Chapter 96: Someone Has Poisoned the Food

The night passed uneventfully. Early the next morning, Li Yi and Li Na, as usual, drove the bright red mule cart to the female educated youth dormitory, preparing to haul mushrooms to the county seat.

As usual, only Tang Xue was in the dormitory. Seeing Li Yi arrive, the young girl was delighted.

Before the mule cart had even come to a complete stop, Tang Xue emerged carrying a basket brimming with mushrooms.

Li Yi, worried she might harm the baby in her womb, hurried over to take the basket from her hands.

But Tang Xue felt that, having spent several years toiling in the countryside—even during the hardest times, working alongside the men to scoop mud from the lotus ponds to fertilize the fields—this weight was nothing to her.

So she insisted on carrying it herself.

Although Li Yi knew she was trying to lighten his load a bit, she was also proving to him that she wasn’t the kind of wealthy lady who had everything done for her.

But Li Yi was genuinely afraid she might hurt herself. That basket of mushrooms weighed at least fifty or sixty pounds, and with the mule cart already loaded to the brim, she would have to hoist it all the way to the top.

Not only was this a strenuous task, but it also required her to raise her arms as high as possible—one wrong move and she could easily injure the child.

In local parlance, she could “snatch” the child!

So Li Yi was absolutely determined not to let her take that risk!

Just as the two were struggling over it, the basket of mushrooms suddenly wobbled, and some of the mushrooms on the top layer spilled out.

Mushrooms are delicate by nature, and with the impact, some were crushed—clearly no longer edible.

Tang Xue froze in shock. She hadn’t expected this and stood there, momentarily flustered and frozen in place.

As for Li Yi, he was staring intently at the mushrooms on the ground, his expression grave—a clear prelude to a rage-filled outburst.

Tang Xue had never seen Li Yi like this before. She felt a bit scared, and tears were welling up in her eyes.

“I’m sorry… I…”

Li Na frowned and said to Li Yi, “It’s just a few pounds of mushrooms. Is it really worth getting so upset over?”

Li Yi snapped out of it. Seeing Tang Xue’s panicked expression, he realized she’d misunderstood and immediately said, “Honey, don’t cry. I’m not taking this out on you!”

After saying that, Li Yi spoke in a grave tone: “None of you say a word. Hurry up and put the mushrooms away. I’ll explain everything to you once we get outside!”

“Uh…”

Although they didn’t understand what Li Yi meant, Tang Xue and Li Na still did as he said, picking up the mushrooms that had fallen to the ground one by one and putting them into the baskets.

Meanwhile, Li Yi went inside and loaded the remaining baskets of mushrooms onto the truck.

This time, Tang Xue didn’t rush to help; instead, she watched quietly as Li Yi worked alone.

Soon after, the three of them left the educated youth commune together in the mule cart!

Just as the two of them left, a figure darted out of the male educated youth dormitory, its malicious gaze fixed on the pair as they gradually receded into the distance.

Once they were far from the sent-down youth camp, Li Yi immediately asked, “Honey, did Feng Qian and the others pick all these mushrooms themselves?”

Tang Xue nodded and said, “Of course they picked them themselves. Who else would help them?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“What’s wrong?” Tang Xue asked, puzzled.

“Do you know what I just saw in the basket?”

“What?”

“Autumn-born scales!”

“What? Are you talking about those poisonous mushrooms?” Li Na asked, looking shocked.

“Yep!”

“That can’t be possible. That poisonous mushroom is easy to spot, and since Feng Qian and the others go up the mountain to pick mushrooms all year round, how could they have picked this one?” Tang Xue said.

Li Yi said with a grave expression, “That’s exactly what I don’t understand. If they’d picked up a cow dung mushroom or some other poisonous variety, you could maybe say they didn’t recognize it. But the Autumn Scaly Ear is so easy to identify—so it clearly wasn’t a case of picking the wrong one by mistake!”

“If it wasn’t a mistake, then what was it?” Li Na asked, puzzled.

“If it wasn’t a mistake, then someone deliberately mixed this highly poisonous mushroom into the basket!” Li Yi said, making a startling claim.

“That… can’t be. Why would Feng Qian and the others do something like that?”

Li Yi shook his head. “I didn’t say Feng Qian and the others did it—they have no motive!”

“If it wasn’t them, then who else could it be?”

Li Yi smiled slightly and said, “Besides them, who else could have had access to these mushrooms?”

“Me!”

Li Yi shot her a look and said, “Don’t be silly. You’re my wife—you’d have no reason to harm me!”

Tang Xue said sheepishly, “I was just going along with what you said!”

But then Tang Xue added, “Apart from the few of us, no one else should have access to these mushrooms, right? After all, we clean them up every day and store them in the dorm—no one else can get in there!”

“No, those male educated youths have a chance to get to them!”

“How could they get to them? These mushrooms aren’t left out in the open,” Tang Xue said.

“Heh, did you go to the bathroom this morning—and only after Feng Qian and the others had left?” Li Yi suddenly asked.

“How did you know?”

“I guessed!”

Li Yi then explained, “The only ones who’d have a reason to harm us are those male educated youths, and they’re the ones with the best opportunity to do it. After all, once Feng Qian and the others left, you were the only one left in the dorm.”

“And as long as they could get you out of the way, or take advantage of a moment when you stepped out, they’d have the chance to mix the poisonous mushrooms into these baskets!”

Hearing Li Yi’s analysis, Tang Xue broke out in a cold sweat.

These mushrooms were all finished products that had been carefully selected; they wouldn’t be inspected again before being sent to the state-run restaurant.

And if the chefs at the state-run restaurant failed to inspect them—or if they simply didn’t know how to identify poisonous mushrooms—it could cost lives.

Li Yi was also seething with anger. He had thought this through thoroughly: if poisonous mushrooms were mixed in with these, the consequences would be devastating.

Setting aside the consequences of accidental ingestion, even if no one ate them and they were merely discovered by the head chef at the state-run restaurant, how would they handle the situation?

The simplest solution would be to terminate the partnership. No matter how much money was at stake, safety had to come first—not even Liu Jingshan would dare gamble with something like this.

It wouldn’t take much—just one death, and they’d all be fired.

What infuriated Li Yi even more was that those bastards were truly ruthless—they had actually chosen the highly toxic autumn scaly ear mushroom.

It’s important to note that this mushroom is typically yellowish-brown, making it easy to mistake for the hazelnut mushroom, and it has no distinctive odor, yet it is extremely toxic.

If accidentally ingested, it not only causes dizziness and nausea but also leads to rapid loss of consciousness and shock.

The poisoner’s intentions were malicious; this wasn’t just a simple lesson for Li Yi, but a clear attempt to send him to prison to rot.

“What should we do now?”

By now, Tang Xue was completely panicked. She never imagined those people could be so jealous—they’d even go so far as to poison someone!

Li Yi said in a grave tone, “Don’t sell these baskets of mushrooms today. I’m taking them to the police station in a moment!”

“Why go to the police station? To file a report?” Tang Xue asked.

“Yes. This is absolutely despicable—it’s tantamount to playing with people’s lives. We have to report it to the police!” Li Yi said.

“Alright! I support you on this. That villain must receive the punishment he deserves!” Tang Xue said, her face flushed with anger.

“Right!”

…….