Chapter 280: Food Poisoning from Eating Your Small Lobsters

Ye Cheng also muttered to himself, it was almost 8 o'clock, a police car came with flashing lights, surely no good thing.

Before the police car even entered, someone had already called out Village Chief Chen Jinhai, after all, at a time like this, you still need someone with an official background to step forward.

The police car quickly pulled up, and three stern-faced officers got out, one of whom Ye Cheng recognized—it was Chief Liu of the town police station.

Chen Jinhai greeted them with a smile,

"Chief Liu, you said you were coming but didn't give me a heads‑up so I could buy some food and drink."

Chief Liu ignored Chen Jinhai's attempt to curry favor and said in a strictly businesslike tone,

"Village Head Chen, we're here on official business—does anyone in your village sell small lobsters in town?"

Hearing about selling small lobsters, Ye Cheng's heart skipped a beat—could there be a problem with the lobsters?

Everyone in the village basically knew that Zhang Guafu and a few others were selling small lobsters; Chen Jinhai's own two nephews were involved too, so he naturally knew.

"We do have them, but we're buying and selling legally—no stealing, no robbery—could there be a misunderstanding?" Chen Jinhai probed.

"No misunderstanding, someone filed a report saying they got food poisoning from eating your small lobsters; we need to take someone back for investigation." Chief Liu spoke bluntly—no need to beat around the bush with the villagers, everyone knows each other.

Upon hearing about food poisoning, the villagers immediately started discussing it.

"Food poisoning? That means jail time, right?"

"I told you, those shrimp aren't anything good—look, something happened."

"Zhang Guafu was still feeling proud earlier, thinking she'd make a big profit from this, and now something's gone wrong."

"Feeding people such dirty stuff, the money she's making is all ill‑gotten."

"Even if she doesn't go to jail, she'll probably have to pay so much compensation it'll ruin her."

Ye Cheng furrowed his brows, pushed through the crowd, and stepped out,

"Chief Liu, how do you know it's definitely someone from our village selling them? Lots of people sell small lobsters, and ours are thoroughly cleaned—there's absolutely no problem."

Chief Liu glanced at Ye Cheng; this kid is a tough nut to crack, asking pointed questions, harder to deal with than Chen Jinhai.

But this time he had solid evidence, so he wasn't afraid of Ye Cheng's questions.

"Ye Cheng, they said they bought it outside the market, the label clearly read 'Baiyun Village Small Lobsters', and they mentioned plans to build a brand; the seller was a middle‑aged woman, apparently a widow who took up selling lobsters because her family was struggling."

"Damn, they described it in such detail it's almost naming names—Ye Cheng couldn't say anything in response."

"Chief Liu, that's Zhang Guafu—she goes to town every day to sell lobsters." Hearing it had nothing to do with his own family, Chen Jinhai immediately gave her up.

Ye Cheng couldn't stop it either; the information was too complete.

However, in his view, the person probably just had an allergy, not necessarily food poisoning.

Once the person was identified, Chen Jinhai led Chief Liu and the others toward Zhang Guafu's house; with something like this happening in the village, the onlookers naturally followed.

Some even ran home to fetch more people.

They hadn't walked a few minutes before reaching Zhang Guafu's door; lights were on inside, and Chen Jinhai knocked loudly and shouted,

"Xiuchin, Xiuchin, are you home?"

"I'm here, who's it?" a voice replied from inside, and Zhang Guafu came out wearing a short shirt.

Seeing so many people gathered at the door, Zhang Guafu froze for a moment and looked toward Chen Jinhai.

"Village Chief, what's the meaning of bringing all these people to find me?"

Chen Jinhai gave a faint smile, stepped aside to reveal Chief Liu behind him, and said, "It's not me looking for you—it's Chief Liu who wants to see you."

Seeing the three stern‑faced officers, Zhang Guafu's mind went blank; she tried to recall any wrongdoing she'd done, but couldn't think of any.

"Zhang Xiuchin, did you today sell small lobsters at the town market under the banner of 'Baiyun Village Small Lobsters'?" Chief Liu stepped forward and demanded sharply.

Zhang Guafu, just a widow, had never been questioned by police before and immediately panicked,

"Officer, I'm just selling shrimp—I haven't done anything else."

"Someone got food poisoning from eating your small lobsters—come with us." Chief Liu made a gesturing invitation.

"No way, officer—how could eating my small lobsters cause poisoning? I clean them thoroughly; maybe you've got the wrong person."

"Whether we made a mistake or not, you'll come back with us for investigation—get dressed and come along."

Just then, Xiao Liang rushed out of the house; seeing the police about to take his mother away, he burst into tears instantly.

"Don't cry, Xiao Liang, Mom's fine—the police uncle just wants to ask me a few questions and then I'll be back, okay?" Zhang Guafu desperately tried to comfort the child.

"Chief Liu, I'll send the child to my sister‑in‑law's place, then I'll go with you." Unable to watch any longer, Ye Cheng stepped forward and said.

Xiao Liang had just undergone surgery; such a shock might be too much for him to handle.

Chief Liu didn't stop him; he only needed Zhang Guafu not to run away.

Zhang Guafu gratefully glanced at Ye Cheng, handed Xiao Liang over; Ye Cheng hadn't yet taken him when Aunt Qian stepped forward and took the boy.

"Xiuchin, don't worry—we'll look after the child; you'll definitely be fine, and if anything happens we'll all share the burden."

"Aunt Qian, please." Zhang Guafu looked at the child with a bewildered gaze; in traditional thinking, ordinary folk don't enter official gates, and places like police stations still frighten them.

Aunt Qian was actually quite nervous inside—if they hadn't caught her today for not selling lobsters, she might have been the one taken.

Moreover, it's still unclear whether this will implicate her as well.

Ye Cheng was pleased that Aunt Qian could step forward—when we make money we share it, when trouble comes we bear it together; that's how things last.

If everyone tried to hide, that would be a shame, and there'd be no chance to cooperate in the future.

Besides Aunt Qian, it was the Chen Brothers; Ye Cheng glanced back and saw the Chen Brothers indeed in the crowd, but they had shrunk back, afraid of being dragged along too.

When the two brothers saw Ye Cheng looking at them, they darted their eyes away and lowered their heads.

Ye Cheng let out a cold snort—those Chen Brothers are indeed unreliable.

Chen Zhangfu also felt Ye Cheng's displeasure, gritted his teeth, and forced himself to step forward,

"Brother Cheng, we brothers should go along too—after all, the lobsters were sourced by us."

This startled Chen Jinli, who rushed forward trying to pull the two back,

"What are you two getting all worked up for? The police never said anything about you."

Chen Zhangfu struggled a little, but Chen Jinli held on tight; at a time like this he wouldn't let the child run wild.

"All right, you don't need to go—the police car won't fit anyway; I'll just go with you." Ye Cheng said blandly. All he wanted was the attitude; as long as they had the attitude, that was fine.