The Crazy Son-In-Law

“I assure you,” Xiao Shun’s tone was firm, making a solemn promise to the middle-aged woman.

His gaze swept over the crowd again, as he patiently explained, “Blocking the way here won’t solve anything. The patient’s conditions can’t afford to be delayed. We can help cover the medical expenses for those who have sick family members at home. I could go to the hospital with you right now.

“We put our sincerity here for all to see. If you don’t trust us, you can continue to block the way. But have you considered, once the environmental protection department finishes its investigation, if it’s not our fault, won’t all this effort be in vain?”

The crowd started buzzing with discussions for a moment.

“My mother is in the hospital right now, you can go with me,” a stern-faced man said.

He then turned back to the villagers and shouted, “Make way! This boss seems quite open and reasonable. His factory can’t run away. Since he dares to promise that he can cure my mother’s illness, let’s trust him this time.”

The crowd looked at each other, hesitated for a few seconds, and then moved back a few steps, opening a path.

The stern-faced man, Xiao Shun, and several patient’s relatives boarded a minivan. Among them was the disheveled middle-aged woman from earlier. Yao Cen and Zhuang Jin also got into Yao Cen’s car and headed towards the environmental protection bureau.

The reporters quickly got into their vehicles and divided into two groups to follow them. Inside the minivan, the atmosphere was particularly heavy, presumably due to the relatives of the poisoned patients.

“Can someone tell me how you found out your family members were poisoned? And what were the initial symptoms of the patients?” Xiao Shun broke the silence.

“My mother is old and sleeps less. She wakes up early and prepares breakfast for us. When I woke up and went to the courtyard, I found my mother unconscious on the ground. As for the symptoms, you can learn from the other patients in our village. At first, most of them were vomiting and had diarrhea, so everyone thought it was food poisoning. It wasn’t until the doctors at the hospital examined them that we realized it wasn’t food poisoning. And as time went on, symptoms of difficulty breathing appeared,” the stern-faced man explained.

“Yes, thinking about it, every family has different meals. How could we all have food poisoning at the same time?” a young man in his twenties interjected.

“So how did you guys come to suspect Starline?” Xiao Shun asked.

“We didn’t think in this direction at first. However, we received a text message, telling us that the environmental protection department confirmed that the pollution caused by Starline’s discharge was the cause and that people had been sent to seal it off. So everyone was angry and wanted to seek justice,” the stern-faced man said.

“A text message? Can I see it?” Xiao Shun asked with a frown.

“Sure.” The stern-faced man took out his phone and showed him the received text message.

Xiao Shun took a glance. The content of the message was indeed as he had said.

“Do you recognize this number?” Xiao Shun asked.

The stern-faced man and the young man looked at each other, took another look at the number, and shook their heads, “No.”

Xiao Shun nodded without saying anything.

It seemed as he had suspected, someone was manipulating this drama behind the scenes. But the method was too malicious. People’s lives were at stake. Even if the investigation results showed that Starline was not involved, they would probably still face public criticism. With deliberate guidance, public opinion could be easily swayed, and Starline could be accused of bribing the environmental protection department, turning the whole incident into a muddled mess.

After all, those netizens and the public who did not know the truth inherently liked to stir up trouble. The impact on Starline’s reputation would certainly be substantial.

This move was indeed ruthless, using the innocent lives of others to pressure Starline. It’s despicable!

Regardless, they needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible. As long as no one died, everything could be resolved.

Half an hour later, Xiao Shun and several villagers appeared at the entrance of the emergency building of the city hospital, followed not far behind by a few reporters and accompanying cameramen. However, the reporters were soon stopped, as the hospital was always sensitive to those who showed up unannounced with cameras and microphones.

“What do you think you’re doing? Get out immediately. This is a hospital, we must protect patients’ privacy, please leave at once,” Two young doctors in white coats, accompanied by several security guards, confronted the reporters, with one of the doctors loudly reprimanding them.

“Hello, we are from the ‘Stillwater Law Channel’. I am a reporter, my name is Chu Hong. We are tracking a story about a heartless factory recklessly discharging wastewater, leading to poisoning of the nearby villagers. Please let us in, here is my press card.” The previously brightly dressed female reporter had already labeled Starline as a heartless factory, handing her press card to the doctor who had just spoken.

“I don’t care where you reporters are from; without the hospital leadership’s permission, you cannot enter the emergency building. Moreover, there are many patients inside. Without their permission, we cannot let you in. Please step aside immediately. Do not block the way here. In case you affect the normal treatment of emergency patients and an accident occurs, can you afford to take this responsibility?” One of the middle-aged security guards, presumably a small leader, said.

He was clearly aware of the procedures required for reporters to interview at the hospital and said, “Also, do you have an introduction letter from your unit? If not, go back and get one before you come back.”

“The incident happened quite suddenly, there was no time to get an introduction letter. Please let us in,” the reporter named Chu Hong said with a frown.

“Yes, the public has the right to know. What right do you have to stop us? We are reporters; we can accuse your hospital of obstructing press freedom.” Another reporter, feeling aggrieved, spoke somewhat rudely.

“Oh, who are you scaring? Press freedom? That’s a new one. Go ahead and sue, I don’t care,” the middle-aged security guard mocked.

Seeing that the other party had an unimpressed attitude, Chu Hong, as a veteran reporter, did not continue to argue with them. Instead, she returned to her interview vehicle with her cameraman, took out an invisible camera, and pinned it to her collar.NôvelDrama.Org copyrighted © content.

She was a reporter for a legal channel, and undercover investigations were commonplace for her.

“You don’t have to follow me; I’ll go up and take a look myself.”

She told her cameraman, then got off the car and walked towards the emergency building, sneaking into the emergency building behind a group of relatives.

Because this was a mass poisoning incident involving more than twenty people, a minor mistake could turn it into a national headline. The Stillwater government also took it very seriously, arranging all the poisoned villagers in the ward on the second floor.