The car sped towards Guancheng. Lin Shuyue and Li Weisheng took the opportunity to catch up on sleep.

Lin Shuyue woke up to find Li Weisheng and Huang Qiang standing outside the car, smoking.

Lin Shuyue got out of the car. A gust of wind carrying a hint of heat hit her face. Li Weisheng tossed her a drink. Lin Shuyue reached out and caught it steadily. It was ice-cold jasmine green tea.

She twisted open the cap and took a sip. The cold water went down her throat, and the remaining sleepiness instantly vanished.

“How long have we been here?”

“Ten minutes.”

Having received the answer, Lin Shuyue looked across the road.

A tall and wide factory gate. Outside were four-story factory buildings. On the roof of the factory building stood nine large neon characters that lit up in white light: “Taixida Group Second Branch Factory.”

She looked at the watch on her wrist. It was already past twelve o’clock.

But the factory wasn’t dark. Looking from the gate into the factory, there was a street lamp every few steps. The lights on the third and fourth floors of the factory building were brightly lit, and many green trees were planted by the walls.

The lights were on in a few scattered rooms of the two small buildings that were dormitories.

Some workers in moon-blue uniforms who had just finished their night shift came out. Some went to the convenience store, and some went to the late-night snack stalls. The quiet midnight suddenly became lively.

Seeing that Lin Shuyue was completely awake, Huang Qiang said, “Time is tight, let’s hurry up and get to work.”

The main purpose of their coming now was to investigate the factory’s granary. So, they had to start from the source. That meant they needed to know which company was Taixida’s rice supplier.

And this information wasn’t a secret.

Lin Shuyue used the light to put on some makeup, then went to a less crowded store further away from Taixida with her bag.

After spending forty yuan to buy snacks and a pack of better-quality cigarettes, Lin Shuyue played with her phone, leaning against the counter and chatting with the owner who was minding the store.

The night was long, and minding the store was boring. Lin Shuyue had bought a lot of things, she was good-looking, and she didn’t seem like a bad person.

The owner was happy to answer Lin Shuyue’s questions.

Lin Shuyue sighed. “Boss, I just came here to find work. I’ve been to so many places. This Taixida is big. How many people are inside?”

The owner had opened his store opposite Taixida, so he knew the basic information about Taixida. Hearing Lin Shuyue ask this, he said, “This Taixida is the biggest factory in our town. There are about ten thousand people. The recruitment conditions for this factory are high. They require a junior high school education.”

“Pretty girl, you should know about Taixida, right? Look, they’re showing an advertisement on TV.” The owner pointed to the TV directly opposite him. It was currently the advertisement time after the TV show had finished.

“I know, how could I not know? I didn’t expect such a big factory on TV to be here.” Lin Shuyue said, pretending to be very surprised.

Lin Shuyue’s feelings were normal. In her previous life, she often watched some TV commercials and would also buy products advertised on TV. But one day, when she suddenly passed by the production area of one of those products, she felt very surprised.

If she had to describe that feeling of surprise, it would probably be like seeing a celebrity on TV every day, and then unexpectedly running into them when she went out.

The second branch factory of Taixida was located in this town, and both the town’s natives and some merchants were very proud of it.

Hearing Lin Shuyue say this, the owner became very talkative. “That’s right. All of Taixida’s infant rice cereal in the country is made here. They consume a ton of rice every day! We also have a dairy cow breeding area here, just in the suburbs. They plant a lot of grass there, and you can see many dairy cows grazing there every day, just like on a grassland. Many people treat it as a tourist area to visit.”

Lin Shuyue cooperated fully. “Wow, a ton of rice must be two thousand catties. Doesn’t the grain seller have to deliver goods to them every day?”

“Where would they need daily deliveries? They deliver once a week. How could they manage daily deliveries? It’s not like vegetables. Look, today happens to be the day for rice delivery. It’s estimated that the trucks will arrive soon.” This wasn’t a secret, and the owner had told many people about it.

“Pretty girl, don’t think the requirements for getting into Taixida are high for nothing. The salary is high, and the benefits are good. My friend works in the loading and unloading workshop inside. Last month, he received a salary of more than three thousand.” A salary of more than three thousand was already considered a high salary in this era.

After the owner finished speaking, someone came to pay the bill. While he was busy, Lin Shuyue greeted him and left.

The owner didn’t say anything and just went about his business.

Lin Shuyue went to the car. Huang Qiang and Li Weisheng had both returned.

Li Weisheng said, “The information I found out is that a rice supplier will be delivering goods today.”

Lin Shuyue also nodded at Huang Qiang. “What I found out is the same.”

Huang Qiang, however, had obtained three sets of factory uniforms and work badges. The three of them found a nearby public restroom to change into them.

