Just as Qin Sanniang finished speaking, a series of "pfft pfft pfft" sounds were heard. People at several other tables who had just taken a bite of the sweet and sour meatballs immediately spat them out in shock.
"Th-this can't be poisoned, right? Impossible!" Aunt Zhu squatted beside Zhang Zhaocai lying on the ground, at a loss. The boy was fine just moments ago, how did he suddenly faint?
Lingdang heard the commotion and quickly ran over to check. Qin Sanniang came rushing up, grabbing Lingdang's arm, and said, "This dish is yours, it caused my Zhaocai to get sick, you have to take responsibility!"
Lingdang replied, "My cooking definitely has no issues. From the ingredients to the process, everything was fine!"
"Your dish might be fine, but why did my Zhaocai faint as soon as he ate it!" Qin Sanniang was relentless. Though she spoke out of concern for Zhang Zhaocai, her actions showed no sign of it.
She neither hurried to find a doctor nor even checked on him.
"Hey, stop arguing! Where's Doctor Wu? Come quickly and see what's wrong with this child!" Aunt Zhu anxiously pulled Qin Sanniang aside and said, "How can you talk like that? So many people ate the sweet and sour meatballs and no one else got sick. Why would you say the dish is poisoned? Lingdang has no reason to poison anyone. We're all poor villagers here; poisoning us would be a waste of medicine! Step aside and let Doctor Wu see what's really going on with Zhaocai."
Doctor Wu was eating at the next table and quickly came over, squatting down to check on Zhang Zhaocai's condition.
Zhang Zhuzi anxiously asked, "Doctor Wu, how is my son? Did he get food poisoning?"
Doctor Wu frowned and spat out, pointing at Zhang Zhuzi, "How dare you ask! This child fainted because he was starving for too long and just ate too much too quickly! And you're his own father? How could you treat your son so cruelly!"
After Doctor Wu's explanation, the villagers understood: Zhang Zhaocai had been starving and overate too quickly!
The villagers immediately became indignant and began cursing Zhang Zhuzi and his wife:
"Oh my, how could these two starve their child like this!"
"So pitiful, a child not even ten years old, how could they bear to do this!"
"I think they're trying to get rid of the original wife's son."
"Where there's a stepmother, there's a stepfather. Poor child..."
The villagers all chimed in, making Zhang Zhuzi's face turn bright red. He kicked Zhang Zhaocai twice and scolded, "Get up, you disgrace! Haven't you ever eaten? You look like a starving ghost and you even managed to faint yourself out, just like your mother, such a hateful thing!"
Zhang Zhuzi kicked twice but failed to wake Zhang Zhaocai.
Doctor Wu became anxious, shielding Zhang Zhaocai and scolding Zhang Zhuzi, "Your son is unconscious and you're still kicking him? Are you even human!"
While speaking, Doctor Wu treated Zhang Zhaocai, feeling his belly and saying, "Ah, he must have been so hungry to eat so much. His belly feels as hard as iron. We need to make him vomit, or else his stomach might burst, and that could be fatal!"
Aunt Zhu's face turned pale with fear upon hearing this, and she regretted, "If only I had stopped him and told him to eat less!"
Doctor Wu turned Zhang Zhaocai over and reached to trigger his gag reflex to induce vomiting, but after trying for a long time, it was useless. Just as Doctor Wu was getting anxious, Lingdang silently walked over, grabbed Zhang Zhaocai's waistband with one hand, and effortlessly lifted him up.
Lingdang remained calm and said to Doctor Wu, "I'll take him aside to make him vomit so he doesn't disturb everyone else eating here."