Xiao Xiu kept staring at Li Mingzhu, but didn't notice anything unusual. He picked up the bowl and tasted the chicken soup, finding it very delicious.
With so many people around, Chen Yuanshan didn't believe Li Mingzhu would dare to do anything, so he picked up his bowl and ate the soup and meat.
Li Mingzhu also served herself a bowl and sat down to eat. She also tasted the braised pork with preserved vegetables made by Hua Li and praised it as being particularly delicious.
Fortunately, Li Mingzhu left after sitting for a short while. Before leaving, Aunt Shi gave Li Mingzhu two bags of pastries and a piece of cured meat.
After finishing the meal, Chen Yuanshan helped clean up the dishes and then left.
Sun Bailing would take turns resting so that Hua Li could come to his house to improve his meals when he was resting. After dinner, he would also take a short break to play chess.
Hua Li stayed by Sun Bailing's side, adding tea and water for him and bringing him fruit to eat during his short rest. This was a leisurely life that Sun Bailing had never imagined before.
After playing two games, Sun Bailing felt sleepy during a short break, so he told Hua Li to go to the guest room to sleep for a while, and then he went back to his room as well.
Xiao Xiu returned to her room, and Luo Yan and Luo Shicheng came out. Luo Shicheng asked Xiao Xiu, "Are you feeling unwell?"
Xiao Xiu shook his head.
Chen Yuanshan was a former reconnaissance soldier, so logically he should have been able to see if Li Mingzhu had any problems. So why did Li Mingzhu suddenly become so attentive to him?
Suddenly, Luo Yan caught a strange sound and patted Luo Shicheng.
Luo Yan realized that it might be because she drank more spiritual spring water, or because she was the first master recognized by the space, that the effects of the spiritual spring water on her were much better than on others. For example, she heard it now, but Luo Shicheng and Xiao Xiu did not.
Luo Shicheng lowered his head, and Luo Yan pointed to the room where Hua Li was.
Could something have happened to Hua Li? Luo Shicheng disregarded everything else and opened the door to go out, with Luo Yan following closely behind.
Fortunately, Hua Li's room was unlocked, and Luo Shicheng opened it with a push.
Upon closer inspection, Hua Li lay on the bed with his eyes half-open and half-closed, his hands constantly tearing at his collar, and black blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.
"Hua Li!" Luo Shicheng's eyes were bloodshot. He picked up Hua Li and was about to rush out when Luo Yan stopped him.
"Yanyan, get out of the way!" Luo Shicheng roared.
Luo Yan gestured for Luo Shicheng to put Hua Li back on the bed.
Given Hua Li's condition, it might not be enough to get her to the hospital in time; perhaps we should try the spiritual spring water instead.
Xiao Xiu understood Luo Yan's meaning and helped to speak on behalf of Luo Shicheng.
"Uncle Luo, the spring water can save Aunt Hua."
...
Chu Tonghai led his men into Sun Bailing's house and drove Aunt Shi and Aunt Zheng out of the kitchen.
"What are you doing?" Aunt Shi asked, mustering her courage.
Chu Tonghai snorted coldly, opened the bag he was carrying, and asked Aunt Shi.
"Was this a gift from you to Li Mingzhu?"
Aunt Shi examined it carefully and nodded in agreement.
"This is a return gift I prepared for Madam Chu: two portions of pastries and a piece of cured meat."
“But my wife went back and ate your pastries and got poisoned, vomiting black blood. She was sent to the hospital and is still being treated.”
"How is this possible?" Aunt Shi was terrified.
"Why not? Would my wife poison herself?"
"But the pastries were all bought by Xiao Chen from a pastry shop in the city, so they couldn't possibly be poisonous."
Chu Tonghai frowned. "Besides pastries, what else has my wife eaten here?"
Aunt Zheng recalled for a moment and said.
"I heard Madam Chu mention that Hua Li's braised pork with preserved mustard greens is especially fragrant."
"Do you still have braised pork with preserved mustard greens?" Chu Tonghai asked.
"That's all. Chief Sun and Grandpa Xu both love it, and they ate it all."
"Where are the utensils for serving the food?"
"They've all been swiped."
Chu Tonghai snorted heavily.
