Why Should My Son Go to Jail?!…
Shen Jiang had just returned from the bank when she received a call from Little Aunt.
She had thought Little Uncle was merely being polite yesterday when discussing the herb preparation, expecting it to take a few more days. To her surprise, they were true people of action—already on their way when they called.
Since hospital visiting hours started at 3 p.m., Shen Jiang decided to wait for them at the shop. She was curious to see Little Uncle’s skills in preparing herbs.
With plans to reopen the medical clinic, Shen Jiang intended to take advantage of this free time to restock the destroyed herbs and replenish the rare ones that had been missing.
Chen Houkang and his wife, Chen Ru, were astonished when they saw the herbs in the backyard.
So their aunt had such extensive connections—she could source any herb for the clinic.
Clearly, the couple had misunderstood.
They assumed these herbs must have been ordered by their aunt before the incident and had only just arrived.
“A-Kang, when Aunt accepted our herbs before, was it really not just because you’re her nephew?” Chen Ru asked her husband in a daze, voicing her inner thoughts.
A look of doubt flashed across Chen Houkang’s sun-darkened face.
He had always believed his herbs were genuine and had often researched ways to improve their growth. It never occurred to him that the herbs supplied to Mingxintang were of such exceptional quality—not only superior in grade but also diverse in variety. Every herb he grew could be found here.
No wonder Aunt had been so strict with their standards—her clinic was stocked with such fine herbs!
It was no surprise the couple misunderstood. In the past, they would deliver the herbs and leave promptly.
After all, their aunt was always busy seeing patients and had no time to entertain them.
“Stop staring and get to work,” Chen Houkang said firmly. “Let’s hurry and process these herbs.”
“Oh, right,” Chen Ru snapped out of it. “I almost forgot why we’re here.”
Shen Jiang observed their reactions. They didn’t remain stunned for long, quickly moving on to processing the first herb—aconite. Freshly dug aconite roots decay easily, making them the top priority for preparation.
As she watched Little Uncle, Shen Jiang was reminded of Great Uncle, who shared similar facial features but carried himself entirely differently.
Little Uncle’s eyebrows arched upward, giving him a stern, almost intimidating look. His quiet demeanor and serious expression could make children cry. In contrast, Great Uncle was always cheerful, greeting everyone with a smile. Whenever he delivered herbs to Mingxintang, he would either tidy up the clinic or help Grandma process newly acquired herbs—always finding something to do. Shen Jiang was more familiar with Great Uncle, which was why he was her first call for help.
The couple clearly worked in sync, their tacit understanding allowing them to proceed smoothly with the preparation process without much communication.
They divided the tasks efficiently: after washing the herbs, one would scrape the skin and remove the roots, while the other sliced them. Little Aunt would soak the sliced aconite in prepared licorice water, while Little Uncle began the stir-frying process. Without any prompting, neither of them idled.
After watching them critically for a while, Shen Jiang gradually felt reassured.
The future clinic would require more herbs to be processed, and she couldn’t handle it all alone. This time, she had asked Little Uncle and his wife to help with the processing precisely to assess their skills.
The quality of this batch of herbs was exceptionally high. Although Little Uncle and his wife were honest, reliable, and family, if their processing techniques were inadequate, she absolutely could not entrust this task to them.
There were various methods for processing aconite. Instead of using cold-natured saltpeter brine, Little Aunt opted for sweet-natured licorice, better preserving the aconite’s heat properties.
Shen Jiang quietly observed as Little Uncle placed the stir-fried aconite on the earthen ground, feeling quite pleased. Aconite, inherently extremely hot, could easily develop fire toxins after stir-frying, while the earth’s neutral nature could counteract these toxins.
Shen Jiang couldn’t help but feel delighted. These were very minor details, yet the couple performed them with the skill of having done it countless times before. It seemed they had thoroughly mastered the processing techniques Grandma had taught them long ago.
“Uncle, Aunt, you’ve worked hard. Have some water and rest for a while,” Shen Jiang said with a smile, handing them two cups of warm water.
The quiet couple didn’t speak but simultaneously took the cups and drank until they were empty—they must have been thirsty for some time.
After drinking, they showed no intention of stopping to chat and immediately returned to work.
“Wait a moment,” Shen Jiang said. “If you’re willing going forward, I’d like to entrust the herbal medicine processing work for Mingxintang to you. This is the key to Mingxintang’s main door.”
In her slightly rough palm lay a very ordinary bronze-colored key.
Chen Houkang frowned. What was this about? Helping with herb processing was just a casual favor—after finishing their farm work, they had nothing else to do anyway, and this kept them more occupied than being idle.
