Chapter 25: Sowing Discord Among the Three Houses?

Su Si'an was the best at following his brother's lead; seeing his brother lie down, he immediately sprawled out on the ground as well.

"Oh, brother, I'm in so much pain too! When Uncle Wang pushed me earlier, I think I hit my head. Brother, let me die first, please, let me die first."

Lin Yuan was a simple, honest kid. Although he didn't fully grasp Lin Wei's intentions, he caught the look of satisfaction in his sister's eyes. Without a second thought, he also laid down on the floor. "Sister, my chest hurts. Uncle Wang pushed me right in the chest; my heart is broken, Sister."

Zhang Min, who had originally been worried about the children, suddenly understood exactly what was happening. However, having never encountered such a tactic before, she was completely at a loss for how to react and could only look at Lin Wei for help.

Lin Wei quickly played along. "Oh, these poor children! They just got home and were beaten like this—it's tragic. Aunt Zhang, hurry over to Uncle Li’s place and call an ambulance. We have five children here; they all need to be examined thoroughly, one by one."

"Right, I'm going right now."

Ignoring Wang Changzhi, who was left completely stunned on the floor, Zhang Min not only called an ambulance but also reported the incident to the police.

—

At the hospital, the situation had spiraled far beyond what Wang Changzhi had anticipated. Looking at the emergency room now filled by the group, a sense of panic stirred in his heart for the first time.

Wang Changzhi tried to explain. "I..."

Lin Wei immediately cut him off. "Doctor, please examine this child first. He was slapped across the face; who knows if he’s been struck deaf?"

"I..."

Lin Wei interrupted him again. "These children were pushed to the ground. Their summer clothes are thin, so the bruises and scrapes are quite obvious. Look, Si'an’s arms are covered in abrasions."

"I..."

Lin Wei cut him off once more. "Uncle Wang, can you be quiet for a moment? You said your leg was broken, so the doctor examined you first, and you turned out to be perfectly fine. Meanwhile, our children are still crying out in pain. Could you please stop causing trouble? The doctors and the police officers have precious little time; let them finish these examinations so they can get back to their work."

"But..."

Under the stern warning in the police officer's gaze, Wang Changzhi finally shut his mouth.

Lin Yuan and the two Su children were fine, suffering only minor scrapes from being pushed, which just needed some antiseptic. Gao Xiaoling didn't have any physical injuries, but her clothes were torn, so the doctor gave her a hospital gown to wear.

Wu Hongye was the most severely injured; his entire left cheek was swollen, and when the doctor examined his ear, the ear canal was red and inflamed. The only relief was that his hearing remained intact.

However, given the circumstances, the fact that an adult had bullied five children was indisputable. Without a very good explanation, even the police couldn't simply let him go.

—

Shortly after the children were examined, Lin Xiaomeng and Gao Huifang rushed over from their workplaces upon receiving the news.

"Xiaoling, Hongye, are you okay?" Gao Huifang cried when she saw the injuries on her children.

"Mom, I'm fine. My brother just finished his exam and he's okay too."

Lin Xiaomeng quickly turned to the only adult present. "Xiao Min, what happened?"

"This..."

Zhang Min understood the situation, but she didn't know how to explain it. The two police officers stepped in, saying, "We have a general understanding of the situation. Once we finish taking the statements, you will know everything."

Not daring to hide anything under the pressure of the police, Wang Changzhi confessed everything.

He had placed the bricks outside the Su residence; he had indeed intended to use the Su family's wall to climb into the Lin residence. However, Lin Wei had guessed one thing wrong: he never believed Lin Wei was making much money selling box lunches. He hadn't gone to the Lin house to steal money; he was simply resentful because the Lin, Su, and Gao families were banding together to ostracize him. He wanted to stir up trouble for them.

Specifically, he wanted to put something in their food. After all, all these children ate at the Lin household, and if they ate her food and something went wrong, it would inevitably create a rift between them.

The "something" Wang Changzhi mentioned was found by the police on his person. It was a bottle of powdery substance, which he claimed was crushed laxative pills.

Wang Changzhi felt a bit guilty. "That was my original plan, but I tripped while climbing the wall, which drew the Gao children out. Wu Hongye already had a grudge against me, and when he saw me climbing the wall, he wouldn't let it go, and then..."

"And then you beat my children!" Gao Huifang shouted angrily. "You are truly a heartless beast, only knowing how to bully a widow and her children. Officer, just the other day, he was caught by my son peeking at my daughter while she was bathing. I was afraid of damaging Xiaoling's reputation, so I didn't make a scene. Now he’s at it again! If he isn't punished severely, who knows what he’ll do next?"

"No, no, I didn't actually put the medicine in! And didn't I apologize for the last incident?" Wang Changzhi tried to defend himself.

"You call that an apology? You made such a fuss that in the end, the Gao family had to pay you money. Is that what you call an apology?"

"Well, what can you do? Even though I had the medicine, I didn't actually use it. At most, you can lecture me, or at worst, I might get fired."

Wang Changzhi knew he couldn't escape, and his words were a blatant threat. Just as Lin Xiaomeng had said before, if this man were truly fired, he might act with even fewer scruples in the future.

Lin Wei frowned, frantically searching her mind for a loophole in Wang Changzhi's words. To her surprise, she found one.

"That's not right. You said you wanted to put this in our food to teach us a lesson and drive a wedge between our three families, right?"

"Yes." Wang Changzhi felt he had nothing left to lose, though he still felt a tremor of fear when facing Lin Wei directly. "So what?"

"I find that strange. My aunt’s house has never had a refrigerator. You live right across the street, so you know that. We never have leftovers, and even if we did, we’d put them in the Su family's fridge. It's so hot right now; there’s no way we’d keep food out. If there's no food, where were you going to put the medicine?"

The police officer immediately looked at Wang Changzhi with suspicion.

"I... I thought you kept your food at the Su house."

"Then why did you say you were climbing from the Su house into my aunt's house? That makes no sense at all." Lin Wei acted as if she had just realized the truth. "I understand now. Your claim that you wanted to poison our cooked food was a lie. After all, how much of a 'lesson' would that really be? But if you had put the poison into the raw rice, oil, salt, and seasonings in the kitchen, once the customers ate it and got sick, I would never be able to clear my name."

"How truly vicious you are!" Not giving him a chance to refute, Lin Wei pressed on: "Wang Changzhi, do you know what you are doing? Do you know how many people eat my box lunches every day? If there were a mass food poisoning outbreak, could a common person like us ever bear the responsibility for a food safety crisis in Jiangcheng?"