Chapter 52 The Truth About Trafficking
"Sister, your steamed fish is so delicious!" Because Shen Qingtang had removed the fish bones, Shen Qinglan was no longer worried about choking and ate the fish with the hearty gusto of beef. If it weren't for the cameras, she would have licked the plate clean.
After saying that, she sighed with some regret: "It's just too little." Although the fish weighed four or five pounds, the inedible head took up a third of it, and more than half of it was taken by the judges, so naturally there wasn't much left for Shen Qinglan to taste.
Shen Qingtang had prepared this fish according to Shen Qinglan's taste. She smiled and said, "Since you want to eat it, I'll steam another one for you later."
Hearing this, Xiang Ruanxiang looked at the other members of the production crew swallowing their saliva and suddenly said, "I think we should make a few more. Everyone is craving them." In fact, even she was still a little hungry.
The live stream chat was flooded with comments.
【Ahhhh, why wasn't I there? I wanted to eat it too!】
Is this the advantage of having an older sister? No way, I'm going to ask my parents to give me an older sister right now!
[Sister Chen, please stop cooking. The food in my mouth has lost all its flavor.]
Yes, yes, you can't do that unless you let me eat it.
Can I fly there now?
...
The live chat was filled with jokes and banter, with everyone completely forgetting about Shen Ruowan's recent arrival.
Soon, numerous gift effects suddenly appeared in the live stream.
User qin donated 10 units of "Starry Sky" as a reward.
After the screen was cleared, only one sentence was scrolling repeatedly in the center of the live stream.
I want to eat it too.
Viewers in the live stream: "..."
Hey, just because I can't eat Sister Chen's steamed fish doesn't mean I want to eat dog food (a slang term for witnessing public displays of affection).
*
Because of Shen Qingtang's skill, everyone's appetite was whetted. Shen Qingtang had a lot of food to cook, and Xiang Ruanxiang quietly squeezed next to her to help.
While helping to chop vegetables, she said with a smile, "Doctor Shen, I've been taking the pills you prepared for me these past few days, and I feel a warm sensation in my uterus, and I'm able to sleep on time at night."
Shen Qingtang nodded and said, "That's good. It means your body is recovering and you'll be able to enter the next stage of treatment in a month."
Xiang Ruanxiang smiled with satisfaction, touched her belly, and sighed, "I thought I would never have this chance in my life."
Xiang Ying suddenly appeared out of nowhere and said, "That's because you didn't meet Doctor Shen sooner."
After everyone worked together to prepare lunch and were full and satisfied, they suddenly heard someone making a loud commotion outside.
"Is Shen Qingtang here! Shen Qingtang, come out right now! You heartless bastard! I've fed and clothed you so much, and now you're enjoying yourself here. I know you've become capable now, even opening a clinic. Give me 300,000 and I'll leave immediately."
Standing outside the courtyard was an elderly woman, probably in her sixties or seventies, with a weathered face. Although she was dressed in tattered clothes and her face was covered with wrinkles, her cloudy eyes and pointed chin revealed her shrewdness. In contrast, the slanted-eyed man beside her was unusually tall and well-fed. He was chubby and had a lollipop in his mouth and only dared to hold onto her clothes as they moved forward, his face full of fear and unease.
When people first heard the urgent voice, they thought the woman was rushing to seek medical help. After all, the big man next to her was behaving strangely like a three-year-old child, and he kept grinning foolishly at people; he was clearly not a normal person.
But when they heard the shouts and curses behind them, their gazes toward Shen Qingtang became strange.
What exactly is the relationship between these two people and Shen Qingtang?
Seeing Shen Qingtang's solemn expression, Shen Qinglan immediately realized the identities of the two people, and a surge of anger rose in her heart.
These two are so shameless!
They bought her sister from human traffickers back then, and now they're so brazenly trying to extort money from her.