It was already one o’clock. People who had finished their night shift and were out for a late-night snack had also returned one after another, and the factory gate had closed. The two stores that Lin Shuyue and Li Weisheng had gone to inquire at had also closed their doors.

Huang Qiang drove the car to the back gate of the factory, turned off all the lights, and waited in place.

The back gate was near a residential area. Occasionally, a few drunk people staggered past the car.

Lin Shuyue and the other two divided the work, with each person taking two-hour shifts.

At three ten, Lin Shuyue woke up Huang Qiang and Li Weisheng.

Three semi-trailer trucks drove in from the alley. The iron gate at the back of the factory was opened, and more than a dozen loaders and unloaders in work uniforms were already waiting.

The trucks stopped, and the person in charge invited the drivers into the factory canteen. The loaders and unloaders began to move the rice.

Lin Shuyue and the other two exchanged a glance and took advantage of the darkness to walk over and join the ranks of rice movers.

It was already late at night. There wasn’t a sliver of moonlight in the sky, and there wasn’t any light around the trucks. The work uniforms worn by Lin Shuyue and the other two were the same as those worn by the loaders and unloaders. So, the three of them, each carrying a bag of rice, blended into the loading and unloading crew and entered the factory.

The three of them gradually dispersed. Lin Shuyue followed behind two loaders and unloaders. The button camera clipped to her collar had already started working.

Lin Shuyue heard them chatting. The middle-aged man on the left whispered to the slightly younger man on the right, “Liu Bing, did you smell that? There’s a moldy smell in the rice that was delivered again this time.”

The person called Liu Bing whispered, “How could I not smell such a strong smell? You say the leaders in this factory are black-hearted. They make so much money every day, but they’re unwilling to use good rice.”

“The factory needs so much rice. I reckon someone would sell it for fifty cents a catty. Tell me, why use moldy rice?”

“Moldy rice is cheap. Last time I heard Manager Wang talking to someone on the phone, this kind of rice is old rice, and it’s moldy rice. It only costs a little over ten cents a catty. Does a can of rice cereal even use a catty? Add some of those vegetables that are rotten beyond recognition. How much money can the boss make per catty of rice? Very black-hearted.”

The middle-aged man who spoke to Liu Bing said, “That’s right. Could they open such a big factory if their hearts weren’t black? But don’t go around talking nonsense. We get an extra fifty yuan for every hour we carry rice at night. Working all night is more than a hundred and fifty yuan. How much extra money is that in a month just from doing this?”

Liu Bing said, “How could I not know? But I told my relatives and friends at home not to eat this rice cereal. Things made from moldy rice, I really wouldn’t dare let children eat them.”

“Brother Zhang, you’ve been working in the factory for so many years. Have you built a house at home?”

“Built it, a two-story building. It’s the first one in our village!” Brother Zhang was very proud. The topic of conversation between the two completely went off track from here.

Lin Shuyue followed the two of them to the granary. The lights in the granary were very dim. After Lin Shuyue put down the rice bag, she quickly walked past them. Because the light was too dim and it was too dark, Lao Zhang and Liu Bing didn’t see Lin Shuyue’s face.

Lao Zhang just said, “Who was that person who just walked past? Was it that kid Liang Guang?”

“Maybe? Looked a bit like him. That kid is really capable. Look how fast he runs, doesn’t seem to get tired.”

“Young, huh? I was like that when I was young too, very active when working. Now that I’m older, I’ll be lazy if I can.”

Amidst the conversation between the two, Lin Shuyue hid behind a tree. After they left, Lin Shuyue quickly returned the way she came and hid among the stacks of grain bags.

There weren’t many people in the granary at night. Perhaps because it was said to be haunted, there weren’t even any surveillance cameras installed. Apart from the loaders and unloaders who came and went, there were hardly any other people inside.

Lin Shuyue hid in a corner and sent messages to Li Weisheng and Huang Qiang. The two replied very quickly.

They had both sneaked in.

Lin Shuyue put her phone back into her space and took out a small knife from her space. She inserted it into the nearest rice bag, and the rice instantly poured out of the bag.

Lin Shuyue reached out and caught some of it.

This rice was normal long-grain rice, but the moldy smell was even stronger. Taking a closer look, the texture of the rice was yellowish, and some of the rice had black spots in the yellow.

Lin Shuyue took a deep breath and continued to randomly check in the rice warehouse. She checked ten bags, and every bag was moldy. When she went to other granaries, it was all the same.

Lin Shuyue left the rice warehouse and walked around the factory openly.

This time, she was going to the rice soaking area on the first floor.

Li Weisheng was already inside.

Li Weisheng said, “I just came from the polishing area. This moldy rice will be polished over there. After going through the polishing area and being ground, you won’t be able to see any signs of mold.”

