Village Doctor's Women-Chapter 229 - 223 Crow’s mouth

Director Kang also nodded and chimed in, "I’ve been here for so long, and I’ve never seen any livestock other than chickens, ducks, pigs, and fish. However, a few days ago, I did treat two burly men who were nearly bitten to death by wild beasts while foraging for herbs in the deep mountains."

The point both Director Kang and Wang Jian were making was that there were indeed wild beasts in these mountains; you just wouldn’t encounter them unless you were unlucky.

"This is a civilized area, so we can all relax."

"Our luck can’t be that bad, right?" Yu Yen suddenly interjected.

"Don’t you jinx it!" Wang Lei immediately shot back, and the car grew lively with chatter once again.

As they neared Heavenly Lake, everyone began gathering their belongings. Wang Jian hadn’t brought anything, but Han Youzhen, Yu Yen, and the others had prepared a lot of equipment. They looked less like they were here for a casual visit and more like they came for a hike.

Once the group got out of the car, the driver, who had been arranged by Cai Qiong, addressed Wang Jian.

"Mr. Wang, you all go on ahead and have fun. I’ll park the car in the nearby plaza’s lot and wait for you. Just give me a call when you’re coming down, and I’ll drive over to pick you up."

Wang Jian nodded. Before the driver could pull away, he said, "Uncle Li, why don’t you join us for a walk? It won’t take long."

Hearing this, the driver, whom they called Uncle Li, glanced through the car window at the crowds inside Heavenly Lake and immediately shook his head. "No, thank you, Mr. Wang. I’d better just wait for you in the parking lot. I’m too old to be climbing this place. Besides, you’re a group of young people out to have fun; why would I tag along? The young lady asked me to be your driver, so I’ll stick to doing my job. Just call me if you need anything."

As soon as Uncle Li finished speaking, he drove off. His mention of "the young lady," however, piqued the curiosity of Han Youzhen and the others.

Seeing that Uncle Li couldn’t be persuaded, Wang Jian didn’t insist and led the group toward the Heavenly Lake scenic area.

The season was beginning to cool, which meant the number of visitors to Heavenly Lake was on the rise. While escaping the summer heat here was a nice idea, the exposed paths on the way up could be scorching. The real relief was only found inside the park itself, among its pavilions and tree-lined walkways. Of course, since the locals had air conditioning at home, they wouldn’t bother coming all this way just for a bit of shade. Consequently, the peak seasons for Heavenly Lake weren’t the height of summer but rather early spring and cool autumn. During these times, the temperature was pleasant, and visitors could often experience misty, cloud-shrouded vistas just like today, making it perfect for photography and sightseeing.

"Don’t you need a ticket for this place?" Han Youzhen asked suddenly. She noticed that Wang Jian had no intention of buying tickets, and neither did anyone else; people were just walking straight toward the entrance.

"No need," Wang Jian explained. "I haven’t been back in several years, so I looked it up and even called to confirm before we came. The scenic area is running a promotion right now, so tickets aren’t required. You just have to reserve a spot for your group in advance. I already made a reservation for us on their official account, so we can go straight in."

"Even a place in the mountains is this... advanced now?" Han Youzhen asked, looking thoroughly impressed. "I feel like ever since I came to Hua Country, there’s a pleasant surprise waiting for me everywhere I go. Back in my hometown, we still have to use cash."

Wang Lei joined in, asking curiously, "Aren’t mobile services in Han Country supposed to be very developed? How come you don’t even have this?"

Han Youzhen shook her head. "Alia—not exactly. It’s not that we don’t have it, it’s just not available everywhere. The big cities have it, of course."

Wang Lei nodded, saying proudly, "In our country, even small towns, including remote mountain villages, have mobile payments and services. We have everything from live-stream shopping to community services run through official accounts and WeChat groups. They’ve got all the basic services completely covered."

"Oh, I know," Han Youzhen nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly. "I’ve been traveling for the past few months with just my phone. I don’t even need to carry cash. I can go anywhere! It’s so convenient." As she spoke, she gave a big thumbs-up.

