Chapter 641 — Poisoning the Cafeteria

"Right away, Young Master Zhong!" The worker nodded and went back to his business, paying Zhong Yongliang no further mind.

It was hardly the first time Zhong Yongliang had gone into the back kitchen, anyway. The cafeteria was still in its prep phase before opening; the serving trays had not yet been carried out and were all laid out in the back. Even when Zhong Yongliang ate, he chose his dishes from the back kitchen.

Zhong Yongliang shoved the back kitchen door open and swaggered in. When he saw that the head chef was the only one inside, he breathed a quiet sigh of relief. In most cases the back kitchen held more than just the chef — there were also the vegetable cutters and the dough handlers. But today, perhaps because only the final dish remained, everyone else had gone out to help wipe down tables and chairs for the opening.

To cut costs, a high school cafeteria did not keep many workers on staff; most of them were part-timers.

Zhong Yongliang asked the chef, who was finishing the last dish, with careless swagger, "How's the food today? Got anything hearty?"

The chef turned, saw it was Zhong Yongliang, and thought nothing of it. He had little use for this sort of second-generation brat who leaned on his family's influence, but at the end of the day he still had to earn his rice on someone else's turf. Even with a trade to his name, what did it matter that he made his living by his own two hands? They could fire him outright and hire another chef just as easily.

So the chef said, "Just the last dish left — pork ribs stewed with potatoes. It'll be out of the pot any moment. Everything else is ready. Have a look for yourself."

"Oh, then let me taste this pork ribs and potato stew first, see if it's any good!" Zhong Yongliang walked up beside the chef, glanced at the pot, and said, "Go find me a bowl and dish out a rib so I can taste it!"

"Fine, wait here!" The chef had no choice. He turned and left the back kitchen to fetch Zhong Yongliang a bowl. The tableware was not kept in the kitchen but in the sterilization room next door.

The moment the chef turned and left, Zhong Yongliang quickly pulled a small bottle from his pocket, opened the cap, and dumped the entire contents — a powdered poison — into the pot of pork ribs and potatoes before him. Gao Xiaofu was not idle either; he began pouring poison into the other dishes.

Because the bowls and chopsticks were being sterilized at that moment, the chef had to shut down the sterilization cabinet before he could take them out, which cost him some time — and that time was more than enough for Zhong Yongliang and Gao Xiaofu to do their work. The two of them emptied every last drop of poison into the serving trays, and still the chef had not returned.

The school's daily menu was six dishes and one soup — exactly the right number, no more, no less. Seven bottles of poison, just enough to go into all of them. Had there been one dish fewer, the job would have been awkward.

In truth, very few people ever ordered all six dishes and a soup in a single meal. Apart from the wealthy, almost no one did such a thing.

But many close friends would gather in groups of three or five and pool their money for one table, each buying a dish or two, and together they could assemble the full six dishes and a soup. This pooling of funds was extremely common among students, and so the odds of being poisoned rose sharply.

By the time the chef returned with the bowl and chopsticks, Zhong Yongliang was already standing by the great pot of pork ribs and potatoes, cool and composed. Seeing the chef come back, he said with some impatience, "What took you so long? Hurry up, hurry up, I can't wait!"

"The bowls and chopsticks were in the sterilization cabinet — they're a bit of a hassle to get out!" the chef explained with a bitter smile. "Young Master Zhong, will you taste it now?"

"Mm, hurry it up!" Zhong Yongliang nodded and pointed into the pot. "That rib there, that one — that piece is nice and fatty."

The chef hastily fished out the rib Zhong Yongliang had picked and handed it over.

Zhong Yongliang, with feigned impatience, picked up the rib and put it in his mouth, then exclaimed, "Delicious! Give us two portions of this pork ribs and potato stew, and that egg soup too — two bowls of that as well!"

"One dish and one soup?" The chef looked at Zhong Yongliang uncertainly. Why would Zhong Yongliang order only these two dishes this time? Knowing his character, even if he did not want everything, he would ask for three or four dishes at least.

"I don't much care for the rest! Get moving, give me plenty of meat!" Zhong Yongliang said impatiently.

"All right, all right!" The chef understood then — so Zhong Yongliang simply did not like the other dishes. No wonder. He quickly ladled out two portions of pork ribs and potatoes and two bowls of egg soup, then carried them out to a table in the dining hall, where Zhong Yongliang and Gao Xiaofu each took two steamed buns and sat down.

"Brother Liang, this food's been poisoned — can we still eat it? We won't die, will we?" Gao Xiaofu was a little frightened and did not dare touch his chopsticks.

"Damn, if it could kill me I'd already be dead — didn't I just eat a rib?" Zhong Yongliang said with a curl of his lip.

"Oh, but there's still the egg soup. If we eat both together, we won't be poisoned, will we?" Gao Xiaofu was still worried.

"You idiot, if it could poison us, would I be eating it?" Zhong Yongliang glared at him. "The Medicine King said that these two herbs eaten together aren't poisonous at all — on the contrary, they tonify the kidneys and strengthen yang!"

"So that's how it is..." Gao Xiaofu nodded, though he still did not quite dare to lift his chopsticks.

"Eat up! We came here to poison the place — if we don't eat a bit before we leave, there's no telling we won't be suspected afterward!" With that, Zhong Yongliang began to eat with gusto.

Gao Xiaofu had no choice but to steel himself and dig in. After a few bites, though, he found it quite tasty, and there was nothing strange about his body, so he relaxed and ate heartily...

When they had finished, Zhong Yongliang took Gao Xiaofu and slipped away first — after all, they had just finished poisoning the food, and it would not do to linger in the cafeteria too long.

"Boss, what are you thinking about?" During the noon break after the last morning class, Kang Xiaobo turned around and saw Wei Zhao frowning in thought. A little puzzled, he asked.

It was the final semester of senior year, and every inch of time was worth an inch of gold. Kang Xiaobo had to bury himself in his studies too, so all morning, apart from greeting Wei Zhao in the early hours, he had spent the rest of the time with his nose in his books.

"Nothing. Shall we go eat?" What Wei Zhao was mulling over was how to find an excuse to get close to An Jianwen and probe for news of Qiu Lingshan.

Wei Zhao had agreed to help Yang Huaijun, but he had no starting point. In the past, he would have gone straight to An Jianwen's home and demanded the man be handed over; if refused, he would simply have killed him. But not now. Even if he killed him, he would have to choose a secret opportunity — he could not let it be tied to the matter of Qiu Lingshan.

"Let's go." Kang Xiaobo nodded. "Did you call sister-in-law?"

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