Chapter 23 Miscarriage "Lady Lin's cooking has killed someone!..."

"Damn it, this Lin girl's cooking has killed someone! My wife bought some braised pork offal and steamed buns here yesterday, and today she was in unbearable abdominal pain. My poor three-month-old baby just died from the pain." A middle-aged man wailed at Lin Yao's usual stall location.

A crowd quickly gathered around, whispering among themselves.

"Oh my, really? The young lady of the Lin family seems so virtuous, how could something like this happen?"

"Who knows? If it's true, it could mean a life!"

Lin Yao's family didn't set up a stall today; instead, Sun Dafu, who had taken Lin Yao's stall last time, was at the stall. "Don't you dare whine in front of me. I'm not that vicious Lin Xiaoniangzi. My surname is Sun! They didn't set up a stall today."

"What! He didn't even set up his stall? Perhaps he knows his food harmed people and is hiding out of guilt!" Upon hearing Sun Dafu's words, the middle-aged man's eyes widened in anger, and he shouted even louder, "Everyone, please be the judge! This heartless person makes food that kills people, and now he thinks he can just walk away? He can't let it go so easily!"

Hearing what the man said, the people around began to have doubts.

"Perhaps there's something wrong with this young lady from the Lin family, otherwise why wouldn't she set up her stall?"

"Exactly, if you haven't done anything wrong, why would you hide?"

"Alas, what a pity for that unborn child, gone just like that, what a tragedy."

As the crowd grew larger, Sun Dafu felt secretly pleased, but put on a righteous and awe-inspiring expression. "Fellow villagers," he said, "although I, Sun, have taken over this stall, I am worlds apart from the Lin family and their gang. I run an honest business, dealing with everyone fairly, young and old alike. From now on, if you want to eat anything, rest assured, come to me. If there are any problems, I, Sun, will take responsibility!"

Hearing these discussions from the crowd, Wang Shan was extremely anxious. Lin Yao was unable to set up her stall because she had been attacked yesterday, not because she had fled to escape punishment. Wang Shan squeezed out of the crowd, hurriedly asked Aunt Li to watch over his stall, and rushed towards Lin Yao's house.

The Lin family.

Lin Yao and her two siblings were sitting around a large bowl of konjac snacks with Wang Xiaoyu. They were all enjoying themselves immensely. Suddenly, a series of urgent knocks sounded at the door. The four of them paused, and Lin Cheng put down his chopsticks and quickly went to open the door.

Standing outside the door was Wang Shan, panting heavily. He had his hands on his knees and was breathing heavily when he said in broken sentences, "Something...something terrible has happened."

Lin Cheng hurriedly welcomed them into the house. Lin Yao, hearing the commotion, also came out of the kitchen. Wang Shan was shocked to see that half of Lin Yao's face was swollen and her hand was wrapped in bandages. Yesterday, A Yu came home and said that Lin Yao was injured and that he wanted to come and take care of her, but he didn't mention that the injury was so serious.

Wang Shan sat down in a chair and caught his breath. "Today, a man came to the dock and said that his wife suffered excruciating abdominal pain after eating food from your shop and even miscarried. He also went around saying that you weren't setting up your stall today because you had something to hide and had put something shady in the food and were now hiding!"

"This is outrageous!" Lin Cheng's eyes widened in anger, his fists clenched. "Our family's food has always been clean and hygienic, how could such a thing happen! This is clearly someone deliberately framing us!"

Lin Yao stood aside, her expression unchanged. She had known all along that things weren't so simple. The person behind this didn't just want to hurt her hand. Even if her hand was injured, she still had her mouth and could still speak. She could still instruct Lin Cheng to cook and teach her apprentices.

Recalling yesterday, the masked man must have come with the intention of completely crippling her hands and severely injuring her, aiming to throw the Lin family into chaos and prevent them from attending to their dock business. In this way, they could take advantage of the chaos to find someone to slander her, so that even if the Lin family went to set up a stall again in the future, others would have doubts about the cleanliness of their food and would no longer easily patronize them.

While pondering, Lin Yao turned and quickly went into the room, took out her purse, and said to Wang Xiaoyu, "Xiaoyu, here is a tael of silver and some copper coins. You accompany Grandpa Wang and quickly take the oxcart to town to find Doctor Chen of Guangyuan Hall. Tell him that someone at the dock suffered a miscarriage due to food poisoning and that you must ask him to come and treat her. This is the deposit."

"Okay, I'll go right away." Wang Xiaoyu took the silver and hurriedly went out.

"Brother, come with me to the dock. Song'er, you stay at Brother Dazhuang's house. We'll be right back." Lin Yao quickly arranged everything and headed to the dock with Lin Cheng.

