The middle-aged woman didn't take it seriously.
Her son was just putting on a show—how could he actually be in trouble? These people were idiots.
Shu Lanzhou, however, froze when she heard the shouting. Her retreating steps halted, and she leaned forward to look.
"Stop standing there like an idiot! He's foaming at the mouth—get him up, now!" The onlookers quickly backed away.
Only then did the middle-aged woman realize something was truly wrong. Screaming like a madwoman, she threw herself at the young man lying on the ground.
"My son! What's happening to you?" Trembling, she reached out to pull him up, but the man was already convulsing, foaming at the mouth—clearly having a seizure.
Shu Lanzhou shoved past the crowd and rushed forward. "Don't touch him! If you don't want him dead, you'd better listen to me!"
She yanked the man's upper body up and tilted his head to the side.
"Move! I can save him!" She pushed aside the dazed woman, braced his shoulder with one hand, and reached for her acupuncture needles with the other.
The needle pouch was strapped to her wrist, making the motion awkward. She shouted, "Someone help me! Hold him up!"
A man from the crowd stepped forward and supported the young man's shoulders. "Tell me what to do."
"Hold him steady. Watch his head—make sure he doesn't choke on his vomit." Shu Lanzhou let go to remove the needles.
Before the middle-aged woman could react, several needles were already in place.
She stared, eyes rolling back in shock, and fainted on the spot.
Shu Lanzhou ignored her, focused on stabilizing the young man with a few precise insertions. Only after the seizure was under control did she check on the woman.
Just as she helped the man sit up, the ambulance arrived.
By the time she had both of them loaded onto the ambulance, the video of her rescue was already going viral online.
Shu Lanzhou had thought she'd get home early, but the unexpected incident dragged her back to the National Hospital.
The middle-aged woman was fine—just frightened. She woke up soon after arriving.
Thanks to Shu Lanzhou's swift intervention, the young man's symptoms had stabilized. Shortly after being brought to the hospital, he began to regain consciousness.
With a bit of luck, he'd be back to normal in a couple of hours.
After hearing this from a nurse, Shu Lanzhou said, "If there's nothing else, I'll head out. Once he's fully recovered, please let me know. Also, have them leave their contact info."
She turned to leave. But just as she spun around, someone lunged at her, accompanied by a shriek:
"You little bitch! What did you do to my son?! Give me back my son! If anything happens to him, I'll make you pay!"
The woman attacked her in a frenzy, fists and feet flying.
Shu Lanzhou was caught off guard and knocked slightly off balance. As she steadied herself, the woman grabbed her by the hair.
The nearby nurse rushed over to intervene.
Shu Lanzhou twisted around and grabbed the woman's wrist, pressing hard on a pain point. As the woman cried out, Shu Lanzhou raised her hand and slapped her hard across the face.
"Enough already?" she snapped, then landed another slap. "Are you awake now? Can you talk like a normal person? No? Want me to knock some more sense into you?"
Wu Xiuli was stunned by the slap, frozen in place. Then the nurse chimed in, "Your son's fine—thanks to Dr. Shu. He's already waking up."
"He's right in the ward. If you don't believe me, I'll take you there myself. You've got it all wrong—Dr. Shu wasn't trying to hurt him. She saved his life!"
Wu Xiuli glared at Shu Lanzhou. "You expect me to believe that? That she has such a good heart? She probably wantedhim dead!"
Shu Lanzhou was speechless. "Do you have some kind of problem? We don't even know each other. Why would I want your son dead? What would I get out of it?"
"I've already let it slide that you came out of nowhere to cause trouble, but now you're pushing it. Fine. Let's call the police and see what they have to say."
Hearing that, Wu Xiuli dropped to the floor, slapping her thighs and wailing. "Go ahead! Call the cops! Have them take me and my son away!"
"Anyway, my husband was already thrown in jail by you people. We're nothing but fish on a chopping block—go ahead, kill us if you want!"
"You people from the Mu family have wealth and power—crushing small nobodies like us takes no effort. Go ahead! I don't want to live without my husband anyway!"
What a ridiculous shrew. Shu Lanzhou nearly laughed from exasperation, and the nurse trying to break things up looked equally speechless.
"Come on, lady. Be reasonable. Dr. Shu just saved you and your son. How can you turn around and attack her?"
"Besides, your son's still lying in the ward. Are you really going to sit here and cause more drama?" The nurse pointed toward the patient room.
"You don't care about your son anymore?"
Wu Xiuli scrambled to her feet. "You... You just wait! This isn't over! The Mu family still owes the Zhang family—and we will get it back!"
Pointing at Shu Lanzhou, she ran off toward the ward.
Shu Lanzhou let out a weary sigh. "What an interesting woman."
She glanced at the nurse and said, "Thanks for earlier. You can get back to work now. Just don't forget to leave their contact info."
The nurse looked puzzled. "Dr. Shu, that woman's a total lunatic. Why would you want her contact info? You're not planning to stay in touch, are you? What if she keeps pestering you?"
Shu Lanzhou smiled. "Some things have to be settled eventually. I can't let her cling to me every time we meet."
She waved and walked out of the hospital—but before she could reach the exit, she saw Mu Side rushing in from the entrance.
She didn't know why, but even among the crowd, she spotted him instantly.
She was just about to wave when he caught sight of her and sprinted over.
"Are you okay?" Mu Side grabbed her hand, looking her up and down. "You scraped yourself?"
"I braced myself on the ground. Didn't feel anything at first, but now it's turning red," she said, glancing down at her swollen palm. "Why are you here?"
"Something this big happened—how could I not come?" Mu Side frowned, pulling her toward the car. "Did the Zhang woman or her son do anything to you?"
Shu Lanzhou paused. "You already know? That was fast."
"Not just me—the whole family knows. See for yourself." Mu Side pulled out his phone and showed her.
Shu Lanzhou finally saw the video of her rescuing the Zhang family's son by the roadside. It had already been uploaded and was going viral, titled:
'Beautiful and Kindhearted TCM Doctor Saves a Life Despite Insults and Misunderstanding'
In just over an hour, the video had been shared tens of thousands of times, with likes and comments still climbing.
Shu Lanzhou's eyes curved into a smile. She handed the phone back to Mu Side and tugged playfully on his collar. "Beautiful and kindhearted, huh? Hubby, they're praising your wife. Aren't you proud?"
"Stop trying to change the subject." Mu Side flicked her forehead.
"This isn't about pride. I'm asking—knowing full well the Zhangs were targeting you, why did you still save him? What if it was a trap?"