Yes, 300,000 is not a lot, but what if the other party keeps extorting money from us? Let alone 300,000, even if we had a mountain of gold and silver, it wouldn't be enough for them to demand.
She took a deep breath, stepped forward and shielded Shen Qingtang behind her, saying, "You wish! We won't give you a single penny, let alone 300,000."
"You colluded with human traffickers to kidnap my sister, and our family hasn't even asked you for compensation yet!"
Upon hearing this, Zeng Mei's eyes flashed with a glint of light as she retorted, "Young lady, watch your mouth. We're not colluding with human traffickers. We're doing legitimate business, exchanging money for people—it's only right and proper. We're not trafficking anyone."
“But you bought my sister from human traffickers. She was only four years old at the time.”
“That’s right, we bought her for ten thousand yuan to be my grandson’s wife.” After saying that, Zeng Mei’s face darkened, and she pulled her grandson and pointed at Shen Qingtang, saying, “My dear grandson, that’s your runaway wife, do you see her? You should take her back now.”
The tall, mentally challenged man didn't understand the concept of a wife and son, but he did understand the meaning of snatching. What he snatched was his! He immediately lunged at Shen Qingtang, but Shen Qingtang slightly shifted her body, and he immediately fell to the ground with a thud, bursting into tears.
Zeng Mei was heartbroken and immediately lay down on the ground, throwing a tantrum: "You hit people! You hit people! You bunch of bullies, you even pushed my grandson down!"
"He's mentally challenged, what's wrong with you letting him have his way?"
Upon hearing this, the assistant director's lips twitched uncontrollably, realizing he hadn't checked the almanac before leaving home. He'd finally gotten rid of that nitpicking, scheming woman this morning, and now this unreasonable old lady was showing up, spouting nonsense just because she's older.
He exuded the ultimate resentment of a corporate slave, and said in a low voice, "If we give in to him, who will give in to us poor beasts of burden?"
Shen Qingtang is now the biggest attraction of the show, and his status is equivalent to the company's cash cow.
If the other party suffers any harm, it will cost him his year-end bonus. After saying that, he turned to the several relatively burly crew members around him and said, "You guys protect Sister Chen and don't let them get any closer."
Faced with this unexpected situation, Xiang Ruanxiang was initially at a loss. However, after a few words of conversation, she understood the ins and outs of the matter, and her eyes showed undisguised disgust when she looked at the old man in front of her.
"You guys are really unreasonable. Doctor Shen was bought by you when she was a child and separated from her family. Now that she has finally been reunited with her family, she has made a name for herself in life with her medical skills, and now you want to blackmail her?"
"You are not worthy of the debt of life, nor are you simply worthy of the debt of raising. It's already a favor that Dr. Shen didn't take you to court. Now you've taken advantage of her kindness to get on variety shows. You're nothing but bloodsucking leeches."
She softened her cold tone and looked at Shen Qingtang with sympathy, suggesting, "Why don't we call the police?"
Shen Qingtang nodded and said, "Okay." That was her thought too.
She is herself, and the original body is the original body. Although the original body had done many wrong things in the past, it is undeniable that the original body had indeed suffered a lot. If the original body hadn't been clever enough to escape during the college entrance examination, she probably would have stayed in the small mountain village for the rest of her life and even had to marry a mentally challenged man and have children.
Therefore, she cannot forgive the two people on behalf of the original owner.
The viewers in the live stream quickly figured out where the two men came from and were shocked by their shamelessness.
Holy crap, are these two even human?
If I remember correctly, in this kind of situation, buying and selling are equally criminal, right?
[She's so good at making excuses! If Sister Chen hadn't been kidnapped, would she even have a bite to eat?]
[Speechless. Sister Shen comes from the wealthy Shen family. She has a big villa and luxury cars, but she goes to a small mountain village to suffer, and the other party still asks for her gratitude.]
Is your brain fried?
...Most people with intelligence felt that this matter was too outrageous, and public opinion overwhelmingly sided with Shen Qingtang.
