Chapter 156 Discovery of Medicine

Hearing Ning Zhiheng’s instruction—which clearly indicated that he did not wish for Zuo Gang to have too much contact with Dai Daguang—Zuo Gang quickly nodded in agreement.

At that moment, Dai Daguang slammed his head heavily onto the ground three times in front of Zuo Gang, sobbing uncontrollably. "Brother, it is all my fault for dragging you and your sister into this case. Fortunately, you are now following Officer Ning and have been granted a way to survive, which lightens my own sins a little. I entrust the lives of his mother and child to you. Even in the netherworld, I will remember your kindness!"

A wave of warmth welled up in the corners of Zuo Gang's eyes, and he said in a low voice, "Big Brother Dai, rest assured. I will send them home safely, but—!"

At this point, he raised his head to look at Ning Zhiheng standing before him, and through clenched teeth, said, "From this moment on, all scores between the two of us are settled. As for the lives of that mother and child, they will simply have to depend on their own good fortune!"

Tears streaming down his face, Dai Daguang nodded repeatedly, choking out, "I am deeply grateful! I am deeply grateful!"

Unwilling to waste any more time, Ning Zhiheng waved his hand to signal Sun Jiacheng to take Dai Daguang's wife and child away. He instructed, "Take some men and escort the three of them outside the city walls of Nanjing. Ensure their safety before returning! Upon your return, bring Dai Daguang back to the headquarters overnight, hand him over to the Interrogation Section for detention and record, and complete the transfer procedures. Tell them that apart from our Operations Section, no one is permitted to interrogate Dai Daguang."

Sun Jiacheng acknowledged the order and led the three of them out.

With the matter settled, Ning Zhiheng could not even be bothered to spare Dai Daguang another glance; he turned and walked away!

"Officer Ning!" Dai Daguang cried out, struggling to his feet.

Ning Zhiheng stopped in his tracks, turned around, and looking at Dai Daguang with displeasure, said, "Dai Daguang, do not push your luck. Allowing his mother and child a path to survival is already the utmost extent of my benevolence!"

Leaning his upper body at an angle against the corner of the cell wall, Dai Daguang said with a desolate expression, "I only wanted to thank you. To be honest, up until just now, I thought you were just trying to swindle me out of my property. But I had no choice; I could only trust you! I never expected that you would actually keep your word to a dead man like me, and even have Zuo Gang escort his mother and child away. I trust Zuo Gang—you truly did not deceive me!"

Ning Zhiheng remained silent, watching him quietly. Then Dai Daguang continued, "Officer Ning, since you are a man of your word, I will hold nothing back. There is still one matter I have not told you!"

Hearing this, Ning Zhiheng raised an eyebrow and asked, "What matter?"

Swallowing hard, Dai Daguang spoke in a dry, hoarse voice, "Some time ago, I managed to acquire a batch of wound medicines—all top-quality Yunnan Baiyao, and more than five cases of Multi-Sulfa!"

"What did you say? You have sulfa drugs in your hands?!" Ning Zhiheng could no longer restrain himself. He lunged forward, grabbed Dai Daguang by the collar, and demanded, "Where is this batch of medicine right now?"

At that moment, Ning Zhiheng felt like killing Dai Daguang on the spot. This bastard truly had the patience of a saint! Even on the verge of death, he had still held things back and kept a trump card hidden from him!

What were sulfa drugs? They were the finest anti-inflammatory medications of the era, period! This status would persist until the introduction of penicillin more than a decade later.

People of this era had very low resistance to illnesses. Needless to say about severe conditions like meningitis, pneumonia, and septicemia, even minor ailments like the seasonal flu could cost a person their life. At present, there were no specific cures for these diseases, making treatment exceedingly difficult. However, the advent of sulfa drugs solved this problem, filling a massive void!

