Chapter 7: The Stalker X Pan Mengliang

  Zou Guan's voice was calm as he said, "Thirteen, have you discovered anything?"

  I asked Kui Ruo Lan: "When we went to Ruan De Feng's clinic to ask Yang Hong, do you remember if he used a computer to open up all of Yang Hong's medical records for us to see?"

  Yu Ruo Lan nodded.

  "I said: 'The medical record of Longcheng Hospital, on which all the relevant information of the patient is written, including the symptoms and diagnosis results, as well as the most important item, which is the prescription. And among all the prescriptions, I remember that Ruan Defeng prescribed the following medications: Montmorillonite powder, Malic acid Simvastatin tablets, Lansoprazole enteric-coated tablets, Compound glutamine enteric-coated capsules, and Aluminum magnesium carbonate tablets. Among these medications, there is no Pirenoxine bromide tablet.'"

  "Thirteen, you really are making me look at you in a new light. In just that short amount of time, you actually managed to memorize all those medicine names on the computer? Are you sure you didn't miss any or forget any?"

  I nodded firmly and continued: "Moreover, I remember Ruan De-feng saying that Yang Hong said he only believed in his own medical skills and would not go to other hospitals to see other doctors."

  Chen Qiuyang said: "However, there are two possible explanations for the detection of this chemical substance in Yang Hong's gut now: one is that Ruan Defeng may have opened this drug, but he did not record it on the computer; the second possibility is that Yang Hong himself bought Piroxicam tablets at a pharmacy outside and took them. Moreover, I remember that after taking Piroxicam tablets, less than 10% of the oral dose is absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract, the elimination half-life is 1.5 hours, and this drug is basically all metabolized and eliminated in the liver."

  I couldn't help but say to Chen Qiuyang, who had a bit of a feminine side: "Boss, I truly and sincerely think you'd be more suitable as the president of Wu Xie Society."

  I didn't expect Chen Qiuyang to retort, "President, you're really hateful, hehe, I'm not suitable for being the president at all", which left me chilled to the bone and sweating.

  Zou Guanjia, who had been silent all along, said: "Since there are doubts, you go and investigate. Don't let any doubts slip away, Thirteen, you go find Ruan Defeng again, and Chen Qiuyang, you continue to look for news about He Jiali."

  So I came alone again to the Department of Gastroenterology at Longcheng Central Hospital.

  Ruan Feng saw me coming again, but didn't get angry. Instead, he said with a smile: "What's wrong, my great detective? Are you here to see me about your stomach problems or is it still about asking Yang Hong things?"

  I opened the door and directly told Ruan Defeng about the discovery of the Midazolam in Yang Hong's autopsy report. After listening, Ruan Defeng said: "In short, I didn't prescribe this medication. If you don't believe me, you can actually go to the pharmacy on the first floor to check. Our hospital is a Grade 3 hospital and we strictly follow the relevant regulations. You can look up the prescription or payment records, and it will be clear immediately."

  I looked at Ruan De Feng's face, he had a very sincere expression, indeed it didn't seem like he was lying.

  I said with a somewhat dejected tone: "Actually, this discovery is basically useless, I'm just making a big deal out of nothing. He can simply buy the medicine at an outside pharmacy and take it, but me, I was so naive to think that I had found an important clue."

  "Wei Feng said, 'It's not that simple. The Piroxicam tablets are not ordinary medicine, and you can't buy them at an ordinary pharmacy. In other words, Yang Hong came to see me about his enteritis, but he also went to other hospitals to see other doctors. You might be able to follow this lead and find another suspect, haha.'"

  Ruan De's words once again pointed out a direction for me. At this time, there were also endless patients coming to see Ruan De for treatment, he was really busy, and I didn't dare disturb him anymore, so I had to leave the clinic.

  The long hospital corridor was filled with the pungent smell of disinfectant, and several patients walked slowly in front of me, looking weak. A patient wearing a blue-and-white striped hospital gown lay on a stretcher, being pushed by a nurse into an elevator. The old man was thin to the bone, his sunken eye sockets containing a pair of dull gray eyes that were lifeless and filled with despair and sadness. At this moment, I forgot about the Yang Hong case; all I thought was that it's already a very fortunate thing for people to be able to live healthily.

  After I came out of Longcheng Hospital, I felt that someone was following me. I trusted my intuition, but I couldn't make out the face of the person who was following me.