The rice was polished before being soaked. Lin Shuyue reached out and grabbed a handful of rice from the soaking pool in front. The white rice stung Lin Shuyue’s eyes. She leaned closer to smell it. After polishing and soaking, the rice no longer had any moldy smell.

“You’re right, you can’t smell it anymore.”

Li Weisheng took out a packet of finely ground rice cereal. “This rice cereal was taken from the grinding area over there. It has a strong rice fragrance.”

Lin Shuyue took it and smelled it. The rice fragrance was rich. Anyone would believe that this rice was freshly harvested new rice!

“Real animals.” Lin Shuyue gritted her teeth.

The two continued walking forward as they talked, following the signs to the fruit and vegetable processing area.

The fruit and vegetable processing area were very large. The buzzing sound of electrical appliances and fans could be heard from outside. Baskets and baskets of fruits and vegetables appeared before the two of them.

Various vegetables were spoiling very quickly due to the hot weather. The smell of various vegetables mixed together was very unpleasant.

Lin Shuyue watched as the employees processing the vegetables in front of her removed the rotten parts of the vegetables, cut off the spoiled parts of the fruits, and threw the rest into the fruit and vegetable cleaning machine. After a while, they were transported to the next process.

There weren’t many people at night. The two moved very quietly and stayed in the dark. They came quietly and left the fruit and vegetable processing area quietly.

Huang Qiang sent a text message. The two found a place to climb over the wall, then waited for ten minutes before Huang Qiang came out to meet them.

It was already six o’clock. The three of them left quickly.

After taking off their work clothes and returning to the back door, the rice on the two semi-trailer trucks had already been unloaded, and the trucks had left. The back door was also closed.

The first thing the three of them did after getting into the car was to open a bottle of mineral water that Huang Qiang had bought and kept in the car.

Li Weisheng leaned back in his seat. “Didn’t you guys think it was too easy for us to get in this time?”

Lin Shuyue rubbed her face vigorously. “It’s because we came too fast. I guess the news about those children getting sick from eating their rice cereal hasn’t spread yet. And I just went to the store to take a look.”

“A place where a rice cereal company is located, but the supermarket doesn’t sell this brand of rice cereal! What does that mean? It means they did risk control. They sold the poisonous rice cereal to other places. If news comes from other places, they have time and space to clean up these things.”

“Plus, we came in the middle of the night. This is the time when people are most lax. We caught them off guard.”

Taixida’s actions were disgusting, just like that toxic milk powder group in her previous life, which specifically sold the toxic milk powder to underdeveloped areas. Their hearts were truly evil!

“Damn, they’re not human.” Li Weisheng had lost count of how many times he had cursed this sentence.

Putting aside everything else, just using moldy rice was enough for Li Weisheng to hate them intensely. He was just glad that his niece hadn’t reached the age of eating supplementary food yet, otherwise, his niece would be one of the sick children! Because his mother had mentioned this topic once at home!

But while feeling fortunate, he also felt deeply saddened for those infants and young children who had already eaten Taixida’s rice cereal. Those children weren’t just cold numbers, they were living people!

“Let’s talk about what you’ve found out.” The three exchanged information. After Lin Shuyue and Li Weisheng finished speaking, it was Huang Qiang’s turn.

Huang Qiang said, “I went to the canteen and heard the factory leaders chatting with the delivery people. They said that after two more deliveries, this moldy rice will be gone.”

“The factory leaders expressed great regret about this. They also said that since they started using this moldy rice, the factory’s profits have increased by 150% compared to the same period last year.”

Li Weisheng punched the car seat. “These people’s hearts are black. They know themselves that moldy rice can’t be eaten, but they can use this rice in infant products.”

Lin Shuyue said, “Marx said that if capital has a profit of 50%, it will take risks; if it has a profit of 100%, it will dare to trample all laws in the world; and if it has a profit of 300%, it will dare to commit any crime, even at the risk of being hanged. To put it bluntly, it’s all about the allure of profit. Now, what we should question is, where would there be so much moldy rice?”

Ordinary rice mills wouldn’t have so much moldy rice.

Huang Qiang started the car and drove away from the back gate of Taixida’s branch factory, saying in a low voice, “It’s reserve grain, national reserve grain.”

Reserve grain refers to the grain and edible oil stored by the government to regulate the total supply and demand of social grain, stabilize the grain market, and respond to major natural disasters or other emergencies.

Reserve grain is of great significance to national security. Reserve grain is used by the country to “save lives”! Once a major famine or war occurs, having sufficient grain reserves can at least guarantee the people’s food supply. In addition, the state can also regulate grain prices and stabilize commodity prices by selling reserve grain.

