When the surrounding crowd saw that red spots had also appeared on Qiu Xingyuan's body, they instantly erupted.
"Look! We are seeing it with our own eyes. There must be something wrong with the pesticide!"
"What other explanation do you have? Hurry up and recall your locust pesticide and compensate us!"
The burly men and the rest of the crowd pressured Qiu Tong and Qiu Xingyuan. Qiu Tong's expression darkened. She had seen Qiu Xingyuan's original formula with her own eyes. There was no ingredient that could cause allergic reactions! What went wrong?
Qiu Xingyuan saw a familiar face in the crowd. The pharmaceutical supervisor hid in the crowd in a panic and even took two steps back.
Qiu Xingyuan stared at his slightly flustered expression and asked with furrowed brows, "After I left the factory, did you further simplify the process again?"
"Did you do away with some necessary steps in the process of making the pesticides in order to speed things up?"
Qiu Xingyuan had come up with the crux of the problem. The crowd stared at the pharmaceutical supervisor in unison, waiting for his answer.
The pharmaceutical supervisor clenched his fists nervously, his lips pale. He instinctively denied, "No, we made it according to the process!"
"There's clearly something wrong with your pesticide formula. Why are you pushing the blame on us?"
"It's impossible to simplify the production process of the factory's assembly line. Anyway, all the modifications have been approved by you!"
"Don't try to change the topic! This has nothing to do with the factory!"
Qiu Tong could tell that something was wrong from the pharmaceutical supervisor's expression. She shielded Qiu Xingyuan behind her and interrogated, "Since you said that there's no problem with the factory's production process, I am sure you are willing to get all the staff to come here now?"
"We can verify everything face-to-face."
"Besides, there are surveillance cameras in the factories. We can take a look to see what went wrong!"
"As long as there is concrete evidence pointing to us, we will definitely take responsibility!"
The pharmaceutical supervisor did not expect Qiu Tong to be so domineering. His temples were throbbing and his palms were sweating. He immediately tried to rouse the crowd by pointing at Qiu Tong. "How can I show you the surveillance footage of the factory?"
"You guys have powerful connections backing you. Even if there's a problem, you can settle it secretly. Even with the video footage, what can it prove?"
"In the end, the victims are still these innocent civilians..."
The pharmaceutical supervisor's words once again stirred up a commotion. The parents of the students who were already jealous of Qiu Xingyuan and Qiu Tong stepped forward and muttered, "Didn't they say that the Mayor's personal commendation was just for show! This pesticide might not have been developed by Qiu Xingyuan."
"He has always been a quiet child. He is solitary and has strange manners."
"I heard that Qiu Tong has been very close to Mayor Shen and a few of the higher-ups. I have friends who have seen her entering and leaving high-end villas!"
"This is not something a bunch of commoners like us can talk about. There must be something going on behind the scenes!"
Their discussion had changed from blaming Qiu Xingyuan and the locust pesticide to a personal attack on Qiu Tong's family.
Those words became increasingly harsh.
Qiu Xingyuan bit his thin lips tightly, and the taste of blood spread in his mouth. He listened to the accusations and slander, which were all without any evidence. But he knew in his heart that it must be because someone had arbitrarily adjusted the ratio of the pesticide to speed things up, resulting in the current allergic reaction.
However, he had no evidence. Meanwhile, the crowd was clamoring for justice.
Qiu Xingyuan's face was pale as if there was an iceberg engulfing him. He said, "I will take responsibility for the locust pesticide."
His words indirectly admitted that he was the cause of the allergic reactions.
The crowd became very agitated. It was unknown who took the lead, but they actually pushed and pulled at Qiu Xingyuan. They scolded, "How are you going to take responsibility? There are locusts everywhere in the wheat field, and the locust pesticide is useless. We can't buy any food!"
"We're going to starve to death. How are you going to take responsibility? Are you going to give us food?"
"Yes, get the Qiu family to compensate!"
Qiu Xingyuan stood motionless in the middle of the crowd. His small face was stubborn, but his body was swaying, and his forehead was nearly bruised from all the jostling.
Qiu Tong grabbed Qiu Xingyu and Qiu Xingqiao and stuffed them into Ke Le's arms to protect them. She quickly ran to Qiu Xingyuan's side and protected his small body in her arms...