After watching Old Man Li sit down, Xiao Qianqian asked, "I heard from them that your nephew came last month?"
"Nephew? I don't have a nephew." Old Li was a little confused.
"Old Li, how can you say no? Didn't your nephew come over last month and even slaughter a pig and a sheep to treat us to a meal?"
"Let me think... Oh, I remember now, you mean that young man? He's not my nephew, and I don't know him."
"You don't know him?" Argen was furious. Wasn't this blatant lying in broad daylight?
"Yes, I really don't know him. He came into my house and said he wanted to stay for two days. He gave me a lot of money and said if anyone asked, I should say he's my nephew. He also brought me a lot of gifts, which I still haven't opened and are still in the house. Government, what did he do?"
Old Li's words plunged everyone into suspicion; this young man who had come to the village out of nowhere was clearly highly suspicious.
"Has he done anything strange since he arrived?"
"No, this young man was quite polite. He said our place looks rather isolated and suitable for development, and he even asked where we get our drinking water from."
"So what did you tell him?"
"Our area is relatively isolated with little pollution, so we use river water for both food and drinking. This river water comes from springs flowing down from the mountains, so we feel safe eating it. The entire river encircles the village and provides water for the whole village."
"After I told him, he said it was very interesting, so he went out for a walk. He didn't stay out for long; he came back when it was time to eat."
"Did he say anything else after he came back?" Xiao Qianqian felt that things were not so simple.
"That's all. He only stayed for two days before leaving," Old Man Li recalled.
"Two days..." Xiao Qianqian said thoughtfully, "Do you still remember what he looked like?"
"He was tall and thin, a very handsome and energetic-looking young man, but we can't really describe him in detail."
"Could you take us to see that river?"
"sure."
"Okay, let's go then."
The young man named A'gen enthusiastically led the way for them.
The group followed them to the riverbank. Just as Old Man Li had said, the river encircled their village, and the water was clear and transparent, indeed free from pollution.
Xiao Qianqian squatted down, took out a bottle, filled it halfway with water, shook it, and saw that there were no impurities.
She plans to take it home later for testing to see if it contains any toxins.
The group walked around the river and found nothing unusual. The air felt very fresh, and the flowers and plants around the river were lush and green, with one particular flower blooming especially brightly.
"This flower is quite pretty, what kind of flower is it?"
"Flower? Let me see, is this the kind of flower you're talking about?"
"Yes, they bloom very brightly, they are really beautiful."
"I don't know what kind of flower this is, it's probably a wildflower."
"It's strange, I don't think I've ever seen this kind of flower before," A'gen muttered to himself, looking at the flowers with some confusion.
"It seems there's nothing unusual. Let's go back. I'll take this water back and have it tested."
"Okay." The group agreed, and they all felt that everything seemed normal.
After Xiao Qianqian took the water back, she started testing it. The test results will be available soon.
"How is it? Is there a problem with the water?" the gray-haired expert asked.
"Wait a little longer, the results will be out soon."
The group waited anxiously for about ten minutes before the results finally came out: there was indeed a toxin in the water, the very toxin that had caused the villagers' poisoning.
"The problem really is in the water." Xiao Qianqian looked at the report with a serious expression.
"Let's call Old Man Li over again."
When the village secretary heard that there was a problem with the water, he panicked even more. This was the village's drinking water, and now that it had been poisoned, it was definitely unusable. This really worried him.
“Agen, go and call Old Man Li over quickly. That young man is indeed suspicious.”
"That old man Li is really something, he's really made things difficult for everyone now." The village secretary was pacing around in worry.
A'gen hurriedly went to find Old Man Li, and soon A'gen brought Old Man Li to the crowd.
Old Li looked bewildered, not knowing what had happened.
Xiao Qianqian asked seriously, "Grandpa, do you know that someone is poisoning the water? The young man who stayed at your house last time was very certain that he was the one who poisoned it. Did he take anything with him when he left your house?"
Old Li turned pale with fright and shook his head frantically, "I don't know! The water has always been fine, how could it be poisonous? That young man wasn't carrying anything when he left. How could it be poisonous? How could it be poisonous..."
Old Man Li was so frightened that he was talking nonsense. Seeing his state, Xiao Qianqian knew she couldn't get anything useful out of him, so she turned to look at the village secretary.
"Village chief, why don't you go ask the other villagers if anyone saw that young man by the river, what he did there, or if they saw him throw anything into the river?"
The village party secretary hurriedly arranged for A'gen to go and ask each household.
Xiao Qianqian picked up the report again and looked at it thoughtfully.
If it was poisoning, the young man arrived last month, and the villagers should have been poisoned long ago. Why did it take a month for them to start showing symptoms? That doesn't make sense.
"Yes, that doesn't make sense."
"Little girl, what did you say?" the old expert asked.
"It's like this, I was just thinking about it. That young man came last month. If he poisoned it then, such a large river would require a huge amount of poison. Also, even if he did poison it, why did it take a month for the poison to take effect?"
"That's right, how come we didn't think of that? Logically speaking, the poison should have taken effect back then. Could it have been a chronic poisoning?"
"For the entire river to reach a level of toxicity that can cause poisoning, the amount needed is indeed enormous."
"Yes, it is indeed a bit puzzling."
"Besides, he wouldn't dare to poison the water in broad daylight. How did he manage to do it?"
"Could it be that he went to poison us last night?"
"That's also a possibility."
"But the required quantity must be huge; how did he bring it in?"
The group chattered about their questions, and the more they analyzed it, the stranger it seemed. How exactly did this person poison the person? This only fueled their curiosity.
A short while later, a plump woman followed A'gen in.
"This is Sister Wang. She said she saw that young man while she was farming by the river that day."
"Aunt Wang, right? Can you tell us about what you saw that young man that day?"
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