This reverse move was truly unexpected…
Between the interview and pulse diagnosis, Shen Jiang’s departure was delayed by over an hour. By the time she took the bus to the hospital, it was nearly ten o’clock.
She hadn’t wasted the travel time, carefully recalling every detail related to herself in the dream, determined not to overlook any clue.
Sigh.
Since waking from the dream this morning, Shen Jiang had felt unwell, constantly stifled and short of breath. She knew exactly where this suffocating resentment in her chest came from.
Grandma had fallen into a coma because of Shan Guosheng, her lifelong reputation destroyed in her later years. Not only did Shen Jiang need to reclaim justice for Grandma, but she also had to wake her and resume their life together properly.
But ambition comes easily—execution proves far more difficult.
As a standard cannon fodder character in this novel world, she had neither money nor influence. Just clearing Grandma’s name seemed impossible, and even covering medical expenses would bankrupt her. Though she planned to sell the herbs from the Giant Dragon’s Home to build wealth, this wasn’t solely her decision. Leaving aside whether that strange door would reappear, she couldn’t bring back all the herbs at once.
Zining’s interview video might shift some people’s perspectives, but Shen Jiang had a bad feeling—this video wouldn’t make much impact.
To clear Grandma’s name, she had to rely on herself.
But manipulating public opinion required money. Continuing Grandma’s medical treatment demanded even more.
Shen Jiang massaged her temples. Today was payment day, and since she’d decided not to sell Mingxintang, she needed to find another way to get funds quickly.
Sure enough, upon reaching the ICU entrance, a nurse spotted Shen Jiang in the crowd and hurried over: “You’re the family of ICU Bed 17 Shen Anlian, right? Why hasn’t your grandmother’s hospital fee been paid? We can’t prescribe medication without it. Please go pay immediately.”
With that, the nurse rushed off again.
Shen Jiang went to the payment counter and handed over her 30,000 yuan, but the cashier frowned: “This isn’t enough. You’re still 17,000 short.”
Shen Jiang maintained her composure: “Tomorrow. I’ll definitely make up the balance tomorrow.”
The cashier, seemingly accustomed to such situations, muttered discontentedly but didn’t refuse. After all, if medications were cut off, the family would panic more than they would.
Clutching the overdue bill, Shen Jiang worried: How could she raise 17,000 yuan in such a short time?
The herbs from the Giant Dragon’s Home were diverse but limited—each variety had only a small quantity. Though of excellent quality, selling these scant amounts wouldn’t yield much.
Steeling herself, Shen Jiang decided to ask Grandma’s only two relatives for help to get through the next few days.
Great Uncle and Little Uncle were both sons of Grandma’s younger sister. In their forties—that awkward age—they couldn’t find stable work outside and lacked capital to start businesses. A few years ago, they’d returned to their hometown to farm.
With Mingxintang often short on herbs and Grandma disliking most market options while sourcing good medicinal materials took time, she had invited her two nephews to grow medicinal plants for her.
Working tirelessly from dawn to dusk growing medicinal herbs was inevitably arduous, especially since Grandma’s standards for the herbs were exceptionally strict—any that didn’t meet requirements were outright rejected. Fortunately, both uncles were reliable and diligent workers. Though the first year’s harvest fell slightly short, the quality improved significantly in subsequent years and remained consistently good.
Grandma offered prices well above market rates when purchasing their herbs, partly to support her younger relatives and partly because she was genuinely satisfied with the quality they produced. Thanks to this, the two uncles had been living quite comfortably in their rural hometown over the years.
Later, many villagers followed their lead and started cultivating herbs, gradually forming a small industrial chain. Now nearly the entire village grows medicinal plants, and Mingxintang purchases all herbs that meet the required standards.
Currently, stationed at the hospital with no capacity to manage anything else, Shen Jiang had no energy to resume running the clinic. She realized she needed to inform the uncles to find alternative buyers for this year’s batch of herbs.
Initially, Shen Jiang hadn’t planned to borrow money from them. Given their circumstances, any amount they could lend would be a drop in the bucket—at most covering just a few days of Grandma’s rapidly accumulating hospital expenses.
But now, what she desperately needed was precisely those one or two days of buffer time!
On the day Grandma had the accident, both Great Uncle and Little Uncle came to the hospital. However, it was the rainy season and harvest time—a period when the fields couldn’t be left unattended—so after staying one night, they hurried back to the countryside early the next morning to focus on harvesting.
Before leaving, Great Uncle had pressed two thousand yuan into Shen Jiang’s hand, telling her to call if any problems arose.