But slowly, a group of people appeared out of nowhere and began to express their opinions.
Regardless of the circumstances, Sister Chen has indeed been supported by someone all these years.
I've heard people say that the debt of gratitude for raising someone is greater than the debt of gratitude for giving birth to them. Shen Qingtang is doing so well now, what's wrong with giving him some money?
I heard that the son and daughter-in-law of this family died in a car accident. To be honest, it's quite pitiful.
Don't let this old woman's difficult temper and outrageous demands fool you; it's all for her grandson's sake.
[Her grandson is mentally retarded. If she died, I wonder how pitiful she would be.]
Exactly, that's perfectly normal. Everyone thinks of themselves first.
......
Many of Shen Ruowan's fans joined in, criticizing one and praising the other, believing that both of them were abducted in their childhood, but their ways of handling the situation were completely different.
The former is indifferent and cold-blooded, avoiding contact like a cold-blooded animal. On the other hand, Shen Ruowan is very grateful and repays kindness. Not only does she give red envelopes to others every year, but she also often visits them.
One is a devil, the other an angel; both are members of the Shen family, yet their characters are completely different! Moreover, Shen Ruowan is the true victim. If she hadn't been implicated by Shen Qingtang, she wouldn't have had to suffer like this.
The other party never tried to play the victim by mentioning this incident.
Looking at the nonsensical scrolling comments in the live stream, Qin Sumiao almost spat out blood in anger.
While angrily typing away at the keyboard to refute the claims, she looked at Qin Guanlan anxiously and said, "Brother, you have to think of something! Keep sending gifts to clear the screen won't work. These IP addresses are all very similar and are obviously paid trolls."
"If you ask me, have these netizens lost their minds? There are actually people who agree with this. Sister Chen is too kind. If it were me, I would have sued those two people until they were bankrupt."
Qin Guanlan pursed his lips and said, "We're already investigating." Suddenly, his phone vibrated, and a cold, sharp glint flashed in his eyes as he said, "So it was her doing."
Ten minutes later, a bunch of casual fans suddenly entered the live stream and refuted the words of Shen Ruowan's fans.
[Hilarious! The pictures are all photoshopped; they're just trying to fool you idiot fans.]
[It was previously said that Shen Ruowan was abducted because she was implicated by Shen Qingtang, but their testimonies have been brought to light, clearly showing that Shen Ruowan insisted on dragging Shen Qingtang to buy lollipops, which led to their abduction.]
[Add one more thing, Shen Qingtang is completely innocent in this disaster. That human trafficker said that she only wanted to abduct Shen Ruowan.]
[Exactly! Shen Ruowan's fans often use this as a marketing tactic; it makes me want to vomit.]
I initially thought Shen Ruowan was a truly innocent and pure woman, but it turns out she's arrogant, has terrible acting skills, and is cheating on multiple men.
Good heavens! Who on earth is a fan of this kind of female celebrity?
[You should just retire from the industry already; you're just a marketing charlatan who can't deliver.]
[This pure love couple fan is devastated! Why are they putting in a multiple partners storyline?]
Since that's the case, I won't hide it anymore. Actually, she smokes and drinks in private, but her on-screen image is just too good.
......
Shen Ruowan sat in her RV, watching things unfold as she had anticipated, feeling quite pleased with herself. But just half an hour later, the tide turned completely, and the fire ended up burning her as well.
Shen Ruoqi was still feeling carsick when her phone rang. She quickly opened Weibo and glanced at it. Her face turned pale instantly, and she stammered, "Sister, look at Weibo! All your dirty secrets have been dug up."
The top ten trending topics in the entertainment category were all related to Shen Ruowan.
#Breaking News! I've Obtained a Statement Regarding a Human Trafficking Case#
#Breaking News! Shen Ruowan is not an innocent, pure flower at all#
#Shen Ruowan is cheating on multiple men, pictures prove it#
#Shen Ruowan Smoking#
#Shen Ruowan's acting is bad#
#Shen Ruowan Acts Like a Diva on Set#
A quick glance revealed that Shen Ruowan's name was being mentioned in great detail, dominating the entire trending topics list.
