flstandardbreds Chapter 181 Poisoning Incident
Chapter 181 Poisoning Incident
Li Mu immediately headed towards the kitchen.
When he arrived at the kitchen, he saw that the batch of vegetables that had been identified as problematic were neatly stacked in a corner.
Three chefs were smoking and keeping watch when Wang Dali yelled at them, "Still smoking! Put away your cigarettes! What kind of work is this! The customers have food poisoning and you're still smoking here! Do you know how serious the situation is?!"
A chef saw Li Mu and scoffed, muttering, "We didn't grow the vegetables, so why are you talking about us?"
Ignoring the cook's mutterings, Li Mu walked over to the batch of vegetables and began to examine them carefully.
These vegetables look just like the diseased vegetables in the cooperative; their leaves are all yellow, and some are even withered.
He immediately understood; the problem lay with these vegetables.
He turned to Wang Dali and asked, "Brother Dali, when were these vegetables delivered?"
Wang Dali thought for a moment and said, "It was this morning, not long after I opened the door, that you delivered it."
Li Mu frowned: "This morning? So, does that mean these vegetables were already problematic before they were delivered?"
Wang Dali was stunned: "Impossible, right? These vegetables were perfectly fine when they were delivered, how could there suddenly be a problem?"
Li Mu shook his head: "These vegetables look just like the diseased vegetables in the cooperative. They are very likely infected with bacteria. Moreover, the incubation period of this bacteria is very short. Once infected, the disease will develop quickly. We have to destroy these vegetables immediately so that our customers can't eat them anymore."
Upon hearing this, Wang Dali hesitated: "But these vegetables are all grown with great difficulty. It would be such a waste to just destroy them like this."
Li Mu knew that Wang Dali was distressed about these vegetables, but if he allowed these problematic vegetables to continue entering the market, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"Brother Dali, I'll refund you the money for this batch of goods, and I'll cover the customer's medical expenses. What do you think?"
Before Wang Dali could even speak, the three chefs already voiced their opinions.
"Hey, why are you acting like this? What does the problem with the vegetables have to do with our store? Why should we take the blame?"
One of the chefs grumbled in dissatisfaction.
Li Mu looked at the chef with a serious expression: "Now is not the time to talk about responsibility. What we need to do is solve the problem immediately and prevent the situation from escalating further. We can investigate whose responsibility it is after we've resolved the issue with these vegetables."
"Are you implying that we should take the blame first? We don't agree to that!"
Another chef started shouting too.
"You've compensated the customers, but who's going to compensate us cooks for our lost wages? We're busy all day long, is it easy for us?"
"Masters, I know you are all feeling bad, but now is not the time to assign blame."
"This batch of vegetables does indeed have a problem. We can't let our customers continue to eat these problematic vegetables. This is for our own sake and for the sake of our customers. Can we calculate everyone's lost wages after this matter is resolved?"
The chef who spoke first curled his lip: "You make it sound so easy. Who knows how long it will take to resolve this? We don't have the patience to wait for you."
Li Mu knew that the chefs were worried about lost wages. He thought for a moment and said, "How about this, I'll prepay everyone's lost wages, and we'll make up the difference later once the matter is resolved. Is that alright?"
Upon hearing this, the three chefs' expressions softened somewhat, and they gave Wang Dali a wink.
"Alright, let's do it this way for now. Five thousand each, that's fifteen thousand for three people."
Wang Dali was already annoyed at being interrupted, but after hearing what the three chefs said, he became somewhat tempted.
The 15,000 wasn't all given to the three people; a small portion went into his pocket.
Although Li Mu was introduced by Zhao Dakai, they weren't close. The three chefs were long-time employees who had worked with him for several years and had a good relationship with him. Naturally, he sided with the three chefs.
Li Mu didn't notice the change in Wang Dali's expression. Fifteen thousand was no small amount. He could afford it, but Wang Dali was asking for five thousand per person!
Even a fool could see that he was being scammed.
Do you think he's easy to bully or what? Do you think he's easy to manipulate just because he's young?
Li Mu's face darkened, and he said firmly, "Masters, I understand your feelings, but lost wages are not something you can just ask for casually. We have to calculate it according to the actual situation, and we can't ask for an exorbitant price."
Upon hearing this, the three chefs were immediately displeased. One of them shouted, "What do you mean? We've worked hard all day, and the vegetables are the problem. Our customers are getting sick from eating them, and we're the ones who have to take the blame. Now you don't even want to pay us enough for our lost wages?"
Li Mu patiently explained, "I'm not saying we shouldn't pay for lost wages, but we need to calculate it reasonably. Can't we just calculate it based on one day's pay?"
"What? You want to back out now? No way!"
Another chef chimed in, "That's right, we don't have time to waste here. Hurry up and give us the money, or we'll report you to the health bureau and make your cooperative go out of business!"
Li Mu looked at them and sneered inwardly.
These chefs usually seem honest and unassuming, but when it really matters, they turn out to be so greedy and insatiable.
Seeing Wang Dali pretending to be deaf and dumb, what else is there to understand? It's obvious that they've conspired with Wang Dali to extort him.
“I can pay for lost wages, but definitely not the amount you’re saying. We can ask the village committee to witness it, and we’ll calculate it reasonably based on everyone’s usual salary. I won’t give a single penny more.”
Upon hearing this, the three chefs immediately became anxious and shouted, "Are you trying to renege on your promise? We won't allow it!"
Seeing this, Wang Dali quickly said, "Muzi, look how hard they've worked all day, why don't you give them a little more?"
Li Mu looked at Wang Dali with a complicated expression: "Brother Dali, I usually call you 'brother' because I consider you one of my own. But what you did in this matter was really underhanded."
"These vegetables clearly have problems, yet you still want to serve them, causing health issues for your customers. Aren't you ruining your own reputation? Moreover, you're colluding with these chefs to extort money from me. What do you mean by that?"
Wang Dali, with his loud voice, also shouted back, "Mu Zi, you're wrong! How could I possibly let these problematic vegetables go on the table? I'm a victim too!"
"Victims? Then why didn't you seal up these problematic vegetables and instead let them be served to your guests? Didn't you check the vegetables when they were delivered?"
If the matter were truly clarified, it would be entirely not Li Mu's responsibility.
When the vegetables were delivered, Wang Dali, as the recipient, should have carefully inspected them to ensure their quality and safety.
However, he was negligent and failed to fulfill his responsibility, which allowed the problematic vegetables to enter the kitchen and end up on the guests' tables.