PCJ – Chapter 364 Drinking Pesticide

“Wang Fang, someone reported earlier that a beggar came to your house, and you blamed him for falsely accusing you. But now, with the evidence in hand, what do you have to say for yourself?” Zhang Qi shouted loudly.

The villagers were also indignant. Wang Fang’s tears, although sorrowful, didn’t soften their hearts. After all, the past actions of Zhang Enzhong and his wife had left the villagers angry.

“Here’s what I think—we strip this thief of his clothes and parade him around Meizi’ao, so everyone can see what he looks like. That way, they’ll know to beware of him in the future,” Zhang Jingbing suggested ruthlessly. This would completely ruin Wang Shuigen’s reputation, and if word got out, he could forget about finding a wife.

“I’ll go borrow a gong from Zhang Jiwang! As we parade him, I’ll beat the gong along the way!” Zhang Yuanbao shouted as he dashed off.

“In the old days, we’d hang a thief like him from the camphor tree at the village entrance and beat him with a rope!” Zhang Xianyi added.

The villagers detested thieves, especially Wang Shuigen, who had stolen an elderly woman’s coffin savings. How could they not loathe him?

Wang Fang broke down when she heard what the villagers were saying.

“Don’t hit my brother! He’s young and doesn’t know any better. If you want to punish someone, punish me. If you’re going to parade someone, parade me, not my brother!” Wang Fang wailed.

“Wang Fang, if you knew this would happen, why didn’t you act sooner? When we came to your house earlier, you tried to cover for your brother, thinking we wouldn’t catch him. Now, with the evidence in hand, what’s the point of saying this?” Zhang Jingbing sneered.

“Uncles and aunties, please forgive my brother this time. I promise he’ll never do anything bad again,” Wang Fang pleaded.

“Give it up, Wang Fang. Don’t think we don’t know. This isn’t the first time your brother has stolen. He’s been in jail a few times already and hasn’t learned his lesson! This time, with how much he’s stolen, he’ll be locked up for years,” Zhang Qi said with disgust.

Zhang Yuanbao returned with a copper gong, banging it loudly and shouting, “Come and see! Come and see the thief!”

Realizing she couldn’t stop what was happening, Wang Fang rushed inside the house, found a bottle of pesticide, and came back out.

“Spare my brother! If anyone needs punishment, punish me. I’ll trade my life for his!” Wang Fang opened the bottle and gulped down several mouthfuls.

“Sister! I was wrong!” Wang Shuigen, who had been silent with his head hung low, suddenly looked up and cried out in anguish.

“Quick! Take the bottle from her!” Zhang Jiwang, experienced and calm in a crisis, commanded the crowd.

Zhang Enzhong slapped the bottle out of Wang Fang’s hand, but she had already swallowed several mouthfuls.

“Quick, bring water! We have to make her vomit, or this will be serious!” Zhang Jiwang shouted, and the villagers scrambled into action, both men and women joining the rescue effort.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yuanbao continued banging the gong as he ran into Zhang Enzhong’s courtyard, still shouting, “Come and see the thief!”

But Zhang Youlian slapped the boy, sending him spinning. He didn’t even know what hit him.

“You little fool, can’t you see someone’s life is at stake?!” Zhang Youlian, fearing that a death would bring trouble, scolded him. No matter what Wang Shuigen had done, if Wang Fang died, her family would come after the Zhangs, claiming they had driven her to death. Wang Shuigen might be a thief, but Wang Fang wasn’t. If Wang Shuigen was beaten to death, no one would care. But if Wang Fang died, the Zhang family would be held responsible.

At that moment, Luo Changjun, an officer who had worked at the police station for years, arrived and heard about the attempted suicide. He was familiar with such rural incidents. Some women, especially those with fiery tempers, would resort to drinking pesticide during disputes.

Wang Fang, too, hadn’t truly wanted to die. She had just had a child and was still breastfeeding. The moment she swallowed the pesticide, she regretted it, but it was too late—what was done couldn’t be undone.

“Wang Fang! How could you be so foolish? Your baby is still so young. How could you even think of leaving? What could be so unbearable?” Lu Guifeng shouted.