Just as Shen Jiang was hesitating about how to ask Great Uncle for a loan, his call came through.
Shen Jiang steadied herself, preparing to explain Grandma’s current condition thoroughly before making her request.
“Shen Jiang, how’s your grandma? Nothing too serious, I hope?” Great Uncle’s voice came through as cheerfully robust as ever.
Shen Jiang replied, “The doctors say she’s improving day by day.”After this setup, her next line would be about needing funds to continue treatment.” Given Great Uncle’s longstanding closeness with Grandma, he would likely agree. Shen Jiang quietly exhaled.
Sure enough, Great Uncle chuckled with relief on the other end. “That’s good, that’s good! I always knew Auntie had heaven’s protection.”
“By the way,” he continued, “I need to tell you something. We’ve finished harvesting the herbs here. You know how our villagers are—not highly educated, always anxious to sell their herbs for cash. They only feel secure when the money’s in their hands.”
Shen Jiang frowned. Bad news really did travel fast. With today’s internet connectivity, even the villagers had probably learned about Mingxintang’s troubles.
“Great Uncle, please listen—what happened at Mingxintang was just an accident. The online rumors aren’t true.”
“What are you saying? Of course I believe in our Auntie! But you have to understand, these folks depend entirely on this income—it’s their hard-earned money. I get why they’re worried. Knowing you’re busy right now, I went ahead and advanced the payment myself. Don’t worry, I inspected everything—all quality herbs. Just let me know when you need them, and I’ll deliver them to Mingxintang for you.”
According to past practice, last weekend was indeed the scheduled time to inspect and settle accounts with these medicinal herb farmers. Shen Jiang never expected that Great Uncle would advance the payment for the herbs on their behalf. Just how much trust did he have in them? For a moment, Shen Jiang didn’t know how to respond to this kind-hearted gesture.
She didn’t need the herbs at all right now—what she needed was money to maintain Grandma’s treatment… The funds from Great Uncle’s side had all been used to purchase herbs, leaving little to lend her, and he might even come asking for repayment in the near future.
Shen Jiang’s head began to ache.
“Shen Jiang, are you still there?”
“Mm.”
“Alright then, I’ll come to the city to visit Auntie once I’m done with this busy period. You go ahead with your work, I’m hanging up now.”
“W-wait a minute.” Shen Jiang’s eyelids twitched as she spoke with difficulty, “Great Uncle, Grandma still hasn’t woken up yet. I can’t leave the hospital, so Mingxintang will be temporarily closed.”
“Oh, oh,” the simple, honest voice on the other end remained unchanged, taking a moment longer to process her words as if unable to believe what he’d heard.
“What did you say? I don’t think I heard clearly.”
Shen Jiang’s voice came out hoarse and strained: “If anyone comes to the village to purchase herbs, don’t reserve them for Mingxintang anymore.”
Great Uncle on the other end seemed to need considerable time to comprehend the meaning of her words, only speaking after a long pause: “I see.”
Regret washed over Shen Jiang. If she had made this call earlier, perhaps this misunderstanding wouldn’t have occurred.
Unexpectedly, Great Uncle ended up comforting her: “Hey, it’s fine. Our village has become a major medicinal herb cultivation center now, quite famous. Herb dealers come asking me for supplies every few days. Don’t worry about this matter.”
Looking at the ended call, Shen Jiang couldn’t shake this uncomfortable feeling in her heart.
But with so many things happening at once, she couldn’t quite pinpoint what exactly felt wrong.
Shifting her gaze to Little Uncle’s contact number, Shen Jiang sighed for no apparent reason.
Truth be told, she wasn’t particularly familiar with either of these uncles. Before Shen Jiang entered high school, they had been working in other cities, rarely returning to Nanze City. Later, when they came back to become medicinal herb farmers for Mingxintang, Shen Jiang had left for studies elsewhere, leaving few opportunities for them to meet.
Over the years, Great Uncle frequently delivered herbs to Mingxintang, often bringing along local eggs and farm produce, so Shen Jiang was relatively more familiar with him. As for Little Uncle—he was naturally quiet and reserved, with a face that seemed to warn strangers to keep their distance. Shen Jiang had no familiarity with him at all.
Thinking of Little Uncle’s perpetually stern expression, Shen Jiang felt this might not be a conversation worth starting. Besides, Grandma’s medical expenses couldn’t be solved by just these seventeen thousand yuan anyway. Wouldn’t it be better to try applying for a bank loan instead?