Shen Jiang suddenly remembered applying medicine to her hands before sleeping. The pain in her palms had completely vanished now, with none of the previous stinging sensation remaining.
Instantly energized, she sat up straight. The dressing on her palms had dried completely and could be peeled off easily in one piece, but Shen Jiang froze in surprise.
The redness and swelling on her palms had subsided, the blisters had disappeared, and even the original minor cuts had mostly healed, leaving only faint red marks that were barely visible.
Shen Jiang incredulously flipped her hands back and forth. If it weren’t for the deep impression of the pain that connected her ten fingers to her heart, she would almost think her hands had never been injured at all.
She stared blankly at the dried medicinal residue on the bedside table, thinking: Perhaps Grandma’s medical expenses might be covered after all.
“Miss Shen, to be honest, I’ve seen plenty of tactics like yours. Having second thoughts at the last minute is just a ploy to raise the price, isn’t it?”
Shen Jiang’s brows furrowed slightly. This buyer, Mr. Wang, was remarkably blunt and harsh. Their few previous interactions had all left her uncomfortable, but since he was the buyer offering a high price, she had tolerated his comments and pretended not to hear them.
It was relatively common for either party to back out before signing a contract. While it might not be the most ethical approach, it wasn’t unacceptable.
Shen Jiang recalled the agent’s well-intentioned advice earlier, urging her to think carefully – if the buyer went to look at other storefronts, she might regret it bitterly later.
He had read her mind.
“Thank you for your interest in this property. Actually, there are quite a few vacant commercial spaces around here. If you’re genuinely interested, you could ask the agent to inquire about other options. Perhaps we might even become neighbors in the future.”
Silence fell on the other end, as if he hadn’t expected her to respond this way at all.
Shen Jiang felt the matter was pretty much settled, since she had said all she needed to say.
A cold snort came through the phone, and the arrogant male voice abruptly cut her off.
“Miss Shen, save your breath making excuses. I know all about your clinic’s situation. Recently, your doctor was hospitalized due to a medical dispute, right? I imagine you must be quite short on money these days, which is why I’m offering such a high price. I’m not running a charity, but what’s the difference between this price and charity?
Are you saying you don’t want to sell because you still want to keep running that clinic? Do you really think any patient would dare come for treatment given your clinic’s current reputation? Here’s a compromise – I’ll add a bit more money.
My time is valuable. I advise you not to play these hard-to-get games with me.”
Shen Jiang took a deep breath, coldness flashing in her eyes. She really didn’t want to continue dealing with such a self-righteous person.
Grandma’s incident involving the medical dispute was now almost common knowledge.
After the news broke about the Old TCM doctor from Nanze City being beaten and hospitalized during a medical dispute, it seemed to strike a nerve with netizens, sparking nationwide discussion overnight.
Unlike cases where Western medicine practitioners faced violence from patients, where the public would naturally sympathize with doctors and condemn the perpetrators, most netizens who understood the circumstances of this case actually sided with the patient’s family. They felt the patient’s family was unfortunate and pitiable – an elderly person had been harmed by medical treatment, and the family’s breadwinner might face jail time for seeking justice. It was truly a human tragedy.
Traditional Chinese medicine critics began stirring up controversy online, and various marketing accounts quickly caught wind of the trending topic. Public opinion spiraled uncontrollably toward the worst possible outcome, as if everyone was now discussing the matter.
Initially, when netizens started harassing Shen Jiang with phone calls, she simply turned off her phone, refusing to engage with them. It wasn’t until later, when some radical netizens confronted her directly at the hospital, that she realized the situation had escalated beyond control.
What pained Shen Jiang the most was that former patients who had visited Mingxintang came forward to accuse the clinic of having lost its original purpose. They claimed the medicine was less effective than before yet more expensive, accusing the clinic of profiteering unscrupulously…
It turned out that years of dedication and hard work could be erased in an instant, distorted and smeared at will.
A cold glint flashed in Shen Jiang’s eyes as she almost hung up the phone. But Mr. Wang’s words, “I advise you not to play hard to get with me,” echoed in her mind like a haunting spell. In that instant, she recalled the nightmare from that morning.
Shen Jiang tested the waters: “You’re not the real buyer. Is your boss surnamed Su? Su Xingran?”
There was silence on the other end before the voice replied as if regaining consciousness.
“…So you knew who my boss was all along, and that’s why you’re trying to jack up the price now. Hah, let me tell you…”
Having received an answer that was both expected and unexpected, Shen Jiang didn’t give him a chance to continue his rudeness. Her eyes turned icy.
“Xiao Wang, your irritable and bitter tone suggests liver imbalance. If left untreated, it could develop into a serious condition. That’s all I’ll say. Don’t call me again.”
After hanging up and blocking the number, Shen Jiang felt no relief, only a heavy weight pressing on her chest.
Shen Jiang had always had a good memory. She was certain this Mr. Wang had never mentioned having a boss, and she hadn’t known any Su Xingran before today. This was merely the name of the male lead from her absurd and tragic morning dream.
Could everything in the dream be real?
Looking at the familiar surroundings before her, Shen Jiang felt everything was both real and surreal.
She thought the door was the most world-shattering thing she’d ever encountered, but then she met a talking Black Dragon behind it, completely demolishing her worldview. Now, what little remained of her worldview had collapsed yet again.
