Xiao Yunying raised her voice and said, "Don't be afraid, everyone. Touching the poisoned person will not cause any harm. This is not a plague and it is not contagious."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and then began to whisper among themselves about who was so vicious as to use such a terrible poisonous mushroom to harm people.

Xiao Yunying patted the wooden basin filled with strong liquor: "Everyone, please be quiet and listen to me first. The doctor said that toxins that seep into the skin take effect slowly and can be detoxified in a short time."

Ling Qi got a kind of medicine powder from the doctor. If you mix it with strong liquor, you can find out who has been poisoned.

Now, everyone come and line up, each of you soak your hands in strong liquor. The chef will go first, come over and soak your hands before you get to work, so as not to delay the time for the customers outside to eat.

I must warn you in advance that because the toxins in the mushrooms are incompatible with the medicine powder given by the doctor, the hands of a person poisoned will be corroded by strong liquor, and the longer the poisoning lasts, the faster it will rot. In severe cases, the bones may be exposed, which is extremely painful.

Your employer is kind-hearted and doesn't want your lives; he only wants to find out who's behind this. He's willing to give you the antidote first. Anyone who comes forward to confess will avoid this physical suffering.

Everyone immediately fell silent, glancing around furtively to see if anyone would come out.

Xiao Yunying pointed her finger at the edge of the wooden basin, thinking to herself, "The person who put the poisonous mushrooms here has a strong mentality. Could it be that I guessed wrong and the other party didn't touch it with their hands?"

"Let's try it anyway: Nobody admits it, huh? Then don't blame us for being ruthless. One last thing: the extensive rotting of the skin and flesh on your hands is incurable. The flesh can't grow back. Even if the toxins from the insect-eating mushroom can be neutralized, you'll be a cripple from now on."

Now, let's line up. The chefs go first.

"I'll go first."

The pastry chef who had spoken earlier stood at the front of the line, rolled up his sleeves, and prepared to dip his hands into the strong liquor.

He stopped above the wooden basin, looked up and said, "Miss, this medicine won't harm people who aren't poisoned, will it? My family depends on my hands for a living, I can't let them go to waste."

Xiao Yunying rolled up her sleeves, put her hands into the wooden basin, and took them out to show everyone: "This powder will not cause any reaction in people who are not poisoned, so please don't worry."

Upon seeing this, the pastry chef immediately put his hand into the wooden basin, waited for a while, and, finding no other sensation, took it out to show Chen Yuancheng.

"Master, am I alright now?"

Chen Yuancheng nodded: "Go ahead and get busy."

Xiao Yunying said, "Come in a line. Each person puts their hands into the wooden basin, counts to five, and then takes them out. Lingqi, go and keep an eye on things."

Xiao Yunying shook the wine off her hands, walked up to Chen Yuancheng, and whispered behind his back, "No movement. Did that person not touch the poisonous mushrooms?"

Touching ordinary poisonous mushrooms is harmless. When she went to pour the wine, she asked Ling Qi, who had just returned, and the doctor said that the insect-loving mushroom would only cause poisoning if eaten.

She was just trying to scare people, hoping to frighten out the person who released the poisonous mushrooms.

Chen Yuancheng took out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Xiao Yunying: "No rush, take another look, wipe your hands."

"Wait a moment." Xiao Yunying scooped a ladle of water from the water vat, rinsed her hands, and took the handkerchief.

"Thanks." He wiped the wine off his hands, his face contorted, and muttered, "Ouch, that really hurt."

"Didn't you say this was just ordinary wine? Why does it hurt?"

Xiao Yunying raised her left index finger: "Last night, when I was slicing garlic, the knife slipped and I cut my finger."

Chen Yuancheng noticed a small wound on the side of her fingertip: "Have you applied any medicine? I have some wound medicine here, I'll go get it for you."

Xiao Yunying stopped him: "No need, it's just a minor injury, it will heal on its own."

"I'll get you a can, just in case."

"Really, I don't need it. I haven't finished using the ones you gave me last time."

"Are you referring to the medicine I gave you to treat your forehead injury before, the one you didn't finish using?"

"There are still many left." In fact, she didn't even use them twice.

Chen Yuancheng looked at her helplessly. He said it was an ointment that could treat external injuries and remove scars. If it were any other girl, she would have wiped the bottle clean by now. How come she doesn't know how to take care of her body at all?

Xiao Yunying wiped her hands clean and shook the wet handkerchief: "I made it dirty. I'll return it to you after I wash it."

Chen Yuancheng wanted to say no, but for some reason, the words that came out of his mouth were: "No rush."

Xiao Yunying folded the handkerchief and put it in her bosom, actually placing it in the supermarket. She stood next to Chen Yuancheng, watching the people queuing to soak their hands in strong liquor.

"Do you think it was someone in the kitchen who did it? Or maybe one of the guys outside?"

Chen Yuancheng gestured for her to look at the long table by the kitchen door: "The waiters who serve the food are not allowed to enter the kitchen. There will be a dedicated kitchen helper to hand over the prepared dishes to them."

"Very professional."

Xiao Yunying finally had time to look around the kitchen. Each chef had their own preparation area and cooking stove. On the far left, against the wall, there was a large shelf with various ingredients on it, somewhat like an enlarged version of a hot pot ingredient selection area, where everything was clearly visible.

Chen Yuancheng explained, "That's the food preparation area for the entire kitchen. Every day, whatever fresh ingredients are available will be displayed on the shelves. The head chef will draft the dishes and have the staff recommend them."

"I understand. Some dishes can't be eaten every day. We can only cook them when the ingredients are available."

Xiao Yunying withdrew her gaze and looked back at the queue. The chefs had all soaked the food once and were fine. They went back to their positions to cook, while some curious ones kept an eye on the scene while cooking.

Li Yuan probably realized that he was a prime suspect, so after the chefs finished soaking their hands, he was the first to come forward and soaked them for a while longer than the others.

After showing that everything was alright, he stood next to Ling Qi and inquired about his master's health. He only breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that his master was out of danger.

Xiao Yunying whispered, "Do you think these two apprentices are highly suspicious?"

Instead of answering, Chen Yuancheng asked, "What do you think?"

"I don't think it's Li Yuan, it's someone else."

"Because he's Chef Li's nephew?"

"No, it's because he was too calm when I asked him another question, as if he had already thought about how to answer it."

Generally speaking, it's normal to panic when suspected, like Li Yuan, who was anxious to defend himself and clear his name.

Even if he's incredibly calm and collected, it's impossible for him to be completely without emotional fluctuations.

His master fell into a coma after being poisoned, but he didn't care, wasn't angry, and wasn't nervous or flustered when people suspected him. He didn't even say a word to defend himself, which felt really strange.

Xiao Yunying looked back: "Huh? Where's the other person?"

"At the very back."

Xiao Yunying looked at the back of the line, where the person was standing in the second-to-last position, clutching his stomach and looking uncomfortable.