The Sweetness of the Seventies
Chapter 333 - 304: Testing, Old Dog with the Plague (1/6)_1

Chapter 333: Chapter 304: Testing, Old Dog with the Plague (1/6)_1

He Jingyu saw people coming and going by his side and looked rather troubled.

Qi Ling, observing his demeanor, quickly said, "Uncle He, let’s talk in my office. There are too many people here; it’s not good to talk."

"Thank you," He Jingyu expressed his gratitude. Before figuring out what poison it was, he didn’t want to make it public.

Qi Ling and He Jingyu, one after the other, arrived at Qi Ling’s office.

Qi Ling let He Jingyu in first and personally closed the door. "Uncle He, can you talk now? What happened?"

He Jingyu took out two hardened candy cakes from the package and said, "Qi Ling, take a look. These were sent by Liu Lingli from Hujia Village in the city. She and our family are both from Nan City, but our relationship can only be said to be average. Some time ago, she got married and invited my daughter to the wedding feast. My daughter sent gifts and cash but didn’t eat there. A few days after her marriage, she sent us some cakes. Who knew our family’s big rooster, being mischievous, took a few bites of the big cake, and by evening, it slumped. I then dared not let them eat the big cakes, fearing there might be something wrong with them. So, I fed the big rooster with the big cakes for two or three days, and this strong rooster has now become like this."

He Jingyu opened a cardboard box next to him, inside which was a sickly-looking big rooster, listless and languid.

As soon as Qi Ling heard the three words "Hujia Village," his spirit soared!

Although Hu Erlai and Hu Goudan’s murders, Accountant Hu had already confessed and acknowledged that it was his doing, Qi Ling always felt something fishy, but without evidence, he had to let it go.

Now there was trouble again in the Hu family, and it involved poisoning?

If he could confirm the poisoning, he could go to Hujia Village to investigate.

"Uncle He, leave the items here. Later, I’ll take them to the laboratory for my colleagues to help test them. If there is a problem, then we’ll file a report," Qi Ling suggested. In case the big rooster was just sick and there was nothing in the big cake, frivolously reporting could negatively impact He Jingyu.

He Jingyu nodded and said, "Alright, but how long will this take? If it’s a short time, I’ll wait here; if it’s a long time, then I’ll head back to Qijia Village first."

"Uncle He, you go home and rest first. I’ll ask my colleagues. After work, I will come to your house myself to tell you the exact time," Qi Ling suggested, as his home and He Jingyu’s were in the same neighborhood and not far apart.

"That’s fine, I’ll wait for you at home," He Jingyu said. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he left.

Qi Ling took the items to the laboratory and asked his colleagues, who said it would take a week to yield results.

Qi Ling left the items there, asking his lab colleagues to get the results as soon as possible.

That evening, Qi Ling went to tell He Jingyu the exact date.

"Since it’s a week, I’ll come back after a week then," He Jingyu said. "There are still things to do in Qijia Village!"

"Uncle He, if the results come out and there is a problem, I’ll bring people over to investigate," Qi Ling said. "You need not bother coming over."

Qi Ling was in such a hurry because he wanted to investigate in Hujia Village again.

He Jingyu, upon hearing this, was very pleased and said, "That’s even better; it takes two days to go back and forth, and it’s tiring."

He Jingyu rested for a night and took a bus back to Taoyuan County early the next day, then rode a bicycle back to Qijia Village from Niu Lili’s place.

In the past few days, Wang Shuping was a bit fearful, feeling like someone was out to harm them, lacking a sense of security.

He Tiantian asked her mother to stay at home and not go to the peach orchard.

After all, there were people arranged by Village Chief Qi to guard the orchard, so nothing would happen.

As for Liu Lingli, she had been restless since she sent out the candy cakes.

In fact, she was also very conflicted inside. She knew that the person in the shadows had always been using her.

But she was unable to refuse time and time again.

She had already caused the death of two people, and sometimes at night, she would dream of Hu Erlai and Hu Goudan coming to claim her life.

"Damao, is the dog sick? It’s all listless every day," Old Man Hu asked his son. "If it’s not sick, then we’ll slaughter it; we can still eat some meat."

Hu Damao hadn’t eaten meat for a long time and was already craving it. He said, "It should not be disease; forget it, let’s kill it for the meat!"

Liu Lingli sat in the house and saw through the window the interaction between Old Man Hu and Hu Damao.

Actually, Liu Lingli felt disgusted with them, as well as their poverty, and couldn’t wait for them to die and be out of her sight.

Yet, if this father and son became sick, she would have to take care of them afterwards!

If they died, she would be relieved, but how would she manage afterward in Hujia Village?

Already looked down upon, becoming a widow would only earn her more contempt.

At least now, Hu Damao and Old Man Hu were working hard. They could always get enough to eat, not starve to death, and provide a home for the kids.

"You can’t eat it!" Thinking of this, Liu Lingli spoke up to stop them, "That dog must be sick, kill it and bury it quickly. Otherwise, the infection will spread to us, and no one in our family will escape it."

The dog was one Liu Lingli had used for experiments; it certainly carried poison. Eating its meat would also lead to poisoning.

"Could it be?" Hu Damao was reluctant, as he hadn’t seen anyone’s dog fall ill with distemper recently!

"Don’t disbelieve me, rabies is terrifying," Liu Lingli said, "We won’t die without meat. But eating meat from a sick dog, death wouldn’t be far away."

Seeing that his daughter-in-law spoke so sensibly, Old Man Hu thought it made sense and urged his son, "Damao, go and bury that dog quickly! If you’re craving, I’ll catch some fish in the river later to cook for you and your wife."

Hu Damao was reluctant.

"You better believe it, before liberation, it invited disaster. Anyone who ate meat from a sick dog turned mad," worried that his son might disobey, Old Man Hu scared his son by saying, "Besides, we’re not at the point of starving to death yet, why take the risk? Forget it, I’ll bury it myself."

Old Man Hu put the dog in a basket and went out to bury it.

Seeing her father-in-law take the dog away, Liu Lingli finally breathed a sigh of relief.

With nothing else to do at home, Hu Damao went out to wander around and take a stroll.

Left alone at home, Liu Lingli’s thoughts returned to He Tiantian.

Did they eat those pancakes?

Would the outcome be the same as with this dog?

Not dying, but getting poisoned, weakened?

The more Liu Lingli thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. She got up and walked to the door, but then feeling guilty, she walked back inside.

What to do?

In the end, she decided to let it be!

To do her best and leave the rest to fate!

Recently, Liu Lingli had also been searching for who had been putting letters in her chest.

Who exactly was the mastermind?

Why did they keep repeatedly harming He Tiantian and her family?

Liu Lingli recalled one by one the incidents that had befallen He Tiantian!

The first incident, Qi Jianguo’s attempted rape of He Tiantian.

The second, Qi Shuli making things difficult for He Tiantian.

The third, Lin Xiaoru reporting He Tiantian.

The most likely were the Qi family, but with Qi Jianguo in the labor camp, and the Qi family in a bad state, they simply couldn’t have afforded such an expenditure!

*****

Highly recommend my friend Tian Qing Di Bai’s books "Tang Dynasty Good Prince Consort," "Reborn in the Riverside Family", "Heirloom Treasure," "Double Happiness Yingmen," all of which are completed works.