Old Mrs. Shan was confused. What did she mean by their medicine having problems? Wasn’t her husband taking the medicine prescribed by their Traditional Chinese Medicine Hall?
Before she could ask, she saw her daughter-in-law explaining with an embarrassed expression: “It’s been over a month already, we’ve long discarded the herb dregs. Besides, the medicine we prepare for our own family is always the best quality – how could there be any problems?”
Seeing her daughter-in-law tacitly acknowledge this matter, Old Mrs. Shan felt even more strange. Why had Guo Sheng and his wife never mentioned that Grandpa was taking medicine from their own shop?
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on this. If the old man had been taking their own medicine, then it definitely couldn’t be the medicine’s fault.
It was purely that damned old woman’s inadequate medical skills – perhaps she simply didn’t know how to treat illnesses properly.
Seeing the provocative expression of disbelief on that dead girl’s face across from her, Old Mrs. Shan nearly went over to slap her.
In all her years, she had never seen someone so shameless, daring to threaten and manipulate her right in front of so many people.
Old Mrs. Shan began sighing helplessly with a distressed expression: “Your grandmother prescribing the wrong formula – that’s a fact! The doctors from the City Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital can all verify this. How can you distort the truth? We don’t have the power to force them to lie.”
Shen Jiang lifted her chin, her contempt obvious: “City Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital? Which doctors? Don’t tell me they’re just interns.”
The middle-aged woman eagerly responded: “It was several top experts from the city’s Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital who said this personally. If you don’t believe us, let’s go ask them face to face. They’re all doctors from a Grade A Tertiary Hospital – they wouldn’t speak carelessly. We’re not lying to you, girl. Your grandmother really did prescribe the wrong formula.”
Shen Jiang looked thoroughly impatient: “Fine then. Have these top experts issue formal apologies to my grandmother using their official social media accounts. They should state that their skills are inadequate, that they fundamentally don’t understand Traditional Chinese Medicine or know how to treat patients, that they dare not risk people’s lives, and that they’ll close their practices and return home, never to work in this field again.”
As her words fell, the corridor immediately fell silent. Except for the barely concealed delight on the internet celebrities’ faces, everyone else wore complex expressions, completely unable to believe what they had just heard.
Shen Jiang paid no attention to the surrounding gazes that looked at her as if she were a fool, keeping her eyes firmly fixed on the two women before her as she asked with resounding clarity: “Can you do that?”
The Shan mother-in-law and daughter-in-law exchanged glances, seemingly surprised that this young woman who appeared gentle and easy to manipulate turned out to be a crazy person with no sense of proportion, speaking with outrageous arrogance beyond measure.
So according to her, her husband’s kidney failure was due to problems with their shop’s medicine. And when the city’s experts said her grandmother prescribed the wrong formula, that meant the experts’ medical skills were inadequate.
Look at this cheap girl with her sharp tongue – she even looks down on the expert doctors from the City Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital! She should take a good look at what they themselves are – wild practitioners running a small clinic in some remote corner, not even worthy of shining the experts’ shoes!
Old Mrs. Shan’s chest heaved uncontrollably, clearly infuriated by this unreasonable provocation.
The surrounding internet celebrities holding phones for live streaming watched their viewer numbers skyrocketing, with condemning comments flooding the screens like snowflakes. Clearly, netizens following this unfolding drama were enraged by Shen Jiang’s shameless demands, wishing they could reach through the internet to beat her up.
Netizens who initially found Shen Jiang’s appearance pleasing now saw her as utterly detestable, directly screenshotting her face to create mocking memes.
Shen Jiang smiled faintly, completely unfazed by their condemning and disgusted gazes. Instead, she crossed her arms with composure: “Just these three conditions. If you’re sincere, we can talk. Otherwise… don’t say I didn’t give you a chance.”
Old Mrs. Shan was nearly bursting with rage, having never felt so humiliated in her life. That damned quack doctor had taught this dead girl to spout such brazen lies – she’d never encountered such a shameless family.
The little girl in the middle-aged woman’s arms suddenly began wailing again, sobbing: “Sister, please let my dad come home!”
The middle-aged woman patted her daughter’s back to comfort her while discreetly wiping tears from the corners of her own eyes.
This scene stirred inexplicable sorrow in both the bystanders and online viewers.
A tall, sturdy man stepped out from the crowd and said gravely: “Miss, do me a favor – let’s discuss some negotiable terms.”
Shen Jiang stared coldly at the brawny man who stood a full head taller than her, replying with arrogant defiance: “Who are you? You have no face to ask favors here!”
After scanning the man’s face, particularly his moving lips, she chuckled, “Here for medical treatment, aren’t you? If you back off now, I’ll give you 20% off at Mingxintang in the future.”