Her enthusiastic display even drew laughs from some passersby. They had clearly overheard the conversation, as a few older people started grumbling about "foreigners who’ve never seen the world."

With age often comes poor hearing, so their voices were rather loud. Not only could Wang Jian and the other guys hear them, but even Han Youzhen, the foreign girl, heard every word loud and clear.

Had this happened when she first arrived in Hua Country, she might not have understood what the elderly people were saying. But now, her Mandarin had reached an impressive level. She had passed HSK Level 6, the standard proficiency test for foreigners, which was high enough to apply for a master’s degree program in China.

Hearing the comments from the older passersby, Han Youzhen’s face turned red. She fell silent, simply hoping the group would quickly move on.

At the entrance to the scenic area, just as Wang Jian had said, there was no ticket check. He simply displayed a QR code for the staff to scan, and they were led inside. After passing through the gate, they had to climb a flight of stairs to reach the mountain path leading to Heavenly Lake. The path was so crowded that they didn’t even need to look for signs to know which way to go.

They followed the stream of people to the edge of Heavenly Lake. While Han Youzhen, Yu Yen, and Wang Lei were immediately captivated by the lake’s brilliant blue color and started taking pictures with their phones and cameras, Wang Jian noticed a crowd gathering in the distance.

Having been with Wang Jian for a while, Director Kang had learned to pay attention to his reactions. When he saw Wang Jian frown and stare in one direction, he followed his gaze. One look was all it took for him to realize something was wrong.

The crowd was gathered on a main path that led to another viewpoint. This path, visible from the entrance, snaked up the mountainside and was usually bustling with people. Now, however, a group had formed a tight circle, with people pointing and murmuring. It was clearly not a normal situation.

Director Kang moved closer to Wang Jian and asked in a low voice, "Did something happen, Senior?"

Wang Jian didn’t answer. He just kept staring in that direction, squinting as if trying to see something more clearly. However, with the crowd forming a circle at least four or five people deep, it was impossible to see what was happening inside. Even from this distance, their noisy chatter was audible.

With his exceptionally sharp hearing, Wang Jian could faintly make out the sound of a child crying amid the din, confirming his suspicion that something was wrong. He shifted his position slightly and, through a gap between the legs of the people in the crowd, finally saw someone lying on the ground.

Wang Jian immediately started forward. Without looking back, he said to Director Kang, "Something’s really happened. Someone’s down in there. I’m going to check it out. You guys go on and have fun for now."

"Hey! Wait, Senior!" Director Kang reached out but grabbed only air. He watched, stunned by Wang Jian’s agility, as he wove through the crowd. Before Director Kang could even get another word out, Wang Jian was gone. I wanted to follow, too.

Seeing the crowd grow even larger, Director Kang’s expression turned worried. With this many people packed together, another accident seemed likely, even if no one else collapsed.

By now, Han Youzhen’s group had finished taking photos. Yu Yen and Wang Lei noticed where Director Kang was staring and hurried over. "What’s going on? Where did our senior go?"

"What’s happening over there?"

Director Kang could only relay what Wang Jian had told them—that someone had collapsed and that he had gone to check on the situation, telling them to go on ahead.

Yu Yen’s expression changed the moment he heard this. "With something like this happening, how can we just go have fun?"

Wang Lei chimed in, "Exactly. We’re all medical students; we can definitely help. Forget about having fun! If we actually went off to play, our professors would chew us out when we got back to school."

All eyes fell on the last member of their group, Han Youzhen. She met Director Kang’s gaze and said, "What are you looking at me for? I can help, too."

A smile finally broke across Director Kang’s face as he looked at the three of them and nodded. "Alright, let’s all go. The crowd over there is getting bigger, and I’m worried another accident might happen."

He had barely finished speaking when the other three also noted the worsening situation, their faces filled with concern. Without waiting for another word from Director Kang, the group started toward the scene together.