NOVPUB
Chapter 357: Chapter 357: Making Trouble
Even our stove at home isn’t this clean. To claim that it’s not up to hygienic standards is to nitpick.
An older busybody woman couldn’t help but enter and have a look around. She immediately echoed, "It is indeed very clean, not a single speck of dust, fridge and stove are shiningly polished, no issue with hygiene. Could you have made a mistake, young lady? I frequently buy their milk tea for my grandson, and there’s never been a problem."
The reason she came in to inspect was to evaluate the cleanliness, so that she could feel at ease buying milk tea for her grandson in the future. The shop was indeed very clean, much cleaner than her own kitchen at home, so there was no room for complaint.
"Exactly! What if your son ate something else that made him sick? Don’t falsely accuse the shop, it would disrupt their business."
"Indeed, our school students often come here to buy milk tea, and there have never been any issues in over a year."
The onlookers gave their views one at a time. All were speaking in Tong Yao’s favor. People in this generation are generally honest and candid, straight shooters who can’t stand seeing a fine milk tea shop purposely sabotaged by some mal-intentioned person."
The woman saw that everyone was siding with Tong Yao, all their attention on her. Feeling somewhat self-conscious, she thought of something and brazenly said, "They may have used expired ingredients. Sure enough, it was after my son drank their milk tea that he ran into troubles. He was perfectly fine before, but afterward he started vomiting and having diarrhea. The doctor said it was the milk tea."
Hearing this, Tong Yao let out a chuckle and said with a crystal-clear voice, "We make our milk tea using Fresh Milk Red Tea. The fresh milk for it is freshly delivered every day from the Dairy Farm. To ensure the quality of the milk, I don’t order too much each day. By 7 p.m. every night, we only have fruit tea left; there’s no milk tea."
As soon as she finished speaking, a female student immediately said, "I can testify to that. I came to buy milk tea last night but couldn’t. Instead, I chose Apple Crisp Ice. If you don’t believe me, I can bring my classmates who were with me as witnesses. The milk tea wasn’t even enough to sell last night, let alone have remainders. Besides, even if there was something left from yesterday, with the cold weather now, drinking it wouldn’t have lead to a stomach upset. Hasn’t everyone had leftovers before? We’ve never had any issues."
If these words were spoken by Tong Yao, people might not take them favorably, but when said by a bystander, everyone nodded and joined in agreement.
Not to mention now, even in summer, who would be willing to directly throw away leftovers? Don’t we all keep them for the next meal?
The woman, left speechless by the female student, resorted to bickering, blustering, "Anyway, my son got sick from the milk tea at their shop. You’re all in cahoots with her, deliberately bullying us."
Upon hearing this, the crowd that had just been there for the spectacle suddenly grew angry. They had just been trying to give an objective view and now they were being accused of being biased. Clearly, this woman was here to stir up trouble on purpose.
Unable to stand this any longer, someone took up the thread, "Stop disrupting this place’s business for no reason. Looks like you’re just jealous of a young girl doing well in her business and deliberately causing trouble."
"I think it’s deliberate too. Perhaps she was sent by someone."
"Indeed, this shop has been open for over a year, and we’ve never heard of any issues. They are just about to open the one across, and someone already came to stir up trouble. Could it be deliberate?"
The milk tea here is delicious and the shop’s cleanliness has been witnessed by everyone. They simply won’t believe the woman’s words. Besides, Tong Yao also proposed taking the woman’s child to the hospital for a check, but the woman didn’t dare to go. Clearly, she was feeling guilty.
Tong Yao doesn’t even need to defend herself, everyone is already leaving the woman speechless. Seeing that everyone is against her, she wants to take the opportunity to leave. However, the shop is crowded with people and even a fly couldn’t escape.
As everyone crowded around the woman, accusing and speculating about who sent her, Tong Yao’s attention fell on the little boy the woman was holding.
The boy was skinny, with a lifeless gaze. Since he arrived, he hadn’t uttered a sound. Wherever the woman led him, he would follow, like a soulless puppet on strings. Something was clearly wrong.
Tong Yao crouched down, wanting to check on the boy, but the woman was highly alert, immediately pulling the boy behind her, staring intently at Tong Yao. n𝚘𝚟𝚙u𝚋.co𝚖
"What are you doing?"
The woman’s reaction made Tong Yao even more certain that something was wrong with the boy. Fearing that the woman might act out, Tong Yao calmly said, "The child seems a bit off. I want to see where he’s feeling unwell."
When Tong Yao mentioned this, everyone’s attention instantly shifted to the boy. Initially, they were all focusing on the woman and had barely noticed the short child. Now that they took a closer look, they found that the boy wasn’t right. His gaze was lifeless, as if he lost his soul.
To put it bluntly, he looked a bit like a fool.
He was also skinny as a rake. In those days, there were many impoverished people, so it was not uncommon for children to be underfed. Therefore, despite being thin, the boy didn’t attract much attention. But now that they took a closer look, something felt wrong.
A family that can afford milk tea, could their child be underfed?
And the woman’s clothes were not shabby, she didn’t look like someone who can’t afford a decent meal.
Seeing that everyone was staring at the child, the woman became even more nervous. There was even a hint of panic in her eyes. Clutching the boy’s wrist tightly, she said, "What nonsense are you talking about? I’ve told you my son became ill from drinking milk tea. Don’t try to change the topic and avoid responsibility."
Tong Yao frowned. She had initially thought the woman had been bribed by someone and intentionally brought the child to cause trouble. But now it seemed the situation was not as simple as it appeared. Ever since the woman entered the shop, she had never shown any concern for the child, tossing him about like a rag doll.
As the saying goes, ’an eight-year-old child is annoying even to a dog.’ This saying came about because children of that age tend to be active. Looking at the boy now, he hadn’t said a word or shown any emotion since he got here, which was abnormal.
A suspicion arose in Tong Yao’s heart, and she tilted her head to ask the boy behind her, "Little friend, is she your mother?"
Upon hearing this, the woman clearly panicked, forcefully pushing Tong Yao, her face fierce, "What nonsense are you talking? This is my son whom I carried for ten months. If I’m not his mother, are you his mother?"
"Just talk, don’t get physical. If you can’t talk properly, I’ll call the police." Gu Hongwei pushed the woman back a bit, not allowing her to get close to Tong Yao.
At the mention of ’police,’ the woman’s face instantly changed. She started flailing her arms, shouting loudly, "Call the police then, I’m not afraid! If you have the guts, call the police now. If you don’t, you’re a chicken."
