The success of the "Bicycle Brigade" had turned the delivery route into a gold mine, but it also painted a massive target on Lin Xi's back. In the 1980s, food safety was governed by the 1982 Food Hygiene Law, which was strict on paper but easily manipulated by those with "connections."
At the height of the lunch rush, the factory courtyard was suddenly filled with the sound of retching.
"My stomach! It's on fire!" a worker screamed, collapsing near his loom. Within minutes, five others were clutching their middles, their faces turning a sickly shade of gray. The warm, savory tiffins they had just opened were scattered on the floor.
Lin Xi, who was handing out the last of the boxes, felt her heart drop. She immediately grabbed a fallen tiffin and smelled it. Beneath the rich aroma of her twice-cooked pork was a faint, chemical bitterness—croton oil, a powerful and dangerous laxative often used in the countryside for sabotage.
"It's her!" a voice shrieked from the gate.
Lin Jiaojiao stepped out of the shadows, flanked by two men in white lab coats from the Sanitation Bureau. "I warned everyone! My cousin never had a permit because she's a fraud! She's using rotten meat to save money, and now she's poisoned the backbone of our industry!"
The workers, fueled by pain and panic, began to move toward Lin Xi. The "Bicycle Brigade" boys retreated, terrified.
"Wait!" Lin Xi shouted, her voice like a crack of thunder. She didn't look at the crowd; she looked directly at the two inspectors. "If you are from the Bureau, you know that spoiled meat causes bacterial infection, which takes hours to manifest. These men fell ill in minutes. This isn't spoilage; it's an additive."
She turned to the factory director, who was sweating profusely. "Director Zhao, seal the kitchen and the bicycle racks. No one leaves. And check the pockets of the 'witnesses' who were near my bike while I was inside the workshop."
Before Director Zhao could respond, a loud, wailing cry erupted from the factory gates.
"Give me back my wife! You thief! You shameless woman!"
A man in his forties, with a hunched back and eyes that darted with a predatory glint, pushed through the crowd. Beside him were Lin Xi's uncle, Lin Dazhu, and her aunt, Zhang Cuifang, who was still sporting a faint bruise on her neck.
"There she is!" Zhang Cuifang pointed a trembling finger. "Commander Gu, you've been tricked! This girl isn't a witness; she's a runaway bride who stole three hundred yuan from her poor family to flee her lawful husband!"
The man, Old Man Zhao (the village widower), lunged for Lin Xi's arm. "You're mine! The papers are signed! I paid for you!"
The factory workers froze. In the 1980s, Marriage Laws (revised in 1980) technically protected women from forced marriages, but in reality, rural "customs" still held immense weight. A woman accused of being a "runaway" was often seen as having no moral standing.
Lin Jiaojiao smirked. This was her masterpiece. Poison the food to ruin Lin Xi's reputation, then bring the "family" to drag her back to the village where she would disappear forever.
"Commander Shaozheng," Lin Jiaojiao said, turning to Gu Shaozheng who had just arrived, his face unreadable. "You can't protect a criminal. She's a poisoner and a thief."
Lin Xi didn't wait for the Commander to save her. She stepped back from Old Man Zhao's reach and looked at the crowd.
"You say I poisoned the food?" Lin Xi grabbed a tiffin that hadn't been opened yet. She held it up. "If I used poisoned ingredients, everything in this box is lethal. But if someone added something to the boxes already at the factory..."
She turned to the two neighborhood boys who helped her deliver. "Did anyone approach the bike while I was in Section A?"
"The... the tea lady!" the younger boy pointed. "The one with the mole on her chin! She said she was helping us rearrange the boxes!"
Lin Xi looked at the crowd. A woman with a mole on her chin was trying to slip away. Before she could, Xiao Wang grabbed her. From her apron pocket, he pulled a small, glass vial labeled with a skull and crossbones—Croton Oil.
"And as for the 'marriage'..." Lin Xi pulled a document from her own pocket. It wasn't her permit. It was her Personal File she had recovered from the village records before she left. "Article 3 of the 1980 Marriage Law strictly prohibits 'mercenary marriages' and 'interference in the freedom of marriage'. Uncle, the three hundred yuan you took was an illegal transaction. Under the law, you aren't my family; you're human traffickers."
She looked at Gu Shaozheng. "Commander, as a witness for the railway case, I am under military protection. Does that protection extend to kidnapping and poisoning?"
Gu Shaozheng stepped forward, his heavy boots echoing on the pavement. He didn't look at the thugs or the aunt. He looked only at Lin Xi.
"It does," he said, his voice a low, terrifying rumble. He turned to his soldiers. "Arrest the woman with the vial. Arrest the 'family' for illegal interference and attempted kidnapping. As for the Secretary..."
He looked toward the black sedan parked down the street. "I'll be having a word with the Provincial Committee about how 'Sanitation Inspectors' are being used as private henchmen."
The "family" was dragged away, screaming and cursing. Lin Jiaojiao stood alone, her face a mask of pale fury. She had lost everything—her reputation, her chance with Gu Shaozheng, and her leverage.
Later that evening, in the quiet of the military kitchen, Lin Xi was prepping a "rehab" meal for the workers who had been sick: a Velvet Ginger Porridge to soothe their stomachs.
Gu Shaozheng walked in, leaning against the doorframe. "You knew they were coming."
"I knew they wouldn't let me win easily," Lin Xi said, her hands steady as she sliced ginger. "In the kitchen, you expect the grease to pop. You just have to be ready with the lid."
Gu Shaozheng walked closer, his presence warm and grounding. "You're dangerous, Lin Xi. You play the law like a professional and cook like a goddess. Tell me... is there anything you can't do?"
Lin Xi looked up, a playful spark in her eyes. "I can't tolerate a boring partner, Commander. Are you up for the challenge?"
Gu Shaozheng didn't answer with words. He reached out and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, his eyes lingering on hers. "The war for the Capital has just begun. But tonight... I think we've earned a bowl of that porridge."