Infuriated by her words, the man clenched his fists threateningly: “Who’d go to your shady clinic? I suggest you watch your tone. Stop bullying this widow and orphan – look what you’ve reduced this family to!”
The security guards had initially thought it was just tense words between women, but with the brawny man’s intervention, matters were escalating toward violence. Three guards quickly restrained the large man, urging him not to act impulsively.
Old Mrs. Shan never expected this dead girl to be so impervious to reason.
She wouldn’t yield to soft approaches, nor was she intimidated by hardness.
“If anyone can help them meet my demands, that works too.”
Shen Jiang’s indifferent attitude provoked public outrage. Nearly everyone present found it unbearable – just listen to her demands! Were those conditions anyone could easily fulfill? Each one was impossible.
Someone should just slap this woman.
Online, the situation was equally heated. Outraged netizens pushed the male streamer’s live streaming room to the top of the charts, with donations pouring in. Many urged the streamer not to back down and to help the old woman.
Old Mrs. Shan glared furiously at her daughter-in-law and shook off her hand.
If it weren’t for her meddling – all those warnings before they left about how netizens couldn’t stand seeing elderly people wronged, and how young girls responded better to kindness than threats – would she have humbled herself before this dead girl? And now she was being treated with such contempt!
“Listen here, you dead girl! If you refuse to let my son out, I’ll come make trouble here every day! We’ll see who lasts longer!”
Shen Jiang looked at Old Mrs. Shan with something like pity, as if criticizing her for failing to maintain her originally pitiable act, revealing her true colors so quickly.
Checking the time, she realized less than half an hour had passed since she came out, and couldn’t help feeling somewhat impatient.
Can these few seemingly unreliable influencers really generate enough buzz?
Little did she know that Old Mrs. Shan’s counterattack was exactly what netizens needed to vent their frustration: finally, someone had spoken their minds.
They had long wanted to see someone teach this arrogant, vicious woman a lesson. The elderly lady who had been pleading earlier had tugged at their heartstrings, and now that she was finally fighting back, netizens grew even more excited.
Wave after wave of attention flooded in, and the platform’s algorithm directly pushed the livestream to the homepage. It was the perfect time for afternoon slacking, and more and more netizens poured into the livestream.
Despite Shen Jiang’s outwardly arrogant and domineering demeanor, acting like an unyielding troublemaker, she was actually feeling uneasy inside.
Ahhh, has the buzz picked up or not? Those influencers look like they’re just here for the show—are they even capable?
Shen Jiang’s actions were purely out of desperation: she didn’t have enough money.
To manipulate public opinion, you first need attention. But the money in her pocket was far from enough—not even enough to stir up hype, let alone fry herself in the process. In a way, she had to thank the Shan family for inviting those streamers, which saved her a lot of money.
If netizens were already speaking out because they couldn’t stand the Shan family’s plight, then her openly harassing the family in public should, in theory, be even more controversial.
It was her first time playing the role of an arrogant, clueless villain, and she had no idea if her performance had successfully ignited netizens’ fury. To make matters worse, Old Mrs. Shan had ruined her plan by refusing to play the pitiful victim.
How was she supposed to continue this act?
Shen Jiang decided to skip ahead to the next step.
She gestured with her chin toward the middle-aged woman, “Didn’t you say you were going to the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital? Let’s go now. I want to ask those so-called experts in front of everyone’s watchful eyes whether they took bribes to give false testimony against my grandma.”
Without waiting for the woman’s reply, Shen Jiang directly called out to the onlookers, “Does anyone want to come with me to the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital? I can take three people in my taxi.”
She needed to bring those influencers along.
…Who would actively invite an audience to watch the drama these days?
“Me, me, me! Take me!”
Someone actually raised their hand—a man grinning from ear to ear, clearly someone who loved stirring up trouble. He was the male streamer who had gained a traffic goldmine after filming Shen Jiang. This girl was his key to popularity; whenever she spoke, netizens went wild, and the number of people cursing her was beyond count.
Shen Jiang nodded and directly picked a few people, leading the group as they marched out grandly.
Seeing Shen Jiang’s arrogant and immature attitude, even more unreasonable and difficult than her mother-in-law, the middle-aged woman actually felt relieved. Her carefully laid plans had almost fallen apart.
Thankfully, this foolish opponent was helping her save the situation.
Old Mrs. Shan noticed her daughter-in-law still hesitating and urged, “Hurry up and follow them! What if that wretched girl runs off halfway?”
The security guards watched the suddenly empty corridor and lobby, exchanging bewildered glances. They had been worried about a brawl breaking out earlier.
And just like that, it was over?