoid it for now. The other party can’t wait to pin the responsibility on you."

It woke him up from his dream; Ding Si then realized that Xu Chunliang’s role had changed. From now on, Xu Chunliang represented the interests of the people of Hu Shan Town, no longer Changxing Hospital or Huayuan Group. Indeed! In such matters, one should avoid getting involved. Just let them handle it and pay whatever compensation is due in the end.

Xu Chunliang boarded the last ferry to Weishan Island that day. There were hardly any people on the ferry on the second day of the New Year.

Xu Chunliang first browsed through the local news and found the photo of the old lady’s suicide. Because it was a distant shot, the figure was very small. The old lady chose to hang herself on a crooked tree at the construction site, with hollow bricks from the site under her feet and ropes from the site around her neck. With a hard kick, her body was left hanging lifeless.

Already there were quite a lot of related news reports, and more than half of these self-media reports were false. The most reposted one was depicting the elderly as suffering from illness with no way out and resorting to death to accuse the heartless hospital.

Xu Chunliang truly couldn’t understand these self-media people. At the very least, they should figure out the situation before publishing anything. Doesn’t this point the primary conflict towards Changxing Hospital?

Now thinking about it, it seems to be a blessing in disguise. If it weren’t for the assault incident before the holidays hitting the headlines, Huayuan Group wouldn’t be eager to dissociate from him, and there wouldn’t be this temporary transfer.

Although he’s still handling this matter, the perspective is completely different. Being a referee and being a player are entirely different mindsets.

Xu Chunliang checked the trending topics. Just a few days ago, due to the assault incident, he quickly reached the top ten, but now he’s nowhere to be found. Popularity comes fast and goes just as fast.

Hua Zhuyue’s intervention was one of the reasons, and another was that the backstage manipulator no longer paid these unscrupulous media people.

The construction site hanging incident didn’t have the heat of his previous assault, fully proving the prowess of the manipulator behind the scenes.

Zhang Haitao was waiting at the pier for him. The Audi Q7 borrowed from Xianhong Farm was spotless. Seeing Xu Chunliang coming out of the pier, Zhang Haitao quickly approached, eagerly taking Xu Chunliang’s backpack.

"Happy New Year, Dean Xu!" Actually, Zhang Haitao already greeted him on the first day of the new year. During this time, Zhang Haitao was very anxious. After all, Xu Chunliang’s negative news was everywhere, and Huayuan Group had already removed him from his position. Rumors said Changxing Hospital would also penalize Xu Chunliang. One thing was certain: Xu Chunliang couldn’t keep his position here.

Zhang Haitao’s current status was entirely due to Xu Chunliang’s care, and if Xu Chunliang fell, he would too.

Zhang Haitao was already considering future plans, but suddenly the situation took a turn for the better, and Xu Chunliang quickly became the Vice Mayor of Hu Shan Town. This change caught many off guard and also proved Xu Chunliang’s strong background.

Zhang Haitao was now determined to stick with Xu Chunliang; being the Vice Mayor’s driver was better than being the logistics manager at the branch hospital.

Xu Chunliang asked Zhang Haitao to take him to the town first.

Zhang Haitao told him that today Vice Mayor Zhou Yuanhong was on duty. He was responsible for economic development, finance, statistics, and auditing. In the past, he was in charge of the Economic Development Office, Economic Development Service Center, and the Financial Office.

From the information Zhang Haitao currently had, the old lady should have done it on a whim due to the old man’s complaints. She had bought property at Da Heng Hot Spring Town but chose the Healthy Elderly Care Hospital to hang herself, which made no sense.

The most likely explanation was that the old lady got confused and didn’t distinguish which construction site it was.

The old lady died at the Healthy Elderly Care Hospital construction site, and after the old man had a heart attack, he was sent to a branch of Changxing Hospital, but unsuccessful resuscitation resulted in his death at the hospital.

After receiving the news, their two sons also rushed to Weishan Island. They went their separate ways, with the younger son, Liu Xiliang, taking media friends to the hospital for interviews and filming, and the elder son, Liu Ximing, going to the Hu Shan Town Government, demanding an explanation from the town.

When Xu Chunliang arrived at Vice Mayor Zhou Hongyuan’s office, the door was open, and inside, he heard Zhou Hongyuan’s slightly agitated voice: "Don’t come to me. I’m in charge of economic affairs. The town has already assigned special personnel to handle this matter."

"The incident happened this morning, and now it’s been twelve hours. My parents have died, and your town keeps passing the buck. Who’s responsible? Why hasn’t anyone handling the matter shown up? Does your efficiency match the people’s expectations?"