When Lin Yao and Lin Cheng arrived, they indeed saw a group of people gathered together, with the man standing in the middle, loudly recounting how his wife, who was three months pregnant, was suffering from unbearable abdominal pain and how heartbroken she was after losing the child.

Upon seeing the Lin siblings, the man was visibly stunned, but a fierce glint quickly flashed in his eyes. "You dare to come here! You deserve an explanation today, or I'll make you pay!"

People gathered around to watch the spectacle, pointing and whispering about the Lin siblings.

"It's their food. I heard that eating it can cause miscarriage. It's terrifying."

"Oh dear, these kids don't seem like the type to do bad things, how could something like this happen?"

"Who knows? You can't see into someone's heart. Maybe they seem honest on the surface, but they do some unethical things behind the scenes."

Lin Yao took a deep breath and stepped forward, saying, "Brother, the food in our house has always been clean and carefully prepared, there's absolutely no way there could be a problem. You keep saying that your wife got sick after eating our food, but do you have any real evidence?"

The man glared at Lin Yao and said angrily, "Evidence? My wife ate your braised pork offal and steamed buns, and this morning she was in excruciating abdominal pain and even lost the baby in her womb. Isn't that irrefutable evidence? You dare not set up your stall today, isn't that because you have something to hide?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Yao was not angry. Instead, she raised her voice, "Fellow villagers, take a good look at me." As she spoke, she turned her swollen face towards the crowd and raised her bandaged hand, waving it, "Our family is not setting up our stall today because my brother and I were attacked by villains yesterday. My hand is badly injured, and I can't even cut vegetables now. After the incident, we went to the yamen to report it to the authorities immediately. If you have any doubts, you can come with me to the yamen to verify it, and you will know the truth for yourself."

Lin Yao continued speaking to the man, "I know that you are heartbroken by the loss of your child, but this is not a matter of food for our family. You cannot make a judgment based on your words alone."

She looked around at the people, "Of course, I know that you might not believe me just by my words. So, I've already sent my apprentice to invite a doctor from Guangyuantang. Today, everyone who has bought food from our stall can have their pulse checked by the doctor for free, and get a thorough examination to see if our food is poisonous!"

Guangyuantang is the largest clinic in Baiyu Town. It holds free clinics every year and is regarded as a living bodhisattva by the villagers of Baiyu Town, with extremely high credibility.

“What this young lady from the Lin family said makes sense; we can’t just wrong her like this.”

"Yes, they even invited a doctor from Guangyuantang. It seems they have the resources. If there were really a problem, they wouldn't dare to do this."

"But it's a fact that his wife miscarried. What if she really ate something from the Lin family?"

"Stop talking nonsense, we'll know when the doctor arrives."

The man's face flushed red and then turned pale as he listened to the sounds around him, and he felt a little uneasy.

Aunt Li had been standing next to Lin Yao ever since the two siblings from the Lin family arrived. Now that she finally had a chance to speak to her, she said, "Young lady Lin, you've really suffered a lot! In my opinion, that scoundrel who threw a tantrum must have been instigated by your uncle's family to come here and slander you!"

Lin Yao felt a warmth in her heart. She had only known Aunt Li for half a month, but this unreserved trust truly moved her. "Thank you so much for believing in me, Auntie."

Aunt Li waved her hand dismissively, her tone certain: "What are you talking about! I've lived most of my life, and I have the ability to judge people. You three siblings are all good children."

Lin Yao continued, "Auntie, I need to trouble you for a small favor. Could you please lend me a table and a chair? When the doctor arrives, we'll have a place to sit down and have our consultations conducted."

"Oh, it's nothing, just take it and use it, don't be shy with me." Aunt Li readily agreed.

Just then, Wang Xiaoyu's loud shouts came from afar: "Master, we've brought the doctor!"

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Wang Xiaoyu and Wang Shan rushing over with a plump-looking doctor.

Chen Qianyuan looked up and saw the girl surrounded by the crowd. He recognized her as the woman who had come to sell osmanthus branches more than half a month ago. After not seeing her for some time, the girl's complexion was much rosier and healthier than before.

Lin Yao hurriedly stepped forward, speaking earnestly, "Dr. Chen, I've been selling food at this dock for a while now. Today, this man said that the food I made caused his wife to miscarry. I swear to God, every dish I make is clean and safe. I implore you to help me examine the health of these villagers who ate my food, so that I can clear my name."

Chen Qianyuan now understood what was going on. "It's alright."

Lin Cheng led all the people who needed pulse diagnosis to the table, and in the blink of an eye, the line grew very long. Some people even rushed home to call their families to come and see, fearing that they might have been poisoned by the Lin family's food without realizing it.

