"Adults are not poisoned because of their height," the people finally understood the purpose of Xiao Xian’s gesture at the waist earlier, which was measuring the height of the Wealthy Orange.
These two pots of Golden Tangerine had been pruned by gardeners when they were bought, shaped into a delicate form, with all the oranges hanging on the outer branches, roughly one meter high, much shorter than the height of adults, but just enough for children to reach.
"A single orange tree, from blooming and bee pollination to fruit-bearing and ripening, can only last a few months at most. These two Wealthy Orange trees have been placed inside for nearly nine months with not a single naturally fallen fruit and a total of twelve oranges picked. Three from the top of the tree, and nine from the middle," Xiao Xian carefully pointed out the remnants of the stems where the oranges were picked.
The top of the trees would have been reached by some adult customers, while the middle part was where the children picked them. By examining the freshness of the stems, it can be estimated, "There should have been four children hospitalized yesterday."
Feng Xing was dumbfounded, and the manager was also shocked; tonight’s news did not specify the number of children affected by food poisoning, only those who had read the newspaper during the day would know the exact number of poisoning cases.
"Young lady, are you sure that everything you just said is true?" The manager, seeing a guiding light, mentioned today that the business management department had already investigated and notified that if the specific cause of poisoning could not be found, they would have to formally close down, which was undoubtedly a fatal blow to century-old establishments like Quanjude. The Wangfujing store has always been known for its good reputation and as a flagship store.
"I am very sure, Auntie, come and touch these two orange trees’ leaves and see if they are different from those at our home," Zhuo Feng followed Xiao Xian’s words, gently touching the leaves; the leaves of the Wealthy Orange were much smoother compared to those of their home’s orange trees.
"Eh," Zhuo Feng also raised some questions, plucked a leaf, and scraped it with her fingernail, resulting in a layer of crystalline powder, "What is this, it looks like it’s been waxed."
"I don’t know what this is either, there’s no citrus fragrance from this tree, just the smell of this crystalline powder, I smelled it as soon as I entered that day. Fearing that the kids might pick and eat indiscriminately, I warned them, but unfortunately their parents didn’t listen," the crying mother of the child who was reported unconscious in the news, was the one who had said Xiao Xian was being nosy that day.
Listening to Xiao Xian’s vivid description, Feng Xing also smelt around; other than the scent of roast duck, it was still the scent of roast duck, this time-honored brand, likely even the paint on the walls smelled of roast duck, one could only say that Xiao Xian’s nose was unusually sensitive.
Seeing that everyone believed her, Xiao Xian secretly made a victorious gesture; she did not have a dog’s nose, how could she have such an acute sense of smell, but if she mentioned the effect of "Copper Space," that would be really scary. It was good this way; whether sprayed with medicine, or using strange crystals, she could identify all with just her bare eyes, even more accurately than laboratory analytical machines.
"Hurry up and find someone to take these two pots of Golden Tangerine for testing, taking away the pots as well," the manager wished at that moment he could smash the flower pots into pieces, talked about Golden Tangerine, more like ’Sweeping Broom Tangerine.’
Later, according to the inspection report from the quarantine department, it was declared that a significant amount of suspected benzoate preservatives were found on the leaves and fruits of the two pots of Golden Tangerine. Such preservatives generally should not be extensively applied to food, yet these two Golden Tangerine were treated with crystals exceeding the safe human intake by hundreds of times. The young boy who was unconscious was also proven to have eaten an unpeeled orange after returning home that day, leading to the poisoning symptoms. After diagnosing the use of this preservative, the hospital treated him accordingly, and the little boy was successfully discharged after two weeks.
From Quanjude, out of gratitude towards Xiao Xian and the others, they were given a VIP gold card, which allows a fifty percent discount at the roast duck restaurant; this card was gleefully tucked into Zhuo Feng’s bag, becoming a new member among her array of shopping cards from various stores.
The issue with the soil on the rooftop was also resolved; it wasn’t bought from the flower and bird market after all. The soil in the flower and bird market, mostly used for potted plants, usually plants similar flowers and trees year-round, having limited fertility, and Xiao Xian wouldn’t be able to use alfalfa to enrich the soil for a while since she needed to go back to school, and Zhuo Feng was already eager to start the "Rooftop" project.