Thousands Pointing Fingers (1)

In the afternoon, only three customers visited. Shen Qiong hastily closed his shop and went home. As for Ren Tianxue, after returning home, she vowed to mobilize Shen Qiong's fans to win this "holy war."

Shen Qiong found himself speechless as his Weibo follower count had actually increased by over a thousand. He finally tasted the "sweetness" of hype.

He glanced at the messages on his WeChat.

User: Shen Qiong

Level: 2 (Getting into the groove)

Increase your level by increasing your fame and reputation. Current Reputation: 2620

It had increased by several hundred since last time. Shen Qiong laughed and cursed, "This is f***ing ridiculous, the first time my fame increased, it felt so damn good."

He logged onto his Weibo and, as expected, there were many more comments. As time passed, three schools of thought emerged online. One was the rational analysis group, mostly people with their own ideas. Because they hadn't witnessed Shen Qiong's fortune-telling abilities, they remained skeptical and neutral.

Then there was the other side, the radical condemnation group, who attacked fiercely under the banner of seeking justice for the people's teacher.

The final group were Shen Qiong's supporters. These supporters were further divided into several types: die-hard fans who had benefited from Shen Qiong's help; friends influenced by these die-hard fans; and a third group who had gained a deeper understanding of Shen Qiong after hearing rumors.

Shen Qiong quickly saw a netizen nicknamed "Domineering Cat" leading a group of die-hard fans in a "fierce debate" on Weibo with the radical group.

"You bunch of paid trolls, you haven't even met Master Shen, what right do you have to mock him?" many of Shen Qiong's die-hard fans came out to defend him.

"Exactly, I was lucky enough to have Master Shen tell my fortune twice. Once I escaped a desperate situation, and once I received great fortune. You people just don't understand Master Shen," the netizen called "Little Red Riding Hood" furiously typed on her keyboard.

"Master Shen can tell if you're shitting or farting just by looking at your ass when you bend over."

Meanwhile, the radical group's accusations grew louder, "Teacher Yuan dedicated his life to education, only to fall into the hands of a charlatan in the end. This Master Shen deserves to be punished by everyone!!!"

"He's a devil, he uses people's desires to kill them, he must be brought to justice."

"I suggest we do a deep dive on this Shen Qiong, or whatever they call him, Master Shen. Teacher Yuan's incident is just the beginning, I believe there are many more victims."

"That's right, many people are too embarrassed to speak out after being scammed!"

"The country is cracking down on feudal superstition, yet Teacher Yuan was still blinded by desire. What a shame."

"My grandfather was scammed by a 'Master' before, and it went on for more than a decade. I hate these kinds of people the most in my life."

"People like this should be arrested and shot to prevent them from harming the world."

As for the neutral crowd, among the rational analysts, there were many great gods and experts. They dissected and analyzed articles tens of thousands of characters long, as if doing a reading comprehension exercise, extracting the main points and re-establishing the core argument.

"Based on my analysis, if we go by the content described in the article, Teacher Yuan should have been selected as an outstanding teacher within the school multiple times, or even an outstanding district-level teacher, at the very least a senior teacher. But in reality, when I checked, Teacher Yuan is just an ordinary people's teacher."

"Putting Teacher Yuan aside for a moment, I've diligently reviewed Shen Qiong, also known as Master Shen's, recent online information. Almost all of it is positive. It's said that the only two times someone questioned Master Shen's fortune-telling accuracy, they caused trouble at his shop, and now both individuals have broken the law and are in jail."

"It's quite strange, it seems that anyone who has a dispute with Master Shen doesn't have a good ending."

"Perhaps we should think rationally about why a people's teacher would get involved with a fortune-telling master and even make such a bet. I think that's the crux of the problem."

"It's a pity Teacher Yuan has mental health issues. Otherwise, if he himself came forward, all problems would be easily solved."

Ren Tianxue read most of the comments until she reached this one. Her eyes suddenly lit up. That's right! As long as Yuan Jiancheng recovered, he could definitely help Shen Qiong clear his name.

With that thought, Ren Tianxue immediately went out and contacted her best friend Xi'er to help her find out which hospital Yuan Jiancheng was currently being treated at.

"Did you find him?" Ren Tianxue's voice was anxious.

Ye Yunxi asked strangely on the phone, "Why are you looking for him? I have a doctor friend who helped me find out. He's at the Second Municipal Hospital."

"Found him?" Ren Tianxue grabbed her keys and rushed out. "It's not convenient to explain right now, but basically, Shen Qiong has been framed, and only this person can come forward to clarify things."

"Shen Qiong? Master Shen?" As Ren Tianxue's best friend, Ye Yunxi naturally heard about Shen Qiong from her often.

Although her best friend had been "conquered" by Master Shen, Ye Yunxi still found it hard to believe that anyone could be that amazing, that accurate with everything, and never make a mistake.

In her opinion, everyone makes mistakes sometimes. Master Shen might have an off day and actually get it wrong, who knows!

But since her best friend was so determined, she didn't know what else to say. Ye Yunxi smiled, "Then good luck! Let me know if you have any good news!"

Ren Tianxue was swift and decisive all the way, almost running red lights. She drove from her apartment complex directly to the entrance of the Second Municipal Hospital and parked her car in a random spot.

She stopped a nurse on the way and asked, "My friend suddenly had a mental breakdown a few days ago. I heard he's being observed and treated in this hospital. Can you tell me where I can find him?"

"Oh, go straight ahead from here, and at the corner, there's a signpost. Follow it, and you'll find the temporary observation ward. Then you can ask the nurses there, and you should be able to find him."

She followed the directions to a corridor lined with wards. Peeking through a room window, she happened to spot Yuan Jiancheng.

Ren Tianxue's heart leaped with joy, and she wanted to go in. Unexpectedly, a man and a woman walked out of Yuan Jiancheng's ward just then.

She sat aside and pretended to play with her phone.

"Brother, including the four thousand yuan from last night, we've received over twenty thousand by today," an excited woman said.

"See! I told you it would work. Anyway, Old Yuan is like this now, and you're raising the child alone, you can't handle it all. Seeking help is necessary," said the man with slightly graying hair.

The woman suddenly hesitated, "But, is what we're doing considered defamation?"

"How is this defamation? We're just stating the facts. Although the language is a bit exaggerated, the situation is indeed like this. If it weren't for that bet, I believe Old Yuan would never have chosen to borrow money to invest in stocks," the man, over fifty, comforted her.

"Sigh, I guess that's the only way to think about it now." The woman looked at Yuan Jiancheng lying on the bed inside, her face full of worry.

"I think that so-called Master Shen brought it upon himself. I really don't understand why Old Yuan went to that kind of person back then," the older man shook his head.

Ren Tianxue gritted her teeth and lowered her head, holding back her voice. So these two people were the culprits who framed Shen Qiong.

"I see a lot of people scolding him, maybe he really is a liar!" the woman seemed to be comforting herself.

The man, called "Brother" and with graying hair, patted the woman's shoulder. "It's okay. The more people pay attention to this matter, the more people will be willing to sponsor us. If Old Yuan really doesn't recover, at least you and your child will have some savings."

Ren Tianxue clenched her fists, thinking to herself that they had blown things out of proportion to swindle kind-hearted people for donations.

She knew that the woman was likely Yuan Jiancheng's wife. If that was the case, sneaking into the room to visit Yuan Jiancheng was definitely out of the question.

Ren Tianxue noted down the room number and then left the hospital. As she walked, she chuckled, "Shen Qiong, oh Shen Qiong, guess what I discovered?"