Zhou Hongyuan said, "How many times have I told you? The person responsible for this matter is Comrade Xu Chunliang. He’s on his way here. Everyone should handle their own tasks. If there’s an issue, you should find him."

"On his way here? Is he crawling or swimming over?" Liu Ximing shouted, and his words were rather insulting.

Xu Chunliang pushed the door open and walked in: "You don’t need to worry about how I got here. This is the town government. Why are you shouting? And you’re supposed to be a lawyer—remember that it’s reason that speaks louder, not volume!"

Zhou Hongyuan was relieved to see Xu Chunliang come in. He took out a tissue and wiped his mostly bald head, which was covered in sweat.

Liu Ximing looked at Xu Chunliang: "So you’re Xu Chunliang?"

Following behind him, Zhang Haitao said, "You call him Xu Chunliang? This is Mayor Xu!"

Liu Ximing saw the robust Zhang Haitao, who was already clenching his fists. From his appearance, Zhang Haitao looked like a hothead. If he was provoked, he might not hesitate to rush forward and give Liu a beating.

Xu Chunliang said, "I’ll have a handover with Vice Mayor Zhou. Those who aren’t involved should leave first."

Liu Ximing originally wanted to talk about his parents, but Xu Chunliang immediately issued an eviction order. He twitched his mouth and coldly snorted, "Quite the authority you have there!"

Xu Chunliang replied, "If you know the law, you should understand the importance of maintaining order in government offices. Disrupting our normal work order comes with a price. Haitao, help me maintain order."

Zhang Haitao made a gesture inviting him out. If Xu Chunliang even hinted at it, he wouldn’t hesitate to act, seeing this as a great opportunity to prove his loyalty to the new official.

Liu Ximing was shrewd enough to know that he had to follow legal and procedural norms. He was here to seek support from the Hu Shan Town Government, and causing trouble wouldn’t benefit him. He nodded and said, "I’ll wait outside."

Zhang Haitao escorted Liu Ximing out and closed the office door.

Zhou Hongyuan, as if seeing a savior, reached out his hand to Xu Chunliang: "Xiaoxu, you’re finally here."

Xu Chunliang had no intention of shaking his hand. Damn it, acting like I didn’t hear you try to pin this on me earlier? He sat down across from Zhou Hongyuan.

Zhou Hongyuan awkwardly retracted his hand, realizing that Xu had overheard what he said earlier.

Xu Chunliang said, "Your work here is different from our hospital. Isn’t whoever’s on duty responsible?"

Zhou Hongyuan laughed, "Secretary Qin highly values your abilities. You came from Changxing Hospital, where you were in charge of the branch office. Now, you’re a part of our town leadership, so it’s perfect for you to handle this matter."

Xu Chunliang said, "Secretary Qin changes his mind a lot, doesn’t he? He initially said I’d start work on the seventh day, but now on the second day of the new year, he’s grabbing people like me."

Mei Ru Xue had already given him a heads-up. Although Hu Shan Town isn’t big, it has its share of officials. The bureaucracy here is no different from anywhere else, and you can’t just directly apply old methods to new settings.

Zhou Hongyuan said, "The town’s work has been busy lately, and it’s just the grand holiday. We’re severely understaffed, and our team members are working non-stop. It’s not easy for anyone. As a young cadre valued by Secretary Qin, you have to take on more."

Xu Chunliang said, "The problem is, Secretary Qin hasn’t given me a specific role yet. Isn’t this a safety issue? Doesn’t the town have a leader in charge of safety?"

Zhou Hongyuan said, "The Safety Production Supervision Management Bureau, labor security, and safety production work are handled by Comrade Wei Jinmin, but he’s gone back home, to Xijing."

Xu Chunliang said, "I came here from Hu Hai."

Zhou Hongyuan smiled and thought, it’s not my decision, it’s Qin Zhengyang’s arrangement.

Xu Chunliang said, "Could you please contact the leads from the police station and the Comprehensive Law Enforcement Office and have them come to the small meeting room in half an hour?"

"What?" Zhou Hongyuan thought he misheard, feeling a bit annoyed. I’m also a Vice Mayor, and a member of the Party Committee. My ranking in the town is higher than yours. You’re just a temporary transfer here, and there’s a chance you’ll be gone in three months. And yet you arrange for me to handle your tasks? I’m not your secretary.

Xu Chunliang said, "Aren’t you on administrative duty? I’m new here and don’t know the colleagues involved. I can’t exactly go door to door myself, can I?"

Zhou Hongyuan laughed, "Alright, I’ll gather them."

As Xu Chunliang was about to leave, he remembered something: "Hey Old Zhou, today’s my first day at work. Has my office been arranged?"