Ding Yun's grandparents' attitude undoubtedly made Ding Guogang very anxious. Seeing that he could not persuade them at all, he quickly took out his pager and called his elder sister and second brother, asking them to come back quickly to persuade their parents to take medicine.
However, neither his elder sister nor his second brother were very reliable.
His elder sister, Ding Meijuan, replied:
"Guogang, you shouldn't always think you're right. They're showing it on TV and writing it in newspapers. Can TV and newspapers lie? Are everything the doctors say correct? Don't doctors just want to make money?
If no one gets injections or takes medicine and stays healthy, doctors won't make money, so they'll naturally say it's fake.
Everyone in my unit is practicing it.
Stop bothering yourself. Don't our parents know their own health better? They must feel it's useful, so they're practicing. My in-laws are also exercising, and they're doing great. You worry less.
Medicine isn't a good thing, anyway."
"If you're lazy, just be lazy. Don't stop others from improving. People your age who like to read martial arts novels, which of them haven't practiced martial arts? You squat for a moment and find it tiring, and you can't persist. Then don't ruin others' enthusiasm.
Alright, alright, I won't talk to you anymore.
I have things to do, I'm hanging up..."
His second brother, on the other hand, replied impatiently:
"Big brother, you know their personalities. Who can persuade them once they've made up their minds?
If you're really worried, take them to live at your place. When they have an attack one day, they'll know if you were right or wrong. Don't worry, I'll cover half the medical expenses. Also, big brother, don't think I'm speaking coldly. As long as Mom and Dad don't truly believe what you say from the bottom of their hearts, even if they agree verbally.
The moment you leave, they won't take it.
Can you specifically watch them take their medicine?"
"Besides, practicing martial arts isn't necessarily useless. The master of the Taoist temple in our town, True Person Yunyang, isn't he ninety-eight years old this year? He's been practicing that Taoist guiding technique, hasn't he?
He can still work in the fields and things like that.
Just relax, it'll be fine."
After speaking, he also quickly hung up the phone.
Now, Ding Guogang truly had no one else to turn to. There were only three siblings in the family, so after some deliberation, he felt that only his brother's idea of taking their parents to live at his place was somewhat reliable. Even if he couldn't constantly monitor whether they were taking their medicine, he could supervise them more. If he couldn't manage them and something happened, he could discover it in time and send them to the hospital.
It was better than them living alone in the countryside, where it would be difficult for him to discover any problems in time.
Therefore, Ding Guogang quickly went to talk to his parents again about this matter. However, his parents still refused. They felt they were living well in the countryside and didn't want to move to the city. Here, everyone was familiar, and they could chat with people when they went out. They also had companions to practice martial arts with. Who would they know in the city? How difficult would life be?
Indeed, when people are stubborn, they are very difficult to persuade, especially elders.
After all, juniors could be taken away by force.
But one couldn't do that to elders.
In the end, Ding Yun felt that she couldn't just watch her grandmother court death, so she specifically advised:
"Grandpa and Grandma, why don't you come to our house to stay for a while? I heard that several masters will be lecturing in the county town in a while. You're just practicing by yourselves at home, who knows if you're doing it right? Perhaps listening to the masters' lectures will make your practice even better."
People have a rebellious streak, both old and young. The more you reason with them, the more they might feel you are targeting them, or that you don't want to spend money on them. It's like not buying health products.
Anyway, this matter couldn't be rushed, so it was better to coax them to the city first and live together. As for how to enlighten them and persuade them to get injections and take medicine later, they could discuss it then.
Ding Guogang initially thought his daughter was the same, until he saw Ding Yun give him a meaningful look. He then suddenly understood and chimed in.
Upon hearing this.
Ding Weixin and Sun Juan, Ding Yun's grandparents, immediately felt much more accepting. At the same time, they felt that the masters' lectures were not to be missed. Staying in the countryside, information was indeed not very timely. Since they weren't going to live in the city permanently, staying there for a while seemed acceptable.
So, they hesitated for a moment.
Coupled with Ding Yun and her father continuing to persuade them, they went with the flow and agreed to this arrangement.
Also, since they had stopped farming long ago and had rented out their fields to others, they didn't need to worry about farm work. So, they returned with Ding Yun and the others that afternoon. On the way back, they kept asking if there were any places in the county town where they could specifically practice martial arts.
In Ding Guogang's words.
They had never been so enthusiastic when they were farming back then.
Ding Yun didn't concern herself with how to persuade them or appease them after returning home. As soon as she got back, she took advantage of her time to write several articles exposing the scams. She mailed them overnight, affixing stamps.
She submitted them to publications that hadn't reported much on Qigong.
And she hoped it would be of some use.
Besides this, she seemed to be unable to do anything else. After all, she was just an ordinary top student.
She had no authority.
Could she hold a press conference to refute it?
Whether the newspapers would adopt Ding Yun's manuscripts later was still uncertain. However, her father Ding Guogang, inspired by Ding Yun's previous actions, used the threat of not signing them up for the masters' lectures as leverage. He finally managed to get his parents to resume taking medicine and regularly receiving insulin injections.
As for what to do after listening to the masters' lectures, he hadn't thought that far ahead.
He could only take it one step at a time.
...
A few days later, various newspapers and magazines.
Received Ding Yun's submissions one after another.
Then, some directly rejected the manuscripts. Others thought they seemed reasonable but were afraid of provoking public anger and didn't dare to publish them, still rejecting them. Finally, only a handful of two newspapers accepted the manuscripts and published them. As expected, they were criticized, with the author being accused of talking nonsense and seeking attention.
Someone even wrote letters specifically to scold Ding Yun.
Those letters, along with the manuscript fees, etc.
Were forwarded to Ding Yun by the newspaper.
At the same time, the newspaper, not afraid of trouble at all, encouraged Ding Yun to continue writing because, although the newspaper had received many angry letters recently, its sales had indeed increased significantly.
That newspaper had a very advanced understanding.
What it meant to be infamous but still popular.
And it was quite happy to see it happen.
When Ding Yun saw the letters scolding her and that some newspapers were still willing to publish her manuscripts, it immediately ignited her stubborn and combative keyboard warrior spirit. She immediately became spirited, citing evidence and quoting classics to write counter-arguments, vehemently criticizing the nonsense of the Qigong masters.