Chen Qianyuan calmly opened his medicine box, took out a clean cloth, placed a pulse pillow on it, and watched as people sat down and left one after another. Chen Qianyuan did not find any poisoned individuals. Those who had finished their consultations and heard that they felt no ill effects were all relieved.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the man tried to find a chance to slip away, but Lin Cheng kept a close watch on him.

The line of people waiting for their turn gradually shortened until it was finally the last person's turn.

As always, Chen Qianyuan meticulously completed the examination. Then, he straightened his posture, adjusted his long robe, cleared his throat, and addressed the crowd in a loud and steady voice: "I have thoroughly examined everyone present who ate at Lin Xiaoniangzi's house. Based on their pulses and their self-reported physical conditions, no one has shown signs of poisoning or any abnormal symptoms caused by the food. Therefore, it is clear that there is absolutely no problem with the food at Lin Xiaoniangzi's house!"

These words caused an uproar among the crowd.

"I knew it! The Lin siblings don't look like the kind of people who would do bad things."

"Yes, this time they've finally cleared their name."

A huge weight was lifted from Lin Yao's heart. She stepped forward and curtsied to Chen Qianyuan. "Dr. Chen, my brother and I will never forget your kindness today. If it weren't for you, we really wouldn't know how to prove our innocence."

"No need for formalities," Chen Qianyuan said in a low voice. "But my consultation fees are not cheap. I've taken the pulse of so many people today, so I'm afraid I'll have to charge thirty taels. Miss Lin, can you afford that amount of money?"

Upon hearing this, Yao's face instantly turned somewhat embarrassed. The family's total savings amounted to only five taels of silver, how could they possibly scrape together so much? "We can write an IOU, and we will definitely repay Dr. Chen's consultation fee in full in the future."

Chen Qianyuan knew that this young lady's family couldn't come up with that much money, which suited her just fine. "There's still room for negotiation. So many people have come to see you today, which shows that your business is booming. I don't have any other hobbies, but I love to eat. From now on, you can use the consultation fee as my meal expenses. What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Yao thought the suggestion was absolutely perfect and nodded repeatedly, "That's wonderful! Thank you for your understanding, Dr. Chen. I hope you will visit me again in the future!"

The issue of the consultation fee has been resolved; now it's time to deal with the person who slandered them.

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Author's Note: I'm recommending my upcoming novel, "The Evil Woman Fears the Persistent Man" (a food-themed detective story)! Wow~ [droopy-eared rabbit head]

A strange case suddenly occurred in Yuhang County

A thrush killed seven people, leaving only half a footprint at the scene;

The corpse-carrying driver screamed in terror as the burly man in the coffin transformed into a woman in red.

A virgin awaiting marriage has been impersonated; where is the mastermind hiding behind this?

Hua Linlang transmigrated and became the most beautiful woman in Yuhang County, a family with immense wealth.

Unfortunately, her parents died unexpectedly, leaving her an orphan girl who was coveted by the entire clan and awaited to be devoured.

Hua Linlang: ...It's not a big problem.

He's a modern forensic scientist and criminal psychology double champion, and although he accidentally got himself into trouble, he brought all his skills with him.

While investigating the case, I'll also take the opportunity to revitalize our family business and expand our restaurants and eateries nationwide!

The newly appointed county magistrate, Ji Huai, was full of vigor and had a knack for solving cases.

He initially considered Hua Linlang the prime suspect, but she meticulously unraveled the mystery in front of him, revealing the secrets of the case in a single sentence.

From then on, he investigated cases, and she performed autopsies; he hunted down criminals, and she profiled them.

He was working overtime on an empty stomach, and she thoughtfully handed him a bowl of osmanthus-flavored rice wine.

Ji Huai was deeply moved; how could he possibly miss such a wonderful man!

The person in front of me had a captivating gaze, and she and he were truly a match made in heaven!

The next moment, Liangren parted her lips slightly: "Three taels a bowl, Ji Lang, cash or on the tab?"

Ji Huai: .....

Everyone says Hua Linlang is a femme fatale, but Ji Huai feels that if this "femme fatale" can stay for him, he would be happy to accept it.

He looked at her calm profile as she performed the autopsy and asked softly:

"Hua Linlang, besides cases and money, is there anything else in your world?"

Flower Beauty: "For example?"

Ji Huai: "Me."

Flower Beauty: "Get lost."

Ji Huai: "See you later."

Male protagonist's self-conquest strategy

Initial thought: "She must have something on her mind."

Later: He trapped her in a small space, his hot breath brushing against her ear: "Linlang, what you really want is me."