"And these people?"

"My wife, and my friends."

Hmm?

Du Heng’s eyes flickered; Suosuo’s mother wasn’t among them.

"So, what is your purpose in coming here today?" Du Heng asked them coldly.

"Hmph! You killed Suosuo with your treatment! We’re here to demand justice," Mr. Ren said, his tone filled with grief and anger.

Du Heng didn’t react to this statement, merely asking calmly, "What kind of justice do you want?"

"Suosuo was such a lovely child, and you poisoned him to death! Shouldn’t you give us an explanation?" the man roared, looking like he was about to lash out. "Are you bullying us because we’re peasants with no connections or support?"

The man grew more agitated as he continued, his voice thick with emotion, "Yes, we have no support, and we have no money! Even when we went to the city to file a complaint, no one would listen to us! But our lives aren’t worth much anyway. At worst, we’ll trade our lives for yours!"

Du Heng had been furious, almost to the point of exploding.

However, when Mr. Ren mentioned trading lives, Du Heng nearly lost his composure and laughed.

This guy’s a real piece of work, Du Heng thought. I should recommend him to Li Qin.

At the same time, Du Heng also realized something: the recent trouble Wu Buwei and the others had with the Municipal Bureau was likely this man’s doing.

Du Heng took a few quick breaths. "You might not understand this clearly, but regardless of what happened to the child, and even if you are his uncle, this matter doesn’t seem to concern you, does it?"

"I knew you’d say that," Mr. Ren sneered, his expression changing faster than one could flip through a book. His earlier grief-stricken demeanor vanished, replaced by a cold, sarcastic smirk.

Mr. Ren pulled two sheets of paper from his pocket and—SLAM!—slapped them down in front of Du Heng. "I knew you’d try to weasel out of it! Look! This is a letter of authorization from Suosuo’s mother, putting me in full charge of this matter."

Du Heng didn’t touch the letter of authorization this time; he knew it would be impeccably drafted.

Still, this only confirmed one thing for him, Du Heng thought. Among these people, there must be professionals at orchestrating these kinds of situations.

Du Heng glanced at the papers on the table and couldn’t help but scoff. "If I recall correctly, both Fan Bangjun and Suosuo himself said that his mother abandoned him when he was just a few months old and ran off with another man. She hardly seems qualified to demand justice for Suosuo, does she? Besides, as far as I know, Fan Bangjun is Suosuo’s sole legal guardian."

Du Heng swept his cold gaze around the room. "You want justice? Fine. Let Fan Bangjun come. I’ll make sure he gets it."

Seeing Du Heng so resolute, Mr. Ren’s face turned ashen.

Before he could respond, Du Heng continued, "And another thing, don’t go around accusing me of murder without any evidence. Next time you make such an accusation, either bring proof or shut your mouth."

Mr. Ren was stunned. Du Heng’s assertiveness was completely unexpected.

His lips quivered for a moment before he suddenly wailed, "That spineless coward Fan Bangjun! He’s so afraid of offending you bigwigs that he wouldn’t even testify! He even had Suosuo’s body cremated to prevent an autopsy! What a complete disgrace! His own father may be heartless, but his mother isn’t! And I, his uncle, won’t stand for it! We *must* get justice for Suosuo!"

This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen, Du Heng thought. This is the most shameless display imaginable. And this man speaking has to be the most shameless person on earth. Not only is he shameless, but he’s also cold-blooded and despicable. They actually wanted to dissect that child! In this civilized, harmonious society, scoundrels like these are treated far too leniently, while honest people like Fan Bangjun and law-abiding citizens like me face the greatest restrictions and... harm.

Du Heng gently closed his eyes and took a shaky breath. Then, he slowly opened them, his gaze fixed on the man before him.

"Enough of this nonsense. Just tell me what you really want." A wave of nausea washed over Du Heng as he stared at the man; he genuinely felt like he might throw up.

They’re lucky to be living in these times, Du Heng thought. Otherwise, I’d really want to beat them to a pulp.

"We just want justice!" Mr. Ren shouted, his voice ringing out.

Du Heng frowned, disgust openly displayed on his face. "Hurry up and tell me what you want. If you don’t, I’m leaving."

Mr. Ren was momentarily stunned, but seeing Du Heng actually looked like he was about to leave, he quickly blurted out, "Compensation! Compensation for the child’s life, and for the emotional distress caused to Suosuo’s mother!"

A mocking smile touched Du Heng’s lips, his eyes openly displaying his contempt. "Why didn’t you just say so from the start? All this beating around the bush, pretending to be so noble and moral. Do you even possess such qualities?"

"You—"

"Enough. Just name your price."

Hearing Du Heng’s words, Mr. Ren almost burst out laughing.

Listen to that! He’s caving! he thought.

Mr. Ren quickly cleared his throat with a COUGH, then said slowly, drawing out his words, "1,000,000 yuan. Without 1,000,000 yuan, this isn’t over."

Du Heng’s face was a mask of ridicule. TSK-TSK. He clicked his tongue twice, then said mockingly, "I was just asking. I didn’t think you’d actually name a price. Look at that greedy expression on your face. It’s disgusting. 1,000,000 yuan? Have you ever even seen that much money?"

Du Heng let out a cold laugh—HAH—but his eyes were like ice. "Forget 1,000,000 yuan; I wouldn’t give you a single cent. Like I said before, whether you want justice or money, let Fan Bangjun come. Let your sister, the one who abandoned her husband and child, come. You shameless parasites, who do you think you are?"

They were dumbfounded. Utterly dumbfounded.

Not only were Mr. Ren and his companions astonished, but even Deputy Dean Zhang, Director Zheng of the Hospital Office, and the new Director of the Medical Affairs Office were all taken aback.

No one had expected Du Heng to be so aggressive, to resort to direct insults.

"Du! You’re going too far! I’ll fight you to the death! He, get him! Kill him!" Mr. Ren, feeling utterly humiliated, shrieked and lunged towards Du Heng.

But Du Heng didn’t flinch, didn’t move an inch. He just watched Mr. Ren coldly, then casually glanced at the man called He.

They’re just posturing, Du Heng thought. But a larger reason for his calm was that the security guards at the door, armed with steel-pronged man catchers, had already bypassed the onlookers and aimed their weapons directly at the two men.

A group of middle-aged security guards, faces stern, held gleaming steel man catchers, rubber batons, and riot shields. "What do you think you’re doing?!" one of them boomed. "Back off!"

Du Heng was immensely satisfied with the security guards’ swift reaction. My decision to overhaul security was absolutely brilliant, he thought with a surge of vindication. Now *this* is what I call a sense of security! This is it!

The decisive intervention of the security guards immediately quelled the two belligerent men, forcing them to involuntarily retreat a few steps.

The sight of the intimidating guards, especially the menacing, semi-circular steel prongs of the man catchers, struck a flicker of fear into their faces. They worried the prongs might come down on them at any moment.

Mr. Ren retreated a few more steps, then shot a meaningful glance at the three women behind him. He then turned a mocking gaze upon the security guards and Du Heng.

We two men are just the decoys, he thought. The real ’warriors’ are these three women. I’d like to see them lay a hand on a woman! HUMPH. Let them see what a real ace in the hole looks like.

The moment the three women caught Mr. Ren’s signal, they knew their cue. They immediately surged forward, not just rushing, but shrieking and clawing at the air like banshees. "My poor little nephew! This monster killed him! We can’t even get justice, and now he wants to kill us too! I’ll fight you to the death! I don’t want to live anymore! You animal...!"

CRASH!