The root of the trouble was none other than the banquet held today.
Su Xiaotian and others took Auguste and his entourage to Yiming Pavilion, and the extra table was arranged by Lü Ruya to entertain guests from the East Market.
Director Liang brought the guests from the East Market to the roast duck restaurant.
It had to be said that although the dishes at the roast duck restaurant were not as good as those at Yiming Pavilion, it was an old brand and very capable.
The guests from the East Market praised the food, even saying that Qili Silk Factory was too polite, and they could just eat in the factory canteen.
Director Liang was quite happy about this, feeling very proud.
But who would have thought that halfway through the meal, someone from the East Market suddenly clutched his stomach and said he felt unwell.
At first, everyone didn't pay much attention, thinking that the guest from the East Market might have eaten something that upset his stomach.
But after they sent the guest from the East Market to the hospital, something unexpected happened.
The other guests from the East Market also started vomiting and having diarrhea.
Director Liang thought it was due to the change in climate and quickly used his connections to find a doctor to examine them.
Unexpectedly, before Director Liang could finish, he himself collapsed.
Even the two comrades who followed Old Liang were not spared.
At this point, everyone at the table was incapacitated.
This situation drew the attention of the doctors at the hospital, who promptly conducted systematic examinations on the individuals.
After a chaotic series of examinations, it was confirmed to be food poisoning.
When Director Liang heard this conclusion, he couldn't believe it.
How could newly cooked dishes cause poisoning?
He even argued with the doctor, saying that the doctor's examination was wrong, but all the examination data clearly indicated food poisoning.
As for what kind of food poisoning it was, it had not yet been confirmed.
At such a critical juncture, there wasn't a single person in charge at the factory.
The secretary of Factory Director Shi tried to contact the two factory directors and even mobilized other people to find them.
But in the vast sea of people, how could they possibly find them?
With no other options, Secretary Shi had to go to Factory Director Ma, who was in the hospital.
But he was also met with a rebuff.
Factory Director Ma said he had taken sick leave and couldn't manage or handle these matters.
Upon hearing this news, Shi Yuliang and Lü Ruya broke out in a cold sweat.
Something was wrong with the food?
How could that be?
That was a state-run restaurant, and if nothing else, the quality should not be an issue.
"How is it now?" Lü Ruya's voice had changed, and he asked hoarsely.
"Director Lü, since we couldn't find you and the director, we asked Professor Huo to take charge. Professor Huo is at the hospital now."
The two leaders, finally understanding the situation, rushed to the hospital without even considering their exhaustion.
No matter what, they had to appease the guests from the East Market.
Although the guests from the East Market were not as important as the German guests, they couldn't just leave them lying in hospital beds!
They still had to cooperate in the future, and if things soured, it would be a big blow to Qili Silk Factory!
When the two arrived at the hospital, panting, the first thing they saw was the tall and elegant Huo Sinian.
Huo Sinian was wearing a trench coat and standing in the hospital corridor, with two police officers beside him.
The three of them seemed to be discussing something, but their expressions were clearly serious.
Just by looking at their serious expressions, Shi Yuliang and Lü Ruya knew that this matter must be very serious!
"Professor Huo, what's going on? Why have the police been alerted?" Director Lü couldn't help but ask directly, disregarding politeness.
Huo Sinian frowned deeply and cast a meaningful glance at Shi Yuliang and Lü Ruya.
Then he said to the two police officers, "Comrades, these two are Shi Yuliang, the factory director of the Silk Factory, and Lü Ruya, the deputy director. If you have any questions, you can ask them."
After saluting the two, the police officers said, "There are some suspicious points in today's incident. After Comrade Huo Sinian reported it, we immediately investigated and are now asking for your cooperation in our investigation."
The two were bewildered. They didn't know anything, so how could they cooperate with the investigation?
"Officers, we just arrived and don't know anything. We came to visit the guests from the East Market."
"Please cooperate with our work!" the two police officers said with stern faces.
The two wanted to argue further and requested to see the guests from the East Market first, but the police officers were very firm and insisted that they accompany them to the police station.
With no other choice, the two followed.
This trip took more than two hours.
Even at the police station, they almost couldn't explain why they had suddenly changed their dining location and used the originally reserved banquet to entertain guests from the East Market.
This clearly showed suspicion towards them.
The two felt wronged. They were so old, could they just speak falsely?
But the banquet was arranged by them, and they were the ones who arranged to entertain the guests from the East Market. Now that something had happened, they couldn't explain themselves even if they had a thousand mouths.
Anyone would suspect that this matter was related to them, right?
In short, when the two came out of the police station, it was already past midnight.
But at this time, they still couldn't rest and had to go to the hospital to visit the guests from the East Market.
The guests from the East Market also did not expect that their trip to the capital would result in such undeserved disaster.
They never wanted to eat Beijing roast duck again in their lives, and they were filled with lingering fear whenever they thought about it.
Why?
It was because they all felt that the matter was definitely not simple, and it was premeditated.
They couldn't understand why they were harmed when they were just here for a visit.
They were here for a visit and intended to reach some basic cooperation with Qili Silk Factory for mutual benefit.
Why would Qili Silk Factory target them?
Because of this suspicion, when Shi Yuliang and Lü Ruya arrived at the ward, the guests from the East Market didn't even give them a glance.
They even pretended to be asleep on the spot, not opening their eyes.
They could only endure it, as they were the ones at fault.
The two stayed at the hospital for a long time and were truly exhausted, so they had to leave.
There were even more important matters tomorrow. As for the guests from the East Market, they could only come back tomorrow night to explain.
Su Xiaotian was unaware of the calamity that had befallen Qili Silk Factory.
Even more unaware was that because she had impulsively brought Christina and others to Yiming Pavilion, it directly resulted in these people escaping disaster.
If the tampered food had been eaten by foreign merchants instead of the guests from the East Market, this matter might have turned into a diplomatic incident.
Once foreign merchants were involved, the problem would be huge, especially when the country intended to attract a large amount of foreign investment. Food poisoning of foreign merchants would be difficult to handle.
At that time, their factory would likely not be able to bear the responsibility.
Especially Shi Yuliang and Lü Ruya, they might suffer great misfortune because of this.