According to the dream, the entire universe was composed of countless fictional worlds. Each fictional world had its own protagonists, existing independently without interfering with one another. Her world was one such minor realm, centered around a cliché CEO-romance novel featuring intense dramatic conflicts between the male and female leads.
Both she and Grandma were insignificant cannon-fodder characters in this novel’s world.
The central figures of this world—male lead Su Xingran and female lead Pei Jia—were naturally unknown to Shen Jiang.
But she did know the male lead’s younger sister, Su Qing, a wealthy heiress from a prosperous family who also happened to be Shen Jiang’s junior from university. Last year, Su Qing came to Mingxintang for treatment and, upon discovering Shen Jiang was her senior, started visiting frequently to discuss knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine.
Shen Jiang knew the other party was wealthy because her alma mater was located in the capital thousands of miles away, yet Su Qing would appear at Mingxintang at her whim, often coming to find her right after classes ended. It was only later that Shen Jiang learned the other had a private jet that allowed round trips between the two locations anytime.
That was when Shen Jiang first realized money could buy such freedom. But Grandma remarked, “Of course. Money can buy not only time but also life.”
Though Shen Jiang wasn’t the type to warm up to strangers quickly, Su Qing was exceptionally warm and sweet-tongued toward her, without a trace of a young lady’s airs. Every time Grandma saw Su Qing visit, she would kindly say, “Here to see our Xiao Gu again?”
After several such visits, the two gradually grew familiar.
Su Qing happened to be a crucial supporting character in this novel world. As a catalyst for the romantic development between the male and female leads, it could be said that without her, the tumultuous and dramatic love journey of the two protagonists would have been significantly less eventful.
The male lead, Su Xingran, doted on his younger sister. Upon hearing that the senior his sister often idolized was facing family troubles, he directly bought out Mingxintang. Later, he even invited Shen Jiang to continue practicing there, all to keep his sister happy.
Unaware of the underlying reasons after her family’s changes, Shen Jiang felt grateful to the buyer for a long time after returning to Mingxintang. When she later discovered Su Qing was the buyer’s sister, she took even greater care of her junior, sharing her summarized study experiences with Su Qing almost unreservedly.
In the dream, after Su Qing graduated from university, she also came to practice at Mingxintang. Perhaps due to the medical dispute or because Su Qing had become the owner behind Mingxintang, her attitude toward Shen Jiang changed considerably. She was no longer as warm and friendly as before, occasionally displaying her young lady’s temper.
Since Su Qing had just graduated and hadn’t yet obtained her medical license, she could only work as Shen Jiang’s assistant while learning clinical experience alongside her. Shen Jiang had her observe patient consultations, just as she herself had learned by following Grandma since childhood. Patients’ conditions were often complex and variable, rarely matching textbook descriptions, and typically required individualized prescriptions.
To repay Su Qing, Shen Jiang taught her diagnostic tips earnestly and without reservation.
Unexpectedly, their relationship eventually shattered over this very matter. Although Su Qing held a doctorate in traditional Chinese medicine, her knowledge was superficial. When faced with Shen Jiang’s questions on topics like Six Meridians Pattern Identification or Eight Principles Pattern Identification, she was completely baffled, let alone foundational theories like Five Movements and Six Qi. She was often left speechless by Shen Jiang’s queries.
Su Qing couldn’t accept what she perceived as Shen Jiang’s condescending questions, believing Shen Jiang intentionally aimed to embarrass her in front of patients.
Their relationship deteriorated rapidly.
The outcome was Mingxintang shutting down, with Shen Jiang fired on the spot.
Later, Shen Jiang spent years in obscurity at a small town hospital’s TCM department. By then, Su Qing had become a moderately famous celebrity doctor, marketed as a prodigious young female physician. She was highly sought after by patients at her family’s large hospital, Yuejia, and frequently appeared on screens big and small.
Because the county hospital paid low wages, and a traditional Chinese medicine clinic happened to offer Shen Jiang a high salary, she accepted the position without much hesitation to better care for her grandmother. However, she never expected that this clinic, which would stop at nothing for profit behind the scenes, would make her the scapegoat when trouble arose.
During Shen Jiang’s detention, her grandmother, who was in a vegetative state, was left unattended and tragically starved to death at home. The body was only discovered when the smell prompted a neighbor to call the police.
Upon learning of her grandmother’s death, Shen Jiang took her own life in prison that very day.
Recalling the outcome she and her grandmother faced in the dream, a chill ran down Shen Jiang’s spine.
If things really ended up that way, she’d want to drag the author out and give them a posthumous thrashing. Why did the male and female leads get a perfect happy ending, while someone like Su Qing—who repeatedly stirred up trouble between them and ended up despised by her own brother—only lost her job and was married off in a family alliance? Meanwhile, an ordinary, hardworking person like Shen Jiang ended up with a broken family and ruined life. Whom had she ever offended? Was it just because her role was that of a cannon fodder tool?
Targeting her was one thing, but harming her grandmother was beyond the pale. She felt like tearing this trashy, melodramatic novel world to shreds.
The more Shen Jiang thought about it, the angrier she became.
Just then, the phone rang again. Shen Jiang initially meant to hang up, but then she noticed it was Officer Zhang calling.