The owner’s face grew even paler, a fine sheen of sweat breaking out on his forehead.
He knew perfectly well that his raw marinated seafood couldn’t withstand an inspection. All the seafood in his shop was a mix of good and spoiled batches. After all, the price difference between live and dead seafood was astronomical. Using dead seafood for the marinade kept his costs incredibly low.
Those swimming crabs might have looked massive, but they were all dead crabs rejected by wholesale vendors. To prevent customers from getting diarrhea, he had secretly laced the sauce with norfloxacin. If he was caught mixing this medication into food, it wouldn’t be resolved with just a simple fine.
Seeing that the inspector intended to follow him, the owner quickly changed his tune. "Sorry... I... I remembered it wrong. The licenses are in the shop."
The captain’s eyes were icy enough to freeze water. "Oh? Then let’s go inside and get them!"
Realizing he had no chance to escape, the owner had no choice but to brace himself and head inside to retrieve his licenses and ledgers. Seeing the man so visibly shaken, the captain already had a pretty good idea of what was going on. He stepped aside and pulled out his phone to make a call.
"Hey, Zhang, I’m over at Starlight Mall. There’s a raw marinated seafood shop here that might be problematic.
"The owner is acting extremely suspicious. Bring two guys over to help out and make sure he doesn’t make a run for it."
The captain swiftly reviewed the documents.
"The ledgers are completely blank?
"Where do you source your goods?
"Do you have any receipts?"
When the owner merely stammered, unable to form a coherent response, the captain didn’t press the issue further.
"You can explain it back at the station.
"Walker, stay with the owner. Don’t let him leave the scene.
"Lynch, come with me to take samples. Focus on the blood clams and swimming crabs, and make sure to take extra portions of each."
The owner’s face drained of color as a fine layer of cold sweat beaded on his forehead. He continued to mutter weak excuses, but his voice grew softer and softer until even he lacked conviction.
The captain ignored him and led the other officer into the shop. Inside the cramped space, freezers were stuffed full of takeout containers holding various raw marinades. With practiced efficiency, the captain used test strips and testing kits to examine the ingredients and sauces.
The gathered crowd wasn’t blind. Though they had been briefly taken in by the owner’s claims of being "framed by a competitor," seeing his deathly pale face and stammering demeanor—combined with the grim expressions of the law enforcement officers—caused them to erupt into an uproar.
"Something’s off about this guy. Why is his face so white?"
"No wonder that girl was trying to stop everyone. Turns out he really is the problem!"
"Look at how jittery he is. Does that look like a legitimate business owner with all his paperwork in order?"
"Exactly! He even claimed his own kids eat this stuff every day. I bet he was lying through his teeth!"
"Something is incredibly off. This is completely fishy!"
"Thank goodness I didn’t buy any! I was just about to scan the QR code. What if I got food poisoning?"
"That young lady wasn’t lying! She was just trying to give us a friendly warning, and we misunderstood her..."
Murmurs echoed through the crowd. The bystanders who had just been helping the owner criticize Wendy Lynch now lowered their heads in embarrassment. The pregnant woman, in particular, touched her belly in lingering fear, looking at Wendy with eyes full of guilt.
Wendy didn’t care about the crowd’s chatter. Her gaze was locked on the officers’ movements. The captain and Lynch were methodically conducting various tests inside the shop.
Ten minutes later.
As the captain reviewed the test results one by one, his expression darkened completely. He stormed out of the shop and grabbed the owner by the collar, his face flushed with fury.
"The blood clams and swimming crabs tested positive for Salmonella and Vibrio parahaemolyticus, respectively!
"On top of that, all the other marinades tested positive for norfloxacin and diphenoxylate!
"Are you even fucking human?
"Just to make a quick buck, you completely disregard people’s health and lives?"
Hearing the captain’s furious roar, the crowd exploded once again.
"My God! He actually dared to add prescription drugs? This owner is evil!"
"What are norfloxacin and diphenoxylate?"
"Norfloxacin is an antibiotic used to prevent intestinal infections, and diphenoxylate is a prescription drug for stopping diarrhea!"
"Thank God I didn’t buy any. If I’d eaten that, who knows how much damage it would have done to my body!"
"No wonder that girl said eating this causes diarrhea. How could it not?!"
"Salmonella? How filthy does this stuff have to be to have that!"
The owner’s legs gave out, and he nearly slumped to the ground. His voice shook like a leaf. "I... I was just afraid the seafood wasn’t fresh, and the customers would get diarrhea, so... so I just added a little bit. Really, just a tiny bit..."
"A little bit?" The captain sneered. "Do you realize that pregnant women and children absolutely cannot consume norfloxacin?
"If they ingest it by mistake, the consequences are unimaginable! You’re treating people’s health like a joke!"
At those words, everyone’s eyes shifted to the pregnant woman. She turned pale with fright and instinctively backed up several steps. The raw marinades she had thought looked so fresh just moments ago now seemed like pure poison. She hurried over to Wendy, gripping her hands tightly, her voice filled with profound gratitude and guilt.
"Miss, thank you so much! I was so foolish just now, and I even misunderstood you. If it weren’t for you, and I had bought this food today..."
Her voice choked up, and tears began to fall. She was currently pregnant with her second child, which had taken a lot of effort to conceive. If something had happened to her baby because she ate bacteria-ridden, drug-laced seafood, she wouldn’t have known what to do.
Hearing the pregnant woman’s sincere apology, the small knot of resentment in Wendy’s chest instantly dissolved. She patted the back of the woman’s hands and gently comforted her.
"It’s okay as long as you’re alright. Everything is fine now."
Seeing the pregnant woman apologize, the surrounding bystanders also crowded in to offer Wendy their own apologies.
"Young lady, we were in the wrong just now. We shouldn’t have blindly accused you."
"Yeah, thank goodness for your persistence! Otherwise, who knows how many of us would have gotten food poisoning!"
"This owner is far too wicked! Using dead seafood is bad enough, but adding antibiotics? He needs to be severely punished!"
Looking at the furious glares of the crowd and the test reports in the officers’ hands, the owner knew he was completely finished. He sat paralyzed on the ground, unable to say a word, and simply let the officers step forward to take his statement.
The captain gathered all the test results and collected samples, then spoke sternly to the owner.
"The evidence is irrefutable. You are suspected of producing and selling food that does not meet safety standards.
"Furthermore, because you illegally added medication to your food, we will be sealing your shop in accordance with the law. We will also be conducting a further investigation into your actions, and we expect your full cooperation."
With that, two officers brought out the official seal.
SMACK.
They slapped it onto the glass door of the raw seafood shop. The red seal was exceptionally eye-catching, thoroughly severing the owner’s last shred of hope. Seeing this, the watching crowd burst into applause and cheers.