Chen Ru’s reaction was similar to her husband’s: “Shen Jiang, there’s no need to stand on ceremony with us. Your uncle and I can finish processing these herbs in just two or three days.”
Shen Jiang shook her head. “Aunt, Mingxintang will be reopening soon. We’ll need many more herbs then—I truly need your help here.”
Chen Houkang stared intently at the young girl before him. She wasn’t much older than his own daughter, with a tender, pale face that didn’t look at all like someone who could provide stable employment as the owner of a medical clinic.
Was she confident that processing herbs for her could be more profitable than growing them?
But when he truly looked into her eyes, Chen Houkang seemed to see the shadow of his aunt in her youth.
Those eyes were full of steadiness and determination—they never spoke empty words.
Chen Houkang glanced at his wife and easily made a major decision that would affect both their futures.
“Alright.”
Chen Ru turned to him in surprise: What did that mean? Would they no longer grow their own herbs? Just come work for their niece here?
Shen Jiang directly placed the key in Little Aunt’s hand, warmly covering it with her own.
“You can think about it for a few days before giving me your answer. We can discuss any requests or conditions. Recently, I’ll be staying at the hospital during the day and won’t be returning here. With the key, you can come directly whenever.”
She quietly added in her heart: Thank you. Thank you for always coming when needed.
Officer Zhang was hesitating about whether to call Shen Jiang to notify her.
The current developments were hardly good news for the grandmother and granddaughter.
Shan Guosheng had already confessed the truth—the herbs his father consumed were indeed sold by their own family. Yet this very fact made him even more indignant.
“Officer, you be the judge. I definitely used the finest herbs for my father! If he hadn’t insisted on taking that quack old woman’s prescription, how could this have happened?”
“Watch your attitude! You injured someone that severely—you’ll bear legal responsibility! And why didn’t you mention days ago that your father’s herbs came from your own shop? Why hide it from us?”
“Officer, feel free to investigate. I’ve consulted several experts from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital—it’s the prescription from that Mingxintang quack that’s the problem. My father was already prone to chills, yet she prescribed a bunch of extremely cold herbs. A perfectly healthy man now lies in the hospital barely alive—isn’t this sheer negligence of human life?”
“So you think that justifies breaking into the medical clinic and injuring someone?!”
“That old woman threw herself at me to fake an injury! I just accidentally pushed her away—check the surveillance footage if you don’t believe me!”
Officer Zhang frowned. The surveillance indeed matched Shan Guosheng’s account: he had initially only smashed the glass counter, then taken all the herbs from the drawers and stomped them on the ground. The old woman, likely distressed over the destroyed herbs, had suddenly rushed over to stop him…
In Officer Zhang’s opinion, material possessions like herbs were replaceable, but how could a woman in her seventies physically confront a grown man?
After investigations by his team and health bureau colleagues, several experts from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital unanimously concluded that the prescription Shan Guosheng’s father took was the primary cause of his worsened condition, indicating gross medical negligence.
Officer Zhang rubbed his temples. Though this vexing case was nearly ready to close, he felt the situation growing increasingly murky, sensing something still wasn’t right.
Based on current evidence, Shen Anlian would need to compensate the Shan family for medical malpractice, while Shan Guosheng—for breaking and entering plus assault—would not only have to cover Shen Anlian’s medical expenses but also serve twelve to eighteen months in prison.
Officer Zhang was acutely aware of online sentiment. Even his wife had mentioned at home how a local Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner had ruined a patient’s family, her tone full of sympathy for the Shans—let alone the uninformed netizens.
In truth, apart from himself, all his colleagues considered Shan Guosheng somewhat unfortunate.
After reviewing the footage, everyone agreed he hadn’t initially intended to harm the old woman—he was merely venting his anger.
Once this case concluded, Officer Zhang feared another online firestorm would erupt.
He wondered if the young girl keeping daily vigil outside the hospital room could withstand what was coming.
Meanwhile, at the Shan residence.
“Mom, my friend at the police station says Guosheng’s case is about to close.”
Old Mrs. Shan exclaimed joyfully, “My son can finally be released? Wonderful! I must prepare pomelo water to cleanse his misfortunes. Who knows if he’s lost weight these days—how could a grown man endure such hardship?”
A flicker of impatience flashed in the woman’s eyes as she cut off the old woman’s incessant rambling. “Mom, that young girl from the Medical Clinic refused to sign the settlement agreement for us. Guosheng might… have to serve some time.”
“Why should my son go to jail! That old hag isn’t even dead! She’s still alive, isn’t she!” Old Mrs. Shan shrieked, her voice cracking. “She was already halfway into the coffin anyway. My son was doing society a favor!”