Chapter Seventy-six: Mutton and Watermelon

  "What a big nerve you have, daring to interfere with our business! I think you're just asking for a beating!" The four young men, who were already full of hot air, saw someone dare to jump out and point fingers at this time, and they couldn't help but be furious, feeling that their prestige had been damaged. One of the young men even took big strides towards Zhang WenZhong, raised his right hand and slapped it towards his head.

  "What's your business with me, don't be rough on Little Zhang!" Wang Bo saw the situation and hurriedly struggled to shout, but unfortunately his collar was tightly grasped by the young man with a black snake tattoo, no matter how hard he struggled, it was all in vain.

  "You old man, we came here specifically for you." The young man gripping his collar sneered, "Speak up, how do you plan to compensate my brother? I warned you beforehand, if your compensation can't satisfy us, we'll smash this store of yours. Hmph, even if you call the police, we're not afraid. We're just defending our own rights, and even if the police come, they'll have to stand on our side!"

  Just then, a shrill and mournful cry suddenly rang out. Wang Bo thought that Zhang Wenzhong had been beaten to death, his face changed instantly, and he hastily called out: "You're just after money, aren't you? Name a price, but whatever you do, don't beat my customers!"

  "You old codger, do you think we're here to extort you? We're just here to protect our own rights!" The young man who was grabbing his collar cursed and was about to mention the amount they had already agreed on. However, at this moment, a hand suddenly stretched out from the side and grabbed his wrist.

  "Ah……” The young man suddenly felt a sharp pain shooting up from his wrist, as if his hand was being tightly clamped by an iron pincer. His five fingers spread out weakly, and Wang Bo took advantage of the opportunity to shake off his grasp.

  It wasn't until now that Wang Bo and Xiao Fang discovered that the owner of this hand was none other than Zhang Wen Zhong.

  "Xiao Zhang, are you okay?" Wang Bo's first concern was not himself, but Zhang WenZhong's situation.

  "It's nothing." Zhang Wen Zhong smiled slightly at Wang Bo.

  Since Little Zhang is fine, who made that miserable cry just now? Was it the thug who tried to attack him?

  Wang Bo was shocked and quickly turned his head to look. Indeed, the young man who had attempted to attack Zhang Wen-zhong was now holding his right hand with his left hand, crouching on the ground and wailing in pain.

  What just happened?

  Wang Bo was both surprised and curious.

  Zhang Wenzhong glanced at the other two restless young men, and coldly said to the one with a black snake tattoo: "If you don't want this hand to be crippled, you'd better tell your companions to behave. Otherwise, I can't guarantee that I won't break your hand!"

  When he said this, Zhang Wen's hand suddenly exerted force, letting the young man with a black snake tattoo feel what it meant to be deeply moved. The young man, in pain, not only let out a mournful cry but also hastily stopped his companions. At this moment, he completely believed that the seemingly weak but actually powerful young man in front of him was a ruthless person who would do whatever he said.

  "Wang Bo, tell me, what's going on here?" Zhang Wenzhong asked Wang Bo while still gripping the young man's wrist.

  Before Wang Bo could speak, the young man who was grabbed by Zhang Wen's wrist couldn't help but interrupt: "What else could it be? My brothers and I ate here not long ago, and my brother suddenly started vomiting and having diarrhea, with severe abdominal pain. If this isn't food poisoning, what is?"

  "Shut up, I didn't ask you." Zhang Wen-zhong, who knew the principle of "a villain must be ground by a villain", also didn't show courtesy to him. The force with which he grasped his wrist suddenly increased several times, causing him to grit his teeth and beg for mercy repeatedly, no longer daring to interrupt recklessly.

  Wang Bo sorted out his thoughts and then recounted what had happened earlier in a clear and coherent manner.

  It turned out that just an hour ago, these five young men ran into Wang Bo's small restaurant to eat and drink, and when they left, not only did they not pay the bill, but one of them even pushed Wang Bo to the ground. Following the principle of "it's better to have fewer troubles", Wang Bo, who valued peace and making a living, didn't report the incident to the police and took the loss himself. However, he couldn't understand why one of the young men showed signs of food poisoning. He could guarantee that all the ingredients were fresh and personally selected by him, and there was no way they would be expired or spoiled.

  Zhang Wenzhong hesitated for a moment before asking: "Wang Bo, do you still remember what dishes they had?"

  "Got it." Wang Bo nodded and recited the five dishes that the young men had ordered, including "Fish-flavored shredded pork, Spicy chicken nuggets, Meat sauce eggplant...and also Scallion stir-fried lamb." Over ten dishes, all of which were Wang Bo's specialties.

