Wendy Lynch hadn’t even spoken when Shirley Lowell, at the next desk over, put down her documents and frowned in retort.
"Carmen Sutton, you’re dead wrong. Just because you ate it and were fine doesn’t mean the store’s food is perfectly safe! By your logic, maybe you just have an iron stomach! That’s why you didn’t get diarrhea!"
Shirley had always looked out for Wendy, and their relationship had grown even closer since they both won the lottery at the same time. Right now, seeing Carmen—whom she despised the most—making snide remarks, Shirley naturally wasn’t going to just sit back and watch.
"Besides, her willingness to spend time testing it is for everyone’s sake! If there really is a problem, it’s better to catch it before more people get sick, right?"
"Shirley is right!"
"Wendy sold us cosmetics yesterday at fifty percent off the retail price," a colleague who had previously bought Wendy’s concealer chimed in. "If she were really greedy for money, why would she sell them to us so cheaply!"
Another girl pulled out her phone. "I just saw someone online saying this marinade made them feel sick, too! There’s just no hard evidence yet."
Seeing everyone take Wendy’s side, Carmen looked a bit disgruntled. She pursed her lips and said nothing more.
Wendy felt a surge of warmth in her heart. She smiled at the colleagues who had spoken up for her. "Thank you all for believing in me. Tomorrow! I’m treating everyone to afternoon tea tomorrow! Just send whatever you want to eat in the group chat!"
As soon as she said this, a round of cheers erupted around her, instantly transforming the previously awkward atmosphere into a lively one.
Wendy hurried to the pantry with the raw marinades. The space was roomy, and there was a security camera that could record the testing process, making it the perfect spot. She lined up the containers on the counter one by one. Thanks to her experience from that morning, the testing went much faster this time.
In just a few minutes, all the tests were complete.
TICK TOCK. The wall clock in the pantry ticked away as Wendy kept her eyes glued to the test strips.
Five minutes passed in the blink of an eye.
The results began to appear on the test cassettes one by one.
One line.
One line.
...
As she looked down the row, Wendy’s brow slowly furrowed.
She wondered if this batch of marinades wasn’t the problem either. Just as she was growing increasingly frustrated, she casually picked up the next test cassette. When her gaze landed on the twelfth cassette—the test for the raw marinated blood clams—she suddenly held her breath.
Beside the control line, a pale pink reaction line was slowly blooming. Though faint, it was undeniably real and impossible to ignore.
Two lines!!!
Positive!!!
She quickly shifted to the remaining cassettes, her heart skipping a beat. The last box, the raw marinated flower crab, also showed two lines!!!
"Found it!" Wendy couldn’t help but gasp softly, unable to hide the excitement in her voice.
But she quickly forced herself to calm down. What if the test strips were faulty?
She immediately ran a second test to confirm.
The five-minute wait felt like a century. She stared intently at the test strips, not even daring to blink too hard.
When two clear lines appeared on the blood clam and flower crab test cassettes once again, Wendy finally let out a long sigh of relief. The anxiety that had been hanging over her for two days was finally put to rest.
She immediately took out her phone. Her fingers flew across the keypad as she brought up the hotline number for the Food and Drug Administration that she had looked up earlier.
The moment the call connected, she took a deep breath, trying her best to keep her tone steady. "Hello! I want to report a Tideworth raw marinade shop located right at the main entrance of the Starlight Mall. It’s called ’Tidewater Fresh Marinades’! I just tested their raw marinated blood clams and flower crabs using professional test strips, and they contain Salmonella and Vibrio parahaemolyticus!"
The staff member on the other end had been taking routine notes, but upon hearing "Salmonella" and "Vibrio parahaemolyticus," their tone instantly turned serious. "Ma’am, are you certain the test results are accurate? These two pathogenic bacteria are highly dangerous, and we need to verify this thoroughly."
"I’m certain!" Wendy replied immediately. "I ate their raw marinated flower crabs yesterday and had diarrhea five times in under an hour. I almost collapsed! I suspected there was a problem with their food, so I went out of my way to test it... Right now, the shop is still open for business. I’m worried more people will get hurt, especially the elderly and children..."
"Please wait a moment. We will dispatch law enforcement officers immediately; they should arrive in about twenty minutes. Could you please wait at the scene and cooperate with us for further testing?" The staff member’s speaking pace noticeably quickened, and Wendy could hear urgent coordination happening in the background.
"No problem! I’m heading there right now!"
Hanging up, Wendy packed all the test cassettes into a transparent document folder, grabbed the two bags of contaminated marinades, and hurried out of the office.
As she passed Shirley’s desk, Shirley happened to look up. Seeing her rushed expression, she immediately whispered, "How did it go? Are the results out?"
"They’re out. Two of the boxes tested positive for Salmonella and Vibrio parahaemolyticus! I’ve already reported it to the FDA and I’m going to wait at the shop now." Wendy didn’t stop walking, only adding over her shoulder, "I’ve already asked Ms. Campbell for time off."
Shirley quickly nodded. "Be careful! Call me anytime if anything happens!"
Wendy rode her electric scooter towards the Starlight Mall.
Ten minutes later, she successfully arrived near Tidewater Fresh Marinades.
Considering that the FDA personnel hadn’t arrived yet, and seeing that there were currently no customers at the shop, Wendy didn’t rashly approach. Originally, she had planned to wait and go over together with the FDA officers. However, she had only been waiting for two minutes when two slow-moving figures entered her line of sight.
A woman in a loose beige dress was gently cradling her swollen, pregnant belly with one hand, while her other hand held onto a little girl of about four or five. While Wendy was momentarily stunned, the two of them had already stepped up to the entrance of Tidewater Fresh Marinades.
Seeing this scene, her heart suddenly clenched.
In a flash, a possibility struck her. It was her!!!! This woman right in front of her!!! She was the pregnant woman mentioned in the email who had suffered a miscarriage after eating the raw marinades!!!
The FDA officers hadn’t arrived yet, but waiting even one more second could lead to a tragedy!
Wendy practically leaped off her electric scooter, sprinting like a hundred-meter dash runner, and instantly reached the entrance of the marinade shop.
"Ma’am!! You absolutely must not buy anything from this store!" She rushed in front of the woman, gasping for breath as she stopped her. "There’s a problem with their raw marinades! I ate some yesterday and had diarrhea until I nearly collapsed! I just tested them and found Salmonella and Vibrio parahaemolyticus!"
Startled by Wendy’s sudden appearance, the pregnant woman instinctively hugged her belly tighter and took a half-step back. Her eyes were filled with confusion. "Huh? How is that possible? I saw they had really good reviews, so I..."
"What on earth are you blabbering about?" the shop owner demanded, lifting the door curtain and stepping out after hearing the commotion.
When he saw Wendy, a look of confusion crossed his face. After all, it had only happened that morning. He clearly recognized Wendy as the customer who had placed a massive order right when he opened the shop earlier today.