Chapter 514: Consultation
Chapter 514: Chapter 514: Consultation
Qiao Wensong and Chen Sheng were staying at Chuncheng City First Hospital.
At that moment, experts from Beijing and Hai City were in a consultation for the two men. Several officers from the Chuncheng City Public Security Bureau waited anxiously in the hallway, eager to hear the results of the consultation as soon as possible.
When Su Qing arrived at the hospital, she easily found the floor where Qiao Wensong’s room was located. Several uniformed officers were in the hallway. The consultation was taking a long time, and a few of them couldn’t sit still, pacing back and forth and glancing intermittently at the room holding Qiao Wensong and Chen Sheng.
"Excuse me, how is Captain Qiao’s condition?" Su Qing recognized two of the men as the officers who had accompanied Qiao Wensong to Da Hu Mountain last year to capture a fugitive.
Hearing someone ask about Qiao Wensong’s condition, the officers all turned to look. One of them recognized Su Qing at a glance and pointed at her, saying, "Hey, it’s you."
"Yes." Su Qing didn’t waste any time. "How is Captain Qiao? Is he out of danger?"
The officer speaking to Su Qing was named Liu Bin. When Su Qing asked, Liu Bin replied worriedly, "Not yet. The experts are still in the consultation, and the results aren’t out. The doctor said the Captain and the others could be in mortal danger at any moment."
His tone grew heavy as he spoke. "The robbery that the Captain and Chen Sheng ran into was obviously off. Their attackers’ knives were poisoned. And to top it off, after the three robbers were brought into the station, they committed suicide. If there’s nothing shady about this, then my name isn’t Liu Bin."
"But with those three robbers dead, the trail has gone cold. We have no way of finding out who was behind them now. And with the Captain and Chen Sheng in critical condition, it’s making everyone extremely anxious."
"Xiao Liu, who is this?" Just then, a man in his forties came forward and asked.
"Oh, Director, this is Comrade Su Qing. When the Captain and I went to Da Hu Mountain to catch the fugitive, Comrade Su Qing was a huge help," Liu Bin quickly said to the man. Then he turned to Su Qing and added, "Su Qing, this is Director Qi from our bureau."
"Hello, Director Qi," Su Qing said with a nod.
"So you’re Comrade Su Qing. I’ve heard a lot about you." The moment Director Qi heard her name, he knew who she was. He was aware of the major contribution she had made to the cleanup operation in Guang City last year. He immediately shook her hand and said, "It’s a pleasure to meet you. We owe you our thanks for both operations last year. Thank you."
"It was nothing, just a small effort," Su Qing replied, shaking his hand.
Su Qing then turned her head to look at Qiao Wensong’s room. Director Qi said, "The experts are still in consultation. Why don’t you have a seat for a bit, Little Su? Where did you travel from?"
"Beijing," Su Qing said. "I heard Captain Qiao was injured, so I came to visit."
"That’s very thoughtful of you."
Just as they were speaking, the door to the hospital room opened.
Seeing the experts walk out, the group forgot about pleasantries and rushed forward to ask, "Doctor, how are the patients?"
The lead expert took off his glasses, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and said with a frown, "Their condition isn’t good right now. We still need to study treatment options."
Hearing this, everyone’s heart sank.
An old traditional Chinese medicine doctor beside him sighed and said, "Time is of the essence. If you have any connections, it would be best to find a stalk of ginseng that’s at least fifty years old. It must be natural wild ginseng. We can have the patients hold slices of it in their mouths first. That should buy us some time. Otherwise, the patients could be in danger at any moment, and if we’re too late..."
The old doctor let out a deep sigh. The poison affecting these two men was very potent. All current methods could only temporarily keep them alive. If they didn’t find an antidote soon, he feared the two of them couldn’t be saved.
"What? Ginseng that’s over fifty years old!" The officers were stunned. It was already hard to find thirty-year-old wild ginseng on the market, let alone one that was over fifty years old.
"I’ll do my best to have someone find it," Director Qi said quickly. No matter how difficult, they had to find this wild ginseng as soon as possible. After all, their comrades’ lives were on the line.
As soon as Director Qi finished speaking, Su Qing said, "I have one here. You can use it for now."
As she spoke, Su Qing used her backpack as cover to retrieve an eighty-year-old stalk of wild ginseng from her space. The wild ginseng was stored in a Huanghuali wood box. The moment she opened it, the old doctor’s eyes lit up. He hurried forward, his eyes shining as he stared at the wild ginseng in her hand.
Looking at Su Qing, the old doctor said excitedly, "Young lady, this... this stalk of wild ginseng, could I take a look at it first?"
"Of course," Su Qing nodded.
"Wonderful, wonderful." The old doctor was overjoyed. He carefully took the stalk of wild ginseng out of the wooden box and began to examine it closely, his eyes growing brighter the longer he looked. ’The fine, deep ’iron lines’ on the body, and the dense ’pearl dots’ on the rootlets... this is an authentic wild ginseng! And judging by its age, it must be at least seventy or eighty years old.’
A nearby doctor who didn’t know as much about it asked, "Mr. Sun, will this wild ginseng do?"
"Do? It’s more than perfect!" The old doctor, addressed as Mr. Sun, nodded eagerly. "This is a genuine wild ginseng, seventy or eighty years old. Its medicinal properties will be excellent."
"That’s great!" The other doctors were overjoyed to hear this. With this ginseng to sustain the patients, they would have more time to research a treatment plan. This would greatly increase the patients’ chances of survival.
Director Qi and the others were also very excited. The director quickly said to Su Qing, "Comrade Su Qing, we’ll consider this wild ginseng a purchase from you by our bureau. Let us know the price, and the bureau will definitely transfer the funds to you."
Su Qing smiled and said, "Director Qi, I consider Captain Qiao a friend. I picked this wild ginseng in the mountains myself. Please, just consider it a small token of my concern."
"We can’t possibly accept that."
"It’s settled."
Su Qing said this, then looked at Mr. Sun. "Mr. Sun, I’ll entrust this wild ginseng to you, then. I’ll have to trouble you and the other experts to do your best."
"Don’t worry, we will do everything we can to save the two officers," Mr. Sun said quickly. He then looked at Su Qing again, finding her a bit familiar. "Young lady, have we met before?"
Before Su Qing could speak, Mr. Sun had a moment of realization. "Oh! I remember now! Weren’t you at the conference in Beijing with Old Gong?"
"Yes." Su Qing blinked, remembering as well. Mr. Sun had also attended that conference. At the time, she had been with Mr. Gong and had even exchanged a few words with him.
Mr. Sun laughed. "Old Gong said you, young lady, are especially knowledgeable about medicinal herbs. He was certainly right about you being impressive."
Su Qing gave a slightly embarrassed smile.
Mr. Sun chatted with Su Qing for a few more moments before hurrying off to cut the ginseng for Qiao Wensong and Chen Sheng to hold in their mouths. Su Qing followed behind him and, when no one was paying attention, secretly channeled some of her green mist into Qiao Wensong and Chen Sheng.