Shen Ruowan's face was as white as paper, and the composure she was trying to maintain was as thin as paper.
The staff member in front of him suddenly spoke up, politely yet distantly: "Ms. Shen, I just received a call from the director. He said your recording can be postponed today. Can we take you to the intersection in the city? We need to get back to edit the footage urgently."
Hearing this, Shen Ruowan forced a stiff smile and said, "Of course." Shen Ruoqi scratched her head, somewhat confused, "What film? Why the rush? Our program hasn't finished recording yet..."
Before she could finish speaking, Shen Ruowan tugged at her sleeve and shook her head slightly. She understood the production team's approach; she was currently being exposed for a series of scandals and might become a disgraced celebrity, forced to leave the entertainment industry.
The more scenes she gets shot, the more will be cut, which will only cause more trouble for the production team.
Although she tried to convince herself of this, seeing the staff who used to always smile at her now avoiding her like the plague, her nose stung and she felt a pang of grievance.
Hearing this, Shen Ruoqi could only bite her lip and say, "Alright then, I'll drive you home later."
That being said, how could Shen Ruowan possibly abandon everything and hide back at the Shen family after so much dirt on her was suddenly released?
Soon, she was stopped by a phone call from her agent and rushed to the company.
Sister Mei rushed over anxiously and said, "Xiao Wan, did you offend someone? I just contacted many people, and they all refused my public relations requests. Even the company is ignoring us."
Shen Ruowan knew perfectly well that the one who could retaliate against her in such a way must be Qin Guanlan. But then she turned her eyes and bit her lip, saying, "Sister Mei, I don't know either."
She knew that if she revealed the truth, Sister Mei would not go to such lengths to help her as she was now; instead, she would be the first to leave her.
Sister Mei frowned and said, "That shouldn't be the case." She pursed her lips and said, "No matter what, the most urgent thing is to clear up those rumors about you." As the saying goes, when a wall falls, everyone pushes it down. Now, all sorts of people are trying to shift the blame onto Shen Ruowan. If we don't deal with it quickly, we won't be able to clear our names even if we jump into the Yellow River.
Thinking of this, she said, "Xiao Wan, you and Qin Rongyun are now boyfriend and girlfriend, and he has more fans than you. Why don't you ask him to post a Weibo for you? The whole 'cheating on multiple women' thing is completely fabricated."
She spoke with righteous indignation, completely oblivious to the guilty expression on Shen Ruowan's face.
She's just had a few drinks, danced a few times, eaten a few meals, and slept with a few people at parties. That shouldn't be a big deal, right?
Among all the men she's been involved with, the only one she truly acknowledges as her boyfriend is Qin Rongyun.
Thinking of this, she calmed herself down and started calling Qin Rongyun. After three calls, the other party finally answered, and Shen Ruowan softened her tone and asked with concern, "Rongyun, are you driving? You haven't answered my calls for so long."
Qin Rongyun clutched the wanton bedroom photos she had just received, recalling the pure and beautiful woman in her memory, and for a moment wondered if it was just her imagination.
The long silence on the other end of the phone filled Shen Ruowan with a sense of foreboding, but she still braced herself and said, "Rong Yun, I've run into some trouble lately. Could you do me a small favor?"
"Please post this on Weibo for me." She took a deep breath and cautiously made this request, no longer daring to be unreasonable like before.
These words, when heard by Qin Rongyun, clearly conveyed a sense of guilt.
He was furious: "Bitch, you still have the nerve to ask me for help. We're broken up."
The next second, the receiver went dead. Shen Ruowan felt a sense of foreboding, and soon saw a trending topic on her phone.
