Lin Fan first checked the patient's physical condition and then treated him with acupuncture.
The woman beside him kept chattering.
"My husband is the pillar of our family, he can't have an accident!"
"If you can't cure him, I'll fight you to the death!"
The patient's other family members had the same attitude.
"Cuihua, don't worry, if this doctor doesn't treat the illness properly, he'll have to answer for it!"
Not only did these people not help, but they even threatened Lin Fan.
If it were any other time, Lin Fan would have beaten such people until their own parents wouldn't recognize them.
But saving lives was urgent now, and he didn't have time to be angry.
"Gah!"
Suddenly, the middle-aged man sat up abruptly and vomited a large amount of bile.
The clinic was immediately filled with a foul odor.
Lin Fan looked closely and found that besides eggs, rice, and pickles, there was also some fruit pulp.
This was crabapple, very common in Luofeng Village, and likely not the cause of the poisoning.
After the middle-aged man vomited the contents of his stomach, he immediately felt refreshed and less uncomfortable.
"I, I feel better."
"Don't rush, I'll give you some medicine later to clear the remaining toxins from your body," Lin Fan reminded him.
"Thank you! Thank you, doctor!" the middle-aged man said repeatedly.
The woman grabbed his hand, "You're okay? That's great!"
Slap!
The middle-aged man suddenly slapped the woman across the face.
"What were you doing just now? The doctor was treating me, and you were saying such nasty things. Don't you have any sense?"
"The doctor was trying to help, can't you speak nicely?"
Although he was in pain and couldn't even speak, he knew what was happening around him, and his wife was being too rude.
The middle-aged man became angrier as he thought about it and even planned to take action.
Lin Fan quickly stopped him, "She was just worried, and I didn't take it to heart."
The middle-aged man pointed at the woman's nose, "See? Apologize to the doctor!"
The woman felt wronged, but in her family, the man was the head of the household. Even with a swollen face, she had to obey, and it was true that she was in the wrong.
"Doctor, I'm sorry."
Lin Fan smiled slightly and changed the subject, "Brother, I see you seem to have eaten some fruit. What happened?"
"When I was working in the field, I saw a crabapple tree by the river. I was craving it, so I picked a few and ate them. They might not have been ripe yet, which is why this happened," the middle-aged man said truthfully.
Lin Fan frowned, this matter was not so simple.
Eating unripe fruit would not cause poisoning.
Lin Fan suddenly thought of something, "You just said, the fruit tree by the river?"
"Yes, by the river."
Luofeng Village had only one large river. If that was the case, then this matter could be explained.
This river was originally very clear, with even springs bubbling up, constantly supplying water.
However, with the establishment of a small factory upstream, the river water became darker and darker, and the surrounding plants also changed.
"Speaking of which, this river water is getting stinkier... Could it be that the river water is polluted?" the middle-aged man guessed.
Lin Fan's eyebrows shot up, "I remember last month, the water was just a little dark, and now it's starting to stink?"
"Yes! I don't even dare to let the children play there anymore."
Everyone nodded.
Lin Fan had an answer in his heart. This factory must have discharged something toxic into the river.
"When you go back, tell everyone not to go near that river casually."
This was not a small matter, he couldn't ignore it.
"Those people just now had such a bad attitude, and you could tolerate it?" Song Mengling asked curiously.
Lin Fan smiled slightly, "They didn't have any real malice, they just didn't have much education and couldn't control their emotions when they were anxious."
"Once you understand the countryside, you'll know that most people are actually quite good."
Song Mengling sneered dismissively.
She had no desire to understand these things. Her visit to Luofeng Village was not by choice, and since she was here, she might as well treat it as a vacation. The current living environment was acceptable anyway.
At three in the afternoon, Lin Fan arrived at the village committee, told Xia Xue what he had learned, and then went to the riverbank.
This large river was called Yinxi River. Lin Fan vaguely remembered catching fish in it when he was a child, and even drinking the spring water directly, which was sweet and refreshing.
But now it was completely transformed. The river water was murky and dirty, not a single fish or shrimp could be seen, only the croaking of frogs could be heard.
A foul odor wafted from the water, making Lin Fan feel nauseous.
"Found it."
Lin Fan searched for a long time before finding the crabapple tree.
He picked up a wooden stick and began to dig at the base of the tree.
Soon, a small pit was dug, and the tree's roots were barely visible.
At a glance, Lin Fan was furious.
The roots of this tree had absorbed too many toxins and had turned black.
"Damn it! No wonder the fruit above is poisonous!"
Lin Fan couldn't help but curse.
He directly made a phone call and summoned the superior leader, Qin Yuyan.
After they met, Lin Fan explained his findings.
Qin Yuyan's face turned grim, "I know something about the factory, but I didn't realize the situation had become so serious."
Previously, it was just mild pollution, not a big problem. Now that the plants by the river were becoming toxic, the problem was serious.
"Leader, this factory can't go on like this. Don't you have any way to rectify it?" Lin Fan couldn't help but complain.
Qin Yuyan looked troubled, "As you know, I haven't been in Shimen Town for long. I tried to inspect this factory before, but their gates were tightly shut, and I couldn't get in."
"Even if I contacted the factory owner, he always said he was busy and didn't have time."
"Later, he simply stopped answering my calls."
Lin Fan frowned, "When the factory was built, someone must have helped him. Don't you know who?"
Building a factory required many procedures. Lin Fan didn't believe it could be done without the help of some official.
"Sigh~"
Qin Yuyan sighed, "This matter is very complicated, not as simple as you think. Although I am the town party secretary, I have no way to manage it."
"You must understand that this belongs to planning and environmental affairs, which require the intervention of the municipal relevant departments. I contacted those units before, and they said it was something the higher-ups were involved in and couldn't be managed."
Lin Fan gritted his teeth, "If that's the case, then I'll handle this matter!"
"You?" Qin Yuyan was surprised.
"Yes, me! My method will definitely be effective, just you wait and see!"
Lin Fan said and walked towards Hetang Village.
Qin Yuyan followed, "What are you going to do? Don't let things get out of hand!"
"Tell the people of Hetang Village that this factory is harming people's lives. If they know this, they should join me in eradicating this factory."
"If they don't, then I can't help it!"
Lin Fan said, clenching his fists.