Controlled Experiment Chapter 4

Controlled Experiment – 4

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Du Yusheng had always felt that the most unfathomable thing in this world was the human heart, and the hardest thing to grasp was also the human heart.

From the mitral valve to the tricuspid valve, from the aortic valve to the pulmonary valve, you couldn't directly see the circulation happening within them. And the hospital is like a casing around the heart; once you step inside, you can easily see into people's hearts. The full spectrum of human conditions, you can always see every kind of it in a hospital. In the face of life, in the face of choices, the way you behave is the truest version of yourself. Anyone would shed their disguise when confronted with life.

Du Yusheng sat in the waiting area, looking at the registration slip in his hand and then glancing at the number on the digital screen. He let out a deep sigh.

Number twenty, number forty-five.

"... I'll be waiting till the end of time at this rate."

Xiao Bai looked at Du Yusheng with a hint of guilt. "This was the best number I could get when I came."

Du Yusheng scolded, "Couldn't you have bought it from a scalper?"

"That would cost extra, wouldn't it?" Xiao Bai thought for a moment and then added, "Would we get reimbursed for that?"

Reimburse your fucking uncle.

"You really are damn stingy," Du Yusheng snorted coldly.

"... Brother Yu, you don't know how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt are until you're running a household."

"That's true," Du Yusheng said indifferently. "If the old man had a taste for that sort of thing, we could've just bought out a seasoning factory."

Xiao Bai actually wanted to say something more, but Du Yusheng's invisible pretence left him completely speechless.

Before coming, Du Yusheng thought about using his identity as a police officer to go straight in, but on second thought, using his status as a police officer might not sit well with the doctor. And besides, with so many patients waiting behind them, jumping the queue so openly would be lacking in morality, so he asked Xiao Bai to register for an appointment. Who would've thought Xiao Bai would be so straightforward and really go to the outpatient clinic to get a proper number.

Thinking of this, Du Yusheng sighed again as he looked at his registration slip.

While they waited, Xiao Bai took a phone call.

The other team had found fibres from Mrs Luo's clothing outside the housekeeper's house.

Du Yusheng nodded and instructed, "Tell them to check whether there's any cold medicine in his house with the same ingredients as the one found before Luo Daheng died. Pull the surveillance footage from the pharmacies near the housekeeper's place and see if he bought any relevant medication recently. Also, check whether Luo Daheng had any asset distribution before he died, especially the part that belonged to Mrs Luo."

"You suspect the two of them were involved?" Xiao Bai said. "... They don't look like the type to kill someone. Just... having an affair, that's all."

Du Yusheng gave Xiao Bai an exasperated look. "Just treat it as a routine investigation, got it?"

After hanging up, Du Yusheng started fiddling with his phone. Xiao Bai peeked a few times and noticed that he'd even changed his wallpaper to that commendation photo.

The two of them sat there staring at each other from two-thirty until four-thirty, the final appointment for the day.

On the sign by the door, Li Yao's name was printed in bold black letters. Du Yusheng's eyes lingered there for a moment. The name had a lot of strokes, it was hard not to glance at it a few times. Du Yusheng asked Xiao Bai to wait outside.

This was Du Yusheng's first time meeting Li Yao. Later, Du Yusheng would often recall this scene and feel that he should've seen some clue in Li Yao from the very beginning.

Had he seen it earlier, he wouldn't have suffered such a heavy fall because of him.

The consulting room was very clean and tidy, probably the case with every doctor. Hanging on the wall was a red banner with ten golden words: Saving lives and healing the wounded, a living Hua Tuo.

Du Yusheng stood in the empty consulting room for a few seconds. Li Yao came out from the inner room, wiping his hands. Upon seeing Du Yusheng, he gave a polite, faint smile.

He looked just as handsome as in the photo, seemed well-educated, and carried that particular cleanliness unique to doctors. He sat properly, reached for the no-rinse hand sanitiser on the desk, and politely rubbed his fingers beneath the table. His skin was very fair, so fair that a bit more pressure might have revealed the veins beneath. Du Yusheng looked him over from head to toe.

"Hello, where are you feeling uncomfortable"

His voice was also pleasant to the ear, calm and measured.

Du Yusheng came back to his senses and coughed slightly.

"I'm with the Huan Island Sub-Bureau," he took out his badge and flashed it briefly in front of Li Yao.

Li Yao had his own staff badge pinned to his chest. ID photos always seemed to capture people at their ugliest, but for Li Yao, it was quite the opposite, even his ID photo looked good. Compared to him, Du Yusheng felt like a thug. He hurriedly shoved his own badge back into his pocket.

At the mention of the Huan Island Sub-Bureau, there was the faintest change in Li Yao's expression, but he still maintained a well-mannered smile.

"... Is something wrong?"

Du Yusheng nodded. "You know Luo Daheng, right?"

Li Yao smiled and said, "I'm his private doctor."

"So, you have been looking after Luo Daheng's health all along?" Du Yusheng asked. "I heard his health had never been great?"

Li Yao gave a slightly apologetic smile. "That's a private matter, I'm afraid it's not really convenient..."

"He's dead," Du Yusheng added. "The night before last."

Li Yao's polite smile froze for a few seconds, and then he shook his head slightly, with a touch of regret.

"Mr Luo had heart disease, high blood pressure, and bronchial asthma. He was very busy with work, and much of his physical condition was brought on by the demands of his job," Li Yao added. "Sometimes, it's hard to balance health and work."

Everything he said was boilerplate, nothing of real substance.

"So, Mr Luo's death was related to his health?"

Du Yusheng didn't answer that question, but went on, "Where were you the night before last?"

There was a simple calendar on Li Yao's desk, with a few dates circled in red pen. It was too far away for Du Yusheng to make out which dates had been marked.

"I had a surgery the night before last, and I went home right after it ended."

"What time did you get home?"

"Eight or nine o'clock? I can't remember the exact time."

"After you got home, did you go anywhere else, Dr Li?"

Hearing this, Li Yao smiled.

He looked really good when he smiled, with a slight upward curve at the corners of his mouth and a hint of a smile in his eyes. There was a sense of distance about him, but it made you feel very comfortable. Du Yusheng was at a loss for words and could only think of the word "good-looking."

"Are you interrogating me?"

Du Yusheng let out an awkward laugh. "No, I'm just asking casually."

Li Yao was a clever man, he understood why Du Yusheng had come.

"I didn't see Mr Luo that night."

Oh, you didn't see him.

Then who was the person in the surveillance footage?

Du Yusheng really wanted to ask, but the words were swallowed before they could come out. If you could hear a lie in someone's words, then there was a problem with that person. But Du Yusheng had no intention of exposing him, nor did he want to keep pressing the issue.

Before leaving, he politely shook Li Yao's hand.

"Dr Li, there's something I'd like to consult you about," Du Yusheng said, his hand still gripping the other's. "Do you know that taking too much nitroglycerin can be fatal?"

Li Yao lowered his head slightly and smiled.

"I'm a doctor, I was trained to save lives."

Du Yusheng really wanted to read something in Li Yao's smile, but it was too natural, Du Yusheng couldn't see a thing.

The only thing he could feel was those hands.

There were calluses on them. Du Yusheng had them too, in the exact same places. Compared to someone used to holding a scalpel, Du Yusheng thought Dr Li looked more like someone who'd spent years holding a gun.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: May 12, 2025 by Angel

Edited: May 30, 2025 by Angel