"That's right. It must be that Hua Li held a grudge against Li Mingzhu for criticizing her for poisoning. You said it was all gone, but who knows if you helped her destroy evidence of her crime?"
As he spoke, Chu Tonghai directed the men he had brought with him.
"Keep a close watch on them. No one is allowed to leave until the evidence is found."
Aunt Shi was about to go upstairs when Chu Tonghai waved his hand and told someone to stop her.
Aunt Shi argued firmly, "Since something like this has happened at home, I have to go upstairs and tell Chief Sun."
Chu Tonghai said in a sinister tone, "Since Chief Sun is resting, there's no need to call him. Let's wait until he's rested enough before we talk about it."
"But what if Chief Sun is also poisoned?"
Chu Tonghai sneered, "Hua Li is still counting on Commander Sun to back her up, how could she possibly poison Commander Sun? If you keep talking nonsense, I'll arrest you first."
Aunt Shi dared not speak. Aunt Zheng went to the living room and headed straight for the telephone, but was intercepted by Chu Tonghai's men.
"You're not the police, why won't you let me make a phone call?" Aunt Zheng was both angry and scared, her voice trembling.
"Who knows if you're going to tip off the murderer? Wait until we've found out before you call."
Aunt Zheng was so angry that she burst into tears. "Xiao Chen was here just now. I was going to call Xiao Chen to ask if he was alright."
Chu Tonghai lost his patience, waved his hand, and two burly men pushed Aunt Shi and Aunt Zheng into the guest room, closed the door, and stood guard outside.
Chu Tonghai glanced at his watch, sat on the living room sofa, and stared blankly at the corner of blue sky hidden by green branches outside the window.
Less than fifteen minutes later, the sound of a child crying suddenly came from upstairs. Chu Tonghai got up and went upstairs to follow the sound of the crying.
Pushing open the door, Chu Tonghai saw Hua Li lying stiffly on the bed, her face ashen and blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. Xiao Xiu was by the bedside, holding Hua Li's hand and crying uncontrollably. Chu Tonghai silently closed the door.
Chu Tonghai checked each of the four rooms on the second floor and found Sun Bailing, who was also lifeless, in the first room on the left.
Chu Tonghai went downstairs and released Aunt Shi and Aunt Zheng, warning them.
“We’ve taken all the suspicious food and utensils from the kitchen. If I find any evidence, neither of you will escape.”
After uttering those harsh words, Chu Tonghai led his men away triumphantly.
After leaving the Sun family, Chu Tonghai first went to the hospital to see his wife.
Li Mingzhu has been rescued and transferred to a regular ward.
With the family's nanny taking care of Li Mingzhu, Chu Tonghai left after only a short while.
After leaving the hospital, Chu Tonghai went to a public phone and dialed a number he had memorized.
The phone rang three times before being answered.
Chu Tonghai: "Everything is going smoothly."
The other party paused for a moment, then said, "I'll be there tomorrow, and the money will be there too."
After hanging up the phone, Chu Tonghai went home, washed up, and went to bed early.
Since Chu Jianguo's incident and his subsequent dismissal, Chu Tonghai hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long time, and this night he slept soundly until dawn, a rare occurrence.
After getting up, washing up, and having breakfast, Chu Tonghai felt like something was off.
As Chu Tonghai stepped outside and gazed at the rising sun on the horizon, he suddenly realized how quiet it was. It was too quiet. How could it be so quiet?
Hua Li was an insignificant nobody, but Sun Bailing was not.
He witnessed Sun Bailing vomiting blood and dying yesterday. The nanny should have discovered it long ago. Why hasn't the Sun family made any move yet?
Chu Tonghai was puzzled and quickly walked towards the courtyard gate, but was stopped by Chen Yuanshan who suddenly appeared.
"Get out of the way!" Chu Tonghai shouted.
Chen Yuanshan remained unmoved.
"Commander Sun has ordered that Elder Chu is not allowed to step out of his house until it is found out who harmed him and Hua Li."
"You dare!"
Chu Tonghai glared at Chen Yuanshan, but Chen Yuanshan wasn't having any of it and waved for the guards to grab Chu Tonghai and drag him back.
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