Tears streamed down Wang Fang’s face. “I… I…”

“Don’t talk now, Wang Fang. Drink water! The more, the better. You need to get everything out of your stomach. As long as you vomit it out, you’ll be okay,” Lu Guifeng said as she poured water into Wang Fang’s mouth.

Wang Fang knew she had to drink water to save her life. She gulped down two ladles of water, but her stomach soon filled, and she could drink no more.

“She has to drink, even if she can’t! What are you all standing around for? Hold her down, get some chopsticks to keep her mouth open, and pour more water down her throat!” Lu Guifeng yelled at the men around her.

The villagers immediately pinned Wang Fang down and forced more water into her.

“Wang Fang, make yourself vomit! Get everything out of your stomach, then we’ll keep giving you water,” Lu Guifeng urged.

Wang Fang’s mind started to fog. Some of the poison had already entered her bloodstream, making the situation more dangerous. But she still had the will to live and followed Lu Guifeng’s instructions.

She used her fingers to induce vomiting, and a strong smell of pesticide filled the air.

Lu Guifeng sighed with relief. If she could vomit, there was hope. But they kept giving her water to flush out the remaining poison.

Officer Luo Changjun knew there was no point in rushing her to the hospital immediately. Even if they drove as fast as they could, it would take over an hour to reach the town clinic, which could perform stomach pumping. If they didn’t intervene now, she would die on the way.

Zhang called for a bowl of water and began chanting, “Heaven and earth unite, I call upon the true deities, Master Sun Wu, True Martial Ancestor, Master Hua Tuo, and all revered masters, transform this poison into dust. By the authority of the great Laozi, let it be done!”

The villagers were too focused on Wang Fang to notice Zhang’s actions.

Zhang Jiwang picked up the pesticide bottle Wang Fang had drunk from. Half the contents were still inside.

“Enzhong, have you used this before?” Zhang Jiwang asked.

“No, I just bought it from Liu Baoyi for spraying the crops,” Zhang Enzhong, now panicked, replied. Though he was a businessman, his wife ran the household, and without her, he felt lost.

“Keep giving her water! She drank half a bottle—we need to flush it out!” Zhang Jiwang urged.

The pesticide fumes grew stronger, filling the air as Wang Fang’s symptoms worsened. Her eyes were shutting, and her tongue was stiffening, but tears kept flowing.

Zhang brought the bowl of water over. “Quick! Give her this water!”

At first, Lu Guifeng was about to scold Zhang for interfering, but Zhang Youping quickly urged her, “Let her drink it!”

Lu Guifeng suddenly remembered that Zhang was a follower of Meishan, and this water might be the antidote. Even if it wasn’t, there was no other option at this point. She quickly poured the water into Wang Fang’s mouth.

After drinking it, the strong pesticide smell seemed to lessen, but Lu Guifeng kept giving her more water. Soon, Wang Fang’s belly was so full of water that they had to flip her over and press on her stomach to make her vomit it all out.

“It doesn’t smell like pesticide anymore,” Lu Guifeng remarked.

“It seems like most of it is out,” Zhang Jiwang agreed, breathing a sigh of relief.

Wang Fang’s complexion, once a purplish hue, slowly returned to pale white, and her symptoms of poisoning lessened.

Suddenly, the sound of a baby crying echoed from inside the house.

“Wang Fang! If you had died from drinking that poison, you would’ve left your child an orphan! Can you live with that? Even your child knows you’re in danger!” Lu Guifeng scolded Wang Fang.

Wang Fang’s consciousness gradually returned, her eyelashes fluttering, and tears streamed from her eyes.

“It seems she’s going to be okay,” Zhang Jiwang said, and the entire village exhaled in relief.

Zhang Qi kicked Wang Shuigen. “Look at what you’ve done! You nearly got your sister killed! You have hands and feet, yet you choose to be a thief. Your sister cares about you so much, she’s willing to die for you. How can you face her after this?”

“Sister! I’ll never steal again!” Wang Shuigen, shaken by the events, promised, but only time would tell if he truly meant it.

Officer Luo Changjun finally noticed the tied-up Wang Shuigen and asked, “What’s going on here?”

“He stole all the money from Jiwang’s house last night. If it weren’t for Zhang and his dog tracking him down, this guy would’ve escaped to Maolin,” Zhang Qi explained.