Xiaotian did not, in fact, stop liking poisons.
its a genuine coincidence, when he smells poison in somebody else's food.
"Chef Zhu, I need you to not panic. We're at the hospital."
Contrary to Long Taitai's words, Pigsy felt panic twist his stomach. "Is Xiaotian alright?! Why are you at the hospital?!" Tang jerked his face out of his book on the other side of the bar, eyes wide. "What happened?!"
The dragon woman sighed on the other end, and Pigsy felt concern mixed with panic. In his opinion, Mrs. Long had always been a touch snooty, never allowing what she felt to show on her face. She allowed Xiaotian to play with her kid, Long Xiaojiao, and let Tang in to study the Long collection of artifacts for his research and, as far as he knew, never said anything unkind, but there was just an aura. Right now, he couldn't sense that aura.
"A person who I assumed was a friend tried to poison my family," Mrs. Long explained. Pigsy wasn't sure what expression he had at that tidbit, but Tang looked even more worried. "I cannot explain further over the phone. Could you please come to the hospital on Third and Lotus Street? We brought Xiaotian here at the authorities' request and they need you."
"Sure," Pigsy said, realizing that she couldn't see him nod. "Yeah, hang on, I'll be there in a sec." Before Mrs. Long could answer, he hung up. "Tang, look after the shop. Xiaotian ate poison again."
Before his boyfriend could respond, Pigsy was already out the door.
The Li Nezha Hospital had to be the fanciest hospital Pigsy had ever seen. However, that didn't matter. What did matter was being led into the private room and hear Xiaotian's delighted "Dadsy!"
They sat on the couch, Xiaojiao next to them and holding their hand. Mr. Long was holding Xiaojiao's other hand, his eyes red. Mrs. Long was nowhere to be seen.
"They're in perfect health, shockingly enough." The doctor explained. "They ate enough cyanide to kill two full-grown adults on the spot. Although," They flipped the papers. "According to their medical history, that has been covered already."
Pigsy nodded. "Yep. They keep trying to eat rat poison."
"It's spicy!" Xiaotian called from the bed.
The doctor's brows furrowed. "I see." They glanced at the papers and they furrowed even more. "Mr. Zhu, have you had a-"
"DNA test? Yep." The authorities had done about ten of them- eight were for trying to find the small mud-stained toddler's parents while the other two were after the third poison-eating incident. All were inconclusive. "If they have yaogaui heritage, it's nothing in the database."
"Well, the justice department does want to keep at least the children here, at least overnight," the doctor explained. "They want to see if they can get a sample of the cyanide from Xiaotian's stool and pee and make sure that Xiaojiao didn't ingest any of the cyanide herself."
Pigsy nodded. "Okay, I can do that."
The doctor led him out to sign the right papers and that was where he saw Mrs. Long.
Her eyes were also red, but she looked ready to throw the phone in her hands. Pigsy waved, and she immediately headed straight towards him. "Thank you," were her first words. "If it wasn't for Xiaotian, I am sure neither I nor my family would still be here."
Pigsy nodded. "No thanks needed. Just..." he sighed, rubbing his brow. "What happened?"
"I cannot give all the details since it's a live case," Mrs. Long said, tucking her phone into her pocket. Pigsy nodded in understanding and she continued. "But I received a box of chocolates from a family friend. The plan was to have them for dessert. Xiaotian and Xiaojiao found them, and the nursemaid found them after Xiaotian ate them all." A smile tugged on her lips. "She told me that the chocolate on them had a strange almond smell, since my husband is allergic to almonds."
"Something in my brain told me to call the justice department and the poison control officers identified the cyanide in them." Mrs. Long's smile faded. "If Xiaotian hadn't found them, according to the officer, my family and I would be experiencing an extremely unpleasant death."
Pigsy felt a shiver roll down his back. He didn't exactly like Mr. and Mrs. Long, but the thought of anyone suffering a death like that was enough to make him nauseous. Xiaojiao was so small...
"I'm sorry this happened." He pulled out his wallet. "I can repay you for the chocolates-"
"No need." Mrs. Long chuckled, her smile returning. Her aura of snootiness was gone, replaced with an unfamiliar warmth. "I already promised the children that we could go out for ice cream once the hospital released them, if that's alright with you."
She laughed. "Fair. Hopefully, the ice cream's less poisonous."
Although Xiaotian wouldn't mind...
