Xiaoxiao picked up the shovel and slapped the fish hard until it finally let go.

Jiaojiao's hands were already a bloody mess, with blood gushing out continuously.

Hearing the shout, Wei Caixia rushed over. When she saw the fish with its mouth open, her legs went weak. She picked up the pliers and forcefully inserted them into the fish's body.

"It hurts so much..." Jiao Jiao's lips turned white, tears streaming down her face as she murmured.

There weren't many people on the beach to begin with, and after their companions ran off, only the three of them were left.

Xiaoxiao was anxious to pick up her younger sister, but she couldn't lift her because she was too heavy.

“I’ll carry her on my back.” Wei Caixia squatted down.

…

On the other side,

Xu Ling searched for the man in town for several days but couldn't find him.

She searched every casino in town.

"Mother, let's go rest in the shade."

Xu Ling looked down at her eldest daughter, Ayun, and nodded slightly.

She was exhausted and didn't want to continue living with that man.

For so many years, she has lived frugally and worked hard to earn money to pay off that man's gambling debts.

After one or two times, she eventually became numb to it.

If she hadn't unexpectedly become pregnant with her second child, she would have left that man long ago.

"Is Mother looking for Father?" Ayun asked indifferently.

Xu Ling paused for a moment, then nodded slightly.

The cicadas chirped incessantly in the trees, and sunlight filtered through the gaps in the branches, falling on the two of them.

"I know where he is..."

Xu Ling stiffened upon hearing her daughter's words.

"How do you know? He... took you there?" Xu Ling gripped her daughter's shoulders, her hands trembling.

The thought of those fish with teeth sent a chill through her entire body.

“I don’t want to go… there are so many weird uncles there…” A-Yun waved her hand in refusal.

A dark look appeared in Xu Ling's eyes. She was incorrigible; it really was time to end this.

When they arrived at the door of an earthen house...

"Old Chen, lend me some more money so I can win back my initial investment. I'll have money soon..."

"What money do you have? You'll just have to ask your wife for it," a middle-aged man's voice rang out.

"That's right, you're quite the ladies' man. You don't have to support a wife and kids, and you're always having a good time. Last time you lied to your wife and said you went to Guangzhou for a while..."

Xu Ling stood at the door, and upon hearing the conversation inside, her heart turned as cold as if it had been instantly frozen into an ice cube.

So, the whole "making money overseas" thing was a lie she was told?

Is he begging her to come home this time just to trick her into going back to his family to be his slave?

"What else can that haggard woman do besides make money?"

"It's her good fortune to have fallen for her; she's been enjoying a life of luxury with me all these years!"

Xu Ling kicked the door open and looked at the person she used to think she could entrust her life to.

"Wang Fugui, let's get a divorce." She said coldly, then turned and left.

The people inside the room froze. One of them snapped out of it and immediately said, "Why aren't you chasing after them?"

Wang Fugui rushed out without even putting on his shoes.

But how did he manage to catch up with her?

Xu Ling took her eldest daughter and went directly to the police station to report the crime.

She knew Lin Ziyan was waiting for her to make a decision, and the matter of the yellow croaker fry being switched would definitely not be left unresolved.

Wang Fugui must have sold the fish fry; he could have made at least a thousand yuan.

Xu Ling was determined this time; she didn't want to get stuck in this quagmire again.

Meanwhile, as people were being bitten by fish and taken to the clinic, the county government took the matter very seriously and sent people down to investigate.

It's summer vacation now, and many children are swimming in the river.

Most of those bitten are children.

The village clinic was packed with people.

"The wound is deep. Let's apply some topical medication first," the old doctor said, pursing his lips.

Jiaojiao's face turned deathly pale. She gripped her second sister's hand tightly, and tears welled up in her eyes again.

When Lin Ziyan arrived, she saw her gritting her teeth and crying.

"Quickly notify the village secretary and have them go to the river to fish it out and find out what kind of fish it is," the old doctor said to his wife.

The child, whose wound had already been bandaged, stood by watching.

"Ah...it hurts so much..." Jiaojiao suddenly burst into heart-wrenching sobs.

Lin Ziyan hugged her, her eyes red-rimmed.

"Sister...it hurts so much..." Jiao Jiao cried out and hugged her tightly.

A layer of small bubbles appeared on the wound, and disinfectant seeped in.

After applying the medicine, the old doctor's face darkened. "It needs stitches. It would be best to send it to the county."

Lin Ziyan saw that the bleeding had stopped, but the wound was still open, and a coldness spread in her eyes.

Jiaojiao trembled all over, biting her lip tightly.

Her vision went black, and she fainted.

"Jiaojiao..." Lin Ziyan called out a few times.

The old doctor stepped forward to examine the patient, squinting his eyes.

He knows a little about traditional Chinese medicine, but only a little, and he's not confident in his abilities.

The children watching the commotion nearby, who had been talking quietly, suddenly fell silent.

"Bang!" One of the boys fell down.

Chaos erupted inside the clinic as several children fainted.

At the other end of the village,

Professor Shen was waiting outside the laboratory, pacing back and forth.

He called Beijing, and they said the research institute had already sent a specialist over, and he should be in Fuzhou by now.

In the lab, Lao Su rushed over from the school, bringing a lot of reagents for testing.

The blood from those fish contains a certain chemical component, but it's unknown whether it's poisonous.

Several days have passed, and there is still no result.

Professor Shen put his hands behind his back, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that things were not simple.

There has been no news yet regarding the test report submitted to the city.

"Creak!"

The wooden door opened, and Professor Su walked out of the room with a solemn expression.

Shen Hai looked into the laboratory; the test tubes on the lab table were still in their original positions.

Professor Su, "When will the reagents be delivered from Beijing?"

"I can't draw any conclusions yet, but these fish are dangerous."

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