Chapter 100 Poisoning causes lips to turn black

Before entering the valley, everyone brought their own chickens and ducks in one after another.

The Lin family was no exception, but they hadn't lived in the village for a long time and didn't raise any livestock. Before entering the valley, they specially bought a few chickens so that they could have eggs to eat in the mountains.

Over the past few days, quite a few eggs have accumulated in the chicken coop.

Today, Lin Yao plans to make egg fried rice and egg noodles.

Since we said yesterday that we should save food starting today, eggs are considered a meat dish.

Lin Yao has always believed that eggs are truly the greatest food in the world. Whether steamed, fried, boiled, or baked, they are delicious, not to mention when used in fried rice or noodles—they are incredibly fragrant!

She first called to Su Niang and Zhao Niangzi to prepare the noodles. Su Niang scooped out several large bowls of snow-white flour and poured them into a large wooden basin. Lin Yao dug a small hole in the middle of the flour, cracked in a few eggs, added a little water, and then began to knead the dough.

After covering the kneaded dough with a damp cloth and letting it rest for a while, Lin Yao picked up a rolling pin and rolled the dough on the work surface.

The rolling pin twirled nimbly in her hands, and the dough gradually grew larger and thinner until it became a thin sheet of dough.

She used a knife to cut the dough into thin noodles, while Su Niang and Zhao Niangzi helped to shake them apart to prevent them from sticking together.

With the noodles prepared, Lin Yao began preparing the fried rice.

She set up an iron pot outside and first lit a big fire. Once the oil was hot, she cracked in a dozen or so eggs and quickly stirred them with a spatula.

The golden egg liquid quickly solidified into fluffy egg pieces, sizzling and steaming, filling the air with the unique aroma of eggs, making one's mouth water.

Next, she poured in the pre-cooked soybean rice and stir-fried it evenly. Although there was no cured meat or shiitake mushrooms this time, the egg mixture coated the rice grains, making it look shiny and particularly tempting. Finally, she sprinkled on some salt and chopped green onions, and the simple egg fried rice was ready.

"It smells so good!" Lin Song leaned closer and took a deep breath.

Lin Yao smiled and served him a bowl: "Eat up, let's eat outside today, it'll be warm in the sun."

After cleaning the pot, Lin Yao repeated the process of frying the eggs. Once the eggs were cooked and boiling, she added water and brought it to a boil, then added the chopped noodles, which cooked quickly.

"The noodles are ready!" Lin Yao scooped the noodles into a bowl and invited everyone to eat.

So, the Lin family members all took their bowls and sat in a circle in the open space in front of the house. They ate heartily, chatting and laughing, creating an atmosphere even more lively than usual.

Liu Dazhuang, carrying firewood, passed by and, smelling the aroma, couldn't help but stop. He chuckled and joked, "Ayao's family's food is really good! This egg fried rice smells delicious. It's still better to follow you around!"

Lin Yao replied to Liu Dazhuang's teasing, "If your wife heard you say that, she'd probably think you're complaining about her cooking."

Liu Dazhuang instinctively shrank back as he thought of his wife's merciless slap.

He chuckled twice, "Don't tease me, you little rascal." He then made a shushing gesture, "You can't let your sister-in-law hear this." With that, he shouldered the firewood and hurried away.

Watching Liu Dazhuang's hurried figure, the Lin family members couldn't help but laugh.

"Master, is Brother Dazhuang really afraid of his wife?" Wang Xiaoyu covered her mouth and chuckled.

Lin Yao smiled and said, "It's not fear, it's love for his wife. Brother Dazhuang and his wife have a great relationship."

After lunch, the sun was shining brightly.

The villagers gathered in twos and threes to chat, or found a sheltered spot to sit on the ground, basking in the sun and dozing off; the whole valley exuded a lazy atmosphere.

Just then, a commotion suddenly came from the Lin family's side, breaking the afternoon's tranquility.

One after another, people collapsed to the ground, followed by several urgent shouts: "Poisoned! Someone's been poisoned!"

