Chapter 29: The Reason Pigs Get Sick Is Actually Because...

""Ningning, what are you looking for?"" Yao Chunhua asked in a low voice. She could tell her daughter seemed to be searching for something.

Before long, Gu Jianing was using a stick to poke through a pile of leftovers the pigs had eaten. Her gaze quickly locked onto something. She found a clean, large leaf, used the stick to pick up the item, and placed it on the leaf. ""Mom, do you recognize this? Have you ever fed this to the pigs?""

Yao Chunhua leaned in for a look. As soon as she saw it, she immediately recognized it. ""This—this is pig dung bean! How did this end up here? I’ve never fed pig dung bean to the pigs!""

Her voice rose in surprise.

At that moment, the villagers outside all heard her.

""What? Pig dung bean? The pigs got sick because they ate pig dung bean?""

""Pig dung bean is poisonous! How could anyone feed that to pigs?""

Old Zhang was the first to come over and take a look. His cloudy eyes instantly recognized it. ""Yes, that’s pig dung bean. So that’s the reason!""

He looked at Gu Jianing with approval in his eyes. This young girl was impressive—she’d discovered something he hadn’t, and even recognized what it was.

A long time ago, someone had accidentally eaten pig dung bean and been poisoned. After that, everyone in the village learned about it. Now, whenever anyone saw the plant, they’d avoid it, never picking or even stepping on it.

By now, Yao Chunhua had already carried the large leaf outside the pigsty.

""Everyone, take a look. Ningning just found this. Does anyone know what it is?""

Experienced villagers came forward, squinting at it. Soon, they recognized it.

""Isn’t that pig dung bean?""

""Yeah, even though it’s broken up, you can still tell it’s pig dung bean.""

""Isn’t pig dung bean poisonous? Oh no, the pigs got sick because they ate it!""

""Chunhua, how could you feed pig dung bean to the pigs?"" Qin Zhaodi immediately started blaming her, ready to pin the blame on Yao Chunhua.

Yao Chunhua glared at Qin Zhaodi. ""Qin Zhaodi, if your brain isn’t working, do you want me to knock some sense into you?""

""Anyone who’s ever been up the mountain knows what pig dung bean looks like and that it’s poisonous. I’d have to be blind to feed this stuff to pigs.""

""I’ve been raising pigs in this pigsty for three years now. You think I can’t tell the difference between pig grass and pig dung bean?""

Qin Zhaodi muttered under her breath, ""Maybe you really are blind.""

Yao Chunhua sneered, ""If I really were blind, how did I manage to raise big, healthy pigs for the past two years without a single problem?""

At that, the villagers all nodded in agreement.

That made sense.

Even kids knew about pig dung bean. There was no way Yao Chunhua didn’t know, let alone feed it to the pigs. After all, she was in charge of the pigsty—if anything happened to the pigs, she’d be the first to take the blame.

Besides, everyone knew what kind of person Yao Chunhua was.

""Auntie Yao, so what do you mean by this…?""

Yao Chunhua had calmed down by now, her presence commanding. ""When I left last night, the pigs had already eaten. This morning, I was going to feed them, but they wouldn’t eat. The pile of pig grass I left was still there, untouched. That means, between when I left last night and this morning, someone snuck in and fed the pigs pig dung bean!""

""If that’s the case, I don’t know if this person was targeting me, Yao Chunhua, or if they were trying to harm the collective interests of our village.""

At her words, the crowd grew restless.

If someone was targeting Yao Chunhua or the Gu family, that was one thing. But if they were harming the whole village’s interests, that was truly malicious—they couldn’t let that go.

Right then, someone spoke up. ""Qin Zhaodi, you were making the most fuss just now. Could it be that you’re the one who secretly fed the pigs pig dung bean?""

After all, it was obvious Qin Zhaodi had a grudge against Yao Chunhua.

Qin Zhaodi’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected that just because she disliked Yao Chunhua, she’d be suspected. She immediately jumped up. ""I’m a member of Huaishu Village too! I’m counting on eating pork at the end of the year! Why would I want the pigs to die?""

""Don’t talk nonsense."" Qin Zhaodi’s eyes darted around, and she quickly came up with an idea. ""I actually think it’s unlikely to be someone from our village. It’s more likely those educated youths—after all, they don’t get any pork.""

The crowd considered this and found her words reasonable.

The villagers of Huaishu Village were all looking forward to eating pork, so it was unlikely to be one of them. But the educated youths—well, they didn’t get any pork. And although they’d been behaving lately, no one had forgotten how much trouble they’d caused when they first arrived.

""Don’t make baseless accusations! Do you have any evidence?""

""We’re educated people. Why would we do something like poisoning pigs?""

""If you want to accuse someone, show us the proof. If you keep slandering us, we’ll go to the commune leaders and the police to clear our names!""

For once, the educated youths stood united.

The villagers and the educated youths started arguing, and things got noisy outside the pigsty.

Finally, Old Man Gu stepped forward and shouted, ""Enough! Stop arguing!""

""Let’s all think carefully—did anyone see anyone near the pigsty between last night and this morning?""

""If you saw something or have evidence, then speak up.""

""Right now, the most important thing is to get the pigs healthy again.""

The brigade secretary, Gu Shun—one of the Gu family’s uncles—also spoke up. ""That’s exactly right."" Then he turned to Gu Jianing. ""Ning girl, since you figured out the pigs got sick from eating pig dung bean, do you know how to treat them?""

All eyes turned to Gu Jianing, even Old Zhang’s.

After all, Old Zhang had seen cases of pig dung bean poisoning in people before, but never treated it—he’d always just told people to go to the hospital.

Under everyone’s expectant gaze, Gu Jianing didn’t disappoint. ""Yes, I do.""

She quickly listed a few medicinal herbs and asked Old Zhang, ""Uncle Zhang, do you have these herbs at your clinic?""

Old Zhang nodded quickly. ""Yes, yes, I do.""

""I’ll go to your place now to prepare the medicine and decoct it.""

""Of course!""

When everyone heard that Gu Jianing was going to get medicine from Old Zhang to treat the pigs, they all breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the pigs could be saved, that was all that mattered.

Gu Jianing didn’t dare delay. The pigs’ condition was serious, and they needed the medicine as soon as possible—if they waited any longer, the acute poisoning could be fatal.

But before she left, Gu Jianing quickly opened the system shop and spent 5 points to buy something.

[Scent Tracker: Effective for one month. Can track the last person who directly touched a given object, no matter how far away they are, and automatically pinpoint their location.]

Gu Jianing only had 20 points left, but she felt it was worth spending 5 points—so long as she could find the person who tried to frame the Gu family.

""System, activate the Scent Tracker. Track the last person who directly touched this pig dung bean."""