More importantly, the anti-inflammatory efficacy of sulfa drugs on wounds was extraordinarily remarkable. Statistics showed that over half of the soldiers who died on the battlefield did not die from artillery blasts or bullet wounds, but rather from seemingly minor wound infections. Sometimes, a tiny scratch was enough to claim the life of a robust soldier—especially in China, a poor and backward country plagued by frequent warfare. Years of chaotic civil wars among warlords kept the death toll on the battlefields soaring, yet a single dose of Multi-Sulfa was enough to salvage the life of a young soldier.

Yet in modern China, because sulfa drugs had only been invented recently and due to the great distance from Europe, only an extremely minuscule amount had made its way into China. Every single dose was worth its weight in gold!

Half a year ago, when Ning Zhiheng interrogated Huang Xiansheng, he had been reluctant to use even a single dose of Multi-Sulfa. One could only imagine how precious this batch of sulfa drugs was, given that even the resources of the Military Statistics Bureau were so tight!

Ning Zhiheng could well imagine that if five cases of sulfa drugs were dumped onto the market, it would be enough to cause a massive uproar.

"I stored this batch of medicine in Warehouse Number 14 at the Beihuai Warehouse!" Dai Daguang replied.

Ning Zhiheng frowned and asked, "Why didn't you store it in your own commercial firm's warehouse? Why store it in someone else's instead?"

Hearing Ning Zhiheng's question, Dai Daguang hesitated for a moment before speaking the honest truth: "The origin of this batch of medicine cannot withstand scrutiny. I seized it by robbing another gang of black-market merchants, and I had all their men drowned in the river, so—"

So this batch of pharmaceuticals carried blood on its hands, which was why Dai Daguang dared not take it back to his own firm's warehouse. This bastard truly deserved no sympathy; the debts of blood on his hands were countless, Ning Zhiheng cursed inwardly.

"Where is the bill of lading?" Ning Zhiheng demanded.

"In the safe at my home. You should have already found it. It is marked as grain. You present the bill to claim the cargo at Warehouse Number 14 of the Beihuai Warehouse!" Dai Daguang said.

That was a relief. As long as it was inside the safe, it would definitely be among the sealed documents, and the bill of lading could be found very soon. Hearing this, half of the tension in Ning Zhiheng's heart dissipated.

Yet, upon second thought, irritation surged within him. If he hadn't brought Zuo Gang along to handle this matter today, this batch of pharmaceuticals would likely have been buried among the paperwork and ended up lost somewhere, enriching who knows who!

Exerting force with his hand, Ning Zhiheng hoisted Dai Daguang up by his upper body and slammed him against the wall, demanding with stern severity, "Dai Daguang, you still dare to conceal things at a time like this? You really are one of those who refuse to shed tears until they see the coffin! What else have you hidden? Spit it out clearly."

"Cough, cough! There really is nothing else, Officer Ning! I am a doomed man; what use do I have for these worldly possessions anymore? Please believe me! Cough!" Pressed so hard he could barely breathe, Dai Daguang protested repeatedly.

Staring into his eyes, Ning Zhiheng slowly relaxed his grip. Dai Daguang slid down to the ground, panting heavily.

Without wasting any more words on him, Ning Zhiheng turned and strode out of the cell, leading Zuo Gang and Zuo Rou away from the detention center.

He instructed the two of them to await his orders at any time, dropped them off near their home midway, and hurried back alone to the Military Statistics Bureau.

Except for the cash, all other materials from Dai Daguang's safe had already been delivered by Wang Shucheng to Ning Zhiheng's office. However, caught up in trivial matters throughout a rushed day, he simply hadn't had the time to sort through them. Today, he had merely submitted the case-closing report, and the rest of the paperwork had not yet been formally filed.

Fortunately, the Zuo siblings had sought him out this very evening, prompting him to resolve Dai Daguang's affair overnight and discover the whereabouts of this pharmaceutical cache in the nick of time. Otherwise, had Dai Daguang confessed even a day later, he would have submitted the paperwork first thing tomorrow morning, and retrieving it afterward would have been a massive hassle!

