Lin Ruzhen’s eyes lit up: “What’s the way?”  

Lin Hong glanced back at the soldier on duty and pulled his niece to an unoccupied corner.  

After repeatedly confirming that no one was around, he finally asked his niece, “Zhenzhen, first tell Uncle, what exactly happened at the hospital?”  

Mentioning the incident made Lin Ruzhen’s anger surge.  

Clenching her teeth, she recounted the whole story. By the end, she crossed her arms indignantly and said, “Uncle… that bitch Ruan Qingzhi, how dare she steal my man? She deserves to die!”  

“I’ve pursued Shen Zhanwu for six years—six years! How many six years do I have? I gave Shen Zhanwu the best of my youth, the most beautiful years of my life! And what about him? He acts all high and mighty, looking down on me, but in the end, isn’t he just some country bumpkin too?”  

“Now I’m thirty years old, practically an old maid. Everyone can’t stand it anymore and keeps pressuring him to take responsibility for me. I thought I could finally be with him, but then he turns around and finds himself a younger woman!”  

“That heartless bastard! That worn-out slut! A pair of shameless dogs!”  

“Even if they went to hell, it wouldn’t be enough to vent my rage!”  

Lin Hong patted his niece’s shoulder: “Zhenzhen, you’re still too impulsive.”  

Lin Ruzhen immediately turned her head to glare at him: “I’m impulsive? Uncle, did you come here just to lecture me? Are you… are you siding with them too?”  

“Fine! If that’s the case, I’ll go find my dad and have him stand up for me. How can Shen Zhanwu just discard me like this? Even if he doesn’t want me, he has no right to be with that damn country girl!”  

With that, she turned to leave.  

Lin Hong wasn’t fond of his niece’s temperament, but now wasn’t the time for petty arguments.  

He quickly pulled her back and said sternly, “Look at yourself right now. Still saying you’re not impulsive?”  

“Guan Zhenbang is notorious in the military district for protecting his own. If this matter reaches your father, and he doesn’t help you, you’ll just make a scene. Once it becomes public knowledge, it’ll be your face, Lin Ruzhen’s, that’s lost. The entire military district will just gossip about how you chased after a man well into your thirties without even touching a hair on his head.”  

“While you’re being pointed at and mocked, Shen Zhanwu and that country girl will be living happily ever after! But if your father helps you, he’ll have to break ties with Guan Zhenbang. There’s no benefit—only harm!”  

As she listened, Lin Ruzhen’s expression grew slightly puzzled: “Uncle, how do you know so much about what’s happening in the military district?”  

Lin Hong froze for a moment, then adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose.  

“Of course it’s for your sake!”  

“You’re the only girl in three generations of our Lin family, and so outstanding at that. With you here all alone, how could I not worry? I’ve told you before to come stay with me, but you refused—all for a man, throwing away your future!”  

Lin Ruzhen stomped her foot: “But I love Shen Zhanwu!”  

The man sighed deeply: “Zhenzhen, listen to your uncle. Making a scene like this won’t get you anywhere. We need to act quietly if we want to destroy her.”  

Of everything he’d said, only that last line resonated with Lin Ruzhen.  

Her face lit up with hope: “Uncle, really?”  

Behind his glasses, Lin Hong’s eyes narrowed: “You said that country girl cured Shen Zhanwu with just a needle—that must be acupuncture, some kind of traditional Chinese medicine. It’s nothing more than a backward practice.”  

“At the national medical conference a few days ago, that old fool Ye Huairen kept pushing to promote traditional Chinese medicine, to take it global. Hah! What a pipe dream!”  

“Times are changing. Ye Huairen’s outdated ideas are way behind the times. The useless remnants of history should just fade away. As for that little country girl—she’ll be easy to deal with!”

With that, he pulled a small ampoule from his bag and handed it to her: “This will do the trick.”