  "Scallion exploded mutton? So that's it." Zhang Wenzhong's mouth slightly hooked, a smile appeared on his face when he heard the name of this dish. He let go of the hand with the black snake tattoo and patted it lightly, saying: "I already know why he would vomit and have diarrhea and severe abdominal pain. This matter can't be blamed on Wang Bo, it can only be blamed on himself."

  Wang Bo hastily asked: "Little Zhang, what's going on here?"

  Zhang Wenzhong pointed to the weak young man's collar, where there was a stain of juice, "Wang Bo, look, this guy must have been eating watermelon before."

  As soon as Zhang Wen-zhong finished speaking, a fruit-selling aunt in the crowd said: "That's right, they ate at Wang Bo's place earlier and then ran to my fruit stand and took a watermelon. I saw that those five young people looked fierce and evil, so I didn't dare say anything, thinking that the watermelon had been taken by five pigs..."

  The aunt selling fruit said this, and immediately triggered a burst of laughter from the onlookers. Before this, these onlookers were intimidated by the arrogance of the five young men, not even daring to speak loudly. But now, when they saw that Zhang WenZhong alone had subdued the five young men, they suddenly felt that these five young men were actually nothing to be afraid of. If these five young men dared to make a move now, the onlookers would certainly have the courage to rush forward and knock them to the ground.

  This is the power of role models.

  The five little guys looked at me, I looked at them, knowing that they had offended the crowd, and finally became a bit afraid.

  "What's the big deal even if we eat watermelon?" The young man with a black snake tattoo, who seemed to be the leader of the five, was afraid of Zhang WenZhong but still had to ask in a tough tone. If he didn't, he would lose face in front of his younger brothers and wouldn't be able to show off later on.

  Zhang Wen-zhong smiled and said, "Don't you know that it's best not to eat mutton and watermelon together? Mutton is warm in nature, while watermelon is a raw and cold product. Eating these two things together can harm the spleen and stomach. That's why your brother has symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, and severe abdominal pain. This matter has nothing to do with Wang Bo or this fruit vendor aunt, it's clearly your own fault."

  The five young men had never heard of such a dietary taboo, and they couldn't help but stare at each other in confusion. Finally, the one with the black snake tattoo spoke up, unwilling to give up: "We all ate mutton and then watermelon, so why did he have problems while we're fine?"

  "He usually has a poor stomach, doesn't he? His appetite is not good, and his stomach gets bloated after eating just a little bit..."

  "How...how did you know?" The young man with a black snake tattoo was surprised and his mouth was wide open.

  "Because I am a doctor," Zhang Wen Zhong said, "He is a patient with spleen deficiency, and you several people are still normal, so after eating the same mutton and watermelon, you can bear the damage to the spleen and stomach, but he cannot bear it, thus triggering symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea, abdominal pain."

  "Really... is that really true?" The five young men looked at Zhang Wen's solemn expression, not knowing whether to believe him or be suspicious.

  Zhang Wenzhong ignored the five young men and beckoned to a middle-aged man in the crowd, asking: "Uncle Chen, do you have fresh licorice root?" The man called Uncle Chen ran a pharmacy outside the residential area, selling both Chinese and Western medicine.

  "Yes." Chen Shu nodded in response.

  "Could you weigh out 100 grams of raw licorice for me?"

  "Alright." Chen Shu responded, turned around and returned to the pharmacy. A moment later, he walked over with a food bag containing 100 grams of fresh licorice root and handed it to Zhang Wen-zhong.

  Zhang Wen-zhong poured all the hundred grams of raw licorice into a casserole used for cooking sand pot soup in Wang Bo's small restaurant, added water and simmered it. After it was cooked, he poured the medicinal liquid into a ceramic bowl, beckoned to the young man with the black snake tattoo, and pointed to the bowl of licorice medicine, "Give him this to drink."

  "What... what do you want to do to him?"

  "What else can be done? Of course, it's to cure his illness! Mutton and watermelon are incompatible, after taking them together, use licorice root decoction to detoxify."

  The young man with the black snake pattern had some doubts, but after thinking about it, this wild licorice wasn't a poisonous medicine anyway. He might as well give it to his companion who was suffering from stomach pain to drink. If he got better, then that would be fine. If not, they could take advantage of the situation and blackmail them.

  The frail young man felt his abdominal pain ease up a lot after drinking the bowl of hot licorice medicine. At the same time, the previous nausea and vomiting, as well as the feeling of urgency and heaviness, also slowed down. His pale face also regained its rosiness at this time.

  Zhang Wen-zhong found an empty mineral water bottle, poured the remaining licorice root medicine into it, screwed on the cap and threw it to the young man with a black snake tattoo, "Give him another drink later."

  "Oh." The young man with the black snake tattoo saw that his companion's condition had improved, and he didn't know what to say either. After thinking for a moment, he finally called out to his companions to leave.

  "Wait a minute." But just then, Zhang Wenzhong spoke up again and stopped them.