Shen Jiang flashed a sweet smile at the little girl. This family must have accumulated good karma in their past life—how could such a rotten bamboo produce such a fine shoot?
“Children don’t lie. Of course, I know you wouldn’t believe her words alone. In Mingxintang’s archived medical records stored on our computer, it was clearly documented that the patient reported disliking drinking hot water and having very yellow urine. Both are signs of internal heat. You people are nothing but quacks!” Shen Jiang scolded sharply and angrily. “The patients trusted you, but what about you? You show no responsibility toward your patients at all!”
Shen Jiang pointed at Old Mrs. Shan and the others, her brows furrowed in rage. “I’ve long heard that Traditional Chinese Medicine shops outside are selling fake medicine, but I never expected you’d even dare to use counterfeit medicine for your own people! Harming your own—you have no bottom line at all!”
Expert Dong sat in his seat, lost in thought. Director Huang’s face turned green, while the middle-aged woman instantly lost all color from her face.
As Shen Jiang observed the expressions of everyone in the room, she felt no satisfaction at all—only sorrow.
Netizen A: “I don’t fully understand, but it sounds impressive! This girl’s aura suddenly became so powerful!”
Netizen B: “Witnessing history! Internal heat does indeed have those two symptoms. That old TCM doctor is incredibly meticulous to have considered that.”
Netizen C: “Is what she said true? I don’t believe it. How can Traditional Chinese Medicine be that mysterious?”
Netizen F: “Shut up, the one above. If the old TCM doctor was truly wronged… oh my god, I don’t even want to think about it.”
Netizen K: “Let’s all patiently wait for the police results. Don’t make assumptions or accusations that could cause secondary harm.”
Seeing the room fall silent, Old Mrs. Shan could no longer hold back and burst into wails: “Your grandma was a quack who deserved to die! You little brat, spreading lies with your eyes wide open! The old one was wicked, the young one is cheap—you’re worse than beasts! To clear your name, you’d even say such things. How could we possibly harm our own people?”
At this moment, Gao Shuai had no interest in filming an old woman anymore. He directed his camera toward the girl in the room, whose face was glowing with brilliance.
“Everyone, search for the video posted by Teacher Mei Muchuan online,” Shen Jiang enunciated each word clearly. “Just an hour ago, he spoke up for Mingxintang on Weibo, defying all opposition to support our diagnosis as correct.”
The others had no idea who this person was, but Expert Dong and several others in white coats stared at her in disbelief.
The male doctor in a white coat who had been blocking Shen Jiang earlier exclaimed, “The Great Master Mei Muchuan? He’s all the way in the capital—how could he know about matters here?”
The male streamer Gao Shuai immediately aimed his camera at a phone screen beside him that had pulled up the Weibo post. The glaring yellow V verification badge clearly identified it as the account of the venerable Mei Muchuan himself.
The live stream comments suddenly grew quiet, while Mei Lao’s video on Weibo went viral!
Though reluctant to believe it, Expert Dong had no choice but to accept the facts.
Why did he have to sign his name on that appraisal certificate yesterday when he had nothing better to do!
Expert Dong’s gaze toward Director Huang turned venomous, filled with resentment.
He had been utterly screwed over by this hospital!
The night before accompanying Chen Quan for his check-up, Zining had already posted a video once, but unfortunately, it was taken down.
Refusing to believe it was hopeless, she incorporated footage from her own and Chen Quan’s consultations and edited a new video!
After drinking the medicine sent by Doctor Shen, she felt refreshed and clear-headed, effortlessly compiling clips from her consultation and medication process, along with Chen Quan’s consultation and examination footage. She meticulously checked subtitles, background music, and other details.
By 9 p.m., a complete interview video was freshly produced.
Still, handling subtitles and music alone proved challenging. Staring at the slightly rough edit, Zining felt a pang of regret.
Though an improvement over the last one, the video remained somewhat unpolished.
The mere thought of someone made her grit her teeth in frustration. Even if that guy came back crying and begging, their partnership was over! Tomorrow—no, after her late-night snack—she’d post a recruitment notice on the campus forum to find a new partner better at filming and editing than Chen Quan.
Returning contentedly from her skewers, Zining was about to shower when her gaze snagged on the vibrant red “99+” notifications on the video webpage.
She halted mid-step.
Was she… being cyberbullied again???
Rolling up her sleeves, Zining prepared to confront these online trolls. These cowards who only dared to act tough behind screens had met their match today—she’d never lost an argument, especially not on a full stomach, armed with peak combat readiness.
To Zining’s surprise, the video had indeed gone viral, but not in the way she’d imagined.
With over nine thousand concurrent viewers, the bullet comments flooded the screen: “Ugh, my eyes are tearing up.” “I’m the worst!” “Hope Old Doctor Shen recovers soon.” “I could stay silent, but what if my voice is the missing piece? From today, I’ll fight for Doctor Shen Anlian and Traditional Chinese Medicine against the haters!”
Had the world turned upside down while she was eating? Why was everyone suddenly defending Mingxintang? Zining was utterly baffled.
“Did everyone notice the highlight? The doctor sister’s interview points align perfectly with what the big shot on Weibo said!!!”
Weibo?
Hesitantly opening Weibo, Zining didn’t even need to search before spotting the day’s top trending topic—not some boyfriend’s scandal or a female celebrity’s drama, but a glaring tag followed by a blazing “hot” icon.
It read: Mei Muchuan Speaks Up for Mingxintang!
