Chapter 101

“Exactly, those earlier comments are just too bitter. You can tell that this girl’s beauty is all-natural—what’s there to be salty about?”

“So, is anyone digging up some info on this beauty?”

“Yes, yes, yes. I want her full background in three minutes.”

The internet was abuzz with curiosity about Shen Lihuan. It’s not every day you come across such a young medical scientist, after all.

“Emmm, I’m guessing you all aren’t from the Imperial Capital, and not familiar with its social circles?”

“Yeah, cold sweat, I’m definitely not from the Capital. Why, is this girl super famous there?”

Clearly, that reply rubbed some people the wrong way. The tone—tinged with surprise and a faint condescension—wasn’t exactly well received.

“I wasn’t looking down on anyone. I’m just surprised. This young lady keeps a low profile, but there have always been stories about her. Anyone who knows the Capital’s business world would instantly recognize her. That’s why I asked if you weren’t part of that scene.”

“Young lady?!! Which family is she from?”

The moment people heard that she was well-known in the Capital, everyone perked up. Watching drama and gossip unfold was practically a national pastime.

“Just look at her surname. In the Capital, who else named Shen would be called the young lady?”

“Holy sh*t! She’s a Shen? So she’s the heiress of the Shen family?! Damn, she really hit the jackpot in life. Born with status, and still incredibly talented!”

“Fan now, fan forever. How could anyone not stan a girl like her?”

People are naturally drawn to the wealthy. The moment they found out Shen Lihuan came from such a prestigious background, many instantly became her fans. In their minds, idolizing someone so outstanding meant something rubbed off on them too. If your idol’s impressive, you can’t be that bad yourself.

“But why would the Shen family’s heiress study medicine? Don’t most rich second gens study finance or something, so they can take over the family business?”

“Right? I’ve got a bunch of rich kids at my school. Most of them are studying finance or business management. Only those who don’t need to inherit anything go off to study other stuff. Could it be that this Shen heiress is in that kind of situation too?”

“I don’t think Shen Lihuan is the heir to the Shen Corporation. The Shen family already has a six-year-old little master, and she’s twenty-two. If they really wanted her to inherit, why would they go and have a son?”

“Jealous much? That’s a seriously sour tone. How do you know she’s not the heir to Shen Corp? Who made you the authority?”

“No way. Loads of women lead successful companies these days. What, is the Shen family still stuck in the dark ages? Favoring sons over daughters?”

Of course, when some people love the rich, others resent them. The comment section began to spiral—some condemning the Shen family for being patriarchal, others bashing Shen Lihuan for allegedly not being able to inherit the family business, and the biggest group just munching on popcorn, enjoying the rapidly growing thread.

Until someone couldn’t take it anymore.

“All of you saying the Shen heiress can’t inherit the company—who are you? Are you her? Are you her parents? Your sour little posts are clearly written by people who don’t have a cent to their name.”

“Of course they’re not rich. Do they even understand the Shen family’s social class? You think just anyone can get close to them? These people are only brave enough to spew nonsense online—face-to-face, they wouldn’t even dare breathe.”

“Can you broaden your minds a little? Maybe it was her idea to study medicine. Maybe she loves it and is willing to dedicate her life to it. What’s wrong with that?”

“Exactly. So shortsighted, assuming everyone’s just like them. Even if she doesn’t inherit the family business, she’ll never lack money in her life. And what if she doesn’t even care about money and just wants to focus on medical research? Her mindset is way beyond yours—don’t box her in with your narrow views.”

Getting rebuked and even looked down on, many keyboard warriors began to fume.

“How do you know the Shen heiress has some lofty mindset and doesn’t care about money? Are you a worm in her belly?”

“No, I’m not a worm in her belly. But I am lucky enough to work at her company. She rarely shows up—most of the operations are handled by the vice president and general manager. If she truly cared about power, why would she hand the company over to others?”

“Pfft. Big words. What company is that? There’s no way it can compare to Shen Corp. Maybe she just doesn’t care about your tiny company and has her eyes set on Shen Corp instead.”

“Heh. Our company is small—only goes by the name Shengyan, that’s all.”

For a few seconds, the thread went dead silent. Then, three seconds later, the screen exploded with endless lines of “Holy sh*t!!” and “Aaaaahhhhh!!”

Netizens went nuts. Shengyan? That’s a top-tier company! According to last year’s Green Country Top 500 Enterprises ranking, Shen Youjun’s three conglomerates were still holding the top three spots—but right behind them, at number four, was Shengyan.

Shengyan had long been the cosmetics industry’s undisputed leader—a globally loved brand. Who didn’t have a few bottles of Shengyan products at home?

And Shen Lihuan was Shengyan’s president?! How could she be so low-key? Not a single news outlet ever picked it up!

“Speaking of Miss Shen, this reminds me of something related to cyberbullying. Do you guys still remember Qin Aochen? He used to be insanely popular. Then he told his fans to attack the You family’s young lady, and Miss Shen went nuclear defending her friend. Within a day, Qin Aochen was arrested and ruined. And those who insulted the You family’s girl? They did a week in jail and a whole month of community service.”

“Heh. Let the keyboard warriors bark all they want. I’m just here to see what happens to them next.”

At this point, a lot of netizens were stunned. They did remember Qin Aochen—a former music idol. Back then, he falsely accused now-famous actor and singer Huo Ran of doing drugs, leading to Huo Ran’s arrest. Everyone had assumed some anonymous hero had reported Qin Aochen.

But it was Miss Shen who did that? Damn. That was badass. Ruthless and efficient. Impossible not to be impressed.

