Volume One, Chapter 9: You Really Don’t Care About Our Lives at All!

Lin Xiaoxu held two color cards against the pH test strips; one showed a normal color, while the other was a deep purple. This contrast could not have been more obvious. Even those who knew nothing about the principles of pH test strips could see exactly what was happening.

In an instant, over a hundred pairs of eyes turned toward the man with the hooked nose like sharpened blades. Among the crowd were several veteran vendors who had been selling fruit at the market for years. They knew the hooked-nosed man was named Li Daying. Li was a sycophant who often bribed the market manager, Sun Jufu, to curry favor, which allowed him to act like a local tyrant, throwing his weight around with impunity. These older vendors, who were just trying to make an honest living, had long harbored anger toward Li Daying but dared not speak up. Seeing him finally hit a wall, they felt a sense of immense satisfaction.

Faced with the piercing gazes of over a hundred people, even the seasoned Li Daying couldn't help but shudder. "You country bumpkin, don't try to frame me! I am a law-abiding citizen! You—that test strip thing of yours—you must have tampered with it!"

"Since you refuse to admit it, I will provide further evidence to show everyone here that the guavas from your stall are not only severely contaminated with pesticides, but also packed with growth stimulants!"

Lin Xiaoxu picked up one of Li Daying’s guavas and snapped it in two with his hands. "If you want to verify whether fruit is overloaded with growth stimulants, the simplest method is to taste it."

Taste it? Could you actually taste growth stimulants? The onlookers were full of doubt. Li Daying sneered slightly, crossing his arms as he waited to see how Lin Xiaoxu would prove his claim with just his tongue.

"Fruit treated with growth stimulants may be larger than average, but these chemicals only increase volume and weight; they do not increase sugar content. Consequently, they are often hard on the outside and mushy on the inside, with a bland taste and an indescribable, off-putting odor."

Lin Xiaoxu handed out pieces of Li Daying’s guava for the onlookers to try. An elderly man tasted a small piece. Lin then took one of his own guavas, broke it open, and shared it with the old man and the others.

"Although this young man’s guavas are many times larger than the ones from the hooked-nose man's stall, the flesh is truly crisp, firm, and succulent, with a naturally rich, sweet aroma. This tastes exactly like the wild guavas I picked on the mountains when I was a child! The hooked-nose man’s guava tastes like foam. It’s very bland, and indeed, there is a strange, indescribable odor!"

"The difference in texture is way too obvious!"
"Eating the hooked-nose man's guava makes me want to vomit."
"That guy is a total fraud, accusing others while he's the one doing wrong!"

The crowd turned their fury on Li Daying. Faced with the condemnation of the masses, his face turned deathly pale. In his panic, he lost all composure, unsure of how to respond.

Suddenly, a bystander clutched his stomach, bent over, and began coughing violently, beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead. Like a contagious virus, a dozen other people nearby began to exhibit the same symptoms—uncontrollable coughing and profuse sweating.

"Hahaha! That’s the retribution you all deserve! I saw clearly that you dozen people only ate the country bumpkin's guavas, not mine! My guavas only have a dozen times the legal limit of pesticides and stimulants. Look at the size of this bumpkin’s fruit—his contamination levels must be many times higher than mine. You lot who ate his poisonous fruit are beyond help; even the gods couldn't save you now. Just wait for your deaths!"

Li Daying, as if grabbing a life-saving straw, became delirious with arrogance. He accidentally blurted out the truth about his own guavas being contaminated with over a dozen times the legal limit of chemicals. But he figured it didn't matter; his fruit would only cause a bit of stomach pain and diarrhea, whereas the "bumpkin's" fruit had caused a dozen people to fall violently ill on the spot. Surely, some of them would die!

The elderly man began to feel a slight discomfort in his stomach, and his expression darkened. The market erupted into chaotic debate, with many people turning their accusations toward Lin Xiaoxu.

Lin Xiaoxu, however, remained calm and composed.

"Spit!" The first bystander spat out a large clump of foul-smelling, greenish-yellow phlegm. He rubbed his chest, his chin trembling as he said, "Ah! That feels so good! I’ve had this chronic issue where phlegm would get stuck in my throat, and no matter how hard I coughed, I couldn't get it out. It’s finally gone!"

The others followed suit, all agreeing that their bodies felt much lighter and more comfortable. The elderly man, whose stomach had been aching moments ago, now felt a warmth at the pit of his stomach, accompanied by an immense sense of relief, as if he were soaking in a hot spring.

The smile on Li Daying’s face froze.

Lin Xiaoxu smiled knowingly. He had smelled the heavy smoke on these people from afar. "You dozen people smoke too much. It causes chronic symptoms like persistent coughing, phlegm, shortness of breath, fatigue, and night sweats. These guavas grew in the deep mountains, and combined with my family's secret ancestral planting formula, they are not only delicious and large, but also possess medicinal properties that clear the heart and moisten the lungs. By eating them, the medicinal effects gave your bodies a thorough detox, purging the toxins and waste through coughing and sweating."

"So that's it..."

Now, no one dared to question Lin Xiaoxu at all. Everyone turned their glares toward Li Daying.

"You just admitted yourself that your guavas have over a dozen times the legal limit of pesticides and stimulants. You can't deny it now!"
"You really don't care about our lives, do you?"
"You piece of trash, get out of our market!"
"Shameless and immoral!"

Faced with the deluge of abuse, Li Daying knew the situation was dire. He abandoned his basket of guavas, turned around, and fled. The bully had finally met his match. The veteran vendors secretly cheered.

"Young man, how much for a pound of these guavas?" an older man asked.

Lin Xiaoxu replied without hesitation, "Twenty yuan a pound!"

Considering that normal guavas usually cost only three yuan a pound, and even the freshly arrived ones sold for five or six, this young man's fruit seemed astronomically expensive.

"Young man, I'll take all the guavas you've got!"