The forensic knowledge that the system rewarded Xu Mo with was quite comprehensive.
It included toxicology.
Simply put, toxicology is an applied discipline that studies the harmful effects of external factors on biological systems.
It encompasses quite a lot of information.
With this knowledge,
Xu Mo discerned a unique aroma hidden within the barbecue smell...
He was certain that the source of this aroma was opium! A plant that produces red flowers.
He estimated that the vendor had added ground powder from the shells of this plant to the barbecue seasoning, resulting in an unusual fragrance and causing mild addiction in those who ate it, making them crave more.
Similar cases were not uncommon, with previous news reports covering unscrupulous businesses that liked to do this to improve their sales.
"No wonder..." Xu Mo muttered to himself.
He finally understood why this barbecue stand attracted so many people to queue up.
The enticing smell and the desire to eat more naturally led to daily queues, didn't it?
This also explained why people waiting in line for barbecue would come to blows over queue-jumping.
Realizing this, Xu Mo immediately put down his chopsticks and stood up.
With a serious expression.
"Stop eating, let's get back to the car."
He said, then promptly left the shop.
Seeing Xu Mo suddenly turn and leave mid-meal, the other four were confused but still put down their chopsticks and followed in Xu Mo's footsteps.
In the car.
Xu Mo rolled up all the windows and began to reverse.
As an expert in forensic toxicology, he was well aware of the dangers of the 'little red flower'.
Although it was just the ground shell powder added to the barbecue seasoning,
The aroma wafting from the grill still contained some toxicity. While not as strong as directly ingesting it, it still had some effect.
After backing up a distance, Xu Mo finally stopped the car and re-engaged the handbrake.
"Xu Mo... what's wrong? Did you discover something?" Yang Jingxuan asked curiously.
"There's a problem with that barbecue stand," Xu Mo said, then took out his phone and called Han Fei, briefly explaining the situation.
When they left, Xu Mo had glanced at the barbecue stand at the end of the street.
There were seven or eight employees grilling at the stand, presumably to increase efficiency.
With so many people at the stand, it was clearly too much for Xu Mo to handle alone.
Rash action might also spook them, so he decided to have Han Fei bring more officers to make the arrest.
On the other end of the phone, Han Fei was stunned.
He was in the middle of dinner when he suddenly received Xu Mo's call.
Although this was just Xu Mo's conjecture, Han Fei immediately realized the gravity of the situation.
In cases like this, it's better to err on the side of caution than to let a single offender go free!
He immediately put down his chopsticks and bowl, turned and left, while calling his colleagues at the station, telling them to head to the address Xu Mo had sent.
...
Half an hour later, Han Fei and a group of officers arrived at Xu Mo's location.
As soon as they got out of their cars, they saw the bustling crowd on the street ahead.
Han Fei couldn't help but glance at Xu Mo.
Judging by the number of people on that street, this situation might really be as Xu Mo described...
After all, no matter how delicious, ordinary barbecue wouldn't attract such a crowd filling up the entire street.
"Captain Han, you're finally here. Quick, go make the arrest! This merchant is truly heartless. I despise this kind of person the most!" Xu Mo said indignantly.
Han Fei smiled.
"You have quite a strong sense of justice... I really didn't misjudge you. You'd make an excellent police officer."
"Of course, I have zero tolerance for gambling and drugs!"
Han Fei: "..."
You have zero tolerance for gambling and drugs... but what about prostitution?
You didn't mention a word about prostitution!
You completely omitted prostitution!
Han Fei gave Xu Mo an exasperated look, then signaled to the officers behind him and turned back to Xu Mo: "Let's go see what's going on."
The officers followed Han Fei's lead.
Upon reaching the street, they immediately dispersed, blending into the crowd, surrounding the barbecue stand from all sides.
As the team leader, Han Fei saw that the encirclement was complete and gave a hand signal.
In the next second,
The officers scattered in all directions closed in, surrounding all those preparing barbecue.
Han Fei took out his police badge and stepped forward, flashing it.
"Police business. Who's the owner here? We've received a report that your..."
Before he could finish his sentence, a middle-aged man at the barbecue stand looked panicked and took off running without a word. It seemed this man was likely the stand's owner.
If he hadn't run, Han Fei might have thought that both he and Xu Mo had misjudged the situation.
But with him fleeing, Han Fei immediately felt that their judgment wasn't wrong, and things were exactly as Xu Mo had initially described.
After all, why would he run if he had nothing to hide?
The officers certainly weren't going to stand by and watch this man escape. They had formed a circle precisely to prevent anyone from fleeing during the investigation.
So, the middle-aged man had barely taken two steps before he was tackled to the ground by an officer.
"Why are you running? Behave yourself!"
Han Fei pointed at the middle-aged man pinned to the ground by the officer, then turned to the employees at the barbecue stand and asked,
"This is your boss, right?"
The employees all nodded, still somewhat confused about the situation: "Officer, why are you arresting our boss?"
"Well, that's something we'll have to ask your boss," Han Fei said with a cold smile, looking at the middle-aged man pinned to the ground: "You should know why we're arresting you, right?"
The middle-aged man shook his head without hesitation: "I don't know. Let me go, I didn't do anything. You've got the wrong person!"
Seeing this, the officer who had pinned him down couldn't stand it anymore.
"You don't know? If you don't know, then why did you run? If you didn't do anything, why are you so nervous?"
Even now, the man was still hoping for the best, shaking his head repeatedly: "I'm not nervous. I really don't know what you're talking about. I don't know anything. You've got the wrong person."
"Alright... since you're being so uncooperative, we'll take you back to the station. We'll also pack up everything from the barbecue stand for testing. Once the test results are out, you'll know exactly what we're talking about," Han Fei said with a cold smile.
As soon as he finished speaking, the officers began to handcuff the middle-aged man and started packing up the items from the barbecue stand.
Next, Han Fei turned to the barbecue stand employees. From what he had observed, Han Fei believed that these employees only had an employment relationship with the stand owner and were likely unaware of the owner's actions.
"You'll need to come with us too. Don't worry, we just need to ask you a few questions. If you're not involved in this matter, you'll be free to go soon."
...
At this time, the customers still queuing didn't know what was happening.
So much so that someone in the queue spoke up.
"Officer, what crime did this owner commit?"
"Um... if he committed a crime, you can arrest him, but can you leave the barbecue stand and the employees?"
"At the very least, can you leave the barbecue stand? We can grill it ourselves. I've been queuing for over two hours, and it's almost my turn... at least let me eat something."
"..."
Han Fei: "..."
In his view, they should be relieved they hadn't eaten yet. Was what was mixed into the barbecue something good? Was it even edible?
Still wanting to eat, truly a case of fools rush in where angels fear to tread!
Ignoring these customers, he waved to his officers: "We're done here. Let's go!"