Upon hearing the heart-wrenching screams, the people at the door sensed something was wrong and hurried into the courtyard.
Although Village Chief Fu is old, he walks with a very brisk pace.
Moreover, the villagers all subconsciously followed behind him, so Old Village Chief Fu walked at the front and was the first to see Old Lady Shen's miserable state.
Old Mrs. Shen was lying slumped on the bed, her face and the area around her pillow covered in white foam and dark red blood.
Furthermore, her entire face was an abnormal dark blue, her eyes were wide open, and there was even a lot of blood in her eye sockets.
Even the well-informed Village Chief Fu found it hard to look at.
"Step back, everyone, please don't come in!"
It's highly likely that Old Lady Shen is gone; everyone would be frightened if they saw this.
Seeing the seriousness on her husband's face, Liu San Niang realized the gravity of the situation.
She never held Village Chief Fu back when it came to serious matters, so she quickly told everyone to leave.
"Let's go, let's go. There's nothing to see. Just knowing that Grandma Shen is inside is enough."
The villagers watching weren't fools either; seeing the old village chief and his wife in this state, they all had their own guesses.
But they were also very wary of it, so they all followed Liu San Niang outside.
Only a few brave and curious individuals couldn't resist tiptoeing to peek inside, but they were instantly terrified and their faces turned pale.
"Fu Wan was right! That old lady Shen died a terrible death; it's obvious she was poisoned!"
"Really? You saw it?"
"Don't even mention it, his face was covered in blood, it was all black, how could I be wrong?"
Although everyone had left the house, they were reluctant to leave and gathered at the doorway, discussing the matter.
So even though Fu Ming didn't see it with his own eyes, he pieced together the tragic story of how Old Lady Shen was poisoned to death by crabs from the villagers' accounts.
"Ah Wan, is that crab really poisonous?"
Fu Wan sighed, "Why don't you all believe me? It's not only poisonous, it's extremely poisonous. Let alone eating the crab, even the water used to steam it would be enough to kill several people."
The reason why the cooked crab is called the cobra of the sea is no exaggeration. Most importantly, not only in the 1980s, but even in the 21st century, there is no antivenom or corresponding treatment for this poisonous crab.
Fu Ming was stunned. "It's one thing for crabs to be poisonous, but how can the water used to cook them be poisonous too?"
Just then, Boss Fu and Ye Xiaocui hurriedly returned from outside.
Fu Laoda looked at Fu Wan with a hesitant expression, "Did you know that Old Madam Shen is dead?"
Fu Wan nodded, "I know, my older brother just told me."
Old Master Fu sighed, "She treated you and your daughter so badly before, but now that she's dead, the debt is paid off. Don't think about her anymore."
"That's for sure. Whether she lives or dies has little to do with me."
They were already strangers, so Old Lady Shen's current predicament is most likely a consequence of karma.
Ye Xiaocui's face showed a strange expression. "The poisonous crab that Old Lady Shen ate was personally delivered by her son, Shen Dongsheng."
Not only did Grandma Shen develop health problems from the food, but strangely enough, Qian Xiaohua's chickens also died.
She and Jiang Chunlan had just returned from listening to the gossipy villagers, and heard that Qian Xiaohua was still sitting in the yard crying.
After a moment's thought, Fu Wan guessed the cause of the chicken's death.
Fu Ming belatedly realized what was happening.
"Is it the water from steaming the crabs?"
"It should be."
Fu Laoda and Ye Xiaocui were completely confused. "What water for steaming crabs?"
Fu Ming quickly explained, "Awan said that the crab is very poisonous. Not only is the crab meat poisonous, but the water used to steam the crab is also poisonous."
The villagers are all thrifty by nature. The water used to steam the crabs was most likely used by Qian Xiaohua to feed the chickens, which is why all the chickens perished.
Ye Xiaocui turned pale with fright upon hearing this.
"Good heavens, does that mean her kitchen is full of poison?"
Fu Wan thought about it and realized that this possibility still existed.
"Putting everything else aside, that pot is definitely poisonous."
She suddenly remembered a news story she had seen in her past life, about a fisherman in a coastal city of an island nation who had caught a bronze-cast, cooked crab. Similarly, he couldn't bear to throw it away, and seeing how plump and beautiful the crab was, he took it home to make soup.
As a result, when he was cooking the soup, a neighbor who was visiting saw him. The neighbor was an experienced old fisherman who recognized at a glance that the crab was poisonous and advised him to throw it away.
However, although the crabs were lost, they didn't throw away the pot. Later, he used the pot to make pork rib soup, and as a result, more than a dozen people who drank the soup were all poisoned.
Fortunately, the pot had been washed several times, so the toxicity was relatively weak, and these dozen or so people didn't lose their lives.
So, Fu Wan can't guarantee anything else, but the pot in Qian Xiaohua's house that was used to steam crabs is definitely poisonous.
"Should we go and remind them?"
Ye Xiaocui wasn't a saint; she was only thinking of Qian Xiaohua's deceased husband and the fact that Fu Yaozu was still a child, and she couldn't bear to let the child die.
Fu Laoda and Ye Xiaocui have been married for many years, so how could he not know what his wife was thinking?
He turned around and walked out of the courtyard gate without looking back.
"I'll go talk to the village chief and ask him to handle this!"
That's all they can do. If Qian Xiaohua takes their kindness for granted and then tries to extort them, who can they complain to?
As for Village Chief Fu, he no longer exists. Unless Qian Xiaohua didn't want to stay in the village, she wouldn't be foolish enough to try to extort the old village chief.
Even after Boss Fu left, Ye Xiaocui still felt uneasy.
"Ah Wan, do you remember what the crab looks like? Could you draw it for me? That way, when I go beachcombing in the future, I can take it out and look at it."
She was genuinely terrified; those crabs could poison chickens just from the water alone, and she figured they could kill people too.
If you pick up one of those crabs and cook it carelessly, your whole family will be in deep trouble!
"Okay, I'll draw it for you now!"
The most distinctive feature of a cooked crab is its color and the spots on its body. Coincidentally, she had Fu Ling and the others' crayons in her room, so she could use them to simply mark it with color.
With paintings on both sides, Fu Wan simply painted two more, thinking she would give one to Jiang Chunlan and one to Wang Xiuer later.
Meanwhile, chaos was raging at Qian Xiaohua's house.
“Shen Dongsheng, although your mother died in our village, she was still a member of your Shenjia Village. So take a cart and drag your mother back to bury her!”
Village Chief Fu patiently advised him, explaining that he was also very troubled. Although the weather was cool now, they couldn't just leave Old Lady Shen in that old house like that.
Shen Dongsheng remained silent, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Qian Xiaohua.
It's all because of this woman! If she hadn't ignored my advice and picked up the poisonous crab, she wouldn't have died!
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