#Reveals Qin Rongyun has announced her breakup with Shen Ruowan: I didn't expect her character to be so bad#
Shen Ruowan felt a sudden dizziness, followed by the roar of an airplane landing, and then the bewildered voice of her manager, Sister Mei.
"Xiao Wan, what happened?"
"Shouldn't Qin Rongyun have posted on Weibo saying she'd be with you forever? How did it turn into a breakup rumor? What exactly did you do?"
After a long while, Sister Mei received a phone call. She sighed softly and said, "Xiao Wan, you are still young, and you come from such a good family. You don't really need to make a name for yourself in the entertainment industry."
She sincerely suggested, "Why don't you retire from the entertainment industry and go home to inherit the family business?"
Shen Ruowan was the most popular artist managed by her agent, Sister Mei, so naturally she felt some attachment and reluctance. But who could blame her when someone who seemed so shrewd dared to offend Qin Guanlan and touch the person he cherished most?
Isn't that stupid?
Upon hearing the other person's words, Shen Ruowan nodded somewhat absentmindedly, her heart filled with bitterness.
Retiring from the entertainment industry to go home and inherit the family business—these eight words sound easy, but she has already gambled away even this last resort.
She put on a mask and sunglasses, and while driving, she looked around and noticed that the stores of the brands she endorsed had all changed their promotional banners.
The phone in her bag was buzzing, and when she answered it, she was met with a barrage of reproachful questions from her parents.
"Xiao Wan, how could you offend Qin Guanlan?"
"You unfilial daughter, come back here right now! You're really going to drive me crazy!"
"Do you know how much you've caused my business to lose?"
"Your grandfather has already spoken, telling you to come back quickly. He wants to take you to apologize to the person."
"To show his sincerity, he has already transferred the Shen Group to Shen Qingtang and even invited your uncle and aunt back. Be polite to her, because we will all have to rely on her to make a living in the future."
......
Even her younger siblings are texting her, urging her to come back quickly and resolve this matter.
Shen Ruowan smiled, but her eyes were icy, and a chilling feeling of betrayal lingered in her heart.
When she's needed, she's a glamorous female celebrity and the pride of her family.
When she is no longer needed, she becomes an unfilial daughter.
Although she thought this to herself, her eyes were filled with intense hatred. If it weren't for Shen Qingtang... if it weren't for Shen Qingtang... She suddenly gripped the steering wheel tightly, her fingers turning white.
His face contorted in agony, like a demon who had crawled out of hell and lost his mind.
*
On the other side, Shen Qingtang, who had just finished filming "My Sisters", suddenly took out a lake-green jade bracelet and placed it in front of Shen Qinglan, saying, "Qinglan, look, isn't this my family heirloom?"
"The luster and the style are exactly the same! Sister, how did you find it? Didn't you secretly sell it?" Shen Qinglan kept turning the bracelet, her eyes full of disbelief.
It's important to understand that once bracelets like these enter the market, they are frequently bought and sold, and given away as gifts. Therefore, finding them is extremely difficult, costing a lot of money, time, and effort.
Shen Qingtang smiled slightly, her originally cold and hard face softening a bit: "Thanks to Brother Qin, he had Qi Yi and Qi Er run to all the auction houses in the country and finally found the auction records. After many twists and turns, they managed to get them back at a high price." Finally, she added, "Brother Qin has really worked hard during this time."
Shen Qinglan said with a smile, "It is quite tiring, but Brother Qin is looking for a family heirloom for his mother-in-law, so he probably won't think that way."
"Qinglan!" Shen Qingtang said softly, "We've only become boyfriend and girlfriend; we haven't reached the point of discussing marriage yet."
What mother-in-law? This is progressing way too fast.
Shen Qinglan shrugged indifferently and said, "It's bound to happen sooner or later anyway." After saying that, she looked around Renxin Medical Clinic and reminded her, "Sister, you should go home earlier on weekdays. I saw in the news recently that some people have been kidnapped because they left work late."
Shen Qingtang nodded and said okay, but didn't take it to heart.
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