The villagers, who had been dozing off, were startled and rushed towards the Lin family's house to see what had happened.

Upon approaching, everyone was stunned by the sight before them.

In the open space in front of the Lin family's house, several of Lin Yao's most trusted employees were lying stiffly on the ground; they were none other than A-Zhu and A-Fu.

Their lips were an unnatural black, their bodies were twitching slightly, and after a short while, their eyes rolled back and they fainted.

Lin Yao stood to the side, her face pale, her eyes filled with panic and helplessness.

Liu Dazhuang was the first to react. He quickly stepped forward, squatted down to check on the men's condition, and said in a deep voice, "Everyone, stop crowding around and quickly lend a hand to carry them into the house to lie down!"

The villagers then realized what had happened and rushed to help, carrying the men on the ground into the house.

There was no one in the village who knew medicine, so everyone could only stand outside the house, anxiously pacing back and forth, but there was nothing they could do.

Some people, looking at the unconscious person inside, couldn't help but whisper among themselves:

"How could someone who was perfectly healthy suddenly be poisoned?"

"Did you eat something unclean?"

Hearing these comments, Lin Yao seemed furious and yelled at the person who had just spoken, "What unclean stuff? I cooked today's meal. I made fried rice and egg noodles, and everyone ate it!"

The more she spoke, the more aggrieved she became. Suddenly, as if she had made up her mind, she turned and ran out. "No, I have to go out and find someone to save them! Dr. Chen must have a way!"

Seeing this, Lin Cheng quickly grabbed her, his brows furrowed, and said, "Ayao, calm down! It's so chaotic outside, with bandits running rampant. It's too dangerous for you to go out! Besides, do you know where Doctor Chen is right now? Even if you do, can you guarantee that you and he will be safe before he arrives?"

Lin Yao was stunned by Lin Cheng's barrage of questions. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall. "What can we do? Are we just going to watch them continue like this? What can we do!"

Just then, the village head also rushed over upon hearing the news.

He went into the room, reached out and felt their pulses, and said with a serious expression, "They still have pulses, they're still alive. Don't panic, maybe they've just fainted, and they might wake up in a while."

The village head had overheard Lin Yao's words outside. Now, with a furrowed brow, he looked at her and asked, "You said you were having fried rice and egg noodles today?"

Lin Yao seemed not to understand why the village head suddenly asked this, but she still nodded and replied with a sob in her voice, "Yes, but everyone ate, only A-Zhu and the others fainted."

The village head lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then asked again, "Did you eat noodles or rice?"

“I’m eating noodles,” Lin Yao blurted out.

The village head then turned to the other members of the Lin family around him: "And you? Did you eat noodles or fried rice just now?"

The crowd looked at each other and then began to respond:

"I ate noodles."

"I'm also a noodle."

"My mother served me noodles and said I should eat the fried rice sparingly."

After asking around, not a single person said they had eaten fried rice.

The village head's expression grew increasingly solemn. Just as he was about to speak again, Wan Chunsheng's voice suddenly rang out from the back of the crowd: "Grandpa Village Head, I ate fried rice."

Everyone turned to look at him. Wan Chunsheng stepped forward and explained, "Although I also ate half a bowl, I felt a bit nauseous after only a few bites. I went to the outhouse and squatted there for a while. When I came back, I felt fine. At the time, I thought it was because I ate too fast, so I didn't think much of it. The ones who fainted all ate a lot of egg fried rice! Especially Ah Zhu, he loves this the most, and he ate three bowls today!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's eyes turned to Ah Zhu, who was unconscious inside the room.

Wan Chunlai pointed to Ah Zhu lying down: "Look, the black on Ah Zhu's lips is the darkest, heavier than everyone else's!"

The village head sighed: "So, the problem probably lies with the rice."

Lin Demao and Ye Dong, who had been huddled at the back of the crowd, silently observed the situation. When they heard the village head say that there was something wrong with the Lin family's rice, their faces turned deathly pale.