Rushing back to his office, he approached his desk and spotted a file envelope with the three words "Dai Daguang" written on it—this was what Wang Shucheng had placed on his desk early that morning, the materials seized from Dai Daguang's safe.

Yet earlier, Ning Zhiheng had only glanced through it casually; it contained mostly company ledgers and similar items, and he had paid no attention to that particular bill of lading.

Opening the file envelope, he checked it thoroughly. Sure enough, tucked inside one of the ledger books was an unassuming bill of lading.

It clearly stated a receipt for grain stored in Warehouse Number 14 of the Beihuai Warehouse, redeemable upon presentation of the document for pickup and payment.

Who would have thought that such an inconspicuous bill of lading held incalculable value? Carefully putting the bill away and feeling profoundly reassured, Ning Zhiheng left the Military Statistics Bureau and returned home.

Tomorrow, he would have to arrange personnel to retrieve this batch of pharmaceuticals posthaste. Otherwise, there was no guarantee that some of Dai Daguang's subordinates wouldn't harbor greedy thoughts. After all, someone must have handled the operation; it was impossible for Dai Daguang to have acted entirely alone.

Even if they lacked the bill of lading, a batch of pharmaceuticals of such immense value would inevitably stir up illicit desires among his subordinates the moment Dai Daguang fell, driving them to take desperate measures through other means. None of those men were law-abiding citizens anyway.

Early the next morning, he rushed to the Military Statistics Bureau. After sitting in his office for a short while, he saw Sun Jiacheng walk in.

"Captain!"

"Mm, was everything smooth last night?" Ning Zhiheng asked.

"Very smooth. We escorted them ten *li* outside the Nanjing city walls before turning back! Dai Daguang was also brought back under guard overnight and handed over to the Interrogation Section!" Sun Jiacheng replied.

Ning Zhiheng nodded. He glanced around; neither Shi Hong nor Wang Shucheng had arrived yet. He knew Wang Shucheng was undoubtedly busy dealing with the disposal of those real estate properties during this period and would likely be occupied for quite some time.

As for Shi Hong, he had been absent frequently lately. However, Ning Zhiheng knew that Shi Hong certainly had his own affairs to attend to. Judging by Wei Liangbi's hints, once Ning Zhiheng departed, the position of captain of the Third Operations Team would be left to Shi Hong.

By taking on a primary military command role this time, Shi Hong's official credentials would be much easier to build up. As long as he performed well, his future prospects would be boundless. Whenever he saw Shi Hong in recent days, the man had been radiant with vigor and all smiles.

Just as he was thinking of this, he saw Shi Hong walking in briskly.

"Captain!" Shi Hong said with a smile.

"Brother Hong, happy occasions bring a vibrant spirit; you are radiating energy right now!" Ning Zhiheng bantered.

"Haha, it's all thanks to you, Captain. Even the Section Chief said you are a lucky general; in less than a year since you joined the Third Operations Team, the Section Chief has promoted me a rank ahead of time, and I've benefited immensely as well. In the future, I must rely on you—no, Section Chief Ning—for more promotion and care! Haha!" The more Shi Hong spoke, the more elated he became, sighing with emotion repeatedly.

With that, he pulled a file envelope from behind his back and smiled, saying, "This is some of the movable wealth confiscated from Su Yu's home and his bank accounts. This is your share. I know you only prefer British pounds and US dollars, so I converted it all into US dollars for you!"

Ning Zhiheng nodded with a smile, accepted the file envelope, and slid it into his desk drawer.

Just as they were speaking, Wei Liangbi's voice drifted in from the doorway: "Zhiheng, come to my office for a moment!"

Hearing this, Ning Zhiheng did not dare to delay. He quickly rose, stepped out of the office, and headed straight for Wei Liangbi's office!