  The man was wearing a black windbreaker and a hat pulled down low over his face, and he deliberately kept his head down.

  I'm not sure why he's following me, but I sensed a dangerous message, and it's not that I'm being paranoid. Having grown up in an orphanage since childhood, years of experience have given me the ability to sniff out danger like a beast. Since I don't know what the other person is capable of, I don't plan on confronting him head-on. First, I'll shake off this follower and then think about it.

  Then I turned into Aimin Street on the right side of Longcheng Central Hospital and then turned left onto Beijing Road...

  15 minutes later, I dialed Yilan's mobile phone number and said with great embarrassment: "Yilan, I'm now lost on Beijing Road, no matter how hard I try, I just can't find the way back to Wu Xie Society."

  The phone was silent for about 20 seconds before Rouran's faint voice came through: "Thirteen, you're not joking with me, are you?"

  "Does my tone sound like I'm joking?"

  "It's not like that, but how big is Beijing Road in Longcheng? How far is it from our Wuyi Society? You'll get lost and won't be able to find your way back?"

  "Don't you know that I'm directionally challenged? The first time I left the Wu Xie Society, I got lost 100 meters from the entrance and couldn't find my way back."

  "Okay, you win, tell me about the building next to you or what's distinctive about it."

  8 minutes later, Kui Ruo Lan, who walked out of the Wuxie Society, found me at the entrance of Bajia Commercial City. As soon as she saw me, she asked: "Thirteen, didn't you go to the Chinese hospital to investigate that Dr. Ruan? Why did you run to Beijing Road to stroll around?"

  I told Yui Rorana about being followed by a man in black. Yui Rorana looked around and didn't find any suspicious people, so she said: "Are you being too sensitive? When I was reading books, once when I was walking home alone after watching a movie, I also felt like there was a perverted man following me, and I even tripped him at the corner. It wasn't until later that I found out that the perverted man was actually from our school and had also gone to watch the movie."

  I slowly shook my head and said, "I'm sure someone was following me, but since he lost track of me, I won't bother with him. At Dr. Ruan's place, I did get a new lead - Yang Hong not only went to the Central Hospital to see Dr. Ruan for treatment, but also went to other places to see other doctors."

  "It's easy to find out if he went to a big hospital," said Rouran. "If Officer Dong asks, it can be found immediately. All the major hospitals in Longcheng are interconnected and can be located."

  However, the result was disappointing for both me and Rouran. Except for the Chinese hospital, none of the major hospitals had any records of Yang Hong's visit. There are two possibilities: one is that Yang Hong used a different name to see a doctor, and the other is that he went to a small community hospital that is not connected to the network.

  It suddenly occurred to me that if Yang Hong hadn't gone to the big hospital for treatment, he was very likely to have been treated at a clinic near the Fuli Building. As it turned out, my inference was correct, and I and Kui Rulan soon found a private clinic.

  The doctor who opened this private clinic is Pan Mengliang, 67 years old. Before retiring, he worked at the People's Hospital. After retirement, he didn't want to idle around, so he opened a clinic in a small alley of the community. Usually, he helps nearby elderly neighbors with their illnesses. Since his medical skills are quite good, most patients recover after taking medication, and word-of-mouth spread quickly. As a result, many neighbors come to him for treatment, one after another.

  Doctor Pan has a youthful face and white hair, but he is full of energy, with a ruddy complexion, bright eyes, and a loud voice, looking very healthy.

  As for Yang Hong's case, he did have an impression. He said: "It's really a pity that such a thing happened to him. Before the incident, he also came to see me and showed me the medicine he was taking at the hospital. I told him that it would be fine if he just took those medicines and rested. However, his spirit seemed a bit dazed at the time, and he insisted that I prescribe some other medications for him. So I prescribed piroxicam tablets for him."

  Dr. Pan looked kind and gentle, enthusiastic, without any ferocity at all, so this clue was broken again. I feel like I've been going around in circles, just investigating some trivial matters - I'm not even qualified to investigate mysterious cases!

  I once again had doubts about the meaning of my life. Unfortunately, this self-doubt and confidence lasted less than 5 minutes before I was interrupted by a call from Zou Guanjia: "Thirteen, you, Kui Rulan, and Chen Qiuyang are going to Hong Kong."