Upon hearing the village head's words, Lin Yao's legs went weak and she almost collapsed to the ground. Tears streamed down her face, and her voice choked with sobs: "No wonder, no wonder the grain shop owner said he would sell me this rice cheaply. It turns out there was something wrong with this rice! I've ruined them!"

She pounded her chest, looking utterly remorseful.

Those around her looked on with pity at her grief-stricken appearance.

Su Niang stepped forward and took her arm, gently comforting her, "Shopkeeper, please don't be like this. No one could have imagined it would turn out like this. You've been deceived too."

“Yes, A-Yao, now is not the time to blame yourself, we need to think of a way to save people,” a villager added, offering his advice.

Just then, a familiar, muffled voice came from outside the crowd: "I might know how to save them."

Everyone turned to look, and saw Fang Dayu push through the crowd and walk in.

His voice was firm: "Rice that has been stored for too long can be poisonous, especially if it has become moldy. When I was a child, my family was poor and we had to save rice. Once, we stored rice until it became moldy but couldn't bear to throw it away. After eating it, I was poisoned and almost didn't make it through vomiting and diarrhea."

He paused, as if recalling the scene: "I was lucky that time. I met a traveling doctor who was passing by. He picked some herbs for me, and after drinking a few doses, I was cured. I was curious at the time, so I followed the traveling doctor and learned to identify some herbs. If they really had eaten this kind of poisoned rice, perhaps those herbs could have saved them."

He frowned as soon as he finished speaking, and added in a heavy tone, "But you never know. I heard from that itinerant doctor that if you eat too much and waste too much time, it might be too late to save you."

As if grasping at a last straw, Lin Yao grabbed Fang Dayu's clothes and pleaded with red eyes, "Brother Dayu, please, take me to gather herbs! No matter how much hope there is, I want to try!"

Seeing that she was pale and in poor condition, Lin Cheng quickly advised, "Ayao, you stay home and take care of them. I'll go with Brother Dayu to gather herbs."

Liu Dazhuang stepped forward to comfort him, saying, "I'll go too. More people means more help, and we can get the herbs back faster."

Lin Yao knew she couldn't really help at the moment, so she could only nod with tears in her eyes: "Then you must be careful."

The three of them dared not delay, quickly grabbed their medicine baskets and machetes, and hurried out of the valley.

Lin Yao stood dazedly by the bedside of her unconscious colleague, a sight that evoked sighs of pity from onlookers.

The Lin family originally had the most grain stored in the village, but unexpectedly, they bought poisonous rice. Some people sympathized with them, while others gloated.

Not long after Fang Dayu and the others left, Lin Demao, who was in the crowd, suddenly clutched his stomach, his face turned pale, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He hurriedly ran to the outhouse.

Ye Dong hadn't thought anything was wrong at first, but seeing Lin Demao's appearance, he suddenly felt a churning in his stomach and hurriedly followed.

Lin Demao came out of the outhouse and saw Ye Dong standing not far away waiting for him. The two looked at each other and saw panic in each other's eyes.

Ye Dong's voice trembled with anxiety: "What should I do? I ate that rice porridge this morning!"

Although Lin Demao was also flustered, he forced himself to remain calm: "What are you afraid of? Didn't Fang Dayu say there are herbs that can save them? Once they bring the herbs back, we can secretly follow them and collect some. Right now, everyone is watching the Lin family, so no one will pay attention to us."

Hearing this, Ye Dong felt a little more at ease and followed Lin Demao back to the front of the Lin family's house.

The two had just stopped when they saw Fang Dayu and the others returning with medicine baskets on their backs, filled with many vibrant green herbs. They quickly moved closer to carefully note the appearance of the herbs.

After memorizing it, he quietly retreated to the outer edge of the crowd.

While everyone was gathered inside the house concerned about the men's condition, the two slipped out of the valley.

Lin Yougong, Zhang Ping, and Zhang An were crouching and hiding in the bushes outside the valley.