There are such granaries all over the country. But with more granaries, there are also more weevils^[1]T/N: Weevils are small beetles that are known for infesting stored grains like rice, wheat, and corn. They are considered pests because they can damage and contaminate the grain, making it unfit for … Continue reading. This batch of moldy rice was the result of the granaries being flooded during the recent rains.

Then why were the granaries flooded? Was it because the granaries were built with shoddy materials, was the annual maintenance fee embezzled, or was it caused by the warehouse management personnel not conducting regular inspections?

These were all unknown.

But to cover up mistakes and circulate problematic stored grain into the market was wrong!

Lin Shuyue said, “Morning is the time to milk the cows. Let’s go to the dairy farm in the suburbs.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

Twenty minutes later, the three of them stopped at the “Taixida Dairy Farm.” It was a very, very large plain, with an estimated area of fifty acres. Some places were enclosed by iron fences, and some by brick walls.

Looking from where they were now, the dairy farm had planted a lot of green grass. There was a wind this morning, and the green grass swayed from side to side with the wind.

Black and white dairy cows grazed leisurely in the green grassland.

Lin Shuyue and the other two pretended to be tourists, paid the entrance fee, and walked inside.

The entrance fee wasn’t expensive, three yuan per person.

After walking through a long corridor, they arrived at the milking area. A group of milkers in work uniforms was milking cows in the cowsheds. Other employees were putting green grass into the troughs. There were more than thirty cows in this row, a total of three rows. Although there looked like a lot of cows, it wasn’t enough to supply Taixida.

Lin Shuyue and the other two mingled with a group of parents who had brought their children to play and discussed in low voices.

Lin Shuyue said, “I observed when I came in. The enclosure here is very large, half as much again as what we can see now.”

“Something’s fishy.”

The three of them acted separately.

Lin Shuyue walked around casually and slowly reached a place with a “No Tourists Beyond This Point” sign. She looked inside, and there was no one there.

She opened her mouth and asked, “Hello, excuse me, is the restroom this way?”

She waited quietly for two minutes. When no one answered, Lin Shuyue walked in through the gate.

After walking past what was the employees’ dormitory area, a wooden door appeared before her. She gently pushed open the wooden door, and a different scene appeared before her eyes.

Compared to the grassland pastoral scene next door, this was a huge shed. Inside the shed were many emaciated dairy cows, about fifty in each cowshed. There was a total of ten cowsheds.

A foul odor emanated from here. Cow manure was everywhere in the cowsheds. Every step the cows took, they stepped on manure. Flies and mosquitoes flew all over the place. The grass the cows ate wasn’t the green grass outside but yellowed straw. The straw was trampled everywhere.

Lin Shuyue endured the stench and took pictures and videos of the environment here.

Then, hearing footsteps, she quickly flashed out the door and walked to the employees’ dormitory area. Her camera and phone had already been put into her space.

Two milkers wearing straw sandals and leather skirts walked in, carrying milk buckets. Seeing Lin Shuyue strolling here, they immediately became nervous.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to go to the restroom. I was looking for it and ended up here. Big brother, where is the restroom here?”

The two milkers relaxed instantly after hearing Lin Shuyue’s words. “The restroom is still ahead. Go out through this door and walk for another two minutes, and you’ll be there.”

Lin Shuyue quickly thanked them and hurriedly ran in the direction they pointed.

After she left, the two milkers were still chatting. “What is Lao Liu doing? Letting tourists wander in here without him knowing. How many times has this happened?!”

“He must be hiding somewhere making phone calls again. We’ve told him a long time ago that the woman from the plastic factory isn’t with him because she likes him at all, she just wants his money. He doesn’t believe it at all. What can we do?”

“Don’t talk nonsense. He’s forty years old. It’s not easy for him to have a woman. If she wants money, let her have it. He’s willing, what do you care? We just have to tell the team leader that we can’t let him continue like this. We have to deduct his salary!”

“That’s right. What if something happens? It’s not the first time. We’ve given him so many chances.”

The conversation between the two gradually faded behind the door.

Lin Shuyue went to the restroom and then went to the milking area in front to meet up.

Compared to the shed behind the dormitory area, the milking area here was so much better. Like heaven and earth.

They ate green grass, the sheds they lived in had a good environment, you couldn’t see a single bit of manure, and even the walls of the sheds were painted bright white.

The contrast in environment was too obvious, so obvious that it was glaring.

Li Weisheng was taking pictures of the dairy cows. Huang Qiang was nowhere to be seen. The three of them gathered outside.

It was already past ten o’clock. The three got into the car and left Guancheng.

After entering Pengcheng and passing by a newsstand, Lin Shuyue got out and bought three newspapers. The front-page headline of Pengcheng Metropolis Daily published the article Lin Shuyue had written last night: “Multiple Infants Hospitalized with Diarrhea, Suspected of Eating ‘Taixida Rice Cereal’.”