The trolls were dumbfounded. The eldest young lady of the Shen family had taken down the once wildly popular Qin Aochen in just a single day—what chance did they, mere ordinary people, have? Wouldn’t she deal with them even faster?

Everyone cherished their lives and knew better than to provoke the Shen family’s eldest daughter. One by one, they silently deleted their earlier comments, and the comment section quickly returned to a state of peace and harmony.

“Ahhh, I’m seriously becoming Miss Lihuan’s devoted fan.”

“So it was Miss Shen who saved Huohuo back then? Thank you so much!”

“Wait, is the eldest daughter of the You family the one I’m thinking of? What’s her relationship with Miss Lihuan? Miss Lihuan got angry for a beauty’s sake—could they be a couple?!”

“God, how behind are you all? Miss Shen and Miss You got married right after graduating college. They’ve been together since high school. All these years and not a single scandal. They’re truly the loving couple of the inner circle.”

“Crying out loud here—she’s that beautiful, and you’re telling me she got married so young?!”

Shen Lihuan had no idea people were passionately discussing her online. If she knew someone was enthusiastically sharing her and Chang Qing’s love story with netizens, she’d probably go through and like each post one by one.

After answering all the experts’ and scholars’ questions perfectly, the big screen began playing a video of the clinical trials for the detox vaccine. The patients in the video were all volunteers willing to undergo the experimental treatment. First, CT scans were done, and their body data was recorded. After receiving the vaccine, they were injected with a mix of sedatives, drug toxins, and poisonous toxins two minutes later—yet not a single one of them showed any reaction.

In reality, even with the consent agreements signed, the patients were still quite nervous. Their faces were tense during the vaccination, and by the time the toxins were administered, sweat was breaking out on their foreheads and their breathing had grown heavier. Everyone watching the video started to feel nervous as well, influenced by the atmosphere.

As time passed, fifteen minutes went by and still no abnormalities. The patients even began to feel lighter and more relaxed—one of them let out a satisfied moan.

Six hours later, they still experienced no discomfort or unusual reactions, falling sound asleep in their hospital beds. Their peaceful, rosy-cheeked sleeping faces made it abundantly clear they were perfectly fine: “…”

Due to time constraints, a section of the video was fast-forwarded. It jumped to the next day, when the patients were woken from their deep sleep—some of them looking annoyed at being disturbed. It had been a long time since they’d slept so well. Only when they saw the researchers in lab coats did they remember they were still at the research institute.

The researchers gave them another CT scan. The before-and-after data were compared side-by-side. But truthfully, just seeing how lively the patients still were made it obvious: the detox vaccine worked like a charm.

Just a short while ago, people were still panicking about what to do if someone drugged them. Now, the answer had arrived—the detox vaccine was a must-have.

This press conference could be considered a huge success. As soon as the detox vaccine hit the market, it was snatched up instantly. It became an essential life-saving remedy for every household. Even though Shen Corporation’s official website repeatedly reminded people that the vaccine was effective for ten years with just one dose, people were still determined to stockpile large quantities at home.

While vaccines were being delivered continuously to households across the country, they were also sent to military zones. Every soldier was vaccinated. The environments they had to operate in were harsh, and now they no longer had to fear death or injury from poisoning.

Shen Lihuan had always had a deep respect for the military, so the price she offered the army was much lower than the retail price.

The military representatives were very pleased with this and praised Shen Lihuan for her strong sense of duty and awareness.

After handling all these affairs, Shen Lihuan finally got to enjoy her vacation. There’s a saying: “The spring night is short and the sun rises high; the emperor never returns to court.” That was more or less Shen Lihuan’s situation—she and You Changqing would often be entangled in bed until the early hours of the morning. If You Changqing didn’t have to work during the day, she would be dragged into morning workouts as well, full of enthusiasm and energy.

During that period, You Changqing’s legs were often weak. Gu Qinglan and Guan Kening would look at her with a hint of teasing in their eyes, which made You Changqing so annoyed she’d pinch Shen Lihuan’s waist every time—only to be cuddled and coaxed for a long time before calming down.

When Shen Lihuan’s school term started again, she turned her focus to researching a cure for AIDS. The medicinal herbs in this world were different from those in the post-apocalyptic world, so Shen Lihuan practically traveled the entire globe to gather everything needed for artificial cultivation.

After countless calculations and experiments, the special medicine was finally developed. The next step was a full year of clinical trials and follow-up studies. Only when it was confirmed that patients who used the medicine had not experienced any outbreaks within the year and their physical data remained perfectly normal, did Shen Lihuan finally smile and go to visit Wang Qingqing.

That kind and optimistic girl was now already 27 years old. Even though she couldn’t attend school over the years, she had never stopped learning. She always had a book in her hands, reading with deep interest. Unwilling to be a burden to her parents, she began publishing novels online. Her writing, like her personality, was warm and comforting. Over the years, she accumulated a large, loyal fanbase and even published several books. Her parents were incredibly proud of her.

When Shen Lihuan and You Changqing arrived in Wang Qingqing’s hometown, the villagers curiously observed them. Seeing them head toward Wang Jianguo’s home, a few brave children followed behind.

Uncle Wang had a wonderful personality, and Sister Qingqing was also a great person. They always had so much fun when they visited her house.

The children reached the Wang residence before Shen Lihuan and the others. When Wang Qingqing was called outside by the kids, she looked a bit puzzled but still smiled as she handed them candies and sunflower seeds. Their little faces were all lit up with joy—until Wang Qingqing heard a familiar voice say, “Classmate Wang, long time no see.”

She immediately turned around to find Shen Lihuan and You Changqing standing not far away, smiling at her.

“Qingqing,” Shen Lihuan said gently, “You can return to the world now—stand in the sunlight again.”