The afternoon sun was scorching, and the mosquitoes in the grass were like hungry wolves, biting Lin Yougong so badly that several large, red welts appeared on his arms.

"The mosquitoes in this godforsaken place are so vicious," Lin Yougong couldn't help but complain under his breath, raising his hand to scratch. "The bites are much bigger than in the village."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Ping suddenly tugged at his arm and pointed sharply ahead.

Lin Yougong and Zhang An immediately held their breath and looked in the direction Zhang Ping pointed.

Not far away, Lin Demao and Ye Dong were sneaking out of the valley on the mountain path. After looking around for a while to make sure no one was there, they began to look around for something.

Zhang An looked at the two people not far away with disdain in his eyes.

Before setting off, Lin Yao specifically instructed that they must wait until the others had collected the herbs before taking action, so that they could be caught red-handed and have no way to deny it.

Seeing the two walking further and further away, the three of them restrained themselves and continued to lie in the grass to observe what would happen.

Suddenly, Lin Demao seemed to see something and beckoned Ye Dong over.

The two squatted on the ground and began picking fruit frantically.

"Hurry up, gather more, this stuff can save lives," Lin Demao urged Ye Dong as he tore at the herbs.

Ye Dong didn't hesitate, using both hands to stuff the herbs into the bamboo basket he had brought, and soon it was half full. "Is that enough? If we keep picking and someone finds out we're out here, we're doomed. Let's go back!"

Lin Demao glared at him: "What do you know? It's safer to prepare more! If the poison takes effect too badly, this little medicine won't be enough." As he spoke, he buried his head in picking more until the bamboo basket was full before he stopped.

The two carried heavy bamboo baskets and hurried towards the valley, fully believing they would get away with it unnoticed.

Just as they were a few dozen steps away from the entrance to the valley, three figures suddenly sprang out of the bushes!

Lin Yougong was the first to rush out and grabbed Lin Demao's arm. He had been doing manual labor for many years and his grip was extremely strong, causing Lin Demao to scream.

Zhang Ping and Zhang An also pounced on Ye Dong at the same time, grabbing his arms from the left and right.

Ye Dong instinctively tried to struggle, but the Zhang brothers, both young and strong, held him down firmly, rendering him unable to move. After struggling a couple of times, he ran out of strength and could only pant and glare at them.

Lin Demao's arm was throbbing from Lin Yougong's grip. He looked up and saw the three of them. He immediately understood what was going on, but still forced himself to shout angrily, "What are you trying to do?"

Ye Dong then realized that they had been tricked by that girl Lin Yao!

"So, it was a trap you set!" Ye Dong was both angry and anxious, but he couldn't break free. He could only glare at her angrily. "Where's Lin Yao? Tell her to come out! How dare she scheme against us? Isn't she afraid of retribution?"

Lin Yougong sneered and increased the pressure on his hand: "Retribution? If there is any retribution, it should be on you!"

When the three escorted Lin Demao and Ye Dong back to the Lin family home, the villagers in the courtyard were still gathered in twos and threes, discussing in hushed tones when the unconscious men inside the house would wake up.

Do you think Ah Zhu and the others can pull through?

"It's hard to say, that rice poisoning looks really weird."

"Ugh, what bad luck! Why did something like this have to happen to me?"

As everyone was engrossed in their conversation, they suddenly saw Lin Yougong and his two companions leading in two people who were bound hand and foot, their faces full of confusion.

"What's going on? If they've done something good, why are you arresting Grandpa Lin and Ye Dong?" someone couldn't help but ask.

Lin Yougong ignored the crowd's questions and led the two men directly to the front of the gate. He briefly recounted how he had caught them gathering herbs outside the valley: "Grandpa, we waited outside the valley as A-Yao instructed, and sure enough, we saw these two sneaking out to gather this herb. They're the ones who stole A-Yao's rice." He then placed a large basket of herbs they had gathered in front of the crowd. "Now the evidence is conclusive!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a commotion suddenly came from inside the room.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw that Ah Zhu, Ah Fu, and the others, who had been lying unconscious on the bed, had all sat up.

