Daily Life in the Countryside After Being Reborn
Chapter 189 - 15: New Friends

Chapter 189: Chapter 15: New Friends

"Adults don’t get poisoned because of their height," everyone finally understood the purpose of Xiao Xian’s gestures while speaking, which was to measure the height of the two Wealthy Orange trees.

The two Golden Tangerines were pruned by a horticulturist after they were bought, forming a delicate shape with all the oranges hanging on the outer branches, at about one meter high, much shorter than the height of an adult but just right for children to reach.

"A tangerine tree, from flowering and pollination by bees to fruiting and ripening, can only last a few months at most. These two Wealthy Orange trees have been placed here for nearly nine months without a single fruit naturally falling off. A total of twelve oranges were picked by someone. Three from the top of the trees, and nine from the middle," Xiao Xian carefully pointed out the stubs left on the orange trees.

The ones at the top of the tree were probably picked by adult guests, and those at the middle were picked by children. By assessing the freshness of the stubs, one could estimate, "The children who were hospitalized yesterday should be four."

Feng Xing was speechless, and the manager was also shocked; tonight’s news did not specify the number of children poisoned by food, only people who read the newspaper during the day would know the exact number of poisoning cases.

"Little girl, are you sure everything you just said is true?" The manager saw her as a beacon of hope, as the business administration department had already investigated today and notified that if the specific cause of poisoning couldn’t be found, they would have to officially shut down. For a century-old restaurant like Quanjude, an unjustified closure would be a fatal blow. The Wangfujing branch has always been a reputable and front-facing store.

"I’m very sure, ma’am, try touching these two orange trees’ leaves and see if they are different from the orange trees we brought back," Zhuo Feng, following Xiao Xian’s words, slightly rubbed the leaves, which were much smoother than those of the orange trees at home.

"Ah," Zhuo Feng also started to wonder, plucking a leaf and scratching it with her fingernail, resulting in a layer of crystalline powder falling off, "What is this? It looks like it’s been waxed."

"I don’t know what’s on it; there’s no scent of orange from this tree, only the smell of this crystalline powder. I smelled it as soon as I entered that day. I was afraid that the children would pick it and eat it recklessly, so I warned them, but their parents wouldn’t listen," the mother of the boy who was still unconscious and had been reported on the news was the one who said Xiao Xian was being nosy that day.

Hearing Xiao Xian narrate so vividly, Feng Xing also sniffed around; besides the aroma of roast duck, it was still the smell of roast duck. This old brand name might even have its walls smelling of roast duck, which only shows that Xiao Xian has an unusually sensitive nose.

Seeing that everyone believed her, Xiao Xian secretly made a victory gesture. She doesn’t have a dog’s nose; her sense of smell isn’t that sharp, but if she revealed the function of "copper space," that would be truly frightening. Anyway, this way, whether sprayed with pesticides or using strange crystals, she could spot them all just with her eyes, even more accurately than lab machines.

"Hurry up and find someone to send these two pots of golden tangerines for testing, take the pots along," the manager wished he could smash the flower pots into pieces, calling them Golden Tangerine, more like Broom Tangerine.

Afterward, the inspection report from the quarantine department stated that a large amount of preservatives suspected to be benzoate was found on the leaves and fruits of the two Golden Tangerine trees. This type of preservative is not supposed to be used in large quantities on food. However, those two Golden Tangerine trees had been treated with hundreds of times the amount that humans can tolerate. The comatose child was also confirmed to have consumed an unpeeled orange that day, leading to signs of poisoning. After confirming the use of this preservative, the hospital treated the child accordingly, and he was discharged smoothly two weeks later.

As a token of gratitude to Xiao Xian and her team, Quanjude presented them with a VIP card, which offers a 30% discount at the roast duck restaurant. Zhuo Feng joyfully tucked this card into her bag, adding it to her collection of shopping cards from various stores.

The soil issue on the rooftop was also resolved; it wasn’t bought from the flower and bird market. The soil in the market, mostly potting soil, is used for planting similar types of flowers and trees annually and has limited fertility. Xiao Xian couldn’t use alfalfa to fertilize the soil temporarily, as she had to start school, and Zhuo Feng was eager to begin the "rooftop" project.