Chapter 294 Cassava Poisoning

At first, Xia Xiaoman thought that these fragrant saplings were cultivated by the Fucheng Agricultural Affairs Office. Later, he learned from Chen Peiqiong that they were cultivated by the Capital Agricultural Affairs Office, which also gave the saplings a nice name, Songqing.

"I heard that these saplings were cultivated with pine trees and other trees. Pine trees are drought-resistant and cold-resistant, but they grow too slowly, so the Capital Agricultural Affairs Office selected other saplings to cultivate together, so they were named Songqing."

"When I went to repair the road yesterday, I heard that in addition to our Fucheng, other cities were also planting pine green."

Chen Peiqiong sighed, "But even if we plant pine trees on a large scale now, we may not be able to see lush forests in our lifetime."

Xia Xiaoman smiled and said, "Don't be so pessimistic. We may not be able to see it, but at least our descendants can see it."

"That's true." Chen Peiqiong nodded. Suddenly, she was a little surprised and pushed aside the sweet potato seedlings to reveal the soil underneath. "Hey, weeds have grown? I thought all the grass roots and seeds in this mountain had been eaten by locusts. I didn't expect weeds to grow."

Xia Xiaoman looked up and saw that the location was exactly the hole that the steel-toothed rabbit had dug two days ago. It is possible that the steel-toothed rabbit dug out the grass seeds buried in the ground when digging the hole.

Chen Peiqiong carefully pulled out the weeds and placed them in the corner of the wall. "I'll take them home to plant after get off work later."

Xia Xiaoman was puzzled, "Why are you growing weeds?"

Chen Peiqiong explained: "This weed is called cattle tendon grass. It has the functions of clearing away heat and detoxifying, removing wind and dampness, and relieving blood stasis and stopping bleeding. It used to be everywhere, but now it's hard to find. I'll take it back to plant. If I plant a lot, I'll sell it at a trading point. Maybe I can get a lot of points."

Xia Xiaoman gave her a thumbs up. She had been pulling out this kind of weed since she was a child, and now she knows that this weed that was once seen everywhere can also be used as a medicine.

Suddenly, the sky darkened. Xia Xiaoman looked up at the sky and saw that the white clouds were gradually covered by dark clouds. It looked like a heavy rain was about to fall.

She subconsciously looked at Maodan, and seeing that Maodan was still lying on the ground heartlessly, Xia Xiaoman felt a little relieved.

Animals have keen intuition. If the weather is abnormal, Maodan will definitely walk back and forth anxiously, but if Maodan behaves as usual, it is most likely just ordinary rain.

Seeing that more and more dark clouds were gathering, Xia Xiaoman said, "Sister Pei, it's going to rain soon. I guess we don't need to water the plants this afternoon. You should go back first!"

Chen Peiqiong looked up at the sky and said, "Okay, I'll go back first. I'll have to rest for a while because I have to go repair the road later."

After working on the road for a few days, Chen Peiqiong felt good and not too tired. Road repair is very simple, just pick up the mess on the road and smooth the uneven ground.

In addition to Fucheng, people who fled from Yunhai City four months ago also helped to repair the road, so the road was built very quickly, and dozens of kilometers of road were built in just a few days.

Not long after Chen Peiqiong returned, it began to rain heavily. The rain hit the yellow mud ground that had been exposed to the sun for more than half a year, and soon the ground became muddy.

…

The next day, it was still raining, but not as heavy as yesterday.

Xia Xiaoman took out an older raincoat and put it on, asked Maodan to look after the house, and went out.

Today is the day for collecting saplings. Many people came to collect the saplings. Xia Xiaoman saw many people queuing up before she even reached the trading point.

Now most people don’t have rain gear, so while the rain is not too heavy, they all run to get the saplings, so there are so many people queuing.

Xia Xiaoman was standing at the back of the line in a raincoat. The waiting process seemed a bit long. She absentmindedly used her feet to paddle the puddles under her feet. Suddenly someone tapped her shoulder. She turned around abruptly and glared at the person behind her with sharp eyes.

The man standing behind Xia Xiaoman was startled by her eyes. After coming to his senses, he smiled awkwardly and said, "Well, I'm sorry, I scared you."

"Can you lend me your raincoat? My wife is pregnant. The line is so long, and I'm afraid she'll catch a cold if she's out in the rain for too long."

Upon hearing this, Xia Xiaoman glanced at the woman standing next to him. The woman was very thin, and her top was wet from the rain and stuck to her body, outlining her slightly protruding belly.

Seeing that she didn't say anything, the man said again: "Little girl, if you are willing to lend me your raincoat, I can give you a cassava. Oh, and when you get the saplings later, I can give you two."

A small cassava weighs two or three pounds, and a large one weighs more than ten pounds. This person is quite honest and does not lend things to others for free.

However, Xia Xiaoman did not agree to lend the raincoat, "I am weak and it is easy for me to get sick in the rain. If you don't want your wife to get sick in the rain, you can let her stay at home."

The man was embarrassed. "No! Planting trees is a mandatory requirement. If we don't plant trees, we will be fined to build roads. How can we build roads with my wife like this?"

Xia Xiaoman curled her lips, "Then why don't you help her repair the road? Or wait until it stops raining and then come back to get the saplings. It's such a simple thing, why make it so complicated."

A bystander nearby laughed and said, "I think you just want to steal someone's raincoat. Don't you see what time it is? Who would easily lend their things to others?"

When the man heard this, his face turned pale instantly. "I'm not lying. If you don't want to lend it to me, forget it." After saying that, the man looked at his wife and advised her to go home first.

Seeing that the man stopped bothering her, Xia Xiaoman continued to step in puddles to pass the time.

After a while, there was a scream from behind. Xia Xiaoman turned around and saw the man's wife fainted on the ground. Her pale face didn't seem to be fake. The man was calling his wife's name anxiously and pinching her philtrum, trying to wake her up with this folk method.

Someone died, and the onlookers who had nothing to do with the incident began to condemn Xia Xiaoman, saying that it was because she refused to lend the raincoat that the pregnant woman fainted.

Xia Xiaoman was about to pull out those gossipers and beat them up, when she saw someone rushing over, helping the pregnant woman up and checking her pulse. After checking for a long time, the man looked at the pregnant woman's husband and asked, "Did you eat cassava before you came?"

The man nodded dumbly, "Eat, eat."

"That's right, she was poisoned by the cassava she ate."

As soon as he finished speaking, people around him started talking about it. "Poisoned by eating cassava? Is cassava really poisonous? I heard someone say that some time ago, but I didn't believe it. I didn't expect to see someone poisoned today."

"It's over, it's over. I've been eating cassava every day these days. What should I do?"

"Do you have common sense? Cassava is poisonous before it is processed, but it is non-toxic after it is processed. This person must have eaten the unprocessed cassava and got poisoned."

Hearing this, the doctor who was taking her pulse said, "Yes, this pregnant woman must have been poisoned by eating unprocessed cassava." He then looked at the pregnant woman's husband and said, "Come over and give her a hand. Send her to the medical station."

The man was indifferent and said in a daze: "But, but I ate it too, why am I fine but my wife fainted?"

"That's because your wife is weak and pregnant. Stop wasting time here and come and help. Do you still want to save your wife?" the doctor said unhappily.

The man finally came to his senses and took his wife to the medical station with the doctor.