Ah Zhu chuckled, raised his hand to wipe his mouth, and his originally dark lips instantly returned to their normal color. "I accidentally got some herbal juice on my lips."

Villagers: ......

Seeing this scene, and looking at Lin Demao and Ye Dong being held captive, as well as the herbs scattered on the ground, it was immediately clear what was going on.

This is not rice poisoning at all; it is clearly a trap set by Lin Yao to lure these two grain thieves into exposing themselves!

"Oh, so it was you two who stole Ayao's rice!"

"How shameless! Ah Yao kindly took us in to take refuge in the valley, and you actually stole our food!"

"No wonder you guys were acting so suspiciously earlier, you must have done something wrong!"

The murmurs quickly turned into accusations, but Lin Demao remained defiant, stubbornly arguing, "Nonsense! I am Ayao's grandfather. How can taking some of my granddaughter's food be considered stealing? It's just letting her show her filial piety!"

"Filial piety?" Lin Yao walked out of the house, her face no longer showing the panic and grief she had shown before. She looked straight at him. "Grandpa? You dare to call yourself grandpa? I don't want to talk about the past anymore. Put your hand on your heart and tell me, are you really my grandpa? Is my father your child?"

When Lin Demao heard her question, his heart skipped a beat. Had this girl discovered something?

He quickly dismissed his own idea. Impossible. Apart from him and his wife, no one in the family knew about Lin Changkang's background. Even their eldest son didn't know. How could this little girl possibly know?

Thinking this, Lin Demao straightened his back again, "You heartless bastard, do you not even want to acknowledge your ancestors?"

Lin Yao was too lazy to argue with him anymore. Her gaze swept over every villager present, and she said seriously, "Everyone knows what kind of world we live in now. Bandits are rampant, and there is chaos and war outside. We are trapped in this valley, and no one knows when we will be able to get out."

She raised her voice and continued, "Food is our life, the foundation of our survival! If he dares to steal my food today, he'll dare to steal yours tomorrow! This time it's sneaky, but next time if he's caught, who can guarantee what he'll do to survive?"

Lin Yao's words were like a stone thrown into water, creating ripples.

She knew very well that if the matter was limited to the fact that her own rice had been stolen, the villagers would at most watch the spectacle, make a few innocuous criticisms, and then forget about it.

After all, if it doesn't concern them, no one would really bother to investigate.

But in this day and age, everyone's food is extremely precious.

She was determined to expose this truth and make everyone understand. Lin Demao and Ye Dong weren't just stealing the Lin family's rice; they were challenging everyone's bottom line. If they dared to target the Lin family today, they might turn their attention to someone else tomorrow.

Sure enough, the crowd's reaction changed as soon as he finished speaking.

The villagers, who had just been observing, suddenly became serious. Their eyes, as they looked at Lin Demao and Ye Dong, showed not only anger but also a hint of wariness and lingering fear.

“My family only has that little bit of grain left. If it gets stolen, we’ll all starve!” a middle-aged man said with deep concern.

“That’s right! My child is still young and growing. If we run out of food, how will we survive?” The woman next to her chimed in.

Grandpa Zhang also said, "They must be severely punished! Otherwise, anyone will dare to steal grain, and our valley will become a den of thieves! How can we survive then?"

The discussion grew increasingly heated, with everyone chiming in and raising their concerns about Lin Demao and Ye Dong to the level of a matter concerning their own survival. What was originally just a matter for the Lin family had instantly become a matter for the entire village.

Looking at the scene before her, Lin Yao knew that she had achieved her goal.

That's exactly the effect she wanted. Only when people feel that this matter is closely related to them will they truly care.

The village head looked at the young girl in front of him with admiration in his eyes and asked, "Ayao, you are the victim. What do you think should be done about this?"

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Author's Note: Writing is hard work, please add this to your favorites! [crying emoji]