"There must be someone in the hospital, being this aggressive, definitely someone backing them up."
"Certainly, they’re almost like tyrants here. Which official is it, to have this much power? Let their relatives act so arrogantly?"
The crowd chimed in, one after another, their faces reddening as they stubbornly insisted it wasn’t their fault, "What nonsense are you talking? We did nothing wrong. They beat my son so bad he ended up in the hospital. We’re here to demand medical expenses."
"We were witnesses to what happened yesterday; we know best. Nobody shoved him; he pushed others but wasn’t strong enough and ended up bouncing off, injuring himself. And now he’s blaming others. That poor widow working hard to support her family, it’s not easy for her. And you guys just wrecked all her hard-earned equipment. Clearly, you’re out to cause trouble, wanting to destroy her business." Everyone here are local vendors; usually, they have no business disputes. Although Lin Wan Yi’s family has better business, they bear it because she has better skills.
Of course, today, they’re not willingly supporting her; it’s Tong Li’s outrageous behavior yesterday. He overturned a few of their stalls and prevented them from doing delivery service, which made them resentful.
They’re not the only ones feeling upset; other families in the cafeteria have grievances too. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have joined in yesterday.
"Right, she wants to monopolize the business. Mrs. Liang’s claypot store is doing well, she’s probably targeting them first."
"Where’s the justice in this, relying on family connections at the hospital to act so unreasonable? How can we continue living here ?"
"In this day and age, who cares about law or justice? Her family injured my son; they must pay. If they don’t, I can kick them out of here immediately."
"Where do you get such bravado? Don’t you have any shame?" The atmosphere in the crowd was tense.
"What’s wrong? I have the authority, not just boasting. We’ve got connections in the police department and the hospital. You better be careful from now on. Stop stirring trouble daily, or you’ll be the ones suffering."
"Oh, I’ve seen it all today. How high-ranking must your relative be to let you act so arrogantly?" Lin Wan, her eyes still red, remarked.
"Absolutely, it’s blatant bullying."
"With people around, how can we, locals, keep living? We don’t have relatives in high places, we’re just here to be bullied." Lin Wan said, starting to cry.
"Sister, today, we must see what kind of relative lets them be this insolent."
"Indeed, this is a military hospital. If someone’s abusing power here, we, the citizens, aren’t satisfied. We should report it."
"Yes, we should report it."
The three of them are losing support, just then the hospital director walked over, "What’s going on?"
Following him was a person wearing thick glasses.
Tong Li’s wife hurriedly called out "Uncle" upon seeing him, but her clothes were caught by Lin Wan, keeping her from going forward.
The person with glasses frowned at Tong Li’s wife, a hint of impatience flickering in his eyes.
Initially, he worked hard to let his niece and her husband take over the window business. Didn’t expect that within days, such trouble would arise.
They heard it clearly on their way here: abuse of power, someone in the hospital helping them. He understood perfectly well, calling him in front of so many people was causing him trouble.