Clicking in, she found a video likely filmed on a phone, featuring a rosy-cheeked, kindly old man seated calmly before the camera. He eloquently explained the TCM concept of “true cold with false heat” in simple terms and stated that Doctor Shen Anlian of Mingxintang was a highly respected physician whose skills undoubtedly allowed her to accurately diagnose the patient’s pulse condition. He urged everyone to think independently and not be misled by malicious actors.
Zining didn’t recognize the benevolent old gentleman in the video, but she soon learned his identity from netizens’ comments: a top TCM expert receiving special state allowances, a nationally renowned Jingui scholar, Capital University’s lifelong honorary professor… In short, his credentials nearly represented the pinnacle of contemporary Chinese Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Zining’s jaw dropped slightly: For someone of his stature to speak up for Shen Jiang’s grandma, it seemed Shen Jiang’s grandmother wasn’t just skilled in medicine—she had powerful connections too.
In fact, Shen Jiang had already planned everything after finishing her phone call with Su Qing.
In her dream, Shan Guosheng would be sentenced to three years in prison. Old Mrs. Shan would come begging at the hospital for her son, pleading with Shen Jiang to spare their orphaned and widowed family. As long as Shen Jiang agreed to issue a reconciliation letter, she was willing to pay a hefty sum to secure her son’s safety.
However, Shen Jiang’s refusal to reconcile would once again thrust her into the storm of online criticism. At the time, she had no idea that the Shan family had brought several live-streamers to secretly record their conversation. Her angry remarks were taken out of context and sensationalized by netizens.
No one paid attention to the ripple effect of Shen Jiang’s subsequent clarification on Weibo. Even when her doctoral advisor, Mei Lao, stepped forward to speak up for Mingxintang, no one was convinced—or rather, by then the hype had died down. The one-sided frenzy of netizens had already subsided, and no one cared about the matter anymore.
Even when she swallowed her pride and asked her teacher to intervene, it was futile.
In contrast, the Shan family, having tasted the benefits of online attention, directly ventured into live-streaming. By the time Shan Guosheng was released early on reduced sentencing, their herbal store had flourished, expanding to more than double its original size and opening branches across the province.
But this time was different. Whether the Shan family’s herbal store had issues of its own became another hot topic, drawing widespread attention from netizens.
Officer Zhang, tasked with the urgent mission, received orders from his superiors instructing him not to rush closing the case. Instead, he was to thoroughly investigate the Shan family’s herbal store. The higher-ups reasoned that since someone of Mei Lao’s stature had spoken out, the previous appraisal report issued by the municipal Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital should be disregarded. A renewed investigation into the Shan family’s herbal store was necessary to deliver justice to netizens and the victims.
Officer Zhang was quite pleased. He had always felt that Shen Jiang didn’t seem like a fraud. Her eyes were too bright—nothing like those of a deceitful doctor who swindled ordinary people.
Previously, they had inspected the Shan family’s herbal store and found a mix of old and new herbs, but no counterfeit drugs. They had thus shifted their focus away, as the possibility seemed too remote.
Fortunately, with leadership support, Officer Zhang could now scrutinize the Shan family’s herbal store intensely. A few days later, a large batch of counterfeit herbs was uncovered at the store, with the warehouse located on the third floor above the shopfront. Even Old Mrs. Shan was unaware of this place; only Shan Guosheng and his wife knew about it.
What was even more shocking was that Shan Guosheng had no idea his father was taking counterfeit herbs from the store. The fake herbs had been prescribed to his father by Shan Guosheng’s wife, Lin Aifang. She confessed that it was because her father-in-law often belittled her for giving birth to a daughter and encouraged her husband to divorce and remarry to have a son. She only wanted revenge and never intended to harm anyone.
If Shen Jiang had known this, she would have said, “Do you know why counterfeit herbs harm people? Because they’re counterfeit.”
They neither deliver the proper medicinal effect nor interact correctly with other herbs in the prescription. The worst outcome, as seen with the patient Shan Gui, is the complete deterioration of one’s health.
But of course, Shen Jiang knew none of this. She was diligently gathering herbs outside the Giant Dragon’s Home.
“Your negative and lazy attitude is highly unsatisfactory.””
The Great Dragon’s booming voice suddenly echoed behind her, causing Shen Jiang to freeze mid-weeding. She cautiously fawned, “What instructions does Lord Godwin have?”
She came here every day to gather herbs, spending several hours at a time, working as diligently as an old ox. Couldn’t the wicked dragon speak with a little conscience?
Godwin looked down at the human beneath him and snorted coldly, “Last month you came once, this month you’ve come twice. With humans’ short lifespan of merely a few decades, how many times do you think you can help the great Godwin weed?”
Shen Jiang was taken aback. She secretly pulled out her phone and glanced at it: it was indeed May 18, 2135. She had been coming to report for weeding for three consecutive days, so why did it sound like these three visits spanned nearly two months according to Godwin’s words? Was their time difference that large???
This was a huge misunderstanding! If she didn’t clarify, would the wicked dragon bite her to death…
Shen Jiang put on a serious expression: “Respected Lord Godwin, actually during this time I have been selecting potential followers for you. If we can recruit a group of high-quality followers as devout and loyal as myself, I believe there will be substantial breakthroughs in the task of clearing weeds for you.”
“You’re helping me find followers?” Godwin’s eyes widened slightly in disbelief.
“Yes, for a great existence like yourself, as your first human follower, it is my duty to recruit new followers and spread your glorious name… throughout this continent.”